My last couple holiday traditions

This holiday season I had a couple newer holiday traditions that I do not think about. I love coffee & love peppermint mocha. The easiest way to enjoy both is a peppermint mocha at Starbucks. A nice warm peppermint mocha hits the spot and is best enjoyed on a cold day in December. I also tried peppermint mocha flavored Kahlou. I recommend it for as it has a good taste and is a alternative for discerning adults who do not enjoy coffee!

I can not call it a tradition this year, maybe next year, although I did enjoy making snowflakes. At work we are making snow flakes & sending them to the school that had the shooting and I have never made a snow flake before. I was able to find many online guides about how to fold the paper & cut the paper to have a creative design. The first few snowflakes I made looked pretty rough but after this week I cranked out a couple I am proud of and want to keep (I will send them to the kids at Sandyhook).

If you want to check out a fun site that allows one to cut a piece a paper and see what type of snow flake it would create I recommend checking out the Make a snowlfake site. You can save your snowflake, email it to friends, or print & download a copy of it. Make a snowflake can be found online at: http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

Happy Holidays all!

I could be mistaken for a Tebow family member

This holiday season I reconnected with friends I have not had consistent contact with over the last year. We were discussion festivities to engage in and I was invited to a Christmas Eve church service at the church they attended. I did not have plans that evening so went with them to their church.

That evening the speaker was from the church's young adult ministry (I am not sure if he has another title or if that is one role that he oversees). The man's name is Peter Tebow and he is the brother of Tim Tebow. He gave a good message and is a good speaker. After the service he was catching up with my friend and we had a moment to chat a bit. We were standing near each other by a table filled with snacks and appetizers. A lady standing in line asked me if I was a Tebow family member. I did not think we looked similar or like we are related to each other but there maybe enough of a resemblance to warrant such a comment. I told the woman I was the random Tebow family Doppleganger. br>
I have been told I resemble many people. Daniel Radcliff (The actor who plays Harry Potter in the Harry Potter Movie series), Jerry Lewis, and now I could be a member of the Tebow family.

More Holiday Traditions

I have not sent out Christmas cards in years but I decided to this year. I am usually so caught up in the hustle & bustle that I forget to send anything out or I don't have addresses of friends I want to send a card. Over the last couple years I receive a bunch of cards from coworkers & friends so I decided to send them out to this year. It was nice and made me feel good as I have not sent them out in a while. Sending out Christmas cards is my holiday tradition this year...what are your traditions?

Movie Recommendations

Normally I do a makeshift movie review for films I have seen (I am not a journalist or professional reviewer of anything so that is why I label it makeshift). Since I don't have time for a review I will recommend two movies I have recently viewed & enjoyed!

Skyfall
Good action movie & great story. This one shows Bond with a variety of emotions and in a much more vulnerable state but very entertaining. Javier Bardem gives an amazing performance and some friends of mine consider it one of the best Bond movies ever. I do not know if I would give the film that type of endorsement but I do know it is a great movie! GO SEE IT!!

Flight
Denzel finally gets a role that he can sink his teeth into before tearing it up with a great performance. The story is original and has a good point without being preachy or pushy. The supporting cast gives quite a few amazing performances also! I recommend Flight! GO SEE IT!!

Duane's holiday traditions

I like to drive around town checking out Christmas lights. I have been walking when the weather is warmer in the evening so I will walk through neighborhoods near by that have lights. I am surprised at how many homes put up lights here in Lakewood. There are many more then I remembering seeing when driving through areas of Aurora & Denver.

Enjoying the Christmas lights on houses! That is one of my traditions...what are your holiday traditions?

I am a misfit

I hate to admit it but I am a misfit. It is easy to look to people who obviously don’t fit in and identify them as misfits. The person who does not have great social skills, the person who laughs at everything and does not think much (they admit it themselves, usually while laughing), and the older single (after a certain age everyone is expected to marry or be with someone so older single people are misfits).

While I do fit in with many social circles and do not have many obvious flaws, I am a misfit. I am different and I know it.

