Jeremy’s talk got uploaded to youtube, so if you’d like, you can listen to it. Last Sunday night at family dinner, Seth mentioned that he did not enjoy public speaking (he has to do some of it in the role of a HS ultimate coach) and on the way home, Jeremy mentioned that he doesn’t mind public speaking at all anymore. A far cry from 30 years ago when he was agonizing over his dissertation defense and was really (he’ll tell you) a poor public speaker. Now he’s practiced so much, it’s not a big deal anymore. I feel the same way about talking to people in small groups or one-on-one. I used to feel very self conscious in social settings and was relatively quiet, but I can really shine now in many social situations and move the conversation along and everyone can have a good time. I think it’s important to note that if you think you aren’t good at something, you can always become better at it and feel good doing it. Whatever it is you want to do – sing, run, write, be a better friend, come up with new ideas, write a novel, take better photos – it’s really just attention and practice. I wonder if I can be good at fundraising – this I think is an important skill that I’m not good at. But I have good role models for this.
The weather has been so beautiful, Jeremy has been able to go on some lovely bike rides outside.
His bicycles are stored in the dining room and he can see them as he’s eating dinner and last night, he gazed past me and looked at his bicycles and said very sweetly, I love my bicycles. Ahhh, true love. He retaped the handlebars to match the wheels and the water bottles.
I am learning to drive the new car (I didn’t drive it with the bike on top). There are things to learn, but I can already tell I’m going to love driving this car.
We finally got an electrician to come in and install the actual charger to the wall (we already had the drop) so we are ready to go. I have not yet downloaded the app, so I can’t see things like the location, battery charge level, nor can I turn on the AC before I get into the car. Soon.
Jeremy and I are both trying to be phone free at night when we are going upstairs for bed. I removed my most coveted apps from the phone – the NYTimes and reddit. I’m trying to not reach for it when I’m bored. Which is a lot of the time. Jeremy is spending the time trying to train Elka more. Here he is making Elka ignore a fried chicken piece on the ground. Good doggie Elka.
