Friend of Redgate 2020

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Last week I was excited to receive an email from Redgate notifying me that I have been renewed for another year as a Friend of Redgate. Our shop has been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to utilize some of these products

As for the Friend of Redgate program it has been an amazing journey with Redgate. Six years ago they decided to take a chance on me, and am thankful that they did. Together, we have learned a lot together and I’m constantly realizing how much a program like this continues to make an impact for the community. I think Redgate sums it up pretty well:

“Our Friends are all experts on the Microsoft Data Platform, know Redgate and our tools and share our commitment to the community.

Over the last 20 years, our Friends have worked with us to create a whole host of learning content, solve problems on the forums, and develop even better software for our users. Their recommendations have also enabled us to reach and help more data professionals across the world.

The Friends of Redgate are an integral part of the Redgate team; generously sharing their time, expertise and insights with us. We’re hugely grateful for all their support and look forward to collaborating with the group, and helping them in any way we can, for many years to come.”

I look forward to serving the community, and this program continues to allow me an avenue in making a difference. Thanks Redgate for the opportunity!!

Why I’m Running For The PASS Board – Again

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Hello, it’s amazing to me how fast the past couple of years have gone by as I’ve served on the PASS Board. It has been a journey that has been both rewarding and challenging, but I would not change any of it. At times the challenges have been great, the stress large. Representing the PASS Community is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

I have given much thought to this, and I am writing today to say I will be running again for the Board of Directors At Large seat for PASS.

Now, often in a post like this you would expect to read about my accomplishments, my vision, and how I will make things better. I will keep this simple, clear, and concise:

  1. I’m running because I believe in the PASS Community and what it has done for me and my professional colleagues.
  2. My passion for helping others succeed has only grown since I decided to initially run almost two years ago.
  3. There is always room for improvement; a belief that has helped me grow in my career. I strive to be better than I was yesterday, and the same concept goes for me as a Board member.
  4. Some believe you can’t make a difference as a Board member, but in living and breathing the Board duties, I have witnessed many great things happening contrary to this notion.
  5. I view this as a WE thing; not a me thing. I was told it would be a challenge, whether that be with community members, working with the Board, or collaborating with PASS HQ. I’m happy to say this hasn’t been the case. We are a team and together we can and do accomplish so much. Doesn’t mean we will always agree; it does mean that tough decisions will be needed. To that I say, let’s go!
  6. While Board members can burn out over time and stop contributing, if you know me at all, then you will realize that hasn’t been the case with me. Listen, I’m not perfect and you will never hear me say that I am. What I can tell you is that I’ll continue to fight for this community and make it better than it was yesterday.

I hope many more people will run for the Board in the future. Yes it is hard work. But despite the rumor that one can’t make a difference – a true difference – they can. Let’s get after it. Believe in yourself and fuel up with optimism.

I appreciate you reading this and if you deem me worthy enough of a second run, I’m happy and willing to serve alongside some great individuals and professionals. It’s been an honor and privilege.

T-SQL Tuesday #119 – Changing Your Mind

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This month Alex Yates (B|T) is hosting T-SQL Tuesday which is a monthly blog party started by Adam Machanic (B|T) and co-ordinated by Steve Jones (B|T)

The challenge that Alex has proposed this month regarding what have we, as data professionals, changed our mind about over time is a great one.

Starting out as a developer, becoming a database administrator, and morphing into management I have grown over time in certain areas. One of those areas is the specific need to understand all aspects of the various technical and business units. Particularly how they are intertwined with each other.

Let me explain. My mindset in the past had been fix what needed to be fixed, and on to the next innovative solution. If you didn’t take the solution provided then that’s okay; but expect the issues to persist. Having in depth knowledge of how the processes all flow together and what makes each business unit tick however is something that has helped over time.

I’ve learned that bridging gaps and bringing everyone together has helped immensely in trouble shooting issues, learning what business is trying to actually accomplish, and proving that developers, sysadmins, and DBAs can work together. Who knew right?

This type of mentality is ever challenging and always a moving target. One that will always require fine tuning. When it clicks though the fruitful gains are exponential. The key being to always try to figure out the “why”. Set emotion aside and work together reviewing the facts while partnering and collaborating as much as possible. I’m always enamored when teams who work for the same company struggle with this concept.

