The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year.
Also called: Midwinter, Yule, the Longest Night, Jól
Solstice, beginning of my favourite season!
Week of Christmas movies, Dave’s Big Disney Reveal, then SNOW – wouldn’t be winter without the magic of snow ❄️
Last work week of 2017 (crazy busy time) so been fitting in my fave Christmas Classics whenever/wherever I can this year. Southwest flight from Phoenix, Netflix at dinner, in bed on my laptop, family nite at Ash’s – even once on the treadmill: literally watched “White Christmas” on my Thursday morning run. Work/life/Christmas Classics balance. LOL>
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- flapjack flippin’
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- ‘White Christmas’ treadmill run
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- ‘Elf’ family nite
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- ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ w/ Ro
Wednesday Dec 20th – Celebrated Dave’s Birthday over FaceTime. BIGGER than cake, a card & birthday gifts? How ‘bout doubling-the-date as David’s Disney Reveal moment? Disney in 38 days! Coordinated the trip with Michaela over a month ago. Dave’s absolute/most favorite world, DisneyWorld. 38 days to anticipate & dream – enjoy little Man. Happy life moment ❤
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- FaceTime celebration
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- David’s Disney Reveal
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- lanyard & Disney trading pins
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- 38 days to Disney! Making a list, checking it twice. Thanks M for the calendar ❤️
Thursday Dec 21st – Christmas wreath from Sis. Perfect timing! Arrived hours before the onslaught of Colorado’s White Christmas. LOVE the gift, LOVE my Sis. Snow today/Friday then the DEEP FREEZE from Canada. Single digit highs, sub-zero lows next 10 days. Yikes! May/may not be snow-hiking high above Colorado Springs Christmas week. Details later 🙂
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- Colorado White Christmas
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- XMas wreath from Sis
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- single digit highs, sub-zero lows
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- our Flatirons in SNOW
White Christmas 2017
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Turkey Day 2017 ❤
I am thankful for my FAITH. I can leap without fear; I am completely at peace. A higher power guides the journey/prods the direction, knows my beginning & end. Through HIM, anything is possible.
I am thankful for my HOME. No matter what the weather, I am sheltered/comfortable inside. Window view sports our snowcapped Flatirons – EVERY DAY thankful – my piece of the Rockies. No other place on Earth.
I am thankful for an abundance of FOOD. Never a time I went hungry.
I am thankful for GOOD HEALTH. Easy to take for granted. After last year’s surprise, it’s a gift.
I am thankful for DREAMS. Always been a goal-driven individual – expectations tomorrow, in 3 months, next year. Not all dreams complete as designed, but whatta life journey I’ve experienced. 2019: Antarctica ❄
I am thankful for FAMILY. Laughter & shared life moments. Inspiring circle I’ve chosen as Family; blood relatives I share DNA. NZ, Toronto, Ash’s wedding, Crested Butte, Nova Scotia, Ireland. Lucky in life ❤
Thanksgiving Day feast with Ash & Tom in their Westminster home, our Colorado tradition. Turkey & dressing, sweet potato casserole. Veggies & mashed potatoes, deviled eggs & cranberry sauce. An hour later, dessert: Ash’s pumpkin cheesecake. Tryptophan COMA.
Woke at 10pm, to drive home & sleep another 8 hours. This is how the Pilgrims fed? LOL>
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- Let the Games begin!
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- this year’s Cast
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- turkey & the fixin’s
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- one lone egg
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- tryptophan COMA
ALSO, thankful for birthday cake, fondue & dinner theatre. Yep, that happened this week too! Celebrated Stephen’s BIG day both Tuesday AND Saturday – a birth week celebration 🙂 Friday night, dinner theatre for 4 – tried a new venue, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown (not a fan of ‘Annie’, play showing in Boulder). First impression, FAAANNNNTASTIC! Good to have options.
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- whatta cake — WOW, Ash!
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- our quarterly theatre tradition
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- The Melting Pot, Louisville
LinkedIn Inspiration
Arun: thank you so much for the kind words – and sharing your post. Much appreciated.
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#Thanksgiving #mentor #boss #inspiration
Time to say thanks, one more time, to my ex-boss and mentor, Keenan Haga.
