When Was The Last Time You Had Some Vacation?

Just posted this to my personal blog, but thought it was something that was worth the read here too.

I just read a great little blog that deals with time management. This is something I have to consistently work on. I read a book a few years ago that is called Eat That Frog.
The basic premise of the book is that if the worst thing you have to do today is eat a frog, do that first and get it out of the way. If you have to eat 2 frogs, eat the ugliest one first. Bottom line: Do the hardest things on your to do list first so they don't weigh you down.

Every day(ish) I write a new frog list for the next day. I put down all my to dos, the things I can delegate, phone calls, emails, etc. Then I try to knock off as many as possible that next day. I try to make this list feasible. I don't put down the things I have to accomplish "this year," just that day. I may include some things that be done if I finish the rest of the list, but I don't stress myself out.

What kind of helps do you use to get things done? Another great book for productivity is Getting Things Done by David Allen. I have recently started using a program called Things and so far so good. It is pricey and I have not decided if I want to go beyond the trial or not. Another good resource is Remember the Milk. This is a web app, you can download a desktop app to go with it and for you iPhone users out there, "there is an app for that" too. Also, they can integrate it with twitter.


Being a guy who is not known for details or great time management, this has done wonders for me. As a matter of fact I am trying to drop the stigma that I am not good with details, etc. So please disregard the first sentence in this paragraph. That is no longer true. I will not speak tearing down prophecy on myself anymore.

Back to the blog I read. Is it time for you to take a vacation? Are you too stressed out? I will give you a peek at what he did by showing you a picture. Then I want you to go read the blog here.  My results? I am good. I just had a vacation and don't need one just yet. ;)

Wow, lots of links in this post!

What are You Afraid of?

Fearless...I just recently got a copy of Max Lucado's latest book Fearless. What a great read. In Matthew (in the Bible) 8:26, Jesus says, "Why are you afraid?" Lucado jumps right into this question and looks at all the reasons we deal with fear. From not mattering to not being able to protect your kids to not knowing the future to being afraid of what comes after this life. Lucado tackles it all.

He points out that Jesus takes our fears seriously and that the one statement he made more than any other was, "don't be afraid." I find it interesting that Jesus spent a good amount of time saying that. I know I deal with and have dealt with fear in my life. Growing up I was afraid of the dark. As an adult I have dealt with fear of not being able to protect my kids.  Fear can have a snowball effect on us and bring us to our knees.

In the book Lucado mentions that "Fear itself is not a sin. But it can lead to sin." "Fear may fill our world, but it doesn't have to fill our hearts. It will knock on the door. Just don't invite in in for dinner, and for heaven's sake don't offer it a bed for the night." I have always enjoyed how he is able to take a concept and personalize it. He does so with fear.

In the chapter on kids he recommends to pray over your kids regularly, especially when you fear you can't protect them. "When you send them off for the day, do so with a blessing. When you tell them goodnight, cover them in prayer. Is your daughter stumped by geography homework? Pray with her about it." A simple concept, but sometimes very difficult to keep at. Pray! I need to pray more for my kids.

I recommend you pick this one up. It's an easy and enjoyable read with great stories that hit the heart. There is also a discussion guide at the back of the book for every chapter. This will help you dig deeper on the concept and could be a great idea for a group read and discussion time.

Dancing Changed My Life

When I was in middle school break dancing became very popular. I was one of those kids that got picked on and I decided I was going to learn how to do this. I did. We had a crew [F.B.O. = Fresh Boyz Only] and my breakin' name was Kiro Fresh. I loved it. I became pretty good at it and our crew never lost a dance off. Middle School dances were great after that. We would have break dancing competitions and I took home a few records that had nothing to do with rap music. Actually the funniest was a David Lee Roth record.

Dancing changed my life.

My mom told me that break dancing was just a fad. I told her I could see myself break dancing when I was 30 (that was really old in my mind). When I was 30 I was asked to teach break dancing at an after school program at one of our local middle schools. I called my mom and said, "HA!" She didn't remember the conversation at all. [disappointing]

Today I want to share with you 4 of my favorite dance videos I have seen in a while. Chances are you have seen at least a couple of these. I still love dancing.


Ellen's Season Opener...very good.


Toby Mac and a special friend of his.


That awesome wedding video from this summer.


OPRAH...this is THE BOMB DIGGITY!!! AMAZING!!!

Horseshoes

Me and my buddies have started playing horseshoes over at a nearby park. Brian and I have been a team the last several times and Steve has had rotating team members. The last time Brian got 21 (what we need to win the game) and still had a horseshoe to throw, so he threw it about 3 feet in front of him. Well, Craig tossed his and landed on top of Brian and they won the game. Epic win (in our world).

Last night we went out to play and Brian's father-in-law joined Team Unwin. It was a hard fought battle all along. We had the lead for the first half and then they came back strong. Had us 16-11. Brian preceded to drop 2 ringers and put us up. There was also this 6 year old boy there that kept taunting Steve. Man did we laugh at that. Even when Steve got points and I didn't he told me I did a good job. It threw Steve quite a bit actually. We called the kid Allen. :)

We needed 2 points to win the game; it was my turn. I started to giggle and Steve couldn't figure out why until I threw my first shoe. I tossed it 3 feet infront of me. He said, "Is that really your throw?" I told him that I was quite confident in my abilities and went on. Well, with only 1 toss left, and it was getting very dark at the time too, I tossed it, hit the pole, sparks flew (literally) and it was a ringer to win the game!

I tweeted about it and told Steve I thought it was worthy of a blog to. So there you have it. A horseshoe moment we will tell our Grand kids about someday.

Lactose Problems?

Pfffff....what's that smell? Sorry.

I used to love milk when I was younger. Then something happened along the way. I started weaning off of it in 3rd grade. At first I stopped drinking glasses of milk. I still drank chocolate milk and had milk in my cereal. Soon I was done with that too. I have never been told by a doctor that I am lactose intolerant, or as my friend Brian calls it, "being a lactard."

What I know is that I have stomach issues when I have dairy products. I use lactaid when I want ice cream or mozzarella sticks or whatever. Well, sometimes I remember to take that...sometimes. As it turns out I am not that alone in this. About 60% of adults are actually lactose intolerant. check out this article...crazy!