There was a time when I knew what the inside of most mental health wards in Denver looked like, because I had been in them visiting my mom. I knew what it was like to cry myself to sleep more than a few nights and to be alone many times in my childhood. My father was working and mom was in the hospital or recovering and not able to give me & my sister much attention. I did learn to take care of myself and was put in positions where I had to take care of my mother and my sister at times. I grew up to fast in some ways and my childhood experience was definitely not healthy. As a result I am pretty independent and keep to myself. I am not like most guys, I don't have the urge to leave some sort of legacy while exercising lots of control & displaying confidence. Maybe my misfit characteristics are not obvious but I am a misfit.

As I contemplate how I am the way I am I wonder why. What is the purpose? What road am I on and how can God use a misfit like me?

Part two of my crazy weekend

I had big plans this weekend. Sell some old video game consoles & old games, catch up on my cleaning & some budget paperwork, replace a remote control, rest, buy a new laptop as my old one is not only older technology but it will most meet the minimum specs of a couple programs I want to add & run on it. I was hoping to get a few of these things done yesterday but after spending all day having my car repaired I did not get anything done except the dishes & some laundry.

Today would turn out to be just as disappointing in many ways. My truck that was stolen was returned to me and it has been sitting on the street without plates. I received a notice from the city that is a violation of the law & if it was not moved by noon today they would tow it. I had to make sure I could fit my truck in the garage of the couple I rent from and keep their mini-van outside. Their mini van is old and I drove it around a couple times to make sure the battery was charged & working. While in the kitchen I discovered a leak under the kitchen sink and cleaned up a mess & put a bowl under it. I eyed laptops while at Best Buy and decided to wait a week or so to see if any of the laptops I like will go on sale. Bought a new remote from Best Buy but upon arriving home I discovered it was not compatible with my cable box. After playing with the old remote it managed to work so the new remote will need to be returned some time this week.

I walked an hour to a bus stop to catch a bus that drop me off at my mechanic's so I could pick up my car. Upon arriving home I watched a little football and grew tired. After laying down I could not fall asleep but rested a bit and surfed the web for more lap top deals before realizing I needed to call my insurance company get my vehicle insured, eat dinner, visit a video game store to see if they buy used consoles & games, buy some groceries, visit a FedEx to print updated insurance cards. By the time all those things had been done it was about my bedtime. Where I realized I did not accomplish most of what I wanted to do but it was a very busy & very full day!

I have walked home, two miles, uphill in the snow

I remember hearing that from my parents when I was growing up. They used that saying to emphasize that they had very difficult experiences in life that were rough and not easy. Usually they said it to mock any story I gave them to get pity or when I was complaining about something. They used that line of walking home, two miles, uphill, in the snow to make the point that I did not know what suffering was and my life is pretty easy compared to what they experienced in their childhoods.

Today I took my car in for repair work. The mechanics ran into one problem after another and after waiting six hours they let me know they could not finish the repairs today. They would need to keep my vehicle over night and finish tomorrow. I was not expecting it and did not have my bus pass on me so my plan was to walk home.

I have walked home from there before a couple times. I forget how long the distance is but it usually takes me about two hours. Tonight it only took an hour and half. The temperature was about 35 degrees with an overcast sky and snow is in the forecast. I figured it would fall later and it was not snowing when I started walking. The route I take is along two streets with a couple stretches that have a steep incline. The second incline runs almost two miles and it does run up a large hill. By the time I had gotten about one third up the second incline, I noticed a few snowflakes falling every couple minutes. Within a few minutes it was snowing but not heavy. It was lightly coming down and it did not affect visibility. The last half of the incline was walked in the snow which motivated me to walk quickly.

After spending six hours waiting for my car to be repaired and walking home, two miles, uphill, in the snow I decided it was a night for wine & movies. Since it is snowing and I do not have my car I may stay in and watch more movies tomorrow!

I like French wines

I am almost half way done with a French wine. It is the third French wine I have tried in the last three months. I am enjoying this one and am pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying it. I may turn into a fan of French wines.

Bad decisions

I stayed up all night last night playing Settlers of Catan online. I couldn't sleep and started reading, then I was writing, and then I started playing Settlers online. I figured I would win a round or two and then I would be tired and want to go to bed. Instead I kept losing which ended with me getting angry so I was wide awake, could not sleep and still playing the game hoping I would win.

