Day 22 – What Was Your Dream job as a Child?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

My dad had a love of sports car racing and as it became more accessible to view on television, he introduced me to open wheel racing. There was not a ton to watch on television as I grew up, but I knew the minute I saw my first race,

I wanted to be a race car driver.

I was taken to a couple of Indy car races when I was younger and for my 16th birthday, Dad took me to the Indianapolis 500. With no cell phones back then, I am not sure if there are any pictures of that weekend, but the memories are all I need. Although some pictures would be cool. I remember being in one of the drivers garages and sitting in his car. For just a few seconds, I could close my eyes and fantasize that I was driving it in the race. I am not sure if it is the car I sat in, but the picture above, found on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Facebook page, is one of the cars I may have sat in. I do not have pictures, but I do remember the driver and the car.

Growing up, we did not have the resources to venture into the sport when I was a kid and soon the window on that “dream job” closed.

I can not argue with the life I have, it is better than I deserve for sure. But every once in a while, I wonder what if……..

I know this, Dawn would have looked great on pit road with me before every race. Hell, she should probably would be the one walking to another drivers pit area and starting a fight if I got wrecked. HAHA

What is/was my dream job? I wanted to be a race car driver.

Looking forward to reading how others have responded.

May y’all be happy, healthy, and safe.

t.t.

Day 21 – Who is Your Favorite Author and Why?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

Similar to previous thoughts on my favorite book, I do not have a favorite author either. I know, boring answer.

I do not usually read fictional material, but if I do, it is based on real life crime dramas. You know, like the “Hardy Boys”. The photo above is just a few from my original collection.

I do read several articles daily on organizational communication and human behavior. These researched-based studies serve to educate me as well as providing data that I can use to help my clients grow professionally and personally. As we have so many generations currently occupying the workforce, I enjoy the challenge of finding methods that can bridge the different generational styles of communicating in a way that promotes growth and community. There is much that can be taught and learned if we can accept people as individuals and not base our views on “how we did things back in my day”.

I typically will read books that add to my growth, professionally or personally. I crave to be educated without being preached to. I love to read material that goes against what I know to be true based on my frame of reference. When I am done reading something, I want to feel as if I have grown intellectually and spiritually.

I am currently reading a book written by a doctor who takes the readers through his life and through his experiences as a black doctor working his way through the different stages of his education and residency. I feel as if I am listening to him explain this to me during the course of a conversation. The book is not preachy, political, or biased. He simply tells his story the best way he can. I had the opportunity to hear him speak at an awards ceremony for our youngest daughter. This was a couple of years ago and it was virtual, which sucks. However, I was drawn to his style of speaking, which had me listening intently. I am not done with the book, but it has been a great read. I have learned so much about his life, a life that was lived very differently from mine. Because of his approach to the topics, each night that I am done reading, I am left with an opportunity to grow as a person. I take great pride in sitting with this alternate viewpoint and really pondering how I can use what I have learned to improve my understanding of people and then how I can share that wisdom with others.

Who is my favorite author?

Someone who is not only interested in telling their story, but also provides space and permission for the reader to think, learn, and grow.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find out if the “boys” find “The Tower Treasure”. So exciting!

Have a great Saturday y’all

t.t.

Day 20 – What Irritates You About The Home You Live In?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

Dawn and I have lived in our home for 23 plus years. In that time, we have taken on quite a few projects as we update and remodel. A couple years ago, we focused our energy on outside projects, hardscaping, lighting, and what Dawn is really good at, using flowers to beautify Thompsonville.

We are the third owners of the home, each owner adding their own personal touch and improvement project. I am a big supporter of individuals working on their own homes. There is an incredible amount of pride and cost savings in making improvements to your own home. There is potentially a big problem with homeowners taking on their own home improvement projects:

Many of them have no business taking on home improvement projects!

This brings me to the thing that irritates me the most in our house, the electric. See, somewhere along the line, one of the two previous owners thought they would just save some money and add a crap ton of lights to the home. Well, they had no idea what they were doing, cutting off and eliminating the ground wires of many of the fixtures. Tapping into existing to add a new fixture. Or cutting off wires, leaving them hot, and then covering them with wood trim.

