Flash me!

Putting gas in the car last night I noticed that I was in the perfect spot to see a green flash.

I waited and squinted and at the last minute there was a tiny splotch of green right where I was expecting it.

Now that I know what to look for, I am sure I will see more.

And that’s what I have to say about that!

See more progress on: See the green flash once on my life.

Leadership

I finished Rudy Giuliani’s book called Leadership just a day or two ago. Took me a long time to get through it, but it was worth the read. I want to buy a copy of this book and send it to so many people I know. I want it to inspire them like it inspired me. I want it to teach them how to win the trust and loyalty of the people they lead. Most of all I want to send this book to people I know because Giuliani does such a good job explaining why being a Republican and believing in people is better than being a Democrat and believing in government. There are some issues I don’t agree with Giuliani on but I could vote for him for president in good conscience.

Not a novel but a great read. I highly recommend it.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

Ah, life, the second greatest adventure of them all

I am in the leadership of my local church unit. I am one of the two counselors to the branch president. The branch president is like a pastor or a priest or bishop. Anyway, he is a very good friend of mine. I found out today that he is leaving the second week in October to take a job in Fort Worth, Texas. I am stunned. This is quite a shock. I mean, I knew he was looking but I had no idea he had found and accepted.

So many emotions to deal with right now. So many thoughts. This next month will be an adventure.

With Eric moving away, the branch presidency will be dissolved and a new one created. I am thrilled at the thought of being released from my position but am also curious as to who will be asked to be the new branch president and who his counselors will be. I don’t want to be in the new branch presidency but my ego really wants to be asked. What will happen with that occupies a lot of my thoughts.

We are a small unit and the loss of Eric and his family will be felt. I lose a friend and racquetball buddy. My kids will lose the strong, fun friendship they have with his kids. That is the saddest part. Eric’s kids are good kids and have been great friends with my kids. That friendship and companionship at home and church will be sorely missed by my youngest three children.

Eric’s wife, the reason he is moving, will not be missed.

Eric’s family arrived in Pierre shortly after we did and it wasn’t long before we became friends. Both families have lived all around the country and both families loved to complain about the shortcomings of our small town here. We both talked about wanting to leave and get back to civilization. Initially I wanted to leave before he did. Eric is very competitive and I wanted to beat him out of Pierre. Over time, though, I have grown to like many things about Pierre and except for a few drawbacks am quite happy here. Nevertheless, Eric’s leaving is a victory of sorts for him and a loss for me. He won that game and I am left behind. One of the things I did not like about Pierre is the lack of good kids, my kids ages to play with. Eric’s leaving will only make this problem worse.

Lastly, over the past few weeks Eric and I have had a few disagreements. Things were said. Changes made. But ultimately we had not reached resolution. With him leaving, we never will.

So here I sit, thinking about the changes to come. Hoping the good things will out way the bad things. Wondering if I am really supposed to stay here or go too. All the while knowing that once Eric and his family drive away, I most likely will never see or talk to them again.

See more progress on: have more adventures

Harney Peak

Note: The trip to Harney Peak actually happened on August 19th but due to some posting problems I was only able to get the post up today.

Last Saturday the whole family hiked Harney Peak. Harney Peak is the highest point in South Dakota. We got up early and drove out to the Black Hills, past Mt Rushmore, yes, we drove right past Mt Rushmore, and on to the Silvan lake camp ground. From there we hiked the 3 miles up to Harney Peak. The whole gang, including myself were very tired when we got back. The dog didn’t even try to get in the front seat on the trip back.

See more progress on: have more adventures

Sleep deprivation headache

The next big thing…

We got a paper route. When I was a kid, I delivered newspapers. In college I delivered newspapers to the racks and then to the paperboys. I even printed the college newspaper for a semester. The opportunity came up to get a paper route right near our house. I took it with the goal in mind of giving the kids some work to do and some money in their pockets.

We started at 4:30 am this Monday. It has turned into the family activity. All seven of us go out to do it. The kids get five cents for each paper they deliver. My youngest, the future accountant, knows exactly how much money he has earned at any given moment on the paper route.

So now we have to learn a new schedule and get used to getting up early in the morning.

It will be a lot of fun, especially when it gets cold and snowy.

The Brethren

Finished this Grisham book a few weeks ago but have not written a review. The reason I have not reviewed it is because It wasn’t that great.

Three slime-ball judges blackmail losers and draw the attention of the CIA. There is more to it than that but not much. Not one of Grisham’s better books.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

Lose 5 pounds

My goal to lose 30 pounds is not going well at all. Then I wanted to lose 15 pounds and get below 200. That is not going anywhere either.

So, today, August 8th, 2006 I am setting the goal to lose 5 pounds. I would like to weigh 210 pounds by the middle of September, the 15th to be exact.

I will do this by:
Snacking less, and not at all after 9:00 pm
Walking more. The dog needs to walk too.
Eating right. Not too much at meals.
Telling others what I am trying to do.
Getting off my backside and going outside.

More later.

Brilliant!

Kennebec Man Faces Assault Charges

KENNEBEC - A Kennebec man faces a number of charges after he is alleged to have swerved his vehicle toward a highway patrol trooper, who was checking out a vehicle parked along I-90 last weekend. The trooper was doing an inventory on a vehicle whose driver had been arrested for DUI on the I-90 Business Loop in Oacoma, when the incident occurred early Saturday morning. 27-year-old Laddy Christensen faces charges of Felony Aggravated Assault, DUI, Reckless Driving, Expired License Plates, No Insurance and No Seatbelt. The pickup he was driving westbound on the Interstate was going at a high rate of speed, when it swerved toward the trooper. The patrolman ran between his patrol car and the vehicle that was being searched and was narrowly missed by the passing vehicle. Troopers pursued Christensen for a short time. Once the vehicle was stopped, it rolled back into one of the patrol cars, which left about seven hundred dollars damage. A preliminary hearing for Christensen will be August 8 at 9:30 a.m. He was released from jail after posting bond.

I think I have found a way to lose weight

The Purina Diet

I used to have a Labrador Retriever and one day I was buying a large bag of Purina at Wal-Mart and standing in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog...

On impulse, I told her no, that I was just starting The Purina Diet again. Although I probably shouldn't, because I'd ended up in the hospital last time. But I had lost 50 pounds before I woke up in the intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both my arms.

I told her that it was a nearly perfect diet and that the way it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete. So I was going to try it again, despite the hospital stay.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was listening closely to my story, particularly a tall, black man who was standing behind the woman. Horrified by the mention of a hospital, the woman asked if I had been poisoned by the dog food.

I told her no, that I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls when a car hit me.

I thought the black guy was going to stagger going out the door!

I thought it would be good for them

On Saturday I took my oldest two boys to a ranch in the Black Hills to work for a few weeks. They are 16 and 14 and I felt the work and the time away from mom and dad would do them some good.

And I am sure it will.

I think it will do me some good too. I love my children but have thought a great deal about the day they would leave the nest. I knew early on that my job as their father was to teach them enough that they would be independent and ready to leave the nest when the time came. That's what this two week trip to the hills was all about. The shock is how hard it is for me to have them gone. I never knew I would miss them so, would worry so much about them, would question my own parenting. All my thoughts are with them.

This is good for me. In a few more years when they go off to college, missions and marriage, it will still be hard, but a few more times away and it won't be as hard...on me.

Funny

FEMALE PRAYER

Before I lay me down to sleep,
I pray for a man, who's not a creep,
One who's handsome, smart and strong
One who loves to listen long,
One who thinks before he speaks,
One who'll call, not wait for weeks.
I pray he's gainfully employed,
When I spend his cash, won't be annoyed.
Pulls out my chair and opens my door,
Massages my back and begs to do more.
Oh! Send me a man who'll make love to my mind,
Knows the right answer to "how big is my behind?"
I pray that this man will love me to no end,
And always be my very best friend.
Amen.

MALE PRAYER

I pray for a deaf-mute nymphomaniac
with huge boobs who owns a liquor store and a fishing boat.
This doesn't rhyme and I don't give a shit.
Amen.

