Greater Tuna

Abbey placed 3rd at the Sedalia Middle School Forensics Tournament last Friday night for her performance of "Greater Tuna." Actually, she has placed somewhere between 2nd place and 4th place in every tournament this spring, with the exception of one...and it was later found that there was a mix-up with whomever was tallying points from the scoring sheets--she would have advanced to finals had it not been for the error.

What is Forensics, you ask? Great question! Its basically competitive acting. The kids each participate in one or more events...including things like Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Improvisation, Duet Acting, etc. Abbey's event is Humorous Interpretation, or "HI" for short. She participates in 2 rounds to qualify for finals, and then a final round to determine 1st-6th place winners. A "Round" means performing an 8 minute segment from a play for a judge. One at a time, each student walks to the front of the room, writes his or her name, school code, and title on the blackboard and then stands there, nervously waiting for the Judge to look up and say he is ready. The student performs his or her piece while the judge writes comments on a scoring sheet. The judge's feedback is later shared with the student so that she can work on making improvements before the next tournament. The night is wrapped up with an award ceremony, typically held in the school gymnasium. Winners receive ribbons or trophies in front of about 200 students who participated in the tournament. Students from each school whoop and holler in excitement as winners from their own school are announced. The excitement culminates into a final announcement for which school will take home the large 1st place trophy. This season, Moreland Ridge has taken 1st place at every tournament.

Middle School Forensics has been a terrific experience for Abbey and her theatrically-inclined friends. "Down" time between rounds is spent talking with friends and meeting kids from other schools in the metro area who share common interests.

I know what you're thinking... "Karen, why didn't you post a video tape of this event on your blog?" This too is a great question. I reluctantly have not taped any of these performances at Abbey's request. I protested her request on behalf of friends, family, and posterity...I gave it my best shot. But she said she absolutely did not want her performance to be recorded :-(

If you feel passionate about seeing Abbey perform "Greater Tuna" there is still one more opportunity remaining at the Belton tournament this coming Friday night. Call me for details!

Easter with the Simpsons

We spent this year's Easter holiday at Aunt Elaine's house this year. Cousin Sarah and her boys, Will and Mack from Riverside California were here to make the holiday extra special. Elaine and Sarah put together a big holiday gathering like the kind we occasionally had when Sarah and I were kids. There were lots of old pictures and memories to share throughout the day as we remembered and celebrated my Uncle Bill. The day was cool but festive, making this holiday one we will always remember. I've included a few photos of the day, courtesy of my mom's camera...

First, the adults went out to hide the eggs from the "under 5" crowd. Kimberly and Josh decided on a fool-proof strategy to prevent would-be egg finders from getting to too much of that candy.

The race is on! Cousins Emery and William took their egg-hunt very seriously!

Josh take pity on little Mack and helps him to reach treed-eggs.

My brother Ben will be leaving in about 6 weeks to begin basic training with the United States Air Force. Here he is pausing from discussion with Unc & Sandy to pose for my mom.

And here is Aunt Elaine, posing with all that food we consumed! Favorite recipe of the day:

Old Settlers Baked Beans
½ lb chopped bacon
½ lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c white sugar
¼ c catsup
¼ c barbecue sauce
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp prepared mustard
1 (16 oz) can pork and beans
1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans
1 (16 oz) can butter beans
Brown together bacon, ground beef, and onion. Drain excess fat. Mix together sugars,
catsup, barbecue sauce, pepper, chili powder, salt, and mustard. Do not drain beans. Mix
all together. Pour into a large casserole and bake 1 hour in a 350 degree oven.
Also good done in crock pot. Great with ribs, hamburgers, etc.

Another Blogger!

I am excited to report today that I have inspired yet another blogger into the so-called blog-o-sphere. Dan Kneeshaw is my new friend at Sprint who likes to cause me lots of trouble and endless amounts of grief. He says he's "Just your average guy," but I know better. This guy is anything but average. He is also one of the many people who have made my new job at Sprint so much fun.

Their Ecclesiastical Butts

Today I got this explanation from my Dad for why it is that Easter is so dang early this year. He is routinely very good about imparting his vast wizdom on our family. This particular bit of wizdom is such a terrific and timely bit, I thought I should share it...

Why Easter is so early this year....by Mike Stock:

Happy Easter tomorrow. I enjoyed Easter when I was a child because of the Easter clothes and the egg hunts. Not exactly keeping with the true spirit of Christ floating up to heaven, but that’s a different post.

I began paying attention to the date Easter falls on after Morgan [Karen's brother]was born on Easter Sunday (April 7th) in 1985. He celebrated his 11th birthday on Easter in 1996, but won’t see another Easter birthday until he turns 90. If he’s still around five years later he will celebrate number 95 on Easter Sunday in 2080. He’ll probably be taking a nap at the retirement home when the great grandkids stop by all dressed up with a cake on their way to hunt for eggs. Probably won’t be able to light all those candles because of the pure O2 environment keeping him alive, but it will still be fun seeing the little girls in their new dresses.

