Marc's Musings » family life

One year ago today…

Marc A. Pitman — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:01:18 +0000

Today the Pitman family is celebrating God’s goodness in our lives.

You see, after the political campaign, we decided it was a great time for me to be self-employed. I had a couple books to finish writing. I was going out to Seattle to record a couple fundraising training DVDs. And there was an online community that was getting started. All three things looked profitable in the near term.

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Five months later, neither book had been picked up by a publisher, neither DVD had been produced (despite both being filmed), and the online community was helping people but not generating any revenue.

Things weren’t going exactly as we’d planned. But we still really believed that God was calling us to this journey of self-employment. So I’d fallen into a pattern of trying to promote FundraisingCoach.com and looking for a major gifts job.

Talk about split vision! “How is your fundraising training plan for this year? Oh, you’re alset? Ok…could I apply for that a job you have open?” I never did that but I probably came across that way! I was trying to provide for my family but it was not exactly inspiring confidence in clients!

You have a year

As I remember it, on this day last year my wife and I had another teary, stressed out conversation about our life. At the conclusion, she said, “You have a year to make this work.”

What a gift! You see, she didn’t say it in the tone of, “You idiot, you have one year to get your act together!” She was giving me permission to focus 100% on Fundraising Coach. Trusting that that would provide for our family.

What a year it’s been

The books still aren’t published, the online community isn’t producing income, and only one of the fundraising training DVDs has been produced. But this year has been amazing:

But I’ve been able to speak all over the country and even internationally.
I’ve gotten a lot smarter about running a business. (I use contracts now. Hadn’t even done that before!)
My wife and I have started blogging about being a traveling spouse and staying married. (She’s an excellent writer. And we make a great team, if I do say so myself!)
I’ve received some great honors.

As my wife said recently, “This is our life now!” And it is.

So today we celebrate

We’ve worked our tails of as a family. Last week, when we were asking the kids what they’d be grateful for, our 9 year old said she thanks God that I’ve taken all the risks I have since the Peter Mills campaign because we get to do what we are doing.

And today, we’re taking a cue from Deuteronomy 14:22-26 and celebrating God’s goodness in our lives. Today is filled with family, a new Wii game we can all enjoy (Super Mario Kart), steak and garlic mash potatoes, and reveling in God.

What about you? How do you celebrate?

Update: For my wife’s take on this year, check out her post We Did It.

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6 Marshmallows and a Sharpie

Marc A. Pitman — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:23:36 +0000

Last night we made s’mores with some friends.

Until someone took out a Sharpie…

I don’t advise eating these. We decided to just burn them. And we had a “name this image” contest with the final one. Some suggestions were:

Still edible
I’m meeellltting
flaming inferno
I’m not dead yet!

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I love homeschooled kids

Marc A. Pitman — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:44:18 +0000

It’s a snow day here in Maine. But my kids are plowing through school work. Even the one in public school is doing homeschool work.

I love homeschooled kids.

I have an appreciation for public schooling. We need as many people educated as possible. And I was really good at it, high honors and all that. But one of the things I learned from the classroom was that there was little reward for completing work. I still had to sit there. And people that didn’t complete their work didn’t really have any consequences.

One of the things I learned from the way school was set up (public and private) was the importance of warming a seat. Attendance was half of the battle. And the kids that didn’t act up or cause trouble were the “good kids.”

But homeschooled kids are not only learning the same subjects, they’re learning the importance of work. The system is different. There is a freedom to choose what to work on. And the reward of being able to be done when the work is done.

When I was in New Zealand with my 8 year old daughter, she always started her day doing her math work. It wasn’t her favorite, but she knew if she did it first, she would be done with it for the day.

It strikes me that this is so important with life too. There are increasingly few jobs that reward people for simply warming a seat. Today, people need to know how to work. They need to know what constitutes accomplishing a task and how to manage their own workflow.

As an entrepreneur, I get paid for work I do, not the time I take to do it. Home schooling creates a structure that teaches this by it’s very nature.

Just like my kids are doing today.

