It's been a long time since I had to do much air travel for work.  Most of my weeks are spent in the car driving from store to store and for the most part, that is perfectly fine with me.  There are times, however rare, that I actually miss a little adventure in another place.  Last week I got the chance to spend the week in Waco, Texas, working along with some of my favorite people in the whole world.  

At some point in the week we managed to carve out a few minutes to visit Magnolia Market.  If you watch HGTV at all, you know that Magnolia Market is a little shop owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines, who host the show "Fixer Upper".  I admit, I'm not a huge watcher of HGTV, but one Saturday morning I ran across their show and I was hooked.  So, I was excited to go and check out their store.  It was every bit what you would expect it to be.  The staff was really friendly and the store stocked some of the things you may have seen on the show, people were in and out non stop, every detail seemed attended to.  I was impressed.  But deeper than that, to me, it represented what hard work and believing in yourself and your dreams can accomplish.  As we're going through life day to day, it's easy to lose sight of your dreams and put them on hold, or to start doubting yourself, and it's good to have something remind you from time to time.  It's also important to know that timing is everything and there is an even bigger dream out there than even you can imagine.  Here's a great reminder of that....

Dream your dreams,
xo
Greg

Do you ever ask yourself, "Self, Am I a hoarder?"  Standing in my basement looking at the collection of empty cardboard boxes I've collected (because let's face it, you never know when you're going to need a box for something, right?) I did exclaim to myself (and the dog)..."oh, we better be careful, we are headed for total hoarder status if we aren't careful."  I explained to Duff that camera crews would be coming to film the massive box pile and that he would probably be missing for a few days underneath all of it and we could have a tearful reunion all for the sake of good television ratings.  He was not phased by the idea.
Anyway, it's Thursday and I'm sharing a throwback along with something I have held onto for many, many, many years.....yes, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Mickey Mouse T-shirt I have held onto for.....wait for it, wait for it.......33 YEARS!!!!!  Yes, you heard me correctly, this t-shirt was purchased in the summer of 1982, when the Utsinger family set out on their very own National Lampoon's Vacation by driving across the country from central Illinois to beautiful sunny, southern California.  Now, the good news.....as you can see, THE T-SHIRT STILL FITS!!!!!!  The bad news....I was a chubby kid, so that doesn't really say too much.  So, it got me wondering,  does everyone hold onto things as long as I do?  
What is the oldest article of clothing you own and still wear?
Leave me a comment and let me know.

Unless you were living under a rock this week, you probably heard that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Marriage Equality in all 50 states.  My Facebook feed blew up with voices on both sides of the issue.  The majority happy and proud of the decision.  I was riveted to the comments thrown at those who felt like the decision was wrong, the back and forth debate getting neither side anywhere.  I was surprised by the stance some people took, but the beauty of America is that everyone has a right to their opinion.
My thoughts put very simply....  I'm very proud to live in a country that finally allows all consenting, adult human beings the opportunity to live and love equally.

Be Kind to One Another
xo

Greg

Ok, Ok, I will admit it.  It's not that I haven't spoken it out loud before, but it's something that most of the time I am proud of.   "Hello.  My name is Greg and I am a control freak."  
I know you're all like "duh", and I'm all like "shut up" and you're all like "make me" and I'm all like "never mind, just kidding".....but seriously, the reason I bring it up again is because I've begun to realize that I'm an all or nothing kind of control freak.  What brought this sudden realization to light, you ask?  Well, I gained 10 pounds.....not just 10 pounds over a couple years, but like 10 pounds in about a month and a half.   I am fully aware of why this happened ( I have been a gluttony fast food eating slob and my treadmill doesn't even know who I am anymore).  So in thinking longingly back over the past couple months at the crisp, hot french fries, that amazing El Diablo Burger, that thin crust pizza, those frozen Milky Way candy bars, I realized that not only has my diet and exercise fallen off the wagon, but many other areas of life too.
First of all, (and I'm sure you have all noticed this because you are all loyal readers, glued to the edge of your seats, awaiting my next rib splitting blog post), but I haven't updated the website for, oh let's see.....about a month and a half!

