As we stand here at the doorstep of 2007 and get ready to turn the doorknob, I can’t help but poppin’ on my iPod and listening to reflective songs from say, Coldplay or The Fray. For some reason I like to make the transition into the new year with a music video created by myself, in my head, using my memories and my music. Ok, I admit, my methods may be strange, but I think the process is still important. It’s important to access where you were, where you’re going, and where you really want to be. Hopefully the last two things match up. Jason and I did this together over some hot chocolates yesterday at Starbucks. (Who says coffee shops are only for coffee lovers.) Being a visual person, we made a web, which led to some good discussions and planning. I’m ready for ‘07!

Without trying to be Ferris Bueller here, I feel that life does move pretty fast. As much as I roll my eyes at the many "New Years Resolutions" that people proudly pronounce on Dec. 31st and are done and over with by Jan. 15th, I do feel that planning ahead and communication with those involved in your plans is a very important process. Just the act of writing down your goals will put you miles closer to achieving them.

This summer I heard a wise man share this poem by Linda Ellis. It’s a great way to put things in perspective as we start 2007. Happy New Year!!!

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came her date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

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Here we are three days from Christmas and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been busy wrapping gifts, checking the lists to make sure nothing has been forgotten, and feeling guilty about not baking any Christmas cookies. I would guess that this has been a stressful week for many. (Or am I the only one?)

I had a very anti-"Bah Humbug" joyful experience today, which is just what I needed. I called a hotel group, Choice Privileges, to book some rooms for some upcoming gigs. These days it seems rare and notable to get a real person on the phone. I’m not just talking about automated systems…I mean like speaking to "real" people who are not just punching in and daydreaming about the upcoming evening’s TV line-up. It’s so refreshing to talk to people who are really living life. Chuck helped me today and had me smiling for about 99.9% of our 20-minute phone call. He really lifted my spirits! It’s amazing how a little cheerfulness can be quite contagious! (Thanks, Chuck!)

Jennifer Warner from WebMD Medical News wrote an article recently entitled, "Is Holiday Stress Overrated?"

We all tend to think that the stress levels are higher during this time of year, but the polls revealed that…

In fact, only four in 10 Americans said they feel the holidays are more stressful than other times of the year.

When people were asked to compare their holiday stress level to other times of the year, more than half (56%) said they felt about the same amount or less stress during the holidays.

So, do these findings tell us that we are handling the holidays well or that we are totally stressed-out throughout the entire year for a variety of reasons?

I read a verse this morning that really spoke to me.

"We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend." Psalm 39:6

This verse gave me permission, if even for a brief moment, to stop the madness in my head and just be. Isn’t that what this time of year should be about? Slowing down and reflecting on the most important gift that will ever be given…the birth of Jesus. The very next verse filled my heart with peace…

"And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you." Psalm 39:7

So, amidst the busyness that is the reality of this time of year, I pray that you, too, will find joy, peace, and hope!

P.S. If you haven’t seen The Nativity Story, you absolutely must!

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Choice Privileges, peace, hope, joy, holiday stress, Psalm 39, holidays

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Every month, one Club K&J subscriber is drawn as the winner in the Supremely Wonderful & Exciting Loot Lottery. This month’s lucky recipient is Jody Ramsfield! She wins a 16 oz. candle of her choice! Congrats, Jody!

Join Club K&J for your chance to win this month’s prize Loot Lottery!

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And it is 1-800-972-6242. I’m not sure what his e-mail is.

Call that number anytime before December 24th, and you can hear a message from jolly ol’ St. Nick himself. (He records a new message everyday!) He reminds children to be good and thoughtful to others and all that jazz. It’s perfectly free and perfect for kids of all ages.

It would be nice to have a full-blown conversation with the big guy, but I guess he is pretty busy this time of year.

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I’m not talking about rings, Cheerios, or hula hoops. I’m talking about doughnuts. But not just any doughnuts. The circles of love made fresh from the Daily Dozen Doughnut Company at the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle. If you like fresh doughnuts then you need to get on Travelocity right now and book a flight to Seattle and go get some of these doughnuts.

Two Octobers ago Jason and I went to Seattle for some speaking gigs. We happened upon this doughnut stand at the Market and have never been the same since.

The coolest thing about eating these circles of joy is the experience. As you wait in the (well-worth-it) long line, you are allowed the appropriate amount of time to pine after them, as you watch the very doughnuts you will be eating being made. You share glances with the others who are also waiting with great anticipation, bonding moments. The smells alone are worth the small price you pay. Then, when you finally get to the “doughnut guy,” he does this cool snap with the bag that puts a smile on your face. His quick hand fills the bag that will soon be yours. It is an experience!

