Where Does The Time Go ?

It's basically August now.

 

In 2013 ... which means it's almost 2014.

 

School starts tomorrow for 4 of my kids.

 

Next year I will have a child in high school!

 

Summer is over, for all intents and purposes.

Today at work my "empty agenda" quickly filled up with meetings and conversations and assorted busy work.  All of a sudden I looked up and it was 3:30pm.  The day was nearly over.

My landscaping project(s) at home are fast approaching their overall deadlines.

In so many different areas, I feel time just slipping away at a breakneck pace.  I am not sure why this is.  My time is being replaced with memories and experiences, but it just seems to move so fast.


Song Of The Day:
Nothing else like music takes me back to a time when minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months didn't disappear as swiftly.  One of my classic favorite time has gone so quickly songs is "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx.  I am grateful for the memories I have collected in exchange for my minutes and hours, but I do sometimes find myself pining for long, lazy nights.

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How Do You Attack An Oncoming Cold ?

There you sit, enjoying the day, when all of a sudden you get that tingling feeling.  It could be a scratchy throat that doesn't go away quick enough.  Maybe it's a sneeze that forces you to use two tissues afterward.  Or perhaps your head just starts to feel cloudy or congested.

NO !!!

Here comes a cold, but I will not allow this to happen!  I do not want to be sick!  I am unwilling to waste my precious time off from work!  I don't want to go through a box of tissues a day or not be able to taste my food!  This is NOT happening!  Time to take preventive action!

Isn't everyone just full of helpful
advice when you start to feel ill?!

I have friends who swear by their Neti pots and others who use Emergen C in these situations.  At one point in my life, I would aggressively ingest massive quantities of orange juice and double my normal hand-washing practices.
These all have their place, but lately I have one preferred method for combating an oncoming cold: increased physical activity.


Tonight I felt the first hint of a cold (coupled with allergies, which always complicates things), and so I ramped up my physical activity.  I coerced my oldest son into helping me sift the last of the rock pile in the front yard ... and then further coerced him into taking MANY wheelbarrows of dirt from the front to the back yard.  This was thoroughly exhausting (my son and I both agreed) ... but it wasn't enough!  So I went and played 90 minutes of basketball (3 on 3) and really got my sweat on.

There is just something about physical activity that always makes me feel like I can beat this cold down until it doesn't dare show up again.  #feelingincontrol  :)


Song Of The Day:
I haven't heard the song "Smile" by the artist Vitamin C in way too long.  So it certainly fits here, both for her name and the fact that winning a battle against a cold certainly makes me smile!

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Why Are They No. 2 Pencils ?

In a home with 7 children (5 of whom return to school this week) there is a constant need for an industrial strength electric pencil sharpener.  We have already been through two other models, but our current sharpener has withstood about a year and a half of aggressive use.  I am thankful for this because today was "Back To School Pencil Sharpening Day" in the Case Place.

As I sat there, sharpening what had to be more than a hundred pencils, my mind began a chain of thought that eventually led me to do research on a subject I never really cared about.  I don't hate that, but I sometimes wish my need to know the answer to certain questions wasn't so strong.

If you care, you can read Wikipedia or use a search engine like Google to learn more than you ever wanted to know about pencils, lead, numbering, shading, hardness, darkness, and so on.  For my purposes, it only took me about 30 seconds to find the answer to the title question of this blog post.

But then I read on for nearly 30 minutes about all sorts of other information I became interested in as a result of links and commentary and questions in the initial sites I viewed online.  I will almost certainly never use this information again, but now I know and ...

Song Of The Day:
When life puts me in situations where I just have to find the answer to some silly question, I feel "Taken In" or perhaps sucked into learning is a more appropriate phrase.  But Mike & The Mechanics didn't have a popular song about getting sucked in so this will have to do!

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Do We Remember To Say Thank You ?

I know several of my recent posts have had a more negative or frustrated tone, which is probably why I found myself in a very reflective mood today.  Sundays are always great for reflecting on life.

Today my thoughts were centered around gratitude for people who have graciously sacrificied their most precious commodity (time) on behalf of me or others I care about.  Just one brief example should illustrate my point.

Yesterday, Trent V (our troop Scoutmaster), spent almost his entire day (before 7:00am until after 7:00pm) supporting our Boy Scouts.  Now I was there too, and I drove, etc. BUT there is a big difference here.  Trent doesn't have a son in our troop.  In fact, Trent has no real obligation to support these scouts, other than his own desires to serve other people and help these boys learn how to be successful men (husbands, fathers, adults, etc.)

