Two Geeks in a Squad

Day 35:
When the alarm summoned me from my slumber this morning at 5:21 I had no idea what costume to sport at school, I just knew I wanted to coordinate with the Mrs.

The Mrs. is not one for doing stuff that’ll make her stand out, particularly in public. I on the other hand tend to embrace it. But because she is so straight up rad she went against her inclination and together we geeked it up, oversized backpack and all.

Today I (re)learned that my wife rocks…

Friend to the Friendly

Day 34:

I just avoided what could have been a large mistake.

The Mrs. and I were watching a TV show just now when a friend of hers called. At first I got a bit annoyed because later on tonight I won’t be home and I thought that it would be most opportune for Mrs. to speak to her friend then.

But then I caught my double standard.

My plans this evening involve hanging with a buddy I haven’t seen in a few weeks – we’re just going to have dinner and catch up. The near double-standard was that I almost became unfair because I felt the Mrs. should spend the moments we had left with me before I go out with my buddy.

I know.

The person who called was her friend, a friend she hadn’t spoken with for a few weeks. As I write this she is still on the phone.

I’m glad the phone rang because it helped me realize a few things.

Friends are good.

Today I learned that catching a mistake before it happens is a good thing.
I also learned that ‘letting’ your friends have friends is good too.

So Long Sweet Summer

Day 33:

According to the equinox calendar summer ended on September 21, even though fall hadn't yet shown its true colors. But for me, summer ended this evening.

For me the end of summer wasn’t marked by Labor Day, it didn’t end with the start of school.

For me, summer ended this evening as I deflated the rafts for our pool – a task I delayed so as to not have to face the reality of a season gone by.

As the air was forced from these lazy day devices I felt the sweetness of summer dissipate…the days containing long afternoons spent floating sunny-side-up for the sake of soaking up her rays will not return for another nine months.

Tonight I learned that I already miss summer.

Skinney Well-fed

Day 32:

Have you ever gone to dinner at a restaurant and when your entrée arrived you immediately realized that you’d need a doggy bag because the portion seemed to be more than you could manage to eat?

I had that very experience tonight when the Mrs. and I went to dinner with her father. The only problem was that I ate the whole thing.

Most of the time my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but today I learned that tonight my stomach was just as big.

Today I also learned that I should have left well alone with my pasta dish – my cream sauce pasta dish mind you.

But no, not me, I had to have the Crème Brule as well.

Today I learned why they place so many buckle notches in your belt.

Stuffed…

Green Thumbs

Day 31:

The Mrs. and I belong to a produce co-op. It’s a pretty cool set up because every week we get to pick up locally grown fruits and vegetables; the coolest part of it all is that we’ve increased our consumption of Mother Nature’s edible goodness.

Anyhow, I only today read the newsletter that came with this week’s treats and I learned something about organic farming.

In order for a farm to be considered organic “it takes 36 months and one day from the last non-Organic application of anything to the land to accomplish the prescribed cleansing.”

Cleansing. Interesting.

The learning of this prompted me to ponder three things.

Primero: Mother Nature is pretty bad ass for having the ability to shed the toxins pumped into her for decades and rejuvenate herself to her natural state.

Segundo: Humans can’t be so bad if we’ve figured this out, and at least sometimes put it into practice.

And finally, imagine if it took the human race 3 years and a day to dump our toxins and get back to our natural state. Thankfully, in order for us to release ourselves from our refuse all we have to do is take a moment to make the decision that we’ll no longer live in a way that is harmful to ourselves or others. All we have to do is decide that we don’t have accept or be the negativity that pollutes our social settings.

Looking forward to living the lessons that come with learning how to plow…

Grateful Greeting Cards

Day 30:

I’m horrible at writing and sending cards. It’s not coming up with the inside content that I’m bad at; it’s the actual writing and sending of them. Point blank, I just don’t do it.

This one Mother’s Day I gave my mom a gift, one that I thought was really thoughtful. I was in college so naturally money was tight, but I still went out and got a nice gift. What I didn’t get was a card – I just didn’t think of it.

I never seem to.

