New Label: Running

I'm in the process of building a new habit. I'm becoming a runner.

I've already become one in my mind, and my day-to-day routine is now two and a half weeks into the new habit.

I'm run/walking three days a week: Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are cross-training days for strength (but not legs). Fridays and Sundays are for stretching and/or Pilates. That's the plan, and so far so good.

My New Year's affirmation is "I choose to be in charge of my habits. I let it be easy."

Fitness is nothing more than the result of habits, mostly involving exercise. So I've decided to let it be easy.

I'm using Psycho-Cybernetic's visualization techniques to create a new image: Don the Runner. (He's fit. He can run 30 minutes at a time, three days a week. At 60, he looks back and says, "It was in February of 2012 that I began to run. That's when I became a runner.")

I've done about a dozen run/walks so far. Too many the first week. Now I'm learning. I bought some new shoes: running shoes. My first pair ever. (Though I did buy some trail running shoes once. I tried that until I sprained an ankle.)

This time... I'm going to try to be smarter.

I picture myself on Tax Day (April 15th) running. Why?

To avoid becoming this statistic: "80% of runners stop after 4 weeks!"  But 20% don't quit. I intend to be the one out of five who doesn't quit.

So, I'm beginning a new label: Running. This is the first entry. I've been providing a bit of a running commentary over on FaceBook, but I decided to move some of that "chatter" over here, where I can muse on.

I'm on a new journey of fitness, discovery, and self-mastery. I'm living my dream for 2012: "I choose to be in charge of my habits. I let it be easy." Running is a part of that dream.

If I can master my habits... What then? I don't know, but Dr. Seuss gives me some clues:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself 
any direction you choose. 
You're on your own. 
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go....

Dr. Seuss, Oh! The Places You'll Go!

I used a table saw!

I am a self-taught handyman. No offense Dad.

My dad could fix a TV (back when you had to test bulbs), but that's all I can ever remember him fixing. He could also install drape rods which he did to help my mom in her home business. I think he may have used an old hand-me-down drill that his older brother gave him. That drill, which still mostly works, is in my garage now. I used it just last week. I used it to drill lead holes before I used my other new drill to drive screw into boards onto a fence I installed. Yes, I installed a fence!

The fence came in panels, and I hung them on metal posts. I recently added an extension of the fence across my driveway which creates a nice little patio outside of my garage where I've set up my new BBQ.

The fence across the driveway required two gates, which required angled braces. It's hard to cut good angled braces by hand, although it's just a cut through a two-by-four. I decided to attempt to use a table saw that sits in a corner of my garage, a table saw my son, who lives in Canada, inherited from his wood working Grandpa Ken.

Well, I used some cool clamps, also inherited, and made my four cuts. They are nice, and for an hour or so my garage reeked of the manly scent of fresh cut lumber. (And my gate hangs better now.)

Life is a POOGI, an Eli Goldratt term meaning Process of On Going Improvement. Lately, my improvements have included learning table saw 101.

Go me!

Lessons at the Bathroom Sink (Four generations.)

When I was about 12, I remember watching my dad shave. He must have had his wallet nearby, because I asked him, "Dad, why does your drivers' license say that you have dark brown hair?"

"Because I do, Son."

"Hmmm... more salt-and-pepper as you say."

"Hmmm... Be quiet son."

And so I learned a lesson from my dad, who was in his late 30's at the time. Time moves on, hair color may change, self-perception may lag behind.

* * * * *

Recently my grand-daughter informed me, while we looking at old photos, "Grandpa, you used to have brown hair!"

"Hmmm... Yeah, it's more salt-and-pepper now." (Getting heavier on the salt, I must say.)

So I'm wondering, Grey hair must weigh a lot because when I had brown hair, I weighed 25 pounds less!

* * * * *

My two year old grandson has an age-appropriate habit of putting his finger in his nose. Recently, as he was sitting on my lap, he started aiming for mine. I love the little booger, but... some things are private!

During an inattentive lapse, he got what he was after, but it wasn't my nose, it was my mustache. He likes feeling it.

* * * * *

Once upon a time, when my 32 year old daughter was closer to two, she used to visit with me while I shaved before going to work. One day, I shaved off my mustache. She was alarmed! "Shave it back on," she pleaded.

Just for fun, I used to put some lather on her cheeks and "shave" it off with the back side of my razor.

* * * * *

Good times and memories around the bathroom sink, facial hair, and salt-and-pepper hair. I wonder what stories they will tell?

Grass Stains and Grey Hair

I turned 58 last November. I teach math. 58 rounds to 60. Yikes!

Now I'm an optimist, but I've got to say that I'm thinking that I'm getting toward the end of middle-aged.

But the echoes of my youthfulness are still evident: I occasionally get grass stains!