Thanks Alex for hosting this month and for what you do in the community. Cheers!

 

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Friend of Redgate 2019

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The crew at Redgate has deemed me worthy enough to be in their Friend of Redgate program for another year. I continue to be honored an humbled to be a part of something in which I believe in.

“The Friends of Redgate program is an exclusive group of influential and active community members, such as popular blog writers, speakers, consultants, as well as Microsoft Data Platform MVPs.”

Back in 2011 I was new to PASS, I attended my first PASS Summit and was just figuring out what the SQL Community was. Redgate was the first company to allow me to be part of a program such as this, and for that I am grateful.

I, personally, have been a product user of Redgate for many years and look forward to much continued success in the products that they produce. If you get time go check them out.

Thanks Redgate; it is an honor and privilege!!

SQL Saturday Louisville–Bout That Time

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SQL Saturday Louisville is less than a week away!! A lot of hard work has gone into putting on this event by some great organizers and volunteers. It has been awesome to be part of the journey with them. You can check out the event homepage here and if your keen on checking out the schedule then you can check that out here

Fortunate this year to be co-presenting a lunch session with Justin Randall (b|t) “Break Through Your Data Performance Barriers with SentryOne” It’s going to be a fun time as we look into a case study that our shop partnered with them on – going to be an epic time!!

This year will be our 10th event and while I have been a part of these for the last three years I would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment and just thank the many who paved the way for our local community to get to where we are now. If you are coming to the event; please do look around and when you see a volunteer please give them a hearty thank you – believe me; it does go a long way.

Big thanks to our sponsors below for helping support us this year!

180 – Is It Time For A Turnaround?

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What needs to change? The challenge to explore is are there things in your current day to day that needs to change? Maybe there are some habits, things, processes that need to be turned around. One of the most difficult things about turning around in my mind is acknowledging the fact that you were actually going the wrong way. What….we make mistakes…..nope, never, nuh uh. Admitting to that is not often an easy task.

We may uncover some inefficiencies in your processes at work, we might discover that the direction we’ve been heading in leads to a dead end, or we may even get to that point where we say, “yeah it’s time for a turn around”. It’s then you begin to start to look for that exit ramp; you look for the place where you can turn your flicker (turn signal for some of you) on so you can get off the journey you are on and go a different route.

How do you turn around? Sometimes our pride makes it hard in admitting the road we have been on isn’t the right road we should be taking. We don’t like using the word humble because it makes you feel vulnerable or weak. In my past experiences in technology, and I’ve been doing this now for 18 years is that there is usually always something we (I) could have been doing better.

The path you are on may feel right and other people are taking it, and because it feels right it is unnatural to do a 180; a different direction than what others are doing – it’s not natural.

When is the last time you yourself have said the words I’m sorry? If you haven’t in a while then yeah it’s unnatural. C’mon you know what I’m talking about. You run into these people everywhere; the ones that think their way is always the right way. They call you stupid or point out your mistakes 24/7 telling you how ignorant you are. Or you run into someone who says you won’t be worth anything why are you even trying. Entertain me for a minute and what if that same person did a 180; they didn’t give you a heads up and came up to you and told you that they were sorry. It’s a different road.

This is all well and good Chris but what about you? Ha, well my friend I’ve been taken several exit ramps over the years to turn around. Both professionally and personally. This post is more on the technical side of the house so, there are some things that maybe we can do differently in our day to day work that may cause us a 180-degree turnaround.

  • Backup plans
  • Maintenance
  • Life Cycle Management
  • Documentation (sigh, yeah I need to look at this one)
  • Platform Upgrades
  • Communication (this could be a topic in and of itself and in my mind should be a continual work in progress)
  • Hiring guidelines
  • Career Pathing
  • The security model for databases
  • Disaster Recovery

The above is not an all-inclusive list but it’s a start. Some of the ways that have helped me over the years and may help you in tackling such an initiative are:

Think Progress, not perfection  – this is a big deal because if you are like me you’d like everything to be perfect. You may find yourself using the term “Never Again”. I challenge you to let go of that mentality and you claim victory one day at a time.  If you mess up one day; and you will. It will be okay. You can’t change yesterday, but today is a new beginning.

