Some Lotta Snow

When I got out of bed this morning and looked out the window and there was some serious snow falling.  It was heavy, wet and falling fast, very fast.  It just kept coming too.  I spent pretty much all day with a shovel in my hands or running the snow blower.  I am exhausted right now.  I really just need to go to sleep.  There was some lotta snow.  Happy and grateful for the moisture.  We need it.  Okay, now I'm off to bed. 

It's Over... Oh, Wait!

By the time my lab let out this afternoon I was beyond done.  It has been a rough week.  So much going on.  I have to say that I think we nailed the Africa presentation.  It was good.  I think Dr. Kholoud liked it.  I got maximum points for it so that is good.  So nice to have it done.  The History exam went pretty well.  I feel fairly good about it. One or two questions that I was not certain about and don't remember in the notes or the discussion.  Oh well, it will be okay.  I gave it my best guess.  Well, I thought all was over but wait, there's one more quiz to do.  It is a quiz on the latest chapter in Geology/Dinosaurs.  Should be great.  But right now, I am completely spent and I am going to bed. 

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day that might just put me in my grave.  Actually, I have completed a few things tonight that are easing the pressure.  That is good, it feels good.  Ran through the Africa presentation with the group.  It went okay.  I need to run through it a couple of times so I know exactly what I want to say.  I want to have fun with it and maybe try and teach the class a word or two of Xhosa.  It could be fun.  We will see.  I see light at the end of the tunnel tomorrow.  That is a welcome light.  It has been a most exhausting week and I am ready for it to be over.  For some odd reason I am hearing Garth Brooks in my mind right now singing 'if tomorrow never comes...'  that's right, you know the song 'will she know how much I love her'.  Okay, I need to get to sleep so that when tomorrow does come I am ready to take it on with a full head of steam.  

Mush

My brains have gone to mush.  I am running on empty now and still have a couple of quizzes, an exam, a paper and a presentation to do on Friday.  I mean, I'll get through it but my brain is done, at least it is done today.  I need a nap, a long nap, like maybe even just going to bed for the night.  Yep, that seems like a good idea.  It is 12:36 at this very moment and if I can be in bed in the next 10 minutes it will be a miracle for this week.  My body is feeling that, my brain is feeling that.  Yep, time to wrap it up and set a record. 

Waiting

We are down a couple of people and so I needed to put myself on the schedule to wait tables today.  I have done one or two tables every now and again when we were missing someone in the afternoon but I haven't waited tables during an actual lunch.  I've done plenty of order taking and that is not exactly difficult to do but this is a bit different.  I have to be on the ball.  It is not the easiest thing to do this waiting of tables.  I never was overwhelmed as it was somewhat of a slow day but I did have to keep a move on.  I can see where our waitstaff can get overwhelmed with drinks, orders, taking food out, cashing out customers, busing tables etc.  I'll be back at it on Thursday. 

Snow Means Night Sledding

I am thinking back to last year and cannot recall if we were able to get out and do some night sledding.  We probably did and there is probably an entry with night sledding in the title.  Well, whatever, we've had some snow over the last two days and so we had to get out and hit the hill for FHE tonight.  Night sledding is our little tradition.  We don't get out to the hill during the day very much at all but manage to make it in the evening.  Good times.  The snow was plentiful, it was deep.  We all had some fun.  There was a jump that I looked over and saw Jack flying off.  It was rather large and he hit hard on the landing.  It didn't deter him but it made every bone in my body hurt just watching him.  I avoided that part of the hill.  We were fortunate in that there were no accidents.  I don't know, watching my daughter slam herself into a fence pole a couple years ago kind of put a damper on the night sledding thing.  We avoid that part of the hill now.  I got to be Andy's sled dog on the run back to the car.  He loved that and he stopped complaining about having to go home.  It is fun to be able to run over and just enjoy ourselves. 

Natty is 15

Hard to believe that today we celebrated year number fifteen for Natalie!  Truly I feel blessed to have such a wonderful and remarkable daughter.  Naturally we went to church and enjoyed the sabbath.  We also got to go to a young women's new beginnings program tonight where Natalie somehow dominated the slide show. Selfies and crazy poses were all over the place and everyone seemed to have a good laugh.  It was good to be there and to have a little one on one time with Natty Sue! 

