Candidate Journals

Although this was a short week for me, it felt like a normal full week. I am thankful that it is Friday. Nate and I both have to keep up the momentum on the training, but I am looking forward to a little bit of down time. My wife and I are going out with some great friends Saturday night, so that should be fun. Not sure where yet, just it usually involves some adult beverages. I was in black belt class today when I realized how far I have come in Tae Kwon Do, and how much I have learned. We spent a portion of the class reviewing solid belts, and I did pretty well. It is amazing that I have worked through each of those belts over the years and had to learn more and more each time... much of it has retained in my both my mind and body. I...

Today was a very long day. Started with early morning exercises, got the kids out and off to school, and then started my work day. Now, my commute today was about 10 feet to our home office, so I cannot complain too much. No traffic today. Full day of work stuff... many emails, phone calls, and fire drills (typical day). Got what I wanted accomplished to do at work, so all in all -- good day. Then went to Novant Health Wellness center this afternoon to get my father setup with on a physical fitness program. He is a cancer survivor -- and is cancer free and recovering. However, we has lost a ton of weight and actually needs to gain weight -- but the good kind (muscle mass). This is the same program that we went through before all his treatments and surgeries to make sure he was strong enough to handle it. It is...

Today was my first day back to work since holiday break. Starting with "hump" day... not a bad way to start the week. Not real overwhelming as I work remotely when I am not traveling. I travel a fair amount for my job, so it is good not be away this week. I am trying very hard to keep my travel to a minimum during this testing cycle. Unfortunate for my team at work as I will be delegating more travel to them. :-)  Nate did another day of exercises and it is going pretty well. I believe my biggest challenge is with pull-ups. I bought a pull up bar for the house (one of those that hooks onto the door jam), and so Nate and I can practice. They are definitely going to be what I need work on the most in the coming weeks to improve. If anyone has...

It is a cold day... 21 degrees at 9:00am this morning. Picked up Nate at King Tiger Lock-In and he had an awesome time. Thank you King Tiger for hosting. He came home and crashed in bed. Busy morning already. Came home to a house of teenagers (daughter(s) friends). I also have two daughters (Kara and Lexi). Kara is 18 and home from college (University of South Carolina) and Lexi is 16 (Junior in high school -- Lincoln Charter). They both had friends over. My wife and I made breakfast for about 15 teenagers. They ate a bunch, but we had a bunch left over, so we packed it up and I took the left overs down to the Presbyterian/Novant Emergency Room (ER) where my wife works (off exit 23 on 77). We cleaned up from breakfast, saw the group of teenagers off, and started to get the house back in...

I decided to take some time this morning and reflect back on my year. It has been pretty interesting year for me. I started a new job in April of 2017. It has been a challenge but something I wanted to do. It is really the dream job for me and I continue to be excited. I get to do something I love doing, even if it means I am away more than before. But my children are older, so I think the impact is less than when they were younger. I also make sure that when I am home, I dedicate time and attention to them. The same really applies to my wife and home life as well. When I am home, I work hard to pick up the slack and even do extra knowing that I will be away again soon and will not be there to help. My wife...