It's been a couple of weeks since I wrote....my apologies. Some top of mind thoughts tonight:
1. Out here in the East, attending a Good Friday service is a big deal. It's funny how I'm considered to be so non-religious because us Mormons don't go to church on that day. A couple of colleagues were a bit taken back that we went to IKEA on that day. But we more than make up for it 52 Sundays a year!
2. Speaking of IKEA, I'm writing on this great little two-seater couch in our playroom. It was around $151 and the best find from IKEA in a while. Very comfortable and just the right touch for this room.
3. Our neighborhood has a little bunny rabbit that hops around the area lawns. For those who know me well, they know that's a huge plus for me as I have always had a thing for baby rabbits. The kids call him Cottontail. (I wanted to call him Carmel after my pet rabbit from when I was in first grade, but I was overruled.) He just sits on our lawn quietly, though we haven't been able to get up close enough to pet him yet.
4. The Yankees need some pitchers in the worst way!!! They're letting all of A-Rod's homers go to waste. And why were we ever crying for A-Rod to be traded? I can't remember....
5. I walked to the train station this morning. I forgot how much I missed that since we moved. It is now a 1.25 mile walk, which is about 1.16 miles further than at our old house. But I left at 5:30 to catch a 5:59 a.m. train. It was very pleasant. I forgot that the walk to the train served as my morning prayer time.
6. I have a new plan for keeping the Sabbath. Too often, I let work hang over me during the full weekend as I plan to "log on" Sunday night and finish my Friday afternoon work that didn't get done or make a jump for the next week. And it really ruins the whole weekend for me. So now I'm attempting to avoid that...and when I do, it makes a huge difference for me.
My solution: I plan to get to work on Mondays super early (hence my 5:30 a.m. walk to the train this morning). Then I have about 1.5 hours to get stuff done before clients get to their offices. It also means I have to go to bed early on Sunday night....which I don't do often enough.
A side benefit: I feel OK leaving work "one train earlier" to come home on Monday night, which lets us start family home evening before all the kids unravel.
One simple thing -- honoring the Sabbath -- with a lot of side benefits. Let's see if I can keep it up.
7. The annual merit badge seminar was this weekend. I always kind of dread it, but I lucked out with a good group of boys. My best teaching idea: they have to teach a technique or skill to the class. I printed up some of the "Worst Case Scenario" items from the internet, and had them teach how to fight off an alligator, jump from a building into a Dumpster, escape from a car submerged in a lake. Bizarre enough that they liked it.
8. By moving from our old house, I no longer have to master parallel parking. But now Kathryn is forcing me to do a different parking skill: back in to the driveway. She likes to do it and by default, I kind of have to do it, too. I kind of thing it's rather pretencious (I can't spell tonight) to back in, but I suppose the neighbors won't run us out of town for that.
Mark
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Blogging from the New House
1. We've decided to decorate our house in a Scandanavian motif. More specifically, we bought more stuff from IKEA. For those from Utah (which is getting an IKEA soon): Warning! IKEA is a bit like a drug. I think their big catalogue is actually a form of Home Furnishing Porn.
I continue to have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. Nothing is more fun than shopping there. But the do-it-yourself portion isn't always the easiest thing in the world. Fortunately, this latest venture resulted in extremely limited pain in relation to assembly...but that's not often the case.
I wish someone would invent an electric allen wrench, which is the the major source of sore hands.
2. Fuddruckers and Newman women (or soon-to-be Newmans) don't seem to mix well. We always stop there on our way home from IKEA. Once again, Caroline spilled her milk shake creating a chocolate river under the table. Happened last time, too. When Kathryn and I dated, we went to the one in Baltimore and she spilled a couple of water glasses on the table. And yet we keep returning.
3. Is there such a thing as "sick days" anymore? Seems like for me and my clients, rather than taking a sick day where we turn off the phone and computers and rest, we simply say: "I'm not feeling so good today...I'm actually going to stay at home today, but will be on email and am accessible by cell phone." The electronic age has made it harder for us to completely "turn off" work when we are sick, on vacation, etc.
4. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm pleased nonetheless. I have a Dilbert daily calendar on my desk at my office. Most years, I skip ahead at some point when I'm bored to see future cartoons. But this year, I vowed not to look ahead. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm proud to say I've withstood the impulse to 'read ahead' this year.
5. I think someone was taking flash pictures during sacrament meeting today. Seriously. I thought I saw a flash go off once and then heard what sounded like a one-time use camera being wound. Then it happened again, and the winding sound. Can't imagine why anyone would want to record our sacrament meetings...they're barely worth noting in a blog.
6. Things I miss about our old house: disposal, walking to the train, feeling more comfortable in my kitchen, having toilet paper roll holders installed (that's this week's project), my little "mail slot" on the stair well, a fridge with a higher "fridge to freezer" ratio than what we have now, a bigger dishwasher. Also, the old house was an attached home, which is another way of saying it was like a duplex....meaning someone owned the other half of the house. When I heard strange sounds, I just assumed it was the neighbors and didn't investigate. Now, when I hear sounds that scare me (footprints upstairs, pipes hissing, etc.) I can't igmore and most investigate. I liked just assuming it was an easily explained sound vs. thinking there's a monster upstairs.
7. What is nice about the new house: having a doorbell that works, heat that is non-radiator, dimmer switches already installed where we want, a shower that is only a shower and not also a bath, double-paned windows to make the house warmer. a huge walk-in closet for me that fits my dresser and filing cabinet, too.
8. Last week during the move, I didn't shave for more than a week because I couldn't find my razor. I'm pleased to say that it was to the point that the BYU Testing Center would not have let me in. But that was about the extent of it.
9. I'm still not fully feeling like I'm in my routine. I think part of it is that I've been out of my office for 5 of the past 10 business days. (3 when we closed, one for Good Friday, and one for a trip outside the office). Plus, we have General Conference last week, so even the Sunday didn't feel like a Sunday. I'm a routine guy and I'm still feeling a bit discombobulated.
10. "The Office" returned to high form this week. "Why do I have to bring Toby? He's like the worst person on the planet." "Michael, are you wearing a woman's suit....you look like Hillary Clinton." "I am not a real hero. The real hero are those who put on costumes and fly around with capes."
11. Joke of the night from Josh: How do you get a tissue to dance? Just put a little boogie in it.
12. Yankees update: so far, they've played pretty stinky. But Saturday's game was very memorable. Josh had been watching it off and on throughout the day. The Yankees clawed back into the game. In bottom of the 9th, Yankees down by one, 2 outs, bases loaded, 2 strikes, A-Rod at the plate. SLAM!!! Home run! A-Rod gets a lot of grief from NYC fans, but for one moment, he was quite the hero. It was cool to watch it live.
I continue to have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. Nothing is more fun than shopping there. But the do-it-yourself portion isn't always the easiest thing in the world. Fortunately, this latest venture resulted in extremely limited pain in relation to assembly...but that's not often the case.
I wish someone would invent an electric allen wrench, which is the the major source of sore hands.
2. Fuddruckers and Newman women (or soon-to-be Newmans) don't seem to mix well. We always stop there on our way home from IKEA. Once again, Caroline spilled her milk shake creating a chocolate river under the table. Happened last time, too. When Kathryn and I dated, we went to the one in Baltimore and she spilled a couple of water glasses on the table. And yet we keep returning.
3. Is there such a thing as "sick days" anymore? Seems like for me and my clients, rather than taking a sick day where we turn off the phone and computers and rest, we simply say: "I'm not feeling so good today...I'm actually going to stay at home today, but will be on email and am accessible by cell phone." The electronic age has made it harder for us to completely "turn off" work when we are sick, on vacation, etc.
4. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm pleased nonetheless. I have a Dilbert daily calendar on my desk at my office. Most years, I skip ahead at some point when I'm bored to see future cartoons. But this year, I vowed not to look ahead. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm proud to say I've withstood the impulse to 'read ahead' this year.