Secondly, I've probably only flossed about 3 times in the past month.....I'm hit and miss with my moisturizing routine....I mean I don't stay looking THIS young naturally.

Thirdly, my usual obsessive compulsive cleaning and laundry duties have been met with a "eh" from me....I mean I didn't even start doing last week's laundry until Sunday!  (Oh, the shame...I can barely face myself in the mirror)  I will admit that there have been some construction projects going on around here that produce more dust the a rock quarry, but that's hardly an excuse in my OCD Handbook.

I realized that when I'm off in one area of life, it's very easy for others to follow, and I DON'T LIKE IT.  The truth is, I LIKE BEING A CONTROL FREAK.  I LIKE ROUTINES.  People have told me to relax and enjoy life, and I will, after the floor gets swept.

So on Saturday I spotted that wagon I fell off of a month ago....I grabbed onto the back 1/4" inch of the wagon with the tips of my fingers....it's drug me through town a few times, but I'm gaining on it.  

I think we are all guilty of it.  Waiting.  
Waiting for whatever it is we think is supposed to happen before we can start living the life we want, the life we think we should be living.
I feel like I talk about this a lot, but again this week I have been forced to take another look at  life and how completely fragile it can be.
Another plane crash, 150 lives ended.  It seems to happen so often that sometimes I wonder if we really think about it anymore.  Sure, we are sorry for the victims and their families, but do we ever really stop and put ourselves in that situation. Maybe I think about it more than most, I don't know, but after hearing the news, I thought about those people on the plane, those families left behind.  Much like the people who died in 9/11.  I think about how those people got up in the morning, brushed their teeth, drank their coffee, ironed their clothes, said goodbye to their families and went on their way like it was any other normal day.  That is where I find some of the most sadness.  Unsuspecting.  Taken.
A friend of mine lost his beautiful wife this week at the age of 48, sudden, shocking, sad.
But in all this sadness, there are lessons.  
Lessons on living.
When I flew for work, I had a ritual, which I still do whenever I fly. When I sat down on the plane and buckled my seatbelt, I would close my eyes and say a quick prayer for safe travels and then I would ask myself a question.  "Am I happy?"  Many times I wasn't happy to be on another plane to another place, but in my life  I was happy knowing that if I never saw any of my loved ones again, that they knew I loved them and that I felt like I was living the best life I could live.  It's the question you should ask yourself, but more importantly, you should answer....truthfully.
I know a lot of people who are waiting.  Waiting to make more money, waiting for vacation, waiting for Friday, waiting until they have a better job, waiting for the right person in their life, waiting, waiting and more waiting.   If they all keep waiting, they will have waited their life away...it passes so quickly, there is NO TIME TO WAIT.   Live the life you are proud of, that you enjoy.  Tell people what they mean to you. Give of yourself.  Take vacations.  Go out to dinner.   Use the good china.  Grow a garden.  Call someone and tell them how special they are.  Put down your phone and be in the moment with the people around you. Say YES. Stop waiting. START LIVING before it's too late. There is no better day than today. So get started.
God Bless
xo
Greg

