This infographic perfectly describes why the word moist should be abolished from the American vernacular.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Moist
This infographic perfectly describes why the word moist should be abolished from the American vernacular.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Teaching/Parenting
Sheila and I frequently comment that parenting is easily the hardest job we've ever had. Also the most rewarding...most of the time. But a ton of work. I'm sure some would object to classifying parenting as a job, but we come from the mindset of working hard and deliberately at parenting and not just winging it. Of course that brings chuckles to some as Sheila and I don't have a whole lot of "winging it" in us for any topic.
In parenting so much learning is watching & replicating the behaviors of others. Usually that comes from Mom and Dad, but also comes from school teachers, babysitters, extended family, or friends. As a parent of a child in Kindergarten I am really starting to understand why Mom and Dad wouldn't let me play with certain kids growing up. I was emulating their behavior and they didn't want me to think that behavior was okay.
Well onto what goes down as Sheila and I's proudest moments as parent in our limited 6+ year history. Sasha's Kindergarten class is doing a Dance Marathon to benefit the UI Children's Hospital. The girls know both these organizations well since Sheila is heavily involved in both because of her role at the UI Foundation. For the DM at Sasha's school she was tasked with rounding up coins of all shapes and sizes to donate to the cause to help kids that are sick. During the process of deciding where to get this money Sasha emphatically states, "Well I don't want any of my money, I want to give it all to the Children's Hospital!" After probing to make sure she was serious we had her retrieve her piggy bank where she puts any coins she finds, occasional rewards from Mom and Dad, etc. While she was counting her money Kira abruptly followed suit saying, "I want to give my money too so sick kids can go home to their families sooner!". Sure enough, both emptied their piggy banks, to the tune of $12.41. Sheila and I matched it to show our support and off the money went with Sasha to school.
Sheila burst into tears and I was overwhelmed at our kids generosity. It was an amazing moment for our family, and one that I hope is the beginning of a lifetime of community giving and overall generosity from our children!
Iowa Women's Basketball Experience
This weekend our family got to spend some time with the Iowa women's basketball team. We won a charity auction item benefitting United Way that allowed us to go to a practice, meet the team and the girls got to pal around with them, have lunch with the team and coaches, and sit courtside at their game the next day.
It was a tremendous experience for our girls, and Sheila and I had a great time as well. It is difficult to find female role models in sports on TV so this was a unique opportunity to be close to a program full of coaches and players that are strong female role models. The team and coaches were gracious with their time and our girls had a ball.
Sitting courtside at a game was awesome. Aside from my anxiety that one of the girls would walk or fall out onto the court, it was a great way to watch a game. Overall it was a tremendous experience for our family and one that our girls will talk about for some time.
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It was a tremendous experience for our girls, and Sheila and I had a great time as well. It is difficult to find female role models in sports on TV so this was a unique opportunity to be close to a program full of coaches and players that are strong female role models. The team and coaches were gracious with their time and our girls had a ball.
Sitting courtside at a game was awesome. Aside from my anxiety that one of the girls would walk or fall out onto the court, it was a great way to watch a game. Overall it was a tremendous experience for our family and one that our girls will talk about for some time.
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Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Re: Childhood Christmases
Why is it that having any control of anything related to fire is so enticing for a child? Whether it was the candle during the Christmas Eve service, sparklers on Independence Day, or throwing stuff in the campfire, kids are just fascinated with the flame! I have no doubt that we dumped a fair amount of wax on the sanctuary carpet over the years.
I remember waking up what seemed like super early and being told what seemed like 50 times to go back to bed, it was too early to get up. And then the wait for Grandma and Grandpa. I have recollections of sitting in the window on the North side of the house and watching West Charles a block away in anticipation of seeing Grandma and Grandpa's van. That's when the adrenaline really started pumping!
I have fond memories of those times at the hall with the extended family. Everyone was wearing new sweatshirts and jackets and showing off their favorite presents. It was like show and tell with all the cousins. When I think back on it, I'm not sure how it was that much different from the OTHER big family Christmas that was always did a week or two prior to Christmas. Now that I think about it, that one was focused on Mom's siblings and families, and the Christmas day get together included a lot of Grandma Birchard's siblings and extended family. Oddly enough, I don't remember much about presents at the Christmas day gathering at the hall. Didn't Grandma give us all our gifts at the other get together? What I do remember is all the silly games and shenanigans from Christmas day, usually led by Uncle Jim. He was dual-hatted in our family for a long time - Game Leader as well as Family Prayer Guy. When is the last time any of you played the "close your eyes and grab some hands and then get untangled" game?
