Light Thoughts

     My workday started with a text while I was still at home.  Would you be able to come in a little early?  Translation, we want you to cover a route that leaves the garage before your normal starting time. So in I go to receive my marching orders.      Upon hearing what route they wanted me to do, three things became obvious. One, it was a route I did not know.  Two, it was pitch black outside. And three, it was the most challenging bus for me to drive out of the seven bus types I drive.  Driving a rear engine bus in always more difficult for me, but throw in streets I am not familiar with and darkness and my stomach looks like a butterfly refuge.      Ok, back to rear engine busses.  The issue I have with them are that they are more difficult to turn.  If you don't pay attention, you can easily hit a curb or worse.  Sometimes it means you have to wait until there are no cars around to make sure you hav...

     I wrote this blog 10 years ago but I wanted to post it again because I believe it has a very powerful message.  It's not so much what happens to us that matters but how we think about and react to what happens.  If by reading this blog you could see your past and present circumstances in a different light, it could be a game changer or life changer. And that would be one of the best Christmas presents I could give you!  Enjoy!     "When I was in high school I was on the wrestling team. I made the varsity team as a freshman and boy, did that help my self esteem. Seniors were saying hi to a lowly freshman. What a rush! Anyway, my wrestling coach was a great guy we called Coach Ailts. I always knew that Coach liked me, but beyond that I knew he thought I had great potential.      Now you need to know that I often lacked motivation during practices. I was a meet wrestler, meaning that I could do well during...

     Not too long ago I was filling in for a driver on a special needs route.  It was my last school of the day and there were only three students to take home.  The first student came on with an aid from the school.  The student was saying something and pointing to a compartment above the driver's seat.  I did not know what he was saying and neither did the aid.  After a couple of minutes the aid figured out what he was saying.  He was asking for candy.      The regular driver had gotten permission from the parents and would give this student a piece of candy as a reward for good behavior.  Obviously I did not know this and so was not prepared to follow the routine.  The aid reminded the student that he was not supposed to ask for the candy but wait for the driver to give it to him.  None of this deterred our student.  Finally something else happened that took his focus off the candy.  I thought we ha...

     So last week because Christmas is coming fast I started to think about Christmas's past.  Who knows why we remember certain things but don't remember others?  I am sure I have had more than three good or sort of good Christmas memories. But when I started to think about my Christmas memories, three things stood out.      I remember the farmhouse in Jackson, Mn and I can still picture the living room and the exact place we put the Christmas tree each year. People don't seem to use tinsel anymore but back them we did.  I will confess that hanging tinsel was my least favorite thing to do.  I don't think I was a pro at any part of Christmas tree decorating but tinsel was my achilles heel.  After throwing a few globs of tinsel on the tree I was usually removed from that part of decorating.      Here then is my first thought about Christmas.  You don't have to do it all.  Just do the fun parts.  For ...

     Let me start today by hoping you had a great Thanksgiving and that you are ready to have an awesome Christmas this year.  You can now play Christmas music at will.  This morning I had Christmas music playing on the bus and as the kids were getting off Burl Ives was singing "Have a holly jolly Christmas" so I said to the students have a holly jolly Monday.  I didn't get any eye rolls that I could see so that's very good.     Most weeks I start thinking about what to write about for the following week a day or two before I write the post for that week.  Last week what came to my mind was "I Got Nothing," so that is what I started to think about and what I want to discuss this week. My sister asked me if I have any blogs in the bank so to speak.  I do not.  I depend on what happens that week on the bus or elsewhere that gets me to thinking and contemplating about how to live my best life. A life that I can look back on when I a...