Scary stuff

The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile

It's no secret that the US educational system doesn't do a very good job. Like clockwork, studies show that America's schoolkids lag behind their peers in pretty much every industrialized nation. We hear shocking statistics about the percentage of high-school seniors who can't find the US on an unmarked map of the world or who don't know who Abraham Lincoln was.
Fingers are pointed at various aspects of the schooling system—overcrowded classrooms, lack of funding, teachers who can't pass competency exams in their fields, etc. But these are just secondary problems. Even if they were cleared up, schools would still suck. Why? Because they were designed to.

How can I make such a bold statement? How do I know why America's public school system was designed the way it was (age-segregated, six to eight 50-minute classes in a row announced by Pavlovian bells, emphasis on rote memorization, lorded over by unquestionable authority figures, etc.)? Because the men who designed, funded, and implemented America's formal educational system in the late 1800s and early 1900s wrote about what they were doing.

Almost all of these books, articles, and reports are out of print and hard to obtain. Luckily for us, John Taylor Gatto tracked them down. Gatto was voted the New York City Teacher of the Year three times and the New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. But he became disillusioned with schools—the way they enforce conformity, the way they kill the natural creativity, inquisitiveness, and love of learning that every little child has at the beginning. So he began to dig into terra incognita, the roots of America's educational system.

In 1888, the Senate Committee on Education was getting jittery about the localized, non-standardized, non-mandatory form of education that was actually teaching children to read at advanced levels, to comprehend history, and, egads, to think for themselves. The committee's report stated, "We believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes."

By the turn of the century, America's new educrats were pushing a new form of schooling with a new mission (and it wasn't to teach). The famous philosopher and educator John Dewey wrote in 1897:

Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth.

In his 1905 dissertation for Columbia Teachers College, Elwood Cubberly—the future Dean of Education at Stanford—wrote that schools should be factories "in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products...manufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry."

The next year, the Rockefeller Education Board—which funded the creation of numerous public schools—issued a statement which read in part:

In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions [intellectual and character education] fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is very simple...we will organize children...and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.

At the same time, William Torrey Harris, US Commissioner of Education from 1889 to 1906, wrote:

Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom. This is not an accident but the result of substantial education, which, scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual.

In that same book, The Philosophy of Education, Harris also revealed:

The great purpose of school can be realized better in dark, airless, ugly places.... It is to master the physical self, to transcend the beauty of nature. School should develop the power to withdraw from the external world.

Several years later, President Woodrow Wilson would echo these sentiments in a speech to businessmen:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forego the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.

Writes Gatto: "Another major architect of standardized testing, H.H. Goddard, said in his book Human Efficiency (1920) that government schooling was about 'the perfect organization of the hive.'"

While President of Harvard from 1933 to 1953, James Bryant Conant wrote that the change to a forced, rigid, potential-destroying educational system had been demanded by "certain industrialists and the innovative who were altering the nature of the industrial process."

In other words, the captains of industry and government explicitly wanted an educational system that would maintain social order by teaching us just enough to get by but not enough so that we could think for ourselves, question the sociopolitical order, or communicate articulately. We were to become good worker-drones, with a razor-thin slice of the population—mainly the children of the captains of industry and government—to rise to the level where they could continue running things.

This was the openly admitted blueprint for the public schooling system, a blueprint which remains unchanged to this day. Although the true reasons behind it aren't often publicly expressed, they're apparently still known within education circles. Clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine wrote in 2001:

I once consulted with a teacher of an extremely bright eight-year-old boy labeled with oppositional defiant disorder. I suggested that perhaps the boy didn't have a disease, but was just bored. His teacher, a pleasant woman, agreed with me. However, she added, "They told us at the state conference that our job is to get them ready for the work world…that the children have to get used to not being stimulated all the time or they will lose their jobs in the real world."

These are too good

And possibly true.

Headlines form the future.

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia , formerly known as California. White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.
Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.
Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.
Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.
Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).
Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.
France pleads f or global help after being taken over by Jamaica.
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.
85-years, $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.
Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.
Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut. (Hummmmmmmmm) Now that's just wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals, violates their civil rights.
Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.
New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.
Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines

Testament

Finished another John Grisham book. I picked up three of them from the library and have now finished two.

Testament was another enjoyable read. I liked many of the characters and was cheering them on. I loved the journey up the river and through the jungles of Brazil. I would love to go there one day. Like Gump said, with John Grisham, you can see a bit of the author in the way he writes. I could see John visiting these places in Brazil and was not surprised to read that he had been there a couple of times and hence included it in one of his books.

The evil characters are so over the top evil that I wonder if rich people really are like that. There is a person on 43things who has posted enough that I suspect she is much like some of the rich children in this book. Unearned money has a way of bringing out the worst in people.

The ending of the book was not at all to my liking. Too many questions and a great big “Why did Grisham do that?” I would have done things differently. I can’t say more than that about the ending as I don’t want to ruin it for those who might read it.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

From my friend in DC

DA VINCI CODE

Written across the wall of the cave were the following symbols:




It was considered a unique find and the writings were said to be at least three thousand years old!

The piece of stone was removed, brought to the museum, and archaeologists from around the world came to study the ancient symbols. They held a huge meeting after months of conferences to discuss the meaning of the markings.

The President of the society pointed to first drawing and said: "This is a woman. We can see these people held women in high esteem. You can also tell they were intelligent, as the next symbol is a donkey, so they were smart enough to have animals help them till the soil. The next drawing is a shovel, which means they had tools to help them."

Even further proof of their high intelligence is the fish which means that if a famine hit the earth and food didn't grow, they seek food from the sea. The last symbol appears to be the Star of David which means they were evidently Hebrews.

The audience applauded enthusiastically.

Then a little old Jewish man stood up in the back of the room and said,
"Idiots, Hebrew is read from right to left......



It says: 'Holy Mackerel, Dig The Ass On That Chick!"

The Broker

I finished The Broker by John Grisham, last night. Very fun book, just like eating cotton candy. As with all Grisham books, this was an easy and fun read.
I was really surprised to find out at the end of the book that Grisham doesn’t know anything about spies and spy technology. He did a very good job sounding authenic. Only after I read his little revelation about that at the end of the book did I start to spot some things that in retrospect I know spies would not do and events that I know there is no way they could happen that way.

Nothing life-changing about this book. No uplifting moral. Just a fun read.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

I finished "The Power of One"

The good
It was a great story. Great characters. Excellent writing. There are so many gems in that story; Things like, first with the head and then with the heart. SO TRUE! I tend to lead with my heart too often. Abosloodle! What a great word. Actually, I liked everything about the Doc.

The bad
So many unanswered questions. What happened to Hoppie? Did Peekay ever become the welterweight champion of the world? What happened to Miss Borenstien? (she sounded quite hot) What happened to Morrie? Heck, what happened to Peekay? So many vivid characters that I grew to care about and wonder what happened with them.

The Ugly
I hate the way it ended. That whole last book was very depressing in many ways. The rest of the book was so uplifting and then there is this trip to Rhodesia. I know he had to face the judge again but even that wasn’t right. The judge never realized who Peekay was he was gone because of the rage, booze and explosive headaches.
We find out what happened to the Nazi prison guard that killed Guant Peel (sp) but we have no idea what happens with Dee and Dum, Morrie, Gert, Captain Smit, Hoppie, Peekay’s mom and granpa and so many others.
I also did not like the way Peekay deals with his newly arrived hormones. Perhaps I am naive but I really don’t think most boys spank the monkey that much. Most boys direct their energies toward girls. Why didn’t Peekay?

---

In spite of what I call the bad and the ugly, I still think it is a very good book. Very inspiring and very well written.
I also feel bad about South Africa. Had there been more folks like Peekay there at the end of WWII perhaps apartheid would never had happened. Their bigotry and hate ended up hurting the country more than it “helped”.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

Where I have been

I can, and will, make a better map than this:
visited 37 states (74%)
Try Neptyne, the programmable spreadsheet

What is wrong with you people?

I found this information on another blog and it shocked me a bit.
One is forced to ask: Why would God allow his people to be so loony?


