jo burgess hannon

fit for today, fit for life

The thank you note: is it a lost art?

by Leave a Comment

 

The outside thermometer hit 23 degrees this morning!

 

As the stockings come down and the ornaments are put away, out come the notecards to send to family and friends. Though I have often taken the time to write notes of thanks and gratitude sometimes I have sent them out of obligation. Have you ever done that? Sent a thank you card because you knew you should, or maybe even because your mamma told you to? We have a goofy saying around our house, “I’m too old to eat broccoli if I don’t want to!”

I have learned a lot of lessons over the years and I have to admit I did not think our daughter’s wedding would provide so many opportunities to learn and re-learn the teachings of life.  As expressed previously, I have been grateful for all the love shown to my family. I wrote notes to a few ladies that were particularly helpful. Honey and I wrote more notes a few weeks later to others that helped make the day a joy for us. For every single note we sent, we received a text or email back thanking us for our thank you note. I know, kind of weird, right?

Here’s the lesson: people appreciate being appreciated. So after you pack up all your holiday decorations, consider taking the time to make a call, send a text, write a note to those that helped make your season bright.

What can you cross off your to-do list?

by Leave a Comment

 

Mr. Flexible, my mantra reminder
Mr. Flexible, my mantra reminder

 

I recently took a trip to beautiful, sunny Florida.  When I made plans in September it sounded like such a good idea; warm, bright weather and leaving the dark rainy days of December behind for a week.  Reality is it can be pretty stressful to come home to a long list and 10 days of houseguests soon coming and going through the door.

I like to plan ahead and am most happy when I feel I know what I need to do, what the schedule is going to be and have a clear plan.  Life doesn’t work that way though, does it?  By the time the sunglasses were packed and on the way to the airport I had crossed many Christmas to-do’s off my list.  But not because I had completed them. I crossed them off because they just weren’t as important as enjoying relaxing days at the beach.  I crossed them off because time with people are more important than fancy food, lights strung to the rooftop and giving handmade gifts.

As the emails came in and Honey let me know we were having more family arrive than planned and a day earlier than planned, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “ok, we can make that work.” I used to have to re-center my attitude by whispering to myself, ‘I am flexible, I am flexible, I am flexible.’ It has become a personal mantra over the years.  People are more important than fancy food, lights strung to the rooftop and giving handmade gifts.  I can let the plans change and enjoy life or I can stress that things are not going my way.

So there might be a gift or two given in February when I get the project done and if you are expecting a Christmas card from our family this year, it isn’t coming. By being flexible & open to plans changing, my dining room table was filled last night with family and laughs and conversation as we passed the salad and soup. And isn’t that more important than anything else on the list?

The road paved with good intentions

by Leave a Comment

florida mementos & local recommendations

 

Honey had some work stuff and I tagged along last week to Florida to soak up some much-needed vitamin D. I love leaving the Seattle area when it is raining knowing I am headed for clear skies and warm days. Over the years Honey and I have developed a pattern when we rent a car; I am the map-reader, he is the driver. My unofficial title is Co-Piloto. Honey has a keen sense of direction. Usually getting around a new area is pretty easy once I have the map figured out and Honey has his bearings. We think we should apply to be on the Amazing Race.

On one trip we decided to attend a concert. It seemed like a good idea when we were at the kitchen table searching a laptop map. The venue looked about 30 minutes from our hotel. We intended to shuttle to our hotel and cab to the concert a few days later. Good intentions.  After arriving we checked with the concierge and found a cab ride would cost over $200. One way.

So we rented a car for the day. Along the way we hit a couple of detours that were no big deal. The IPhone re-calibrated. It was after midnight on the return trip. We hit the same detours and handled them with ease. Then a new issue; the freeway was closed ahead and we had no choice but to exit. That was not on my map.   It was stressful but again we got back on course. All became calm, we were familiar with the rest of the drive, I set my phone aside.

Relationships can be a lot like navigating a new territory. A few bumps along the road figuring each other out, a wrong turn or two causing some frustration, anger or tears and then relaxed, as everyone seems to be traveling down the same road. Most of us have many people in our lives: friends, family, spouses, co-workers. Each is a unique opportunity to value and appreciate each other.  Sometimes an action, a word, a text or e-mail can get us off course. Our intentions might come from a spirit of teamwork, collaboration and shared resources. A teammate might take a complete U-turn and head in the opposite direction feeling devalued, unappreciated and angry.

The concert journey was not over. We were headed in the right direction, cruising along. Then one last large, orange lettered sign flashed “BRIDGE CLOSED AHEAD.” If you live in Seattle, it would be like having the 520 Bridge over Lake Washington closed. Only you have no idea how to get to the I90 Bridge and there is no option of driving around the water. Honey kept driving and told me to find the other bridge. What other bridge? My map was only showing one way across the bay. I frantically searched my phone as we entered a sketchy part of town. I asked Honey to pull over. Honey kept driving. My map kept trying to re-calculate. I asked Honey to pull over. Honey kept driving. Finally out of sheer frustration, I yelled, “Pull over!” Honey kept driving.

Did I mention his sense of direction is awesome? His internal GPS had already re-calibrated, much faster than my phone. And he trusted I would figure it out. It can work out with our teammates, too. Collaboration might work best when we each have our own map and are willing to see the road from a different view.

And, I secretly think Honey might have some sort of super power. Because seriously, how did he know about that other bridge?

Rookie mistakes and fish stew

by 1 Comment

 

beef chili with jalepeno & diced zuk

The more I think about it the more I recognize the voices from my past rolling through my thoughts. Honey might call it my reticular activating system: I thought he was making that up the first time he said it out loud. One sibling taunt was the word, “Rookie!” Used in a derogatory way to indicate you didn’t know what were doing. Like striking out when you were up to bat.

I’ve had a lot of rookie mistakes in my life. As I was making chili the other night I remembered once when I tried to make Cioppino. It was a newlywed cooking disaster– Honey & I still laugh about it after 30 years. I brought the recipe home after tasting the delicious soup at an office potluck. If I had the Internet and Google in 1985 I would have looked up several recipe options, read reviews, learned from other’s mistakes. I may not have made it had I known it was fish stew. Instead I had a few scribbled notes on a yellow notepad.

Honey was golfing so I spent my whole Saturday & most of the week’s grocery budget making this soup. My notes called for 2-4 fish heads. I went to a local fish shop and got 2 huge King Salmon ones. The counter guy said that would be plenty and gave them to me for free. I also bought scallops, shrimp and crab. I stewed ’em up, those heads, all day, until the eyeballs fell out. That should have been a warning sign. It was kind of gross. OK, really gross. I strained the fish parts out and finished the recipe. (I saved the eyeballs to show Honey later; appetizing, right?)

I set the table with our wedding china, placemats, candles, everything. I was SO EXCITED for Honey to come home so we could eat. Well the soup was horrible, so fishy, like eating fish oil. I was shocked it didn’t taste like the one from work. We tried to save the seafood by straining and rinsing. We ended up ordering pizza.

So what went wrong? Well, I never once tasted the stew as it was cooking. And, turns out my co-worker used 2 little, tiny lake trout heads.  Oops.  Sometimes only those close to us see our failures. Sometimes we are publically humiliated when we make mistakes. The key is to not let our past errors define our future. It’s ok to be a rookie. We have to start somewhere, right?