8:00am
Packing for days now, almost done. I get grumpy when I pack, so things have ben tense round 'ya ;)
On a cooler note, we took a bowl ull of spare change that we had sitting around, and took it to a coinstar machine to turn the jinglers into folders. I estimated $17.28, Briana estimated $12.48. We actually walked out with $54.47!!!!! That is like better than finding a $10 bill in your freshly washed jean pockets!
Oh well, enough time spend bloging, need to get back on the pack!
Zoe helping Matt Recouperate after surgery
Last night was Zoe's (our dogter) first night with her new daddy. It was tough to not have her home around bedtime, but I know that it will get easier. Anyway, Zoe, if you are on the WWW and checking the blog, please know that you have been the best! Your little persoanlity will be missed a great deal. Look forward to having you in our lives again in the future.
Since we are going to be moving to unknown teritory we decided to take the plunge into GPS navigation. We picked up this wonderful item at Circut City last night. It is the Lowrance Iway 350c.
Briana and I are very happy to have signed a contract with United Van Lines to move us to our new home.
The price was quite reasonable which is key right now. Also it is so nice not to have to bother with hauling boxes to and from a truck!
I am healing nicely. I was sore on Sunday from working on Saturday, but that last bit of soreness and swelling seems to be fading now so I look forward to being 100%
This is the last week of work for both of us. Friday is our last day. It is going to be sad to leave behind such amazing companies and co-workers, but the hectic pace that lies before us will certainly distract form the sadness. I have been working on my last big project prior to departure, and if it is able to be implemented it will be a wonderful gift to leave behind. All of the stores will benefit from the streamlining that will occur if we can get this POS update to properly apply itself without issue. It will be nice to know that I will have saved them much time and headache in the future months until the permanent solution is in place.
That is about all for now, hope everyone is doing well!
Matt D
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I am back working full swing now, and it is nice not to be bed ridden. I have worked from home the past couple of days because it is more comfortable than my office, but productivity has been 100%
I think I will try the office tomorrow.
Other than that we are entertaining all options for moving, and in a flip flop scenario I am being the frugal one with the move. Briana is very set on hiring professionals to move us. That would cost $3,500 as compared to ~$1,800 for us to do it with a 16' Penske truck. She is the finance person, so ultimately it is her call.
We celebrated my good friend Travis’ 30th birthday last night. True to form in our circle, not a big to do was made, but it was nice seeing our little boy grow into a man ;).
The photos in this post are indicative of our newly found maturity as I will be joining Mr. Travis in the thirty something club this coming August. (for some reason making faces seemed like the right idea at the moment?)
Matt D
Posted June 14
Been healing nicely, went into work a few hours yesterday as per the recovery instructions. They were dead on; you do not know if you are over doing things until the next day. I am a bit on the sore side today, so work will need to be done from home.
A note about the surgery:
All of the best case scenarios occurred, so that means that Briana and I have about a 10% decrease in our ability to make a baby. That is pretty good odds in my opinion. My surgical team was wonderful. Everyone was so nice, it was as great of an experience as surgery can be.
Posted June 8:
Surgery went well. healing underway. more to follow
Part 1: Before the call
In about 25 minutes I will be on a conference call with the two district managers and 17 store managers that work in my area. I will be announcing my departure from the company.
This is tough. How do you effectively communicate your appreciation to a group of people who have worked their butts of for you in the past? In some instances today will be the end of a six year working relationship, for others it may be six months. They are so special to me.
I have no doubt that the call will go well, it is just funny to notice how the mind makes the uncertain time before an event so much bigger than the actual event.
After the call Briana and I will be meeting with the surgeon that will be working on me tomorrow. An update on the call and the meeting with the doctor will follow.
Part 2: After the call
The call went well. People were so kind. There is no way to find out how wrong you are about not needing others approval until they give it to you. It was very difficult to remain composed enough to utter the thoughts that were in my notes. I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to grow and learn. Not many 24 year olds get this type of opportunity. I will never forget the many lessons that my people have taught me. We will always be family.
The appointment went swimmingly. We are a go for the surgery tomorrow at 9am. If all goes well there may be a little one on the way in 2007!
God bless all!
Grandma, this post is dedicated to you on your 90th birthday. I very much wish that I could be there to give you a big hug , kiss, and speak with you about whatever comes to our minds, but we are busy here in Dallas preparing for our move.
