A Tax-Free Week In Thanks

I remember a June weekend not so many years ago which was perfectly miserable. At the time my job was a mixture of some of America's favorite dinner topics - actuarial mathematics, tax law, and solving customer service problems. And this weekend a hastily assembled and launched computer program was flush with glitches, put on my shoulders to test exhaustively. I spent those sunny days in a windowless office, then past midnight, hunched over spreadsheets and stacks of paper brimming with tiny font.

No salary is large enough to compensate a job whose most significant accomplishment is to drain your life's supply of heartbeats.

I am so, so thankful to have the life I have today!

Tomorrow I start a new adventure, tutoring two different group sessions in honors geometry and algebra. Last week I met with two different sets of parents for the first time, both of whom addressed me as if I were a doctor who specializes in curing math-ache. Positive descriptors like "professional" and "impressive" flow my way on a regular basis. Students excitedly text me after tests. I'm only as good as God made me, and supremely blessed that as far as teaching and leadership go, God made me pretty good.

For the last two weeks I have been religiously going to bed at midnight and rising at 8am. The effect on my energy and productivity has been pronounced. Some nights I force myself to bed when I want to stay up and play, and some mornings I force myself to stay in bed when my body wants to get up. That discipline, those eight hours of consistent and devoted rest, are bringing the rest of my life into clearer focus.

Last night was a flood of warm memories from my days in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as a host of us trekked to Peoria to see it performed at Peoria Players Theatre. The company, the food and the music made for a lighthearted atmosphere, and we even took a reunion photo since nearly the entire cast was on the trip.

The Cubs have a winning record, my fantasy baseball team holds a firm third place in the nine-team league, and the Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup finals. Jack's softball teams won three games in one day. Even horse racing produced a Triple Crown winner for the first time in 37 years.

Last Sunday I volunteered with Dena at Eastview Christian Church to design the stage, contributing to a 2015 goal of serving a new organization. Met some new and interesting people.

My audition for Hairspray with the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts went as smoothly as I could have hoped. I came away completely satisfied with the effort... still waiting on whether I got the part.

I had lunch with LMC classmate Jeremy Levine, and had an exciting week recruiting a committee to design a new leadership training curriculum for the Chamber of Commerce. The resources and quality of people here are nearly unparalleled anywhere else in town in their centralization.

The stormy morning made an ideal backdrop for undisturbed blogging this morning. And now that the sun has broken through, I'm out to enjoy another glorious day in a glorious life.