Tips For Working At Home: Be You

Be You

Coronavirus (Covid-19) may have changed many things, but it hasn't changed who we are as individuals.  If you can figure out who you are and how to be yourself, you'll be so much happier.  All of us have unique eccentricities and different challenges.  Here are some ideas about how to embrace ourselves during uncertain times.

1) Who Am I and Who Do I Want To Be? - We all get lost.  Beliefs collide with experiences to make us hypocrites.  So, we have to be patient, flexible, and understanding to others and ourselves.

Personally, I was having lots of troubles a few years ago.  Upon reflection, I realized I needed to work at being a better person.  But, what did that mean to me?  My answer was to put truth, fairness, and kindness into action.  Sometimes there are grey areas, I forget and fail, or I stubbornly cling to wishful thinking.  Yet, it always comes back and I will myself to do the right thing. 

2) Who Cares What They Think? - If you don't choose for yourself; someone else will choose for you.  You'll lose your personal identity, lessen your self-esteem, waste time and energy on other people's pet projects, and have unfulfilling relationships.  That doesn't mean you're selfishly not taking other's into consideration.  It just means you're taking yourself into consideration as well.  And that's healthy.  

3) Being Alone - Use this isolation to discover who you really are.  What are your thoughts, interests, feelings, dreams, and ideas?  Turn off the smartphone and TV to listen to yourself.  

4) You're Weird - Good!  Weird is interesting.  Weird is fun.  Love it because it means you're probably doing something right.  It's a compliment; not an insult.

5) Build Confidence - Imagine who you want to be.  Ignore self-doubt.  Set some achievable goals.  Share goals with a supportive friend.  Help the supportive friend with their goals.  

6) "Pobody's Nerfect" - Most likely, it's your first time going through life.  You'll accidentally insult your boss, regret some decisions, and forget someone's birthday.  Admit the error, apologize, make a kind gesture, and move on.  

7) Get a Hobby - Find something you love to do. It can be painting, sculpture, sewing, writing, photography, printing, volunteering for a cause, fitness, biking, hiking, woodworking, learn a new language, making models, magic, juggling, fishing, running, dancing, swimming, geo-caching, surfing, astronomy, model rockets, bird watching, researching ancestry, history of a specific event, card games, pool, darts, home brewing, wine tasting, music, collecting and so, so very much more. 

8) Hooray For Mistakes! - Mistakes are great as long as you learn from them.  It means you're still experimenting and trying new things.  Just remember to admit your errors, ask yourself honest questions about your decisions, find effective way to prevent future problems, and move on.

Or it could be a new discovery.  A few "mistakes" lead to the creation of the plastic, Post-It Notes, the Slinky, Penicillin, corn flakes, the Pacemaker, and so much more.  As Bob Ross says, "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents. 

AND DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!!!

Have any questions? Please feel free to contact me.  

More Having Fun During Coronavirus

https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/covid-19coronavirus-resources.html

Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeKrausBlog

Remodeling Our Kitchen

Look at what Megan did this summer.  She remodeled our kitchen.  Here's some before and after shots of her hard work:

Before

 After

Before

After

WE'RE OUTSIDE THE LINES!!! HAHAHA!

Who needs Flutie Flakes when you can have MariO's?  Seriously, one of the huge advantages to signing with the Buffalo Bills is the possibility of having your own cereal.  

Winding down to the last fire of the year...

Zweigle's red and white hot over an open flame.  

More home improvement.  This is the before picture.

This is the after.  Not too much.  Just painted the wall above the tile white to soften it up a little bit.  The matching yellow wall kind of burned out your retinas.  

And, a "before" of our front door.

I'm not going to call this an "after" picture because this is getting redone.  The red paint isn't sticking.  So, I'll probably have to strip it, prime it, and sand it all over again because the base is non-absorbent (as you can tell by the missing chunks on the left).  But, someday, this is what it will look like.

"Before" front door

Not an "after" front door...

Last, but not least.  Watched Gertie for a night.  I think she was looking for Dick and Marianne  the whole time.  

That's it for me until the Detroit Tiger's faceoff against Oakland A's in the playoffs starting Friday.  Might splurge and make myself some "Famous Prince Fielder Nachos."

Mr. Gorbachev, Paint Over This Beige Wall!

Another room being painted!  Here's Megan painting the master bedroom buttercup (yellow) from beige

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Yeah for new bedroom.  That was a fun couple of weekends.  If you want to see what we did to the living room, you can visit: http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-battle-against-beige-tyranny.html

How do you celebrate a newly painted bedroom?  A bonfire of course!

Whoops, I guess I made the fire a little too big...  Exciting day yesterday.  A guy driving by my house had a gas leak in his car and it caught fire.  It's not in this picture, but you can imagine what 2,000 lbs of charcoal with a Chevy bowtie looks like...