Think future, not past – yes the past is important because it is full of lessons learned. With that said the past can’t keep you chained; instead focus on the future of where you are going; where your team is going, and where your shop is going.

Think training, not trying – this may sound weird coming from me because I do believe you should try. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m focused on training yourself for the tasks at hand. Example; if I wanted to go try for the Olympics and I go out and try my chances of succeeding aren’t very high. Why? cause I haven’t trained for it. Then if I look at my day job at the shop if I am trying to do something without training for it am I being efficient enough?

So, I ask this question – is it time for a turnaround? I get to work with a lot of tech people locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. I hear a lot that this would have been nice to know a long time ago and it’s too late now. I’m too far in my career. You don’t want to take that exit ramp because of the unknown. My own personal opinion it’s never too late to make a turnaround.

Now I don’t know the road you’ve been on I can only speak for myself. All I am presenting here is that if you are at a point where you know there needs to be a turn around don’t be afraid to take it. Keep fighting the good fight and make a difference wherever you are.

Interview With Matt Gordon

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I’ve been wanting to share a little bit about Matt’s story for a while now and this past week I reached out to him to see if he’d be up for an interview for the blog. As is usually the case he was happy to oblige. I’ve known Matt for, O gosh, a couple of years now. Met him when he first came down from Lexington to speak at our Louisville SQL and Power BI User Group. It’s pretty awesome to see how he’s grown over that amount of time not just as a data professional but also as a speaker.

Check out the interview below:

Tell us your name, what you do, and how you got started as a data professional?

My name is Matt Gordon (b|t) and I’m a Data Platform Solution Architect for DMI. Basically, I’m a data architect and consultant in our Data Platform & Analytics group. While I had done basic maintenance on SQL Server machines for a year or so before this happened, my real start as a data professional was thanks to a wonderful manager of mine. I was working as a support analyst for an enterprise asset management software company and we had a reporting platform that allowed customers to write their own queries against their data that we hosted. As you might imagine, those queries did not always perform well and several of our customers wanted help tuning them. My manager thought I would do well with that, I did decently with it, fell in love with data, and here we are.

I see you speak a lot at SQL Saturday’s; what would you say to someone who is just starting out speaking and wants to get involved?

I would say that there is no better feeling than helping your fellow data professionals solve a problem or think through an issue in a new way. I would also say that involvement in the PASS community will benefit your career and personal knowledge base in ways that you can’t even fathom at this point in time. It certainly has mine.

That said, the one thing I would say to somebody starting out is not to let anything stand in your way. As an example, when I was younger, I stuttered. It would have been easy for me to duck any community involvement and public speaking (and for years I did, even as I attended SQL Saturdays and PASS Summits) by saying that nobody would want to hear me talk. I wasn’t a good enough public speaker, I didn’t know enough, other people knew more. Maybe all of that is true, but people have told me that my community talks have helped them and that feeling is invaluable. If you need any further motivation, just read Mr. Yates tweets every morning!

If you could go back in time; what would you tell your younger self in regards to being a data professional?

I would tell myself to never settle for a title and never stop learning. Don’t say “I’m a developer” or “I’m a DBA” and decide that’s all you will ever be. I completely understand that job roles sometimes aren’t fluid at all – I’ve had my fair share of jobs like that through the years. Being involved in computing (and data specifically), however, almost demands a certain amount of continuing education. I wish I had understood that earlier in my career but I’m glad that I understand it now. I happily pass that advice on to my younger self.

What advice do you have for new data professionals coming into the community?

Do not be afraid to introduce yourself to people who you think are “famous”. There are people in the community who will likely hear about via blogs, webinars, etc. Those people, in almost every case, are just normal people looking to help folks within the community. Whether they’ve headlined a pre-con, spoken at PASS Summit, been on a podcast, etc. they want to teach people what they know and how they came to know it.