Let me be clear here.  For scout leaders or other adults there is literally NOTHING to do at camp all day long!

There is no wifi or internet.  In fact, most of our phones were out of range, so you cannot even make calls or communicate with others outside the camp area.  Unless you want to learn about whatever merit badge one of the boys is learning about, it is just a lot of sitting and trying to stay cool and not get eaten alive by mosquitos or other bugs.

Trent did the best he could to put his time to good use (planning a lesson for church, catching up on some reading, taking a hike on the LONG nature trail - he did NOT expect it to be as long as it was), but at the end of the day it was mostly just a lost day.

I know I thanked him for being there, but I wonder if I really showed enough gratitude for his sacrifice of time.  And this is just one example.  There are many others I need to make sure know I appreciate their time and effort.


Song Of The Day:
I was unable to find the song "On A Hopeful Note" by John Jarvis on YouTube.  It is a very uplifting piece of music that fits perfectly with this post.  BUT ... I did find "A Perfect Rain" and it is a nice substitute!  :)

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Why Are You Following Me ?

James N is an accomplished attorney,
and a good friend of our family.

So there we (myself, my oldest son, and Aaron B) were, almost home from our return trip** to Camp Cris Dobbins, when we spied our Young Men's President, James N, just a little ways up the street.  So we drove up next to him and chatted with him for a little bit.  He was out jogging and had stopped in to say hi to his sister, but she wasn't at her house so he was just going to head back home.  And off he went.  **(it was a make-up day for the scouts to finish the merit badges they had started at camp a month ago before we were evacuated due to the Black Forest fire).

I started to turn the car around when Aaron joked and said "You should totally follow him all the way home, like we're stalking him."  We all laughed ... and then I did EXACTLY THAT!

I drove a little ways up the street.  James heard us coming and, thinking we were joking about running him over, he ran off at a sprinter's pace.  I quickly pulled to the side of the road and instructed the boys to pretend like we were looking at something in the neighbor's yard.  And off he went.  The boys were giggling.

After he turned the corner, I sped up the street and slowly rounded the corner.  He was alittle ways down the street but must have felt our presence somehow because he turned around to look back at us.  By that time I had pulled over next to another house, and the boys were dutifully looking at the sidewalk.  James shook his head ... And off he went.  Now the boys were laughing loudly.

I drove a little further down the street and James turned around, running backwards, with his arms stretched outward while giving us a "What is going on?!" kind of look.  I stopped the van in the middle of the street and just looked down.  When I looked up, James had stopped too, but he just shook his head again ... And off he went.  This time, quite rapidly.  I was worried about the boys' ability to breath as they were gasping for air between bouts of roaring laughter.

I came around the curve in the road to see him run around another corner, so I sped up trying to catch him before he got too far up the next street.  I flew around the corner and quickly came to a stop sign.  Several things happened all at once:
 - I looked up and down that street but James was no where to be seen.
 - Aaron shouted from the back seat "Oh no!  He's in the tree!"
 - Josh shouted "Ahhh!  Here he comes!  Drive!  DRIVE!!!"
 - And James started banging on the passenger side window while shouting the title of this blog post.

I rolled the window down and we all enjoyed a good laugh about the experience.  James expressed his changing thoughts and emotions, while I recounted the hilarious laughter coming from these two young men.  We said good bye to James ... And off he went.  The boys chuckled and did that long sigh you get after laughing very hard.

But, I decided, that it wasn't over YET!

I raced off in the opposite direction of James and took a back way to the next major intersection he would be crossing.  The boys were literally begging me to stop.  I pulled the car to the side of the road (in a turn lane) and put my hazard lights on.  And there we sat for about 3 minutes until we saw James come to the light at the corner.  The boys started laughing even louder and then James looked toward our vehicle.  The look on his face was a mix of shock, fear, amusement, and maybe a little despair.  He stretched his arms outward again giving us a "Seriously guys?!" kind of look ... And off he went.

I have never heard these boys laugh so long, so loudly, or so hard in the years I have spent at various activities with them.  It was pure joy and a memory that none of us will likely ever forget.  Thanks James for being a willing(?) victim of our harmless stalking.


Song Of The Day:
I have several CDs by an a capella group that goes by the name InsideOut.  I love their harmonies but also appreciate the humor of some of their songs.  What a perfect post to use "The Stalking Song" which is set to the tune of Happy Together by the Turtles.

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Why Are My Kids So Uptight ?

I must preface this post by saying that I am NOT asking this title questions about my kids.  Other than on certain occasions (usually when they are hungry), my kids are NOT uptight, needy, high-maintenance, quick to complain, or otherwise so tightly wound that they cannot deal with even minor changes.