Over Christmas, my son was in town, along with my son-in-law's brother. Both of these guys are in their very early 30's. (Wow. Don't tell them, but that could be a boundary of the beginning of middle-aged.)

From my view point, they're young men, so when we set up a volleyball net on the park lawn across the street from my house, I was all in. I love volleyball. I own a nice grass court net, complete with lines. But my volleyball is old and cracked. Aged. (Not to worry. They had one.)

We played 3 against 2. Luckily, or by design, I was on the team of 3. We lost most, if not all the games, but we were competitive, and my son-in-law's brother commented when it was all over, "Wow, Don. You've still got a lot of play." It was a compliment, even if the implication was, "You've got a lot of play (for an old guy)." But this "old guy" had blocked several of his spikes, and dug a few balls via diving plays complete with rolls. (That's how I got the grass stains: my badge of lingering athleticism.)

I was feeling good about ageing. Older but wiser. Cagey. Still able to hold my own on a court of some sort.

A week or so later, while I was musing on a piece I'd call "I've got grass stains on my shorts!" I spent some time with my five-year-old grand-daughter. At one point in the afternoon, she pulled out some old photo albums of her mom, my daughter. As we're seeing the pictures of her "younger" mom, Rachel says to me, "Gee, Grand-pa, you used to have brown hair."

I thought, "Now I don't?"

I remember reading on my dad's driver's licence, "Hair color: Dark Brown."

I remember saying, "Gee, Dad, when did you have dark brown hair? It's really more salt and pepper, heavy on the salt." (Or words to that effect.)

Now, the shoe was on the other foot. (And is he laughing in his urn?)

"Yes, Rachel. I used to have brown hair."

And later I mused, a bit on the depressive side, "I'm going to get old and die." (A bit melodramatic, but actually, quite accurate. It's the way things work.

It took a while to get back to balance: "I may be getting older, but I'm enjoying the journey."

A week or two ago, I played "jump-the-ditch." Last week, I played jump rope. I got some new grass stains, but I quit before I hurt myself.

And my driver's licence says: Hair: Brown. and Weight: 195 and Height: 6' 0". One of those three descriptions are still accurate. The shrinking hasn't started yet... or has it?

Well, at least I can still mow my own lawn. And play a little jump rope. And get an occasional grass stain.

Look out lawn: here I come!

A Commencement!

I was going to title this blog entry "A New Beginning," but I like the idea of commencement better. Commencement signifies "congratulations for a course successfully accomplished" and "Cheers! Onward and upward!"

On the edge...

This blog has been dormant over most of the past fourteen months while I undertook an administrative credential course of study, which I will complete... tomorrow! I'm presenting a summary PowerPoint of my Fieldwork Project that was required as part of the course of study in educational leadership.



I undertook this course of study for several reasons: 1) to give myself employment options in the future, 2) to ward off the feeling of hopelessness during the course of union contract negotiations, and 3) to feed my soul as I practice the art of being a life-time learner. I'd have to say: Mission accomplished on all three fronts. (And, I'm glad to be done.)

Of a new beginning...

One thing about enrolling in an accredited program is that you are committing a lot of time and energy to following someone else's lead... for a long time. While I'm careful about choosing who I follow, I still like being my own captain (under God). In a way, I still was, for I have learned to "color creatively inside the lines."



I learned a lot over the fourteen month course of studies which was geared (as required by the State of California) towards preparing educators to become educational leaders in general, and principals of schools in particular. Since I do not anticipate becoming a school principal, the course was a bit of a mismatch; however, the course is also required if I choose to become a Program Specialist or Director of Special Education, or most any other title associated with managing in an educational setting.

Like a child on a slip-and-slide!

The credential is mostly just a nice-to-have to be tucked away for possible future use. I don't intend to make any career changes in terms of job titles, but I've already made changes in being a teacher and staff member.

I've been enjoying watching the NFL this season, and commentators often note which players are team leaders. Leadership is not so much about title as it is about vision, collaboration, and contribution. Quite often, unofficial team leaders have more leeway in their undertakings than those who have the obligation to lead by contract. So, I'm enjoying the latest personal transformation as I quietly, unobtrusively commence the next round of my personal POOGI (Process Of On-Going Improvement).

Recently a student passed along a greeting to me from a former student who had taken a creative problem solving class I taught for several years at the junior high. He said, "Tell Mr. Evans -- CPSr's for life!"

Spring comes... at strange times in California!

CPSr was an acronym I had coined and often repeated in class as a sort of battle cry and focusing point. It's meaning? Creative Problem Solvers for life! That's what I've been about for the last fourteen months, being a CPSr and honing my problem solving skills.

And now? I commence again. Upward and onward! Cheers!

Uncertainty...