I was very intimidated by this for a couple of years until I had a technical issue at my job that really had me perplexed. I happened to be going to Summit so I made a point to go outside my comfort zone and talk to somebody I didn’t know in hopes of resolving the issue. I spoke to Denny Cherry (b|t) on the exhibition floor near his booth and he gave me incredibly useful advice that set me on the path to resolving the issue. Denny was “SQL famous” (and he still is) but he listened and was kind to me despite the number of people queued up to barrage him with questions. In my experience, most names in the Microsoft data community live up to this standard.

What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?

I played street hockey in college at the Clemson Street Hockey Club (on sneakers). As much as I enjoy hockey thanks to sending half of my formative years in the Chicago area (go Blackhawks!), I can only skate well enough to stand up on skates and make slow circles around the rink. Ice hockey was never going to be an option for me. That is the only time in my life I was ever able to play competitive hockey and I did manage to score one goal. It was against my roommate, we’re still friends to this day, and it still bugs him when I bring it up!

Conclusion

One thing I am a big supporter and fan of is how integral the local user groups are all over the world are. I probably would have run into Matt somewhere down the road whether it was at an event or conference, but meeting him at a local user group is a story that runs rampant in the SQL community. Being able to meet, cultivate, and grow friendships as such it a key proponent of keeping our community fresh and alive.

Matt, thank you for taking the time to be interviewed and share a little bit about yourself. I look forward to watching you for many years to come as you continue to impact others in the community, including myself.

What The Doctor Ordered

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I recently went to our local pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions. There was one for my boy and one for me; at the time I didn’t think much of it to check. I had seen the last name on the slip for both and moved onward with the business of the day. What I didn’t realize is that I had picked up a totally different prescription for a gentleman with the same last name as me for something that had nothing to do with me.

A number of emotions ran through my mind some not so good, but some actually made me think of my day to day routine and work as a SQL Data Professional:

◾ What was the root cause of how the issue occurred?

◾ Was it a manual process or automated?

◾ What processes are in place for this to not happen?

◾ Security in general (information was on the slip for the other gentleman)?

◾ What could have been the outcome based on taking the prescription?

Sure, I’m human, and you bet I was frustrated by the situation. The questions above come into play every day if we look around. Think about it for a minute if you will. How many times are we going about the business of the day and truly aren’t paying attention? Or maybe we are working on an issue at work or in a shop and giving an issue a “what for” only to come to find out we weren’t correctly diagnosing the root cause of the issue, to begin with.

What is the root cause of how the issue occurred?

This seems like a logical question we would ask when dealing with a scenario. I’m guilty at times for triaging quickly and moving on; it is only when I step back and look at the true issue at hand will it then become extinct and truly eradicated. A wise boss I have once told me to always look for and identify the root cause; sure you will have to remedy the problem, but to truly fix the problem you need to address it at times further upstream. There will be times where you are not the one to fix the root cause and guess what? That’s okay. Yep – it is okay but you do your due diligence and bring that to the attention of others who may be able to fix that root issue.

Was it a manual process or automated?

For anyone who knows me knows that I love automation. Some may look at this as it pushing me out of a job. Quite the opposite for me; it has helped me to become more efficient and streamline many mundane daily activities. When I first became active in the SQL community six years ago I came upon a post by John Sansom (B|T) that dealt with automation. The concept has stuck with me and I am glad it did. Look around you in your daily routine; what can you automate? What should you automate? What processes can you enhance that will allow you to become more innovative in other areas?

What processes are in place for this not happen?

If you, dear reader, don’t get anything out of this post then I hope you tune into this section. If you identify a problem address it or get it addressed; too many times I’ve seen issues just get swept under the rug only to have the same problem happen again for the next data professional to fix. As I type this I’m even taking inventory of my own practices. Always have the mindset of making your practices better; don’t become stagnant. If you become stagnant then you are not innovating. Challenge yourself daily to make an impact – you be the game changer.

Security in general?

How many times have you seen security become an afterthought? I’ve seen it my whole career; it can quickly become the end of a project. Or better yet, if you work with a lot of installs and vendors, you will have the fun ability to just make everything SA. That should do the trick; just let me hop on your network and do whatever I want to do for the install. As a data professional and more specifically since I am a DBA, it is your duty to protect the information you are responsible for. Security is something that you should take seriously from day one. Do not make this an afterthought; if you do then the repercussions could be detrimental to any business.

