Tag Archives: hard work

Sign of the Week – July 4th

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Happy Independence Day! Or if you are not from the United States, Happy Fourth of July.

I found this week’s sign on the way home from volunteering at Loaves and Fishes this past Monday night. Monday night is a regular night for me and I look forward to seeing some of the regular clients who rely on us to help them make ends meet. I know I am making a difference and helping those who need help get the help they need.

Tuesday morning I got the Quote of the Day from the folks at Pass It On dot org.

I came across the organization (The Foundation for a Better Life) years before the blog and I remember writing about them in the infancy days of Making the Days Count dot org. In June 2010, I wrote a post and remember talking to my mom about it. A couple of weeks while repairing a blog posts from the early days (first month) of the blog I came across this post…. Day 25 – Patience. And I read it again. I finished repairing a few more – the posts with broken links or photos that didn’t display. In those infancy days, I didn’t have many readers other than my mom or my wife. I came across a comment from my mom and it was good to hear her voice. I miss it very much.

Sometimes you need a good sign to get you thinking. I hope you see a sign, or find one, today that speaks to you and reminds you, that you are doing a right things with your life.

Today is going to be an amazing day, I know it and I can feel it. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, especially special days like today.

What is going to make your day special?

NOTE: Written and edited with WordPress.

Sign of the Week – Warning (part two)

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It’s Sunday morning and I am starting the day in the summer office. It’s cool for the moment, but today’s forecast calls for afternoon temperatures to reach a high of 93 (34C).

The Arizona weekend began with an early Saturday morning flight to Phoenix, renting a car, grabbing a bite to eat on the recommendation of a friend before finding the right spot for my ‘signature picture’ which I share with my brothers and a few friends. It’s a silly picture, but fun.

St. Louis – July ’23
the first ‘bad picture’ Seattle – May ’23
on the way to Sunday’s game, Phoenix October ’23
I had to find the ‘right’ cactus, Arizona September ’23

My hotel was within walking distance to the stadium, and I paced myself in the heat. Chase Field has a retractable roof, the first of its kind when it opened in 1998. The roof was closed because it was 100 degrees (38C) late in the afternoon before game time.

The Astros won Saturday night’s game 1-0 (nil) and clinched a playoff berth as did the Diamondbacks with a Chicago Cubs loss. I walked home and grabbed some tacos for dinner at the hotel.

Sunday morning, I woke early and planned the day. The hotel I was staying was architecturally cool. It was constructed in the 1930s and had been a bank before being converted into a hotel and legend had it that the penthouse was once inhabited by Alfred Hitchcock.

coffee Sunday morning in the hotel lobby…an impressive Art Deco building from the 1930s

I had a breakfast date with a fellow blogger, Ingrid from Live, Laugh RV: Our Next Chapter. She and her husband were originally from Chicagoland not far from where I love before moving west, then retiring and deciding to live the RV life. Ingrid’s posts left yearning for travelling in retired RV lifestyle from one location to another while exploring and enjoying being outdoors. Her photographs were always stunning. It was wonderful to meet Ingrid in person, and we were never at loss for something to say over breakfast. After breakfast, we took an ‘ussie’ and I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the last game of the season.

Ingrid and I after meeting for breakfast, October 1, 2023

On the final day of the season, all baseball games begin about the same time Sunday afternoon. I arrived when the gates opened found my seat behind the Astros dugout in hopes of seeking out my favorite player, Maurico Dubón.

Mauricio in the dugout

Continue reading Sign of the Week – Warning (part two) →

W^2 – outdoor office

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Happy Wednesday! Our heat wave has broken and it is a bit cooler this morning. Last night thunderstorms rolled through dropping almost an inch (2.54 cm) of rain overnight.

Normally on summer morning, I’d be out at the ‘summer office’ listening to the birds and feeling the gentle breeze as the world around me awakens, but the ‘office’ is wet and damp, so I’ll wait for another morning, or late evening to enjoy the backyard.

Sadly these Dahlia’s went north to lake with my wife yesterday…..
…. But I am left with these kind’s of views… a house finch enjoys the sunflower seed feeder

I am going to enjoy the inside office of the breakfast table and my office desk in the basement for today and maybe the ‘summer office’ will be available tomorrow. Who knows? But today could possible be the best day ever, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the days COUNT, one day at a time, getting things done wherever I work.

Does your workspace vary? Where do you find yourself working today? 

Tuesday’s Tune – Heat Wave

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We’ve been through a heatwave. It began this past Friday and fortunately, it appears to have broken. The last few mornings the thermometer read temps in the upper seventies where a normal early summer reading might be in the low sixties, and possibly the mid-fifties. But while weather comes and goes, it’s the climate that is changing and I must find a way to adapt and change.

I woke early this morning, a bit before six am, made coffee and noticed this morning’s temperature was 74, five degrees lower Monday, an improvement and good signs. I decided to enjoy the ‘summer office’, to listen to the birds and begin the morning routine. Often, I skim though e-mails and read a blog or two and leave comments or lazily, press like. This morning beth from I Didn’t Have My Glasses On and Neil from Yeah, Another Blogger got me thinking. Before moving on my devotional and reflection, then Wordle.

photos I packed and sent to England, from the upper left clockwise are my dad and Juliana in early 2000s, Juliana’s baby photo, a photo of her mum (guessing), and Juliana in the 60s before she met my dad

But Neil’s story of music and his dad connected with me in an odd way. I had decided to write a Tuesday’s Tune post using the song ‘Heat Wave.’ The song was written in the early sixties and recorded by Matha and the Vandellas in 1963, it was a hit. I remember it being recorded by Linda Ronstadt and I found the video below. It is from the mid-seventies, and it was a late Friday night tv show, The Midnight Special. It aired at midnight, which was long past my bedtime, but sometimes I’d sneak out to watch it. I have no memory of watching this episode, but I do remember watching late night television when I was in high school with friends. When I located the YouTube video, I realized it was from an episode of the Midnight Special which aired two days after my dad had married my stepmother.

