Here’s some cute pics we told of Jeremy & Kimberly.  You’ll notice their hair has been “done up” because we took them in conjunction with what I am referring to as The Hairesy of 2008!

Beth wanted to get her hair cut, and it had been a while because like any good husband I’ve resisted, for her own good. What? I’m a fan of long hair!

So finally I relented and gave her the green light. She posted to get suggestions on how she would get her hair cut.  The consensus came back for the Feb ‘08 haircut and the deed was done about two weeks ago.  She’s finally getting around to posting the results but I thought I’d link up and post the kids pics along with her update.

For the record…I think you look beautiful baby!

Like I previously posted, we haven’t been the best at getting the pictures & videos we take of the kiddos up so everyone can see. That said, we’re going to try to post something every weekend.

I’ve wanted to get these last two videos up for like a week, so you get two this weekend!

We went to Walmart late one night because we needed milk & bread…apparently we went a little too late! Kim was so cute as she struggled to stay awake. I shot this from my phone, so forgive the pixelation. This is one of those essential America’s Funniest Videos. It’s no “Shake Hands” (Miller home video that most unfortunately got erased, Sorry Mom) but I’m glad I caught it!

If you are down about the mess with the economy, frustrated with the election, and depressed about the Cubs & Angels losing, let me offer this to cheer you up!

One night we were just playing as a family and Jeremy started crackin’ up when we’d toss this little beanbag. We’re not always good about getting it on video, and even worse about getting from the camera on to YouTube or our blogs, but we’re gonna try to be better!

Jose Arredondo grabbed the maintenance hose and started spraying his teammates and the fans that stayed hours after the game to wait for the clinch. And clinch we did…

• First Team to clinch the playoffs this year!
• Earliest clinching of the division title in franchise history!
• Fifth-fastest team in Major League history!

In a weak AL West, we’ve had a comfortable lead for quite a while, but Mike Scioscia and the Angels aren’t/haven’t let up! “Stay Humble” has been the theme for the end of this season so we don’t get overconfident. The example last year of the streaking Rockies shows how important it is to go into the playoffs hot, so I’m very glad that Scioscia is doing this.

Go Halos!

A Few of Highs Points of the Season for Me

K-Rod Holds the Saves Record!
Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Scioscia is the Best
Manager in Baseball!
Photo by Stephen Brashear/Icon SMI

Teixeira Has Been Huge!! 
Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

No one quite knows the reason.
It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
- Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I have been indoctrinated.

I admit it. From the time that I was born, I have been raised with a specific worldview. Primarily, I believe what I believe because I was raised that way and I vote the way I vote because I was raised to vote that way.

Have my ideals been challenged? Definitely. Have I defended my views? Absolutely. But being challenged and defending a worldview when it has been so thoroughly ingrained doesn’t necessarily indicate that you have evaluated and internalized those values. After all, “talking points” are called “talking points” for a reason.

Why do I believe what I believe? Maybe it is because my shoes are too tight! Or worse! Maybe, because I have been raised in such a callous, greed-driven, privileged environment, I am actually heartless? Let’s look at the factors that contributed to my values. Which elements give credence to the criticism that I have been brainwashed, or at least, have a very limited perspective on the world?

Read more… 

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
- Albert Einstein

What a crazy few months! It has been a while since I have been this involved and seen so much participation in politics!

Politically, I’ve always considered myself informed and able to articulate why I support a certain viewpoint. I give much of that credit to my very politically active father. As it always is, this election year it is important to understand these issues, the candidates and take part in the democratic process. However, as my sister-in-law pointed out:

There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin
– Linus in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Particularly with family! Politics can be a sensitive subject! Most of the time, our views extend into a very emotional space. While we should attempt to approach the issues logically, it is not realistic to say rational discussion is going to happen in every dialogue when parties both feel that the other represents the exact opposite of everything they believe.

I do not intend to set forth my views and argue why the other side is wrong (at least in this post). Instead, I want to discuss the decision-making process.

• How do we reach the our position on the issues?
• What are we using to decide our vote?