5. I think someone was taking flash pictures during sacrament meeting today. Seriously. I thought I saw a flash go off once and then heard what sounded like a one-time use camera being wound. Then it happened again, and the winding sound. Can't imagine why anyone would want to record our sacrament meetings...they're barely worth noting in a blog.
6. Things I miss about our old house: disposal, walking to the train, feeling more comfortable in my kitchen, having toilet paper roll holders installed (that's this week's project), my little "mail slot" on the stair well, a fridge with a higher "fridge to freezer" ratio than what we have now, a bigger dishwasher. Also, the old house was an attached home, which is another way of saying it was like a duplex....meaning someone owned the other half of the house. When I heard strange sounds, I just assumed it was the neighbors and didn't investigate. Now, when I hear sounds that scare me (footprints upstairs, pipes hissing, etc.) I can't igmore and most investigate. I liked just assuming it was an easily explained sound vs. thinking there's a monster upstairs.
7. What is nice about the new house: having a doorbell that works, heat that is non-radiator, dimmer switches already installed where we want, a shower that is only a shower and not also a bath, double-paned windows to make the house warmer. a huge walk-in closet for me that fits my dresser and filing cabinet, too.
8. Last week during the move, I didn't shave for more than a week because I couldn't find my razor. I'm pleased to say that it was to the point that the BYU Testing Center would not have let me in. But that was about the extent of it.
9. I'm still not fully feeling like I'm in my routine. I think part of it is that I've been out of my office for 5 of the past 10 business days. (3 when we closed, one for Good Friday, and one for a trip outside the office). Plus, we have General Conference last week, so even the Sunday didn't feel like a Sunday. I'm a routine guy and I'm still feeling a bit discombobulated.
10. "The Office" returned to high form this week. "Why do I have to bring Toby? He's like the worst person on the planet." "Michael, are you wearing a woman's suit....you look like Hillary Clinton." "I am not a real hero. The real hero are those who put on costumes and fly around with capes."
11. Joke of the night from Josh: How do you get a tissue to dance? Just put a little boogie in it.
12. Yankees update: so far, they've played pretty stinky. But Saturday's game was very memorable. Josh had been watching it off and on throughout the day. The Yankees clawed back into the game. In bottom of the 9th, Yankees down by one, 2 outs, bases loaded, 2 strikes, A-Rod at the plate. SLAM!!! Home run! A-Rod gets a lot of grief from NYC fans, but for one moment, he was quite the hero. It was cool to watch it live.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
We've Moved!
Well, the move finally took place this past week. What a stressful process. I now hope we never move again....and at that point, it's a move out west. But it all turned out well.
Just some random observations to get me back on track as to posting on my blog...there's so much more to be written about the move, but here's a few nuggets:
1. In most areas, we upgraded. But I do miss having a garbage disposal and an ice maker in our new kitchen. But not deal breakers.
2. I officially begin my first new commute in more than 8 years. Our two houses (one rental, one owned) were three doors apart, so my commute hasn't really changed since moving to the 'burbs of NYC. I'm going to miss having the freedom to walk out the door on my schedule to catch the train rather than having to have Kathryn load up the kids and drive me to the station.
3. We finally have a door bell that works.
4. Thrilled about having forced air (and that means central air, too). I'm thrilled to say adios to radiators and their non "on-demand" approach to delivering heat.
5. You know you're finally comfortable in a new place when you feel safe wandering around the house at night without turning on lights. That hasn't happened yet. I try it...but without success.
6. Why don't our bathrooms in our new place have toilet paper roll holders?
7. Why did the sellers take the mailbox? Odd.
8. Our neighbors have no idea what they're in for!
Just some random observations to get me back on track as to posting on my blog...there's so much more to be written about the move, but here's a few nuggets:
1. In most areas, we upgraded. But I do miss having a garbage disposal and an ice maker in our new kitchen. But not deal breakers.
