So this morning I was encouraging Savanna to brush her teeth. "Let's Race!" I hollered.
Into the bathroom I ran. By the time she caught up with me, I'm was nearly finished.
Me: "I'm the winner!"
Savanna: "We aren't racing."
Me: "Winner, Winner!"
Savanna: "IT WASN'T A RACE!!!"
Me: "Chicken Dinner."
Savanna: "Dad! STOP!"
Me: "How's second place feel?"
Savanna: "TERRIFIC!"
It's not so much winning or losing, MUCH more important is winning or losing within the family. Yet again (for the 8 time in 9 tries).... Melanie has secured second place in the annual Smith Family NCAA Tournament bracket. Congrats!!! Your the first loser, the top runner up!!!
I am stuck with first, again. All those high expectations. Forced to listen to excuses from the other participants. Sure it was just one point. Yea, who could have picked the games correctly this year.
If you see her....
Give her a smile, a pat on the shoulder or a big hug. There's always next year.
Yea, Yea... I know I've been neglecting the blog lately. There's no need for any detailed excuses. I'll just work on keeping "all ya all" (plural for "ya all" and yes I've been in Texas 10 years now) better informed and hopefully entertained.
So I had the kids Saturday and was tasked with the challenge of meeting everyone's wants and needs all at the same time for dinner. Beck made it easy, he just needed his bottle. Savanna and I were a bit more difficult. First off, I didn't want to make anything nor clean up afterward. I also wanted to be sure and catch two games on TV; the Mavs and the NCAA Basketball Tourney. Savanna on the other hand was more worried about the food. "Dad, I want cheeeeese sticks and uuhhhmmmm... ranch!" I suggested she have some chicken as well, to which she agreed. This left us only one choice for dinner, HOOTERS!
Trust me, I know the place was suspect at best for kids but we had a great time. Savanna loved sitting on the "big tall chairs". She got a great coloring sheet with 4 new crayons. Our waitress was kid friendly. She let Savanna try and throw our order into their kitchen on the fancy "tennis ball on a wire" system. Most importantly to Savanna, they served ranch with everything.
I got to watch both my games and Beck loved it too....
This evening, following dinner Savanna asked me if I wanted any dessert. Knowing I was in for more than a tasty teat, I gladly accepted her offer.
Savanna: "How about some imagination Ice Cream?"
Me: "Ohhh, Sounds perfect."
Savanna: "What kind do you want?"
Me: "Vanilla with Oreo cookies."
she makes two imagination scoops then mixes it up a bit
Savanna: "Here you go. That'll be $25 dollars."
Me: "$25 Dollars?!"
she gives up way to quick....
Savanna: "How about $4 dollars" Holding out 4 fingers.
Me: "How about free?"
Savanna: "Ok, $3 dollars."
now I'm laughing and she's confused
Me: "No. FREE!"
Savanna: "What is Free?"
Me: "Zero"
Savanna: "Ok, give me Zero."
Me: "You drive a hard bargain, but ok."
I gave her two imagination Zeros to make her feel better.
My sister just pointed me to a great spoof article on the 2008 Olympic USA Basketball team.
Turns out instead of having a "team" of individuals, the USA wants to go with just one, Kobe Bryant. David Stern justifies the decision by stating, "81 points will beat a lot of teams, especially foreign ones."
Yesterday afternoon I had what is sure to be a once in a lifetime event happen. An event so rare, that I am willing to bet good money it will never happen to any of you out there reading my blog. It's a bit confusing. but I'll do my best to explain.
I had a scheduled 2pm meeting at a North Dallas Starbucks with a fellow telcom sales rep. I knew of the guy I was meeting but had never seen him in person. Appproaching the coffee house doors I could see just inside there were two men fitting my contacts profile. As I opened the doors both men were smiling suspiciouly. I admit I was courious.
"I'm Brett Smith"
"Who are you here to see" says the guy on the left.
"Mark"
The first guy directs my attention to the second. As we shake hands he's still smiling.
"What's up?" I ask looking back to the other guy.
He really thinks it's funny now, "I'm here to meet Brett Smith also."
"Are you serious?" I ask.
He goes on to explain that he also had a 2pm meeting at this same North Dallas Starbucks with a Brett Smith he had yet to meet. 3 minutes later his story proved to be true when Brett Smith #2 showed up.
Can somebody tell me the probability of that happening? Where's Otis Miller when you need him.
Today I read 45% of bloggers stop posting to their site just 3 months after their blog is created. I guess that would explain why yet another blog on my "Good Blog" list is going to the graveyard.
In his last post, dated 12/21, Reese wrote about a donut thief. Did the thief also steal your computer? or maybe just each good idea for a blog. Reese joins C Mill1 and Johnny Stevens in the used to read but no longer post bucket. There's no lid on the bucket fellas, start posting again anytime.
