Back Behind The Desk

After the rush to get things done last week, it was nice to return to the lodge for the first, post summer, stated meeting. As always, there were a few hiccups leading up to it but the night went by smoothly so I am not really in the position to gripe. And while it was a much more relaxed gathering (as this particular month usually is) we were able to get a number of things done and make progress on a host of other projects.

Of course, with the heat still lingering from the previous month, it wasn’t the most comfortable meeting of the year (especially for those of us in tuxedos) but it was also fairly mild in comparison to previous meetings and past years. What I did notice was the mix of brethren that were in attendance representing a large span of years among the small gathering. Each sharing stories about their summer over dinner and enjoying the fact that their monthly routine is now back offering a respite from the week.

The meeting went by faster than I was expecting and before I knew it the brethren were offering their final thoughts and thanks. At this point I couldn’t help but take a little jab at one of the brethren by recognizing him for completing the requirements for the Master Craftsman Award. This is especially impressive given the fact that he has been a mason for less than two years, received his Master Builder Award in the fall, and began his journey through the chairs in December. Of course, there are also other accomplishments in this short period of time but I have already done enough to embarrass him.

This is one of the more enjoyable moments as there are a few of us that will go back and forth trying to embarrass the other but in a good way. We don’t make mention of faults or errors but rather accentuate and inflate the accomplishments and accolades. It may seem like an odd contest to some but it is an enjoyable monthly banter and, clearly, an ongoing inside joke.

By the time we shut off the lights and began walking to our cars, I was already running through the list of things that needed to get done over the next week and the other items that needed to be checked off the list by next meeting. At the same time, I was really enjoying the simple fact that we were back and that I will have the pleasure of sharing another Thursday night with the brethren next month. And it is that feeling of comfort and anticipation that brings all of us back and keeps us active in the lodge. It is also what brings many of us back to the lodge between meetings for fellowship. It is a feeling that all brothers should have every month.

Planning The Fall Schedule

Somehow the summer has already disappeared and we find ourselves on the brink of autumn. Now that September has started it is time to take a look at the fall schedule and, hopefully, make sense of the chaos that is my calendar. It is a process that has become increasingly important over the past few years but most especially the last couple of years. After all, I need to make sure that the balance remains in the small blocks that rigidly grid the paper.

While there are always a few things that I know fill some week nights, there is a surprising amount of other plans and activities that we already have in place. Actually, our plans begin right away with the schedule full until early next week. When I finally took a look this morning (and again this evening) at all of the items that needed to be included and scheduled, I was surprised to find such a long list. It is almost as if these events had been horded for the first eight months and now I am finally able to sort through them.

In addition to the usual lodge commitments and holidays, there are a few new things that have been added this year. First and foremost are the various Sons of the American Revolution meetings and events. This is followed by the various house projects that will be taking place over the next couple or few months. Finally, there are numerous family events that we are planning to attend which have to be included in our seasonal plans. These will certainly be welcomed respites from the chaos that is our calendar.

This is the plan that we have in place heading into the new season but we also begin this new month knowing that things will most definitely change. Some plans will stick, some will move. Some of the changes will be our choice while other alterations to the schedule will be completely out of our control. All we can really do is plan and hope for the best.

There have already been so many plans made and so many changes take place in our schedule this year that it would be nice to return to some regularity but it really isn’t expected at this point. However, there are a few events, a few brief windows in the schedule, that should hold and, thankfully, those are the things of which we are most looking forward. As for everything else, we will just have to wait and see and hope that the only thing that changes is the season.

Taking Turns

Yes, I am using this post as an excuse to include another picture of our baby boy!

 With everything that is going on lately with the move, work, lodge, and other things, I was looking forward to going to the next doctor appointment to check on our baby. That’s right, I actually had a reason to look forward to a doctor appointment. With our scheduled checkup a little later in the evening, I left the office a little later than usual and called my wife during the commute. It has been, to say the least, a little chaotic for her lately as well and she too was looking forward to hearing our son’s rapid heartbeat.

