There are a few men who have taught me a lot about business, leadership, management, and life. I've come across them as I've traveled this journey called "life", and have been blessed to call them acquaintances and, in many cases, friends.

Today was my first of 11 days in a row off work. Although Suzanne still worked today (and tomorrow), I still used it as day one of our little "Staycation" of the coming week. So I left Matthew with Mary and used the day to take Thomas to the Zoo solo. We had registered him for another of their educational programs - this one a 1 1/2 hour session titled "Habitat Discoveries."

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= What the heck is wrong with our society?

Singing the Psalm this weekend, and hearing the Gospel, were interesting to me, as the story from both readings - and a particular line in the Gospel - brought back vivid memories of a day on the Chesapeake last summer with coworkers.

Today, Suzanne and I returned to an annual summer ritual: We took the day off work to take the boys to Circus Flora's "Little Top Wednesday" abbreviated matinee for kids. It's about an hour long (shorter than the full evening circus) and the boys loved it. If you have kids, definitely take them. If you don't, definitely make an evening show before the St. Louis run is done for the year and they move on to other places.

A blog that I frequent, Art of Manliness (you can check out a cool, recent newspaper write-up on it here) is running a project in June called "30 Days to Be a Better Man." We're heading from day 3 into day 4, but I wanted to post the results of my Day 1. 

Today, from our parish church, Mr. George Yevin was carried to his final resting place. He passed away last week at 95. His life was celebrated and his soul prayed for at a funeral Mass... I was unable to attend due to my work schedule, but wish I could have.

Thanks to everyone for still coming back to stay on top of what's going on around here. I haven't posted much the last couple of days - partially because there hasn't been much of too much value to share, but mainly because I've been enjoying a few days home from travel to settle down with the family and unwind without much of the Internet. I plan the same tomorrow (Monday), as I'm off of work and will be playing here with the boys all day long (until a couple of meetings tomorrow night at the church.)

Coming this Wednesday, I'll be launching a special feature project that will continue right up until the Easter Triduum. I'll be launching a daily featured entry on a chapter of the book of Sirach. Each day will be a new entry on a new chapter. So get those Bibles out and opened up to the book of Sirach, and on Wednesday our little journey through my favorite "father/son" book of the Bible will commence.

God bless, and catch you soon!

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Assuming the wind dies down and our (delayed) flight makes it out of here tonight, I'll be returning home shortly from another trip to our nation's Capitol region, where my company's office is located. Being here always reminds me of the first days of Suzanne's and my marriage, our time on honeymoon, and some important first lessons... one of which was learned on the National Mall.

Suzanne and I did everything "by the book" according to our upbringing in the Church, and when we got married, we had never lived together, spent the night together, had a weekend away from home together, or anything of the like.

So on our honeymoon, when we drove through Knoxville, TN then up through Washington D.C. and up the eastern seaboard, we learned some things about life together - as newlyweds.

We arrived in D.C. on an afternoon, racing Hurricane Frances up from Knoxville, where we had left in the morning just before she dumped about 12" of rain on the City of The Vols. We did a brief Metro ride down to the National Mall area to walk around the White House and see a bit of the Mall at night, then headed back to the hotel for rest.

The next day, it was on-and-off drizzle as we headed back down to the Mall, explored all over, including a couple Smithsonians, the (then-new) WW2 Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Lincoln Monument, and on and on and on.

We were walking back up along Independence Ave. and the Tidal Basin and I was thinking how utterly exhausted I was and how I really couldn't stand to walk anymore.

But I didn't want to just say that, for sake of sounding like a "wimp" on our honeymoon.

Little did I know that Suzanne was also exhausted and had started to form a sizable blister on her big toe from all of the walking. She also didn't want to say how tired and miserable she was, for sake of being a spoilsport on our sightseeing.

So it was in a foggy, late-summer Washington drizzle, arm-in-arm with me holding an umbrella, walking along Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C., that we learned to open up and really talk with one another. And I must say, it's been one of the hardest lessons to keep learning and practicing and exercising in marriage. But the most necessary.

Within moments, we had stopped walking and I had hailed a taxi. We broke out of our shells and got a good laugh at the misfortune and exhaustion that we had brought upon ourselves. And we had learned and grown a lot... together.

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It is cool to wake up this morning to a case study of how we (Omniture) helped Best Buy covered in Business Week - particularly since it's a client and a project that I'm involved in day-to-day (and that had me in Minneapolis at their HQ nearly weekly last summer and fall.)

I know that when friends and family ask what I do in my 9-to-5, I explain that I consult on Omniture's Discover OnPremise solution, helping clients configure it, learn how to use it, and push the boundaries of their usage to get the most out of it. But it helps to have concrete examples, like this:

As the financial meltdown spiraled in September, spending habits changed quickly. Many consumers stopped spending altogether. Those who were still hitting stores showed some disturbing patterns that weren't lost on retailer Best Buy (BBY). The number of customers signing up for financing on such purchases as big-screen TVs and computers surged. At the same time, the number of shoppers spending $1,000 or more per trip plummeted.