Today is Sunday, which is traditionally a day of renewal: the start of a new week.

Chollo cacti: Joshua Tree

Today is the last Sunday before my year with students begins in earnest.

Today, I reviewed my set of personal affirmations. In the midst of them, one stood out:

"I choose to happily embrace uncertainty. I have a God."

New beginnings are full of uncertainties. Some call these worries, concerns, possible challenges, or possible problems. I lump them together under the label of "uncertainty."

As I reviewed my affirmations, my personal beliefs and commitments, this one resonated with my current sense of being: "I choose to happily embrace uncertainty. I have a God."

Chollos: 4' to 7' full grown

The future can be faced with a sense of foreboding OR with calm assurance.

The coming year will have trials and triumphs, but mostly it will have routines, ebbs and flows. I know that, but the trials and ebbs tend to scare me. So what do I do?

I trust in God.

A line from one of my favorite hymns is "All the way, my Savior leads me. What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt his endless mercies, who through life has been my Guide? ...here, by faith, in Him I dwell. For I know WHAT ERE befall me... Jesus doeth all things well."

What can life throw at me that will find God insufficient? (Nothing.)

A fading Chollo flower

"I choose to happily embrace uncertainty. I have a God."

What is certain is that I have a God, and that He has promised, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you."

One of the names of God is "I am that I am." Some have paraphrased this as "I am becoming all that my people need."

This year I will be in need. There will be times when I am needy. Who will be there for me?

My Heavenly Father. God my Savior. I am that I am.

I read this morning, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Little children have a lot of confidence in their parents. They trust them. They rely upon them. They hold their parents' hand and go forward with assurance.

Today, I choose conversion!

You can look, but don't touch!

"I choose to happily embrace uncertainty. I have a God."

How about you? How will you face the uncertainties before you?

I recommend trusting God. He is faithful. He is able. He is willing to become all we need.

Yeah! (Happy Sunday!)

The last week of (my) summer... I can FLY!

Joshua Tree: Fathers' Day

I go back to work this Friday. I'm a teacher, and I've been on Summer Break: ten weeks of productive relaxation and rejuvenation.

It's been a great summer. For the last month, after my daughter moved into her new home just blocks away, I stumbled across a web-site and "friend" who has changed my life! (FlyLady.net)

With my daughter moving closer, I now have someone to "help" me clean my garage. How does she help? I can show her mementos of our early family life, and she can speak for herself and siblings about getting rid of it, taking it or keeping it.

This exercise of thinning out family memorabilia led me to Google-ing sites that help with organizing your home. It was via that search that I found FlyLady.net. Although most of her program is found on-line for free, I bought her e-book. It allowed me to take a bit of a crash course through her BabySteps. Being off work, I had more free time to implement her suggestions.

My new Fit on its first road trip!

One of her suggestions is breaking your home into Zones, each getting more attention for one week out of the month. I'm on the last zone this week. As I've worked through my home, together with my wife, we've been able to declutter, clean, and ease into a maintenance mode that brought our home to a new state of affairs: visitor ready!

On Saturday, my sister who lives two blocks away, had planned a "Welcome Back to California" picnic for my daughter and her family, my niece and her family, my nephew and his family, plus the son of a cousin who is joining the Marines. There were supposed to be about 20 of us. The twenty showed up, but so did two unexpected visitors from Iowa: my mom and my sister. As I arrived home from a final grocery store run for the picnic, I was surprised to find my mom and sister in my living room.

It was an unexpected surprise and it added a four generation element to the picnic. My mom had all her children, and most of her grand kids present. Her 90+ year old sister was there too! It was memorable.

Vista: California desert

So was the fact that my home was sparklingly ready for unexpected guests!

Later, at the park, it came to my attention that my two-block-away sister had included an "accommodations available" line to the e-invite she had sent out. All the local family homes were full but mine, and my nephew Kevin and his family of four were planning of staying over, somewhere. Well, after a quick check with the wife, we volunteered. Our house was not in CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome). Preparations for Kevin and Company took all of 10 minutes, and that included getting a sleeping bag down out of the garage and warming it in the clothes-dryer as a cozy living-room mattress for his daughters.

It was is great having Jennifer, Kevin, and Joanna back in California. It was very special having my mom and sister Candy surprising us from Iowa. It was a wonderful, wonderful picnic, and it was momentous to have my home ready-for-use on a moment's notice. Thank you FlyLady!

Chollo cactus: Beware!

(Disclaimer: FlyLady's motto is "Your home didn't get dirty overnight, and it won't get cleaned up overnight: BabySteps." My home only got so much better in such a short time because I had the time, energy, and inclination. I still took BabySteps, but I took a lot of them in a fairly short time. End of Disclaimer.)  ;-)