Time to Give Thanks

Have a blessed Thanksgiving and I will be back blogging after the holiday (and some recovery). With so much bad news these days, let's think of all of the many blessings that we do have. When times are tough, we forget. Let's make this a time to remember...

Excuses, Excuses...

I have a great excuse for not posting for a few days...honest!

I have a bridge in my mouth that is three teeth - three crowns over two live teeth with the center tooth having a root canal. Should be no pain in the root canal tooth - right? Wrong. It has hurt since the day it was supposedly complete. Well, I broke off a piece of the crown over the root canal tooth so I went to the dentist. I figure the Dentist will pop off the three connected crowns (or bridge), take a new impression, send away for a new crown, and put something temporary in its place. Wrong. He took off the crown (after numerous hits to the head with what I call his "dent puller"). He tells me the root canal tooth is the problem because it has broken underneath the crown and now after the entire root canal process, he now has to "pull" the tooth. How bad can that be? After all, it's a dead tooth! Well, after more shots to the mouth (my worst phobia), he tries to pull the tooth. It breaks. He tries again. It breaks again. After numerous dig out attempts, the tooth is finally out. During the ordeal, he slipped while pulling and gouged the inside of my mouth at the gum line. So now I have a torn up inside of my mouth, a swollen face, extreme pain in my bones around my jaws, head pain like a shaken baby... Not to mention that I'm currently immuno-suppressed so I'm on antibiotics for infection. We'll just add this to my ruptured disc and hope I now have your sympathy. Give me a few days to recover and I'll try to post intermittently in between. Thanks for listening!

"Good to Great" - First Who...

I hope you've had an opportunity to pick up a copy of "Good to Great" and have started reading it. If not, there's still time before I begin to really delve into it. However, I thought I'd share with you what I think is the most important chapter of all (in the spirit of "take the best and leave the rest", this chapter is not one of those that you can ever leave), is "First Who, Then What".

You can train anyone to do almost anything. Good people to surround yourself with are those who want to jump onto your 'bus" (your company), because they believe in your mission or something else that excites them about being part of your team, as opposed to simply working for you because they happen to have a skill set that you need. The former will follow you anywhere. You will never hear them say "that's not my job". The latter will fall apart if you make a course correction and ask them to do something different. They will say "that's not my job".

Your people are not your most important asset; the right people are.

In the Beginning... There Ought to be a Law

I've often thought there should be a license to have children. Anyone can have or help create a child - but do they qualify to be parents? Back when I was born, I think it was automatic that you get married and then raise a family. Back then, people who had no children were thought of as unfortunate (there must be something wrong and how sad...). My parents didn't have me (their first), until they were married five years. That was long for then. The next in line was my brother and he was born four years after me - long too. I think my sister and youngest brother were unplanned. I know my youngest brother was because my father used to refer to my little sister as the "caboose" (she had red hair). When my youngest brother was born, my father handed him to me at the door when they came home from the hospital and proclaimed him to be mine. I was thirteen then. It wasn't something new though. I had already taken care of my siblings from the time I can remember. I was six when my sister was born. I recall standing over her bassinet at the foot of my parents bed in the middle of the night trying to quiet her cry. I knew where the bottles were kept and remember trying to get one in her mouth so she would stop crying. I'd hold it for her until she fell back to sleep, nearly falling asleep myself. I don't ever recall one of my parents even waking up through any of that. By the time I had my own family, I felt as though I had already raised one.

I know that things are different today and people do decide not to have children or to have them later, etc., and I think that is a good thing. However, there are still too many people out there having children who should not. And sometimes, the greatest little blessings of all come to those who don't plan on it.

Sights and Sounds...

The birds were back and desperately trying to dig out the remaining seeds that were lodged way up into the feeder; someone needed to shake those seeds down! The otter was back and playing while headed upstream before making his turn and heading back down. The geese were loudly honking at each other in support of flight as they flew overhead in their formation. Off in the distance, you could hear the gun fire of hunters sighting in their rifles for opening season on deer next weekend...

The trucks from the pulp mills and the grain trucks from the local farmers were headed up and down our road. There's a nice buffer of land between us and the road so you know their presence without them being a nuisance. The corn is coming in late this year and the farmers are busy. I find peace in the knowledge that there's a farm right near our property. I love to see the combines move diligently throughout the day and into night during the harvest. It grounds me to the earth.

The days were beautiful fall days in the northern midwest and even though things have turned from glorious color to a fall-like brown, the scenery was breathtaking. With the sky blue with some white clouds and the creek running along, even the brown grasses surrounding the stream were just another beautiful phase of the color changes that occur throughout the year.

The air was crisp and the nights into the high 20's. The daytime air was clean and clear and refreshing when it hit your face. I suspect that we will soon see snow...

Smell the Roses...

The weekend is for rest and renewal - DO IT!

I'm working on a new idea for a line of products that I can sell in the future. As I move through the investment and patent/trademark process, I'll share some glimpses. This will not happen overnight but I thought you'd enjoy the process. This is all about releasing my creative impulses - something I missed terribly while I was involved in administration. I have friends in the "arts" and they've been very supportive - a great friend from my old company, my daughters and son, and my sister-in-law. They all have experience in running successful businesses in unique ways and are known for their talent. This is great "networking" indeed.

Working the torch, working on the above project, and making some handmade Christmas gifts for my family is how I will be spending my weekend - how about you? Enjoy!