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This gorgeous shot is of the City Link campus of State Farm in Dallas.  Four buildings in a quad campus, three of which connected by pedestrian bridges.  Its a beautiful place that has developed into a work, live, play environment.  There are condos, restaurants and sculptures that surround the buildings where we work.  It has become home to over 8,000 employees.

Of course I took the picture because of the lights.  Which is a good reminder that light matters.  Joy matters.  And most of all how we look at the place, person and situation matters.

Look for the sparkly lights.  Every time.

Perspective

It is often in the most moments that clarity and wisdom arrive.  At a stop light, standing in an elevator and gazing at the sky.  This moments teach us that this is when God is speaking to us.  Or maybe more accurately this is when we are still enough to listen to the message God is sending us.  I believe he's guiding us with each and every step.  We just need to be still enough to hear it.

This gorgeous sky of pinks and grays was a moment of perspective as I paused to take the picture just before getting in the car to drive to work.

Breathe.

Ease.

Listen.

Simply that easy.  So need to make it harder than it has to be.

The countdown begins!

Hard to believe that we are 20 days from Pitchers and Catchers reporting!  It's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  It may seem like it was just October in the heat of the pennant race, and yet here we are just a few days from February!

It's very exciting to think about a whole new season out in front of me!  And to top it off I had lunch with KB today!  I know!  We talked about how long its been since we'd last seen one another.  It was almost a year!  We've talked on the phone several times, and he's had two brain surgeries to keep the Parkinson's at bay .. and here we are.

He looked, sounded and WAS wonderful!  What's most admirable is his wonderful spirit and outlook.  "Well, I have Parkinson's,' he said, "I guess there could be worse things, right?"  He asks with a sparkle in his blue eyes.  He told wonderful stories, he asked insightful questions and we agreed that we needed to continue these visits while he's here in Dallas for the next few months.

I know fully understand and have lived the phrase, "good for the soul."  That's how I feel after I've spent time with him.  He reminds of what is wonderful and good in the world.  When we share our stories of what I'm most grateful for today - its just one thing - KB.

Amen.

The wait is over.

Its been two whole weeks since the last I sat to write.  Wow, time flies!  It hasn't been that we didn't accomplish anything, or lead boring lives .. truth is January has been full of ups and downs!  The temperatures for one thing have been on the move from the 20's to the 70's!

Today we enjoyed some time outside as a family.  I brought the camera as that's my commitment to 2017 - walk more with the camera.  I find my favorite shots are those of the sky ... the sunrises, sunsets and trees.  Is there some hidden meaning there?  Perhaps not hidden at all.  I'd like to think its my prevailing sense of optimism.

Or it that I recently put Michael J Fox's "Always Looking Up - the adventures of an incurable optimist," at the top of the pile.  I'd decided to read it again, now having a very personal a frame of reference for Parkinson's disease.  Perhaps something I read will resonate with me and help me better understand what KB is living with, and the impacts to him.

Looking Up.  Belief.  Optimism.

The photos on this page are full of promise.  And reality.  The day was warm, yet not sunny.  Perfect for our walk.  To enjoy what we have, when we have it.  We had the day.  We had one another.  And we had the energy and ability to get out and walk.

So we did just that.

Three Amigos

Bill and I hosted Craig and B for the weekend.  Hard to believe that this is the year that each will turn fifty!  This friendship continues to remain strong.  Six children between them, living in New York, Virginia and Texas - yet finding ways to laugh, share and connect through this bond of friendship.

1.7.17

Today is KB's birthday.  He's someone I've adopted as a father figure in the last several years.  He's not my Dad, but one of a close friend's.  He's a great Dad, a successful Executive, a generous and caring man who loves baseball, golf and helping others.  He also doesn't have a daughter and mentioned he doesn't see grandchildren in his future anytime soon ... so I see an opening here!

His birthday January 7th, makes today's date 1 - 7 - 17 ... Hmmmm, isn't that interesting!

I have believed for a long time that you create a family along your journey.  There's no legal document in place, just a commitment of the heart.  We take care of those who are family.  Those that matter to us.  The ones who have touched our lives, and accept us for exactly who we are right now.

Wishing him peace, love, health and happiness to mark his birthday today!

See it to believe it!

The burger challenge is not the only thing Ellie and I do on the very last week of each year.  Another exercise she's grown to look forward to is creating our Vision Board.  We rummage through magazines with scissors in hand ready to clip any image or word that stands out to us.  We don't plan a theme, it is about trusting where we're led on this journey.

These two images are the finished products of our boards from last week!

Ellie is on top.  When I asked her to explain it a very wise, quiet voice explained that right now the words were the focus and the pictures would be later when those words actually happened.  She very profoundly explained each word and how one carried into the next.  I told her I loved all the open space.  When she asked why I explained, "because you've left room for so much to happen this year!"  The pictures WILL fill themselves in throughout the year!

It was awesome!

I tend to gravitate toward the words and phrases too.  Along with strong women, outdoors, color and happiness.  With a pile of clippings we take our poster board and lay out all the images.  I overlay the phrases where they seem appropriate and it comes together!

There's not a time I look at it throughout the year that it doesn't make me smile!

Pause. Rest. Ease.

Today I woke with a painful headache.  The waking happened at 4am and I couldn't fall back asleep.  Its the kind of headache that is brought on my barometric pressure and impacts my sinuses.  So laying down hurts because of the pressure.