A few weeks ago a two heaping handfuls of parents volunteered in my class in a variety of capacities. Over the last few days I’ve started writing thank-you notes to express my gratitude. It feels nice.

Today I learned that giving my gratitude with pen and paper is good for the heart, mind, and soul. Now I just have to remember to deliver them…

What are you grateful for?

100 years from now...

Day 29:

While waiting for the Nyquil to kick in, which may take some time because it has to combat an all- afternoon nap, I read something that trumped the lesson I intended to share.

The Week, the sole magazine I subscribe to (because it has a little of everything), reports in its Health and Science section that soon enough, living to be 100 years old could be normal in developed nations.

According to a Danish study that drew data from 30 countries, babies that were born in the year 2000 will very likely live to be 100. The study goes on to state that if health trends maintain their current trajectory here in the U.S., those born today could easily live to be 104.

Crazy.

When I was young I don’t know that I ever thought much about how old I’d be when I stopped being. But for today’s toddlers to be able to one day imagine living past 100, wow.

There are or will be obvious concerns about such an aged population living within a country. The requirements for having stable health care and retirement systems in place alone can be intimidating.

But in all actuality, it’s kind of exciting.

It’s exciting because it means that today’s parents and teachers have the opportunity to raise up tomorrow’s parents and teachers – those that will work to address the complications that could come with living for a century or more.

Today’s parents and teachers get to instruct and instill tomorrow’s wisdom with the problem-solving skills, integrity, and common-sense that will be required to handle the reality of having tens of millions of folks live into their triple-digit ages.

Today’s parents and teachers have the awesome opportunity to take today’s young ones, and help them look forward to a future that will undoubtedly be riddled with obstacles, but that can without a doubt, be tackled.

Today I learned that although I may not live to be 100, there is a long road yet ahead.

Today I learned that I’m excited to be on the journey.

Gesundheit

Day 28:
This is how it went it went yesterday.

(sneeze, sneeze, sneeze….sneeze)
Colleague: “Are you sick?”
Me: “Me? No, I won’t get sick until December. I only get sick twice a year. December and May.”

And like that, today I got sick.

Today I learned that being sick sucks.

Learning to be 'All Ears'

Day 27:

Today I learned I’m becoming too comfortable, borderline too confident, when I speak with people. The more direct way to put this would be to plainly say I’m becoming lazy.

During a meeting today I found myself quasi-debating a matter with some peers. The conversation nearly turned to debate because we did not understand each other, or so I thought.

It turns out that the real issue was that I wasn’t listening clearly to my colleagues and instead was talking too much, and way too fast. In fact, someone even said something like, “Wait Jason, we can’t listen that quickly, we can only take in 3 minutes at a time…”

It was then that I realized I’m getting lazy.

Listening takes work, a lot of it, and knowing this fact is nothing new. But if the key to being an effective communicator is being an excellent listener, then I’ve got a long way to go.

The bad news is…I’m not as good a communicator as I thought.
The good news is…today I learned about what I need to do to improve.
The great news is…this is something I can do.
The best news is…I get to practice tomorrow.

Looking forward to suiting up for practice…

Pants

Day 26:

On an outing to the outlet mall this evening I think I took a step towards learning how to walk away from purchasing clothing items I don’t really need.

Let me explain.

Much to the Mrs.’ frustration, I am notorious for finding deals off the clearance rack. She explains that what’s most annoying about these finds is that more often than not the garments I grab are a perfect fit. This alignment invariably results in my giving into the temptation and buying the ‘super-sale’ shirt, shorts, belt, you name it.
But today was different.

Today I was able to walk away from a pair of pants that both fit nicely and were priced perfectly.

Today I recalled what I had learned last year from the reality found in The Story of Stuff.

Today I was able to channel the strength of the Beavan family by foregoing the purchase of something I didn’t really need anyway.

Today I learned that just because it’s on sale, if I don’t need it, then I don’t need to buy it.

Buon Compleanno a Voi

Day 26:

The Mrs. and I had dinner at Macaroni Grill this evening. A few tables away sat a father and his two sons. It was apparently one of the boys' birthday because a singing server came over and sang the little boy Happy Birthday in operatic Italian.