If you've ever watched "Ellen", you know she ends every show by saying "Be Kind to One Another".  It seems like a simple concept.  Just BE kind.  I would guess that most of us would say that we are kind to others...but are we really?  Are we kind to only SOME people?  Are we really, truly kind to everyone we come in contact with?  
I'm the first to admit I'm not always kind.  I don't think I intentionally go out of my way to be unkind, but I know I have my faults.  I have thoughts and opinions that may seem unkind, but I am human and the idea of never having an unkind thought goes against human nature.
What I don't understand is why, as human beings, we love to point out others faults in such unkind ways.  (Shawn will be happy to attest to the rants I have subjected him to regarding this very subject).
Social Media and the Internet make it so easy to point out the perceived flaws of anything or anyone.  I first started recognizing how unkind people can be when I happened upon a "live tweet" of a random television performance.  As I read the criticism of every aspect of the show, I couldn't help but wonder why the person was wasting their time even watching the show in the first place if it's really that bad.  More importantly, why did they feel empowered to be the judge of the show?   Recently, I watched the Oscars and found people tweeting complaints about how long the show was running and when would it be over?  Here's a novel idea, CHANGE THE CHANNEL!  GO TO BED!  STOP COMPLAINING!
The Superbowl Half-time Show wasn't even over and people were weighing in on Katy Perry's performance.  It's easy to say that people who are celebrities put themselves out there to be criticized....true, but it doesn't automatically elevate the entire universe to the position of almighty judge.  Think about this....what if someone followed you around from the moment you arose, bed head and all and live tweeted every aspect of your day?  Not such a pretty vision is it?  But I bet you would only want them to be kind.
Don't get me wrong, I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  But wouldn't a simple "it wasn't for me" be a kinder way to express your opinion, or how about adhering to your mother's advice and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.

I know that changing your thoughts and actions is hard.  As my "Words to Live By" this week says...."the best way to get something done is to BEGIN".  So just BEGIN to try and be more understanding, to see someone else's side of the story, to stop judging, to stop complaining, to start living YOUR OWN LIFE, to try and just BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER.
XO
G

Dear Snow Haters,
I just wanted you to know that I love snow.  I live for a good old fashioned snow storm and when I saw the weather forecast for this weekend, I couldn't have been happier.  Now before you all send me hate mail telling me how I should be checked into some sort of "facility", let me remind you that 1.)  I'm entitled to my own snow loving opinion, and 2.) a snow storm is the greatest time to hold up inside your house and do all kinds of creative things.  
As the snow approached, I decided that if it was going to be a stay at home kind of weekend I should make the most of it.  About 1:30pm on Friday afternoon it occurred to me that I could do a weekend bedroom makeover.  So I scurried off to Lowe's and bought some white trim paint, a quick stop at TJ Maxx for a new duvet, a super cool chair and some curtain panels at BB&B and then rushed home to get started.  I won't bore you here with all the details, but you can get the run down of what happened over on the Design Page.
Up early on Sunday morning, I shoveled the driveway and then fired up the oven.....I managed to cook enough food for the rest of the week,  including some Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars, 2 loaves of sourdough bread, some barbecued turkey, broccoli slaw and a hoisin glazed pork loin, so my week is  now free to plot, plan, stalk and do any of the other things I run out of time for.  
So before you go around complaining that the snow is cold and messy and crying like a little tiny baby girl about how you couldn't get out of the house, take a look at all the things you could have accomplished while you were busy laying around the house crying like a little tiny baby girl....uh huh...I thought so.
Viva Snow!
XO
Greg

Another year gone, and we are just a day or so away from the beginning of a new year.
It's the time when we all start making resolutions for how we are going to change something in the new year.  I don't make resolutions.  I used to.  I have had successful resolutions, for a time, but old habits die hard and real change is difficult to maintain.  So, I came to a conclusion.....all the resolutions I ever made could be summed up in one simple sentence. 

"I WANT TO LIVE THE BEST LIFE AND BE THE BEST PERSON I AM CAPABLE OF BEING."

Simple as that.  So I don't resolve to do anything specific, instead I decided to EVOLVE into that person.  Everyday, not just at the beginning of a new year, I want to always be becoming the best person, best son, best friend, best employee, best listener, best teacher that I am capable of being.  I want to say yes to new experiences and ideas.  I want to give more, because I feel like I have been given so much. 