It was 8 years ago and I landed in America for the first time for a short work assignment. New York streets, face-paced environment, and people from different ethnicity – everything was daunting. I was struggling to find my feet in the new place.
On a fine cold morning of November, few weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, Keenan was introduced to me as my boss. I smiled at him but I was shaky and unsure. In the next few weeks, not only he coached me to do my job well but also taught me a few important things: how to dream, how to treat people with respect and how to live a good life.
Keenan left his corporate gig a couple of years ago and moved to Colorado to devote more time for his passions – running and hiking. He recently hit his personal target of completing a full marathon in all the states of US and now going across continents.
Last year, he was diagnosed with cancer and he shrugged it off saying ‘a small bump on the road’, continued running with chemo sessions. And he did it, he survived the big ‘C’ and now setting his goals for 2018.
Thank you for everything Keenan. You continue to inspire me every day! – Arun Kailasam
Voice mails & texts during my 3-day Eclipse weekend in Casper, cards in the box. More of a BIRTHDAY WEEK than just one day 🙂
Celebrated day-after with Ash & Tom. Best cake EVER, my first trail-running cake. Trail itself, malted milk balls. Icing, Nutella.
Birthday DINNER? Old Bay shrimp boil (outside cooked on the grill). Birthday APP? Deviled eggs. ALL my favourites!
…and a MOVIE. Not just any movie, Sharknado 5. Yep, FIVE years of shark tornados. This year’s serial cast in London. Sharknados disrupting Big Ben. Ancient shark cave drawings discovered in Stonehenge. Appears even our ancestors were plagued with cloud-flying, funnel-spinning Great Whites/makos/hammerheads. Who knew? LOL> Perfect evening!
MOST AWESOME GIFT? Sis sent a lamp. Not just any lamp, a Filimin – a long distance touch lamp. 7 minutes set-up. Plugged-in unit, attached WiFi, added profile to Sis’ group. Chose a unique color, any shade on the ROYGBIV rainbow. That’s pretty much it.
My colour: GREEN. Sis’ colour: PURPLE.
Honestly, my family is not a touchy-feely bunch. We’re not huggers. Texting heart emojis: tightest we get ❤
What is Filimin For?
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell someone you love them.
A text, email or phone call are all nice, but often they’re just not enough. We all desire something more: a hug; a presence; something simple, mindful and “beyond words.”
So we created Filimin. Filimins are decorative touch lights that connect you with those you love.
How does Filimin work?
Imagine you and a loved one each have a Filimin. When you think of her, simply touch your Filimin. Both Filimins will respond to your touch, gently glowing together with one of hundreds of colors to choose from. Knowing you are thinking of her, she can respond by touching her Filimin, and both of your Filimins will together glow a new color.
If your Filimin is part of a group, all of the Filimins will glow together! Every member of the group knows that they’re in someone’s special thoughts, and can immediately return the love and good will.
I get it – it’s a lamp. I touch the lamp it glows GREEN. But telling ya folks, when I see PURPLE – knowing my Sister miles away touched her lamp, that she’s thinking of me? Whew, emotional. For the guy who seemingly has everything…
It’s a GREAT gift. Search it out for your family this Christmas.
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- apps, dinner AND my first trail-running BIRTHDAY cake
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- FIVE years of shark tornados
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- Sis: PURPLE — my colour: GREEN
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- lotta LOVE this holiday ❤
Birthday Filimin
How Filimins Are Made
Filimins are assembled, tested and packed at Women’s Initiative Network (WIN).
WIN is a small non-profit organization in Wichita, Kansas which helps women in their journey from abusive situations to independence and the workforce. Many are homeless, with children, recovering from addiction, but have already made the brave decision to stop the cycle of abuse for them and for their families. WIN offers these women a full range of services, including job support and training, emotional and educational support, and resource acquisition.
The women at WIN assemble Filimins from start to finish. They solder, program and configure printed circuit boards, operate CNC machines, use power tools, test, glue, and run each Filimin through a 9-point quality assurance test before packing and shipping them. In developing this process with us, they have accomplished things they never thought they might and have gained confidence and competence in new skill sets.
