Family

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I visited our son in Grand Forks, ND so we could see him in the musical, Ride the Cyclone. The musical was presented by the Empty State Theatre. He played the role of Ricky Potts, a boy that before his death was mute because of a trauma, though in the afterlife his ability to speak has been restored. Confused? Well you'll just have to see the play if you ever get a chance.

Logan was awesome in this musical! He was so good on stage that all I saw was his character. I was no longer Dad but an audience member enjoying the show. The rest of the cast awas also just as good.

In the early years of our marriage, my wife and I bought a lighted Christmas wreath. The wreath was two feet in diameter and was strung with the old incandescent cluster lights. This wreath hung in our picture window of our first house and would make its way to the transom window above the front door of our second house. Over the years this Christmas wreath had become my favorite decoration to hang during the holiday season.

Just a brief video below of this year's Christmas decorations in the front of my house. Along with the ride is our family dog, Jasmine!  Nothing else special to see here, but since I posted this video on my social media accounts, I decided it should also be posted on my blog.

In the video, I sound like I'm out of breath I don't know why except that I started putting up the decorations too late int he day and needed complete the task before sunset. 

Holiday greetings to all that find this post!

I've been struggling as of late trying to find the time to write articles for my blog and websites. It's actually caused me some stress to not be writing because there is so much I want to say and share. I always feel that I'm so behind in my writing. This has been an ongoing theme for me but it's not because I don't have the time but instead because I have chosen higher priorities with my time than blogging.

I'm intentionally choosing to experiencing all that I can with my family. I don't want to miss the moments because of the glow of the computer screen in front of me. The crux of the matter, my son is off to college this Fall. I want no regrets that the time we spent as a family and exploring the world was missed because I was at the keyboard and not there at their side.

Thirty years ago, I moved from Garden City, KS to Sioux Falls, SD for the National Weather Service. At the time of the move, I had only planned to be in Sioux Falls for a few years as in those days it was difficult (and maybe still is) to get promoted on site. Plus, if I'm being honest, I really didn't want to live in South Dakota longer than I had to as I always thought there would be day I would return to the Kansas City area. Three decades later, I've served four different positions at the same office (Meteorologist Intern, Forecaster, Lead Forecaster, and Information Technology Officer), found the love of my life, and raised a family. 

When I'm not able to visit with family or travel to some place warm during the holiday season, my most favorite time of the year to work is the week between Christmas and the New Year. For the holidays, most of the office staff is on vacation, most of my organization's leadership is on vacation, and most on-going projects have been put on hold. In other words, I have found there is no other week of the year with fewer distractions than this week.

Out of boredom, I decided to post this video of our cat Maya.

For whatever reason, our cat prefers to watch people in the kitchen from the bar stool with paws over the counter. If she had a beer in hand I'd call her Norm (from Cheers).

So without any additional introduction, here is a video to enjoy or waste three minutes of your time.

My anxiety just kicked in knowing my wife would have me fighting a new war for her in the coming days. Keeping bunnies out of her flower garden.

A wireless Arlo Pro Webcam (720P) was used for this video. This webcam is available on Amazon via my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3avRykt

My wife couldn't resist cheering up the place with Baby Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy series. I appreciate her efforts in doing so.