Evie Day 294

Good morning! It is Thursday, 4 January 2024.

Right now, one of the little dogs (Lily) is barking at my wife’s breakfast with a high-pitched bark that lands with me in the same fashion as an ice pick being shoved into my ear drum.

I love my dogs, but there are some of their behaviors that can be a bit annoying. Yesterday afternoon they all cornered a small opossum under the deck stairs. Poor thing was probably scared to death. Dane was able to get all of the dogs inside, giving the small rodent an avenue and opportunity to escape, and it did. But, I have to tell you, the level of barking was at an all-time high.

Last night I was gaming with the guys, and it was a successful foray back into one of our fantasy campaigns (the same one I wrote about a couple of weeks ago when I thought my character had bought the farm)… successful in that we all survived, but there are still some unresolved after-effects of the conflict (curses!). It was fun, and my spirits were lifted by a couple of timely natural 20s on my attack dice.

We wrapped up a little before ten, and I headed straight for bed. Lisa had a long day and was already asleep. I climbed into bed and my bedspread was wet… Odin has a strange habit of chewing and drooling all over whatever surface he happens to be nibbling a late-night snack upon. It was uncomfortable and damp, so I slipped on a t-shirt and folded that corner of the bedspread down, and we’ll get it tossed into the washing machine in a little bit.

Odin is currently at my wife’s feet begging for some of her breakfast. His vocalizations can be on the interesting side, as he is carrying on a one-sided conversation, a canine version of “Oliver Twist”, and he has no problem communicating the classic line, “May I have some more?”.

Time for me to think about my breakfast. Nothing too fancy today. I finished off the corned beef hash from Monday, so this morning might just be toast with peanut butter and a cup of coffee.

Time to get this in the can, and get walking around before Lucy the Schmokie claws my leg off.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 293

Hi everybody. It’s Wednesday. First new habit of the year is reminding myself that this is the year 2024, and today is 3 January.

My first day back in the virtual classroom went pretty well, but we’ve got a couple of labs that are disabled. These were the same two labs that were problematic during my class right before Christmas. The lab hosting company is usually a bit more aggressive about nailing down and correcting these problems, so I can’t help but wonder if there are deeper problems with the lab setup. I hope it gets resolved soon.

Last night was Tuesday dinner, and anyone who has read a Tuesday post of mine knows that I am a local ambassador to Taco Tuesday (self-appointed). I picked up a nice assortment of crispy beef and soft chicken tacos from my local purveyor of fine Mexican cuisine… although I think there was a little disappointment that I didn’t add on an order of flan.

My eldest pooch, Lucy the Schmorkie, is pawing at my leg, asking me to lower the footrest so she can climb up and sit between my knees. My son suspects she’s getting cataracts, and when I think about her behavior, I think he has a pretty good point. The last couple of nights, she has barked at my wife and I at bedtime, lights out, and stops barking after I get up and lift her into the dog bed at the foot of our bed. She’s twelve, and I know it’s normal for dogs to have their fair share of health issues as they get older. Last year was rough with the passing of Freya, and I hope we don’t have to go through that too soon. Since Freya’s passing, all of our dogs have behaved a little differently.

Gaming with the guys online tonight from 8 until 10. I look forward to it.

Time for me to get some coffee brewing, and heat up the remaining corned beef hash from Sunday morning.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 292

Good morning, and as I am wont to say on days such as this… Happy Taco Tuesday! Today is 2 January 2024.

Time to focus on me for a month.

January is my annual launch pad for whatever kind of success I’m going to have for the year. It’s time to change some old bad habits and replace them (hopefully!) with a good habit or two that will help me be a better version of myself every day. I’ve got my second glass of water sitting to my right on the end table – I’ll readily admit, the first two glasses and the last glass are the easiest, but working in those other three 24-oz glasses throughout the day requires a bit more focus. I’ve got a book at the ready to reread – “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. I hope that will have a little traction with me. Tonight, I’ll take a little time to select another title to enjoy. I already know that I will not be reading “The 5 AM Club” by Robin Sharma. I know someone who enjoyed that title, but I already get up at 5:30 in the morning. I’m old, and that extra 30 minutes of sleep can be quite meaningful.