In the past we have endured prolonged periods in the waiting room so as the first flakes of precipitation brushed across our cheeks we walked into the office a little early and settled in for what we expected to be another long evening. Thankfully we were wrong as before we could even get settled, and certainly to the displeasure of those who were already waiting, we were escorted back to an examining room. Once all the basic vitals were checked, it was time for my wife to lay down and let the baby take over the moment.

As many of you know and have experienced before, hearing your child’s happy heartbeat takes over the moment allowing for everything else that may be going on in your life to disappear for a brief moment. Last night it couldn’t have come at a better time as that one instant, that fleeting flutter of a moment, made much of the thoughts from the previous few days, weeks, and months disappear from our thoughts. It didn’t last long of course but it was enough to get us through the rest of the day and into the night.

In the end, our baby remains healthy and slightly ahead of schedule. That is really all that we want. It just happens to be a bonus that he is already starting to listen to us, sleeping when we need to sleep, and shifting into a different position when needed. Even if he didn’t do any of those things we would still love him just as much as we do now and that, our new reality as parents, continues to be what is getting us both through many tough moments lately. Essentially, baby is already helping to take care of us know before we have to start taking care of him.

And now we wait for the next appointment. While we just had the most recent checkup last night, we are already looking forward to the next one. Before long he will be here and that is when our lives will really change but, for now, we are enjoying the change that he has already had on our lives.

Firearms Friday: We All Need A Good Work Bench

For the last few years, while my wife were living in an apartment packed from end to end, top to bottom, I had to have my desk serve double duty as my work bench as well. It was always a process and a project just to get things started as everything needed to be cleaned off from the usual work day so that I could pull out the work mat and attach the vice to the side. Once that was all done, it didn’t really leave much time to get things done. Of course, having the office next to the bedroom didn’t allow for any work getting done beyond cleaning at night either.

Now, in our spacious new place, for the first time I am able to set up a dedicated work bench (from Home Depot) in the basement, two floors away from the bedrooms. In a different part of the space I have my desk set up solely dedicated to writing, filing, emailing, and other work on the computer. Finally, each of my passions have areas designated for each. While I will maintain an organized space, there is no more clearing off and hiding away electronics, papers, tools, parts, and cleaning supplies. Everything can be left out, set in their designated spaces.

Just having each of these areas divided in the basement, I feel as though I have more time to do what I enjoy and the small projects that I want to get done are accomplished much faster leaving me with more time to spend with my wife. Everything is easily accessible. Still locked away but a simple matter of security that is still much faster than the previously lengthy process of shifting purposes for a single work space.

This new workbench will also impact my work as it will allow me to bring new content to this blog. Reviews of firearms, equipment, and parts can now be achieved now that I have a work area dedicated to those projects. I can also now take on minor cleaning, repairing, and upgrading projects that will not only provide additional content but will allow me to better educate myself on different processes and systems. So look for some different content every Firearms Friday as I continue to organize and get my work bench outfitted to fit my needs. It should be fun and provide a much needed respite both now and in the future!

Space, The Current Frontier…

Over the past month my wife and I have continued to stay busy with the growing list of things that we need to get done before the baby arrives and other things that need to be taken care of in the family. Lately there has seldom been a day that we could find the time just to breath and pull back from all of the chaos that is currently surrounding us. Of course, there have been other things and people that have continued to pull us into various situations which was not helping things either.

There comes a point, which we came to last week, when you simply have to pull back and look at the larger picture. We would like to do anything and everything that we can, help in any way we are able, and generally just check things off of our lists of task that we need to get done. However, some of those things are hurting everyone more than they are helping anyone. This past week we came to that conclusion, pulled back from certain things, and refocused on the positive changes in our lives.

The space that we gained, the calmness achieved, and the focus we now have is something that has been missing over the past month. We are finally able to breathe and recover from all that is happening around us. Don’t get me wrong, we cannot fully disengage from those people and situations around us but we can’t let them run our lives either.

