Someone asked me this week if I knew a certain person. The answer was yes. I'd met that person as part of an awards ceremony years ago. That last part wasn't necessary to answer her question. Yet, I just couldn't suppress the chance to drop the fact that I'd won an award. The sad thing is that people who talk about their own accomplishments lose credibility with me (unless they're in a job interview). Still, some disreputable urge to be esteemed occasionally swamps that logical part of the brain. It's the needle swinging into the red on the self-centeredness meter.
Over dinner with Dena last night we got to talking about people getting married, and I made some disparaging joke along the lines of "if so-and-so can get married, then anyone can." Attempts at humor don't get much cheaper than that! Someone once said of me in college that I was such a quiet guy, but whenever I did say something it was hilarious. Too much talking eventually dries up the well, and muck starts coming out. It's a good idea to be more like Dena's uncle Dale, a guy who reserves his words for times that he knows it'll help.
Hidden Bloggers can tell by my posts that basketball season has mushroomed into a significant part of life this week, the first full week of practices consuming about 20 hours of work which will be the norm. About 1.5 hours of practice, a half hour of analysis with the coach, thirty minutes of travel, and at least another half hour making personal notes at home. The learning has been as fruitful as hoped for the coaching repertoire. Twenty or so new drills. A new offense, out-of-bounds plays, defenses, press breakers. Even got a chance to study some film and learn the offense of an opponent. The team is growing gradually, a long way from dominant, but with good reason to have optimism considering how much they've had to learn in nine practices. Our first game against Morton is the day after Thanksgiving, at the Bloomington High School tournament, less than a week away.
Yesterday Dena and I had a long, fun date that culminated in dinner at Avanti's and a trip to the movies. It was also a personal celebration of a half-birthday, a milepost I use to count down my remaining time at State Farm before changing careers. This afternoon the two of us went to Four Seasons and did some cardio on the treadmill, then settled in to watch a rerun of Titanic on T.V. It was an ideal type of weekend to help recharge the body after a consuming week and uneven sleep patterns.
Our soccer team kicks off (ha-ha) in just a few weeks, and we held another practice on Saturday. The weather was crisp and ideal, and it felt great to develop some give-and-go rhythm with a few teammates. Scored enough goals in an intrasquad scrimmage to build up some chemistry. It also let me break in a pair of cleats that treated my feet considerably better than my last pair.
Work brought a couple of key meetings this week involving executive-level decisions, both of which succeeded. It's been full-steam ahead with three major product designs demanding completion by year end, but our staff is talented and I'm confident that we'll get it done.
It's a week to be especially thankful. Let's see how well I can carry that spirit of serenity through its end...
No comments:
Post a Comment