In response, Best Buy began offering free financing for entire shopping carts full of items--rather than one product at a time. "We realized that storewide financing could be a powerful differentiator in the marketplace," says Best Buy Chief Marketing Officer Barry Judge. That left just one question: At what dollar amount should Best Buy start offering the free financing?

To find its answer, Best Buy turned to software from analytics company Omniture. In trials, Best Buy offered financing at different levels: $499, $699, or $999. Every time a customer signed up for payments, Omniture (OMTR) tracked purchase details and homed in on the answer: $499. Within weeks, the software cranked out data that the store's own systems, with their antiquated databases, couldn't have matched.

Omniture's software is emblematic of a new breed of analytics that's helping retailers capture as much as possible from the dwindling pool of dollars being spent by penny-pinching consumers. Even as retailers trim staff, curtail marketing, and close stores, they're ramping up spending in one area: technologies that help them track customers' behavior and purchase patterns. "A lot of retailers are looking for small technology investments that produce big results, and analytics is one of those things," says Gartner (IT) researcher Hung LeHong.

...

Analytics had a tangible result at Best Buy, which introduced the free financing offer in November. The following month, Best Buy reported that the Omniture system had helped create tens of millions of dollars in profits. "As ad dollars become more precious, we all have to be smarter," Judge says. "We think one of the ways we're going to win in this new game is understanding our customers better than anyone else."

Check out the whole article. (And this comes, of course, with a hat-tip to my wonderful clients up at Best Buy. It's great to read stuff like this, but even better to have the blessing to work with you!)

Thanks to everyone's help, I pulled it off! Apparently, my story was the third most romantic on A Good Husband, and I ended up voted one of the winners of the ProFlowers.com gift certificate.

I was beat by Matt Schmunk (story here) and CJ Grisham (story here).

You can read my short entry for the contest here, or check out the whole story, from both Suzanne's and my point of view, here.

It was also exciting to see one of my own blog followers, my junior high English teacher and a friend of ours, Mrs. Webb, also enter and have a very good showing.

The irony of this whole story is that while I was sitting at trivia night last night secretly wanting to check to see how I was doing in the voting, I also won a door prize of $20 here locally at Shirl K Floral Designs.

So I actually walk away from the weekend with a lot of floral equity stored up to share with Suzanne in the coming days.

Honestly, though, I know that I couldn't have pulled it off without everyone's persistence, patience with my ongoing Facebook status updates asking for help, and passing along the word. Thanks again!

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(Subtitle: Whoever coined the phrase "terrible twos" likely didn't have a three-year-old.)

THE BACKSTORY:

On Monday nights, Suzanne and her mom have their Weight Watchers meetings. This is their time out, and it's been very good for both of them over the last several months. I will typically rush to pick the boys up right at the end of the work day and have a little mini "guys' night" with them. When there's no plan for dinner in place, I typically default to the place all three of us love: Arby's.

This works well, since Matthew has a roast beef and an order of fries and Thomas has the same, plus a Jamocha shake. That's one 5-for-$5.95 meal. I eat another 5-for-$5.95 meal, but that's another story.

THE EVENTS OF LAST EVE:

Last night, though, Thomas had already spent the afternoon at his aunt and uncle's, had baked brownies, had eaten brownies and other snacks and drank soda. He was apparently full.

So full that for an hour of sitting at the table while Matthew and I ate (and then encouraged Thomas to eat), his sandwich went completely untouched.

By the time Suzanne arrived home, boys' night had been ruined and I was flabbergasted. She suggested we take away his dress if he didn't eat his sandwich.

THE EXPLANATION OF THE DRESS:

Since he was quite young, our son has loved The Wizard of Oz. Interestingly, he wants to be the wicked witch. This includes a black skirt and dress that Suzanne's mom made for her when she was a young girl that Thomas now wears - sometimes from sun-up to sun-down. It's the start of his imagination & dress up phase, impacted by the fact that you can't find good boys' dress-up clothes on the market any more.

THE ULTIMATUM:

So of course I issue the ultimatum: Eat the sandwich or the dress goes away for the week.

And then I set the timer for 9 minutes.

10 minutes later, the sandwich (to his credit) is about 1/4 eaten.

The sandwich uneaten, however... the dress is now atop the refrigerator for the week.

SO:

What would you have done? Parents and friends alike... how would you have handled this differently? What suggestions, input, or thoughts do you have? Inquiring minds want to know.

Don't miss your chance to score a $25 Borders gift card this month just by commenting on BreadAlive. Read more info here.

