Late night...

Hi. My Name is Mike and I am a Coffee-aholic. I started with the usual street carts and church receptions but soon I was importing my own high end Colombian blend at the young age of 18. Now I get it roasted and delivered in little white baggies that I hide in the freezer. I've tried a few times to quit, but never for more than a few months. I've stooped as low as having 5 cups of decaf to maintain my caffeine high. Tonight I have too much to do ... I have to get some work done for 8am, with some more due at noon. Time to buckle in and get to business. Coffee-driven cut and paste and graphical representations of project metrics.

Just a note about my impending weekend before I fade off. Lise noticed tonight that I will be off on Monday for MLK. SOOO she wants me to help her organize the office... and put hardwood floors in Connor's room. Work calling me.... See you in the AM.

-M

Feeling all powerful?

Ever feel like you would have to be a superhero to get everything done? This morning I had that feeling. Part of it was self inflicted, part of it was divine influence. :) Ryan and Connor both have head colds, but Ryan woke up barking like a seal and we determined visit to the doctor was in order. Meanwhile, Connor pretty much hasn't fallen asleep before 9pm (unless he hasn't had a nap) in about a week. Both are super overtired... but sleep is enemy and must be resisted at all costs. :)
So now I have two overtired, sick kids, and we have a meeting with Connor's speech people to see if he qualifies for additional services (post 3 yrs old), a Dr's visit to fit in and on top of everything, I forgot my power supply for my laptop for work (oops, there's the self infliction) and all needs to be taken care of between 9:30am and noon. ANYWAY... Lise and I are about to run out the door in different directions to take care of our errands and we find out that Marie fell, and broke her glasses (and her unit is locked down due to an outbreak of the norwalk virus -- eek-- it's enough to make your head explode). Seriously, I know... it's just how life is, and other folks have it much worse than I, but this blog is about my self indulgent blatherings (see the title), so deal... So it all got done and no one was seriously sick, injured, or excluded from services or fired, but in the midst of it all, as I barreled down the highway at 65MPH, on my way to the Pharmacy with Batman and Robin in tow, I thought... "If I was the Flash, I'd be done by now.", and then I thought "If I WAS the Flash... I'd have other problems... better count my blessings."

-SuperMike

Driekoningendag (Epiphany)

I read that according to some cultures we're supposed to eat the sweets that we hung on our Christmas tree, while burning it in a bonfire tonight. I took mine to the side yard for easy disposal and had 2 pieces of 80% Coco chocolate bar and a decaf coffee while the kids had these crazy yummy "Milky way" hot chocolates from Dunkin Doughnuts. Close enough. I so wanted to tell you something pithy today. I have come to my epiphany for the day, but it's boring. It is simply that I'm without great soul wrenching epiphany for you today. You may think this to be a cop out, but it's not. True that this is Kings day and a time to celebrate the realization that Jesus was reveled as the Lord and King, but I was hoping to give you some actual insight I had.

There are a couple of things I have learned this year, and while I'm not coming to it from great reflection I AM coming to it from great (and sometimes painful) learning experiences. It centers around making things happen by being positive. I think it should be recognized, that being positive, doesn't mean that bad things and negative feelings aren't recognized, expressed or even that a little self indulgent sulking isn't a part of my life. Nope... being happy, day to day HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. It's knowing in your core that you can make things work out no matter what obstacle we're met with... eventually. In fact, with every obstacle I overcome, I find that I make my day to day life better, when I embrace what led me there. I really had my first experience with this in college when I wrote an operating system in my senior year. After that I said "I can do anything... maybe not as fast as others, but I can figure it out, eventually." Now as a parent, I am trying to live it: OK... So I yelled at Ryan and overreacted... Got it... will I do it again?... yes... can I eventually be a better Dad? Answer: only if I give it a try and fail a few times, and never give up. (Ryan should be 60 when I get this right)

Being negative is powerful and can give you power to not try anymore. The problem is, it robs you of your power to succeed in other areas. When I have indulged in it, I spiral down and feel like I have to dig my way out. It's easy to think at these times that there is some force working against you... there is .... it's yourself.

-Mike