The lack of ground wires overloaded the circuit and caused breakers to trip and we recently had to the have the main panel replaced due to years of bad wiring. A previous owner, incorrectly tapping into an existing bathroom switch caused me physical pain. I had disabled the electric that I could trace and thought that I had ensured that it was safe for me to work. And yet, buried somewhere in the box was a hot wire that zapped me. A shooting pain and a ton of swear words about the previous owner were my outlet. I also had to hire and pay an electrician several hundred dollars in order to fix that particular issue.

Finally, Dawn and I were doing some demo in the basement to prepare for a new entertainment area. In removing some of the existing flooring, I was removing a piece of base molding and there was a wire, in the molding, that was still wired to the main panel. A fire that thankfully never happened.

A repeat of the swear words directed towards the previous owner may or may not have streamed for several elevated minutes once more.

I believe that over the past several years, we have found and corrected the electrical issues within our home and we are safer. What irritates me about our home has hopefully been completely eliminated and for the remainder of our time here and for future owners, it is a safer place for memories to be made.

Happy Friday y’all,

t.t.

Day 19 – What Color Describes Your Personality and Why?

I am having a tough time with this one. I love the creative place that this challenge takes my brain, but today, I am truly stuck.

First off, I despise going to the paint store because I do not see a need for a billion shades of yellow. Not to mention that Dawn and I see colors differently,; perfectly normal, but I look at a swatch and say that is a nice shade of orange and she tells me it is some type of yellow I have never heard of. Or perhaps it is orange, but it is burnt orange, not just orange. WHAT?! I know my colors and I’m pretty sure that I am not color blind. For this reason, she goes to the store, alone. First off, I do most of the construction and finish work myself, but when it comes to the finishing touches, like paint color, she is excellent at the decorative stuff and I usually like what she chooses. She brings home a handful of samples that she really likes and then I get to give her my thoughts on one or all of those. In the end, it will be what she truly likes that wins. But for me, colors of paint are usually not a deal killer and always look nice. I am also lucky that she would not ever want to paint our bedroom pink, so there is that. We recently painted the guest room purple.

Dawn: “It’s not purple, it’s lavender!”

Me: “Ok, yes dear, it is lavender, which is a kind of purple.”

Dawn: “It is nothing like purple!”

Me: “You’re right babe, I love it!”

I would have never chose “lavender”, but it looks great in the space and it does make the room feel pleasant.

Back to the color that describes my personality and why. But, in true Tommy fashion, I am going to add a twist and throw deep thought out there.

I like woodworking, and I prefer stain over paint. Less options and it usually allows the natural grain and character of the wood to shine through. And, unlike paint, the item that I am applying the stain to will have a different color depending on the type of wood. I believe the same can be said for paint color personality. Each person who thinks they may be, for example red, will be a different shade of red than the next person.

I prefer natural wood color with just an oil or clear lacquer finish. I also prefer wood that has knots, chinks, dents, etc. I like it to have character. There are some beautiful striations of grain that run through wood, creating a character that can never be matched. These grains show its growth and is an indication of how it lived its life. But, every once in a while, there is a knot or blemish in the wood. Oh sure, I could sand and fill the imperfection, but then it would look like every other piece of wood. I could cover it up with dark stain or paint, but then how would my project stand out from others. Just like the convertible learning tower I made pictured above.

As you may have gathered by now, I am substituting the wood project for myself. A never ending project, I am; peppered with flaws and blemishes, perfectly imperfect. Just ask Dawn.

On second thought, don’t ask her.

I have come to realize that our individual personality is just that, individual. A one off that can not, and should not, be duplicated. I do not have a color because I am learning to accept and adapt to who I am in that moment. Just like that piece of raw material that I am going to use to build a beautiful piece of furniture, I have flaws and imperfections that are unique to me. Regardless of what color I “feel” like, I have to accept that I have flaws and imperfections that should not be covered up for these are the things that make each of us unique.

