Daddy-Date-Day

Okay, this may come off sounding a bit strange. After all, there is an argument to be made that during my unemployment I should have had Makenzie out of daycare and with me for the duration. There are, of course, plenty of reasons to do as we did, though, not the least of which is that she enjoys her friends and time at daycare.

But without getting into that too much, I want to share just how proud I am of my little girl (who is deep-six napping right now). Before breakfast she let me know that she wanted a Daddy-Date-Day. I make it a rule to say yes whenever I can to this request. I went for a run this morning with Brown Trout with Kenzie in the jogger. She would get out from time to time and run - our pace - for about 200 yards. Then back in the stroller (with a reasonable transition!) to rest before the next set. Awesome.

Then we joined our friends at the park and she went ape on the jungle gym for an hour or so.

Nothing unusual, I know. But It's one of the best days I've had in weeks. And I still got business done! Secured a new sponsor for the Mt. Evans Hill Climb and got a proposal out to another.

Tonight we're going to go see Santa and grabbing a bite out. And I know it will be just as much fun as my day so far.

If I don't get a chance to write again, Merry Christmas everybody.

Rules of Thumb

Recently browsing through one of the free outdoor magazines found at any of our many outdoor stores, I came across an interesting article discussing the author’s (Joe Lavelle, There & Back, 2009) different little “rules of thumb” he has collected over time. Below is a few of the more thought provoking rules of thumb including:

1. Rule of Peer Pressure: If “friends” provide friction against good judgment, get new friends.
2. Setback Tenent: Never Attribute to bad luck what can be adequately explained by poor judgment.
3. Law of Disintegration: Large problems are made up of many little questions; solve large problems by resolving easy questions.
4. Role of Instincts: Trust instincts to tell us when something is wrong; do not trust instincts tot ell us when something is right.
5. The Error of the Big Pix: It isn’t the accumulation of little mistakes that causes all of the trouble; it is the big mistake we make trying to correct them that does us in.

While these and many more rules definitely pertain to survival in the outdoors, they are certainly not limited to that portion of our lives. We can benefit in our daily lives from their more frequent use. Given the overwhelming wordsy, folksy sounding number of rules out there I think it’s easy for their many messages get lost. For me it leads to one rule of thumb I think is important: learn from our mistakes and especially the mistakes of others. These rules of thumbs are there to help guide us through life. Why not take advantage of them?

Last important rule of thumb provided, which you backpackers will understand is:

Rule of Uncapped Inevitability: A bottle set down with the opening unsecured will spill.