I want you to know that I love you dearly. You have been such a special part of my development as I have never had a greater teacher of unconditional love in all of my life. It is amazing how in the good times and the bad that no matter what any of your children and grand children said or did, the door of your heart was always open to them. Thank you for this, and all of the other life lessons that you have taught to me (even that white bread DOES taste good when dipped into maple syrup). :-)
I love you Grandma. You will always be in my heart.
Matt D
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Very tired.
Comments section has been removed. It just seems best. They were starting to get exclusive in the religion department, and this blog is an equal faith opportunity blog. We wouldn’t want someone to get offended, or feel the need to start a war or something.
If you have a comment for us, please email matthew@omlifeyoga.org, or a comment in the chat box.
We had a wonderful evening at our friend Blair’s lecture this evening. He really did well. We are proud of him.
Good night all!
Matt & Briana
So one of two big items are out of the way. We just sold my car to a nice fellow named Mike. He is a college student right now, and is able to fix the problems that this car has himself, so He just saved about $3,000 off of retail! That is what I call win / win!
The sale of the car will cover the cost of my surgery and our move so we are so excited to not have to worry about these funds! This whole process has been amazing. Everything has been smooth as silk.
So we are waiting on a call from the residential coordinator to find out what sort of living accommodations that we will have in the near future. We did receive word that there is plenty of storage space so we will not need to sell nearly as much stuff as we had thought. That is good news. I put my car up for sale yesterday and have been getting good interest. I do not think that it is going to be too difficult to get rid of it soon.
We have a good friend coming to visit us tomorrow. He will be in Dallas through the weekend and leave Monday evening. I am excited about Blair’s visit! I always wind up learning something cool from him. BlairLewis.com
Other than that we are just hard at work. I will be having my surgery on June 7th at 9:00 am, so your thoughts and prayers for a successful procedure are much appreciated.
The photo in this post is from a dude that lives in our building. His name is Hal Samples. I really like his work. He and I have spoken a couple of times at a yoga studio. He sort of intrigues me a bit because of what he chooses to shoot. The forgotten side of humanity has always been a secret fascination of mine. I think that it is interesting to watch “free” people live through Hal’s lens. I feel for him that his life’s work takes such a toll on him mentally. Check him out HERE if you like.
Our close friends Travis and Michelle have gotten "pre-hitched" (engaged)!
Thank you Michelle K for your love and support!
Briana Just gave me the rundown on your conversation.
It is nice to have a friend that does not have direct experience with our destination not reply with anything other than terror for our future.
I certainly appreciate everyone’s concern, but if I have to listen to one more person ask me if I watch ER I may barf :).
P.S. we do not watch much TV, and ER is a never for us, at least post Clooney ER that is.
ER is a TV show.
It is a drama.
How could it be a drama if the doctors did not get hurt?
Like someone is going to tune in week after week to see someone going about regular minutia?
Thank you for your support, I wish you all of the love in the world!
So are we joining a cult?
All I can say is "nah :)", but you will choose to believe what you want.
So are we not Christian?
I call myself a Christian (catholic), but some Christians will disagree. They should know that I am cool with that :)
A newsletter just came from the Institute; it contains an interview with one of the residents. She answers a lot of the questions that I have been asked lately. Check it out HERE
So a little bit about Meta.
She was my ride to the Institute the first time that I visited in June of 2005. About 4 hours before she picked me up I received an email from my birth mother (I was adopted at 8 days of age) wanting to know if I wanted to meet. I was soooooooo freaked out. I had written off any desire to meet her a long time ago as in my opinion she and I made a trade. I would let her live her life out free from me, and I got to live.
So here I was, alone in Newburgh, NY my co-workers had all gone home, and I had scheduled a 10 day retreat at this place that my friends had lived for 6 years and spoke very highly of it. I did not REALLY know what to expect. I knew that my ride was to show up at 3pm and that my birth mother (Kim) had just tossed a huge curveball my way. My emotions ran the gambit. I was scared, I was joyful, I was crying, I was laughing. I called my Mom, My wife, and anyone else that I could get on the phone for advice.
So the best way to tell the story is to consult the email archive. I sent this message to my board of directors (friends, family, etc) looking for advice:
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Douzart
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 12:49 PM
Subject: FW: RE: Attempting to reach Matthew Douzart
WOW.