Lots of great memories of our Christmases together... Ed, after I added pics to your post I came across these two that contain two of the presents that you mentioned in your post!
2015 priorities
New years resolutions, SMART goals, guiding principles, or priorities. Isn't it all just the same lipstick on a different pig?
2014 was a good year all around. Hit some milestones like Sasha heading to Kindergarten. Continued a streak of content and happiness with my personal relationships. Checked off a bucket list item by completing Ironman Wisconsin. Enjoyed another year of professional success.
But not without it's drawbacks, most specifically losing both my Grandmothers as well as Sheila's last remaining Grandmother on the 2nd day of 2015. While sad, they all lived whole and fulfilled lives and each embraced their next step into heaven in their own personal way.
Onward to 2015, I'm hopeful for another fulfilling and exciting year. I've largely kept the same big rock ideas in place for the last 5+ years including:
Maximum time with family.
Moderation in diet.
Moderation in spending money.
No clock punching at work.
For more specific goals or priorities I have outlined, but not completed the following:
1. Stay under 180 pounds on the first of every month.
2. Complete 2 triathlons of any distance.
3. Complete 2 half marathons.
4. Either kayak the Mississippi river along the Iowa border or do the Rim2Rim Grand Canyon run.
5. Hunt with Scout 2 times.
6. Do a mountain bike trip.
7. Take 2 days off each for 1:1 with Sheila, Sasha and Kira.
8. Build the posts underneath the deck.
9. Try yoga and develop a routine.
10. Read 12 books.
11. Do 2 weekend trips with Sheila.
12. Learn basic rope skills via indoor rock climbing.
2014 was a good year all around. Hit some milestones like Sasha heading to Kindergarten. Continued a streak of content and happiness with my personal relationships. Checked off a bucket list item by completing Ironman Wisconsin. Enjoyed another year of professional success.
But not without it's drawbacks, most specifically losing both my Grandmothers as well as Sheila's last remaining Grandmother on the 2nd day of 2015. While sad, they all lived whole and fulfilled lives and each embraced their next step into heaven in their own personal way.
Onward to 2015, I'm hopeful for another fulfilling and exciting year. I've largely kept the same big rock ideas in place for the last 5+ years including:
Maximum time with family.
Moderation in diet.
Moderation in spending money.
No clock punching at work.
For more specific goals or priorities I have outlined, but not completed the following:
1. Stay under 180 pounds on the first of every month.
2. Complete 2 triathlons of any distance.
3. Complete 2 half marathons.
4. Either kayak the Mississippi river along the Iowa border or do the Rim2Rim Grand Canyon run.
5. Hunt with Scout 2 times.
6. Do a mountain bike trip.
7. Take 2 days off each for 1:1 with Sheila, Sasha and Kira.
8. Build the posts underneath the deck.
9. Try yoga and develop a routine.
10. Read 12 books.
11. Do 2 weekend trips with Sheila.
12. Learn basic rope skills via indoor rock climbing.
A Belated Recollection of Christmas Memories
My recollection of the holidays are packed with good
memories, times spent with family and friends complete with all the antics and
crazy behavior that typically come along with the season. But one of the fondest memories I have of
Christmas is time spent with Grandmas. I
was blessed and fortunate to have both sets of Grandparents close growing
up. One set lived a block away and the
other about six blocks away. And as most
kids would do, I often took that proximity for granted but now I realize just
how much of a blessing it was.
Christmas time was extra special.
First, there was a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at
the church. My big family would pack
into cars and trucks (a bus couldn’t hold us all) and head to First Baptist
Church. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts,
Uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews – they all were there. We took our requisite spots in the back left
portion of the sanctuary, I could literally tell you the assigned seats to this
day! I know it sounds crazy but one of
the coolest things in the world when you are a young boy is holding a real
candle with real fire in a church! If
you didn’t fiddle too much you might have even got to light the candle of the
one sitting next to you in the pew. But
definitely not the candle of your cousin, because surely that would end with a call
to 911! Yes, holding a lit candle in
church on Christmas Eve while singing Silent Night was special.
Then we would head home and my brothers and me would start to
inventory all of the presents under the tree.
