Week 14

So Pandamonium was a success for the most part. I'm sure the numbers are still being tallied and the totals for the charities should be wonderful. The face painting was a hit (thank you Mrs Chiasson), the baked goodies were wonderful, and I think the bookmark passport challenge was very well received. I know students and non students alike took part in the festivities and judging from all the smiles we had a good run. I was disappointed in my performance in the demo. I know we've all had these moments of brain farting, so here is a special thanks to Mrs Kohut for covering my bacon when I choked... first time for everything. But this whole demo experience has me excited in spite of the little glitches. For years we have been working toward the concept of showing up some place and banging out a demo with no warning, practice or preparation for the performers. And I think the way this demo developed, we are well on our way to achieving it. I also like the new concept of inclusion. In the past 2 years, people who were not at the demo practices are being included in the demos. There was a time that if you weren't there for the practice, you didn't go on, and that counted against your total for the year. Lets face it, you can't count a demo towards your requirements you weren't in. I think this change, unannounced as it was, is a testament to how far we have come in our preparedness, adaptability, maturity (as a team) and overall team work. And I think the fact that it has come into being without notice or acknowledgement says a lot of how such a huge change can take place with such seamless transition that people don't even notice it's happening. As if the new way is the way it has always been. That is something we can all be proud of. Great job guys!

Week 13

Lucky 13. This week we are officially 1/4 of the way through our Dog Team Year. Went fast didn't it? So why is this a thing. Well I don't know about you guys but I find my list isn't getting smaller fast enough. All the big plans, and strategies gone to pot. For example, My blogs were to be split into quarterly updates. Fitness, Personal Requirements, Kwoon Requirements, and of course the Journey. In case you haven't noticed, THAT didn't happen. So for the sake of pretending I have my poop in a group, here is the sitrep: Physical requirements, plodding along but not breaking any records for being done early Personal Requirements, Guitar is coming along. I am working on 4 songs, 3 different scales, and have started finger picking. The dog training is probably the most far ahead. Mira is a very intelligent pup which makes it very easy to teach her. The problem is she is so smart sometimes she doesn't feel the need to follow direction. She looks at you as if to say "I know what you want, but I fail to see why it's important that I do it when I could be chasing that cat over there. You do realize the cat can't be trusted?" The scuba diving is coming up. I have fallen behind on my trips to the pool, but I am still swimming the 250m required with no issues. My medical is all clear - though my Dr felt the need to remind me 8 times that I'm over 40 now... apparently my warranty is expired or something - and my 3 day intensive course is in a couple weeks. After that I have my open water exam and that should be finished. The 1000 acts of kindness assignment will be completed by Pandamonium. Though I wanted to have it completed in 10 weeks, I guess I'll have to settle for 14. The sad part is I could have been done had I kept on top of recording them, and so on. I find myself informally reviewing the importance of the school requirements. It's always easier to keep up with the personal ones because they are goals for yourself that you created. I do find some of the school requirements far harder to keep up to. Specifically blogging. Don't panic! I'm not advocating against blogging! I just find it by far the most challenging. Open communication and offering a view into my world are not with in my sphere of comfort. I'm quite happily tucked into my own little world of antisocial behaviour and avoidance of interaction. I learned some very ugly lessons a long time ago, and though I choose not to allow those experiences rule my life, I do have to keep them in check in order to maintain some semblance of social skills (and yes they are all artificial - I'm as socially awkward as it gets). By allowing them to affect me, I give power to those who cruel and invasive. That is not power they deserve. So I blog, I put forward (limited) personal information and thoughts, and I move on. The blogging is the vessel for these windows into the darkness. Without the blog, the opening to my world would be much harder for others to find. So for this part of the journey, the accountability, the bonding, the team spirit... this is how I reach back.

Week 12

Nothing fancy tonight. My uncle is in the hospital awaiting a triple bypass. Dad was in Fort McMurray and the boys were at work when we got the call my uncle wasn't doing well. One of those "if you want to see him" kinda calls. So I had to take care of getting mom to Calgary, family first and all that. As it turned out he stabilized and we came home, but that's why I wasn't at the clean up. He is scheduled to go in for his triple bypass in 2 days. There is a fine line between needing emergency surgery and being too unstable to proceed. Not operating could kill just as fast as operating. As it happens, they have gotten him stable. With luck next weeks blog will be longer and more positive.

Week 11

Ok so I just deleted around 5 paragraphs. I didn't really know what I wanted to say, and I wasn't saying it very well. The larger concept I was going for was organization and accountability. I had anecdotes from work, life, and training. It just wasn't working. I guess the bottom line is keeping all the requirements moving toward "completion" is tricky at best. I don't know about everyone else but I could use about another 20 hours in the week. There is a lot on the go and keeping it all balanced, mindful and progressive is an accomplishment that shouldn't be underrated. Organization, follow through, and focus are the keys. If you start letting one thing slide, the others go right off the edge with it. Take each aspect one at a time and make them manageable pieces. You might have a huge pile of pieces to deal with, but eventually by taking consistent action, it all gets accomplished. I guess that's the idea for this week, don't get overwhelmed by the whole, make it manageable, and make it happen.