The Undecided and Why I’ll Vote for Obama Again

Last night I spent a little time watching and reading about “The Undecided”. The Undecided is a collection of six undecided voters in battle ground states who tell their story about why they are struggling to make a decision on who to vote for in the upcoming election.  Unlike these six individuals I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem making a decision. Until 2008 I’d always made the decision that I didn’t care enough about politics to vote and then Barack Obama came along. Honestly I still don’t think I care a bit for “politics” but I do care for my country. Watching and reading about these six individual, I noticed one common theme. Many of them voted for Obama four years ago.  Like them four years ago I was swept up in the excitement. What I found most...

Presidential Debate: Sausage vs. Pepperoni… YES!

It’s been a while since I’ve written on this blog so why not quickly throw out some ideas why Pizza Hut’s PR campaign of Sausage vs Pepperoni question for the presidential debate tonight is already a huge victory. You can find lots of articles on the web with the backstory. Long story short if someone asks on the presidential debate tonight, “Sausage or Pepperoni” then Pizza Hut will give that person pizza for life. Good Marketing is Controversial There is no better way to get people’s attention than through something controversial maybe even polarizing. There are a lot of people upset about that Pizza Hut would even attempt to inject itself into the debate. “It just seems like a thoughtless grab for a little bit of attention.” “Why muck up a...

Goodbye Daddy, I Love You

I’ve learned that as some people work through losing someone by talking about them, others through physical tears and some bottle them up forever, my approach is to share them in writing. I originally wrote over 5,600 words in the essay about my father, and still every time I step away another story would come out that I had to write down. I used the essay rewrite to give me some quick feedback, grammatically speaking. My wife Heather pointed out that is way too much for a blog post, and it would lose most of its meaning due to the length. What I want to publicly share is my story of my father after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. This life altering event brought us closer and enabled us to grow in our relationship in ways I worry we might not have been...

Goodbye Skip, My Best Friend

Today I put Skip to sleep. Many of you know who Skip is, but for those who don’t, Skip was my long time faithful dog. Yesterday he couldn’t keep anything down, and when we woke up this morning he was completely lethargic. After blood work and an ultrasound this morning we discovered that he had gallbladder mucoceles. The main diagnosis for this is surgery to remove the gallbladder. I was forced to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. Skip was fifteen years old (some would argue sixteen… Mom). Because of his advanced old age there was no guarantee that he would survive the surgery, not to mention the fact that it is very expensive at a time in my life when I’m penny pinching. After leaving him at the animal hospital for the day he was only getting worse....

Pre-Marital Counseling with the Book – Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts: Seven Questions to Ask Before—and After—You Marry

Heather and I recently completed an excellent per-marital course that was recommended by our minister, Reggie. As part of the course we read the book Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts: Seven Questions to Ask Before—and After—You Marry while also working through the paired his and her workbooks. Yes you heard that right. There was a different workbook for the male and female in the couple. Reggie also connected us with a great couple, Tracy & Warren, who was able to talk with us after we completed sections of the reading and workbooks. Yes there was actual work required in all this, but I’m not naive enough to think that getting married isn’t going to be work too! I really enjoyed the whole experience. Although Heather and I have been together...