Home Archive by category "Life" (Page 26)

Category: Life

When Men Cook

Well, I decided to bless my wife by cooking the Kid U Post-Conference Pizza Outing Left Overs last night… it was good stuff, Gino’s East if you’re curious. Deep dish pepperoni pizza to be exact, and there was some left over to take home to my wife who missed the late night dinner due to getting our little boy to bed. I could swear (though I don’t) that she said, “Just put it in the oven at 350, it will heat up better than in the microwave.” I was a little surprised, thinking she meant just put the box in, so I answered, “Really? Just put it in the oven?” She replied, “Yes.” So I did. I set the timer for 20 minutes but about 15 into it the kitchen smelled of smoke. I was on the phone with my dad giving Kid U highlights when my wife comes in crying, “Did you put the BOX in the oven?!?!?” I said “Yes, just like you told me too.” Turns out it was on fire! The fire was quickly put out, and after all the excitement, the pizza was fine, though it definitely had that “smoked” flavor! Please tell me we…

Continue reading

A Cow in the Sky

For the first time in his little life my son woke up crying because of a nightmare. We awoke to his tears and like a good father I ran upstairs to see what my little boy needed. Did he climb out of the climb and fall? Did he get an arm or leg stuck through the railings? Did he drop a toy or binkey that he can’t sleep without? Nope. He saw a cow. (don’t laugh) I came in the room, “Daddy’s here, everything’s O.K.” to see his fear filled eyes looking to me for salvation. He reached out to me like someone drowning reaching for the life guard. I scooped him up, and seeing that nothing was physically wrong, asked, “What’s the matter, Lukie?” “Cow!” he whispered in my ear as he pointed up toward the ceiling. “Cow up in the sky.” I put his head on my shoulder so he wouldn’t see the smile I couldn’t resist. My voice remained deeply concerned but my face couldn’t hide the silent laughter at such a cute fear. I was so happy the scariest thing in his little world is a cow in the sky! He clung to me as I…

Continue reading

Operation Order!

OK! I finally have a completely free day without meetings or anything toooo urgent, so I’m at the library to try and get a grip on my life and the swirling tasks, projects and never ending to-dos! In one sense, I’m in a good place. I’m doing a lot better at putting family first, but now work is starting to slip into the chaos of the tyranny of the urgent. That’s better than when I never got around to some home duties, now I’ve kinda flipped the other way where every day at work is driven more by my e-mail inbox than intentional strategic tasks. Well, that ends TODAY with Operation Order. (Operation Chaos is concluding) I’m blogging this for my own accountability and to outline my plan, which may overflow into two days: Step 1: IDENTIFY A stack of 3×5 cards awaits the names of products or areas or people clammiring for my time, attention, thought and action. Step 2: DEFINE A new blank notebook will donate a page to each area identified in Step 1 to define it’s purpose, priority and place in my life. Step 3: DETAIL Next I will detail the tasks and action steps required…

Continue reading

Remembering Tony Snow

I know I am late, but I wanted to post this testimony from Tony Snow for my own keep-sake. Tony was a powerfully articulate speaker (my favorite Rush Limbaugh substitute) who was appreciated and admired by friends and foes alike. I learned so much from him about how our country works. He made me proud to be an American and understood the issues of today better than most and supported his positions with facts and logic instead of just angry emotion like so many of his opponents. And he was always upbeat and positive and respectful. Below is his testimony as he was dying of cancer. (FYI: the same cancer that took my mom at the same age: 53. Way too soon for both of them.) Tony Snow’s last televised briefing. Photo by Getty Images This is an outstanding testimony from Tony Snow, President Bush’s former Press Secretary, and his fight with cancer. Commentator and broadcaster, Tony Snow, announced that he had colon cancer in 2005. Following surgery and chemo-therapy, Snow joined the Bush Administration in April, 2006 as press secretary. Unfortunately, on March 23, 2007, Snow, 51, a husband and father of three, announced the cancer had recurred, with…

Continue reading

A Little Advice (for myself)

As I was reflecting today (a combination of praying, panicking and planning) God gave me a message that I just needed to post, mostly for myself – though if it encourages you, then so be it. I’ve just completed Day #2 of “Operation Mr. Mom” – nine days solo with my boy. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind ONE BIT, in fact today was a perfect day filled with church, a special meal out, lots of love and cuddles and playful fun and even a a boat ride for dinner courtesy of a friend who loaned me their pontoon boat for the evening. I’m not complaining, but I am thinking about how I’m going to do this week. I’ll do less work, for sure, by design as well as necessity, and I refuse to farm the boy out (though I’ve had many offers!) but it’s tough enough on the boy having mom gone so long, I want to be around as much as possible; after all, he’s used to having mom when I’m out of town. Anyway, I was thinking through everything on my plate, current projects, the usual constant communication load, and then not only keeping up…

Continue reading