Meet Brandon and Aaron

I remain true to my enthusiasm to the 365; however, tonight I admit, I’m ready to have this evening’s entry done. The tired is setting in.

Tomorrow an 8am flight awaits me, traveling to a five-day workshop I’m presenting in Hawaii. My wife and daughter continue to be very supportive and patient. Three weeks into 365 thus far and not one night have I gone to sleep with my wife or read to my little girl.

Here I am, typing this entry, while at Menchie’s frozen yogurt with my wife and daughter. It’s date night and we are on 365. My wife is being drafted into taking my photo while I am creating this entry. She asks me to smile for her, but I am a bit too focused. I roll my upper lip a little, smile, then back to focused thought. I’m really hard to photograph when I’m in a typing mood. Hope Terri can get the shot she wants. If not I’ll post whatever she gets.

Even though I’m feeling Friday exhaustion, I’m very much loving 365 and all the people I’m meeting, but the fact is, for three weeks now I’ve been navigating on 5 hours of sleep a day. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say it’s getting to me a tad. With no shame I can say, “although very rewarding, I’m a little tired and ready to focus on my family.”

We are enjoying our evening out. Yet home is calling, reaching out as if a person. Saying, “come to me, it’s time to relax with your family.”

Mind is telling me, “take advantage of where we are, and include the family in making a quick photo of the two enthusiastic young men who greeted us into the store. This is sure to be quick and easy.

We let them see the 365 blog on the iPad. They happily buy in. We all agree we will wait for the store to slow down. Not a very lucid thought.

The place is endless business. Yeah! A seemingly quick shoot idea evolves into a 1-hour wait. Not all that bad, a family time of sorts, we are a little punch drunk, my daughter contributes to the ambiance with a silent pass of wind, letting us know we are in for a long night.

Oh! Wait, the crowd has thinned, need to grab my photo ops. To keep this entry moving I’m handing my iPad of to my wife. She’ll keep tonight moving. Off I go!

OK, Richard is taking photos and hands me the iPads – tells me I can write anything I want.  Really? Well, OK, two things.

First, I must say, these two boys working here at Menchie’s tonight are two of the best employees I have seen in a long, long time. Here’s my husband trying to get their portrait, and even though they are into it they never loose focus on their job. Every person who walks throughout the door gets a resounding, “Welcome to Menchie’s!” They are super attentive and friendly with the customers, and keep a fun attitude.  As I write, I hear a customer telling them that they are a lot of fun (I told you.) The minute the crowd dies down they are cleaning the machines and restocking. I see these kids going places in life. Parents, be proud!

Second, I’m trying to encourage my dear hubby that it might be a nice change to get a full night of sleep by going out in search of his 365 subjects in the MORNING or perhaps during the afternoon. He keeps telling me he will, just as soon as he gets through this week (I’ve been hearing that answer for a few weeks now and here we are at Menchie’s at 10pm. did I mention we have an eight year old?)

It’s me again, got a few fun photos. Really like these boys.

They are too busy for a full interview. I follow them as they work and manage to get them to answer our two general questions.

QUESTION ONE:
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

ANSWERS:

Brandon – Owning my own restaurant, or at least leading a corporation.

He already proven his ability with the operating of a home-made beef jerky business he created while in high school. He talks of quality control, consistent product and profits. His next step is finishing his degree in business administration. This young man is going places.

Aaron – To be big in the electronic music industry. Tells me he is into the lifestyle and digs how complex, detailed it is. He goes on to tell me it requires critical thinking.

I ask him if he is a critical thinker, he replies, “at least I like to think so.” Got to love his response!

QUESTION TWO:
What would you like to share with my readers?

ANSWERS:

Brandon – Hard work, ethics, and morality pays off. And remember to always have fun.

Aaron – Don’t take life too seriously. Have fun. Enjoy it while you can. Keep what you want to do in the back of your mind. Don’t feel pressure to rush in being independent. You have time before you have to pay bills.

Readers, its 11:25pm. I still need to import my photos. Enough writing for now.

I’ll see you tomorrow, it will be day one of nine days of entries from the big island.

By the way, I did get that time with my family. One hour to be exact. It’s 1:10am now, finally ready to press publish. So much for that relaxing early evening, but they still love me.

I’ll be up at 4am to begin my commute to the airport. With even less sleep building up, curious to see what we come up with tomorrow.

ALOHA!