So yes, I could stand to lose a few pounds, save a little more money, work out more, all the typical resolutions we throw around, but I'm not focusing on those.  I'm taking everyday to become the best person I can be, and if those other things happen as a result?  Well then, isn't that just the icing on the cake.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Make this one yours!
xoxoxoxo
Greg 

Sometimes it seems daunting.  The idea of dragging all the Christmas decorations out of the basement, up the stairs, to hang, arrange, primp and fuss with, only to do it all in reverse again in a few weeks.  It's a lot of work.  In my line of work, the possibility exists that I could assemble and decorate at least 10 trees before I ever start on my own house.  It would be easy for me to say "forget about it".  But why do I do it? It's tradition, and in today's world, tradition doesn't seem to have the same pull it used to.  Yes, I am admitting it right here and now.  I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO QUESTION EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD.  IT REALLY IS OKAY TO DO SOME THINGS JUST BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE.
Traditions connect us to who we are and where we have come from.

There really isn't a day that goes by that something I see, something I might hear or smellwill take me somewhere else in time.  Somewhere, when ,(dare I say) life was much simpler. 
 
Most of my early Christmas memories revolve around family.  The Christmas season began, officially with the arrival of the JCPenney Wish Book, along with Sear's and Montgomery 
Ward.  I would search the pages for hours deciding which gifts I had to ask Santa for and then after the Thanksgiving dishes were cleared from the table, I would set about making my list.  Catalogs spread open, I would carefully craft my list with page number, item number, color choice (if necessary) and perhaps any other comments necessary for Santa and all the other gift givers.  
I don't remember whose tree was up first, but we always helped my Grandma Cleer decorate hers.  It was an artificial tree that had these long pieces that had a lot of branches connected to them, you would just place the hooks in the ring and plop the top on and in no time flat....Christmas tree.  I have so many vivid memories (pretty good for someone my age) and one of them is laying inside the empty Christmas tree box watching "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" on her console tv that had push buttons (like a radio) to change the channel (all 4 of them).  She had an angel that was made from paper and it had these silky hair things that for some reason I remember being dangerous....that could be a not so vivid memory, but in my mind, you weren't supposed to touch the hairs....or maybe you weren't supposed to eat them....I don't really know.

The tree at our house was also artificial....my nosey sister discovered that the empty box made a wonderful spot for hiding Christmas gifts from nosey children....or should I say girl children.  I didn't have to worry about being nosey, my private detective sister would fill me in on all the goods she discovered.  Our stockings were always hung on each side of the window on the hooks that held the draperies back....I mean we didn't have a fireplace (except for one of those cardboard ones) so where else could they go?  
Which also always brought about the question....."How does Santa come down our chimney if we don't have fireplace for him to get out?"  We had lots of plastic Santa figurines that lit up and even a Frosty the Snowman, which I still have in my posession today.  We received what seemed like truckloads of Christmas cards.  We would tape them all around the doorways into the living room.  People just don't take the time to write a card these days....sad.

Christmas Eve was spent at my Grandma and Grandpa Utsinger's house.  All my dad's siblings and my cousins crammed into their little pink house,  My Grandma would always have a canned ham and a pink angel food cake with silver dragees covering it.  I have another vivid memory of that time.  We had left my grandparents and gotten home and I remember being outside waiting for my dad to unlock the door and thinking how bright and calm the sky was.  Even then the world seemed peaceful.  Then as quickly as that Hallmark moment came I started to get a bit scared thinking about a stranger coming into our house as we slept, even if he was leaving a stash of presents......

Christmas day we would arise to find what Santa had delivered.  Well, my sister would arise and then wake me up, (why she was in such a hurry to get up I don't know, I mean she probably knew everything she was getting anyway) then  the calamity would wake my mom and dad up.  We would play with our toys, load up the one's that we couldn't last the day without and head to my Grandma Cleer's for breakfast.  Breakfast always consisted of Yum Yum Coffee Cake, and sausage links.....I don't know where that came from, but we still have it today (an important family tradition).  We would unwrap gifts and then play and nap until lunch which was always too much too soon.