Out with the old, in with the new... Professor David Freeland has done his best to get me in the musical mainstream. Back in the day, which is getting to be WAY back in the day, I was right smack dab in the middle of the mainstream. D. Lee and I DJ'ed all the coolest (high school) parties held in northwest Missouri. Slowly but surely I lost track of what all the cool kids were playing on their boom boxes. Dr. Dave is solving those problems. He's got me listening to Bloc Party, Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah. I ain't cool, but at least my music is. You too can join the music fun. Just check out Hearsay on my "Good Blogs" list.
The whole blogging thing isn't easy. This morning, I was riding the wonderful waves of the internet. A cool breeze was blowing through my golden locks. It was raining outside, but in our office (as it does on most days) the sun was shining. Anyway, I stumbled on a little gem of a blog topic.
The Oscar Mayer Wienermoblie turns 70 this year! Can you believe it? I thought is would only be about half my age.
Way back in 1996, I was on a little weekend trip down in Houston when I spotted the Wienermoblie on the freeway. For all you wiener dog lovers out there, it was only 9 1/2 dog years old at the time and didn't show its age at all. Luckily, they stoped to fill up its 32 gallon fuel tank only 15 minutes after I began to follow them. I had to see the inside of the Wiener. The hotdog on wheels was spectacular. Roomy, comfortable and loaded with lots of free giveaways. The folks driving loved their jobs.
So to make this whole blog post work, I had to find my photo from the event. Given that I hadn't seen the photo since before I was married I knew it could be trouble locating it. I sorted through 3 file cabinets and roughly 12 boxes from our last 2 moves before finally locating the picture.
Hotdogs sound good, huh?
Savanna is a fantastic kid. She is bright, energetic, charming and like most kids her age, impressionable. Unfortunately, a few things I found to be pretty funny didn't go over too well with the faculty at school.
Savanna, thankfully, couldn't get anyone to sing along to, "when the pimps get an attitude, drop it like it's hot." Nor did Mrs. Kelly find it funny when Savanna took counting a whole different direction, "1, 2, 3... and to the 4 Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre at the door."
Just when her music interest had been cleaned up another problem arose. When fellow classmates would get up to go use the restroom Savanna would holler "LET IT RIP!" Really funny, but disruptive to any classroom environment.
So, I took the heat. Cut out the funny business and cleaned up my act. It was smooth sailing at school for several months. Then Apa came to town.
We were just about finished putting together the trampoline. I was hanging up the safety net when my pants were pulled down to my ankles. I calmly finished tying the net then turned to find the guilty party. There they were. Two peas in a pod, Apa and Savanna giggling uncontrollably.
Savanna thinks the new "game" is hilarious. It won't be long before she tries it at school and when she does Apa will have some explaining to do.
Growing up, I was the kid in town with the trampoline. It was a source of entertainment just about anytime the weather would allow for me to get on it. I mastered flips, twists and turns. When I could get away with it, I would move it under the basketball hoop for a game of "slamball." I even remember sleeping on it a time or two.
Well, about three weeks ago my Aunt Carol called to let me know she and Grandma Irene were buying Savanna and Beck a trampoline for our backyard. I have to admit, I was more excited than Savanna to here the news. Today, after the rain cleared up, Dad and I pieced together what is sure to be a ton of fun for the family.
I've yet to gain Vanita's approval (not that I need to), but I'm going to go ahead to offer Savanna up for employment. I'm telling you, this girl can close a deal.
This evening, Vanita was out of the house leaving me to tend to the kids. When it came time for Savanna to have her evening glass of warm milk I though it was time to change the routine.
Me: Savanna I don't make warm milk anymore.
Savanna: WHAT? DAD! I want warm milk.
Me: Sorry, Savanna. It's cold milk or no milk at all.
Savanna: Ok, Dad you put the cold milk in my cup. (she pauses, I can only assume she is looking for buying signals) Then put it in the microwave and I'll push the buttons. OK?
Really, I tried to come up with an answer other than "fine" or "ok" but couldn't. Zig Zigler look out, even on your best day, you don't have a chance.
My spelling is horendous. I often argue that spellcheck removed all willingness needed to learn the correct spelling of each word. It appears new internet enhancements are doing everything possible to ensure I will not be alone.
Seth Godin, I was wrong.
Trekking to Patterson, NJ tonight. Went to Yahoo maps, typed in the address and boom, "That address doesn't exist. Here are directions from the nearest town."
So I went back to my source. Checked it twice. Copied and pasted. Did a second Google search to be sure the address was right.
Turns out that Paterson only has one "t".
I share this with you because it's a great example of how dependent we are on the search engines to fix our mistakes for us. Should Yahoo Maps have "known" that Paterson is often spelled with two "t"s? Of course.
The danger zone is when only some of the obvious mistakes are caught. We're being trained to be sloppy, and expecting that will always work. Watch a kid search on Google--they don't even try to get the spelling right. Why bother?
This past weekend we took a little trip to Southlake Town Square. The place is one of a kind. The town and the square are relatively new but was built to appear much older. Here's a picture of the square on the 4th.
We had a great time. Returned a few gifts, purchased some new ones, had a relaxing lunch and enjoyed temperatures near 80 degrees. However, the highlight of our day was quite unexpected.
We noticed a small crowd of children gathered near a fountain at the center of the square. Savanna hurried over and found what had to be the largest dog I have ever seen.
The dog's secret? Milkshakes.
Today is your day.
Yes, it was news to me as well. Upon arriving at the office this morning, I was greeted (via IM) by a co-worker in Atlanta "Happy National Smith Day!"
My first instict was that he needed something or was just poking fun. But, a quick Google search confirmed the news.
It is officially listed in Chase's Calendar of Events, a book published annually that tracks about 12,000 such holidays, large and small.
Smith Day commemorates the Jan. 6, 1580, birthday of Captain John Smith, the English colonial leader who helped to settle Jamestown, Va., in 1607.
By sheer numbers, folks named Smith deserve their own day. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, more than 1 percent of the population shared the last name.Did any one catch the new ads running during the at&t Cotton Bowl?
Here's a great post by Brad Feld discussing how at&t "wasted" nearly 1 billion dollars on their new brand, The Deathstar Rises. It is apparent the marketing world needs to be saved and Seth Godin is the guy to do it. Who is Seth Godin?
His site is exceptional. He creates daily posts that are smart, fresh and entertaining. I've added him to my "Good Blogs" list. He even drove me to try out three new web tools. After all I want to be "...the self-elected early adopter, the radical new, (one of) the folks who embrace big new ideas."
So with my extra day of vacation I added Mozilla Firefox, Flickr and del.icio.us to my laptop. If you have some time give them a try.
Mozilla Firefox is a new web browser. You can browse the Web with confidence - Firefox protects you from viruses, spyware and pop-ups. Enjoy improvements to performance, ease of use and privacy. It's easy to import your favorites and settings and get started. Thus far I've found it to better noticeably better than Microsoft Explorer.
Flickr is the best way to store, search, sort and share your digital photos. I've just gotten started with it and I already love it. Scroll down towards the bottom right side of my blog to view my photos.
del.icio.us is like bookmarking websites, but helps with the detail. If bookmarking is similar to saving a magazine issue, del.icio.us would keep track of just your favorite articles.
Best of all, each tool is free and easy to download.
About this time last year, I read a great article by my favorite motivational speaker, Marshall Goldsmith. I hung on to the article planning to share it with my sales team just before everyone left for the year. I hope it also makes a decent year end blog post.
Making a Resolution that Matters. Below are a my crib notes.
I want you to imagine that you're 95 years old. The 95-year-old you understands what was really important and what wasn't, what mattered and what didn't, what counted and what didn't really count. What advice would this wise "old you" have for the "you" who is reading this page?
Take a few seconds and answer this question on two levels: personal and professional. Jot down a few words that capture what the old you would be saying to the younger you that is here today.
My suggestion is simple. Just do whatever you wrote down. Make that your resolution for this year and next.
The wise old you has finally realized that the next promotion, the next achievement, or the corner office really won't change your world that much. Many older people say they were so wrapped up in looking for what they didn't have that they seldom appreciated what they did have.
So (this year) do the reverse New Year's resolution. Don't look ahead. Look behind. Know that you need to be happy now, to enjoy your friends and family, to follow your dreams. This is good advice for everyone who wants a fulfilling career. It's also great advice for everyone who wants to live a meaningful life.
Happy New Year!
I really enjoy what I do. It is great to meet new clients and find solutions to their problems. The constant change always keeps me on my toes. In telecom, they say "If you don't like the way things are.... give it a day. Things are bound to change." I been able to learn from all the different "characters" who have worked with me. But, the thing that really makes it all worth while is the Big Sale.
Today, we caught a whopper. The account's monthly revenue is nearly twice the size of our next biggest account. "I firmly believe that any rep's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that they hold dear, is that moment when they have worked their heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted at the end of the month — over quota." Today, I couldn't agree more.
To make things even better... While we were celebrating, I got a call telling me there were Go Peds in the parking lot. What a concept, telecom reps on wheels!
Beckett wasn't born in Tarkio but he'll get there as fast as he can. Here's his new favorite shirt.
Last night, the last of our holiday guests arrived for what is off to be an eventful Christmas celebration. We started out, as nearly all of our get togethers do, with food and highly competitive games. Just as we were all about to head out on the town, Dad and I caused more commotion than Santa on Christmas morning.
We were pushing and shoving each other waiting for everyone to get their things together. Vanita called it but not in time, "Guys quit it! Savanna is right behind you!" Nanoseconds later Savanna caught a HARD elbow to the right eye. I felt terrible and pretty scared at the same time. The girls went into panic mode.
We rushed to the hospital. The nurses were wonderful. Stitches were avoided. And best of all, we found out Savanna was one tough little girl. Your first shiner! Merry Christmas, Savanna.
