Today's post is a hodgepodge of random stuff, thoughts, and what I am reading!
In the truest form of a muddle and mess, we will start with what I am reading.
Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business by Luke Williams.
This book is fascinating as it breaks down disruptive market ideas in to a process from observation, realization, and development. Again it is another book about looking at things from different perspectives but it actually gives excellent quality examples of how to zoom in and observe things most people wouldn't even think about in regards to looking at something from a different perspective and in the end coming up with a completely new product that disrupts the age old model of that market. i.e. like mopping a floor.
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik.
It seems like just yesterday I started this adventure with Will Laurence and Temeraire. I didn't know what to think at first. It was like reading a history book of British, French, Chinese, and American interests during the Napoleonic period from a military persons perspective but in an alternate reality where dragons exist, talk and act with their Captains and flight crews like an Air Force would in that time period. Well, Naomi Novik captured my interest with the first one and I keep coming back for more. I am almost done with this book.
My reading has slowed considerably with undertaking writing, and now splitting what time I have with writing and an aggressive study of the English language it has slowed even more. It really became apparent when I noticed that Naomi's seventh book in the series comes out in the beginning of March and I already have Bernard Cornwell's newest sequel in the Saxon Series on my kindle that I haven't started it yet.
Staying at home with the children.
My wife stayed at home when we had Hayden because what she made at the place she used to work wouldn't even cover the expense of child care at the cheapest place in town. Now we have Hayden and Garth, with no more on the way, for sure. So my wife decided she was going to get in shape and start working out and get back to her pre mommy shape if not better. I have to commend her for her Herculean efforts in this regard.
1. She gathered up all the friends she could muster who wanted to join a gym and then with a head count found a centrally located gym that wasn't connected to some corporate conglomeration where she proceeded to cut an extremely cut rate deal for a year's membership for her entire group! Being Scottish and what normal people might call cheap, and I refer to as only being frugal, I thought this was fantastic.
2. She has been actively going with a friend* of hers and is losing weight and getting into shape.
3. Because she brings the boys with her and the gym has a child care area for children while the mothers work out, the guy running the gym asked her if she would consider bringing the boys and watching children in the gym from 9-12 a couple of days a week. This would earn her minimum wage and pay for her membership in the gym! Bless her heart she has managed to figure out how to not only get shape, provide her gym membership for free, but include a part time job to help out the family cause while watching the boys the entire time.
Mommy is Wonder Woman.
No wonder I call her Wonder Woman! Ok, we started that because with her dark hair and her old hair cut and very full figure she looked like the Wonder Woman character on the poster of the Super Heroes on Hayden's bedroom wall. Hayden and Garth bought it hook line and sinker and so now mommy is Wonder Woman!
Breakfast - the most important meal of the day.
Homemade Breakfast Biscuits – I mentioned that my wife has got me interested in some of Doctor Oz's television shows and because one of his shows convinced me I should eat breakfast every day. Again I have to brag on my wonderful wife!
She took a package of biscuits and she puts half a biscuit in a cupcake pan, broken up cooked sausage, and scrambled eggs and pours it into the biscuit cup. She bakes them and then each day I can heat up two of them, takes twenty-five seconds in the microwave and I have a delicious hot breakfast of biscuit, eggs and sausage to eat on the way to work. Cheap, easy, delicious, and I am eating breakfast every day, which is supposed to jump start my metabolism and make my body burn calories more efficiently and give my body the jump start it needs when it needs it the most – right after waking up in the morning.
Freinds and Great Friends.
In the part above I placed an asterisk by the word friend; you may or may not have noticed it. We all have different friends! Different people, different types of friends.
You have Acquaintances which I define (you may redefine any of these as you wish) as people you know but don't know. You run into them in public, or church, where you work, or maybe they are somebody you met on-line and have gotten to know, share things with, helped each other, but you may have never actually met them. You really don't know these people yet we do consider them as friends.
You have friends who maybe you socialize with but on a limited scale because of one reason or another you just don't mesh well enough to hang out in a closer relationship with. This is generally because something they do you find offensive or is a turnoff to you.
Some examples of this are or maybe . . .
The Hypochondriac – there is always something wrong with them.
The Leach – This comes in multiple forms.
a. They suck and take from you but give nothing back in any useful form.
b. They always want something for nothing and go to extremes to get it.
The Eeyore – Sad and depressed people that would make you unhappy to be in heaven with!
There are unfortunately many more types that could easily be added to our list and the multitude of variations of the types.
A great friendship is like a great marriage. It requires work, some give and take, communication, and a deep genuine concern for the other persons well being, success and happiness. From time to time you come across one of these kinds of friends. My wives friend, who she is working out with almost every day, is a great friend. I even commented to my wife about this.
A great friend is not only everything you expect a great friend to be but they make you want to be a better person than you are in a positive constructive manner. They can help you get in shape, stop destructive behavior, give you a swift kick in the ass when you need it, and are there to lean on whenever you need them to be. They don't judge you, your spouse or your children and realize that family is family and off limits. Being around a great friend enriches every aspect of your life and helps you reach for the stars and believe you can accomplish your dreams no matter how big they are.
Tribute to Wonder Woman.
I married my greatest friend in the entire world and it has made all the difference in the world in my life. I feel extremely lucky to have some other great friends in my life. If your life isn't going in the direction you want you may need to look at your friends and who you are spending time with. Inversely nobody can love or like you until you can learn to love or like yourself. So start by looking in the mirror, then your friends, and change your life if you're not happy with the direction it is going. Tomorrow we will discuss the dangers of co-dependency! Just kidding!
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