When I heard that we were heading back to Seattle, I immediately thought of the “doughnut guy” and made a mental commitment to delight in that experience again. This time we came equipped with the full appreciation of what were about to encounter, as well as a camera.

Here’s the clip. I wish I could share with you the tastes and smells.

It is about doughnuts but it’s just as much about the experience. Well done to that businessman, who is remarkable and is seeing success because of his efforts. Well done to all of us who stand in line for that experience. We all need to delight in the things that bring us this much joy! Kids just naturally do this. There are so many things that keep us from delighting- comfort zones, fear, calories, embarrassment.

As we inch closer to the ball dropping in Times Square again, let’s recognize the things that bring us the biggest smiles and do more of those things.

Technorati Tags: Pike Place Market, Seattle, Daily Dozen Doughnut Company, Travelocity, Times Square, delighting in the little things, doughnuts, joy

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No, this isn’t some sappy Tom Hanks movie. Kim and I got into Seattle yesterday just before the, um, hurricane hit. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. We didn’t get much sleep because we happened to be on the 29th floor of a hotel in downtown Seattle while the 70+ mph winds whipped through the city.

We even slept (or tried to) in the bathroom for a few hours because we weren’t sure if the windows would blow out. When it’s 1 am in the morning (and your body still thinks it’s 3 am), you get all these strange visions in your head, most of them involving bad movie special effects and people being sucked out of their homes by tornados.

Anyway, here is a current picture from our hotel room window. Things are calmer now, trees are being removed, and the floating bridges are re-opening. It looks like my speaking engagement is still on for this evening, which is a good thing. It will naturally have a Christmas slant to it, and this has been a good reminder of how many things I have to be thankful for. If you think of it, please pray for the people who were killed or injured, and for the people how have had their homes severely damaged by the wind, falling trees, and flooding.

Technorati Tags: Seattle, Seattle wind storm, Sleepless in Seattle, thankful

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Shopping really sucks this time of year (unless you’re a glutton for long lines, jammed parking lots, impatient shoppers and clerks who are one idiot away from a complete meltdown). Plus the Mall Santa can be kind of creepy. God invented the internet so you don’t have to be out and about this time of year. I wanna do my part to help you avoid the ridiculousness, so if you use the coupon code SANTASCARESME you can save $5 off any order of $25 or more at the Kim & Jason Lemonade Stand. Offer good through the weekend, a.k.a. Sunday, December 17, 2006. (Need gift ideas?)

With all of the time you save, check out this awesome photo gallery of more kids being scared senseless by Santa.

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I believe that one of the many lessons children have to teach us — if we have the wisdom to pay attention — is to not take ourselves too seriously. Kids are unafraid to run around naked in front of strangers, wouldn’t think twice about giggling in a fancy restaurant, and are willing to walk out of the house dressed as a Hawaiian cowboy ballerina at a moment’s notice.

Do we need to emulate their behaviors exactly? Probably not. (I’m sure your relatives will appreciate you being fully clothed this Christmas.) But we can follow their lead and take ourselves a little less seriously. Especially this time of year, when everyone seems to be a wee bit uptight.

I have become a big fan of Scott Ginsberg. He is an author, professional speaker, and expert on approachability, and most widely known as That Guy with the Nametag. He has worn a nametag every single day — over 2,200 days in a row. He has launched a very successful career based upon the stories and wisdom he’s collected over the years, and he has a lot of both.

Scott recently wrote an entry on his blog about this idea of not taking yourself too seriously. Pretty potent, real-world stuff from a guy that has a nametag tattooed on his chest. He has a list of the Top 10 Reasons to Laugh at Yourself Daily. Here are a few of my favorites:

2) Wealth. Film buff Raymond Hitchcock once noted, “A man isn’t poor if he can still laugh.” That’s how powerful this stuff is. And I’d be willing to bet that even Bill Gates and Donald Trump laugh at themselves daily. Especially Trump.

4) Attitude. I admit; I’m not positive and cheery all the time. (Who is?) But I can’t help but think that my attitude has significantly improved over the past six years as a result of self-laughter. It’s like Mitlon Berle said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.” So think about it: how great is your attitude on vacation?

10) Health. I’ve been through some tough times in the past few years, especially in the beginning of 2006 when I spent a week in the hospital with a collapsed lung. And I remember the highlight of the week was when the nurses came in to my room to administer my first chest tube. They pulled down the top of my gown, took one look at my nametag tattoo and couldn’t stop laughing for five minutes. Freaking priceless. No morphine drip can beat that.

Laughter is the best medicine. Laughing at yourself is medicine that helps you AND the people around you.

Technorati Tags: Scott Ginsberg, nametag guy, laughter, stress,

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Well this was just too cool not to brag about: today, Adultitis.org was the Yahoo! Pick of the Day.