I recognize that this is a crappy response, but it saves me a trip to the paint store with Dawn to try to identify what shade of orange I am. HAHA On most days, I like to look at the sample wall that life has presented and instead of trying to figure out what color I am, try to accept and adapt.

May y’all be happy, healthy, and safe, with whatever color you display.

t.t.

Day 18 – What’s Your Favorite Meal to Cook and/or Eat?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

This one will be pretty easy, I think. Dawn and I are somewhat foodies. We love to travel and when we do, we look for local places for food and coffee. For us, part of the experience of traveling to other states and especially other countries is to eat where the folks that live there eat.

Having said that, Dawn and I are both really good cooks and that is probably why we like to go to places that serve a variety of things that her and I can not make at home. We do not eat this meal often, as is takes her hours to prepare, but she makes an amazing chicken paprikash. She has ordered it in other places, but nothing compares to hers. There is so much time and effort and love, making every bite delicious. Plus, I did not have to prepare it, so there is that.

For breakfast, my specialty is omelets, or as we call them, T’omeletes. HAHA. See what we did there. They never taste the same and I have a specific way of mixing my eggs that takes them to the next level. It is time consuming to make them, but is worth the effort. For this reason, her and I never order omelets if we go out for breakfast.

For dinner, I love to grill – it does not matter the time of the year. My neighbors will often find me tailgate grilling in the middle of winter. However, since building my cowboy pit, there is nothing like cooking over the open flames of an outdoor fire. There is just something very satisfying about not only creating the heat that will cook the food, but the care that it takes to manage the flames, as well as the food that is being cooked. While I have prepared different foods, my favorite is steak. A combination of flames, heat, and smoke make these meals next level. Dawn will prepare the baked potatoes, just olive oil and sea salt as they bake. Or, on occasion, I have also baked the potatoes on the same fire. These meals are especially fun on a cool evening as I sit with a drink and prepare our dinner.

Speaking of, all this talk of food has me hungry. Time to grab a bourbon and head out to the back yard to build a fire.

Peace out y’all.

t.t.

Day 17 – Describe The Happiest Day of Your Life.

The premise of the title of this prompt is that there is just one “happiest day”. I can not say that I have just one happiest day. I have so many that I would not want to narrow it down to just a single event.

But, for the purposes of this post I will share one of my many happy memories.

I do not spend much time bragging about myself. Dawn called me out on this a few posts ago so I will dedicate this post to me.

When my dad passed away, it was sudden and changed our lives forever. I determined that I wanted to do something that would be a way of honoring his death. I decided that I wanted to raise and donate money in his name. For this, I did a ton of research to find an organization that Dad would have supported. Then is was time for me to determine what I was going to do to drive donations. Hmmm

My thought was that I wanted to participate in a physical activity, I did not just want to ask people to donate. I also wanted my effort to be symbolic of the sacrifice that others endure during hard times. The donations were going to go to an organization that provided a real camping experience for kids with illnesses that would otherwise prevent them from participating in a week at camp.

The year is 2009 and I was already running 5k events and doing well, but to me, I wanted my efforts to be big. I did more research on events and decided on a triathlon – not just any triathlon, I decided on a 70.3 mile event. I was in very good shape but still, I had 8 weeks to prepare to swim 1.2 miles in open water. Bike 56 miles over the rolling hills in Michigan. And then finish all that with a 13.1 mile run. The training was hard and considering that most people train for months for one of these, I was just expecting to finish.

There is so much that went on during the race and it take too many characters to explain. The race starts at 7am, but I am up hours before that. My entire family was there to cheer me on. Nothing more reassuring when you are ready to run into the water for the biggest challenge of your life than your family being there to support you.

I came out of the water when I expected and my brother was right there to cheer for me along with Dawn, the kids and Mom. As I exit on my bike, my son is at the first turn cheering for me as I pedal out of sight. Three hours later, as I come down to finish my bike, my family is spaced out. My brother and my son, followed by my daughters, Mom, and Dawn, with her camera, capturing every grimace.

