Yes, we froze our tails off.
Saw that Seth Godin released his new book the other day, Linchpin, and I can't wait to read it. He wrote another favorite of mine - Tribes - go find it and read it if you haven't yet.
To market his new book, Seth wrote an entry on his blog that has some incredible links, too good to just keep to myself. Here is the page, check out some of the links, they present some intriguing ideas.
Reread an amazing book last week, Timothy Ferriss's 4 Hour Work Week, liked it so much that I bought it and the new Ken Robinson book The Element. That one is the best one I have read in over a year. Now I just need to find my element and be brave enough to follow it.
Must . . . stop . . . laughing. My sides hurt and tears came to my eyes. Nominated as best story of the year. Cause of the collapse still unknown? Come on, we ALL know what caused it.
Love it!
As a family we watched American Idol last night, some random thoughts -
Yesterday I went to the gym and afterwards was joined in the locker room by one of my coworkers who is blind. As he was changing and I was getting into the shower I thought to myself - "Why am I pulling the shower curtain closed when the only other person in the locker room is blind?"
Things that make you say "Hmmm." Yes, I am channeling Jack Handy.
One of my favorite Deep Thoughts -
Contrary to popular belief, the most dangerous animal is not the lion or tiger or even the elephant. The most dangerous animal is a shark riding on an elephant, just trampling and eating everything they see.
Not ours, that won't come until June. Last night Kathryn's brother Steve and his wife, Briana, had a new baby born. Little Christopher James Norman born at 10:48 PM, that makes 31 grandchildren for Kathryn's parents.
Yes, I know. We contributed 1/3 of them. It is a bigger ratio on my side - there are 17 grandchildren and we have contributed 11 of them. Unless Holly, Sandy, and David have children they have failed to introduce to the family . . . :)
Pres. Packer said in the General Conference when we were in the hospital with Isaac - "Every time a child is born, the world is renewed in innocence." Thank the Lord for sweet moments like this.
Congrats to Steve and B, hope everybody is healthy, especially Christopher and B.
We are going through parent-teacher conferences with our kids this week and it is apparent to both Kathryn and I that our kids have, for the most part, some very dedicated and excellent teachers. Last year we enrolled all of them (7) in a charter school in our area, Excelsior Academy, and we are certainly reaping the benefits.
The teachers the kids had at the public elementary were great, with a few exceptions, but we felt like this was an opportunity that we would like to take advantage of.
Last night I watched a video, 1st in a series of 5, about Japanese schools that teach compassion. Amazing video. So many times I see my own children zone out, probably because they see me do the same thing when I come home from a long day at work. They don't seem to be there. They don't seem to feel at times. As a parent that troubles me. They are kids and they should feel joy every day. I am an adult and I should feel joy every day.
To help change that environment at work I have been a big advocate of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) but the state is slow in moving. Give people a chance to succeed and they will shape their own future. I have been fascinated by the way people approach their work when they know that their schedule is up to them.
To change this at home I am going to try to give my children more of myself, more freedom, more activities instead of more TV and more homework, things that will help them learn and grow. I love Boy Scouts and it is a fantastic family opportunity for activities.
Hope you will find ways to have feelings in your life as well. No more robot Dads.