I am open to suggestions, by the way. I’ve got an app that suggests new titles, focused on non-fiction self-improvement titles. I think I’ll look for some titles on self-confidence (always a struggle for me), overcoming imposter syndrome, staying focused (attention deficit issues), and time management. I will allocate some time every day to self-improvement.

I’ll be back in my virtual classroom in another couple of hours. I’m delivering a course with a frequent training partner, and we’re teaching a security implementation course on Central Standard Time. I am thankful that my first day back in the classroom following the holiday break is in my time zone rather than Eastern Time.

What other things are at the top of my mind today? Eating right, not drinking alcohol for January, and trying to get back into a ketogenic lifestyle to drop a little weight. Time to focus on some smart goals for the year – the first step is working on the goals I didn’t achieve last year for one reason or the other.

It’s time to start working on some of those goals. If you have some suggestions, I am more than open to hearing your ideas on the subject. Good habits require daily dedication. It’s kind of like getting up on workdays and writing a blog first thing in the morning. Some days it will come easy, other days will be more of a struggle. If I make good habits, I’ll develop a little more “muscle memory” when it comes to managing my day and getting into a rhythm.

Ooh… maybe I should make daily guitar practice part of the habit, too.

In the meantime, go grab some tacos.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 291

Good morning, and Happy New Year. Today is January 1, 2024.

For the first time, I had to adjust the year when looking up how many days my granddaughter has been alive, adjusting the default year of 2024 back to 2023. It’s a bit surreal, being a grandfather, and Evie will turn one in about two and a half months.

This also starts “Dry January” for me, when I take a break from alcohol for a month – well, most of a month. I’ll toast my dad on what would be his 83rd birthday, January 29th.

I’m also getting some other ducks in a row. I’ll work on some of my other goals for 2024 after a bit, writing things down in my 2024 Law of Attraction planner from FreedomMastery. I do believe in creative visualization – it’s easier to achieve goals if you take an incremental approach and implement a plan. I’ve got my water by my side – 8 x 16-ounce glasses, or in my case, 6 x 24-ounce glasses. The first two glasses are easy, and the last glass is part of my bedtime routine. The challenge lies with the other three glasses throughout the day.

I’ll also be starting a new routine with audiobooks as well. I’ll allocate some time daily for books, meditation, and guitar lessons. Time management has always been a struggle for me – it’s almost like I have ADHD (derp!). Dedicating time blocks for certain activities has helped me this past year, so I’ll continue with that habit.

The first audiobook of the year – Atomic Habits by James Clear. It seems a bit appropriate that my first book I listen to should be one about establishing and encouraging better habits.

I just need to make little adjustments and create better habits. Writing daily is part of that as well, whether that writing is productivity-focused or just silly stream-of-thought moments captured by pen and paper. I like having a pen and journal in my hand… there’s something a little more organic about writing words by hand. I sometimes feel a little more connected when I go that route.

I’m also going to take a look at some courses on LinkedIn Learning as well. I’ve got a few areas of my mental composition I’d like to improve – self-confidence, focus, and learning styles. There’s always room for improvement, even if that improvement isn’t monumental – if you have enough small movements towards a goal, it makes for substantial gains over the course of a year.

Anyway, that’s where my head is right now.

Day one of January 1 if going in the can.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 288

Good morning, and happy Friday! It is 29 December 2023.

Just a couple of days left in this year. It’s had ups and downs. I’ve learned much about myself this year, and I hope that growth continues.

Yesterday I wrote of my lamentations about the passing of a character. I wrote that first thing in the morning before I had heard from a couple of the guys I game with, and they let me know that, thanks to seven “Healing Word” spells, the party and my ranger, Julian, survived. It’s kind of amazing to me… I’ve been playing in four ongoing campaigns with the same group of guys since the summer of 2020(?), and I have yet to lose a character. It seems when I started playing D&D back in the 70s, the night would always start with me rolling up a new character, as my ‘toon had been killed the session before, and the term “cannon fodder” was often used to describe my gaming style.

I like playing Julian. I pick character names for comedic effect… Julian’s full name is “Julian Kalendar”. In another campaign, I play a grump Lawful Good Dwarven cleric named “Buzz Keel”. Among the other monikers I’ve used are “Hart Burns” and “Noland Void”. Some of the guys in the party have also gone that route, with handles like “Bjorn Tobewyld” (I particularly like that one).