I have thought about this a lot this year, because I want to know for myself why I will be voting the way I am voting. This is not exhaustive, but here are some of the rationales I see people using to make their decision:

Read More…

Image by Life in Asia (aka Life in Nanning)

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I had one of those small victories that you need to overcome your inertia/laziness.  I woke up early, put on my running shoes and ran to start my day! It was nice and cool with a bit of a breeze (actually more of a gust, we’re just down from these). Running into the wind was okay because I knew it would be at my back on the return trip. I didn’t know how far I was going to run, I just had a street that I wanted to get to and then turn around.  It got my heart beating! It wasn’t until I looked it up on Google Maps that I realized that I ran 1.4 miles! And I did it in about 10 minutes! Considering how long it’s been since I ran, I was ecstatic!

I’ve been meaning to start exercising for a little while now as part of a newly kindled desire to improve myself. This desire has been slow building over time and goes beyond getting in shape. I wrote about Josh Waitzkin’s article in which he discusses learning and learning what quality feels like. That article really made me want to develop myself.

What Lies Behind Us

Life gets busy, and if you don’t consciously decide to act, life will sweep you up and take you in directions you might not want to go. Whether through neglect or through mistakes, the weaknesses we have accumulated hold us back and give us ready excuses not to try. Here are some weaknesses I want to overcome:

• Disorganization: I have so many things going on at the same time, from work to blogging ideas to bills to family to business ideas to errands on and on…and I am not the best multi-tasker around! I get distracted, discouraged and overwhelmed.  To improve, I am trying to simplify and prioritize more.
• Out of Shape: I can’t claim sympathy weight anymore! Actually, I never could. Basically, it comes down to poor eating habits (way too much Coke) and lack of activity. I sit at a desk, in front of a computer all day. I think the lack of self control is the worst part of it. I should be in charge, not my urges!
• Debt: Some things come out of nowhere, catch you off guard and put you in a difficult situation. My son Jeremy’s medical expenses came as one of those things. We found out he had spina bifida and that totally altered “the plans” as we assumed they would go. While I would love to say that that is the only source, unfortunately, it’s not. Student loans, car payments, credit cards. Some was necessary, some was not.

What Lies Before Us

Overcoming our baggage is only half. How difficult it can be to actually improve ourselves can also prove to be too great of a obstacle for us. Getting up every morning, forgoing things you want, disciplining yourself are hard things to do. I talk to people at my work who know they need to change, know they can’t keep doing what they’ve been doing, and yet, the commitment and hard work it requires to make the needed changes prevent them from getting out of their rut. The reality is, that’s the price you have to pay. Here are some of the sacrifices I can see I’ll need to make:

• Time: To accomplish my goals, I will need to sacrifice some of the time that I had for other things: sleeping in, staying up late, watching TV, etc. I already consider some of that to be no sacrifice at all, having started this way a while ago. There’s not much TV that interests me anymore (except Michael Phelps…curse you!) and combining the ability to DVR the things I do see (bless you DVR!), I spend very little time watching TV, especially by comparsion to my former use.
• Guilty Pleasures: Today was actually the first day in months that I did not buy a Coke! It’s terrible, I know. Luckily for me, I don’t drink, smoke, chew or drink coffee so I don’t have those challenges to take on (best of luck to those that are trying to kick the habit). The other habit that my family had was eating out all the time. It was ridiculous looking back at our bank statements how much was from restaurants!

What Lies Within Us

I’ve taken my outline from the Emerson quote at the top. He is one of those thinkers whose insights are timeless. He talked about how man is meant to aspire to more than just our instincts to eat and sleep. He wrote, “A man is a god in ruins.” I believe that we have tremendous potential within ourselves and we can realize that potential if we pay the price to develop it. What the human mind and the human body can do is amazing! Look at what Michael Phelps has done: 8 gold medals! But that came as the reward for unyielding focus and effort. That is what I want to develop, the ability to focus and develop and persist until something great happens. I want to be better.

Image by joguldi
How many shovels does it take to dig a hole?

Let me first say that I am not a cynical person. In fact, I usually get frustrated by cynicism in people around me. But the other day something dawned on me about some of the most successful businesses out there:

If you want to be rich, find a problem in life that is difficult to fix and sell products & information that people can buy to fool themselves that they are actually doing something!