By the looks of it, the boy could have cared less. This little guy, which must have been all of 6 years of age, seemed aware of only one thing - the bowl of birthday ice cream that sat before him.

As I watched the boy clap for the server when she was done with his song, the clap appeared as though he was pretty convinced she was singing for someone else at his table. This observation made me wonder how many times we're blessed by someone or something without recognizing it. Not that we don't see it or acknowledge it, but that we don't realize the gift is ours.

I know that my life is showered full of blessings.

Today I learned that I need to raise my awareness of these blessings, so that I may extend my gratitude of them.

Head, Heartbeats, Feet and Soles, Feet and Soles...

Day 25:

The Mrs. suffers from migraines, and tonight she had an episode that took us to the urgent care. The visit provided relief and a prescription offering hope of future relief in the event the doctor induced relief is temporary, which doesn’t leave me hopeful.

When I was at CVS filling the prescription I found my mind easily distracted with the drugstore world, a world that appears to have everything, a world that taught me a little bit about my inner self.

While I waited I learned that my diastolic pressure is below average, (although I couldn’t tell you whether that is good or bad) and that my resting heart rate is 51 bpm. I also learned, according to Dr. Scholls and his fancy pants foot-fit computer, that I have weak arches and low foot pressure.

As I walked past the book aisle one about taming one’s tongue caught my eye and as I perused it I learned that the word loquacious means something along the lines of ‘motor-mouth’. What a diplomatic way to say, “Shut-up”.

Tonight, as I found ways to keep my mental motor moving by learning these seemingly insignificant things, I realized that I do not like to rest the mind to simply listen, or meditate, or pray, or reflect.

Perhaps more on this tomorrow…because I learned yesterday that it’s good to chew something like this over.

Trying to quiet the mind…

Thinking to learn

Day 24:

A few weeks ago I posted a video from Regina Spektor in connection to a man and his heart-full generosity.

I bring Spektor up again now because today I found out that she was on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. Upon this discovery I experienced a sensation that made me think.

I know I’ve only been turned on to Spektor for a short while, but I couldn’t help but think that most of the people I know don’t know of her or her music. This small reality made me feel like a member of some exclusive community. And with her appearance and performance on SNL, I couldn’t help but feel like the rest of the world was catching up and turning on to something I ‘already’ knew – and I must confess that it felt kinda cool.

Today I’m pondering what there is to knowing about something sweet before others do that makes us feel sorta special when they ‘finally’ find out.

Today I’m wondering why being ahead of the curve can serve to create a temporary sense of cool confidence.

Today I’m learning that chewing something over can be a lot like learning.


Here’s one of the numbers Spektor tossed out on Saturday…

Things I swore to never do...

Day 23:

There were two things I did today that I swore I would never do again.

I’ll share the lighter one first.

A few weeks ago I gave an oath to never entering a Trader Joe’s without a recyclable bag ever again.

Failure.

In my defense, I didn’t leave the house thinking I would make a stop at Joe’s food market. But there I was leaving the check out aisle, holding:
-frozen peas
-frozen carrots
-frozen chicken stir fry
-frozen sweet and sour sauce
-frozen gnocchi (the gorgonzola kind; and don’t judge my frozen purchases, I was buying for a rainy day)
-and kfir
with no bag, frozen arms, and the lesson learned that I need to keep one of Joe’s bags permanently in the trunk, because you never know.

The other “I promise to never…” came on my way to Joe’s.

As those living in So. Cal know, it was raining this evening, which meant that as I drove past a guy walking with a ½ broken umbrella, well, I felt sorry for the guy and I thought this would be a great opportunity to flesh-out the helpful attitude I missed out on before, the one I'm trying to adopt .

I know, I know.

I swore to my mother the day I got my driver’s license that I would never give a ride to strangers, but in that moment I felt so badly for the guy.

The MORONIC thing was that I pulled over to ask the guy if he needed a ride.
The GOOD thing was that he politely said, “Oh, so kind of you to stop and ask, but I’m just walking because I walk every night.”
The ODD thing was (no, the odd thing was not that this guy walks in the rain) that this guy was Luis, the dude that fixed my vacuum at the shop he works at in Woodland Hills.
The COOL thing was that it was him, and not some ax murderer.
The LESSON thing was, “Jason, don’t ever do that again...because you never know!”