Please read down to get the full story.
I had no intention of ever making contact since I believe that the choice that she made 29 years ago entitles her to put this in the past. I have quite a bit of pondering to do while on vacation. Your thoughts and prayer will be appreciated.
Take care all!
Matt D
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Douzart
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 1:42 PM
To: 'xxxxxxxxxxx@bellsouth.net'
Subject: RE: RE: Attempting to reach Matthew Douzart
Let me think about this and get back with you later.
I am going on vacation today returning 7/5/2005.I will have an answer then.
In the meantime, please give my best wishes to my birth mother. Please let her know that I was entrusted to two amazing people who should be proud of the job that they did raising me. I am positive that all four of us are in a better place today as a result of my adoption.
Please let her know that there is absolutely NO animosity in my heart for the decision that she made 28 years ago.
Take care,
Matt D
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxxxxx@bellsouth.net
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 1:31 PM
To: Matthew Douzart
Subject: RE: RE: Attempting to reach Matthew Douzart
Matthew, how would you feel about being put in contact with your birth mother? (Apologies that there isn't an easier way to do this.)
From: "Matthew Douzart"
Date: 2005/06/23 Thu PM 01:21:39 EDT
Subject: RE: RE: Attempting to reach Matthew Douzart
The one and only. No need to be easy. How can I help?
Take care,
Matt D
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxxxxx@bellsouth.net
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 11:13 AM
To: Matthew Douzart
Subject: Attempting to reach Matthew Douzart
Hello, I am attempting to contact Matthew Douzart from Metairie.
Is this email address valid? A reply will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kim
Sooooooooo, needless to say I was shaken.
Later communication that day revealed that the Kim I was messaging was my birth mother. I had a lot of thinking to do.
Back to Meta.
Meta picked me up at the Marriot right on time. We loaded up my stuff and hit the road for Honesdale (90 minute trip). We had casual conversation mostly, but something inside me led me to speak to Meta about the adoption thing.
I was amazed to find out that she was adopted too! She was a little different than I was because she had a desire to find her birth parents, but had not been able to.
We chatted the rest of the way to Honesdale about the possibilities. She was just what the Dr. ordered for this hectic situation in my life.
When I got to the Institute I ate supper, and headed off to bed. I was so tired.
The next day I was reading in the tea lounge and there was one other person in the lounge, a woman a little older than my mother.
We began to speak to one another, and I again felt led to share the adoption thing with her. She was the second stranger that I discussed this personal information with, and she too was involved in adoption! She had given a child up for adoption 30 years ago…
Meta was my sign to show me what a great gift I was being offered, and this woman was there to show me what Kim was going through. That was a long story, but it is interesting to me at least.
If you were bored, there are lots of other web sites on the net. Enjoy them! Please don’t confuse my pragmatic sarcasm for anything other than it is…
Until next time,
Matt D
So the call from Shelly came late last night. I have finalized the letter of resignation and will be speaking with my boss Mike this afternoon. I have not been this nervous about something for as long as I remember. I think that this is a good life lessson. I was too comfortable. I like this feeling of vulnerability. I know now that everything will be fine. There is a strange peace in all of this. A copy of the resignation letter will be placed below in blue to document the entire situation:
Dearest Tom and Mike:
It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation from my position.
It is sort of poetic in a way that I am writing this letter on the sixth anniversary of my employment with our organization. I can not express with words how the mere act of putting these thoughts onto paper is by far the most difficult thing that I have had to do while working for Oreck.
The difficult part of writing this type of letter is how can I put into words the amount of deep, heartfelt gratitude, admiration, respect, and love that I have in my heart for the two of you. How can I properly pour my heart out enough that you know without a doubt that you have both touched my life in an indelible manner? I hope that these words suffice, but I fear that words sometimes fail to hit their mark. Just know that the resounding theme of this letter is “Thank you”.
My time with Oreck was a Godsend. I came in a jaded 24 year old boy with a bad taste in his mouth for a cold, corporate lifestyle. In my previous job, I watched a great organization go public and loose sight of who the real customer was. With the ring of a bell the person in my store was downgraded to second class citizen in lieu of the newly found shareholder.