During the run, they had all walked to a spot where they could see me twice and still have enough time to travel to the finish to see me to the end. At the end, I was really struggling. I was cramping and my run at this point is more of a limp. That changed when I saw my brother at the beginning of the finish shoot. You need that extra to get you to the end and it was just enough for me to turn my limp into more of a run. As I get closer to the finish, the crowd is louder and the energy is off the hook. I hear my family above the crowd, the music is louder and as I cross, I here, “Tom Thompson, you are a triathlete”

When I stop i(t takes a few seconds to realize that you can stop), I have been moving nonstop for more than six hours and burned through some 6000 plus calories in that time. It was when they put the finishers medal on my neck that I realize I can stop. I look at my family and I begin to cry. Not from the pain, but from the shear joy of the accomplishment. Out there, it is just me and my brain trying to tell my body that it does not hurt. That it is not time to quit, that I can do this. Looking at my medal, I had accomplished an amazing feat of endurance, strength, and nutrition management. And I had raised funds that would be donated in my Dad’s name.

Once I had picked up a couple of snacks and made it out to my family, they were all smiles and handshakes. All I wanted to do was hug my best friend. The picture above, with my half smile, was all the energy I had. As I approached Dawn with my eyes teary and my arms open, she looks at me and says, “ewe…. you are all sweaty’. I guess I will have to wait for my congratulatory hug ’til later. But first, take me to the nearest restaurant and I am going to eat whatever I want. HAHA.

Have a great rest of your day y’all.

t.t.

Day 16 – Do You Have a Memory That’s Linked To a Smell?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

I have two actually.

My grandmother, my dad’s mom, wore a perfume that you can still get today. It was not an overwhelming, oh my gosh who just dumped a bottle of perfume on themselves, smell. It was a pleasant smell. Her perfume was Chantilly.

It is odd how smells work. I do not know if I remember that as being “grandma’s smell”. It was not until she passed away that I began to relate that smell to her and the memory banks associated to her. I can remember, soon after she passed, that I was in an elevator and immediately recognized the smell. If I recall, for just a second I wanted to look for her. One of the ornaments that I was given as a child is stored in the original Chantilly box that they used as packaging to send it to me, both pictured above. Not only do I have the ornament, seeing the box also takes me back in time and reminds me of that smell. The year on the box is the year it was given to me.

Now, this is not my memory per se, and don’t let her fool you, it was not near as bad as my amazing wife will tell you. When she tells the story face to face, you get all the bonus facial expressions to help emphasize and elevate the hysteria that I apparently caused. It was not that bad……..

So here is the story:

Dawn and I are popcorn-aholics. We pop our own, stove top style, at least twice a week. In fact, after our workout on Thursdays, it is dirty martini, popcorn night. Our reward for a good workout. Anyway, one evening, I was heating the oil and the trick is to heat the oil to an optimal temperature just before adding the popcorn kernels. I was experimenting with that timing and I may have let it go a bit too long. Soon it started to smoke. Dawn calmly pointed it out to which I replied:

“Babe, I got this, I am a professional”

As the smoke continued, she was a bit more panicked in her query. And I told her:

“Seriously dude, I got this!”

Well the next thing I know, she is screaming, and there is dark smoke billowing out of the pan. She is hollering the entire time as we work to move through the house to get it outside. In fact, I may have joked as it passed the sink that I should just run it under water. She did not appreciate the timing of my joke. Go figure.

As I tell this true story, please note that I am very aware of the dangers of oil fires.

Anyway, she says the smell was awful and anytime there is a bit of smoke coming from the pan, her radar goes up, as does the pitch of her voice, making sure to strongly suggest that I not catch the pan on fire, causing her to suffer with the smell of burning oil ever again.

Come to think of it, she is more concerned about the smell of the house than she is about my well being. Hmmm. I wonder if Chantilly will cover the remnant smell of a very mild oil fire.

Have a good one y’all

t.t.

Day 15 – What Fear Have You Conquered?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

Also, I am going to use this post to get caught up so that I can get back to publishing on the same day as the prompt. This will be short and sweet as they say.