Nap Time: No Bueno

Day 21:

I’m convinced I would not have made it through college without naps. The problem is that this habit forming ritual is still a big part of my weekly routine.

Tonight the Mrs. and I have plans with a friend and I am running mega late, because I took a nap.

Today I learned way more than what I’m about to throw down, but today’s lesson is that although my desire to lie down may help lighten the lids, it does not help my punctuality.
Today I'm learning that I am tired of being late, and that naps aren't worth it if the post nap activity is rushed - because it completely unravels the restfulness.

Quarterly Calls

Day 20:

When I was at the store today I saw something that caused a double take. Right outside the store was something I hadn’t seen in quite some time - it was a pay phone. But what really caught me by surprise was that there was a man that appeared to be repairing it. This could not be, I thought. No, he must be taking it out.

But there was a part of me that was not sure. There was an even bigger part that needed to find out.

So I walked up to the man that was on the other side of middle-aged and our interaction went something like:
Me: Hey there.
Him: (silence)
Me: Hey, how’s it going?
Him: (silence)
Me: Excuse me sir, are you repairing that phone or are you taking it down?
Him: Nope, I’m fixing it.
Me: Oh, cool. (feeling like I needed to demonstrate my appreciation for his efforts in restoring life into a dying artifact, I responded with…) It’s kinda nice to see that they still get serviced.
Him: (silence)
Me: Well, thanks for fixing it. Have a nice rest of your day.
Him: Thanks, you too.

He never looked my way.

As I walked to the car I chuckled to myself and reflected on this learning moment.

Today I learned that some people really take to heart the “don’t talk to strangers” bit.
But what I really learned is that as convenient as modern technology can be, it’s kinda sad watching former fixtures of society being so readily replaced and or forgotten.

Here’s a link to help you find a payphone if ever your cell puts you in a pinch. Which makes me wonder, are collect calls still made? Does today’s youth even know what a collect call is?

Pride

Day 19:

I heard about a guy who speaks about a bucket.

To him a bucket is a metaphorical item.

It refers to a holding place. A place where ideas and emotions are contained for fermentation. A place where growth and maturity occurs.

Today’s lesson comes from my bucket.

The other day a former student of mine came to me concerned. She shared a story where she had been caught ‘cheating’. According to her current teacher, she had shared some notes with a classmate during an open notes test; during a test where students were to use their own notes.

According the directive, she committed a violation. Therefore, her test was taken from her and she earned only 50%.

Upon this incident, she came to me seeking some advice.

Knowing who she is and what is stands for, I told her it sounded like she had committed a lapse in judgment. I advised her to go to her teacher and confess the lapse and assure him that such an occurrence would not happen again.

She was resistant at first.

Yesterday she came to me to tell me that she followed my advice.

She went to say that her effort was well received and that she felt good for doing so. I was proud of her.

Here’s what I learned.

Upon reflection of this conversation today, I learned that I needed to have told her that I was proud of her.

Today I learned that there will be times in my life where people will, for some unknown reason, come to me seeking advice. And if what I give is honorable and good, and if they follow it, then I need to acknowledge it, in the moment.

Today I learned that I need to be better at encouraging people.

In my young life I have been encouraged beyond my greatest expectation – the least I can do is pass it on.

If you’re reading, in the event we do not meet in the near future, well done….I’m proud of you.

Mr. J.C. León

Like No One's Watching

Day 18:

There is a new Fall Show that has generated a following in the León Residence. The show has a character named Rachel that leaves behind a gold star whenever she signs something or puts her name somewhere. She explains that she does this because it represents, metaphorically speaking, how she’ll one day become a star.

Rachel is the kind of teenage girl that fully embodies the quote:
“Dance like nobody is watching, love like you’ve never been hurt, sing like no one is listening, and live like it is heaven on earth”.

Today while I was reading a blog I frequent I came across a video from a natural born character. Now this guy sings and dances like no one is watching…



I have no idea how old this guy is. Nor do I know the motivation for this video. But what is apparent is his passion to perform. This guy may never be a star by Hollywood’s standards, but he sure made me smile.

