Welcome, 2013!

Nick published on 2013-01-04

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are. -J. Pierpont Morgan

My 2012 theme was balance and while I didn't always achieve it, it has become a mindset.

This year is about renewal.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Photo post

Nick published on 2012-08-18

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Eriko’s first produce - I hope for much more!

Photo post

Nick published on 2012-07-29

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Thanks to this site (http://soccergoalplans.com) and the neighbor for inspiration … I need to get a net and Jerry will have a backyard soccer goal!

Think of Yourself

Nick published on 2012-07-20

I was in Nagoya last week, on our last night, in the 8th floor of a commercial building at some kind of pasta restaraunt. Momo was scarving down pizza, Jerry was laying on my lap, and I was chatting with Eriko's mom about my career.

I told her I had four "things" I wanted to accomplish:

1) Be a father

2) Hold a leadership role

3) Start a company

4) "Retire" a professor

Through broken Japanese, broken English, and Eriko, I explained that my milestones were at different points in life - first learn from others, than do yourself, then teach others. But constant through all of these was my responsibility to be a father - and without intending to, I conveyed my concern that I could not balance these things.

She told me (via Eriko) something that has stuck with me - "think of yourself." As you consider your career, your next move, what you want in life - put your family aside for the moment. Don't let concern cloud your vision - think freely. Perhaps it wasn't so much that her mother said things to me, but that Eriko agreed and encouraged me.

What will I be, when I grow up?