There was usually a good amount under the tree, but until Santa came the
REALLY exciting ones didn’t appear. Soft
presents (surely clothes) were not exciting, anything BIG was highly
anticipated, and even more so if it rattled or slid within the box. Thinking about what might be inside was
excruciating! Ah, I couldn’t wait until
morning!
We were entitled to open one gift on Christmas Eve! But (and it was a big but for a ten year old)
Mom and Dad got to pick which present we each got to open on Christmas
Eve. It didn’t take too long to figure
out that the present selected was ALWAYS new pajamas. Sports pajamas, comic hero pajamas, or some
special new pajamas to ensure pictures on Christmas morning were perfect …
except for our hair.
After getting out cookies and milk, and sometimes carrots
for the reindeer we would collectively be shuttled off to bed. Christmas comes early for young boys.
Whoever woke up earliest on Christmas morning shook the
other brothers out of their sleep and then bounced into Mom & Dad’s bedroom
to wake them up. Mom and Dad would then call
Grandma and Grandpa Strempke and tell them to come over, then instruct us to
return to our rooms while they went downstairs to see if Santa had actually
arrived and left gifts. Fortunately, he
didn’t miss our house even one year!
Mom would then start preparing some sort of breakfast while
we eagerly looked out our windows to see Grandma and Grandpa’s car pull in our
driveway. At last, we would be able to
go downstairs! When Grandma and Grandpa
got in their place on the couch, Mom and Dad had the camera ready to go and
their first cup of coffee, we would be invited to come downstairs. When the three of us scurried down the stairs
it was as if Santa and his reindeer were still on the roof. Booms, thrashes, squeaks and screeches
erupted as we tore down the stairs and around the corner where the tree set to
see what Santa had brought us. Wow!
Whether it was a Red Rider BB-gun, a Stretch Armstrong, or Evil
Kneivel on his motorcycle complete with a ramp (these were three of the most
memorable gifts I can recall) we always got way more than we deserved. It as awesome!
Following an hour or two of unwrapping gifts we would start pestering
Dad to help us assemble, put batteries in, or just show us how to work these
amazing gifts we had just received. And
yes, we even had to try on our new clothes to be certain they fit – it was an
unfortunate but necessary part of the morning as well. Then a quick change out of the new pajamas and
into your new Iowa sweatshirt and jeans (complete with tearing off tags with
reckless abandon) and we were off to City Hall (either in Oelwein or Hazelton)
to meet our Grandma Birchard and her side of the family. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, came from miles
around and filled a tile or wood floored hall with voices of laughter, singing,
prayer, food and fun. It was a family
Christmas time like no other.
At the hall we would have a guy and girl gift exchange which
always provided because of the assortment of gifts given. Socks, hats, t-shirts, pocket knives and
coffee cups were typical in the men’s exchange while the girls exchange was
littered with cheap jewelry, doilies, pot holders and perfume. In addition to the gift exchange gift we also
got a special gift from Grandma Birchard.
It was almost always the same gift for all of us cousins. So if I got a t-shirt so did all of my
cousins. If they got a wind up robot, so
did I. So on and so forth. Then we would stuff ourselves with a buffet
style Christmas dinner, line up and take pictures – immediate family first,
then all the boys, then all the grandkids, then all the uncles, then all the
aunts, then everyone … and each picture was taken with everyone’s camera so we
had the same photo fifteen times – actually now that I think about it that was
almost as good as the digital pictures of today!
Then me and my cousins would head outdoors to burn off a
portion of the excitement and sugar we
had consumed in large doses over the day.
had consumed in large doses over the day.
Tell me, isn’t this a storybook Christmas if you’ve ever
heard one? Yeah, and I had this same
experience with slight variety every year of my childhood growing up. Simply put, it was AWESOME! So thankful for these Christmas memories!
Marc and Brad, what can you add? Marc, can you edit this post and add a picture or two depicting any of what I've described?
Legacy - mortality and its discontents
Another "it just happens", perhaps correlated with the legacy concept is the reality of our own mortality. In my reading last night I stumbled upon (thank you Twitter) this op ed piece in the New York Times about mortality by Timothy Egan. It has an admittedly mountaineering/outdoor bent which narrowly appeals to me, but there are some nuggets in the article for everyone. Three specifically:
1. It’s a bad day when the most creative thing you do is come up with an unoriginal form of self-pity.
2. ...the real tragedy is not every click of the postpartum clock, but how we have come to see aging as a disease.
