Spin into Summer

I seem to be spinning as we enter the summer months and have partially moved to Topeka. It is interesting and crazy times as we prepare our Lawrence house for the closing on June 8. We had a lot of fun in the Lawrence house over the last four years... hard to believe. I can still remember many parties and good times in that house. It will definitely be worth it to remember that house and take it in my memories and pictures for the future.

Along with the new house also comes more work to be done around the house. So far the motivation factor has not been there and so boxes are not being unboxed, flower bed has weeds, the usual. I can tell you that it is much better to not have to commute an hour (total) each day. Instead it takes me about five minutes to get to work. Carrie drops me off on her way to work and picks me up on the way home. Granted getting use to not having a car and not being able to go out at lunch to run errands is taking a little getting use to... but not having to drive back and forth to Lawrence is great!

It is almost June and the summer will be half-over before we know it. I was remembering the other day how last year in June we drove to New Mexico and what a great time it was there. If you ever have the chance to go to New Mexico ... jump on it and go! Great and beautiful place!

Work is still challenging and fun. It keeps me thinking each day I am there on my feet and constantly challenges me for the better. I am interested to see where our new director (who is great BTW) takes us with his vision and business sense. I know it will be great places...

Well, I wanted to post something on here before May ended. My goal is to try and post at least once a month... possibly more if something is bothering me... I have not had a chance to listen to much music lately, but I will start posting my music blogs again soon.

Outta here...

Opera on a Thursday

We attended a opera at Washburn University (http://www.washburn.edu) last week and it was very enjoyable. This led me to listen to some opera some this week. Here is what I am listening to today....

Opera on a Thursday:

1. Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 - Air on the G-String - J.S. Bach
2. Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 - Molto allegro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 - Allegro con brio - Ludwig van Beethoven
4. Dôme épais le jasmin à la rose s'assemble - Leo Delibes
5. Apollo et Hyacinthus - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
6. Bastien und Bastienne - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
7. Mitridate, re di Ponto - Allgro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
8. Mitridate, re di Ponto - Andante grazioso - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
9. Mitridate, re di Ponto - Presto - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
10. Lucio Silla - Andante - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11. Lucio Silla - Molto allegro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
12. La finta giardiniera - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
13. Il re pastore - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
14. Idomeneo - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
15. Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serial - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
16. Der Schaupieldirektor - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
17. Marriage of Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
18. Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
19. Cosi fan tutte - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
20. Magic Flute - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
21. La clemenza di Tito - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I remember when I was little my Mom use to take me to operas because she enjoyed them. I never did find a liking for attending them and usually ended up falling asleep. Well, that might all have been because they were in Italian. I had no clue what they were saying and it put me to sleep. I understand today a lot of opera's have video screens displaying the translated text to English. This would help a lot and I am willing to give opera another try.... all thanks to the first opera put on at Washburn University.

Things Out of our Control

As we progress through life and our every day tasks we come across many different things that we have absolutely no control over. A couple of items come to mind right now.

We are trying to sell our house. We think it is a hot item on the market and we had a lot of traffic from people when it first went on the market over a month ago. Now the traffic has dwindled to one or two people a week... if that! We have a limited ability to get people into look at our house, but ultimately it is up to advertising and word-of-mouth to get them in our house. To get a offer on our house that is a completely different story. So far the planets and stars have not lined up for us to get that offer on our house. Will it come eventually? Sure! Will it come soon.... we do not know nor do we have control over that fact.

The Kansas City Royals had a horrible season last year... one of the worst in MLB history. While they have not started off bad this year they did lose a game against New York yesterday afternoon that they should not have let slip away. Just as I pull for the Royals I also pull for Kansas basketball, Washburn sports and anything else that is relevant to a sport I follow or a event I am dedicated to. Do I have control over the outcome of the Royals or whether Kansas wins the National Championship? Of course not! No matter how I feel that wearing my "lucky" shirt or doing the same routine will help MY team advance to the ultimate goal of a title... You and I both know it does no good but make me feel good when they do succeed. Again, completely out of my control no matter how hard I cheer... no matter what I wear... or how distraught I am with the team... no changes.

The last item that while I feel I have control over I ultimately do not have control. That is major decisions at work. Purchases, leave time and other related items. These may be simply for employees that work for me or for ISS. I am certainly not in a vacuum and I do feel I should check with others before making decisions. It simply feels like making decisions at work requires many hoopes to jump through instead of simply making the decision. Instead of taking a day or two to make a decision it takes weeks or even months to make a decision. I am all for gathering the facts and basing the decision off of those facts... This can be frustrating not only for the person waiting on the decision, but also for me who has to relay the information to who ever asked for that process.

The joys of selling a house, cheering for a sporting team and being in a work environment. It can be a lot of fun for all areas and it can also be frustrating.

We may be too old for this

Late night. Loud music, smoky bar, inappropriate dancing with friends. An uncontrollable urge for pancakes at 3am. We were saved from feeding our faces by sleepy Javier.
So, yeah, we've pretty much done nothing all day today.

Birthday musico!

John totally surprised me with an early birthday present. I have an Ipod! We have had fun playing with it, creating playlists, etc. I think I picked out a case. The OtterBox. Very carrie-proof, scratch-drop resistant. And waterproof, which means we can use it this summer at the lake or on the boat without worries. Or in a year or two out by our future pool!
I should be doing laundry or something but I am picking out some songs to download...

I Turn My Camera On - Spoon
The Way We Get By - Spoon
Forca - Nelly Furtado
Jolene - Ray Lamontagne

We are going to Laughing Matters tonight with a group of friends and looking forward to it. Next time, we are going to get 4 tables and invite more people. Good time.

Cool Funk for a Friday

What I am listening to on a Friday afternoon after lunch. Using Rhapsody as my player...

Cool Funk for a Friday:

1. Trouble - Ray Lamontagne
2. Ain't Life Grand - Widespread Panic
3. King Without a Crown - Matisyahu
4. Is This Love - Bob Marley
5. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
6. Such Great Heights (LP Version #2) - Postal Service
7. Inside Of Love - Nada Surf
8. This One's For You - Ed Harcourt
9. Pink Moon - Nick Drake
10. Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jeff Buckley
11. Please Forgive Me - David Gray
12. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
13. The One I Love - David Gray
14. Unbelievable - Craig David
15. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - John Legend
16. Home - Marc Broussard

Peace out!

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog. This is my first attempt at this so we will see what happens.

John