2. I officially begin my first new commute in more than 8 years. Our two houses (one rental, one owned) were three doors apart, so my commute hasn't really changed since moving to the 'burbs of NYC. I'm going to miss having the freedom to walk out the door on my schedule to catch the train rather than having to have Kathryn load up the kids and drive me to the station.
3. We finally have a door bell that works.
4. Thrilled about having forced air (and that means central air, too). I'm thrilled to say adios to radiators and their non "on-demand" approach to delivering heat.
5. You know you're finally comfortable in a new place when you feel safe wandering around the house at night without turning on lights. That hasn't happened yet. I try it...but without success.
6. Why don't our bathrooms in our new place have toilet paper roll holders?
7. Why did the sellers take the mailbox? Odd.
8. Our neighbors have no idea what they're in for!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Church News
So much to write, yet so little time as we move this week to our new house a mile away from our current abode. So I'll save some of my nuggets for next week.
But I wanted to let everyone know that Kathryn had a great article published in this week's Church News about a new branch that was created in our stake. I believe it's page 13, and it's a full page.
On a related note, a couple of thoughts about the Church News:
1. It kind of follows a double standard when it profiles new mission presidents, temple presidents, General Authorities, etc. Why is it the style to publish the age of the priesthood holder, but never the age of his wife? Of course, I'm smart enough to know why that is, but if it's not relevant to know the wife's age, why is it relevant to know the male's age?
2. Of course, I'm glad they publish the male's age. I always look to find the youngest-called mission presidents. And I've noticed a trend. If you don't want to be called as a mission president when you are super young, don't work for the church!!! Seems like all 39 year old presidents are CES, BYU or some other job with the church. Working for the church seems to be like putting a red beacon on your head that says: "Hey coach, send me in as a mission president while I'm young".
3. If all callings are of equal importance, in theory, and the most important callings are HT, father and husband (for males), why do they list all the former callings of a new mission president? Does their past experience need to be listed to show they are qualified? I thought "he that is called is qualified", so shouldn't that be enough? And how relevant is it to their calling at age 65 that they were a Sunday School president at age 25?
But I wanted to let everyone know that Kathryn had a great article published in this week's Church News about a new branch that was created in our stake. I believe it's page 13, and it's a full page.
On a related note, a couple of thoughts about the Church News:
1. It kind of follows a double standard when it profiles new mission presidents, temple presidents, General Authorities, etc. Why is it the style to publish the age of the priesthood holder, but never the age of his wife? Of course, I'm smart enough to know why that is, but if it's not relevant to know the wife's age, why is it relevant to know the male's age?
2. Of course, I'm glad they publish the male's age. I always look to find the youngest-called mission presidents. And I've noticed a trend. If you don't want to be called as a mission president when you are super young, don't work for the church!!! Seems like all 39 year old presidents are CES, BYU or some other job with the church. Working for the church seems to be like putting a red beacon on your head that says: "Hey coach, send me in as a mission president while I'm young".
3. If all callings are of equal importance, in theory, and the most important callings are HT, father and husband (for males), why do they list all the former callings of a new mission president? Does their past experience need to be listed to show they are qualified? I thought "he that is called is qualified", so shouldn't that be enough? And how relevant is it to their calling at age 65 that they were a Sunday School president at age 25?
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Daylight Savings Time
A short post today...I used some of my writing time drafting a letter to "Sue Sue" on her mission instead of blogging:
1. I don't have an issue with the whole Daylight Savings Time in principle. And I really like the earlier start time as NYC is at the start of the Eastern Time Zone which means it can really light really early in the morning, which means kids rise earlier. (Mid to late March was always like "running out the clock" to get to Daylight Savings Time as it would get sunny too soon).
But here's my issue: What idiot decided that 2 a.m. would be the PERFECT time to lose an hour? Sure, it works great in the fall when we gain an hour. Who doesn't love an extra hour of sleep. But seriously...does anyone really desire to give up an hour of sleep? Why don't we lose that hour when we're doing something we hate....or at least gets us to the weekend faster? How cool would it be if we lost that hour at 4 p.m. on Friday....we'd all get to leave work early and have a longer weekend.
