Family

1. My gorgeous, faithful wife Deb. One of the most humble, sincere, devoted people I know.
2. My son Ethan (9): scary smart, inventive, strong, passionate.
3. My daughter Raina (6): endlessly creative, dancer, writer, bookworm.
4. My daughter Ella (3): hilarious, big blue eyes, joyful, carefree.
5. My daughter Sydney (1): precocious, expressive, loves to cuddle, attached to Daddy (yes!)
6. My vocation & colleagues: I love what I do, I love who I work with. I live an ideal life, pretty much.
7. Old Crown: I love coffee more than I ever have, and freshly-roasted makes all the difference.
8. My MacBook Pro: Why didn’t anyone tell me these computers were so good? (Er, wait, maybe you did).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As most of you know, I traveled with my family to Minnesota to participate in my grandmother’s funeral. So 1,563.1 miles later, here’s what I know:

1. Our kids are total rock stars. Over 1500 miles. Only Four days. Four kids. One minivan. And we heard very little complaining, even from Sydney (the 18-month old). Of course, portable DVD players help with this statistic. Still, they’re rock stars. That’s a lot of time sitting for rambunctious youngsters.
2. I am not a "self-made" man. It was extremely humbling to realize how the faithfulness of my grandparents and parents made my life so much of what it is. If there is any grace on my life, I am more convinced after this funeral that I had very little to do with it. Those who have gone before me have carried me on their shoulders. I feel an increased sense of responsibility now to walk into everything God wants for me, because to whom much is given, much is required, and my parents and grandparents have given me more than I realized.
3. My grandmother had nine children and 30 grandchildren, and not one of them can recall ever hearing her complain about anything. Both her parents died when she was an infant, she had nine children (!), she had polio, lived on very little money for most of her life, raised 6 of her kids by herself after her husband died, and had to bury a son. But no one ever heard her complain once. That staggers me.
4. Subway sandwiches were not designed for clean and efficient consumption within a motor vehicle, but we have to get through Chicago before rush hour, so there’s no time to stop.
5. The Incredibles is too scary for Ella and Sydney, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is too "little-kiddish" for Ethan and Raina, but Because of Winn-Dixie is just right for everybody. We could use more movies like that. Just a note for all the Hollywood producers out there who read my blog for ideas.
6. I actually felt comfortable wearing a suit. Don’t tell anyone. (Update: check out Andrew Jones article on what it looks like to dress like a pagan. It’s scary that I felt comfortable wearing my pagan suit.)
7. My grandmother’s visitation was loud, boisterous, and joyful, complete with children running and screaming delightedly. And that’s the way she would have wanted it, even though the funeral director looked like he didn’t quite know what to make of it.
8. I am still allergic to cats. Quite.
9. Ben Folds writes good music to travel to. As does Bruce Springsteen, Over the Rhine, Sarah McLachlan, Mute Math, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, Rend the Heavens, and Wesley Gaines.
10. They are still working on I-80 through Chicago, and it’s a mess. Not that I’m complaining 😉
11. They make pretty good Indian food in Minnesota. It really hits the spot after a long day of funeraling and traveling.
12. It’s good to be home.

I may not be able to blog much over the next few days, as my grandmother passed away last night. I’ll be busy with visitation and funeral stuff through Wednesday.

I’m working on a post on the next Face of innovation: the Set Designer. I’ll finish it up if I have time, otherwise it may need to wait until the end of the week. If you haven’t checked out the previous entries in the series and need something to read, check out the Faces of Innovation series.