The Truth about Mary

This is a post about somebody named Mary Anderson. You may regard me as somebody who is incredibly biased towards this particular woman, being her husband (of nearly 12 years), father of her five children, and best friend. Biased? OK, yes, you got me. But I would counter that I am also a subject matter expert on this particular person. And it is time that you know the truth about Mary Anderson.

Mary, the champion

If I had to sum up Mary in one word, I would say, "Mary is a champion." Always has been, always was. Some of you may know that Mary signed up for a series of half marathons this summer. After running the second of four races, she injured her foot and had to sit out the third race, the Hobble Creek Half, just last Saturday.

What you probably don't know is that this injury was devastating to Mary. She did everything she could to run in that race, she got massages, she bought a special leg brace, she prayed and sought out the Lord to be healed...and while her heart was healed in other ways, the physical pain from plantar faciatus lingered and she was not able to run come race day.

Now, she could have done a lot of things come race day. She could have slept in. She could have been negative and grouchy. She could have decided that running was not for her.

But instead, like the champion that she is, she did this instead:

She arose early and made her way over to mile 10 of the 13.1 mile race to cheer on some of her friends who were also running. This allowed me the opportunity to take several photos of her without her knowing, as I smiled to myself and thought, "well, doesn't this just capture the true nature of who Mary is?"

Instead of letting herself feel down and upset, she thinks of others. I can't tell you how many meals she has taken to a friend or a neighbor in need or how many times she has called someone who is hurting or how many times she has comforted one of our children, because I'm not sure. I can only tell you that it's a a lot.

So, on Mary's 34th birthday, and a dozen years to the day that I dropped on one knee and was ready to beg her to marry me (I didn't have to beg, fortunately for me!) I am grateful for champions in my life, especially one I get to call my wife (of nearly 12 years), mother of my five children, and best friend.

Happy birthday, Mary. I love you.

Scott & Brade: A Tale of Two Sons

Going through some photos tonight and I just had to share. I am blessed with two sons; my oldest son is named Scott. He has the kind of imagination that is without end or limitation. If you spend any amount of time with Scott, you will likely see him wander off into a nearby field or lot and begin to transform. Yes, that's right... transform. Complete with mouth noises, the works. He does it when he doesn't think anyone is looking, and he doesn't seem to hear you when he is in the middle of one of these transformations. He is extremely right brained, and if you put him in a box, and ask for a nice picture while taking family portraits at Yellowstone National Park, you might get this:

    

 
Now, this is a lovely photo of Scott and everything, but it doesn't truly capture his nature. If, on the other hand, you were to say to Scott, "OK, Buddy, you win....let's do whatever you want to do now," the results will be sure to entertain. You might get:

 

a maniacal smile, 

 

or perhaps Captain America saving the day,

 

but two seconds later you might see the Captain transform into a hideous mantis-beast, his back wiggling as he breaks out of his skin to better pursue you, with his insect beak all a-screeching.

 

Suddenly he's a stealthy ninja, silently creeping up the back alley to take the vermin crime gang unawares. Not a sound does he make until he pops into the head of some other villainous creature, or death defying hero.

~~~~~

Did I mention that I have another son? His name is Braden, and if you asked him to give you a nice smile for his Yellowstone River portrait, this is what you'll likely get, every single time:

I have two sons, and I love them both for entirely different reasons!

Wardrobe Discrimination?

So, I have been in the middle of switching banks and so have been writing checks lately, right? Something I have not done for the past 12 years or so. I have also been working in a less formal environment and so been wearing more business-casual clothes lately. Over the past couple of weeks I have been fueling up my car at a certain gas station in Saratoga Springs and have found it interesting to be asked for my ID. Being a non-smoker, non-drinker, non-check writer, and generally not going to any type of rave or gathering where the clientele were over 21, I am not used to being carded, and it kind of irked me that I had to take out my wallet and prove who I was in order to use a check. This happened two different times over the past two weeks.

This week I needed to dress in my suit and go to my home office, so when I got out at the gas station, I followed procedure and wrote my check, handed it over and reached for my driver's license, and...nothing! The attendant walked off to process my check, with nary a thought of who I might be. There was no eyeing the picture, no hard, searching, squint into my eyes, nothing. I was not carded, and the thought came into my mind that it was because of my appearance; I looked like a clean cut businessman and of course that means I can be trusted.

I thought that this experience may have been an outlier, that it was just a fluke, a coincidence. Twice carded in plain clothes, once not carded in more formal attire...until it happened again. Two days later I was there again, same gas station, same scenario, I reach for the ID, and....rejected! The attendant is off running my check through some new fandangled contraption that makes it act like a debit card. Lucky me.

I thought that this certainly could be no coincidence. We're 2 for 4 here. Now, to level the field a bit, (I know what you are thinking), and no, the station attendant didn't just learn my name. I went to the station at four different times and was served by four different attendants.

Was I the recipient of wardrobe discrimination? Does that even exist? Do humans treat eachother differently and even have a different level of trust for people that are dressed more and less formally? I am certain that we do, but it has been many years since I have felt any type of discrimination or persecution, and so the feeling was new to me. Not since I was a white boy growing up in south Texas or a Mormon youth in inner city New Jersey had I felt any type of discrimination or prejudice, be it positive or negative.

I am fascinated by human beings and how we think, reason, and react to one another. I think that in another life I could have been quite happy as a researcher or even a psychologist. Maybe a high school drama teacher. It is absolutely fascinating to me that as humans we categorize, we prioritize, and we judge based on our own life-experience, which for any one person is going to be fairly limited.

Love your job?

Do you love your job? Would it give you no greater pleasure than to show up to work everyday and perform your job for free, if you could? How much do you need to make in order to provide for yourself and your dependents? If you had that money in the bank what would you spend your time doing? If the answer is something far from what you are currently doing, you're in the wrong business.

I love my job. I work with some pretty awesome and very talented people, and we are working to change people's lives. It's amazing!! It probably doesn't hurt that my career builds upon my media arts degree and is an environment that inspires creativity and growth.

The reason for this post is to tell you that it doesn't have to be this way. I know. I was once working for a small bay area marketing firm and making GREAT money but working crazy hours and absolutely miserable. It got to the point where I wondered if I could ever be happy with my career again. If you find yourself in this boat, please please please make the decision to make a major change today. Go back to school, take some classes, switch career fields - whatever it takes. You'll be so much happier if you are doing what you were created to do.

This is a perfect time to make a change. With the economy the way that it is, many professionals are taking the opportunity to make a change and do something that is more suited to them. Even if this means a reduction in salary - switch out some salary for quality of life if you can swing it. You'll be glad you did! See also ThisBookisGreat.com