Get rich. Get out of debt. Lose weight. Be more productive. The list could go on, but the common thread is that these goals take considerable effort to achieve. That difficulty opens the opportunity for tools, tips and programs to help the individual to achieve their lofty aspiration. (Here is where my cynicism comes in) The key here is how the act of buying these products, etc. allow the individual to fool themselves that they are making progress to their goal. Let’s be honest, how many books, products, tools have we bought to help us accomplish our goals? How often has that purchase actually delivered? How many failures were more of a personal failure, or a failure to get down and actually use the product, than an actual failure of the product? It’s a sad realization that most people don’t follow through.

We all know people that will buy every diet book under the sun. It’s easy to get into the trap where we run around picking up this tool and that tool, all while making no real progress! I mean really, how many shovels does it take to dig a hole? People think there is a magic bullet that will do the hard work for them.

Most of the time, it doesn’t matter how good the product is, results ultimately come from effort. Hard work! (Hey there’s a niche, Get People Motivated to Work…oh wait, isn’t that Tony Robbins territory?) I’m not saying more thoughtful, more effective products are just as good as low quality equivalents, but for the customer that implements neither, the quality is irrelevant. (Backhoes make short work of some holes!) Fake gurus and hacks abound and I’m not saying to add to the trash. I am more making an observation of circumstances that provide an abundance of opportunity. So, to come away with something positive from this:

Think of something that is hard to achieve and put together the best tools, products and helps that you can…and realize that you might have repeat customers still looking for the magic bullet product that will do the work for them!

Image by oscar alexander
How do I prioritize my rocks?

Earlier I posted about the overload I willingly subjected myself to and how confused I was about tackling it. In the few days it’s been since then I have really enjoyed all the interaction and new connections I’ve made now that I, as of this moment, follow 585 people on Twitter and 135 people on Plurk. How does it work trying to talk to 700+ people? It’s actually a lot of fun! I plan on posting soon about some observations, thoughts and insight from this new experience.

My question a few days ago was, “How do I process all this information?” I got some great comments of sympathy and shared exasperation, as well as great tips from very wise sources! Even though I joke a little about my dad, his advice about chunking tasks was echoed in a ZenHabits post here. As I read that today, a couple things stood out to me:

• Find your essentials
• Find your time-wasters
• Do your Biggest Rock first

The fact that I really took the time to read and think about this post came from an adjustment since starting this self inflicted onslaught. I love Leo’s posts! I get so much out of them! I’ve noticed that in my Reader I tend to put off reading my favorite sources and rip through the posts that I’m confident I can scan and be satisfied. That’s completely backwards! I’m only doing it to get that “unread” number down! One of my new friends twittered today that she had 1,000 posts to get through on her reader! And I thought I had a problem! (It’s okay Erin, my wife’s almost as behind!) But realizing I was spending the majority of my time working though information that was lowest value. Imagine if that was money! Actually, now that I think about it, we do that too! How much time do we spend on activities that have the lowest return! I guess that’s the whole 80/20 Pareto Principle!

Now it comes down to implementing these realizations into my information diet. Here’s a few questions I’m asking:

• Is this information intake inline with my goals?
• How much time am I willing to dedicate to this information source?
• How do I value this information’s ROI?
• Am I putting those with the highest value first?

I’m still in process with all of this and may revisit it again, but I’m curious how all my new “friends” are coming along. Do share!

Photo by Jessica Hansen
Butt Rock is Alive and Well! At one point in time I wanted to be this cool!

For those either too young or too old (or just plain respectable!) the title is a reference to a Motley Crue song. One of my colleagues went to CrueFest the other day and came back with pictures! She shared them with us and I saw this one and it brought back repressed memories of 7th grade life as a metalhead. Shameful. Awesome. Shamefully awesome!

Oh the days when I went along with the idea that metal was the best music ever! It’s sad really, being that closed minded. I remember a few of my friends that were a little more into it and would hold everyone in check if they liked something that wasn’t metal enough. Deep down I still liked other stuff, but that wasn’t the “code”. Eventually, I got sick of it and decided that there are things to appreciate in all kinds of music and I would learn to appreciate it. Just think of what you’d be missing out on!

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Skid Row, Guns ‘N Roses, Metallica, and of course The Saints of Los Angeles!