I did not even win once which really makes me mad that I did not get any sleep trying to win a round of the game!!

Today will be rough. Thank God for coffee.

Actually thank God for lots of coffee!!

I am so sleep deprived and tired I will drink anything to stay awake...even Cholua.

I have issues.

The Island of Misfit toys

Tonight while checking out at a bookstore I ran into a clerk who is deaf. I have watched him the store before and he can read lips well and has a decent personality but I have noticed he has a hard time communicating with some customers. For a split second I caught myself dreading our interaction at the register. But I ended up being wrong and humbled afterwards. He was able to put out pieces of paper so I could write him messages. He found a rewards ID number for the store I had lost and he made sure I had a balance from my gift card. He ended the interaction with a joke so demonstrated a good sense of humor. He was bright, quick, resourceful, and funny! I couldn't ask for a better interaction from a customer service person!! Yet when I got in line I was dreading it because I was worried I would not get great service from a guy with a handicap.

Earlier today I sat in a meeting about search committees & picking candidates. The presenter is the typical alpha male who has excelled in his career and exudes confidence. He is the type of guy who seems to be the epitome of perfection. He was talking about picking candidates for jobs and he made a point to emphasize picking the best and most talented person for a position.

As I was thinking about this I was struck by how society emphasizes certain things like perfection or best qualified person for a job. Why couldn't a job be done well by someone who is not the best qualified candidate? Why do we have to have "the best candidate"? We do love perfection and prefer people who remind us of it?

The sermon at my church yesterday kicked off the Christmas series and it was about misfits. The point was most people are misfits and do not fit in. They are the people whom God uses and can amazing things with.

When I worked at a pizza deliver place one of my coworkers had a speech disorder, a learning disorder and a physical disability. Guess what his job was? He was a shift manager. This man had many more struggles then I could imagine and yet he ran that store better than many of the confident, successful, & perfect shift managers. I remember when my shift would end and I would sit in the office with him while he counts out my money we would talk. He was always honest about struggles and never complained. He had a sense of humor and had fun but worked very hard! Sitting there with him talking were some of the most insightful conversations I had at that point in my life. I had them with someone who I regarded as insanely talented but I am sure most people would look at him and think of him as a misfit.

As I drove home from the bookstore tonight I wondered why I saw someone who has challenges to overcome and thought I was different than him. I am no different than the deaf clerk. I am a misfit also. Maybe I don't like to admit it and maybe I don't want to be a misfit but I am one. It is easy to judge a book by its cover. It is hard to see someone's great talent when we are focusing on their imperfections. I wonder if I spend so much time focusing on fitting in & my perfections that I forget my talents will come from area of my life that are not perfect & not ideal? Do I try to identify with perfect people so much that I forget I am a misfit? How will I treat and look at other misfits when I meet them?

Thoughts about living alone & not living alone

The couple I rent from will be returning home this weekend. They will be here for a few days and then off for a week and then we spend a couple weeks together before I leave for a house sitting gig that will run well into January. They will leave in early January to go on a speaking tour so I will not spend much time with them. In some ways I am sad that I will see them or spend too much time with them. I think in some ways we are kindred spirits and very much alike despite how different we are from each other.

I have mixed feelings about living with the couple I rent from. I enjoy talking with them and like aspects of their company. I am also an introvert in the sense that being alone helps me think & recharge or regain energy. I need time to myself so living alone in their town home while they are out of the country most of the year is great for me. I have plenty of time to myself as I do not have friends over often or bring home girlfriends or guests. I am a man also which means alone time is cave time. Cave time is when men withdraw to enjoy solitude! (The next time any of you women in relationships wonder why your man wonders off to work in his garage, work on his car, work in the basement, or watch sports at home...he is just enjoying cave time)

While all the solitude & time to myself has benefits it also has draw backs & downfalls. I do not spend much time engaging in social activities with others and it is easy to let the social skills slip or get use to being the silent observer in conversations (While listening to people is great it also gives people the impression I do not have much to say or am not interested in them or the conversation which is not true & not the impression I want to leave with people). I am glad the Persons are back as it pulls me out of my cave time and pushes me to interact with others in the small and minute details of every day life.