6:30 am: Wake up, as usual, without an alarm. I grab my phone look through Facebook’s On This Day app to see what was happening in my life on the same day over the years. I move on to reading about NFL draft news. It seems most of the pundits agree that the Colts’ selection of Notre Dame guard Quentin Nelson last night was a great pick, despite the fact that taking a guard at the six spot is a bit unusual. They claim he is a unique talent with Hall of Fame potential. We’ll see. God knows Andrew Luck needs help staying up right.
7:00 am: Get out of bed and head for the restroom. As always, I ask Alexa to play my favorite Colts podcast while I shower. Alexa has became a fixture in my home over the last several months. In fact, we have five Echo Dots in the home. I love the one in the bathroom because I like listening to music, or podcasts, while getting ready for my morning routine. I finish getting ready and then use my Echo to “drop in” on the family room where I tell the boys it’s time to leave. Using Echo as a household intercom is one of my favorite features.
7:30am: Leave to take the boys to school. On the way out the door my wife hands me an all fruit smoothie. We started a “plant based diet” about a month ago and I feel fantastic. I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I started feeling good. The boys load up in the truck (on loan from my dad as my car is in the shop) and we head to school. We continue our morning ritual of listening to 104.1 WLBC.
7:50am: Drop the boys off at Burris Laboratory School. I (once again) find myself getting frustrated with people who lack basic human decency during drop off. There seem to always be impolite and impatient parents who don’t believe the rules of the drop off process apply to them.
8:30am: Arrive at work. Well, not at my office, but at another organization where we are hosting a presentation. I get settled in and wait for the facilitator to arrive. We are providing a three hour workshop to a local organization that is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am. The facilitator does not arrive on time. We contact him multiple times and he finally shows up 20 minutes. Long story short, he missed the boat and apologized. Fortunately the company responded graciously and we had a successful session.
12:30pm: Leave the workshop and head to the Downtown Farm Stand. The Farm Stand is a small locally owned business in downtown Muncie. They provide fresh foods, and healthy organic options. It’s good stuff but it’s pricey. Eating healthy isn’t cheap. Ever since going plant based they have become one of my favorite (and few) destinations for lunch. I’ve been there so often they know me by name, and they already know what I want (a toasted sandwich with humus, spinach and avocado).
1:15pm: Finally arrive to my office and begin working on emails and messages.
1:30pm: I have a web based meeting with a company trying to sell us a subscription to their service. I think it has potential but they can’t provide any meaningful return on investment metrics. I like the salesperson and she’s been helpful but it’s a lot of money, and a lot of risk, with very little certainty. I politely pass.
2:00pm: I continue my afternoon of catching up on messages. Creating proposals and getting things off my desk. It’s a quiet Friday afternoon in the building. The weather finally turned today and I think most people have called it a week. Meanwhile I’m trying to close circles on previous conversations and prepare for the week ahead. I could leave the office. There is no rule stopping me. I could leave right now and drink a six pack if I wanted to (and I want to) but there’s a difference between what you can do and what you’re able to do. Unfortunately, I just have too many things demanding my attending. Every day I don’t do something just makes my life a little harder in the future.
4:00pm: I find myself getting a bit frustrated and overwhelmed by my work. I pause, close the door to my office, check my heart rate on my Apple Watch, and load the “Headspace” app on my iPhone. Headspace is a mediation app that I’ve been using for the last month to quiet my mind. Like going vegan, it’s not something I’d ever expect I would do, but it’s had surprising benefits. Headspace walks me through a 10 minute meditation exercise which includes mindful breathing and mind clearing techniques. I check my heart rate again and it’s down 15 beats per minute from just 10 minutes ago. It’s not a magic pill but I’ve found that meditation helps me feel more centered. I continue working through the to-do list and preparing for the week ahead.
5:00pm: I go and pick the boys up at school. I promised them we would go see The Avengers Infinity War tonight. It’s the culmination of 10 years of Marvel movies and since the boys and I have seen every Marvel movie, this weekend has been on the schedule for a long time. I find the boys at the school playground and I check them out of after school care. I then wait for my wife to meet us as we have to switch vehicles. My dad’s truck can only fit three of us and we need a vehicle that fits four. I’ve been a Big Brother for six years and we need to pick up my “Little” so he can join us. Little is now 14. My wife arrives and we switch vehicles.
5:30pm: Arrive at my Little’s home. He lives in a trailer park. I’ve been trying to reach his mother for days to make sure he could come to the movie with us and spend the night. I haven’t been able to get a response but that’s not unusual. When we arrive we find out that his mother has been in the hospital. Little doesn’t know many of the details but he doesn’t seem too concerned either. He spends a few minutes packing his clothes in a garbage bag while I leave a note explaining that he’s with me. My boys look around his home a bit wide eyed. I intentionally brought them in this time because it’s become increasingly clear to me that they don’t understand how fortunate our family is, and how different his life is from ours. I’ve tried explaining it to them but I can tell that letting them see how he lives really hammers the point home. My eight year old later says: “I understand what you mean now Daddy.”
5:45pm: We arrive at the movie theater and check in. I’ve purchased the tickets in advance so we have our seats reserved. I spend entirely too much on concessions ($6 for a frozen coke!) and we enter the theater. The theater has been recently renovated so everyone gets a fully functioning recliner. It’s been a much welcomed upgrade that significantly adds to the movie experience.
8:45pm: We leave the movie theaters all smiles. Everyone enjoyed the movie and we (as always) spent time rehashing our favorite scenes and talking about what might happen in the next Avengers film. The boys are hungry so I swing by Little Caesar’s to pick up a pizza and breadsticks before heading home. I silently curse the fact that neither of those items are permitted in my new plant based diet.
9:00pm: Arrive home. The boys settle in with pizza while I make some air popped popcorn and add in a few nuts. We head to the family room to watch an animated film about the Suicide Squad. My oldest (who is 11) snuggles in my recliner with me while the other boys each take a couch. The movie is good, but a bit too violent for the kids.
10:45pm: I tell the boys good night and remind my Little not to stay up too late. I head upstairs where my wife is already asleep. I get out my Kindle (a tablet) and spend about 30 minutes catching up on the Round 2 and 3 draft news I missed while hanging out with the boys. After conflicting reports about the Colts selections I find myself getting sleepy. I turn the device office and finally drift off to sleep.