Happy Dad's Day!

Today's blog is dedicated to my dad. For many years when my sister and I were little Dad would lead the Unitarian Church on Father's Day. I remember him talking about our Grandpa, his own experience being a dad, singing, and most importantly telling us that he loved us. Truthfully I couldn't tell you exactly what else he said or sang, just that he said, "I love you." It felt like our day as much as his.

One thing he says is, "Never give advice to someone, only options. In the end a person will always do what they want."
Now, is that giving advice to not give advice? :) Little did he know that he was giving advice indirectly all along.

Indirect advice from Dad (aka El Padre or the Dude):

1) Never give advice, in the end people do what they want.
2) For every goofy, outlandish sounding rule there is always an even goofier story to explain the need for the rule.
3) Smart people, even with PhD's in math, can be short attention span readers... and that's ok
4) Finding humor in completely screwed up situations helps get over it more than anything else. (quite handy as a teacher)
5) The class "Picture Lady" doesn't have to be a lady nor does he/she have to talk the whole time about the picture.
6) Why have 1 piece of cake when you can have 5 slivers?
7) The kiddie table is more fun than the adult table.
8) The trickiest part to starting a new job is figuring out where the bathrooms are.
9) Often finding the solution to a problem is knowing the answer and working backwards. Math reference, determining delta (or was it epsilon?).
10) Never refer to senior faculty as "dinosaurs."
11) Following an itinerary isn't as much fun nor as memorable as just hanging out together.
12) Avoid making more than one major life change per year; e.g. marry, move, change jobs (see indirect piece of advice number 1)

Thanks for all you've taught me, Dad. You have been a wonderfully loving and supportive parent. I miss you and can't wait to see you in July! Living in Seattle is awesome but I miss the days in Chicago when I could just hang out with Dad.

I love you,
Lisa