Thanks to Yahoo!

Thanks to all of the folks who have passed the site along to friends.

And a warm welcome to all of the new readers of this blog. You can get a quick primer on what we’re up to here and here.

Digg This

Technorati Tags: Yahoo!, Yahoo! Picks, Adultitis

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During our recent speaking trip to Washington D.C., Kim and I had the opportunity to see the first light bulb invented by Thomas Alva Edison. I am sure that when he was working out the details on this notable invention, struggling through all the not-quites and the near-misses, he kept a vision focused in his mind. "Someday," I’m sure he thought, "if I succeed, little girls and boys everywhere will be able to make tiny and marginally edible baked goods easily and safely. I can’t give up now."

Were he alive today, not only would he be 159 years old, but 2006 would have been a very proud year for the inventor. This year, the Easy Bake Oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. It’s a pretty big deal. To make it in to the Hall, each toy must not only be widely recognized and foster learning, creativity or discovery through play, but endure in popularity over multiple generations.

Interestingly, the two inductees this year (the Lionel Train made it in, too) were powered not by steroids, but by electricity, making them the first electric toys ever to be enshrined in the 8-year-old Hall of Fame. Here’s a little of the Easy Bake back story, according to the museum:

In the early 1960s, pretzel vendors on New York City streets inspired toy makers at Kenner, Inc. to make the Easy-Bake Oven. Anticipating parents’ concerns about safety, Kenner substituted two 100-watt light bulbs for a heating element to minimize the possibility of burnt fingers. Accompanied by special cake and cookie mixes, a recipe book, utensils, and slide-thru bake pans, the oven debuted in fashionable turquoise and pale yellow. Through the years, the design of the oven has changed, but not its popularity. Since 1963, more than 23 million have been sold, and more than 140 million mixes have been baked into yummy, yummy treats.

A happy year for Edison, indeed. Now if only they’d come up with a USB powered version, I could concoct some yummy treats while writing this blog. One more little known fact: Thomas Edison and I share the same birthday. I hope I can live to be 159 years old.

Technorati Tags: Easy Bake Oven, Thomas Edison, National Toy Hall of Fame, light bulb, inventor, inventions, toys

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When I was in kindergarten my school had one of those shops set up where you could buy gifts for your family. All of the items were a buck or two. I made a list of everyone in my family and my mom gave me a few dollars and away I went. The shop was set up in the school library and they even had older students gift-wrapping the magical gifts for us. I was in awe! I had never been given the freedom to buy gifts for anyone without one of my parents supervising. Unfortunately many of the memories from this experience have faded but a few things still stand out. I was a little unclear about how gift giving worked at the time. For some reason, I decided to pick out gifts I would like, instead of thinking of what they would like. For instance, I got my mom a wind-up toy of a smurf on a bike. It was so cool! I couldn’t wait to play with it…with her, of course.

I remember coming home with my handful of wrapped “gifts” (a.k.a toys) and proudly placing them under the tree. I couldn’t wait for my family to open their gifts. It seemed like it was taking forever for Christmas to come. One day I couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to sneak my mom’s gift into my room. Since I shared a room with my sister, Kristy, I had to be careful that she wouldn’t see me. I locked the door, sat on the floor by my bed, and carefully opened the package, making sure that I could put it all back together again. I then proceeded to play with the smurf toy for a while, before re-wrapping the gift to perfection (which I’m sure wasn’t noticeable at all). I managed to sneak it back under the tree, without anyone even noticing. In the end, my mom loved her smurf and she even let me take care of him for her.

This magical time of year sure conjures up the childhood memories. Whether they’re memories of sitting on Santa’s lap, shaking gifts, standing under the mistletoe, laying under the Christmas tree, playing with the manger scene figurines, singing carols, listening to “The Night Before Christmas,” or decorating Christmas cookies, these memories are stock that you should cash in for some extra doses of peace and joy amidst the extra busyness of this season. Next time you jump in the car to run another holiday-related errand, I invite you to turn off the radio and just spend a few minutes thinking back on your own holiday memories. They will be more precious than any gift you’ll find under the tree.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, gifts, Christmas memories, "The Night Before Christmas, " Santa, carols, mistletoe, Christmas tree, smurfs, manger scene, Christmas cookies, joy, peace, busyness

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I have a dream that someday there will be an animated Kim & Jason Christmas special. It will be a fun compilation of the best Christmas story lines I’ve done over the years, including an appearance by the Mall Santa, of course. Maybe Pixar could whip something up. Until then, I offer up this holiday classic in it’s uncut, commercial-free entirety for your viewing pleasure.

Because that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Technorati Tags: Peanuts, Charlie Brown Christmas, Pixar, animation, Mall Santa

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