Tales of the Ordinary Days

Sunday night. 7:54 Mountain Time. Ordinary day? Ordinary weekend? Sure. But, seriously, what is ordinary any more? Yesterday was a road trip to Fort Collins to check out Zach's new place. His new journey has begun. With sleeping kids in the back (and me nodding off on occasion in the front), we enjoyed our time with Zach and checking out Downtown Ft. Collins and and the Colorado State campus. I did have a bit of an excuse for my own sleepiness on Saturday. Garrett and I hit a record late night for the two of us the night prior; up until 2:00 a.m. when we finally went to bed for the night. Enjoying friendships with two other Denver families, we made it through 2 of 3 drive-in movies on Friday night. With the first, Man from U.N.C.L.E., starting at 8:20, I was fortunate in my napping ways through part of Movie # 2, Ant-Man, as I already had seen it. The outdoor movie viewing was a blast. Kids in jammies with a blow-up bed in the back of a pick-up truck. Adults bundled in ...

I posted this blog four years ago on the day we moved Zach out of the house to begin his freshman year of college. With blogged reflections on both myself and the unknowns of Zach's journey ahead, I am again reminded that regardless of the journey, people and the priorities around them are what matter most. Who knew where four years would take both of us? Gun-school, Think Healthcare, homes in Colorado. None on either of our radars that August day four years back. A fun and fulfilling ride in this journey of life continues! _____________________________________________________________  Zach is now a Phi Psi...all moved in to the fraternity house. August 15, 2011 I do prescribe to the quote that life is like a box of chocolates.    You never really know what you are going to get or what each day has in store for you.    Today I took my oldest son to New Student Enrollment at UNL.    My vision of the day was me following up on my list of unanswer...

The title of this blog is very appropriate. At least from my current perspective. 'Let him ride the damn bike.' Yesterday I needed a break from e-mail and the busyness of work. An endeavor that never seems to reduce. One of my guilty indulgences of the day was watching some old videos that I recently had restored. It was all good fun until I reached the segment recorded in the clip above. With Ben over my shoulder, we watched me 'helicopter' my eldest as he learned to ride his bike. Even Ben commented, "Mom, what were you doing?" At the time, I thought what I was doing was perfectly normal. What any good mom should be doing. I was helping my son learn to ride his bike. From my vantage point at the time, I was where I needed to be to ensure his safety and to keep him going in the right direction. But from my current vantage point of observing from my computer screen, fifteen years later, what I saw was completely different. How could the ch...

My travel buddy The theme for the day for Garrett and I is 'slow down'. Our experience of spending a total of ten hours at Denver International Airport today will serve as a good reminder. Life has been hectic and chaotic for us, to say the least. We seem to follow the march of the next battle, going armed into the battlefield without a second thought on our preparedness. Days turn into night and a calendar reminder, our only salvation as a reminder on the day of the week. Although this is typical for a go-live of a company of our size, Garrett and I aren't used to even a hint of disorganization in our lives. We are both creatures of habit who pride ourselves on a tight calendar and balanced checkbook. We knew we were falling below the high bar we set for ourselves, but the sequence of today's events felt like a slap in the face from Mother Reality. The story, you ask? There must be a story? Of course there is a story and I will tell it. With complimentary...

View from Floor 2 of Think Whole Person Healthcare We survived Week 1. Think. Launch. Go-live. A vision becoming reality. 'Survived' may come across as a word to give pause. But given 300+ employees on their first day in a new job, a newly christened building, and many loyal patients anxious to connect with their trusted physicians; the word is fitting. And we did just that. With smiles on our faces and perseverance to achieve a common mission of patient-focused healthcare, we combated the obstacles before us. Each day continues to be a step closer to the excellence we will achieve. In the real world, life happens contrary to our best plans. Just as our sick patients didn't anticipate a trip to the doctor, Think also dealt with the unexpected over the course of our first week of operations. Exhausted at times, I found myself walking around the building taking in it's beauty and the refreshment of the patient interactions happening throughout. My new routine ...

Oscar to the left and Felix to the right Stealing a phrase from a friend of mine; 'we have a situation' at my house. I live with Felix and Oscar. The Odd Couple. For those of my age and older, you completely understand of whom I am referring. For those younger and confused, check with your friend, Wikipedia. This relationship has existed for some time, but has escalated over the last year. Post-marriage, Garrett and I have began spending our weekends with each other's kids and with more overall time in Omaha. Although the result has been a culture shock to both Ben and Garrett, it has been no surprise to me. Most say merging families in re-marriage is hard on the kids. The truth is that it is harder on the step-parents. Let me just throw out the core of the issue. Ben is a train wreck. This assertion is not a surprise to those who have known him his whole life. As a forever-smiling toddler, when asked his name, he would say "I'm Benny and I'm a train wr...

The phrase 'bloom where you are planted' keeps resonating with me. I'm not completely sure where the embedding began, but as of late, this catch phrase continually hits replay in my brain. I do feel like I am planted in a lot of different places these days. Tonight I am in Omaha. And I'm at home. Just home (9:06 p.m.). But home nonetheless. Home means many different things to me. I confuse people with pictures of Denver on my blog and social media. I also confuse people with my spotty appearances and 'going quiet' for periods of time. The new norm. "Did you move to Denver?" is a frequent question. or "I haven't seen you in ages. Why have you dropped off the face of the earth?" is another. Albeit the understandable confusion (apologies for past miscommunication and the inevitability of those in the future), I'm kind of everywhere these days. But the real answer is that most time is spent at 72nd and Center in Omaha, less tim...