This is the earliest Easter we have ever seen, or ever will see in our lifetime. It can occur as early as March 22nd and as late as April 25th, but both dates are extremely rare. Most of us know Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. Turns out we have made it a bit more complicated with physics (damn scientists). Today we measure the movement of the Sun and Moon with complicated arithmetic, but the Catholic church just looks up in the sky and says, “Ahh, there’s the Moon and it’s right on time.” Then they pull out their Georgian calendars and plunk it down. We call this the “ecclesiastical” full moon and it is what we use to compute Easter. This is a gross simplification of the process, but it is the only way to explain it without getting into a discussion of tabular lunation. Computers have simplified the process of determining ecclesiastical Easter with a (relatively) simple algorithm. I prefer to find a website that has already tabulated the data and just scan the page.

Because of the differences in the astronomical and ecclesiastical movement of the Moon, and the differences in calendars around the world, Easter sometimes falls on different days in the east than in the western world. The one thing we all seem to agree on is the blessed constant of March 21st. That gives me hope that one day east and west will sit down and just pick a day. It could be a day of deep historical and religious significance, or they could just pull it out of their ecclesiastical butts. How about the 3rd Sunday in April? That gets my vote. Spring will be in full bloom, or at least getting started in most areas, and you improve your odds of having nice weather for the egg hunt.

It’s all about the egg hunt… Happy Easter everybody!

What Tyler's Do Best

Photo commentary added by request of my best fan:
I love this photo of Tyler. David found it on the floor of Tyler's car.--apparently it had been riding there for a while--if you look closely, you can see the dirt on the left side of the image. The picture was taken by his guitar teacher's step dad in their basement music studio during a lesson a few weeks ago. They needed some student photos, and Tyler was a willing participant. A friend from work, Kami Brady took the slightly soiled photo to her home based photography studio and scanned the image for me so that I could store the image permanently on my blog :-)

Luck of the Irish

Wow! Have you ever seen a newborn, less than 30 hours old hold his head up like that? This is our new nephew, Cameron Alija Thomason, or as we like to call nim, "O'Cameron" :-)

Cameron was born to Tim & Ruthann Thomason on St Patricks Day! 7 lbs, 15ozs Mom & Baby are doing just great, and Dad couldn't be more proud! (Note: more photos posted on Mandy's blog.)

UCM Visit

We took the afternoon off yesterday to visit the University of Central Missouri (formerlly known as CMSU.) This is the only public university in Missouri with an advanced Actuarial Science degree program, and it meets the primary parental criteria... its affordable! UCM met 1 of Tyler's "must have" criteria (big dorm rooms) but it is not a division 1 school, and we didn't get the same sense of that awesome of campus unity feeling around athletics. Its also only about 40 minutes from home...which I liked a lot, but Tyler isn't so sure. We will keep weighing options. Stay tuned...

Superior Ratings!

The Moreland Ridge Middle School Honor Choir, under the direction of Aaron Money, received a 1 (superior) rating at the district choral contest at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri last Friday. This was their second Superior rating in a row! David and I took the morning off and drove to Fayette for the occasion. The choir was outstanding.

In addition, we got to hear Abbey perform her first solo contest pieces and earned a 1 (Highest Honor) rating. This was also her first time to sing an Italian piece. At Abbey's request, I did not record the performance (so you can take that up with her, if you want to :-) But I felt so proud of her!

More Birthday Pics

My mom captured many more photos that what I had on my camera from Emery's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Here's just a few...

Daddy loves Emery!

Emery loves Uncle Ryan!

Emery loves Aunt Brea too!

Yes, we really did Pop Rocks and Chocolate Pudding in those treat bags :-)

Aunt Mandy and Cousin Isaac (comming soon in July!)

Barbie cake I made at Emery's request.

Abbey loves her Grandma Susie!

Cousin Evan all decked out in his usual "Spiderman" garb!

Mommy loves Emery!

Isaac hiding behind Grandpa Bob & Grandma Ramona. Aunt Mandy being cheezy!

Emery's Giraffe from Grandma & Grandpa Stock

Sadly, my dad does not have a groovy new Sprint device, such as the Palm Centro. He was not able to see the cute picture mail I sent of Emery holding the new Build-a-Giraffe that he and Susie made for Emery's birthday. He is stuck with mere phone that makes a phone call. It does not receive cute photos of Grandbaby clutching well-groomed Giraffe. (Note the Sassy Chick shirt, Susie....totally coincidence that Emery picked that out to wear this morning!)

Emery's New Bicycle

Emery got a new bike from Grandma & Grandpa Downs for her birthday. Today we rode all the way to Franklin Smith Elementary School to play on the playground. We came home and found Dad & Tyler working on Bruce.