It was there wedding day – February 19, 1975. My brothers and I from left to right – David, Warren, and me. My other is on the right between Warren and I. Juliana is in the center. The pastor is in the back and I do not know who the couple on the left are.

All three of us had attended and I remember the after-wedding celebration of running the halls of the reception hall with another group of kids while our parents celebrated the newlyweds upstairs.
Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune – Heat Wave →

Sign of the Week – June 21st

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It’s the first FULL day of summer in the northern hemisphere. It’s where I live and where most of the world’s population lives also – it’s approximately a 90-10 spilt! It’s largely due to equity of land distribution – 68-32 spilt in favor of the northern hemisphere.

But this isn’t a geography lesson.

I saw something recently that explained one of the reasons for the decline in cognitive ability in aging adults (and that’s me) is when we stop creating.

MtDC is fifteen years old this summer going on sixteen and I’d like to see it continue to grow.

TRUE – a wonderful thought for the first day of summer, Wheaton, IL Friday, June 20, 2025

I have a blogger friend who ‘s Saturday post is always – Photos of the Week. Each week Wynne includes a sign she has come across in her travels during the week and it is always a good message. She peppers it with images from her family’s weekI look. I forward to her posts each Saturday morning.

Continue reading Sign of the Week – June 21st →

Last on the card for April – sub plans

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I am traveling this weekend. We are in Michigan for our daughter’s college graduation. I have a little extra time this morning and saw a post on another blogger’s page and thought perhaps I could dip my toe in the pool and join the party.

This post is inspired by Brian at bushboys world’s post – last on the Card April. But, I first saw it at my blogger friend, Margaret’s blog, From Pyrenees to Pennines .

Since, I am on the road, I needed to write subplans. Teachers can’t leave without leaving some sort of plan behind.

my office desk, awaiting Thursday’s sub on Wednesday evening……

I stayed late Wednesday afternoon to make sure my kids were learning, challenged, and focused while I was gone. I was the last one out of the parking lot at 6 :15 PM. I’ll be back in the classroom making the last days of the school year count on Monday. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, learning every day and making each day count.

How is your May starting out?

W^2 – indecisive

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, September 11, 2024

I am back at school, sort of.

It is good to be back at school. To be teaching and learning with kids and helping them see things from a new perspective. To have a schedule and do something productive. To be with colleagues who share your passion. To be growing with a purpose.

But sometimes you must be step back and take care of things at home. Since this past Monday, I’ve been at home taking care of things here. It’s my turn to be the caregiver. It’s hard. But it’s where I need to be. Forty years and almost thirty-three of them, married. I am thankful.

At school, my kiddos at school are in great hands. These are the same hands that took care of my kiddos when I had my second knee replaced in December 2018 and the same one who stepped up at 2 AM when my son had his motorcycle accident, five years ago. She’s been their countless times when I needed to be somewhere else, or when I was too sick to be at school. I am thankful.

I’ve been talking to her and hearing what my kiddos have been doing with her at school, while I am at home taking care of home. I am thankful.

This past summer was a whirlwind of sorts. heck, this past year!

summer’s last sunset (and a beer) Lake Margrethe, Michigan, August 31, 2024 8:03 PM

Summer finished at the lake with all of us – W, O, and B at the lake to close it down for the season. That’s the first picture. Continue reading W^2 – indecisive →

W^2 – pretty girl

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 24, 2024

It is Wednesday, almost Thursday. Fern and I wrapped up our business in Illinois and we loaded the car and drove back to the lake this afternoon. She was a fabulous driving companion and slept most of the trip curled up in the front seat or laid out in the back seat.

Fern with her paws on the guard rails looks down on the Au Sable River, Grayling, Michigan, July 21, 2024 10:18 AM

Last Sunday, Fern and I met B (my wife) at Stephan Bridge several miles downstream on the Au Sable River to watch the canoe racers pass through on their trip down the river to McMaster’s Bridge. It is a timing station for the BIG canoe race this weekend. It is also a great place to watch the canoes approach from down river, and if you are hungry there is an amazing restaurant on the south bank. Continue reading W^2 – pretty girl →

W2 – glassware

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Clean glassware drying on the drying rack. Naperville, IL Monday, June 3, 2024, 12:54 PM

It’s summer again, this year it’ll be my 25th summer break as a teacher. I have four more summer breaks after this one, then it’ll be permanent summer break.

This summer, and for the past twenty-four, I’ve simply been auditioning. Continue reading W2 – glassware →

W^2 – baseball is back

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, May 8, 2024

NOTE: This post was originally titled “Baseball”, but after reflecting overnight, I changed it to “baseball is back.” Enjoy

Tuesday night baseball at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois. Tuesday April 23, 2024, 7:09 PM

It’s baseball season, again. Baseball season begins at the end of March and lasts until the final out in late October. Every team will play 162 games, the good ones will play more, and the best teams could play 173 or more. It all depends, because baseball is a funny game.

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game — it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.”

“Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams

I made it to my first game of the 2024 season two weeks ago and I am just now making time to write about it. I’ve been to Wrigley Field more times than I can remember. My first game was in 1993. Wrigley Field opened with its first baseball game one hundred ten years ago in 1914. It’s the second oldest ballpark in the major leagues and there is something magic about watching a game there. Continue reading W^2 – baseball is back →