For that matter....nearly ANY hour lost during the work week would be preferable to having one less hour on a weekend.
I realize from a practical matter it has to be the nighttime. But at least make it Friday night to Saturday morning so we have a couple of days to adjust to it before having to go to work
2. We've been doing a lot of packing...and purging...this weekend. When I looked in one trash bag, I saw a handful of Christmas toys for the kids from a couple of years ago. Makes you think about the "shelf life" of the things we buy.
I wondered if our purchasing habits would be different if we had to have an "exit strategy" for every item we bought (i.e determining ahead of time when and how we'd discard the item after it had served its usefulness). If we had to commit to keeping -- and using -- something for a full year (under threat of a penalty for not adhering) I think we'd second guess a lot of our purchases. Just think what that money could be used for. Even realizing that some of the things we buy are more disposable than we think (i.e. we'll trash them in a year or so) would provide a sober reality.
And if we were brutally honest, we'd probably admit that 90 percent of the things we buy for our kids for Christmas get tossed aside within three months. Of course....being a marketer of toys, I can't have too many realize that or I'd be out of a job.
1. I don't have an issue with the whole Daylight Savings Time in principle. And I really like the earlier start time as NYC is at the start of the Eastern Time Zone which means it can really light really early in the morning, which means kids rise earlier. (Mid to late March was always like "running out the clock" to get to Daylight Savings Time as it would get sunny too soon).
But here's my issue: What idiot decided that 2 a.m. would be the PERFECT time to lose an hour? Sure, it works great in the fall when we gain an hour. Who doesn't love an extra hour of sleep. But seriously...does anyone really desire to give up an hour of sleep? Why don't we lose that hour when we're doing something we hate....or at least gets us to the weekend faster? How cool would it be if we lost that hour at 4 p.m. on Friday....we'd all get to leave work early and have a longer weekend.
For that matter....nearly ANY hour lost during the work week would be preferable to having one less hour on a weekend.
I realize from a practical matter it has to be the nighttime. But at least make it Friday night to Saturday morning so we have a couple of days to adjust to it before having to go to work
2. We've been doing a lot of packing...and purging...this weekend. When I looked in one trash bag, I saw a handful of Christmas toys for the kids from a couple of years ago. Makes you think about the "shelf life" of the things we buy.
I wondered if our purchasing habits would be different if we had to have an "exit strategy" for every item we bought (i.e determining ahead of time when and how we'd discard the item after it had served its usefulness). If we had to commit to keeping -- and using -- something for a full year (under threat of a penalty for not adhering) I think we'd second guess a lot of our purchases. Just think what that money could be used for. Even realizing that some of the things we buy are more disposable than we think (i.e. we'll trash them in a year or so) would provide a sober reality.
And if we were brutally honest, we'd probably admit that 90 percent of the things we buy for our kids for Christmas get tossed aside within three months. Of course....being a marketer of toys, I can't have too many realize that or I'd be out of a job.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Training from an Area Authority 70
Admittedly, last week's posting was lame, but I was tired yet still wanted to keep my promise of a "post a week".
Tonight, here are some thoughts and such from an early morning training we had with Elder Kim Smith, our area authority 70.
1. To the older men in the audience who were bishops: Don't think you can't relate to the youth. Pres. Hinckley is 96 or so and can you think of anyone who relates better with the youth than he?
2. Did you know that the only time a President does NOT choose his councilors in the church are when it's a YM president? The new handbook confirms that. The Bishop calls the President of the YM AND the councilors as they oversee a specific group of boys within the AP.
3. We must all ensure the church is keeping true to the Church Handbook. As a councilor, it's OK to point out that something isn't according to handbook. The handbook represents safety, and we should all protect ourselves by doing whatever it takes to adhere to it.
4. YM need to learn how to SERVE, not just be entertained. After all, missions and EQ sure aren't about being entertained!
5. Bishops are too quick to write welfare checks. By doing so, they are preventing a unique teaching opportunity from occurring.
