Seasons greetings ya’ll. May you have the happiest of holidays and I hope you recently indulged in turkey and pumpkin pie with family and friends while NFL football played in the background of your family conversations during Thanksgiving. Mind you, the Detroit Lions played on Thanksgiving Day and have been doing so since 1934 and always provide quality entertainment while you catch up on the latest with everyone. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving as I spent time with my family, friends, and got out and about in my hometown of Louisville. During my tenure at Walt Disney World last year, I was unable to come home for the holidays so this year was quite special for me. Alright, let’s get to it!
When you live up north, crazy snow happens. And when snow happens in exorbitant amounts here, Monday Night Football gets moved from Buffalo to Detroit to play New York. Yes, that was confusing – like a mosquito in a mannequin factory. The Lions were gracious enough to offer free tickets and I also have Pistons tickets next week to see my dude Kobe play!
The month of November was characterized by a Challenge Detroit Cultural Event with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (everyone’s favorite piece was George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris”), the Challenge Detroit Kick Off Event at Compuware World Headquarters, and a bowling night on Woodward Avenue.
I’ve been getting plugged into more activities in the city such as volunteer opportunities and clubs that meet regularly. I feel like I finally control how I want to spend my time outside of work and I’m striving to learn more about things that I feel passionate about. It’s ironic that I am just starting to get out and about when winter is starting and people are beginning to hole up and hibernate for the perilous season of snow. I’ve been told to get an ultra-violet lamp because the sun doesn’t come out for a significant amount of time, stock up on books, buy appropriate clothing, and practice driving on snow (Kentucky has actually had snow before believe it or not), As long as I keep a positive attitude and get outside and enjoy the snow for a few months, I think I will persevere. We’ll see. The silver lining is that a long winter equals a sweeter spring and summer.
My Challenge Detroit spotlight video debuts in December and it is also my birthday month on top of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Clearly the best month of the year so enjoy.
The last thing that I’d like to leave you with is a moving speech by Jim Valvano that is played every November for the start of the college basketball season. The speech was made in 1993 at the ESPY awards and he hammers home some serious life advice. His famous words are “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Give it a watch.