I got up to drink water and put ice on my forehead.  I also used my headache drops on my temples and behind my ears.  Nothing.  Still hurt.  Took Execdrin migraine.  Lay down on the couch.  Still hurt.

Here's what I decided.  Rest.  Close my eyes.  Decide that I could push a morning meeting until later in order to rest.  Why should I push myself when I felt like this.

Bill and Ellie left about 10 minutes to 7, and I slept for 20 minutes.  At 7:15 I called Bill in the car to tell him my headache had broken.  The intense pressure was gone and I was going into work later.  No big deal.

When you get tired, rest.  It didn't mean I had to quit.  Just pause.  Approach with ease.

Good to know.

Our family

When I saw this photo it really made sense to me.

This is us.

All of it.  Well..... maybe not the LOUD part.  But if you get us all laughing at the same time, we sure do loud well then.

In fact Ellie's favorite saying recently was, "No, I'm not loud, I'm Italian!"  Which of course is on a t-shirt that we got for Papa.  And of course, she thinks its the greatest thing ever!

The photo below is an oldie, but a goodie.  Hard to believe she was ever that little!  That sparkle, that curiosity and that gorgeous little face!  She's still that same wonderful girl ... growing up now so quickly!

That's our family!

Here we go!

Today everything begins again.  Yes, we are several days into the new year - yet, today the world begins to settle into January.  Work begins, school resumes and all those New Year Resolutions begin to waiver .....

Which is why we didn't make resolutions at our house!  We're focused on one another and how we can make a difference.  There is no big goal, just the intention of connecting and showing up.  We'll know the right moments when we see them.

Sometimes those right moments come as a surprise.  The key is to be ready to grab them when they show up.

Yesterday was one of those days.  It began with quite a surprise.  We all got up before 7am, make coffee, Ellie had oatmeal, turned on the Today show and talked about how we'd spend out last day together before 'life' returned.  About 8:30am Ellie was reading an email that said the school semester begins on Monday, January 2nd.  We told her, 'No, that has to be a mistake.  Today is a holiday.  The observed holiday."

Always wanting to have the most accurate information I went to the computer.  The school website said the semester started on Monday.  I called the school, "Yes," the school secretary told me, "school is in session today."

WHAT ??

Ellie hurried to get ready.  Clothes, hair brushed, teeth brush, backpack packed and off she went.  Bill dropped her off at the front door with a note to excuse her tardiness!  Wow!  Although they were only 20 minutes into first block it was a whirlwind!  It was very strange - how could there be school?  Apparently we weren't the only ones who didn't know .... according to the Attendance office!

Bill and I took the morning to get our own things in order.  I puttered around the house prepping for dinner, tidying up after Christmas clean up while Bill got to work on  his laptop.  Around noon he came downstairs and said, 'Let's go to lunch!  We can go to Frankie's for Mexican."  And off we went.

It was an unexpected lunch date ... it was busy, busy when we arrived so we sat at the bar with margaritas, a lively crowd and delicious Mexican food!  Let's spend the rest of the year grabbing those moments when they're offered to us.

And so it begins ...

My visits to check on Izzy have been mixed.  One day she'll come out and see me, the next she's in her 'hiding' spot on the top shelf of the closet.  On the day she came out to see me she got treats, played with one of her toys although mostly she sat and watched the front door hoping to see her 'real Dad' come through the door.

Yesterday she only wanted to snooze.  She raised her head when I called her name, but stuck to her plan of 'hiding' in the closet.   Truth be told, I was disappointed.  I thought I'd made progress from the day before and she'd welcome me in.  Not so fast.

Isn't that really the story of life? Kids and pets - you can only HOPE to influence, persuade or help along the way.  Yet they are their own beings.  They have their plan.  Here's where tempering your expectations can help.

As I refilled her food, changed her water and found her toys that she'd pushed under furniture I reminded myself why I was there.  I wasn't there because Izzy asked me to be, she didn't approve of this plan.  I was there to make sure she was fed, safe and cared for in her 'real Dad's" absence.  For her it wasn't about me.  IT WAS ABOUT HER!

Similarly with children.  We can do everything in our power to guide this process, but ultimately they need to accept and want it too.  Perhaps that is oversimplifying it, but honestly don't things go so much smoother when both parties have the same outcome in mind?

Pictured below, Ellie has finished the final Burger Challenge visit for 2016.  This time we took Bill with us to Deep Ellum.  We visited Uncle Uber's this time - which is right across the street from Angry Dog.  Bill thought it was great too!

The reason the Burger Challenge works so well is because Ellie and I share the common goal of determining the best burger.  In the end we can have different winners, but we were in it together.  And we are both satisfied ... well fed, had fun and did it together.  Great lesson of creating a common goal, and with Izzy recognizing that as long as she was fed and safe - goals were met.

Who would have thought that this 'scaredy cat' would have taught me such a valuable lesson this week?

Izzy:  who me?

The year of 2017

Well hello 2017!  I certainly can't say that you snuck up on us.  We've been enjoying all these days of December .. which came to a meaningful close last evening on New Year's Eve.

2017 is sure to bring more adventure, more fun and more outside time.

So far today we've made plans for a couples dinner night 1/21 with Jeanine and Michael, and got Dallas Stars tickets on a Saturday afternoon in February!  Ellie and I plan to continue our walks outside looking for birds and taking photos, while we'll put some day trip plans around TX on our calendar as well.  By the weekend we'll have B and Craig here in Dallas for the weekend.

And we might as well start counting down the days until Bill's big 5-0!

Happy 2017!