We have grown to appreciate the need for space. Both from situations and people but also in the physical area around us. Life had become incredibly cramped and it was time to reset the boundaries, reorganize, and embrace the space that we have in our life. This is necessary not just to protect ourselves but our baby as well. Frankly, we don’t want our child to feel as though they are imprisoned but the situations and people around them.

The freedom that this decision has afforded us finally allowed us to have a weekend that feels as though it is more than a couple hours long. The days seemed to have slowed down and the tenseness has been removed from the simplest of things like driving, texting, and calling. While not a perfect plan by any means and something that we don’t expect to last, it is the best option that we have in front of us and, so far, making that space is just what we needed.

The Downfall Of The Long Weekend

For the first time in a while I was able to take a long weekend and not think about work too much. There really isn’t any way for me to get away from things so having a respite for a little while was a nice change of pace. Of course, being in the car for nearly fifteen hours over a two day span didn’t hurt my ability to turn things off for a while but it didn’t completely cripple my ability to get a few other things done. I guess I have to always be working on something.

Come Monday afternoon the tide began to shift and the undertow of emails was trying to pull me back out into the sea of work that awaited me today. Having taken Friday and Monday off to both head up to Erie and recover afterward, the mountain of projects, papers, and emails had grown at a rate that any weed would have been happy to achieve. Back in the office this morning, it was time to put my head down and dig as fast as I could before more tasks began filling my inbox.

Can’t say that I was completely successful but there has been progress made. What is really a bit annoying is the fact that I had finally gotten up to speed not long ago. This is a cycle that I hope doesn’t continue but I am not holding out for that luxury. For now, it is a matter of slowly plodding through the paper, scanning websites, and rapidly responding to and completing the projects that have been put on hold for just a small window of time. Some may see this as only a couple of days but that is a lot of time in my line of work.

With next week also being a short week, the new goal is to, hopefully, get everything cleared off by Friday but I am really expecting it to carry over into the weekend. Not the first time and certainly not the last. Somewhere, somehow I will also look for those small air pockets so that I might take a breath, take care of some personal and lodge items, before diving back down to the bottom of the pile. In the end, things could be worse. After all, this is the slow time of year. I don’t even want to think about what my days would look like if I had taken a long weekend in the fall or winter.

Back To My Usual Position

Having been put on stage on Saturday sitting behind the Secretary’s desk at Grand Lodge, it was nice to get back to my home lodge and sit behind my humble desk for another degree conferral. This one was particularly special as I was the first line signer on this particular petition. While I can’t give any specifics as to who he is or his profession, I can say that he is a man, now a brother, with an impressive and honorable background. I am proud to have been one of the brothers to support/endorse his petition and I am looking forward to assisting him in any way possible during his Masonic journey. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to share some common interests as we, and many of the other brothers in the lodge, share the same hobby.

However, there was also something else at work with regard to my enjoyment of the evening beyond the relief and pride that the night held. It was also a meeting when everything, I believe for the first time, was running smoothly for me. Everything was prepared in advance, all forms and the dispensation was ready for after the meeting, and I was, for the most part, up to date on correspondences and other items that have to get done every month. I even had time, unlike the stated meeting earlier this month, to enjoy a pleasant meal with my brothers before we opened the lodge.

This may have been the best combination of a day that I have experienced in a long time. I took the day off from work to reflect upon the Passover holiday (that is my way of celebrating) and also kept myself occupied with something to do. You know I can’t just have a day when I don’t do anything. So having some relaxation time combined with an objective was a great balance and what may have accentuated my ability to breathe while away from my desk during the week.

It was nice, for one day, for one night, to enjoy and observe everything going on. I don’t expect it to continue beyond a single day as the emails keep piling up and the petitions continue to thankfully trickle in, but I still had that one night of relaxation, relief, and pride. These really are the moments that keep many of us coming back week after week, month after month, and year after year. What a great way to conclude my first Masonic year.