Anyway, I guess when Julian fell, it was a good thing. The magic trident he wielded while wading into battle turned out to be a fortuitous weapon in the end.

Today I have some work to get done, and some presents to wrap. My eldest has her birthday on Sunday, and a few items are arriving that will require the requisite attention.

I’m going to get this in the can, and get back to the subjects at hand.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 287

Good morning, and a happy Thursday to you all. Today is 28 December 2023.

Sometimes you should trust your judgment. I knew I should’ve kept my character out of hand-to-hand combat, and kept at a distance just plinking arrows into the big bad evil guy (also called the ‘BBEG’)… or in this case, gal. But nope, I decided to wade into melee, and my character paid the price. He was a pretty good ranger, just leveled up, and he bit off more than he could chew. I went to bed (it was late) right after I saw the damage hit the virtual tabletop. It may have been a TPK… total party kill, but I didn’t stick around to see the final result. I may not be the only one to fall last night. Sigh.

I’ve got some work to do today. I was productive yesterday, and got started on a new Applied Skills cert that I should finish up today. My goal is to wrap up two or three (two is reasonable… three might be a reach) by the end of my vacation.

Kansas won their bowl game the other night. The rival across the state has their bowl game today at 4:30 or so local time. I wish the Wildcats the best as they take on the North Carolina State team in New York City.

Lisa has biscuits and gravy on the table, so I’m going to grab a cup of medium-roast Tanzanian Peaberry. Time for me to get this in the can and get going on my day.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 286

Good morning and a happy humpday to you all. It is 27 December 2023.

Last night we stayed up a little late to watch the Kansas Jayhawks win their first bowl game since 2008. It was an absolute joy, even with the ridiculous amount of flags that littered the game from beginning to end. I think the number of fouls called may have set a record. At one point, the announcers stated that the UNLV squad had just about as much yardage due to penalties as they had on offense. It was ugly at times, but Kansas ended up winning 49-36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, a bowl that was more fun to watch than it was to name.

We slept in a little bit this morning as the football game kept us up until midnight. I think it’s funny that I could get my wife to stay up for a football game until midnight, but getting her to stay up on New Year’s Eve that late is less of a likelihood.

This morning we were getting caught up on the Christmas Mass service we missed. We generally watch Mass on YouTube, and we watch the Catholic Diocese of Denver’s streaming services. It was just shy of a full hour, with mild interruptions. Fed Ex delivered a couple of boxes, and then the neighbor dog came and peed on one of them. Our neighbor has no respect for our property lines, and I guess their dogs frequently came over to play with the resident dog here before we bought the house. Our dogs are all smaller house dogs that we don’t let run loose, but they go berserk when Jamison or Zoey come over into our yard. The two boxes that we received were part of my October prize from Truefire.com. I won a Boss Katana 40 Mk II XL on one of their seasonal giveaways.

Now I have work to do. I promised myself I would try to crank out a couple of Applied Skills certifications for work, and yes, even though I am on vacation, there is work to do – I’ve pretty much been committed to class since the middle of October, and I wanted to get things done before the end of the year. So, here we are, the end of the year coincides with a week of vacation, but the work still needs to get done.

I’m going to get to it. I’ll leave some football and soccer contests on in the background with the volume turned down.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 285

Hi everybody – it’s the first Tuesday after Christmas… there will be tacos. Today is 26 December 2023.

This morning I saw a post from a high school classmate featuring her husband acting a little silly. A friend of hers posted a little gif that said “Have Fun”, but the way the little gift sat over the “U” made it look like it read, “Have Flan”… and on a Taco Tuesday, I am completely in support of that idea.

So much has gone on since last Friday. We traveled to see relatives and had a great time seeing sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and of course, my mom, who is now a proud great-grandmother of two little ones.

My oldest daughter and her fur baby spent the last couple of days with us, and with our four and her one, the dogs have sometimes had a bit of a conflict, usually centered on feeding time. This time it went a little better, and I am grateful.

Bonnie (oldest daughter) picked up a dog-treat puzzle for our dogs, and Odin is figuring it out right now. I think there is only one or two treats left in the puzzle at this point. He’s going to town… who’s a smart boy?