[Toilet starting to make an odd sound after a flush.]

Suzanne: What's that?

Me: I don't know. Let me look.
[Opens the top of the toilet, looks inside.]

Suzanne: You don't know what you're looking for.

Me: I'll keep an eye on it. We'll see.

Suzanne: You still won't know what you're looking for. Do you want me to call my dad?...

It'd be silly to let this year's Catholic Schools Week go by without some thoughts and reflections on my own time in the "little house" (as my teachers liked to refer to Holy Family School as we were preparing to graduate 8th grade and move on to the "big house.")

(Check out the whole story after the jump. It's worth it.)

Tonight, our little family enjoyed our first excursion to Sesame Street Live. We saw the "Elmo's Green Thumb" production which is currently in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center.

I must say... I hadn't seen a production of Sesame Street Live for some 25 years or more. I remember when I saw it back in the day at The Arena (the Checkerdome) as a young boy. It brought back good memories to see the Sesame Street characters alive on stage again. 

It was a wonderful production - the boys loved it. We did too. The music kept our toes tapping (and Thomas dancing... and Matthew head-bopping and clapping.) And the "Green Thumb" theme fit well for Thomas, as we've been talking a lot about why we use our canvas bags at the store, reading some more conservation-related kids' books with them, and making a more concerted effort as a whole family at recycling and reducing our waste.

Here's what I didn't remember from my youth, though: I didn't remember how darn LOUD all the kids in the place can be. I'd like to imagine that back at the turn of the '80s, we all sat quietly and still while our favorite Sesame Street characters danced and sang on stage in front of us. That's how I remember it, at least. These kids today (except mine of course) were something else entirely. There were whimpers and screams and yelps all around us in the arena, and our row of seats vibrated like the beds used to in the Days Inns on vacation road trips with grandma and grandpa, after we put in our three quarters.

It was a great time, though. The boys loved it and we loved it too. It was well-executed and just the right duration for the kids (I'd imagine they have the timing down to a science.) My favorite observation: for the parents who have less of a stomach for the screaming and rocking rows of seats, the concession stands to stock their normal complement of alcoholic beverages.

It'll be in Kansas City later this month, then in Houston early next month. Check their site for other future dates.

Or else the prayers finally worked! About 3 weeks ago, I migrated BreadAlive from an old server of mine to a new server. I had to make some changes to the config files, and didn't do a couple of things just right. As a result, editing entry contents hasn't worked... thus, no posts lately.

Of course, just now, crammed in a few minutes between work and music group practice, my mind suddenly realizes what was wrong. Quick 10 second fix. New post!

Is it Obama? Hope must be alive, right? Yes, we can! (Post on BreadAlive, that is.)

estly, it's pretty much a shame that my fantasy football team won our league. A shame, because I know the other guys were actually trying and my team went 1-12 during the regular season.

The "Granite Steelers" actually owe it to one of two things:

(1) the two trades Klaustermeier (whose team came in 2nd) suggested to me two weeks ago, imploring me to actually make an effort to take the fantasy league seriously

or (2) Karma, given the layoffs at Granite City Steel. Something had to uphold the "Granite Steelers" honor, and it might as well have been my fledgling little team in a league of six contenders.

Here's hoping I don't get booted from the league before next year over this.

Ran across this today, and while I'm usually not too keen on forwarded emails or fill-in-the-blank participatory online memes, this one was pretty cool. Exciting that I've already done 57% of the things on the list. And only 12% are things that I haven't yet done, but would like to do. So I'm faring pretty well on the "check off the things you want to do in life" list.

Here's the key:
Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill. (I work at places that call them "personal" days for a reason.)
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

We received quite a surprise in the mail today - in the midst of the daily Christmas cards, there was one that came with no return address that was thicker and heavier than the rest.

When I opened it, I was surprised to find the card signed simply by "Act of Kindness", a Blockbuster Video gift card and a Papa Johns Pizza gift card, and a typed note that reads:

Michael and Suzanne,
During the Christmas season so many in need receive what they need. So many during the Christmas season are deserving but don't always receive. This Christmas season, we feel you deserve something for all that you unselfishly do all year long. Take the enclosed gifts and enjoy them because you DESERVE it.
From: An act of kindness!

What a wonderful and pleasant surprise! It really made the rest of my day, and made us both feel really good. It's truly something in the spirit of the Christmas season that's worth passing along. So first off, if the person (or persons) who did this for us reads this, a special THANK YOU to you! Your "act of kindness" meant a ton and will be passed forward in another (similar) form to someone else.

It's driving Suzanne crazy that she can't figure out who it's from... and it's driving me crazy that in our desire to "repay the gift forward" we might just unknowingly send something to the person that sent this to us.

If you'd also like to send one along to someone unsuspecting, check out pictures of the execution below: