Amer-A-Kuh, We Stand As One
What’s the Forth Of July without this song? This is an oldie but goodie and nothing makes me want to bust out my ‘USA’ tank top more than this. So get out there, blow some crap up, eat some barbecue, and have yourself a Happy Forth of July.
Any Forth traditions out there we should know about. What do you do every year?
Father’s Day Canoe Trip
Kristin always hits it out of the park when she plans things. Today for Father’s Day, she planned an amazing seven and a half mile canoe trip down the Duck River about 20 or 30 miles from our house. It’s one of those places that takes you up river in a van and drops you off and gives you several hours to make it back. Absolutely perfect. Well, perfect except for the part where I jumped in the river to chase a turtle with my phone in my pocket. But other than that, perfect.
This morning I woke up to the Kristin and the boys bringing me breakfast in bed. Cooper was so excited that he swung on the curtains and ripped the pole out of the wall and it slammed into my computer, then spilled the coffee. Nothing like a dose of fatherhood reality in the midst of breakfast in bed.
So, about a quarter of the way into the trip, we stopped for some lunch. Now, when I said that Kristin plans, I mean she plans. Just the sandwich she made was no joke. Homemade bread, avocado, pesto, turkey, spinach and some other cool stuff. Then after lunch Kristin had strawberry shortcake. Frick. Strawberry shortcake. On a river. Complete with whip cream and all that. I told you she was no joke.
So after seven and a half miles, and another layer of sunburn on the shoulders and a full belly, we’re spending the rest of the day relaxing, watching some movies at some point eating some sushi. An absolute perfect day despite the distracting turtle that ruined my phone. I have the coolest family out there.
So, happy Father’s Day to all those dads out there. Keep your phones out of the water and enjoy the rest of your day.
Christmas Eve
What part of the world are you celebrating Christmas in this year? Have a great one.
Tradition Or When You Can?
Well, it’s officially after Thanksgiving and I can morally feel okay about decorating for Christmas. I know some of you already have your Christmas stuff up and Thanksgiving and I can forgive you for that, but I’ve never even thought about bringing out the old Christmas tree before December 1st. Not because I don’t like to, but just because it feels weird.
So, today Kristin and I started the “Christmas decorations” talk and it looks like we might do some prep work today and ‘officially’ decorate tomorrow. Tree, house lights, stockings, the whole deal…. complete with hot chocolate and the movie ‘Elf’.
So what’s your decoration strategy? Do you have a set day that you do things? Any yearly traditions? Or is it just a ‘whenever you can talk dad into breaking out the ladder to go out in the cold and put up some lights’ kind of thing?
We don’t have a specific day that we do things but it’s always, always after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving
I don’t know if everyone does this, and I don’t think we even do this every year, but I’ve heard of folks going around the Thanksgiving Dinner table and saying what they are thankful for. Now, I don’t think many folks are going to be doing much blog reading today, but I thought it’d be cool if we did that here.
So here’s the deal, up there is your awesome Thanksgiving meal complete with aluminum tray. Let’s take some time and list out the things that we are thankful for today.
Today I’m blown away at what an amazing family I have. Three healthy, awesome boys and an amazing wife that keeps me together. It’s been a crazy year and I’ve been gone most of the year and I don’t know how Kristin has kept things together at the house with the three crazies. I couldn’t be more thankful that I get to be home for a while, settle in and enjoy being with them.
Alright. Now it’s your turn. We’re all sitting around this table. Let me know what your thankful for today.
Ready? Go.
The Beginning
Well, it’s begun. The first day of the new year. Not much has changed from yesterday, but I’m excited. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m more excited about last year ending, or if I’m more excited about what this year might hold.
Neither Kristin or I are big on ‘resolutions’, but the beginning of a year always brings some reflection and assessment of your life. I think it’s good to have realistic goals and work hard to attain them and that’s how I am looking at this year.
I think one thing I really want to focus on this year is being a person of integrity. If there’s one thing that I want to hold up as a high importance in my life, it would be to be a person of integrity. In business, in friendship and in life. It’s a harder road some of the time, but in the end I think it’s worth the trouble to not be the guy that lies, steals and cheats his way to the ‘top’, whatever that ‘top’ may be. It might take longer and we may never attain every goal, but at the end of the day, I want the people around me to see someone they can trust. Wow, that sounds a little dramatic, but it’s not. Just something I think we should all strive for.
So that’s about it for me as far as ‘resolutions’ of sorts. Well, that and have an awesome mustache again.
Everyone has got a few goals laid out for the beginning of the year. Today is the first day of that. What’s yours?
Goodbye 2008
It’s been a rough year in our house. Literally the entire year. There were moments of awesomeness, but for the most part 2008 will go down in the books as one of our least favorite. It’s not a bad thing, just a growing time of sorts… I think.
We started off 2008 not knowing which direction I wanted to go as far as work was concerned. I didn’t know if I was going to continue road managing, find some other ‘industry’ job or get a job at Wal-Mart and start over. Then this whole blogging thing showed up and really started to take off. Now, here’s the thing. When I say ‘take off’, please understand that it doesn’t mean financially ‘take off’. We’ve struggled. The first part of the year Kristin even got a job at Target to supplement while I was making a go at a job that previously didn’t exist in any industry. Now looking back there are several artists that are blogging and it looks as though something amazing has started, even if they aren’t blogging with SkörInc (yet).
And don’t get me wrong. We have been unbelievably blessed, and I know there are plenty of people far more less fortunate than us in the world. All I am saying is this was easily the hardest year emotionally, financially, and mentally we have ever had as a married couple. And we have three young kids that have been on this journey with us. Just a few weeks ago Kristin and I were talking about how we won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2008 and are excited to see what 2009 has in store.
Tonight we plan on keeping things mellow. The boys have some games they want to play, we’ll have some dinner, then watch the ball drop. Not massive plans but mostly staying up for the tradition of it. I’m trying to look at tomorrow as the start of a year that will change our lives. 2008 kicked our butts and I’m excited to see the result of that in 2009. Work is starting out slammed and we have some really cool things coming up in the next few months.
Thanks so much for all the support you have all dumped on me and this community. It wouldn’t be what it is without you all, and SkörInc wouldn’t have done what it did without you either. Here’s to a great 2009. Glad you are all along for the ride.
Thanksgiving Eve Celebration
So, most likely tomorrow I will be ignoring you. Not you personally, but you as a world-wide internet whole. But you know what? You will be ignoring me too. See, Thanksgiving just isn’t a day where you spend much time online. And we can’t hold that against each other.
That being said, I would like to initiate the world’s first Thanksgiving Eve Blog Celebration. It’s a modest celebration and really I just made it up this morning, but it’s a celebration regardless. Basically what I would like to do is go around the blog world and express our thanks. You know, like you do at the Thanksgiving table? It’s simple, except I am attaching a number to it. I’d like us all to say three things we are thankful for. Three. That’s it. One. Two. Three. And I’d like for the list in the comments to be longer than when we were all griping about Christians Voting For Obama. How’s that sound?
I’ll start.
(1) My amazing family. My wife, who puts up with my weirdness and still manages to like me. And my amazing kids who keep me on my toes and challenge me to be a better dad.
(2) I’m continually blown away by the freedom that God gives me to not ever have a “real job”, yet continues to provide for us. I love that I can be doing something that is different every day, working with amazing people, and stretching myself creatively and somehow still paying our bills. I’m thankful for that.
(3) It’s going to sound cheesy, but I am truly grateful to you guys. The people that come back here every day. This is more than a blog. This has become a place that ideas have been born and turned into something that is really making a difference. Thanks for sticking around, even if I offend you at times.
See how easy that was? Now it’s your turn. Spread the word. It’s the first ever Thanksgiving Eve Celebration. Ready? Go.
Six
Today Blue turns six.
This little man holds a special place in my heart. Like most parent-child relationships this kid can drive me nuts and melt my heart all within a matter of seconds.
Today, we are having “family birthday” where Blue says he’s in charge. We’re headed to Chuck E Cheese’s for lunch and games, then Blue and mom are going on a birthday date to see Wal-E and maybe shopping for a hat. Tomorrow is the friends party. It’s a pirate party with swords, treasure, and a monkey cake, because that’s what Blue wants.
Happy Birthday Blue!