We had gift exchanges on Saturday, Sunday, and Christmas morning. Lisa and I will be busy with new kitchen and garage items. I picked up a new pressure cooker for my wife, as her Instant Pot was starting to act up. She has had an affinity for some of the Ninja products, so I upgraded her from a 6-quart to an 8-quart. My Canadian friends had sold me on the Instant Pot years ago, so thanks for that… now she has another pressure cooker that is big enough for the holiday ham sitting in the fridge. Lisa gifted me with a Ninja Pellet Smoker. It can’t be used indoors, but I figure we can allocate a little space out in the garage for now until it’s safe to roll it out onto the driveway in the spring. As our kids are getting older, there will be times when Lisa and I don’t need to fire up the Oklahoma Joe’s smoker to prep a meal for just the two of us. A smaller unit also means that I might be able to be a little more creative with my smoked meats.

We watched the Chiefs and Raiders game yesterday, and boy, the Chiefs are not the same team they were when they won the Super Bowl last February. They look tired. Giving up two defensive touchdowns to the Raiders in 7 seconds didn’t do much to help my attitude.

KU Jayhawks play tonight in their bowl game. I hope that goes better for this sports fan than the recent spate of Chiefs games.

I’ve got coffee, and some work in front of me, so I’m going to get this in the can.

Oh, and for my friends in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, Happy Boxing Day! I noticed that there are some Premiere League matches on… time to watch a little soccer!

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 281

Hey folks, it’s Friday! I’m on vacation until 2 January 2024! Today is 22 December 2023! That’s like ten days of … doing things I promised I would get done this year that I procrastinated doing!

Lisa and I slept in a bit this morning, and that extra hour was most welcome. The floofs didn’t notice until we get up to get going, and they usually are bright-eyed at 5:30 AM, ready to go. I would have said “bushy-tailed” but in their case, that is a permanent condition.

We’re going to get the house ready for Sunday. We’re heading over to Clay Center tomorrow to see family. My sister and brother-in-law are hosting for a holiday get-together, complete with seasonal treats and comfort food. My niece and her newborn won’t be coming to visit until Monday, but having everybody at the same time might be a lot for my sister to have to deal with.

Today, I’ll get some running around done in town, with a possible lunch adventure side trek. Might be me, might be Dane and me, might be Lisa and me… who knows? Might even be Gracie and Evelyn and me. To be frank, the Friday before Christmas in this town is likely to be pretty busy with lots of folks going out for lunch to see friends they haven’t seen in a while.

I’ll probably do some fun stuff, too. Tonight, the KU Jayhawks host Yale in men’s basketball. Kansas has moved up to #2, but one thing I have learned, when these Ivy League schools come here to take in a game, they are prepared and Kansas has a bullseye on their backs. Yale, Harvard, Princeton… it doesn’t matter. These folks get up and get motivated when they arrive in Allen Fieldhouse.

I will probably kill a few virtual aliens in Starfield today as well.

I’m not sure if I’ll be writing and posting every day next week. I may skip Monday, and maybe get a post in Sunday instead. We’ll see. I do hope to get four or five good posts in next week, so we’ll see what gets produced from the break.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Evie Day 280

Good morning, happy Thursday, and welcome to my last official workday of the year… today is 21 December 2023.

My training partner and I have a few shorter segments today, and we’re hoping to have the talking part of the class done by noon or thereabouts. In reality, I think we’ll have part of the content overflow into the after-lunch break, but you never know.

I’m starting to reflect on this last year, the ups and the downs, and all in all, it was a pretty good year. Yes, I am aware there is still a week and three days in 2023, and heaven knows a lot can happen in a scant ten days, but I don’t know if there is enough to change my overall perspective.

I’ll spend a little more time reflecting on that next week. It’ll give me something to write on vacation.

In reality, my vacation will be a working vacation. There are plenty of things I need to focus on to close out the year – a couple of unchecked boxes in my annual goal list are bugging me a bit. I also need to set some SMART goals for 2024 as well… some to be accomplished during the fiscal year, others, the calendar year. New training modalities I need to conquer, and certifications that I have procrastinated. I have a new planner – there is something I like about writing things down on paper, and I have a pretty good planner to help me stay focused on the goals before me.

Lisa and I are going out to dinner tonight. Dane wants the house to himself for an hour or two to wrap some Christmas presents, so he told me to take my wife out on a dinner date. I have a few to wrap myself.

Time for me to get focused on closing out my training year.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.