11 Hours!

Eleven hours.  That is about how long I stood and washed dishes today.  I have had better days.  Actually business was hopping and I have several employees out right now which put me at the DW and I have to say I think it kicked my backside.  It just never stopped.  It took me 6 hours just to get through the pile of red baskets that we had building up continually.  Granted, I was not washing red baskets for 6 hours I simply was trying to start the red baskets but could never actually do so for 6 hours.  It was crazy.  I believe I washed every utensil in the place at least twice and some 3 times.  I am beat.  My feet are killing me.  My body just got tired.  I was having a lot of back pain, still am having the back pain.  Anyway, it was a long day and I am ready to pass out.  Big Jack was on hand as well and took it like a champ.  He did have the opportunity to sit and visit with some friends and he gave them probably the most in depth commentary on remote control air planes.  Fantastic.  He is a good boy and I don't like to stick him there in the office.  I have been fortunate for most of summer in that I haven't had to work a ton but today was a butt kicker.  I don't think I can do 11 hours of dish-washing ever again. 

Lemonade

When life gives you lemons... of course, make lemonade.  Tonight I was on my way back to the Brick House to drop off a few things I had to pick up at the store.  I was expecting everyone to be gone.  I got a call from Christa, one of my shift leaders and she told me that someone had called in right before we closed and ordered 12 Thunderbird sandwiches.  It was an hour later and they had never come in and picked them up.  I've decided we need to take payment over the phone for call in orders at that time of night.  That was $120 order that just didn't pitch.  That is not cool.  I don't care who the restaurant is, that kind of waste hurts. We're just a small outfit and now we just lost money on the food and the extra time it caused my staff to be there to prep and take care of the order.  I didn't want to throw it all away so I loaded it up and drove around to local hotels and gave a free meal to the desk clerks on duty.  They were all excited to get it and so that made it all worth it.  Jack looked up at me when we were done with a smile on his face and said "Dad, I think we just did a good thing".  Lemonade, such a delicious beverage.

Running out of Time

Time is starting to get short for me.  I was trying to get the house projects done before the kids get back from Alaska.  That is happening in a week.  I don't know that I will be able to pull it off.  I started painting the train room today.  I primed it this morning and then put a lovely blue paint on this evening.  I have a section of white that I need to paint also and then all the finer detail painting.  Once that is done I will start on that floor.  The floor shouldn't take me very long.  I brought home the air compressor tonight with the guns so I can be ready for trim.  That is going to be a big project as there is just about trim work everywhere in the house.  I still have work and am missing a lot of people over the next three days.  That is going to make things a bit tough.  Oh my, not sure how I am going to get through the next month or so.  I might have my day issues figured out with people.  That will be good.  Wow, I am tired.  So much to do, so little time.  I think I will just worry about getting done what I can and will just have to finish things over time.  There is still just so much to do.  Oh well, that is part of it. We'll get there eventually though I am certain more projects will simply arise in the process. 

Adjusting to Pain

Last week I went to see a chiropractor.  It had been quite some time since I last saw him and my body was hurting.  He did some adjusting and I was actually feeling pretty good.  I was even getting up in the morning fairly easy without having to warm up my body before the pain would ease.  Today I made a return trip thinking I would continue to make some improvements.  Let me make it clear that I am not a regular when it comes to chiropractic care.  Like I said it had been quite some time since I last visited the chiropractor and that previous visit was the first time I had seen a chiropractor.  It was the last of a series of visits, 4 or 5 maybe, over the course of a month.  What I am trying to say is that I am not an expert.  I don't write this with a lot of experience or expertise in the matter.  Okay, so today I made the return trip.  I was having pain in my leg prior to last weeks visit and even some after that visit.  Today the doctor made an adjustment on my left hip I guess that was fairly intense.  I am sitting here with quite a bit of pain in my left hip area.  I don't have any clue if this is normal, if I am supposed to feel severe discomfort for a time after being adjusted.  It is not comfortable by any means.  I had some headache pain after last weeks visit that I attributed to the adjustment but it was no big deal and went away.  This pain is a bit more intense than that.  I will sleep on it and hopefully it will begin to feel better.  It is just a bit brutal that I went in feeling a lot better in the area in question and came out feeling worse than what I was experiencing to begin with.  The next scheduled appointment is Monday.  If I am feeling better by then I might ask for a little less adjusting.  Maybe some experts out there can let me know if this is normal.  It is fantastic!