Percentage of adults with poor mental health
#1 Utah, 41.4 %
#2 Nevada 41.1 %
#3 Michigan 38.7 %
#4 California 37.2 %
#5 New York 37 %
#6 Washington 36.8 %
#7 Oregon 36.6 %
#8 Delaware 36.4 %
#9 Wisconsin 36 %
#10 Minnesota 35.6 %
#11 New Mexico 35.5 %
#12 Vermont 35.4 %
#13 Alabama 35.4 %
#14 Maryland 35.2 %
#15 Idaho 35.1 %
#16 Ohio 34.9 %
#17 Indiana 34.6 %
#18 Rhode Island 34.6 %
#19 South Carolina 34.5 %
#20 Texas 34.3 %
#21 Arkansas 34.1 %
#22 Pennsylvania 34 %
#23 Massachusetts 34 %
#24 West Virginia 34 %
#25 Mississippi 33.9 %
#26 Maine 33.8 %
#27 Colorado 33.7 %
#28 New Jersey 33.6 %
#29 Illinois 33.6 %
#30 New Hampshire 33.4 %
#31 Oklahoma 33.4 %
#32 District of Columbia 33.3 %
#33 Connecticut 33.3 %
#34 Wyoming 33.2 %
#35 Virginia 33.2 %
#36 Montana 32.8 %
#37 Georgia 32.6 %
#38 North Dakota 32.6 %
#39 Arizona 32.2 %
#40 Missouri 32.2 %
#41 Alaska 31.7 %
#42 Florida 30.8 %
#43 Nebraska 30.1 %
#44 Iowa 29.2 %
#45 Kansas 28.6 %
#46 Kentucky 27.1 %
#47 South Dakota 27.1 %
#48 Tennessee 27 %
#49 North Carolina 25.8 %
#50 Louisiana 24.5 %
Hawaii (not rated)

u.s. centers for disease control

Books I have read in 2006

To Kill a Mockingbird
Cold Sassy Tree
A Painted House
The Stand
Ivanhoe
The Last Templar
The Wind in the Willows
The Power of One (still reading)

I have a couple of John Grisham books to read.
I am open to suggestions.

See more progress on: Book Sl*t. I will read anything but I am really looking for book love.

I have been to the Badlands twice.

I was at a place outside the park this weekend where the white river runs out of the park. The river is really white. All the clay from the hills breaks down and is carried as silt by the river. They say there are fish in that river but I don’t know how they live.

One of the most interesting things I saw this weekend was actual quicksand. We walked in it. Pretty cool stuff. At first you sink up to your knees and the longer you stand there the further you sink. The further you sink, the slower you sink. In the end, quick sand is quite easy to step out of.

Along with all the clay coming out of the badlands there is also a number of very interesting rocks. I found some bubble gum agate and some flint and a piece of fossilized wood.

Best of all, I know the guy well where we camped and we can go back there anytime we want to

Sunset

Sunset
Originally uploaded by MrSaucy.

I snapped this shot on a walk last week.
I am using it to test my flickr posts.

I am not a nerd, I am not a nerd

If it was important to me, it was important to him

One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting on my parents bed and my dad walks in and says: “What do you want to do today?” I said I wanted to play. We played. I don’t remember what it was we played, I just remember that he played with me, what I wanted to play.

I was important to dad and he let me know it in many small and important ways. Dad had to travel for work and whenever he could, he took me with him. I saw my home state from one end to the other, traveling with my dad. It was on one such trip that he taught me to drive. On another trip, we went to the horse races. We figured out handicapping together. The last race of the night we picked our winner. Not being to sure of ourselves, we picked her to show. Before the race the odds on our winner were high. We thought we blew it. Our horse won! I don’t remember how much we would have won, or did win just that we were right, we figured it out together.

Dad took me on my first commercial airplane ride. Took me to Dinosaur National Monument. Threw rocks off of Dead Horse Point with me. We drove miles out of our way to see things that he thought I would like.

One summer, Dad promised that in two weeks we would hike to the top of Grandeur peak. The day before the hike I reminded him of his promise. That day was July 2nd, 1976. So, on July 3rd, when all the rest of the City was celebrating our 200th anniversary (July 4th was on a Sunday) Dad and I hiked to the top of Grandeur peak.

When I got into Skiing, dad got into skiing and took me often. I remember well seeing my dad fall and break his wrist skiing with me. He never went on about it. We kept on skiing year after year.

When I was in something at school, Dad was there to see it.
When I broke with family tradition and went out for cross country track instead of football, track became my dad’s new favorite sport. We ran 100’s of miles together. In 1988 when I ran the St George marathon, dad jogged out from the finish line and ran the last 10 miles in with me. He met me when I had hit the wall, as they say in running terms. Dad talked me through it. Then when I saw the finish line a 1/2 mile ahead and wanted to finish strong, Dad told me to take off and I did.

Dad helped me get jobs and offered advice on how to be a good worker, what to say and how to handle myself around important people.

When I got a ticket for going 70 in a 35, Dad went to court with me. Not in a mean sort of way. I think he was teaching me about our justice system. He taught me how to address the judge and encouraged me to plead not guilty so that I could see and learn how it all worked out. The judge was nice but I was still guilty. I paid the fine with my own money.

At important times in my life Dad would sit down with me and we would talk. I remember talking to my dad in the living room before my baptism. I remember talking to my dad in my living room after the “for young men” meeting we had at school. Dad did no shy away from talking about sex and taught me how important it was to treat it properly. Dad and I talked before I went to the Temple, before I went on my mission, and before I got married.

Dad got mad and me. I deserved it. Dad punished me then loved me all the more after.

Yesterday, I talked to my dad. We talked about my life now. He still is a fan. If it concerns me, it concerns him. He is proud of me and tells me so.

I hope I can be that for my sons.

See more progress on: When the music plays, dance.

We're in!

All that is left is my table saw. But for all intents and purposes we are moved in.

...and ready to move out.

See more progress on: Finish moving into my house

My home

I made this map for some folks to come to a meeting this week at, obviously, the Mickelson Public Safty building. It would be hard to see in this picture but if you know where to look you can see our van, our truck, where I work and where I live. You can also see where I was living when this picture was taken (hint, the van and truck are both in the parking lot). There is the church and the YMCA and the route I took this morning on my jog.

And that's all I have to say about that. 

I am still fat

The other day I was sent some pictures of myself twenty-two years ago. It was sad. I want to be that skinny again. I want to be able to eat like that kid did. Interestingly enough, I also went to the doctor last week. He said I was in great shape but that I needed to lose a few pounds and the best way to do that was 10 pounds at a time and to make permanent changes in my diet and exercise. Then he told me to go to the lab and have a routine blood test. Oddly enough, the next day the doctor’s office called that night and said the doctor wanted to talk to me about my blood test.

Never good news.

Turns out my cholesterol is off the charts, well not off the charts actually, it’s chart-able. I have an overall cholesterol of 300 and an LDL (bad cholesterol) of 243. The doctor threatened to put me on statin drugs if I did not promise to change my wicked ways.

So now I only get one small helping of meat. I am eating more fruit. I am eating a whole grain breakfast. I am trying to eat less. IT IS SO HARD!!! We are now cooking with olive oil. In short I am trying to make the changes that are necessary to now, not only lose weight but to lower my cholesterol.

The main thing that is lacking is I have to get off my butt and do some real exercise. Oh, I go for walks almost every day, and I have ridden my bike to work a few times. Now I need to get that mattress off my back about an hour earlier and swim, bike, jog, or do something that gets me breathing hard for 40 or more minutes. (That rules out sex, as that only takes me one tenth that amount of time, dang-it)

SO, if you see me, or talk to me, call me fat boy and ask me if I have exercised lately. I will pout and cry and say I am trying to. You keep after me. I need it.

See more progress on: Lose 30 pounds

Only Yesterday

It was only yesterday that these two wonderful little boys trudged off to explore. And now they are going further faster. My two little boys both got their learners permits last week. They can drive.

It's exciting and horrifying all at once. They are growing up. They are learning and doing new things. They are getting all the tools and abilities they need to fly off on their own. And it was only yesterday that they were so small.

Adventures long ago

I am scanning my old photos and last week I scanned this batch.
High School was so much fun.

See more progress on: have more adventures

What is romance?