3. It may be true, as George Orwell said, that “at 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” Orwell died at 46, so his observation was purely speculative. But what about the body we deserve?
Although not always successful in the way I want to be, hence the NY resolutions and goals for us all, I try to embrace to concept of living in the moment and earning the face/mind/body/soul/life that I want to have. If I do that consistently over time I'm hopeful my legacy, whatever may be chosen for me by those I leave behind after I die, will work out in a way that mirrors the way I lived.
1. It’s a bad day when the most creative thing you do is come up with an unoriginal form of self-pity.
2. ...the real tragedy is not every click of the postpartum clock, but how we have come to see aging as a disease.
3. It may be true, as George Orwell said, that “at 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” Orwell died at 46, so his observation was purely speculative. But what about the body we deserve?
Although not always successful in the way I want to be, hence the NY resolutions and goals for us all, I try to embrace to concept of living in the moment and earning the face/mind/body/soul/life that I want to have. If I do that consistently over time I'm hopeful my legacy, whatever may be chosen for me by those I leave behind after I die, will work out in a way that mirrors the way I lived.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Cool as the other side of the Pillow
Stuart Scott was always enjoyable to listen to on SportsCenter. I've drifted away from sports in these past few years (I don't even have ESPN anymore), but there was a time in my life when I was an ESPN fanatic and I actually had favorites for SportsCenter. Stuart was one of my favorites.
Legacy is always an interesting topic. You can read my thoughts on it, which is still where I stand, in my blog post almost five year ago to the day: January 9th, 2010. Anyway, the interesting thing about legacy to me is that I don't think you can intentionally create legacy. It happens naturally and grows from the person that you are. I don't think Stuart Scott said, "I want my legacy to be 'Boo-yah', 'Cool as the other side of the pillow', and loving my daughters." He did his job his way and loved his daughters. It was just who he was, and in the end, it ended up being a legacy. I'm not sure it's the best analogy, but it's like collectibles. When something new is being sold today as a "collectible" I can pretty much guarantee that it won't ever be collectible. When they started selling Star Wars toys back in the 70s, no one said, "These are going to be collectibles." They were just toys, but they ended up being collectibles. So when someone says, "This is going to be my legacy" it's doubtful to me that it will be. Legacies grow out of who a person is by how they are living in the here and now and is only identified as a legacy in retrospect.
It's sad to see anyone lose a fight to cancer, especially for the family left behind. It's hard to believe that he was only five years older than me. RIP Mr. Scott.
It's sad to see anyone lose a fight to cancer, especially for the family left behind. It's hard to believe that he was only five years older than me. RIP Mr. Scott.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Stuart Scott, Aspirations of Creating a Legacy
I'm pretty certain I'm not unique in wanting my life to have purpose, wanting to create a legacy of sorts ... creating something that outlives your time on earth.
Well that's what I thought about when reading the many tributes to Stuart Scott over the past 24 hours. He will be remembered as someone who broke barriers, created a new type of sports broadcasting, and someone who was a positive influence and inspiration for so many others. He was a family man. Truly a legacy.
I'm not going to attach all the tributes to this blog but a simple Google search will result in countless video accounts of how much Stuart meant to his family, his colleagues and to his profession. My favorite is the NFL today staff speaking about Stuart, specifically the comments from Chris Carter and Keshon Johnson about how he inspired and instilled confidence in them as African American broadcasters. Touching and impactful.
Boo-Ya Stuart! You blazed a trail for others to follow and lived your life in a way that I aspire to live mine.
RIP Stuart Scott
1965 - 2015
Bye 2014, Hello 2015!
Marc, thanks for initiating the first post of 2015. I thought I would chime in with my two cents on closing out 2014 and what I'm looking forward to in the New Year.
I must admit that I have generally negative feelings and recollections of 2014. Losing both Grandma's and an unexpected separation from my employer are the two biggest headlines for 2014 that contribute to a year that I'm happy to have behind me. I also took a quick look at my 2014 resolutions/goals.
Here they are and the grade I would give myself on each of them:
1. No texting and driving (I know I should never do this but admittedly I do)
2. Limit my soda intake to no more than 5 per week
3. Recertify for my SPHR and GPHR designations
4. Take a significant vacation (at least a week) with my immediate family
5. Plan something special for our 25th wedding anniversary to ensure it is memorable
6. Complete my first sprint triathlon
7. Develop a strong personal friendship with at least one person in Denver
8. Don't check my phone (email, texts, facebook) before 6am and after 9pm
B- I still do it occasionally, but occasionally is too often. I need to eliminate this fully.