About 12 months ago, I published for the first time to bloganuary. I was terrified to hit the publish button. What will people think, what if I suck. As I mentioned in one of the earlier posts this month, day after day, I would receive the email with the prompt. Day after day, I would generate a response in my head, but that is as far as it would go. Never making it to my keyboard. Finally, more than half way through the month before I responded and published my first post. My insides were shaking with fear and excitement. I am so glad that I took the plunge and overcame that fear and anxiety. I love working on my craft. I have enjoyed the pressure that bloganuary places on all of us to think on the fly and create content. It has made me a stronger writer and a better thinker. I do not have a week or two that I can think, write, and edit to perfection. I have 24 hours and I have been using this to experiment with different writing processes over the course of the month too.

What fear have I conquered? Being here with all of you amazing supportive writers. Thank you,

Have a good one y’all.

t.t.

Day 14 – What is Your Preferred Mode of Travel?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

I have traveled using a number of different modes. As a kid, I spent a lot of time on bicycles. We lived in the country on a narrow two lane road and at the time there were not that many cars on our road. A half mile away, our friends house backed up to the woods. We would ride to their house and head into the woods to explore. My brother and I also had skate boards that we spent a ton of time racing each other on. When I was 14, I saved all my grass cutting money from the summer and bought my first 10 speed bike. I rode that bike every day that I could, spending hours just riding, turning down unfamiliar roads and exploring new sights. Sometimes I would be gone for hours.

Once I had my drivers license, driving was the only mode of transportation that I used and it was like that for a number of years. Until, I bought my first motorcycle. Once I had that, I found every excuse possible to ride it. I would go to the store and pick up a gallon of milk. And even though there was no place to put in on my sport bike, I would find a way. Unfortunately, that bike was stolen the 12th month I had it. My beloved 10 speed was taken the next week from the same space even though I thought I had it locked and protected. The two things that gave me the most pleasure when traveling from point A to point B, had been taken from me. I found a ton of joy in riding my motorcycle. There is a certain amount of connection to your surroundings when you are exposed to the elements. You can smell all the smells, including road kill. In the evenings, after the sun went down, especially in the spring and fall, the air temp would still be relatively warm. However, riding a motorcycle and going downhill, even just a little, you can immediately feel the drop in air temperature. It is pretty neat.

When I first met Dawn, I had a different motorcycle. A stupid fast sport bike, and I loved it. There is just something empowering about having so much power that I can choose to use at will. It was a larger bike and worked well for two people to travel for a short distance. I had a black leather jacket, black helmet with blacked out face screen. And, I always looked better with Dawn riding on the back. I looked like such a bad ass and I truly loved that bike.

Currently I have a full size pick up. I have wanted a truck for a number of years as my full time mode of travel. To me, I am the most comfortable in my truck. Not only that, living in a climate where there is snow for 3-4 months of the year, along with temperatures that stay below freezing, it is necessary to own an enclosed vehicle.

Certainly there are times that using a plane is the only way to travel. If I did not have to fly, I would prefer to drive every time. Dawn and I have been on two cruises as well and they are very cool in their own right.

So, what is my preferred mode of travel?

If we lived in climate where being able to ride motorcycles was practical year round, that would be my go to. In fact, Dawn and I would each have a bike and probably travel to family events or even weekend getaways on our bikes. I love being in my truck with the windows down and the music cranked on a sunny day. But it does not compare to sitting on two wheels and actually being a part of the environment that you are traveling. There is no windshield to deflect the smells of the trees. There is nothing keeping the wind from brushing past you. There is something very freeing that riding motorcycles provides.

I believe that my days of riding sport bikes has passed and I would be looking at more of a cruiser. If or when the there comes a time when I am able to justify Dawn and I owning bikes, you will find us slowly motoring down winding country roads, stopping at road side stands, and enjoying all that the day has for us.

May y’all be happy, healthy, and safe.

t.t.

Day 14 – If You Had a Billion US Dollars, How Would You Spend It?

note: this is part of #bloganuary where each day in the month of January, there is a prompt that we can write on.