Romance, like coaching football is not about your greatest victory, it’s about your latest victory. I always fancied myself as a true romantic, not so. Were romance a fixed target with certain deeds and acts that are considered romantic, I would be IT. But I have learned over the years that romance is a moving target. What proved very romantic yesterday might be childish and irritating today. Some women love candles others love a guy that can make the lions roar. My wife hates both. Over the years I have learned what is romantic to her, sometimes.

It’s romantic when I sit with her to watch the latest Jane Austin movie, for the 10th time. Right now that movie is the remake of Pride and Prejudice. Before that it was Mansfield Park, before that it was Emma, before that it was the A&E version of Emma, before that it was the modern version of Pride and Prejudice made by some guys in Salt Lake, before that it was Kate and Leopold, before that is was A Walk to Remember and before them all it was While You Were Sleeping. Okay the last ones are not Jane Austin movies but the point is I sit and watch with her the chic flick of the month. Sometimes I even trick her into watching a new chic flick. She had no desire to see the Note Book but I recorded it on the DVR and started watching it. She was hooked and balling by the end. That was romantic.

It’s romantic when I play with the kids. She loves it when I wrestle with the little one on the living room floor. The little ones are not so little anymore and while it is romantic for her, it’s down right dangerous for me.

It’s romantic when I make her laugh, especially when we are laying in bed right before falling asleep and I start making jokes and before long she is laughing so hard that we have woken the kids up. Then we all go down and have chocolate milk and try to go to bed again.

It’s romantic when I buy dinner. It’s really romantic when I buy dinner after she has told me not to. And it is really romantic if halfway through making dinner, I tell her it’s just for the kids and that we are going out to dinner.

It’s romantic when we can get through a family dinner without talking about poop.

It’s romantic that I always find her when I get home from work and before doing anything else I give her a big hug and kiss.

It’s romantic when I rub her shoulders with absolutely no expectation of anything in return. (She somehow can tell the difference)

It’s romantic in it’s own sick way the show the security cameras at Wall-Mart get when we are shopping. She actually feels bad if I don’t try when we are shopping.

As is always the case, some things I do turn out to be romantic and I had no idea they were. Sometimes sleeping in on a workday, like today, is romantic to her. Coming home from work early for no reason.
Once, I was really mad at her for making me do the right thing so to get over it, I made a list of the 100 things I love about my wife. On Valentines day, lacking anything of real substance to give to her, other than chocolate, I always give her chocolate, that’s a requirement, not an attempt to be romantic, I gave her that list. She never says much about it but she keeps it and looks at it quite regularly. I told her it was stupid and that I was going to throw it away and she got very defensive and told me it was hers and that I could not touch it.

My greatest romantic moments? I couldn’t tell you. 17 years and five kids later, I know we have had some great romantic times but mostly it’s been a lot of laughter, some tears and a whole lot of us against them.

See more progress on: When the music plays, dance.

Texas is calling

My lovely wife tells me she can hear Texas calling. Wife says it’s time for a new adventure. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a new adventure, why adventure is my middle name. But usually the call to leave comes to me, not to her and I am not quite sure what to make of it. Especially since I really want Colorado to call.

Wait, I think I hear something and it has a funny accent. Wonder who it is.

See more progress on: have more adventures

It was twenty years ago today...

Sergeant Pepper didn’t tell his band to play... No, Twenty years ago today, I arrived home from Chile, my missionary service ended. Like a dream it had come and gone in the slowest yet fastest way imaginable. Now, not only have two years passed but twenty.

What can I say about my time in Chile? I am reminded of one of my favorite books, the beginning of which has now become cliché, a tale of two cities. My time in Chile was indeed, the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, (I) had everything before (me), (I) had nothing before (me), (I was) going direct to Heaven, (I was) going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, …
I loved my time in Chile and am so glad I went. I learned so much, grew so much, changed so much and yet I am sad about my time in Chile. I missed learning so much. I missed growing as much as I could have. I really missed the best of everything. I thought I was so old. I was too young. I thought I knew so much. I knew nothing. In my mind, the times and memories I have of Chile are wonderful. The passing now of twenty years has made me proud of my time and service in Chile.
My parents saved my letters home. I have saved those letters along with my journal and other letters now for twenty years with the goal in mind of writing a Wilford Woodruff-like history of my mission. It’s not going to happen. I keep the letters and read them to my children not to inspire them but more as a cautionary tale; If you are not careful, you too could be this stupid. I am ashamed of what I wrote, ashamed of what I did, said I did, thought about life and love. The person in those letters is not the person I remember. I remember a person who tried hard, who loved the people of Chile and did his best to bring souls to Christ while he was there.
Socrates said: The unexamined life is not worth living. The over-examined life is not worth living either. I choose to remember my time in Chile the way Sydney Carton remembers his life to his friends:
"I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace. I see the good old man, so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward.

"I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both.

"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, foremost of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place- then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement- and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
No, I didn’t have my head cut off or give my life for the people of Chile, I did give my head, heart, love and life for a time with the hope that such service would bring them to a better place, twenty years ago today.

Comments on picture: That is me the night of my arrival home in my bedroom. Notice the tan line on my neck.

Things you never forget

A series of events have reminded me there are things in life you never forget. Things like where you were when Challenger or Columbia blew-up, or September 11th, 2001. And also life time firsts. I forget the details about almost everything I watch on TV or hear in meetings but I remember like it was only minutes ago so many of my lifetime firsts.

First kiss December 1981, Sherylyn Jaquier, On her front porch. It was a short, tight lipped peck.
First date June, 1981, Lisa Garetner, 9th grade graduation. My parents allowed me to go on that one date before I was 16.
First true love June, 1984, Cheryl Woodruff. I had known Cheryl all through high school but didn't manage to "hook-up" with her until an all night party for graduation. It was an all-consuming love. Even today the strength of those emotions is strong. I had never felt so deeply before. It changed my life.

Cheryl is why I am thinking today about my famous firsts. Through some bizarre cosmic twist of fate, Cheryl's husband happened upon this blog. He emailed me asking if I was perchance the same fellow that dated his wife before they were married. After a few email exchanges we established that fact that indeed, I was.
It is nice to know that her life has turned out well, that she has a wonderful family and good husband.

I love technology, almost as much as Kip does. Through the miracle of the internet I have been able to know how the lives of people from my past have turned out. Now if I only knew what happened to Sherylyn Jaquier and Lisa Garetener. Most likely they pine for me daily. *wink*

My Bike

Today I get my bicycle out of the shop. It had a few things wrong with it that were beyond my ability to properly repair. I am pretty excited as now I will be able to get out and ride the trails.

I am also excited about this because I hope to ride my bicycle to work and save some gas while also getting in shape.

See more progress on: have more adventures

Postcrossing

Postcrossing has and is a lot of fun. I have sent out about 20 cards and received back at least that many. I am amazed at the neat things there are to see and do all over the world. So little time and money. I am also amazed at the number of people who speak English so well all over the world.

This is truly a fun and worthwhile hobby.

See more progress on: Participate in PostCrossing

Travels

Not too many posts from me lately. I have been traveling a lot for work. Normally I don't leave my cubicle but over the last few weeks I have been driving all over. I decided to map it. Map it? Yes, that's what I do, I map. It all began with a trip to Yankton for a meeting. Sue came along and we swung by Sioux Falls to stop at Sam's to get supplies. That Saturday I took a group of youths to the Temple in Bismarck. That's always fun but it makes for a long day.
Sunday I left for Kansas City. Richard, Amy and Thomas went along. While there we ate at Panera, Bryant's BBQ, The Ameristar, Papa John's, In a Tub, and Red Robin, all the places we can't eat at in Pierre because they aren't in Pierre. It was yummy!!!
The next week, I went to a two-day conference in Rapid City.

First week of June I am headed back to Sioux Falls and then out to Salt Lake City. Thank goodness I have satellite radio.

Self loathing

I get so mad at myself sometimes. I think I must have tourette’s syndrome. I just cannot help myself. I say stupid things.
On Monday, I went to a meeting and said some absolutely awful things. I was so mad! Okay, I won’t say anything stupid on Tuesday. I did. Wednesday I went off the deep end and really stuck both feet into my mouth.