My grandma had a cast of characters that lived in her neighborhood.  "Burt" lived across the street and every year he would give my sister and I those "books" of Lifesaver candies.  Peggy , my grandma's next door neighbor would knit us slippers, along with Mr & Mrs. B who would send over a tray of candy...most of it, while interesting looking, held no appeal to me ( I didn't have such a vast culinary palette back then).  My grandma would have shoe boxes filled with candies she had made...again, not much that interested me except the Peanut Butter Bon Bons.   Sometimes you could find a stray box of bon bons in the broom closet all the way up until Easter.   Late in the evening, exhausted from a long day, we would head home, another Christmas come to an end.

The point I'm getting at is that all these memories, all these things were part of my tradition.  They made me who I am.  We still have Yum Yum Coffee Cake and sausage links every Christmas morning at my mom and dad's.  We head over to my sister's where we made a change to our tradition last year.  Since we wanted to change our tradition of feeling stuffed and miserable all day long, we now have soup and sandwiches for Christmas dinner.  But within all these things are the people who got us to this place, Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends, who we would gladly give up all our gifts to spend another Christmas with.  They are with us, laced inside those traditions, their faces and laughs are reflected in all those old baubles we hang every year.   Their wisdom and love are in every cookie we bake or bon bon we roll.   They are never far.  That's why traditions are necessary.  Embrace the ones you have, begin new ones, just make sure you have them.
Merry Christmas!
Enjoy the people around you.
xo
Greg

I am a subscriber to a lot of magazines...some remain in a stack, unread and when I get the chance to sit and flip through them I always collect lots of ideas, recipes and information.  This morning I was sipping my coffee and decided to flip through the November issue of Martha Stewart Living (the December issue arrived a week or so ago, but hey it's still November, so in my mind, I'm ahead of the game)....I almost never read "Martha's Month" because it always seems so "made up"....I mean do people really write on their calendar to "Have ice skates sharpened"?  Really?  Does someone really write to "winterize vehicles" and on Veteran's Day no less?  Is November 9th the national day to "check flour and sugar supply."?  Don't you have an ongoing grocery list for that kind of thing like the rest of us?    Besides that, if you run out and you're Martha Stewart, don't you just go to some green house on your property that has a wheat field inside and mill some more flour?
But really, the best day of Martha's month had to be November 5th...."fly to Dubai to attend Sharjah International Book Fair"....I didn't have that one down on my calendar...damn, maybe next year, and surely there is a book fair somewhere closer to home, isn't there?  
I'm not really busting Martha's chops for all this...I mean she is Martha Stewart and I'm sure she does SOME of this, but has a lot of "people" that do most of it....but the calendar is supposed to be...."gentle reminders, helpful tips and important dates"......FOR MARTHA!!!  Why do I need to know what's on Martha's calendar when I have trouble following my own?
I just looked at my November calendar...it's filled with the names of stores I worked in during the month, what bills are due when, and an appointment to take the dog to the vet. Very glamorous I know.  I suppose I could add a few things....
November 6, 7, 14, 15...clean up leaves ....again and again and again and again
November 16 ...pay the cable bill....you forgot it last month...don't let that happen again
November 19....suddenly remember that car is severely overdue for an oil change....make a deal with God that if he gets you home without the engine exploding you promise to get it changed tomorrow
November 28....make another deal with God that if you're pants will just button comfortably you will never be such a glutton on Thanksgiving ever again.

When I got this issue in October, Martha already knew that on November 28, she would "make turkey sandwiches with the leftovers".....how does she know that a family brawl won't break out and someone will flip the table, sending the turkey to the floor, only to be ripped to shreds by her beloved dogs, Francesca, Sharkey and Genghis?  It could happen you know.
Well, I think I'll just go back to following my own calendar as exciting as it is....I'll check on a flight to Dubai....but don't hold your breath.