B Until the last couple of months of the year I was successful. Over the past two months I would say I'm more in the 7-10 per week range.
A I was able to scramble and successfully recertify for both these designations!
F I didn't do this, and really wanted to. I can make all the excuses I want to but this is really important and will be even more so in 2015. Haley goes off to college this Fall!
B Holly and I did go to Las Vegas and we had a good time just enjoying each other. But I had hoped for a renewal of vows, a special night of some sort, or something else that would have made it even more special.
F I didn't do this and am not sure whether I want to now. I've lost the desire and now just want to be more realistic with my fitness goals. And anything that involves running just isn't in my repertoire of fitness regimen.
B I did develop a few strong personal friendships. Unfortunately a couple of those were colleagues at my former employer and since my separation these friendships haven't been sustained.
D Holly would probably give me an F but I "tried" to be better about this. But realistically I have a lot more work to do to even approach how absolute this goal was.
Overall, a C average from what I had hoped would be at least a B year or better. Enough of 2014, I'm closing it out. Now on to 2015. I'm not going to set myself up the same way I have in previous years. I want to set realistic and achievable goals that will still make for a better year, a better me. So here's my list for this year.
1. No texting and driving, ever.
2. Take a memorable vacation with just my immediate family before Haley goes off to college.
3. Give Haley the graduation and send off to college that she deserves.
4. Spend less time on Facebook, and more time with my wife and kids while at home.
5. Establish more stability professionally, and enjoy my work life more than I did in 2014.
6. Attend church more regularly, develop a stronger relationship with God.
7. Do my first Fourteener.
8. Keep my weight under 200 pounds for the entire year.
2015 feels like a year of transition. For me but also for a lot of our family. Mom and Dad will be adjusting to not having either of their Mom's to look after. Marc and Jen will be adjusting to returning to Maryland for what may be Marc's last tour in the Navy. We will be adjusting to Haley's final year of high school and my new employment transition. And I'm certain Brad and Sheila have their transitions as well.
That's it boys ... here's to a more satisfying and successful 2015 for us all!
I must admit that I have generally negative feelings and recollections of 2014. Losing both Grandma's and an unexpected separation from my employer are the two biggest headlines for 2014 that contribute to a year that I'm happy to have behind me. I also took a quick look at my 2014 resolutions/goals.
Here they are and the grade I would give myself on each of them:
1. No texting and driving (I know I should never do this but admittedly I do)
2. Limit my soda intake to no more than 5 per week
3. Recertify for my SPHR and GPHR designations
4. Take a significant vacation (at least a week) with my immediate family
5. Plan something special for our 25th wedding anniversary to ensure it is memorable
6. Complete my first sprint triathlon
7. Develop a strong personal friendship with at least one person in Denver
8. Don't check my phone (email, texts, facebook) before 6am and after 9pm
B- I still do it occasionally, but occasionally is too often. I need to eliminate this fully.
B Until the last couple of months of the year I was successful. Over the past two months I would say I'm more in the 7-10 per week range.
A I was able to scramble and successfully recertify for both these designations!
F I didn't do this, and really wanted to. I can make all the excuses I want to but this is really important and will be even more so in 2015. Haley goes off to college this Fall!
B Holly and I did go to Las Vegas and we had a good time just enjoying each other. But I had hoped for a renewal of vows, a special night of some sort, or something else that would have made it even more special.
F I didn't do this and am not sure whether I want to now. I've lost the desire and now just want to be more realistic with my fitness goals. And anything that involves running just isn't in my repertoire of fitness regimen.
B I did develop a few strong personal friendships. Unfortunately a couple of those were colleagues at my former employer and since my separation these friendships haven't been sustained.
D Holly would probably give me an F but I "tried" to be better about this. But realistically I have a lot more work to do to even approach how absolute this goal was.
Overall, a C average from what I had hoped would be at least a B year or better. Enough of 2014, I'm closing it out. Now on to 2015. I'm not going to set myself up the same way I have in previous years. I want to set realistic and achievable goals that will still make for a better year, a better me. So here's my list for this year.