The hour is late, actually it's early.  I have been up working on this project for school.  I believe I am done, had enough.  It has occupied way to much of my time and I am going to now suffer through the day tomorrow with maybe 3.5 hours of sleep.  Not going to be good.  Well, I am off. 

Not Easy

I am working on this project for school.  I worked on it a couple of weeks ago, I am back on it today and tonight.  It is now 3 AM and I am not even close to being done.  It is the presentation on African Minorities and I am trying to get my two minority groups inserted into the power point.  I have completed the Coloureds and am now working on the Xhosa.  Xhosa people are no longer a minority today but I am allowed to discuss apartheid and therefore the Xhosa people prior to and after the elections in 1994.  It has been interesting thus far to see much of the transition.  My goodness.  I am absolutely exhausted.  I've got a ton more to do on this and a healthy amount of other studying to do.  It is draining me.  Must sleep. 

Fire Starter!

Last night I was heating some chicken in the microwave for Jack, had a paper towel covering the chicken and all of the sudden there are sparks flying, big, bright sparks.  I opened the door and the paper towel was on fire.  There was something that is part of the microwave that fried itself and seems to be the root of the problem.  I cleaned it out, put the chicken back in and same thing happened again.  It was a pretty serious flame and I think it is safe to say it is done.  It was a really nice microwave.  We have another just like it at work.  I certainly hope it doesn't catch fire in the middle of lunch rush.  It was really a freak thing, working fine and then bam! Fire!  Kind of like some of our employees I guess; working fine and then bam! They go nuts and yes, Fired!  I don't know that I mentioned that yesterday but I did end up letting our problem from the other night go.  I guess I was in a fired up state of mind.  Hopefully we don't have too many more of those.  We did manage to plug in a couple new employees and I was able to bring home a spare microwave we had sitting in the basement at the shop.  It all worked out I guess.   

Thoughts on Miracles

I met this wonderful gal at the singles conference.  I mentioned her a few nights ago.  Anywho, we've messaged each other a few times and she told me about a lesson she is going to give on Sunday about miracles.  I've been thinking about it a bit.  She told me she wants to look at what or why God allows miracles and whet we should learn from them.  In pondering that I think that sometimes I look beyond the miracle expecting something great and grand when oft times it is small and simple and yet miraculous.  Tender mercies = small miracles.  We've got to look for them though and recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives.  In recognizing them I see that the Lord is aware of me and individually I matter to him and that gives me strength.  That strength is a precious gift that is just what I need to press forward.  I am so very grateful for that.  Good thoughts and a good gal.  See mom, I meet women... I'm doin the work. I'm baby steppin!

Pressure Mounting!

So we've got a few challenges to overcome at work.  That is fun.  We hired two new people today.  I'll probably hire one or two more for the front.  Got some training to do and scheduling to figure out. We will get through this soon and will be better for it.  I've got a big week at school coming up and a lot of work to do.  I am feeling the pressure mounting.  Hopefully I can pace myself well the remainder of this week and be well prepared.  Two exams, a major essay and the Africa presentation.  Lots to get prepared for.  I am grateful to be in school.  It feels really heavy sometimes.  I am coughing up a lung tonight and really don't have time to get sick right now so hopefully we get past it quickly and hopefully my kids stay healthy.  See, pressure, mounting.  Finally, have the momza asking about the single ladies I met at the conference.  Not just momza either.  What's happening on the lady front?  Yet again, pressure, mounting.  Did I mention that it is Natalie's birthday on Sunday? I think I'm going to go bed now. 

Dumb Things

Why do people do dumb things?  Why do I do dumb things?  Why do employees do dumb things?  I know I have my fair share of boneheaded moments and I often do some very dumb things.  That is part of life and so maybe I should just let this go but I'm not going to.  Today I got to hear about a couple of employees that just did some very dumb things.  One of them got upset yesterday because she didn't get as big of a tip as she thought she would for being at work on Valentine's day.  The fact is that she made her hourly wage and she got tipped out from the wait staff.  I guess she was envisioning it being a much bigger payout but it wasn't as busy as we thought it would be and the tips just were not that much.  So last night she decides to have a temper tantrum and refuses to help out with the salad bar.  She was washing dishes last night and apparently went so far as to refuse to wash any dishes that came out of the salad bar.  One of my waitresses who is new asked her about a container that she could put tongs from the salad bar in when closing it down.  She replied that she was not helping with the salad bar and would not wash those dishes.  After asking again and clarifying all she needed was help with a container to put the tongs/spoons she received the same reply.  Then a third time she asked and finally was directed to a container but was told again that she would not be helping at all with the salad bar.  What the hell?  That was pretty much my response to the situation.  I don't have the stomach for this kind of behavior especially from a thirty something year old woman.  I'll tell you what, she just refused her way out of a job.

I also find out that we have a cook who just decides to up and leave whenever he wants at night.  He already goes out on multiple smoke breaks in a short amount of time and then decides he's done with over an hour left until we close.  Two weeks ago we went through hell with this guy because he was upset about something, he came back last week and apologized for his behavior and this week he is starting it all over again.  Again I ask, what the hell?  Who are these people and why do I want to pay them to act this way?  I don't.  We don't.  We won't.

If you happen to be reading this and are a young person looking for employment please listen when I say employers don't want to pay you to babysit you or to put up with your problems and antics.  If you want a job you need to step up to the plate and work.  Realize that work isn't always glamorous, you're not always going to be in the spot light and your not always going to get paid the big bucks.  If you are in an entry level position you're going to get entry level wages.  Be grateful for it, work hard to earn it, respect the work.  It may not be exactly what you want to do, okay, so what?  Just get in and do your work.  My favorite employees are those that don't get caught up in stupid but come in and get busy.  They don't complain, the don't pretend that they're owed something.  No, they are humble, they work hard and they show that they want to learn and do more.  They certainly don't get caught sitting around and they are not outside smoking more than they are inside working.  There are no tantrums when things don't go their way.  They exhibit a positive attitude and it is contagious.  Those are the employees I like, those are the  people I want on my team.  

A Few Rough Nights!

My apologies for the last few posts.  My daily entries suffered over the last three nights as I attended the Singles Conference.  I was sitting down between 1 and 2 AM on my body clock to write and it just wasn't happening.  Well, that was Friday and Saturday night.  Last night was between midnight and 1 AM on my body clock but my body was no longer functioning.  I sent out an email to our employees regarding some schedule modification and just a few sentences there took me at least 30 minutes to get through because I kept falling asleep.  Not so good. 

So the conference was a lot of fun.  It was pretty entertaining and there were some excellent messages shared.  Certainly there were teaching moments and laughing moments and dancing moments and eating moments.  It was a good time.  I met a few gals that were quite nice and I was happy to get to know them a little bit.  One gal ended up being from Florida and her parents happen to live in the Lakeland Ward now.  They moved in about 5 years ago, pretty much when I moved away.  Her dad is the Bishop of that ward now.  Pretty crazy how small the world is.  She was really nice and I am glad to have met her.  I also met her room mate who was also a very nice gal and I was glad to have met her also.  I ran in to several lady friends that I have made over the last few years.  Wonderful people.  I know, I know, why am I still single?  Well, it isn't that easy to date all of these wonderful people who live in Las Vegas.  That is a long drive for a date.  Believe me, I've done it a few times.  Rough!

Anyways, I was completely wiped out last night and finally just kind of gave up on writing anything meaningful or even descriptive.  I reached that point when I woke up and found I had dropped my phone and it was underneath me.  I lit up the screen to survey my progress on the entry and found that there wasn't all that much on there.  I thought there were a few more lines but I must have just dreamed those.  I was useless and that makes it really hard to write anything of meaning and coherence.  I don't give up so easily but the tank was empty.  I had nothing left.  That gets frustrating.  Regardless, it is a part of my life, a record of my day and all I can say is it represents one spent dude. 

Might I express my gratitude for Jim and Clorinda who make my attendance at these conferences possible.  It is a treat for me to go and mingle with the singles and to attend these workshops and firesides and it is also a great treat for my children to have the opportunity to be with their cousins and their aunt and uncle.  They always have a wonderful time and I am so appreciative of the attention and the love they receive during these visits.  Much thanks Jim, Clo and fam!

At the same time I must needs express my thanks to Dave for holding down the fort here at the restaurant and for mom, Laura and Amy for coming in and making sure things were taken care of on Valentine's.  It is not easy for me to leave the store but they give me that support and I appreciate it.  Dave did look at my finger for a ring when I came in to work today.  He has enjoyed harassing me a bit about the entire thing.

So it has been a few rough nights but they were good nights and good days filled with experiences that I don't often get.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go, to step out of my everyday life for a couple of days and enjoy associating with the singles.    

Nope

I am wiped out and am not going to get very far on this.  Conference day 3, it was great.  I will come back to this after I get some sleep. 

Dead

Day two of the singles conference.  I am way tired.  The conference was great.  Wow.  Not feeling well.  Must sleep,

Singles Conference

Attending singles conference this weekend.  We made the drive down this evening and got to Jim and Clorinda's just before 8.  It was a good drive, a bit of a slow down in the gorge as they continue construction.   Anyway, good to be at the conference.  I keep joking about this being my 5th conference and I'm still single.  It is a great conference and I am excited to be here.

Sooth it

My throat is experiencing a bit of discomfort tonight.  It isn't feeling like it is something major, just a little tickle.  I remembered the orange creamies I had in the freezer.  They are a bit old and have a bit of ice build up but I can get past that.  They are nice on an irritated throat.  Felt good to sooth it for a bit.  That and it gave me a bit of a treat.  Fabulous. 

From sooth to smooth... apparently Jack asked the girl that sits next to him in class if she'd be his valentine and apparently she said yes.  That the heck?  He decided to give her a little stuffed dog though some Brick House fudge may have done the trick.  He said she loves it.  She is actually a very nice gal who does a lot to help Jack.  Fun stuff.  I don't know what it means to be someones valentine when you are in fifth grade.  Whatever.

Well, must retire.  I am completely beat and need to get some sleep.  

History

I am taking History 1700 at SUU right now and we are in the 18th Century, late 18th Century and the fight for independence this week.  This is a time in our Nations history that I have always loved.  There were some seriously brave men and women.  I love to hear about Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, Washington, Adams, Revere and the many others who risked all to help win independence.  I love the founding of our nation and am grateful to be a citizen of The United States of America.  I don't have anything super profound to say on the matter, just enjoying the class and the material.  That is all.  

Old Friends

At the restaurant today had Clinton, one of our waiters, come back and say that we had some old friends in that would like to say hello if we had a minute to come out.  They said they knew us when Dave was just tiny.  I was wondering who it might be and was thinking it was infant Dave so pre-Hawaii.  Turned out is was Hawaii-Dave time period and I recognized them as soon as I saw them.  George and Judith Meldrum.  George was dads first counselor in the Bishopric and they had a son, John, who was my age; a son Scott, who was Pete's age and another son who was maybe Jay's age and though they told me his name earlier I can't remember it right now.  Want to say Daniel but could be completely wrong.  Anyhow, we called the folks and they were able to come down and visit.  That was good.  I enjoyed visiting with them for a bit as we waited on the folks to arrive.  It has been 25 years since I last saw the Meldrums.  Pretty amazing to visit for a bit and feel like it was just yesterday that we were all living in Hawaii Kai together.  Grateful for memories and for friends who last a lifetime. 

Sleepy

In my second class today I was battling the bobs.  That would be the head-bobs.  Sleep last night was not restful and we watched a video in the second class that was not exactly entertaining.  My eyes were heavy and I was struggling.  No fun.  I did wake up a bit before my third class with my walk across campus and that professor is fast talking and the subject is pretty interesting.  I went to my geology class after that and was nervous I would crash out there.  It has been quite boring in times past but today we finally started on dinosaurs and that was much more interesting then dating methods of old rocks.  Though I was quite sleepy at times I managed to make it through with out completely passing out.  What a relief.  I would hate to be the old guy that fell asleep in class.  I would probably end up snoring or farting in my slumber... 

