beBetter 

Well, I’m back on the ladder today working on the chimes that I hung a few weeks ago. 

It seems that I installed them with one strand slightly too far away from the other two, which resulted in chimes only during the biggest gusts of wind. CeCe says it takes a thunderstorm to ring our chimes. As you know, I was very proud of my original installation of these chimes. People have commented on them numerous times, although I don’t think they got to hear their sweet sound. 

Jumping into the car with CeCe, we are running a quick errand to pick up some plants for her gardening. Like her late father Poppy, CeCe is a master gardener and we have the yard to prove it. Beautiful!

What a painful blog to write and CeCe will be all over this after she reads it. I had just launched my boat into some rough water as three guys watched from the boat ramp. “You going out in this rough water?” they asked. “Yes, I’m going to the north end to wade so I won’t have to deal with the wind and the boat.” Turning the boat into the wind, hitting those first two big waves, my ego got the best of me. I grabbed my Ole Miss cap and swung it around like a cowboy riding a bucking bull, clearly showing out for the guys on the bank.

It's a beautiful Saturday morning on the Ross Barnett Reservoir and although the crappie bite has been slow, we have a few small fish in our live well. Thump! Oh yeah, I can tell by the bite this is a big fish. Setting the hook with a quick upward thrust of the jig pole, I feel the weight of this fish. Finally, I have a quality fish on. Here he comes to the top wrapped in lily pads. On no, he is hung and if I pull any harder, it will pull the hook out of his mouth. He is literally suspended right above the water. Instantly I'm yelling for help from my favorite crappie fisherman, Bruce. 

As my brother-in-law Kris pulls into our driveway with Happy (my mother-in-law, who, as I previously blogged, loves to come over late afternoons for a glass of wine and to embellish some stories), I quickly rise from my chair on the carport and prepare to open her passenger door.  

My mother-in-law, Happy, loves to come over and visit in the late afternoons and sit by the fireplace outside, weather permitting. She can be quite funny and we so enjoy her visits. This afternoon she is really on a roll and sharing story after story.

CeCe is passionate about several variations of barre and loves her daily workouts. Frequently, I get a riveting (hehe) recap of these workouts for the day as we visit before dinner. Tonight, she is expressing her frustration with her ability to bend her left knee sufficiently to hold a certain position properly. She had a total knee replacement several years ago and has worked really hard to restore her full flexibility.  

Can you imagine if your surgeon was billing you by the hour? How good would we feel about those contrasting incentives? The longer the surgery, the more the surgeon makes. We might pay a lesser skilled surgeon more than an innovative surgeon who has perfected a less invasive and highly successful surgery.  

As I listen to the team go over the new plan on process improvement, I’ve heard the word “efficient” several times. It’s obvious that we have certainly made an old manual process more automated and more efficient. Efficiency is not a bad thing — unless we let it destroy being effective. First, let me own that this is a pet peeve of mine. Being efficient is NOT the same as being effective.

I know I have spun a head or two as I shared with friends and business associates that I love them. Several years ago, when I first heard John O’Leary close his keynote speech at the World Leaders Conference, I realized that I did not say "I love you" enough. John has closed every keynote I’ve heard with “I love you and there’s not really anything you can do about it.” John has an inspirational story. His book On Fire is incredible (I gave it to all of our kids and my parents) and his commitment to love — to truly love others — has inspired me to share my love more openly.

CeCe enters the kitchen as I am brewing a large fresh pot of coffee. “My, the coffee smells wonderful. Did you use your new coffee bean grinder for this pot?” 

As 2020 winds down, I think we are collectively breathing a sigh of relief that we made it through an extremely challenging year.

I started out this morning at 4:30 a.m. taking CeCe to the airport for a 6 a.m. flight to North Carolina to meet up with several of her girlfriends for four days in the mountains.  

When we pulled into the airport departure lane this morning, I jumped out and unloaded CeCe’s 49.8-pound luggage (she utilizes every ounce). As I unload her carry-on, I see CeCe frantically looking in her purse. She yanks the luggage handle from me, flips it over and unzips this overpacked suitcase. "What’s wrong?" is barely out of my mouth when she breathlessly responds, “I can’t find my wallet!”