On Friday morning, I woke up early because I was going to give a speech at USC (which is always on honor). A film crew from Smile TV came to record my speech. On top of everything else, my baby sister Sanaz was getting ready to give birth to my nephew. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, took a shower, and met my speaking partner, Chris. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, and cut across the 10 freeway into downtown L.A.  When we arrived, I was greeted by the Smile TV crew and my former communication professor, Stacy Geck. (As Chris and I were getting mic’d up, we were cracking jokes about nothing in particular and I was wondering if our mics were on!) Then Jim Ellis, the Dean of the business school, walked in and introduced me to the class. When I was at USC, he was a marketing professor and we continued a fourteen-year relationship. It’s an honor to be invited as a guest speaker at USC, especially by Jim.

There was a time when I assumed that I could never attend USC. To go back every year as a guest speaker is frankly amazing. I entertained, told stories, made some jokes, and signed books.

On the way home, Chris and I were swapping Vegas stories because we are going to Vegas next week for Chris’s 40th birthday bash.  (There will not be a blog post about that trip!)

There are often times when we reflect on the lives that we are living and are amazed by how great life really is. Last weekend was one of those moments for me.

On Saturday, my roommate from USC, Sami, along with his wife, Lina and their twelve month old daughter Rose drove down from San Diego to hang with my family. Sami and I have been great friends since 2000 and we often have conversations about family. I got to watch Rose and Andrew play together. Sami and I went to pick up sushi. While we were waited for the food, we snuck in a couple of drinks.

The next morning, my wife woke me up and showed me a picture of my new baby nephew, Ezra. Later that morning, Sami and I, along with our families, had Starbucks and donuts.

People including myself, want to have an amazing life, but there are ordinary things along the way that makes your life special.  I loved the whole weekend.  I love watching Andrew and Rose play.  I love joking around with Chris.  I love kissing my wife.  Sometimes I am so focused on the big picture, growing my business, etc., that it’s hard to see the amazing life that I’m already living.