1. No texting and driving, ever.
2. Take a memorable vacation with just my immediate family before Haley goes off to college.
3. Give Haley the graduation and send off to college that she deserves.
4. Spend less time on Facebook, and more time with my wife and kids while at home.
5. Establish more stability professionally, and enjoy my work life more than I did in 2014.
6. Attend church more regularly, develop a stronger relationship with God.
7. Do my first Fourteener.
8. Keep my weight under 200 pounds for the entire year.
2015 feels like a year of transition. For me but also for a lot of our family. Mom and Dad will be adjusting to not having either of their Mom's to look after. Marc and Jen will be adjusting to returning to Maryland for what may be Marc's last tour in the Navy. We will be adjusting to Haley's final year of high school and my new employment transition. And I'm certain Brad and Sheila have their transitions as well.
That's it boys ... here's to a more satisfying and successful 2015 for us all!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Hello again blog, and Hello 2015
The blog has been dormant for awhile, but the New Year is a fresh start for all kinds of things, and it might as well be a fresh start for Brothers 3 Are We as well.
Before I start looking at what's ahead, I want to consider 2014 for a minute and that requires a look back at my thoughts from a year ago.
Grace: One of my goals was to be a more gracious person - to be quick to forgive and not be a person who talks behind the backs of my coworkers. By no means am I as far as I would like to be in that arena, and yet I feel like I did improve. I let some things go and have tried to play the mediator at work to bring some issues to the forefront rather than letter them grow worse in the background.
Facebook: I'm not sure whether or not to call that one a success. I set a lofty goal of 15 minutes of FB twice a week. I don't think I managed that. It was easy when I was at sea, because internet EVERYTHING is limited out there I managed it with no problem. But when I'm home and hanging around the house with a lot of time off work (like the past month) I am looking at FB regularly. The good news is that HOW I use FB has changed in the past year, for the better I think. I hide people pretty quickly. In other words, if the posts I see only irritate me or get me riled up about something, I just hide the person so that I don't ever see it. I've also changed how I post. I've tried to reduce the number of posts, and I generally don't post OR comment on anything that could be considered controversial. No, I haven't totally avoided that, but I'm much better than I used to be. So I'll try (again) to reduce my time on FB this year. I do enjoy it (for the most part) but really is a total time waster.
Books: As I predicted I would (due to six months at sea), I exceeded my reading expectations this year. In 2013 I read 10 books - in 2014 I read 27! Some of my favorites were from the Hornblower series (I read four of them this year), Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman about his experiences dropping out of high school to hitchhike around the country birding, and Battle for Leyte Gulf, written in 1947, only three years after the actual battle took place. I'm shooting for 15 books this year, although I'm starting out with a nearly 600-page tome about the history of China. What was I thinking?
Fitness: Geez, it never ends. Fitness is so easy on a ship when you really don't have anything else to do. It feels good because it fills time in your day. At home it's a different story. 2014 was a decent fitness year, but I fizzled in the final month. Time to get back to it. Fitness is one of my least favorite things to talk about because there's no fun way for me to do it. I just have to force myself, no way around it. I hardly rode my bike last year, which I'm not very happy about. Hopefully having a riding partner again when I move back to Maryland will help with that.
Education: I had hoped to firm up some education plans, and although I looked at opportunities on a regular basis throughout the year, I still haven't made any decisions. I'm having a difficult time deciding if I want to physically attend classes at a local program or do another online degree. I'm a lot more wary now of "degree mills" so even if I do choose online I need to ensure that it's a reputable school. So that goal didn't fall off the table, but I didn't manage to solidify anything, so I'm basically in the same spot that I was a year ago.
So what's ahead for 2015? It's tough to make any plans this year, because so much will change for Jennifer and me. We'll head back to the East Coast in March, and there is a lot up in the air associated with that move. We have no idea where we'll be living. We intend to buy but it depends on what's available when we're looking. I don't know if I need to anticipate lots of home improvement time or not. Who knows where we'll end up!
I'm embracing my digital hobbies this year. I've got a good stack of cassette tapes, probably around 20 or 30 that I'd like to get digitized. I'm also still working on Mom and Dad's photo albums to get those scanned. I think I managed to finish Jennifer's and my photos this year, so I should be able to make good progress on Mom and Dad's, assuming I can get my hands on them. Brad, I might take you up on your offer of mailing them off to me if we get settled in Maryland. I've wanted to dabble in mixing music (DJing) for YEARS and this may be the year that I start. I received a stash of money from a few sources for Christmas so I'll probably look into getting some digital turntables this year. I have no intention of doing anything public, but just doing it for my own enjoyment - a "bedroom DJ" or something to that effect. I haven't made an attempt at digitizing some of our 8mm video tapes, but I'd like to figure that out at some point, too.