It’s like there is a nasty little man in my head and sometimes I can’t keep him quiet.

So, we keep trying on this one.

See more progress on: stop getting hooked by the same old stuff

198 lbs.

Okay, I have decided to set a short term goal of dropping below 200 pounds. I have set 198 since 199 is too close and could fluctuate. 198 will show that I have definitely dropped below 200.

That’s 14 pounds. Seven Weeks? June 16th is the day then.

See more progress on: Lose 30 pounds

When the music plays, dance.

I have a friend who just told me they can’t dance. When I was younger I stood on the side and did not dance because I could not dance. When I did dance, I loved it. Then I tried too hard to dance well. It wasn’t fun and people made fun of me. With age, I have learned to dance the way that is fun and feels good.
I love to dance now.

I don’t get a lot of chances to dance any more. My beloved hates to dance and won’t do it and there just aren’t that many opportunities for old farts like myself to get out and dance anyway. But when I have the chance, I dance.

Life is too short to miss it.

So, I say, when the music plays, dance.

See more progress on: When the music plays, dance.

Jungian?

Jung Explorer Test
Actualized type: ESFP
(who you are)

ESFP - "Entertainer". Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population.

Preferred type: ESFJ
(who you prefer to be)

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

Attraction type: ESFJ

(who you are attracted to)

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

Take Jung Explorer Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

I just got this picture in my email

Why I won’t be celebrating Easter.

See more progress on: Why I won't be celebrating Easter

April 6th

Some days have special significance, a major event, anniversary or birthday. Today is of major significance for me for several reasons.

Those of us in the know, know that today is really Christmas. There is much historical evidence to support this but the best source is the revealed word. Interestingly enough, it is also the day Jesus celebrated the last supper and suffered for the sins of all the universe.

Fast forward 1800 years more or less and it is the day the restored Church of Jesus Christ was again organized on the face of the earth.

Go forward another 135 years and today is the birthday of my best friend, Scott. He and I have been close friends since we were kids. We probably exchange a dozen emails a day and I always visit when I go home for things. Scott has always been a true and good friend, always there for me, always saying what I need to hear instead of what I want to hear.

Go forward another 24 years and today is the birthday of my oldest son, Richard. My son is 16 today. I am so proud of him. He is an awesome kid. 16 years ago, I was still in college and we were in the process of moving into an apartment where we would be assistant managers. I had left to return the truck and when I came back, Sue told me her water broke. Holy Cow!!! It started. I have to laugh at how silly I was about the whole thing back then. I was still just a kid myself back then too. Labor was pretty normal up to the point where Richard dropped down but then he stopped. For an hour Sue pushed and Richard would not come. Finally, a wise Dr decided to help things out and he pulled my son into the world at around 4:00 in the morning. My son, my perfect little baby son. He has been a joy and an adventure for 16 years.

April 6th is a great day.

See more progress on: Keep a journal

A Writer Writes

I have no idea what to write about today but as the old saying goes, a writer writes. So here I am writing an entry, more like rambling.

I watched 10 hours of conference this weekend. Each time I watch, I resolve to do better over the next six months. I also resolve to actually read the conference edition of the Ensign a couple of times and decide what areas I need to improve upon. Once again I am resolved to do better, to read the scriptures more, to make a bigger effort to follow the council of the prophet and apostles.

Maybe it's me

I love to read. I read all kinds of things. The voyeur in me loves to read what other people have to say about themselves, life and all kinds of things. I read a lot of what is posted on 43things. There, people talk about their lives and issues that are important to them. I can read through a person' entries and have a pretty good idea what kind of person they are.

What amazes me in all the reading I do is that people don't even realize the answers to their own problems are in the behaviors and choices they make. I am amazed at the people who choose to roll in the mud, as it were, and wonder why they are dirty. These days there are a few who read my drivel so I won't give examples as I don't want to offend. But one I cannot resist. This person admits to lying all the time. They claim to lie to everyone about big and small things. In another post, this person is shocked and saddened by the amount of theft that occurs where they work. Maybe I am making a connection where there is none but the way I see things, lying and stealing are leaves on the same branch. Why is one okay and the other not?
Also, the place this person works is not the kind of place that attracts the best people. The whole point of this place is devoted to largely immoral behaviour and yet they are surprised when people that come there are immoral and steal. Duh!

I don't have a view that I am all right and they are wrong. I have made my fair share of mistakes and still do. But when I have problems, I am aware enough to trace the source of the problem back to a decision I made.

I can't sit still

When I was younger we would go to the drive in movies. One night while at the movies my mom yelled at me to hold still. See I have a habit of wiggling when I sit. I bounce my feet and knees. After the movie we went to my aunt’s house and she asked us if we felt the earthquake. Apparently there was an earthquake during the movie but no one felt it because I was so wiggly. That anciness has manifested itself in other ways. On my 19th birthday, I left home for Chile. Two years later I was back home and then off to school. School was about an hour from home and I moved several times back and forth, from home to school. Not even finished with school and I got married, another new adventure. We had our first child and then I graduated from school. I moved to Washington DC right after that and 2000 miles from home we had our 2nd and 3rd children. Bored with DC I moved to Colorado and had two more kids. After several moves and job changes in Colorado I moved to Missouri and actually stayed at the same job for five years. We did move once while there though. A year and a half ago I began my move to South Dakota. We had to live in an apartment for over a year and have just moved into a house. I am getting the wiggles again. Not even in the new house more than a month and I have got to move. It's the job actually. I am bored. I am stifled. I am getting away with not working as hard as I should. It's time to move on, time to be challenged again. It is Time for another adventure. I can't sit still.

One year ago today

I posted my first goals and comments on 43things. I have had busy times and slow times but it’s been quite a year. I have seen lots of people come and go and made some great on-line friends.
I haven’t given or received the most cheers or posted the most comments or been the biggest lady killer(Gump beat me in every aspect) but it’s been one great year.

What will next year bring? Will I finally meet in person someone from 43things? That’s my hope for next year.

See more progress on: Complete 1 year at 43things

The twenties

My grandma recently passed. There were hundreds at the funeral. Nearly all of those attending where either her direct descendants or friends of her descendants. Grandma was never rich, she didn’t ever own her own home, she never traveled extensively or had nice things. She was a nothing in the eyes of the world. Yet, to be at that funeral, to know my grandma and her family you would know that she was rich indeed. She was a widow for 37 years but never alone. Through two moves, several illnesses and fractures there was always family and loved ones there with her. We all made sure grandma never went wanting. In the last months of her life as her 95 year old heart was giving up, we were all there by her side. When the end came, Grandma passed peacefully on with family by her side.

There is a person who lives in Chicago. I know her from the internet. I read her blog and follow her life. I read the other day some of her posts as they related to the postings of a young woman at Yale who is working to become a doctor. The young doctor to-be despaired a bit because her friends have run off to South America and Scotland, leaving life and responsibility behind. Agent99 (the doctor to-be) is sad and wondering if she is doing the right thing to stay and do the hard things while her friends, and even the rest of the twenty-something crowd runs off and does what feels good. Cheryl, the woman in Chicago, advised agent99 that perhaps her friends had it right, that is is wrong to be toiling away working toward that career, house, spouse, SUV and 2.5 kids. Cheryl is in her thirties and has none of those things. She is free. She travels all over. Works when she wants. Does what she wants. Cheryl has lived the life Agent99’s friends are off to living. Cheryl recommends this choice highly.

Sometimes I get jealous of Cheryl. I wish I could have spent my twenties traveling the world instead of toiling away to get and eduction and raise a family. Instead I spent my twenties toiling away for that mini-van, house and, in my case, five children. What a loser am I? I have never been to Israel, ridden a camel, driven route 66, been to Manchu pichu or lived the wild life in Chicago. I, like my grandma am poor.

