Not everyone appreciates the value of age, but it does make me thankful for that magical part of the brain that turns learned behavior into automatic behavior. When I step up to the microphone to sing at church or recite lines in the theater, I don't have to go over every single word multiple times right before singing it - I step up, start saying stuff, and the next batch of words just follows from memory from the last. Likewise my morning routine is so ingrained that it feels weird if I don't down a couple glasses of water, brush my teeth, and do a dozen other things in prep for the day. Habits... unconscious action... long-term memory is a gift worth marveling.
This last week was entirely sunny, the best that summer has to offer those of us who read by the pool. The promise of winter devotes me to get outside as much as possible while I can do it in shorts.
People are blessed with self-awareness - or at least the ability to become self-aware. It's kept me motivated to learn new skills and facts, to meet new people, to improve myself. Hopefully, to identify my faults and minimize them. Ants can't do this. Fish, probably not. We can, and it's why we're not only safe from extreme weather and almost all manner of natural predators, but can even learn to play the piano or sew incredible tapestries. Personally, I continue to learn how to become a better teacher, how to market in social media, how to coach. The self-awareness to be thankful at all makes us so unique in God's creation.
Father Gifford at Epiphany parish is a dynamic priest with enthusiasm for the church's youth program. It's inspiring to see someone putting his all into a mission.
As the summer's gone on I've been graced by the fact that muriatic acid, spilled in noticeable quantity in one's trunk, eventually fades in odor so that the driver doesn't get dizzy or smell like pool chemicals indoors. That's another whole blog post in itself, but let's hear it for chemistry.
This week I discovered auto-tweet. Hidden Blog posts now register automatically on Twitter, opening up to a whole new audience. Technology is grand. Especially with spreadsheets, which I also hailed last week. Once again, the diligent work of Coach Witzig was easily translatable into analyzable numbers by dumping his Word document into a pivot table. So thank you, Microsoft.
I read an article this week which noted that for many Americans - nearly a full quarter of them - the American dream is simply getting out of debt. In that sense, we're living the dream. And in a hundred others.
I'm glad that Mom's colonoscopy went well. No new developments. Amazing medicine considering that less than 5% of the world's population even has a computer. And I also learned that an extra measure of toughness is in my gene pool, as she underwent the whole 15 minute procedure - with snaky things stuck up into uncomfy places - with anesthetic that didn't work. Yikes! On her behalf, I'm thankful that colonoscopies are only recommended once every five years.
Nothing's much better than coming home to one of Dena's fresh-baked M&M peanut butter cookies. Except maybe for five of them. Mmmm.
This weekend Dena spent Saturday morning helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house, spent the evening visiting with a friend going through a rough patch, and spent Sunday morning volunteering for a food drive. She is so giving!
All the organizations I'm involved with are progressive leaps and bounds ahead of the stodgy, dying ones that are so easy to find. Heartland Community College continues to expand and to strive for national accreditation in its tutoring program. Normal Community High School's faculty are committed to growing new leadership programs for their student-athletes, and to use technology in new ways. Wyzant tutoring web site is constantly adding features which offer new resources that benefit tutors.
My newest private tutoring student is the most self-supporting I've seen so far. Intensely focused, and when he gets stuck he dives back into the book and reads the definitions himself. Who does this anymore? Usually I have to do the page-turning and hunting. He wants me to be a last-resort resource. It's a pleasure.
If small business is a playground, I'm excited for the toys coming my way... discovered a site where you can design legal pads with your own logo and web site. I'll be eager to share scratch paper with students now, a free page of advertising that costs less than a quarter apiece.
Our instrumentalists rocked out big time on Sunday! Sometimes the energy is just indescribable. They set the tone for a tremendous service of music leadership.
Thank goodness for the "autopick" feature of fantasy football drafts. Otherwise showing up 5 minutes late would've cost me dearly. As it was, I got an A-lister of a roster that coasted easily to a week 1 win. Meanwhile, the fantasy baseball season finished up in streaking fashion, as I leaped from 5th to 3rd place in one week, capping off a stunning 3-week run.
I'm grateful for Biblical words and the notion of Jesus that uplifts so many to higher moral standards. And at the same time, I'm more grateful for the flesh-and-blood philosophers of modern times who've been captured on film. Abraham Lincoln, John Wooden and others have imparted wisdom to me that I hope to live by.
May this week be filled with bright colors, deep sleep, and easy feeling.
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