It can’t all be good times

“heaven is a better place today because of this
but the world is just not the same
if and when we get into the endzone
act like you’ve been there a thousand times before
don’t blame don’t say people lose people all the time anymore.”

-“Heaven is a better place today” by The Tragically Hip

 

I found out yesterday that one of our family friends had her father pass away. Bob was a good guy, and Max liked him enough that we called him Grandpa Bob. Bob had a long and hard fight in the last few weeks, and he deserves the rest.

Rest in peace, Bob.

Panic on the streets of London!

Okay,I exaggerate: panic on one street. Specifically,in my house. Nothing bad, nothing catastrophic, just a sudden influx of freelance writing due in a shot period of time. And it turns out that I tend to freak out a little bit if I take on a bunch of projects at the same time. Add to this the impending arrival of my mother-in-law and the messy state of the house, and mix liberally to achieve full-blown panic. I have no idea how to start tackling this big pile of work, so I’m flitting from room to room accomplishing very little (and blogging about it, which may or may not help).

But wait, there’s more! I have one more measly chapter to write for the fiction story to finish the thing off, but of course, my momentum on that project is crawling to a standstill. I’m so close to the end that I can’t muster up the energy to do that last little bit. And, the wife’s birthday is Thursday, so I have cake-making and present-wrapping to do. So very much on my plate, and I am by nature a very slothful human being. When will I exercise? Who knows?

But let me put focus back on the days success: Max returned to school after the holiday break, and despite some intense crying as we stood outside  of the classroom, he worked through it and had a great time. So good, that he was confident and delightful for the rest of the day. After powering up with a 2 hour nap, he was a dynamo of helpfulness, humour, and eating. The boy is gonna grow again.

Bad Advice:Print your own money!

(Good advice: pay yourself for your hard work) I have a
friend who was once told in a performance review at work that they
wouldn’t get a raise, but they were getting rewarded with ‘job
satisfaction’. If someone offers this ‘bonus’ to you as a work
incentive, feel free to steal an extra briefcase full of office
supplies, because your employer kind of hates you. You know what
makes work really satisfying? FAT PAYCHECKS. But I’m not throwing
the ‘job satisfaction’ idea completely out the window. One of the
steps of being successful in your work or craft is feeling like
there’s a reward attached to it. Our
brains are hard-wired to work
best when there is a treat dangling out there for us at the end of
a job. If you happen to work on a project or task that is entirely
self-motivated and created, however, you run into a problem. When
you are your own boss, there’s no external source of reward to spur
you on. So, you need to create a kind of internal currency that you
dole out whenever you finish work, like ‘pridebucks’ or
‘satisfaction rubles’. You have to come up with an intangible
reward system because (unless you’re rich) there’s not enough money
to buy a toy every time you succeed, and too many ‘yay for me’
cookies will make you fat and sad. Learn to recognize your own
accomplishments, and become comfortable with being proud of
yourself.