For the purposes of this post, I am going to assume that I have won the lottery and now have.. ( Cue the Dr. Evil voice ) One Billion Dollars.

I can not imagine anyone not fantasizing what they would do if they won the lottery. Even if for just a minute. So here is my version of the fantasy.

Knowing that there is going to be a huge tax penalty, I would wait until I had consulted an attorney. I would want to be sure that Dawn and I are not losing any more of the winnings than we have to. I have far better things to do with it than give it away to the tax man.

Next, Dawn and I would just revel in the moment, knowing that with this money, our life is forever changed. Perhaps we go out for a nice dinner to celebrate, like Olive Garden. Yeah right. More like Ruth’s Chris. Perhaps a weekend at a cabin, tucked away in the woods, to take some quiet time to think.

We have family that could certainly use the help and we would make sure that we took care of all of their needs. Home paid for, vehicles, etc.

As for our kids, I am not sure that we would set them up so that they did not have to work. Working is just part of life and if they did not have a house payment or car payments for life, that would certainly make a huge difference. We would pay off the home with the biggest mortgage and each of the others would receive the equivalent amount. The grand kids would have money for college or trade school. In fact, as a family, we have said that we could buy a large piece of property and then split it up. None of us are so nosey that we would want to know what is going on every minute of the day. It would be great for being involved in our grandchildren’s lives and I am sure that it would be convenient for us to watch the grandkids while they went to work. I can see Dawn and I on a small farm or homestead with some animals. Not to mention that once Dawn and I are older, being close in proximity would be easier for the kids to help us out.

Speaking of homes, we would have a new home, it does not need to be large. A nice piece of rolling property and a walk out basement. For me, I would just like a large workshop and … A closet of my own. Currently, Dawn has at least 75% of the closet space in our current home. HAHA

I know that Dawn and I would quit work and open our own business or charitable organization. Her and I have always said that with that much money, we would look to donate half and use the rest for our family. I am sure that we would be full time active in a charitable organization and it would not be a shallow attempt to look good while just looking for a way to hide money and take advantage of the tax credits. That is just not who we are.

As an aside, After Dawn proof read, she wanted me to add that we would have a haunted house attraction.

Let’s talk vehicles. Oh man, this is easy. I have always wanted a 67 Mustang. I would be looking hard for one. Dawn loves Camaros and we would most likely look for a late 60’s as well. After that, a classic truck or two, and most likely some off road vehicles. Lots of toys. Dawn has a couple of favorites that she would want for a daily driver. For me, a full size truck, probably a dually.

It would be great to travel the world, just moving from continent to continent. However, we love spending time with our kids and grandchildren and would hate missing out on some of the regular activities or milestone events. Perhaps we just jet set off to Australia (Dawns bucket list) or Scotland (my bucket list) and if we needed to be back in town for something, just charter a jet. Although, we have a billion dollars. Perhaps we just buy a plane too. I have often thought about buying a truck and travel trailer and exploring the United States, taking in all the things that our country has to offer. Staying in small towns, cabins, and campsites.

All of the above items sound great, and certainly we would have more money than we know what to do with. It is just as possible that we do very little with the money and stay pretty status quo. Either way, who we are as people and our way of life would not really change that much. We are pretty simple folks with simple wants and needs. Don’t get me wrong, Dawn and I love to live it up from time to time, get dressed to the nines and go all out.

Although, I could possibly see a pair of shoes with red soles in Dawn’s closet and pair of full python cowboy boots in mine. HAHA

Finally, this is not stated for effect or because it is “the right thing to say”. I already have everything that money can not buy. I knew I would be married, but did not imagine a partner as special as my wife. I knew I would have kids, but I can not imagine better than what Dawn and I have. No doubt that having more money makes certain things easier. But at the end of the day, it is who we are and represent as people that leaves a lasting impression on people, not money. It is the people that we surround ourselves with and the relationships that we have that provide happiness, contentment, and a gratefulness for each day. Money can not do that, but it is fun to fantasize for sure.

Looking forward to hearing your stories!

May you be happy, healthy, and safe,

t.t.