Check the Emotions!

Second Sunday of the month so I was up to teach the lesson in Elders Quorum.  Pray Always from President Ezra Taft Benson.  I went through this lesson a number of times and there was a story in the opening section From the Life of... that each time I heard it struck me.  I skipped over it in the beginning and then got to a point in the second section of the lesson that lead me back to that story.  I made the mistake of reading it myself and could hardly get through it.  It was a simple story that illustrated the power of prayer in our families as a friend of the family related an experience at General Conference when she was sitting with the Benson family.  She was a college roommate of one of the Benson children.  Elder Ezra Taft Benson was announced as the next speaker and this girl was asked to pray for dad by the younger child sitting next to her.  She realized it was a message being passed down the row and so she passed it along and watched as it carried on to Sister Benson who was already bowing her head at the end of the row.  She went on to explain how from that point on whenever she watched conference and Elder/President Benson would speak she knew that there were prayers being offered by the Benson children where ever they were at the time.  There is something about that story, and that was just a quick summary, but there is something about that story and what it illustrates that hits me deep.  Perhaps it is past experiences, perhaps it is listening to my children pray and hearing them remember each other in their prayers.  I don't know, but what I do know is prayer is powerful and it should be a priority in our lives. 

Another thing that stood out to me was my responsibility as a father to lead my children by my example.  To teach them to pray by praying with them, fervently and with faith.  One of the Benson's sons, Mark said this: "When Dad knelt down to pray, he didn't rush things.  There was meaning behind his words.  It came through loud and clear that he was communicating with our Father in Heaven."  I wonder what example I set for my children in that regard?  I can do better. 

Let me just share this last quote from President Benson: "It is my testimony, my brothers and sisters and friends, that God does hear and answer prayers.  I have never doubted that fact.  From childhood, at my mother's knee where I first learned to pray; as a young man in my teens; as a missionary in foreign lands; as a father; as a Church leader; as a government official, I know without any question that it is possible for men and women to reach out in humility and prayer and tap that Unseen Power; to have prayers answered.  Man does not stand alone, or at least, he need not stand alone.  Prayer will open doors; prayer will remove barriers; prayer will ease pressures; prayer will give inner peace and comfort during times of strain and stress and difficulty.  Thank God for prayer.  Even during hours of trial and anxiety, it is possible to draw close to the Lord, to feel of his influence and of his sustaining power - that one is never alone, if he will only humble himself before the Almighty.  I am grateful for that testimony, for that assurance."

I know the Lord know us and that he hears and answers prayers.  Those answers come in a variety of ways.  I have witnessed answers come into my life through the service rendered to my family by others.  I know they came through inspiration and as answer to prayer.  The Lord is mindful of us and will not leave us comfortless.  I will certainly remember to pray that in my next lesson I can check the emotions at the door... well, no, I'll just have other people read the stories that choke me up.     

A Bit of Africa

In my Diversity class I am in a group that will be presenting on Africa.  There were several countries and minority groups that could be signed up for but my choice was easy.  I love Africa, particularly South Africa, the Cape Province.  It spent some time going through different minority groups throughout Africa and was fascinated by some of them.  Naturally I spent a little extra time on South Africa and couldn't help but think of some of the wonderful people I met there.  The Coloureds are one of the minority groups of South Africa and as I read a little bit about them I couldn't help but think about the Creche I served in while living in North Pine, my first Area.  I loved working with those kids, teaching them songs, playing games.  Those were fun times.  The Indians were also listed as a minority along with the San people and the Zulus.  I lived in the basement of a Hindu mans home in Malabar outside of Port Elizabeth.  Very nice man.  His son was a friendly chap as well and I can remember his little hot pepper garden and him showing off some of his prized peppers.  We had a Muslim Mosque a block away and a Hindu temple just down the road.  There was a Catholic church up the road and other churches in Malabar as well.  There was certainly some beauty to behold there. 

Well, I enjoyed spending a bit of time in Africa today reviewing, learning, preparing. There was so much beauty there, so many wonderful people.  I am grateful that I spent two years of my life there, serving, learning from and loving the people.  To go back would be amazing.  Someday I will do that, not that anyone will know who I am but that is okay.  I just want to go back and enjoy it. 