6. When someone seeks welfare assistance, a Bishop should ask how their extended family is helping them out as that's the first line of defense. He shared an example of a brother to whom he wasn't close that needed help. The Bishop told him to ask his family first, and he said he was embarrassed. But now he and that brother are very close. (So, to my family...anyone need help?!)
7. Elder Bednar had said at a training recently that the Devil has increased his intensity so if we are at just the same level of spirituality as in the past, we're actually losing ground. (It's like my company....if we make the same amount of money from year to year, we actually make less profit as salaries have gone up, rent has gone up, etc. and we have less left over as profit). If you are doing LESS than you have normally done, you're losing ground twice as fast. So we need to make an active effort at increasing our level of spirituality.
Mark
Tonight, here are some thoughts and such from an early morning training we had with Elder Kim Smith, our area authority 70.
1. To the older men in the audience who were bishops: Don't think you can't relate to the youth. Pres. Hinckley is 96 or so and can you think of anyone who relates better with the youth than he?
2. Did you know that the only time a President does NOT choose his councilors in the church are when it's a YM president? The new handbook confirms that. The Bishop calls the President of the YM AND the councilors as they oversee a specific group of boys within the AP.
3. We must all ensure the church is keeping true to the Church Handbook. As a councilor, it's OK to point out that something isn't according to handbook. The handbook represents safety, and we should all protect ourselves by doing whatever it takes to adhere to it.
4. YM need to learn how to SERVE, not just be entertained. After all, missions and EQ sure aren't about being entertained!
5. Bishops are too quick to write welfare checks. By doing so, they are preventing a unique teaching opportunity from occurring.
6. When someone seeks welfare assistance, a Bishop should ask how their extended family is helping them out as that's the first line of defense. He shared an example of a brother to whom he wasn't close that needed help. The Bishop told him to ask his family first, and he said he was embarrassed. But now he and that brother are very close. (So, to my family...anyone need help?!)
7. Elder Bednar had said at a training recently that the Devil has increased his intensity so if we are at just the same level of spirituality as in the past, we're actually losing ground. (It's like my company....if we make the same amount of money from year to year, we actually make less profit as salaries have gone up, rent has gone up, etc. and we have less left over as profit). If you are doing LESS than you have normally done, you're losing ground twice as fast. So we need to make an active effort at increasing our level of spirituality.
Mark
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Another Sunday night...
1. The worst part about showing a house when trying to sell it is you can't find your stuff anymore. For example, Kathryn straightens up before each visit, and stashes things. I spent 15 minutes the other night trying to figure out where the new tube of toothpaste got tossed, and never did find it. I used the Dora toothpaste instead.
2. I had a 7 a.m. Stake Priesthood Meeting this morning. Josh didn't want me to miss it, so he was "kind enough" to set my alarm clock last night (unbeknownst to me) for 4:20 a.m. It woke up me, Kathryn and Samuel...which meant I had to get up with Sam...which dominoed into the other kids waking up. Thanks Josh! (Kathryn did spot me at 5:30 and let me go back to bed for 30 minutes).
3. I don't know where the nail trimmers are either.
4. I put on my list of things to do this weekend: Eat a lot of chocolate. I made that goal. I think my problem with creating lists is I've ben adding the wrong items to the list!
Don't have much else to talk about tonight...need to go catch up on my sleep!
Mark
2. I had a 7 a.m. Stake Priesthood Meeting this morning. Josh didn't want me to miss it, so he was "kind enough" to set my alarm clock last night (unbeknownst to me) for 4:20 a.m. It woke up me, Kathryn and Samuel...which meant I had to get up with Sam...which dominoed into the other kids waking up. Thanks Josh! (Kathryn did spot me at 5:30 and let me go back to bed for 30 minutes).
3. I don't know where the nail trimmers are either.
4. I put on my list of things to do this weekend: Eat a lot of chocolate. I made that goal. I think my problem with creating lists is I've ben adding the wrong items to the list!
Don't have much else to talk about tonight...need to go catch up on my sleep!
Mark
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