Sunday, December 19, 2010

High/Low Week 50, 2010

We're a good six months past vacation in Hatteras. That week away cleaned my mind of the plaques that build up. The mental muscles were primed against the irritations, ego trips, setbacks and over-analyses that bounce like meteors hourly against an otherwise peaceful atmosphere. Back then it was easier to see my corner of the world as part of a greater creation, not so much filled with distinct people and agendas, but as pieces like me of a greater cohesive plan. Pieces that occasionally collide, but in a way that eventually serves a winning purpose. It's not so hard to smile in those situations when seen through healthy eyes. However that health requires daily exercise. This week has been flabbier... a stretch of entitlement here... cranky comment there... lazy snacking. Nothing too explicit that would offend another, but when trying to experience an excellent life these little lapses accumulate into dams of stagnation.

Wednesday was a critical day at work, as we'd been building up to a meeting for a month. We delivered plenty and it went well. In turn, that allowed me to burn through a sizable backlog of e-mails to close out the week. Meanwhile, a couple early afternoon basketball practices that I couldn't attend freed up some time to finish three books that had been clamoring for attention (and provided some inspiration for Hidden Blog entries).

The hoops team played a solid, selfless team game on Saturday, and heads into the break at 7-1. Signs of improvement continue to flourish, the players are getting along well, there are a couple of "hard work pays off" stories to be enjoyed, and the coach is mentoring us all to the next level of accomplishment.

Jack crashed at our place for a couple of days, looking great and having a ball.

Christmas shopping is nearly done, and should be polished off tomorrow when I take some personal time off work to skirt the holiday shopping crowds.

Tecmo Super Bowl lit up on the first push of the power button, rather than after ten tries and a few attempts at blowing on the machine as usual. Some things just get better with age.

The Bulls won nine games in a row, and the fantasy football team squeaked into the playoffs as the final seed before upsetting the top-ranked team this afternoon.

Got in several good workouts at Four Seasons and am at personal bests in all weightlifting exercises.

These next two weeks are delightfully free of a logjam of meetings. With discipline it's reasonable to catch up entirely on e-mail, to give more attention to employees and projects that have been waiting patiently, and to roll into the new year on a high note.

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