What Do You Do During Your Commute ?

Changing work schedules has affected my commute days and times.  This has had a mostly positive affect on me, with just a few lessons learned about where or when not to traverse certain intersections and roadways.

One of my favorite things to do during my commute is to leave behind thoughts and feelings of where I'm travelling from and contemplate where I am headed.  This helps me get into the proper mindset for whatever my destination is, whether it be work, church, home, basketball, or some other event or meeting.

All the Case Kids (from Mother's Day 2014)

My favorite commute is always the ride home regardless of where I am travelling from.  I like to imagine what the sights and sounds will be when I open the door and sometimes even daydream a little about the surprised looks on the faces of my beloved family if I am coming home early or if I enter from a door they weren't expecting to see me at.  I also like to make a mental list of activities to be completed or interactions to have, whether they be a kiss for my wife, listening to the kids' recap story of the day, or something less exciting like mowing the lawn.

I am not always successful in this transition (and I'd love to blame it on the commute being shorter than I expected, but that's almost never true), but when I am, it makes a world of difference.  I can hit the ground running, so to speak, and am much better prepared to play whatever role is asked of me.


Song Of The Day:
I actually enjoyed "On My Way Home" by Enya as a sort of returning from my church mission song.  I used to daydream about the flight home from Los Angeles with the words from that tune playing softly in the background.  Now I sometimes think of it as I drive home from work or church or any other place.  As stated in the lyrics "On my way home, I'll remember all the best days" and typically those are days with family and friends.  Now who wouldn't want to daydream about those times?!

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Sweetie, What Are You Doing?



Catalina was the "Statue of Liberty"
Myra is looking over the water on the left

We spent several hours today (Monday) aboard the USS Alabama, which was a highly decorated ship during several wars in its heyday.  The whole ship is so massive you could easily get lost in hundreds of different areas.  Our kiddos had a blast turning knobs and dials all around the ship.  They also loved the fact that it was easier for them to climb and descend the tiny stairs inside the cramped quarters of the vessel.  It is NOT easy to go up or down these stairs when carrying a toddler, an issue I am certain the sailors who worked on this ship never had to deal with.

My favorite experience was when we were getting ready to leave.  Myra, 2 1/2 years old, wandered off and crawled into a very cramped (but perfectly sized for little kids) mechanical room.  I caught up to her and asked her this blog post title question.  She replied "But we nevuh go'n see dis pyace agayin ... So I wiz sayeen goobye."  It was just so sweet.  As I collected her in my arms to carry her to the car she sniffled a little and said "Bye bye big ship.  We go'n miss you.  Tanks for da fun."

Song of the Day:
I keep thinking of "Orinoco Flow" by Enya.  Most people refer to it as the "sail away" song because that's the refrain in the chorus ... Sail away, sail away, sail away.  But the song title is Orinoco Flow and its fitting for visiting a big war ship memorial.

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How Do You Deal With Stress ?

I believe we all have our own ways to cope with stress in our lives.  We are most likely to identify our own process when unexpected stress rears it's ugly head.  This happened to me today when my barely 2-months old child (Spencer) had to go to the ER and is now staying overnight at the hospital with RSV.  Bless my awesome wife for staying with him, knowing she will get very little "rest."  So how do I deal with this stress?  Here are some thoughts ...

Some people cry.  Some people get angry.  Some people eat more.  Some people stop eating altogether.  Some people seek comfort in the presence of other people.  Some people seek to be alone with their thoughts.  Some people listen to music.  Some people read.  Some people disappear into online games.  Some people sleep.  Some people find busy work to keep their mind off the things that are stressing them.  Some people make lists of what they need to do.  Some people pray for guidance.  Some people phone a friend.  Some people watch TV or a movie.  Some people write their feelings (good, bad, angry, sad, etc.) in a journal or blog.  Some people exercise.

Whatever your method, may I offer one piece of advice?  Make sure it doesn't add to your stress after you are done ... otherwise, you're not coping or recovering, you are procrastinating ... and that virtually never turns out better.

BTW ... I think my method of coping is to offer unsolicited advice.  :)

Song Of The Day:
I also like to use music as a means to shift my stressful feelings into more action-oriented solutions.  Music can change your mood and can inspire you to overcome challenges you face.  When it feels chaotic for me, I really enjoy some Enya.  She has plenty of good tunes to choose from (although critics say it all eventually sounds the same).  One of my favorite, uplifting songs is "Fairytale" which is a relatively simple melody, but it always soothes me and takes me to a happy place.

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