1. Cameras won't kill you, and filming - when you've stopped panicking and nervously fidgeting with everything - can actually be a little fun. (I'm still shy and probably will always be, but this - like public speaking - is something I think I can and will get used to, when it's needed.)
  2. A title is just a title; having one doesn't make you any better or worse or smarter or dumber or more or less a person. You're the same person you were before; you just have a title now, and the responsibilities that come with it. But you, the person handling those responsibilities, are just the same, and it's always up to you what you'll learn to become.
  3. Pro hockey games are fascinating! (Karsten and I got a quick Hockey 101 lesson from Max and Greg this afternoon as this was the first hockey game that both of us had seen.) The skill and teamwork demonstrated were extraordinary - it was Hurricanes vs Penguins, and went into a shootout, and then the first 3 shots were misses for both sides, and then the Penguins won (to our dismay). The arena is also ginormous and full of Lots Of Multimedia. It felt like being in Times Square except with louder music occasionally telling you to scream - and we (CommArch + Co.) certainly did. It was a ton of fun, and now I'm going to go and sit quietly and look at a blank wall for a while...

I've been extremely blessed. Throughout my whole life in general - but in particular, I've been feeling this strongly and constantly (24/7) recently (and have blathered on about it at length, too). I must continue to remember (something Michael Tiemann said today reminded me of this) that these things aren't me, but rather come through me, as a stewardship I bear responsibility for. Y'know, the usual... from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. So boy, do I have lots of work to do... I hope God's* happy with his ROI.

*this is the only word I know for this.

Tomorrow is the last day of the CommArch retreat, and then I fly back to DC (and the next morning out to Boston for the weekend - I'm finally taking a trip purely for personal reasons and hanging out with friends and family). Life is good. Life is extremely good.

I'm going to take some quiet time to rest and think and clear my brain now, and hop back onto workin' early in the morning. There's much to do, and I want to make sure I'm charged and rested and ready to go for it, and I know the things running around in my brain will take a while to think through and sort out. So it's time to get my mental house in order so that I can be in PURE OUTPUT MODE!!! again tomorrow.

Thinking time!