I've still got some work to do for this presentation including attractions in Africa, Food in different regions, Stereotypes and then a few other things related to minority groups.  I am looking forward to it.  I plan on taking in some of my things for the presentation and think some might find it interesting. 

Freaking Tired!

Life is busy right now.  Just busy.  Never down time.  I am freaking tired.  When I try to have down time I think about what I need to be studying.  I think about how far behind I am in certain subjects.  I feel like there really is a lot to do and I need to be focused and in front of it yet it is so easy to get behind.  See, never down time.  Not enough time.  Freaking tired. 

Results Are In!

Yesterday I left psychology expecting to see how poorly I did on our exam from Monday.  The results were going to be posted last night.  That didn't happen.  Finally this afternoon I looked at my phone and saw that they were posted.  I nervously decided to check on them.  I left that text feeling like I knew a lot of the answers but there were a handful that I felt I didn't do well on.  Just not that confident on those.  I thought maybe I could hit a 90 if I got the bonus question correct.  I started to feel more nervous though and thought I would be closer to an 80.  Well, I got the bonus question correct and I only know that because my score was 101 out of 100.  So I ended up missing a question.  That blew me away.  Granted, I studied for hours but I really didn't think I did that well.  I'm kind of waiting for a correction to be made to the score, that there was a mistake in the recording of the points that needs to be corrected.  Well, there are a few more of those to get through.  I set the bar pretty high for myself and now I'm going to have to deliver.  Not all that easy. 

Speaking of not all that easy.  I've been trying to study for my Geology/Dinosaur exam and lab quiz tomorrow.  Not feeling a lot of confidence in this one.  The class has been the hardest of the four and I am more nervous about this test then the others I've taken thus far.  It all seems so mysterious to me.  I was talking to another student in the class yesterday and he said that a lot of this stuff is going right over his head.  Nice to know I'm not alone in that. 

I may not be so eager to share when the next results are in. 

The Dramatics

We tell our employees to leave their personal problems at the door when they report for work.  We don't need them distracted and we don't need them distracting others.  There simply isn't time for it.  I say to all seekers of employment, when you get a Job, check the dramatics at the door.  Don't bring your crap to work with you.  It distracts you and it distracts fellow employees.  We don't need that, we don't want that.  I have to say, some of the worst offenders of displaying the dramatics have been men.  Look, don't get me wrong, there is plenty of female inspired dramatics also.  That is just a hard thing to have to deal with.   Oh my goodness, feeling a bit wiped out.  Very much wiped out.  Not remembering,   Okay, nuff said, much loves, gotta go now. 

Throwing Snow

Went up the mountain this evening with the boys and the scouts.  The scouts have their Klondike Derby this Friday/Saturday and are going to be sleeping in a snow cave.  Well, there isn't a ton of snow so we went up and threw some snow.  That seemed to work.  The boys had a good time and it was good to be up there.  The boys had fun, the scouts had fun, looked like we all had fun.  I am dead tired at the moment and can probably pass out right here if I ... seriously, no joke - I just popped my head up after a little snooze.  That's timing.  I looked at what I was writing last and what are the chances?  Well, I am tired.  God a lot to do over the next two days relative to my geology class and the exam Friday.  Dang, not feeling ready at all. 

Grace

Tonight for Family Home Evening we review a devotional given by Brad Wilcox.  Jim sent it to me a few weeks ago and I read it sometime last week or maybe the week before.  I guess it was more like a month ago that Jim sent it.  Anyway, it is a powerful message on the Savior, on the Atonement, on Grace.  I think sometimes we grow up without truly understanding the magnitude of the Atonement and what the Savior makes possible.  I am still trying to learn and understand the Atonement.  I do know that it is easy for us to beat ourselves up believing that we will never be good enough or never reach the level of righteousness that we need to in order to make it back to our Heavenly Father. We need to attain a certain level and only when we achieve that will the Savior make up the difference or fill in the gaps.  We lack an understanding of grace.  The Savior teaches that his grace is sufficient.  The Savior is the difference. 

