Fortunate Destiny, Luck or the Hands of Fate???

How wonderful it has been to be me over the past 55 years. I have had the fortunate destiny, luck or placement by the hands of fate to be allowed in the company of amazing women. 

My wife, my mom, my sisters, my girlfriends, my ex-wife (yes, even her), my sisters-in-law, my relatives, my daughters, and quite a few amazing friends, co-workers, colleagues and bosses. 

From them, I've learned to be compassionate, strong, graceful, athletic, focused, inspired, forgiving, strong, funny, intelligent, and a how to become a leader. 

I've learned that even I can deserve to be loved by someone other than myself. Because of that, I learned how to give love. 

From them, I've learned about beauty, about chaos, about laughter, and about loyalty. When to turn a phrase, when to turn away, when to turn silly, and when turn my ears to listen. 

When I meet our creator, I will thank her.

Excellent Trip

This past weekend Nancy and I visited Tatiana and Ian out in San Francisco. We hit the tourist spots, had some great eats at a number of restaurants, and enjoyed ourselves immensely with our hosts. Didn't want to leave, but had to get back to Fort Worth and the grind. Highlights of the trip included: Golden Gate on a clear day Golden Gate shrouded in fog Seeing my breath in the middle of June at the Golden Gate observation point (it was cold) Napa Valley winery tour (we hit 4 in the span of 6 hours) Excellent eats at the restaurants Excellent meals prepared by Tatiana and Ian Sea Lions at Pier 39 Spending time with Nancy is always a highlight Discovering Uber (look it up) Lowlights: Outgoing flight cancelled, had to extend our trip unexpectedly Some pics below - more on Facebook.....

Nancy and I at the Bridge

All of us at Andretti's Winery

San Francisco

Next up on the travel agenda, a visit to Tatiana and Ian in San Francisco. Nancy's first time in the city by the bay. Travelogue and pics to follow next week.

I love my job...

That is not sarcasm. I am fortunate to have found my place, working in technology at an institution of higher education. At community colleges, we accept for enrollment anyone who has the desire to further themselves. Attending one as an adult changed my life for the better. What I learned at a community college actually helped me serve as a consultant to places like Princeton and Duke.

Taking part in our college's graduation ceremony last week re-energized me to no end. Our certificate and degree earners were as young as 16 and as old as mid-70's, across all social and economic spectrum. Many were their family's first college graduate, and the roars, cheers and applause was humbling. The graduates of our programs have significant impact on the local economy, and watching them gave me enormous satisfaction, knowing I had some small part in their success.

So, if I seem on cloud nine lately, forgive me for my idealism and happiness. I'm helping others achieve a dream. Don't get in my way.....

Great Weekend

We are still exploring the DFW area, and our interests in backyard wildlife. Two new species visited, a Red Bellied Woodpecker and a Pine Siskin.

We took advantage of the great weather on Sunday to put the bikes on the car and head downtown to the Trinity Trails, a park system that winds 50 miles in and around Fort Worth. We biked about a 8 mile section, crossing over the river multiple times and passing by many scenic spots. Below is a picture of Nancy on one of the walking/biking bridges where we took a couple minutes rest stop.

Daily Journal Time

Time to start putting things down, hopefully inspiring, mostly mundane. Week started off with some scary events. Had a colonoscopy after putting it off for too many years. Thankfully, I'm clean. Then, visited doc with Nancy as she has a kidney cyst, but everything has checked out fine. Got an award from Cornerstone Students on the Northwest Campus. Providing them with some technology that will hopefully cut down on the cost of education, and provide more rapid access to instructional content. Nice to be recognized. Today - meetings on prepping for national consultants, and looking at possibility of swapping out our main administrative systems. Always busy. Had a good walk this evening in the neighborhood. Came back to see a new species of bird visiting the feeders. That's 15 species so far this month.... That's it for now, will see how well I keep this up...

Source: ownbyphotography.com via Tim on Pinterest

Update, after a few months.

Started the weight loss attempt a few months ago. After a good start, got sidetracked with some work travel and a trip to Vegas. Now, back to the grind, a new job which keeps me off the road. This time last week I was back to my start weight of 218. Today, glad to say I'm at 208.

Start weight = 218
Current weight = 208

Weight Loss = 10 lbs.