It was amazing to see such a different atmosphere, philosophy, and approach from our company. My second week with Oreck I attended Oreck U to have the CEO sit in a room with me and 13 other budding vacuum salespeople and spend ½ of a day discussing the basic philosophies of why Oreck is such a great company. I was amazed that in this day and age financial gain was not on the tip of the tongue. The main focus was legendary customer service, and how we could offer just one more solution to our customer’s problems. I was hooked. I thought ‘so I can help people and get paid to do it!?’ Tom may have not been going for revival that day, but he created at least one more zealot. Six years later, and the zealot within is bigger than ever. I still firmly believe that we have the best product for the best price than any other company in industry, AND we do it with more grace, dignity, and compassion than any other company than I know. The lessons have been invaluable, and I am forever indebted to both of you for this opportunity to grow and learn.
My whole life my heart has been drawn to help people. That is why it found a home at Oreck for so long. I am positive that if I were not blessed with the opportunity that was presented to me a few days ago that it would have been very hard to find a reason, other than under police escort, to get me to leave.
The reason for leaving is not for another job. I am leaving to serve people on a bigger scale. Briana and I have been asked to join a cause that speaks to both of our hearts so loudly that we cannot dare tune it out. We are going to work with an organization known as Human Energy to provide proper humanitarian aid to people in great need. The thing that speaks to our hearts so much is the fact that we are not going to be raising money to send food or clothing or any of the other things that other organizations have tried to do to help the problem. We are not going to throw money at the situation and hope the problem stops. We are going to throw people at the problem. We are going to teach these people how to live in a self sustaining manner by offering them jobs, desperately needed medical support, and education so that their children are not doomed to face the same poverty that they have had to endure all of their lives. I do not think I could live with myself if I ignored the great need for talented people to jump in to put an end to this suffering. A father figure of mine once said to me “You cannot do anything to please me, for I am already pleased. It is not the things that you do in life that will disappoint me; it is the things that you do not do that will make me sad.” I know that my calling has found me. What a blessing.
A special note to Mike: What a great mentor, father figure, friend, and leader you have been. It has been an honor to study under you. I appreciate your patience, guidance, and understanding. You have embodied the Core Vales in every way. You will never know how much respect I have for your shrewd, intuitive style. When Theresa Nisbett would call me “Mini-Mike” my heart would smile so big. What an honor. I will miss your practical style, and fairness Mike. You are such a great soul.
My last day with Oreck will be June 23, 2006. I intend to work very diligently in this time frame to make sure that my open responsibilities are closed out or properly passed on to the successor that you choose.
The only personal loose end that needs to be tied up before we leave Dallas is that I need to right a bad decision that Briana and I made 4 years ago. I will be undergoing a vasectomy reversal procedure scheduled tentatively for the 7th of June. This will require me to be out, but available to guide by phone, the 7th of June through the 13th of June. This means that I will use 3 days of PTO time to recover from this surgery. Briana and I are so excited about starting a family together. If I could un-do one thing in life, the vasectomy would be it.
Once again, I appreciate so much the wealth of knowledge that the both of you have shared over the past 6 years. It has been a true blessing to have come in contact with such great leadership. You will both be missed a great deal. I will keep in touch to let you know how things are going with the projects. A lot of my time will be spent in Europe, India, and Africa, but we will always call the U.S. home. For now home will be in Honesdale, PA.
If there is ever any way that I can begin to repay the favor, please do not hesitate to ask. My contact information will follow in separate communication in the near future.
Sincerely,
Matthew Douzart
Regional Sales Manager
Ok, so Mike and I spoke and it went well. He thinks that I am not making a good choice (as if anyone does, but I love everyones' concern, it is a sign of their love for me. If people were like "umkaythks" I would begin to think that I have been a not so great dude ;)). The fact is that the deed is done, and we will mutually miss one another a great deal. He paid me some wonderful compliments. I will never forget the lessons that he taught me.
Today Briana and I are waiting to find out when there will be space for us at our new home. Once we get the call we can begin to plan for our exit from our current home to ur new home. The anticipation of this call is creating a great deal of nervous energy...
Difficult to work while in limbo. Once I know the date I can manage to that date. This is obviously teaching me a great deal about myself. The goal is to some day remain uneffected by this sort of stuff. Right now it is only a goal. :)