In saying this I am not saying we do not have responsibility to learn, grow, follow, emulate.  The Lord expects us to act and to learn of Him.  We need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause.  At the same time we should not beat ourselves up because we make a mistake to the point of giving up, or thinking we are a bad person.  Brad Wilcox uses the analogy of a mom paying for piano lessons for her son.  The lessons have been paid for, the sons job is to practice, practice, practice.  He is not expected to play perfectly immediately, to perform at Carnage Hall.  If he were to screw up in a recital he would not be deemed unworthy to keep practicing.  It is the same with us.  The Savior paid the price, our job in accepting Him is to practice, practice, practice.  If we made a mistake we are not deemed unworthy to continue practicing and learning to become more like Him. 

We had a good conversation on the matter and we learned a little more about the Atonement and the love of Jesus Christ for us.  I certainly am grateful for my wonderful children and for their desire to follow the Savior.  I hope that I can be the example that I need to be for them and that we can enjoy the journey of discipleship together as we grow in the gospel.

I certainly did not do this devotional justice and would encourage you to take a closer look.  Again it is by Brad Wilcox and titled His Grace is Sufficient.   Here is the link. 

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966


Sorry, you may have to copy and paste that in your browser. 

Sasserole!

I don't know about most kids but I hated the thought of eating some nasty casserole for dinner.  Some mixture that would include ground beef, rice, green beans and a can of some cream soup all baked together.  Disgusting.  It was like a staple growing up which is probably why I spent a lot of time throwing... okay, that's not true.  I suffered through it.  There is just something not right about a casserole.  A sasserole on the other hand, that was all about the sass!  It was a casserole with some attitude and it was definitely worth every bite.  Sadly there are not many casseroles that are worthy of the title of sass.  In fact I dare say there is only one, zucchini casserole.  Doesn't that just sound sassy?  I think it does.  It may go down as the best casserole in the existence of casseroles.  Is there such a thing as a bad asserole?  If there is zucchini casserole tops those charts as well. 

Gotta send props out to Violet Pearl Fontano for including this recipe in her recipe book to her family of, I don't know, 14 or 15 years ago.  Secondary props out to Kathleen Griffin Fontano, my sweet momza who made us this casserole a plenty whilst growing up.  Oh, they both made some of those other nasty casseroles, I don't know why.  I make one casserole and one casserole only.  Not true.  I make two casseroles and two casseroles only.  One, the green chilies breakfast casserole from Grandma Vi and then this zucchini casserole.  I must needs correct my previous statement.  There are in fact two casseroles worthy of the title of sass.

Tonight I made some sasserole - the zucchini variety.  I decided not to mess around.  I made a double batch.  I don't know how well it freezes but I broke up the second batch into two 9 X 9's and will have those on hand for whenever, which could really be whenever because anytime is a good time for some zucchini sasserole.

It calls for zucchini, ground beef (made it tonight with ground pork and ground turkey), white rice, cottage cheese (that's like a casserole staple as well), cream of mushroom soup, a bit of garlic salt and oregano and some grated cheese.  Do you want the actual recipe?  If so, comment on the post and I'll put it up.  Otherwise this is just a little chit chat for my kids to review and remember where the greatest sasserole of all time came from.  I do expect that it is being shared with your own families!  It is a Fontano family tradition that must live on.  I guess adding the recipe would help facilitate that.  Here is is:

1 1/2 lbs sliced zucchini (1/4" thick) Cooked until barely tender - should be about 6 cups cooked.
1 lb. ground beef (sub ground pork or turkey or a combo if you wish) cooked and seasoned a bit.
1 cup rice.  I put in a little extra and prefer it sticky, calrose rice, cooked in a rice cooker.
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
1 lb (16 oz.) cottage cheese
2 10 oz. cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 or 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

Place half of the cooked zuchini in a casserole dish.
Combine cooked ground beef, rice, oregano and garlic salt.  Mix thoroughly.  Spread on top of zucchini.
Put cottage cheese on top of ground beef/rice mixture.
Add the second half of zucchini.
Cover with cream of mushroom soup.
Top with grated cheese.
 Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.
Allow to cool a bit, then serve it up and prepare for a little taste of heaven!