I always seem to have a lot going on, but right now I’d say it’s the craziest part of the year for me. Last night Twistin‘ Egyptians played our fist show in over 35 years. Our set was around an hour or so. Thursday we have a show the requires a 50 minute set. It takes hours and hours of practice to play those shows. We did two 3 hour practices just to get ready to play one one hour set last night. And we’re looking at one more practice before we play this upcoming Thursday and Saturday as well. 9 hours of practice (together anyway – we all had to practice on our own before we got together) to play a one hour set. That is one thing I have going on. In the meantime Pink Houses The Band is in the middle of replacing two members as well. Way more to do there… Pink Houses does shows that last three to four hours and we don’t take any breaks. It’s a LOT of material. And medleys. And transitions. We’re practicing today. Practices usually go 6 hours for that band. We’ve done two already, two more to go before we add a new member into the shows. 24 hours of practicing to play one four hour set. The work that bands have to put in to even get to the point here we can play a show at all is incredible. Then, of course – there’s the shows. Driving, set up, tear down, driving – the show might be 3-4 hours long, but bands have to get there a couple hour early to set up and sound check. With an hour drive time each way – that three hour gig takes eight hours or more… oh – in the meantime, I do run a business as well. I’ve been doing that for a while now (19 years), so it’s a fairly large business that also eats up a lot of time. When I was building it up I worked most weeknights Monday through Thursday and every Saturday… for years. I have a junior advisor in training right now, which should eventually take some pressure off, but – training takes time, too. Time that isn’t easy to find, either. Next month the schedule will slow down considerably. The Twistin’ Egyptians shows are done after August 9th. Pink Houses doesn’t play much in the fall and winter. And this is somewhat how life works, right? It comes in waves. Most salespeople have heard the saying “chicken for dinner one night, feathers the next”. It just means that there are times when everything you do is working, business is cranking so much it’s hard to keep up with, etc… and it feels like that’s just how it’ll be from now on… then a week or two later it’s crickets. Ya got nothing going on. For me, I’ve always thought – you know, you have to really ride that wave when you have it, and – this one is a bit tougher for me, but… relax a bit when things slow down, right? I’m in the middle of a wave right now, there’s a lot of stress, and it almost feels like my nerves are plugged into an electrical outlet. I called a financial advisor friend of mine a few years back – he also had a huge business – and I asked him how things were going. He said “Oh, man – it’s super busy. Some days we just sit here and shake.” Ever feel like that? Like it’s so much going on your nerves are at heightened awareness and you’re just shaking inside? These times often precede a slowdown. That’s how waves work. And when the slowdown comes, it’s easy to stay nervous, like – you’re used to that faster pace, right? Seems like you’re not getting anything done. But as humans, we also need to take time to rest and relax. So, I’m enjoying the ride this month and looking forward to a respite next month. And football… but I digress.. no matter where you’re at, keep riding that wave and do whatever you can to enjoy every moment. We really do get so few 