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Songs for new parents and their baby girl

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:35:30 +0000

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are having a baby girl. So my job at their shower on Sunday was to get song suggestions from people and make two CDs: one for the baby, one for the new parents. (My wife has lots of cool ideas like that.)

Here’s what we came up with. Some songs were suggested by family and friends. Some are just songs that I love. And on the parent CD, some are songs that they can sing and think of each other.

Songs for Baby

You Are My Sunshine – Norman Blake (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – James Taylor
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Stay Awake – Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins)
It’s Going To Be Alright – Sara Groves
Lullaby – Jack Johnson & Matt Costa (Sing-a-long Songs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George)
Today – Joshua Radin
Bongo Bong – Manu Chao
You’ve Got A Friend In Me – Randy Newman
For Baby – Peter, Paul,& Mary
Wonder – Nathalie Merchant

Songs for New Parents

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M.
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
Generations – Sara Groves
God Will Take Care Of You – Plumb
Celebration – Kool & The Gang
Daughters – John Mayer
His Grace is Sufficient – Jennifer Knapp
Upside Down – Jack Johnson (Sing-a-long Songs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George)
The Coffee Song – Ralph Covert
They Were Dancing Barefoot – Yehuda Poliker
I Say A Little Prayer – Dionne Warwick
Thank You – Nathalie Merchant

What songs would you add?

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Wicked Simple Pea Soup

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:27:06 +0000

I made my first pea soup today. It was really easy. I looked at a few recipes and made up my own:

6 cups chicken broth
1 lb split peas (rinsed)
3 carrots (cut in 1/4 inch slices)
1 onion chopped
3 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper

You mix everything together in a crock pot. Let it cook on high for 6 or so hours. And voilà! Pea soup!

The spice measurements are only approximate. I just guessed with those. And the chicken broth was because we didn’t have any ham and didn’t want to go out to get any.

Best part? The kids ate it up without complaint.

It went especially well with the loaf of bread my wife made.

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Merry Christmas!

Marc A. Pitman — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:36:15 +0000

A fun video from my family to yours!

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Daddy bragging

Marc A. Pitman — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:21:42 +0000

As a social media guy, I’m so proud of how my kids are using email and starting audio and video recordings.

Over the last couple days, my 10 year old son — on his own initiative — “borrowed” my wife’s camera and tripod, designed this scene, and took the over 500 pages that it required. He even knew what song he wanted it paired with. AND he was determined to have it uploaded to YouTube.

Yep, I’m a proud Dad.

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Hippo Chrissy

Marc A. Pitman — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:58:58 +0000

Tonight at dinner, I asked…no…I told my son to stop making noise.

Later in the meal, I started singing along with a song on the radio.

Son: That’s not fair.

Me: You live under the illusion that this should be fair? It doesn’t have to be fair. That’s life.

Son: No, dad. That’s hippocrissy.

My wife and I cracked up. We couldn’t stop laughing!

We asked him if “hippocrissy” was a large gray animal named “Chrissy.”

He was good enough to join in the fun.

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Daddy, what do these words mean?

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:19:23 +0000

Eating dinner with the kids tonight, my 7 year old daughter asked me if they could ask me they could repeat the all the words they’re not allowed to say and ask me what they mean.

What an interesting dinner discussion! Fortunately too, they didn’t throw me any curve balls.

We covered definitions, etymology, gestures. And why people use them even if my kids can’t.

I was so proud when the conversation moved into how God wants us to use our words. And how we can use our words to tear others down or build others up.

I was even more proud when my 7 year old daughter pulled out Wise Words For Moms. This is a useful matrix of negative behaviors, probing questions, and Scripture with to show how to put off the bad and put on the good. But my 7 year old daughter read it to her brother and sister.

My heart is very full right now.

(Even more so because she said the title should’ve said “Moms and Dads.”)

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Thanks for the Christmas gift…whatever it is…

Marc A. Pitman — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:41:19 +0000

My sister-in-law is a crafty person. In alot of ways.

She knitted me a really cool looking thing. But didn’t tell me what it’s for.

Here’s a slide show of my family’s attempts at guessing what it could be.

Interestingly, there was nothing like it on her Etsy store (although there are really cool project bags there!).

What do you think this is?

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