What could have been the outcome based on taking the prescription?

As you work through any issues think about the outcome of what you are doing and the impact you will make. If you are changing architecture or schema how will that affect something else down the line? Maybe you just throw in an index not knowing if it will work better or affect something else down the line. Backups????? Eh, who needs them. Let’s just shut those things off. Oh yeah, I have backups but I’ve never restored one (don’t let this be you).

These are all scenarios I’ve seen over and over again. Think about working into your daily routine and thought mentality to think about the outcome of what is being done and the impact it will have on other business functions.

Conclusion

As we move through our daily routines and become frustrated at times with issues think about these 5 questions. They are simple in essence; don’t overcomplicate things. Look for the root cause and think about how to address it properly so it does not continue to happen. Don’t sweep issues under the rug. I still remember the saying from when I was growing up ingrained in me and I’m sure some of you have heard it as well ~ “Don’t put things off until tomorrow what you can get done today.”

Eliminating Hassles

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TimeForChangeIt is easy for me to fall into the trap of the “who” versus the “what”. If we are not careful we can get caught up in a web entangled mess. I often get asked how do I go about handling each day and staying organized. Let me be the first to say it isn’t easy, and just because it works for one person doesn’t always mean it will work for the next. However; with that said I am happy to disclose some of my methods in what I call eliminating hassles.

Ask What Rather Than Who

Usually, a problem that arises many people tend to throw out the “It’s not my fault; it’s your fault” card. Some do it with quite precision I’ve found out over the years. When an issue arises instead of immediately looking at someone to place blame on; step back and look at how the issue got to where it is. Example, perhaps a procedure or policy that has been mandated for years contributed to the said issue. Don’t get me wrong and confuse this with letting discipline go by the wayside; there will be instances where it is in fact needed. For future reference, I try to think about the problem at hand and how we got there first then go from there. Who knows; maybe a problem has existed for a while now that is due to a standard and it can easily be changed to help all parties involved. Just because something has been done one way for years doesn’t mean it is right.

Listen To What Others Are Saying

Within IT, we provide a service, to both our external and internal customers. A necessity for survival is keeping a pulse on what is going on around us. Many times we can find process failures if we just listen. We have grown accustomed to having information and data at a moments notice. Being in the financial industry myself I realize how important it is for processes to work as quickly, smoothly, and efficiently as they can. I once had a coach who told me not to listen to how he was saying something but rather what he was saying. I didn’t realize then what that means; all we heard was yelling – I get it now from a business perspective. Listen to the complaint or concern that others are initiating and see if there are some improvements that can be made.

Always Think Ahead

This may be easier said than done, but don’t just wait for issues to appear; continue to find ways to improve upon process before the issues arise. One key aspect I’ve learned in leadership over the years is to anticipate problems and be prepared to handle them. As sports teams go through practice day in and day out preparing for a big game by studying and anticipating what their opponent will be doing and vice versa. The same concept applies here; we as data professionals should be proactive in our day to day efforts. Continue to review disaster practices, processes that may have become stagnant through the years. Don’t become complacent.

Review Your Own Processes

Let’s leave everyone else out of this next topic. Time for reflection of yourself; everyone has their own routine – some are good and some are bad. Some leaders I know often say that routines can be bad and I get that. However, there are some good routines that if correctly put in place can garner stability for an environment. One headache I’ve seen over and over again with many data professionals (myself included) is organization. So, me personally, below is my routine for myself:

  • BROWSE THROUGH YOUR EMAIL. Is there anything that needs to be done today or tomorrow? This week? This month?
    1. What did I not do well yesterday, in any area of my life, I need to go back and fix?
    2. What went well?
    3. What did not go well?
    4. What did not get done yesterday?
  • What can I start working on today that will not pay off for 5, 10, 20 years from now?
  • What is important for me to be working on right now?
  • What is the biggest problem in my personal life? My business life?

That’s it; I start off with those same questions each morning; will it work for you? Not sure but this is just an example of what my routine is in the morning before I get going. Time is key and time management is even better. I will not go into my routine on time management, but maybe I will turn that into a future post.