Today I learned that it doesn’t matter if you don’t have movie contract, if you love what you do and it can put a smile on your face, that’s star-status enough…

and the boy behind BeenerKeeKee1995 proves it.

Imaginations on Fire

Day 17:

The Mrs. and I went to a shopping plaza this evening to run an errand and I saw something that bummed me out a bit, but it also inspired me.

Fire Your Imagination, a ceramics shop in our town, recently closed its doors. A few weeks back there was a sign warning of their departure from our community. The saddened sign read something like, “After 16 years of being a part of this community, we regret to inform you that Fire Your Imagination will be closing. We hope that our time and place in this community provided warmth and smiles while you showed off your creativity…”

The economic downturn turned down the lights on this shop.

As we walked by the empty place where people use to set fire to their creativity, I thought about a couple of things.

First, aside from walking upright on this sphere, I haven’t done a single thing that has lasted for 16 years. This struck me because hanging out with middle schoolers all day can make a guy my age feel older than he really is, but today I felt like a kid in diapers as that reality set in. Heck, 16 years ago I wasn’t even 16 years old.

Segundo, I want to live a life that will generate warmth and smiles in my community.

Today I learned that, like Fire Your Imagination, I have no idea when the times may call my plans to an end.

Which means that today I learned that if one day I want to be able to look back at my time and place in my community and feel like I made a contribution, from where I stand now, I need to look forward, set my mind ablaze, and figure how to do that - and then do it.

Looking forward to 16 years from now…

Here's a spot of some imagination from the Mrs., two sis's, and myself:

What's around the bend?

Day 17:

To keep the boredem at bay I use a book in my class that contains historical fiction stories. The students take turns reading aloud. We don't read pop-corn style because I feel it would disrupt the flow of the story, instead, the reading pattern follows the rows the students are seated in.

Today as we read about Attila the Hun and his attacks on the Roman Empire I kept noticing that while some were reading there were others that were counting the number of classmates ahead of them, and then began to turn the pages as they counted paragraphs. I'm pretty sure these counters were looking ahead to see if they would have to read, and if so, to see which paragraph would be theirs.

At first I was baffled as to why this mattered. But then I think I got it.

I wanted to tell them to pay attention and follow along, but for a brief moment I couldn't help but relate.

I don't know a single person that likes it when life drops down surprises, and I'm not talking about parties or presents. There just seems to be something about not knowing what the future holds that makes us uneasy.

Will she say 'yes'?
Will they accept our offer on the house?
What if the cuts include me?

These questions make us nervous. These questions set the butterflies free - they cause us to sweat a bit.

So to cope we look as hard as we can into the near future in an effort to anticipate, to see if we'll have to brace for the impact. We try to prepare for what may come.

The worst part is the not the knowing.

Today, as my students counted paragraphs, I learned that not knowing is not easy.
I learned that no matter how hard to we try to prepare, it doesn't alleviate the scare.
I learned that if given a chance we'd opt to take a glance to see if it'll be good or bad, happy or sad.

Today I learned that perhaps we need to learn to live more in the now.
Perhaps we need to take the future as it comes.
For if we anticipate what may come with too much accuracy, its arrival may come without a wow.

Dearly Beloved

Day 16:

The Mrs. and I have already chosen our children’s names. We’re nowhere near ready to have them, but we’re pretty confident with what we’ll call them.

The one area of conflict is the spelling of a girl’s name. For the sake of holding onto something we know that no one else does, I’m not gonna share it with you. But I will tell you that my way is right.

I bring this up because I saw that name with ‘my’ spelling on something today and I brought it to her attention.

She laughed as I spoke of it because I made no introduction of the topic of conversation. I simply said,
“Stop the press. Do you know the name of the company that makes this thing?”
Mrs: No.
Me: It’s blank. And they spell it my way! See I win.

And then she laughed.

Today I (re)learned that I like making my Mrs. laugh.

Today I (re)learned that laughing with a loved one is not only important, it’s also therapeutic.


Looking forward to laughing from this day forward…til death do us part...
One of the Js from jnjleon