My grandma has a sister, Hayes. We always called her aunt Hayes, even though she was actually a great aunt. Aunt Hayes always had a lot of money. She married in her thirties and never had time for children. She had a successful career and a lovely house. Hayes’ husband passed before I was born and Hayes always lived alone in her big house. Hayes is very old now and needs a lot of help. Help taking care of the house, help getting around, help with her meals and medicines. Mostly, Hayes needs companionship. Grandmas family would help Hayes as they had time and were able. Hayes always had everything grandma never did and sometimes it made Grandma sad. In the 90’s Hayes finally needed more than the family could give and Hayes got bitter. She hired out all the things she needed done. Now, Hayes is broke. Her house is run down and there is no money to fix it. She spends all her income to hire someone to come over and clean the house and make her meals. These hired helpers never work for her for very long. Usually she fires them after she discovers them stealing from her or they quit because it just does not pay enough. Sadly, Hayes will die poor and alone.

I turned 40 last November. My oldest is 16 my youngest is 8. Life is great. I am in a position now in my career where I don’t worry so much about money. I don’t worry about time away from the family because I really don’t ever have to work more than 40 hours a week. When I turn 50 my youngest will be 18 and for the most part the kids will be grown and off living their own lives. Perhaps then, Sue and I will travel. We will see Manchu Pichu, drive route 66, ride a camel, travel to Israel and then come home and spend time with our kids and our grand children. We will always have them and the time to do so many other things too.

So, were my twenties wasted? I don’t think so. I think too many kids these days have it all wrong. The twenties are not a time to spend but a time to save. I feel secure knowing that as I grow old, I too can become as rich as Grandma was.

Hair cut

Take 3

Here is my new hair cut with before and after.

Time

The clock on my truck was fast. For many months it was about four minutes fast. I got used to it being fast and would adjust my schedule accordingly. It finally bothered me enough that at great peril to my life and those around me, I changed the time back to actual time.

Last night, I was out running a few errands. The nature of the errands required me to be on-time to the various stops. Well I forgot my truck clock was set to real time and went about my errands assuming I was right on time as I was arriving four minutes ahead of schedule. I wasn't, I was late.

And that is why I like clocks always set as close as possible to the right time. Things get messy when clocks are ahead or behind.

The kids

Just wanted to put together a photo mosaic of the kids. All 7 of them.

Gravity

I was just reminded today about my gravity theory. I have a friend who is feeling a little down and I got to thinking why we have to feel down sometimes. Why can't we be happy all the time? Why can't life be good?

Gravity.

Okay, I will try to explain this. When we started to send people into space, we discovered that the longer they were in space the less dense their bones became. If they were in space too long, their bones would get so they would even hold them up. the astronauts have to exercise vigorously every day just to keep the bone loss down to a minimum. Turns out, our bodies need gravity. They need that constant pull down to keep strong.

It must needs be that there is opposition in all things.
That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

So, we get sick, we have down days, we face and deal with problems, grief, pain, sadness. Why, because without them, we would grow weak and die. Eventually, we grow weak and die anyway but the fight keeps us alive longer.

So, we get out of bed each day and fight against gravity and the fight gives us life and happiness.

It's been a month

I have a storage unit full of books, videos, furniture and other odds and ends. It’s time I actually finished moving into the house.

I think I will go over today and gets some stuff.
Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

See more progress on: Finish moving into my house

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

I don’t know how I missed this one when it came out in theaters. I also don’t know how I missed it when it came out on DVD. The other night I was home alone and looking for something to watch when I came across this gem half way through. I watched for a moment then went over to surf the net with the show playing in the back-ground. The movie sucked me in and I, with the help of the DVR (digital video recorder), watched the last 45 minutes of the show 3 times. Lucky for me, it was shown again in the middle of the night that night. I have been able to watch the show now several times in less than a week. I love it more each time I watch it. It has also sucked in the rest of the family and we now quote the show regularly at dinner or during conversations. It has changed my life….

THE END

OR IS IT?

ISN’T IT MORE LIKE A KIND OF BEGINNING IN A WAY?

HMM, I WONDER …

OH, WELL.

See more progress on: have more adventures

Things that make me happy

Six things that give me a lot to smile about.

And a few pains in the back-side.

See more progress on: Get my head back in the 43things game

17 years and counting

This Friday was our 17th anniversary. In so many ways I find it hard to believe I have been married for 17 years. The time has just flown by. One look at the pictures and it's obvious that it really has been 17 years and not just yesterday. I look at that picture and wonder who was that kid? I wish I could go back to that day and whisper a few things in his ear. But then I wonder, would I whisper too much? We have the five best kids in the world. I would not want to do anything that would change that. We have lived all over and learned a lot. Would I trade all that for more money, a skinnier me, more sex? NO. This is the hand that life dealt me and I am winning.

In a funk

Word on the street is that I am in a bit of a funk. I had two different people tell me that yesterday. I don't know why I am in a funk. I didn't even know I was in one. The only thing I can think that would cause it, is the move. Seems like it is taking a long time to get settled into the new house. I still have loads to do. But I never guessed that this, or anything else would put me in a funk.

I am hoping that the awareness that I have not been myself lately will be enough to jolt me back into behaving normally and dealing with others in a pleasant manner.

I know I will feel a lot better after this Sunday...but that is a subject for another post.

We got a dog

Last Saturday, a lady we met at Wal-Mart brought by the cutest little puppy. We have named her Sandy. Ever since Teddy died in 2004 we have not had a dog. It's so nice to have a dog again.

Sandy is 3/4 Lab and 1/4 German Shepherd. She is white like a lab but definitely has the personality of a German Shepherd. She does not trust new people at all, and I can't get her near the tub.

Our Golden retriever, Penny loved the tub. She would jump right in anytime.

Damn, Damn, Damn!

I have not done anything on this goal for ages. I have really got to start running again. Okay, walking with a few bursts of slow jogging.

I went out with the boys bike riding a week ago and we were at a mountain bike track. I rode down the hill around the curve and started back up the hill. I thought I was going to die. I am fat, old and weak. I suck! So hard to change and get into shape.

I must keep trying.

See more progress on: Run 3.1 miles without stopping

Did that last post look screwy or what?
I still have to figure this blogging thing out. It's pretty hard to tell the new closet from the old closet. I will take another picture since the closet looks better since Sue arranged it.

All those who read this: Place your votes. Which looks better, the top closet or the bottom?

Closets

Okay, so the closet in the master bedroom was a mess. The organizer that was there was cheap and falling apart. Sue thought it looked cheap. She wanted the single rod across the top with two wood shelves above that. I talked her into a better metal organizer. I put it in but she is not impressed. Now I am trying to find the best configuration.

Incompetence abounds!

I have been dealing with the telephone company and our satellite TV provider this week. Idiots all! I was trying to figure out way they are so incompetent. The only conclusion I come to is that they were educated in public schools.

Stay away from Qwest, DISH and Direct TV. Is there a Japanese company that does this stuff?

Done!
Yep, yesterday we cleaned the apartment and turned in the keys. I thought we would only stay there a few months. We ended up staying a year and two months there. A whole year longer than I thought. Who would have guessed we would be so happy all packed into a small two-bedroom apartment. I am thrilled to be in a house but I still feel sad to say good-bye to the apartment. Lots of good memories there.

Now, on to the house. What will life bring us there?

Painted and moved!!!!

I hate painting. My dad was a painter for many years and I think has glossy latex paint for blood but the gene did not pass to me. We painted three bedrooms, the living room, landing, and kitchen. Of all the spaces, only Amy's room really worked. Our room it too blue. They boys room it too yellow and that same overly yellow paint was so bad in the living room, landing and kitchen that we had to buy another color and repaint. Sue wants to repaint our room, the bathroom and the basement as well as touch up all the other rooms. She can do it while I am at work.

Friday afternoon with the painting completed we began the move. The apartment is mostly empty now except the endless odds and ends that are everywhere. Nothing big, just stuff that defies classification and is laying all over the apartment now. I will be so glad to say good-bye to the three flights of stairs. It took forever to load and mere minutes to unload. The big stuff from the storage unit was brought over on Saturday and we all slept in the new house Saturday night.

Sunday, after church we got the house put together enough to have our Sunday roast. Ah, to be back in a home. All the kids are thrilled. They love playing in their rooms and no one has to wait for a bathroom.

We still have the heating situation to work out. The house is warm upstairs but cool on the main floor and cold in the basement. I will have to do some dampering in the duct-work.

Hopefully, this week we will get the DISH working and have internet back too.