I love my kids and am grateful for

their positive approach to life!

I AM talking about other people's kids.  You know whose kids I am referring to.  It shouldn't take you more than a few moments to remember a recent scenario when you thought aloud to yourself "Whose KIDS are those?!"  And if you're like me, when you do see the parents you might make a fairly quick judgement like "Ohhhh, that makes sense."

I would apologize for any parents this may offend, but I'm NOT sorry.  In fact, you need to hear this and I might as well be the one to tell you.  I am not a perfect parent by any definition of the role, but in my years of parenting I have gained some useful knowledge (much of it from making plenty of mistakes).

Sadly, much of your child's crankiness is NOT a natural reaction, but has been nurtured into them.
 - If they are picky about what they eat, think back on when you catered to their preferences ... or perhaps went the other way and forced too much on them.
 - If your child gets cranky WAY early and wakes up WAY early, remember when you trained them with that schedule through your actions.
 - If your child does not "play well with others" (is bothered by loud noises, has difficulty sharing, doesn't seem to make friends easily, doesn't trust other people, cannot handle being in large group settings, etc.) ... the issue almost always begins with YOU.

Kids model what they see.  For better or worse.
I think most grandparents realize this, which is why they are so much nicer and patient with grandkids than they were with their own children.  With experience has come some wisdom.  "Ohhhhhh, why is he acting like that?!  ... Wait.  I act like that!  Eureka!" and then they improve their own behavior to the betterment of everyone around them.

So please stop complaining about how rough life is with your kiddos.  Stop whining that they never let you leave them alone for a date night or to read a book.  Stop blaming them for being an interruption in your life.  Instead, start recognizing that their behavior is a reflection of YOUR BEHAVIOR and if you want them to change, perhaps YOU should change first.


Song Of The Day:
Flipping the tone of this post from negative (toward these complaining parents) to positive, here is "Come With Me" by Phil Collins.  Listen to the lyrics because they make me think of a loving parent who helps their children be better than them by teaching them how to not repeat their mistakes.  I hope that I can do that for my children.

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What Was Your Goal ?

July is always mid-year evaluation time at Progressive.  This is a time when I, as a Supervisor (with about 22 employees who directly report to me) invest significant time assessing their individual performance thus far this year.  I am under the obligation to write a Performance Evaluation for each employee, providing ratings in about 5 or 6 major areas of performance.  I also provide an overall performance rating and then discuss these results with each person individually.  This last step often includes goal setting and very rarely, some revision to the evaluation I have put together.

I take these "check ins" very seriously.  My personal goal is for there to be absolutely NO surprises for these employees as they review what I have written.  I expect them to remember conversations we have had earlier this year and when they read their PE (performance evaluation), they should come away with two things: knowledge of their strengths and opportunities ... and ... knowledge that I am aware of and care about what they are doing in their role.

Without intending to sound prideful about it, I must say that it is always rewarding when I achieve these goals, which I have done consistently for the past 3 or 4 years at least.  There is something gratifying about being on the same page with an employee whose performance you are somewhat responsible for.  I say "somewhat" because ultimately it is always every employee's individual responsibility for their own results.  The Manager, Supervisor, Leader, or Boss merely influences and supports the employee achieving or exceeding their goals.

With that in mind, I have to say, I am often disappointed when I receive my own PE, especially around the mid-year time.  I have yet to report to a Manager who seems to put as much energy into this process as I do.  I have felt for the past several years (at least 3), that my PE was simply a box that needed to be checked off for my boss.  Even if the words that are written are generally positive and the ratings are accurate, I always hope for a brief recap at the start of my Manager's goal in writing what they did.  Am I supposed to be motivated?  Should I feel bad for failures or missed opportunities?  Is my performance headed in the right direction?

Sadly, the presentation of my mid-year PE today was NOT accompanied with clearly defined answers to these questions.  I am grateful for the opportunity to ask them directly to my boss next week, but I fear it will be a stressful couple of days until I can clarify the intent of her writing and ratings.


Song Of The Day:
It's been way too long since I last shared an OMD song, so here is "Was It Something I Said" from their best CD: Sugar Tax.  If you ever find yourself in a position where you are expected to judge performance and write about it on an individual level, may I suggest that you set expectations for your direct reports BEFORE delivering the evaluation?  From my limited experience, it makes a BIG difference!

BONUS - While pulling this song of the day, I came across a Mash-Up of this song and Rihanna's Pon De Replay.  Here it is, titled simply "Was It De Replay" ... what do you think?

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