Dave's Cancer Blog

At one time, I worked for an incredible person named Dave McCalley. Dave is the single most influential person in my journey to grow my leadership skills. It is Dave who got me hooked on reading every bit of leadership related books, articles, journals, etc. Through his example, I learned how to balance compassion in the workplace with focus on winning. I learned how to define what winning is.

A few years ago, as I learned to manage a team through severe illness of a valued employee, Dave was there to listen and support my efforts. He seemed to intuitively understand and appreciate the work I did to help our teams rally behind Tom & Mindy Hanaway and Helen & Mark Stevermer. While I focused on making sure they had the things they needed and my team had what it needed to be successful through those trials, Dave stopped by my office to see how I was doing. That meant a lot to me.

When news came that I would not be continuing my journey with American Century, Dave was the only officer in the company who reached out to help me in any way. He was the only executive who said good bye to me. He was the only one who expressed regret at my departure.

Dave is not perfect. There are a few things I've learned to avoid by watching Dave go first. But that's part of what I loved about working for Dave. He always had an open door. He always at least looked like he was listening. I always felt that my opinion was valued--even when his decisions took us in another direction. Dave, through his example, taught me to allow myself to be honest and vulnerable with my staff, to accept resulting criticisms with grace, and to win their hearts in the process.

Around the time that I was interviewing for positions at Sprint and Park University, Dave learned that he had cancer. In December, he began aggressive treatments that are very hard on the body and taxing on the mind and spirit.

Dave has shared his journey over the past few months through his blog. Just as he has openly shared his personal lessons in leadership over the years, he is now sharing his lessons in how to get through this trial with illness and come out a winner. As evidenced by the outpouring of comments in his blog, Dave's writings have touched and inspired many people. More than once during the past few months, I have thought that if I am ever faced with such a challenge as the one he is facing right now, I hope I have the courage to manage it just like Dave.

Regarding Sprint

Before Christmas, I wrote a bit about why I chose to work at Sprint. Two things happened this week that are compelling me to broach this topic a second time. First, the quarterly earnings report came out, along with the formal announcement that Sprint wrote off billions of dollars in goodwill. That triggered several media events, including a local radio talk show that hosted listeners calling in to rant about how much they dislike Sprint. The second thing that happened is I got a chance to talk to my Dad this week. Our discussion that day served as a sharp reminder of just how bad Sprint's reputation is.

Internally, lots of folks feel that the media is being overly harsh--that things aren't really as bad as "they" make it sound. As one who has only just recently joined the Sprint workforce, I can say I don't hold that view. I personally remember some very bad customer service experiences, and because of that, I think that the bad reputation is deserved. Compound that reputation with the low stock price (dipped way below $8/share this week) and news about yet another quarter of poor earnings reporting, and you get...depressed.

It is from within this context that I am now feeling the urge to defend my optimism about Sprint's future. Here are some things I'm seeing...

First, I've not had, nor have I been aware of anyone who has had a bad customer service experience in recent months. The steps that have been taken to resolve the bad customer service issues are working. The organization truly seems to be rallying behind its customer experience improvement efforts.

Second, I'm impressed with Sprint's new leadership changes, and it seems to be making a positive impression with many folks. During my first few weeks at Sprint, whenever I'd notice problems with processes or systems, fellow employees would often physically recoil, duck their heads and pleadingly say, "I know. Its...its bad, I know." This statement was followed by an apparent resolve to shrink the circle of influence just a bit and get back to work on the things they could directly affect. In more recent weeks, that has been changing. I'm seeing greater and greater examples of change. More folks are stepping into roles of accountability. Fewer end-to-end processes are "un-owned." We've still got a long way to go in this arena, but I'm definitely seeing positive momentum in this area.

Third, I'm excited about Sprint's new pricing model available to customers and prospective customers alike. Customers can get a flat rate with unlimited calling and data services (i.e. web, chat, email, etc.) for under $100/month. If you want to restrict the number of minutes of talk time, you can get a less expensive plan that also has unlimited data services. That's significantly cheaper than similar plans from any other competitor, and its on a significantly faster network. I love the data service I get on my Sprint phone. I have access to all of my personal and work email on my device all of the time, and its fast and easy to use. No waiting for things to download or upload. I like it. And I use the Internet and I especially like the Google Maps application on my phone...highly cool for finding where I'm going.

It takes time to turn around this many years of bad customer experiences, bad employee experiences, and lack of accountability for internal systems and processes. It takes time to fix the culture. But I buy-in to the whole "Good to Great" concept of the fly-wheel, and I'm seeing the right pieces coming together to help a large workforce move in one direction. The only question in my mind is, "Do we have time to course correct?" And for now, my answer is simply, "I sure hope so."

I'm having such a great time influencing positive change. This is work I love to do.