On another note: I am still morning the loss of my childhood home. It is now owned by another. I feel sad that 485-8848 is now gone. That was "my" phone number for 40 years. I still have dreams that take place in that house. It was a good home. Mom and Dad are better off in the condo though.

We bought the house.
Yesterday we finally closed on our house. What a relief! Almost. Now we have to paint and then move all our stuff in and clean the apartment. Lots of work still to do. It will be nice though, to live in a house with a yard again.
We celebrated Roberts and Thomas birthdays on Monday and Tuesday. Thomas had Pizza and Robert went with Sue and I to the Cattleman's steak house.

Monday, the perfect day to start the week off right with a few words for the old blog.

Interesting weekend. Friday night started out wonderfully. I mentioned going to the video store to pick a few movies to watch for the weekend. Sue naturally wanted to come along and then so did Thomas and Christopher. Soon Amy and Richard were coming too. When I told Robert we were all going to the video store he jumped up and said he wanted to come too. So the whole family piled into the car to head to the video store. We quickly decided that Chinese food for dinner was in order too. So, first we went to the Chinese restaurant to place our order and then off to the video store. After we all made a few selections, we headed back to the restaurant to pick up our order and home to eat it and watch movies. Now, for the most part this is just a typical thing to do on a Friday night, but for me it was special. We had not planned on getting Chinese food nor taking the whole family to the video store; it just happened. I like that, since it means that we really like each other as a family and enjoy family time, even the kids. As everyone gets older I often wonder when friends, dating, work and just plain life will begin to pull the family in different directions, as it should. Right now, though we all still like being together and for me, that brings great joy and satisfaction.

Saturday, Sue and I went over to the church for leadership training. It was a satellite broadcast that was shown several times during the day. We chose to go early so as to not interfere with our evening. The rest of the Branch leadership chose to go to the late broadcast. I guess we created some hard feelings when we chose to go over on our own time and not with them. In other meetings I tried to suggest an earlier time to no avail. That, and the events on Sunday have placed us in the rebel category with the leadership I'm afraid.

Also on Saturday, Sister Linder, one of the CES missionaries, fell and broke her ankle. We checked with the Hales and then ran over to the hospital to see if we could help. I really hate situations like that as I never know what to do. Mostly I just figure that we are in the way and that what they need we can't give. We offered a few words of encouragement, I assisted in a blessing and then we left. About all we can do...I hope.

Sunday, Some Sunday's leave me feeling good and others leave me feeling bad. Yesterday was a bad Sunday. It all started in Branch Presidents meeting. I simply do not like the leadership changes President Hales is suggesting. I don't feel they are entirely right but also feel I need to be supportive. Luckily no firm decisions were made and I will have some time to gently suggest something different. The real trouble began right before sacrament meeting. Richard and Jon Treetop were filling the water trays and President Hales told them to fill the water cups separated from the trays so as to not get water in the tray part. I told the story to the boys how I had purposely put water in the bottom of the try so that the deacon who was passing would have to deal with a sloshing tray. We laughed about it and then Jon decided to do it with one of the trays. Both Richard and I saw him do it and did nothing to stop it. I thought it would be funny. Jon Strang was the one who ended up with the try and while it was funny to watch, he handled it just fine. After the meeting I joked to Jon Strang about the tray and he set out to seek revenge on those who participated in the joke. By the time Priesthood rolled around Jon Strang and Danny Snow had determined not only to milk the situation for all it was worth but get others in trouble too. Danny and Jon achieved their purpose and sucked me into the fray as well. It all came to a head when President Hales came into class and lectured all on the importance of keeping the sacrament sacred. He did what was technically the correct thing to do, but it came across as a huge victory for Danny and Jon and in my opinion reinforced the bad behavior that is typical for Jon and Danny and further divided the group. The whole experience left me with a great deal of bad feelings. These feelings stuck with me the rest of the day and are still with me. I just need to let it go.

Old Blog

March 28, 2005
Long time
End of March! Wow, where does the time go. Much has happened yet I still fill like I am in a state of limbo. January was a very tough month. I am so glad to have it over with. February, started out similar but we had some good weather and that helped lighten the load. The boys and I made a trip to Rapid City on February 5th. It was nice to get out of Pierre and see some things. All we really ended up doing was shopping and eating, pretty boring for guys. We now know where the Sam’s Club in Rapid City is. For some reason, I thought that Sue was going to drive up to Pierre on Sunday the 6th. I called Sunday morning and the line was busy. I thought she had taken the phone off the hook so I would not know she was on her way. I called several times after church and still got a busy signal. I was sure she was on her way. The boys and I cleaned up the apartment and tried to make everything look good for her arrival. I called one last time at around 4:00 and the phone rang. My heart dropped, she was still there. Apparently she had left the computer logged onto the internet all day. She was mad I hadn’t called her until she discovered the computer logged on. The sadness and ache from being away from her and the smaller kids was tearing me up inside. We talked a long time on Sunday while I tried to convince her to drive up to Pierre. In the end, she wanted to do it but felt she could not leave the aquarium behind unattended. The next day I ran a classified ad in the Star to sell the aquarium. It sold the first day the advertisement ran. For me, this was nothing short of a miracle. Sue then made all the necessary preparations to join me in Pierre. On Saturday February 12th, Sue drove to Pierre and the whole family was back together again.

The six weeks we have all been together have flown by. Granted, we are all packed into a two-bedroom apartment and are constantly stumbling over each other and each other’s stuff, but life is much better.

Selling our house, what can I say about that? During January and February we had only two people interested in looking at our house. Now I know that January and February are slow months for house buying but only two people? Come on, something is wrong here. We asked our Realtor to do a few things to get a little more interest in the house but she was always too busy with personal things to do them. The last straw came when I could not even find our house in the real estate listings. Turns out the way it was listed, one has to search far north of where it actually is located to see the listing. We asked the realtor to fix this and again were rebuffed. The contract to sell ended on the 21st and we fired her that very day. We hired another realtor who promises to do more for us. We shall see. We considered selling the house ourselves but did not want to separate again and the people we asked to help us sell it ourselves said they were too busy.

Now, I would not mind going back to Kansas City and I really like the house but, finding a new job there would be difficult and then I would have a long commute again. Most importantly, I just cannot go back to the ward there in Excelsior Springs. There are some very nice people in that ward and the new bishop is a great man but there are just too many problems and too many people whose values don’t reflect mine. Among the good things here in Pierre is the branch. I enjoy the members a great deal and the feeling is so much better here.

I received an email from an old friend in Lee’s Summit last week. When he told me about all that was going on in the ward there I felt sad. I am starting to learn that moving has as many drawbacks as benefits. My kids would have been so much better off had we stayed in Lee’s Summit. I ran away from there because there were things I did not like and felt powerless to change. I ran away from Excelsior Springs because there were things I did not like and felt powerless to change. Now I am in Pierre and there are many things I do not like and feel powerless to change. I guess it’s time to stop running. But the question that keeps haunting me is: Is Pierre the best place to be? Now that I realize that I have to change and deal with the things that are out of my control I realize that I can to that anywhere. So where is the best place for my wife and kids? There are many good things about Pierre. It is so nice not to have to drive 20 minutes to get anywhere and even nicer not to have to deal with traffic. Crime is very low if non-existent here and most people don’t bother to lock their doors or cars. There are many things to do here as well. There is the River and Lake. There are many parks and trails and outdoor things to do nearby. There is the YMCA which is fantastic. The kids love to go there and swim. But house prices are so high. So are food and gas prices. I took a cut in pay to come to Pierre yet everything seems to be more expensive. Economically I don’t know how we can make it. While I like the branch, there is really very little opportunity for the kids here. There are not a lot of youth so dating and dances will be missed. No Scouts or Cub Scouts. Education opportunities are lacking here as well. I now know that I will not find that perfect place. I wonder though, is it wrong for me to always seek after it? Will another job in another place be better or will it create more stress for the kids? Will Sue be happy here? I think she likes many things about Pierre but also worries about the cost of living and opportunities for the kids. Maybe all that will change when we finally get our MO house sold. Maybe the perfect job will open up in Colorado Springs or Grand Junction. Maybe we will all die in a freak car accident driving down to KC this weekend. Who knows?