I've never managed to read through the Bible in a year. This is the year that I give it a go. I found a reading plan that covers 25 days a month so it has some flexibility for missed days. I think that will make it a lot more manageable.
Starting off the year with another long an boring blog post. But hey, my intentions for 2015 are in the books!
Before I start looking at what's ahead, I want to consider 2014 for a minute and that requires a look back at my thoughts from a year ago.
Grace: One of my goals was to be a more gracious person - to be quick to forgive and not be a person who talks behind the backs of my coworkers. By no means am I as far as I would like to be in that arena, and yet I feel like I did improve. I let some things go and have tried to play the mediator at work to bring some issues to the forefront rather than letter them grow worse in the background.
Facebook: I'm not sure whether or not to call that one a success. I set a lofty goal of 15 minutes of FB twice a week. I don't think I managed that. It was easy when I was at sea, because internet EVERYTHING is limited out there I managed it with no problem. But when I'm home and hanging around the house with a lot of time off work (like the past month) I am looking at FB regularly. The good news is that HOW I use FB has changed in the past year, for the better I think. I hide people pretty quickly. In other words, if the posts I see only irritate me or get me riled up about something, I just hide the person so that I don't ever see it. I've also changed how I post. I've tried to reduce the number of posts, and I generally don't post OR comment on anything that could be considered controversial. No, I haven't totally avoided that, but I'm much better than I used to be. So I'll try (again) to reduce my time on FB this year. I do enjoy it (for the most part) but really is a total time waster.
Books: As I predicted I would (due to six months at sea), I exceeded my reading expectations this year. In 2013 I read 10 books - in 2014 I read 27! Some of my favorites were from the Hornblower series (I read four of them this year), Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman about his experiences dropping out of high school to hitchhike around the country birding, and Battle for Leyte Gulf, written in 1947, only three years after the actual battle took place. I'm shooting for 15 books this year, although I'm starting out with a nearly 600-page tome about the history of China. What was I thinking?
Fitness: Geez, it never ends. Fitness is so easy on a ship when you really don't have anything else to do. It feels good because it fills time in your day. At home it's a different story. 2014 was a decent fitness year, but I fizzled in the final month. Time to get back to it. Fitness is one of my least favorite things to talk about because there's no fun way for me to do it. I just have to force myself, no way around it. I hardly rode my bike last year, which I'm not very happy about. Hopefully having a riding partner again when I move back to Maryland will help with that.
Education: I had hoped to firm up some education plans, and although I looked at opportunities on a regular basis throughout the year, I still haven't made any decisions. I'm having a difficult time deciding if I want to physically attend classes at a local program or do another online degree. I'm a lot more wary now of "degree mills" so even if I do choose online I need to ensure that it's a reputable school. So that goal didn't fall off the table, but I didn't manage to solidify anything, so I'm basically in the same spot that I was a year ago.
So what's ahead for 2015? It's tough to make any plans this year, because so much will change for Jennifer and me. We'll head back to the East Coast in March, and there is a lot up in the air associated with that move. We have no idea where we'll be living. We intend to buy but it depends on what's available when we're looking. I don't know if I need to anticipate lots of home improvement time or not. Who knows where we'll end up!
I'm embracing my digital hobbies this year. I've got a good stack of cassette tapes, probably around 20 or 30 that I'd like to get digitized. I'm also still working on Mom and Dad's photo albums to get those scanned. I think I managed to finish Jennifer's and my photos this year, so I should be able to make good progress on Mom and Dad's, assuming I can get my hands on them. Brad, I might take you up on your offer of mailing them off to me if we get settled in Maryland. I've wanted to dabble in mixing music (DJing) for YEARS and this may be the year that I start. I received a stash of money from a few sources for Christmas so I'll probably look into getting some digital turntables this year. I have no intention of doing anything public, but just doing it for my own enjoyment - a "bedroom DJ" or something to that effect. I haven't made an attempt at digitizing some of our 8mm video tapes, but I'd like to figure that out at some point, too.
I've never managed to read through the Bible in a year. This is the year that I give it a go. I found a reading plan that covers 25 days a month so it has some flexibility for missed days. I think that will make it a lot more manageable.
Starting off the year with another long an boring blog post. But hey, my intentions for 2015 are in the books!
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