Ruby Shoes playing in the parking lot of the main street (Commercial Street) in East Rochester.  For some reason, they played all the songs from Grease.  That reason is probably that people love it.

Rachel showing off her swimming ability.

Foot

And, what would my blog be without my baby deers update?  

This is by far the closest the fawn have been to us.  Curious little fellas and they still have their spots.  Pretty soon, they'll be moving in the house and paying rent.

That's about it.  Lots of stuff coming up over the next couple of weeks...

The Battle Against Beige Tyranny!

THE DAYS OF LIVING IN A BEIGE HOME ARE NUMBERED!


Before and after of the northeast side of the living room.  Since our home was built in 1951, we decided to restore the house to a fun 1950s style palette.  


Before and after of the southwest side of the living room


Sorry The Braithwaites Established 2000.  The Bell-Kraus' will finally claim this living room in the shade of Mint Milkshake!



While I'm at home repair, need to clean the gutters (which apparently have not been cleaned since 2005).  Can I do it from climbing out the second floor window?  Nope, need a ladder...


Now that the work is done, time for a fire!


Campfire Premium Quality Giant Roaster Marshmallows!  The mascot is accurate.  The marshmallows are the size of someone's head!  THANKS MARIANNE!



Mmmmmm....  Giant Smore!


Look who came to our cookout.  Megan and I were sitting around a nice fire talking when we heard some footsteps.  We saw one deer walk by and try to keep his distance.  Not this one.  He walked right up to us and the fire and didn't back off until we both shouted at him and banged sticks.  He only backed off about ten feet and we could not scare him off.  I literally have about 100 photos of this deer thinking I could use the flash to startle him.  Nope.  


The more I observe the deer at my house, the less impressed I am with deer hunters.  It isn't a sport if I can walk up to them, put a rope around their necks, and lead them into my garage.
  

Megan and I's anniversary is coming up in the next couple of weeks and we don't have patio furniture yet.  Saw this Gnome/Dwarf set at Topps for only $199.99!  This truly would be the gift we would never, NEVER forget!

That's it for this edition.  Thanks for wasting your time with me!

"Your Golden Opportunity!" (In the Key of Kenny Loggins)

A big congratulations goes out to Megan this week since she has a NEW JOB!  "Didn't she just get a new job?" you say.  The answer is "yes, and she seems to collect jobs like candles," but that was a great temporary opportunity that ends in December.  She'll start at Hillside Family of Agencies right after as an Event Coordinator (or something like that).  Give her the ol' congrats when you get a chance!!!  (PS - I'm still looking for a position and my resume is at www.mikekrausresume.blogspot.com or  to the left of this, just saying...)



Proof again that there is no problem that can't be created that doesn't have an affordable solution.  I like that they are trying to make eggs in the shape of bread, but I find in interesting that they suggest this for use on pancakes too.  Maybe this is a suggestion for IHOP to make a pancake version of the KFC Double Down?



Before - During - After
Erin needed her bathroom painted and I needed something to keep me busy.  Seems like a match made in heaven, right?



Before - During - After



Before - During - After



Before - During - After
Not bad.  Last I saw, there were a few touch ups that needed to be done with a smaller paintbrush.  Some cleanup of paint and putty here and there.  Stuff I'll have to look at next time I stop by.



Some people get paid in peanuts, I elect for doughnuts.  Donuts Delite to be precise.  They are delicious and, I'm just guessing, not health food.  We've been hearing "you have to go to Donuts Delite" ever since we moved to Rochester.  After eating their food and seeing their website, I might have to make a pit stop in the near future.



MEOWZR!!!  It seems we might have a crazy cat person as a neighbor.  Megan decided that she will use it as her exclamation from now on.



The Morton Rundel Memorial Library in downtown Rochester.  Morton Rundel was a local art dealer who made money by investing in his cousin's company, the Eastman Kodak Company.    When he died in 1911, he gave $400,000 to the city for the construction of this library and art gallery.  But, the city took so long to start construction that the family sued (further delaying construction) and it wasn't started until 1934.  By then, the Memorial Art Gallery was built and another art gallery was unnecessary.  So, it's all library except a one room art gallery now.  The building's on an old millrace along the Genesee River that was later used and abandoned as a subway.  It is connected by underground tunnel to the modern Bausch and Lomb Public Library across the street.



Inside the Rundel Library.  I spent a few hours here last week just seeing what they had.  Their local history room on the 2nd floor is pretty impressive.  Lots of local, family, state histories.  Big old maps of the city.  City master plans from every decade that seem to be implemented a small bit or ignored completely.  Microfiche!  


The Detroit Lions (2-6) vs. the Buffalo Bills (0-8) in Loser Bowl 2010 this weekend.  Megan and I will be there.  Megan thinks there should be a Super Bowl of losers every year to determine the worst team in football.  This is about as close as it's going to get to reality.  I can only dream that this game ends in a tie (a likely dream with Stafford out for the season... again...)...