December 23, 2004
Where has the time gone?
So here I am the day before the best day of the Christmas season wondering where the month went. Obviously December is a busy month, but even more so this year because of the new job. Trying to sell the house on our own for more than a month took a bit of a toll in my self confidence. It hurts when very few call and no one comes to see the house. It's a good house, no a great house. I am sure it will sell in the next few months. Until it does, I am going up to South Dakota with only 3/7ths of the family. That was another time killer this month. What to do about South Dakota. First it was set that the oldest two boys and I would go up together while Sue sold the house, then on advice from the Stake President, it was decided that we would all go up together and leave the house empty and in the hands of a realtor. Then some folks from Church wanted to rent it for 3 months while they built their new house. Lastly, if we are all going up together, we better have a place to live. Last week we planned a trip to Pierre over the weekend. So off to SD we went. $500 later we now know that not only is there not a house for sale in Pierre that will meet our needs, but there is not a place for rent in Pierre that will meet our needs. So, while there, we rented an appartment big enough for the older boys and I. Back to square one. It's a nice place right next to the church, library and YMCA and only a few blocks from where I will be working. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to figure out you are on the right track. It has worked out for the best though. Sue has now been to Pierre and knows what she is in for. We know what the church is like up there and we know we need to keep a close watch on the realestate market so we can snatch up the right house as soon as it comes on the market.
On the job front: I knew about the job in SD clear back in mid-October. I decided to delay my start so that I could finish some jobs here and get since I was sticking around until the end of the year, get a Christmas bonus. So it was hush hush around work. Dan knew I was leaving and left himself to work at Parkville. It turns out to be a dream job for Dan and he is very happy there. I like to think I played some small role in helping him get that job. With Dan's departure things changed quite a bit around the office and I was getting ancy to leave. I held on though with the hope that I would get a nice Christmas bonus. Early December the owners met and bonus' were approved. I found out via sneekiness that I was getting a $1400 bonus. A week passed. The amounts were approved but the checks were not forthcoming and I was out of time. I had to turn in my notice in order to finish with SKW in time to start at the State. My resignation was not well received. They took my bonus away and were somewhat rude for a week. Now I am in the short-timers club and am relegated to gone but still here pile. Only today and two days next week and then it's off to SD.
So tomorrow is the best day of the year, Christmas Eve. Most would say Christmas day but for me that is not near as fun as Christmas Eve. The fun and anticipation are much more enjoyable than the five minutes of mayham followed by snacking, sleeping, TV and setting up or fixing the new toys. By noon it's just another day, only with a messy house and nothing to get excited about.


December 06, 2004
Monday
Boy am I pissed! I just typed up a whole entry and was trying to figure out if I could spell check it. One thing led to another and it was gone. What did I say?
I believe I talked about how I wanted to add something to this blog all weekend but was too busy doing odds and ends and never got around to it. Actually I thought about logging on a couple of times but did not to keep the phone line open. We have the house for sell in the paper and I was hoping that someone would call. We only got about 3 calls this weekend. It's a bad time of year to be selling a house but I would really like it sold before I head to SD to start work.
I wrote up our end of the year/Christmas news letter this weekend. I will post the 1st draft with this entry:
Greetings, it’s been far too many years since we’ve put together a Christmas newsletter to send to all our patient friends. This year marks our fifth and last year in the Kansas City, Missouri area. Many of you know that in 2003 we moved out of the suburbs in Lee’s Summit to the Country north of Liberty. We are actually closer to Far-West than to Liberty. We have loved our little two acres in the country and had a great 2004 here.

January brought us enough snow to slide on the hill at the side of our house. There was also enough snow for me to slide off the driveway in my truck. I miss front-wheel drive cars. We also missed out on the several weeks long sub-freezing cold spells that we normally get here in Missouri. This summer was wonderful as well because we did not have the hot, humid heat-waves we normally have. It’s been a great year to spend a lot of time out doors. The kids convinced me in the spring that we needed anther trampoline as they have missed the one we left behind in Colorado. This spring we got a Sam’s Club special and the kids have worn the thing out jumping on it so much. I doubt it will be in good enough condition to make the next move. Parts of the trampoline are actually being held together with duct tape, the handy-man’s secret weapon. One of the big highlights of our year was taking the family to see President Bush at a campaign event. It was very thrilling for all of us to be that close to the President of the United States.

We played gardeners this year and tried our hand at a garden. Without Grandpa Christensen’s help though, our efforts were not nearly as productive. We put in tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, peas, broccoli, cabbage, onions, corn, cucumbers and pumpkins. The geese that fly through the area loved the corn we planted and only two stalks managed to come up. Christopher planted the peas himself and though I had little hope the much would amount from his planting, our pea crop turned out to be one of the best. We will get better with practice.

Richard has grown six inches this year. Any sign of a little boy has all but disappeared. He is in the heart of his teens now and behaving in a manner entirely appropriate for a teenager. Richard was lucky to have a boy on our street his same age and those two spend a great deal of time together. Richard turned 14 this year and was made a teacher. He has been very diligent in getting to church early so he can prepare the sacrament. Richard is the writer of the family. He has written a book and several movie scripts. He says he wants to make movies when he grows up. Ron Howard and Peter Jackson had better watch out.

Robert is growing like a weed as well. Robert’s voice has begun to change and the little boy in him is starting to slip away. Robert is the favorite of the family. All the kids love to play with him as he is the friendliest of the bunch. Sue and I are constantly amazed at what a truly good person Robert is. He has a good heart. Robert turned 12 this year and became a deacon. He does a good job passing the sacrament and takes his duties very seriously. I step on his feet while he is passing to us and he won’t even crack a smile…darn. Robert has developed quite a talent for making animations on the computer and writing stories.

Amy is our quiet strong beauty. She loves to read and is reading a new book constantly. I wish the rest of the kids would read half as much as Amy does. This year, Amy has been sick more often but she handles it much better than the boys do and we never hear her complain. Amy has turned into quite the little seamstress. She has made blankets and pillows for her room. As always Amy loves horses and has added to her horse collection considerably this year. We hope one day to be in a position to buy her a real horse. For now, she will just have to practice grooming and riding on the computer program she has.

Thomas turned 8 this year. In April we went out to Utah to baptize him. Thomas wanted both his grandparents and cousins to see his baptism. Thomas is a smart energetic boy. He is a wiz at math and is making great progress learning to play the piano. We have a rule that you can’t play on the computer until you have practiced the piano. Many mornings Thomas is practicing away when I leave to work. I must add that this is never popular with his siblings or his mother. Thomas holds the title as the loudest in the family. I am sure he gets that from his mother.

Christopher may be the smartest of the bunch. He is learning to read and enjoys participating in the school activities with the rest of the kids. We have found that Topher has the gift of gab and we are always surprised by his ever growing vocabulary. He has picked up especially on some words that his father uses from time to time or at work. Topher loves cars and Legos and is still small enough that mom can hug and hold him when she gets to missing her babies. For us it is amazing that our youngest is now six.

As I mentioned earlier, we will be leaving Missouri shortly. I have accepted a job as the State Director of Geographic Information Systems for the State of South Dakota. I have really enjoyed my job here in KC but felt like it was the right time to move onto a new challenge. I start work right around the first of the year in Pierre, South Dakota. As soon as we sell the house, Sue and the kids will join me there. Pierre (which is pronounced: Peer) is a town of about 15,000 people. Since it is the capital of South Dakota it has many things that normal small towns do not have. We feel like we are getting the best of the big city and small town in one. We will also be very close to the black hills and will actually be 300 miles closer to Utah.

Sue and I and all the kids want to thank all of you for the many things you do for us and for the great honor we feel to have you as our friends and family. We wish all you and yours a very merry Christmas and an exciting and prosperous new year.


December 03, 2004
Hello World
Hello world! Okay that may be a stupid way to start but I am the only one who will read this anyway.
It's been almost 16 years since a real written acounting of my wonderful life has taken place. Even then it was rather spotty and shallow to say the least. Not that this new effort will be any better. But in trying to make the effort there is hope of better results.
So who am I?
That's what we are here to discover.....