Resistance = Yes

Anytime changes are made to existing processes or procedures you should expect resistance. This goes hand in hand with listening to what the major problems and complaints are both internal and external. Processes that I’ve encountered in my own shop that was put in place say 8 years ago were put in place for a reason; however, that reason may have outlived its purpose. With that being said working through resistance is a skillful mastering that doesn’t occur overnight. One lesson I’ve learned over time is how your words are interpreted and what people take from your words is crucial and key. There may be times that you have to garner support for your ideas and that is okay; this is where it is key to know what you are doing and to present the idea thoroughly and skillfully. As a data professional it is our duty to continue to look for and implement new and better processes to help streamline processes making them the most efficient as they can be.

One thing I would like to say in all this doesn’t sacrifice what is right for the sake of speed. Remember, do it right the first time and don’t cut corners – chances are if you do it will come back to bite you in the end.

Reflect On Changes Made

Going to let you in on a little secret. Every change that I’ve made has not always gone according to plan. Yes, I’ve taken risks in the past – calculated ones and ones that I felt were right. There are times when you have to re-evaluate those changes made and that’s okay. This is part of the journey and growth. Introducing new ideas to a team, the culture at a shop, or individually is easy – making them stick is not always as easy. I recall an assistant coach of mine would meet me at the gym at 3:30 a.m. before school so I could get in 800 jump shots and conditioning. This was a change I wanted to make so that I could get better at what I was doing at the time – was it easy – – um no. The same thing has carried over into technology for me. When change is made it is not always going to be easy – it is then when true leadership and character come into play. Lead by example and if you have made a mistake own up to it and make the necessary change.

Take A Ways

  • Don’t look to pass blame; rather identify failure points
  • Eliminate hassles
  • Review processes and keep them up to date
  • Don’t be afraid to make changes when required
  • Expect resistance
  • Ask why something is done one way
  • Get organized
  • Listen to your internal and external customers – what are the pain points

TSQL Tuesday #96: Folks Who Have Made a Difference

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TSQL2SDAY-300x300.pngI was intrigued by this month’s T-SQL Tuesday topic presented by Ewald Cress (b|t) “Folks Who Have Made a Difference”. Digging a bit deeper the comment of “Who has made a difference in your career?” was made.

I’ve stopped and restarted typing this blog post several different times. I’ve trashed countless drafts and have now ended back up here – starting from the beginning….ground level. So many thoughts have run through my mind, a time of reflection, on different stages of my life. There are a ton of folks in the SQL community who impact me each and every day; so much so that I can’t list them all. If you stop and look around you will be inspired by so many – I think the key here is to actually stop and listen.

I would be amiss however if I didn’t share a few people, some SQL related and some not, who have impacted me heavily along the way. From a SQL perspective I can say without a shadow of a doubt I would not be involved or plugged in if it weren’t for Chris Shaw (b|t) taking his time and investing in me early on. I met Chris back in 2011, my first PASS Summit. He has not only been a mentor to me but a great friend. He took a chance on me when he didn’t have to and for that, I will always be thankful.

From a business perspective, Brad Cunningham and Chris Howard have played an integral role in my career path and development. Without them, I doubt I would have been pushed as much as I have to be the best that I could be. Having an open mind to doing community work within SQL is not found everywhere; they have shown me what a true data professional looks like with integrity, character, leadership, mentorship, and an attitude of you can vs. you can’t.

Then there are the naysayers. You might say this is rather odd to have in here, but for me, it isn’t. I’ve had people tell me my whole life that I couldn’t do this or I couldn’t do that. I guess you can say I’m in the business of proving people wrong. From the basketball days on the courts to the coding and DBA work of today, to the board meetings of various groups I’ve heard I can’t – – all that has done is provided the fuel within me to push myself and say I can. So, you see, in essence, they deserve just as much credit for inspiration. There are a lot of times when I felt like giving up in many areas….then that small voice of “hey you can’t” chimes in. That extra strength then comes through.

Thanks Ewald for hosting this month. Was a great time of reflection for me; so many numerous people who have inspired me on this journey. Definitely too many to list in one sitting.