1776

So, I just finished reading 1776 by David McCullough. I wished I'd read it earlier this year because of the thoughts and insights into leadership which would've been useful. (Not that they aren't still useful, but I could've drawn from this inspiration about 9 months ago and maybe been a lot happier!) But alas, I can't go back in time. 

However, I can share some of the insights I've found in the book:

"His 2,400 Americans, having been on their feet all night, wet, cold, their weapons soaked, went into the fight as if everything depended on them. Each man 'seemed to vie with the other in pressing forward.'" (p.280)

"With Lee gone and Congress entrusting him with more power, Washington was fully the commander now and it suited him. Out of adversity he seemed to draw greater energy and determination. 'His Excellency George Washington,' wrote Greene later, 'never appeared to so much advantage as in the hour of distress.'" (p.271)

"Affliction is the good man's shining time" (p.291)

Speaking of George Washington: "He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up." (p. 293)

Funny moment of the day

A request came in for a contract. My co-worker asked that the deadline be 2/30/2011.
I emailed back and said, "Really? February 30, 2011?"
The response: "yes"
My response back: "Are you sure? Because February only has 28 days...."
Response: "Yes."
Anybody know how to make a day appear? I think he needs a vacation.

When the weather outside is frightful...

Work shuts down three hours early.

I got to snuggle in and catch up on my television shows and my Christmas gifts.

And get paid for doing that.

But when it's so cold the next morning that your car doesn't start?

Not so cool.

But I still may make a snowman after work. Or some snow ice cream. 

If there is any left that is.

Reading List suggestions

With Thanksgiving break upon us, I figured this might be a good time to suggest some light reading for all y'all. So here you go:

1. Jeffrey R. Holland, The Inconvenient Messiah
2. Jeffrey R. and Patricia Holland, However Long and Hard the Road
3. Jeffrey R. Holland, For Times of Trouble
4. Jeffrey R. Holland, Oh Lord, Keep My Rudder True
5. Jeffrey R. Holland, Cast Not Away, Therefore Your Confidence
6. Jeffrey R. Holland, Come Unto Me
7. Jeffrey R. Holland, An High Priest of Good Things to Come

Are you seeing a theme? Lately, as I've been taking Trax into work, I've been listening to devotional talks given by Elder Holland. And I feel like the message, a couple of them given before I was even born, were written just for me. And I have certainly been uplifted. Just when I need it.

But really? I don't have any book suggestions. I haven't had time to read as much. I'm trying to make it through David McCullough's 1776 right now. I wish I had more time to read it (and yes, I do realize that as a history major I should've read this book a long time ago. But what you should know is that historians really dislike "popular history"--a prime example is David McCullough's books. I, however, find his writing style to be refreshing). 

But still, read these talks. Or listen to them. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Or go listen to the podcast: How Stuff Works or Coffee Break Spanish or 1 minute German. I feel smarter already. 

Why did I even go to college?

Auf Wiedersehen!

It's still November, but I'm ready for Christmas

Boo-hoo to all of those Grinches. Christmas is a favorite time of year for me. It means I get to go home to warmer weather (I don't care what Neil Diamond says--I always want a Christmas with palm trees swaying and sun shining down on me!).
But I also love the lights. 
And the fact that I just feel love.
"He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

I'm determined to make this Christmas a bit different. I'm not sure how. But good thing I still have a week to figure that out!

Men v. Women

Perhaps it comes from growing up with mostly boys around me, but I tend to believe that in some ways I think more like a guy does. It makes things awkward at times that my thought process matches my guy friends a bit better than it does with the girls, but alas, such is my lot in life.
I found a great quotation in the book I'm currently reading about this exact situation--how men and women think. And I had to share:

"Seen from the air, the male mind must look rather like the canals of Europe, with ideas being towed along well-worn towpaths by heavy-footed dray horses. There is never any doubt that they will, despite wind and weather, reach their destinations by following a simple series of connected lines.

"But the female mind, even in my limited experience, seems more of a vast and teeming swamp, but a swamp that knows in an instant whenever a stranger—even miles away—has so much as dipped a single toe into her waters. People who talk about this phenomenon, most of whom know nothing whatsoever about it, call it 'woman's intuition.'" - Flavia de Luce in The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

What do you think? Agree or disagree? 
And go!

Happiness is....

For all the bad stuff that has happened, life is going pretty darn good.

Little kinks still keep creeping into my life

but for some reason, I haven't dwelled on those.

Sure I complained about my job, my car, the boys in my life

but truthfully, I don't go to bed crying about all those things that are wrong.

I actually go to bed smiling.

I think I need to be committed.

And soon.

Happy Friday.