The Second Time Will Do

I installed the new ceiling fan in Natty's room this morning.  It went very well and I am still impressed with the ease of installation now days.  I did run into a little snag in that the wall switch for the fan which works off of remote actually programmed itself to both Natty's fan and the one in Jack's room when I linked it to the control.  So when I turned on the fan in Natty's room it also turned on Jack's fan, as did the light.  I went back later this evening and tried to reprogram everything with power cut to the other fan so that the signal would only link with the intended fan.  No luck.  Finally I said to heck with it and I uninstalled the fan in Natty's room, removed the control and installed an old control I still had from a fan I had previously.  Then I reinstalled the fan a second time and it works like a dream.  By now I am feeling like a real expert.  Now I am debating on whether to try and use this device on the next fan I install or just give up on it and see if I can order some of the old style controls online.  It is a cool concept on the new control but it certainly didn't work well for multiple fans in the same general area.  Anyhow, that was a fun project. 

Improving the Sabbath

Sabbath Day observance is not something I have given a lot of attention to.  I think there are things that we just do differently on Sunday because it is the Lord's day, a day of rest.  I am ever grateful that I have not had to work on Sunday though I have found over the last few years that I have brought work home or gone in to the office to complete the schedule for work.  That is something I have determined to try and change in an effort to show the Lord a greater measure of respect on his day.  Sometimes it is easy to get on the computer and spend a lot of time looking at stories or other things that are not of great importance and certainly don't draw me nearer to the Savior.  I tried today to not do that though I was not perfect in those efforts.  I think there is value in that.  I naturally wanted to do some work with ceiling fan projects, garage straightening and other things but I really do avoid that kind of thing.  Anyway, I want to make the sabbath a more meaningful day in my life and so I will be working on improving the sabbath. 

Jack and I went out for a walk this morning.  We had the opportunity to talk about watering grass and related it to nurturing our spirits.  We talked about why we read scriptures daily and have our prayers.  He got it.  Later in the walk there was a section of lawn at SUU that must have a bad sprinkler.  I pointed it out to Jack and asked what should be done.  He replied that it should be watered.  I then reinforced the earlier lesson about nurturing our spirits.  Anyway, it was a good walk and conversation and I hope it is something Jack will remember. 

I know that I have a lot of work to do to make the sabbath more meaningful in our lives and by our lives I mean my life and the lives of my children.  It is so convenient to treat it as just another day especially when there is laundry to do and other chores needing to be done.  I have to make some adjustments to other days so that I can avoid some things that aren't as meaningful and don't necessarily draw me nearer to the savior.  An so I will work on planning and working to improve. 

Unloaded

This morning I got up and went with Borden Jenkins to load a piano up and take it over to a rummage sale that was happening at the Brick House.  A friend contacted me and asked if they could use the parking lot for a sale today to raise money to help cover some medical expenses for her sister.  I said sure.  So then the other night when I was helping to lift this piano out of a basement we were asked if we knew anybody that wanted a piano.  Nobody knew of anybody so I mentioned the upcoming rummage sale and basically they said take it.  That is the history of the piano.  We unloaded it at the sale and withing 10 minutes it had sold.  It sold to one of my employees, Madi, who happens to be a music major.  She is very excited about the piano.  I don't know how excited her boyfriend was when he came to move it.  Then he got to come back to move it again with a bigger truck.  It took 5 grown men to get that thing out of the basement and it took 5 of us to get it in the back of this truck.  Anyway, it was for a good cause and so we were happy to help. 

I also took over several things that I have had taking up space here for over a year.  The entertainment center that we bought 10 years ago to go around a big screen TV.  Yep, the old style big screen that was anything but a skinny thing you mount on the wall.  I also took over Natty's old bed and a computer hutch.  The entertainment center and the hutch didn't end up selling but I did unload them.  Everything that didn't sell was being donated to DI.  I was happy to unload them.  The bed did sell almost as fast as the piano.  Good stuff. Good cause.  Happy to help. 

Two Mules

I live on a street with two mules.  One of those mules lives on the opposite side of the street from us and goes by the name John.  The other mule happens to live in my home and goes by the name Jack.  When these mules play together you can be sure that there is going to be an argument and neither one of them is going to budge.  There is not giving only arguing.  I was installing a ceiling fan in Jack's room this evening and heard the doorbell ring.  Jack was outside playing.  As soon as I heard the doorbell I said to my self 'tattletale' and so it was no surprise when I opened the door and there was the mule named John with three of his friends and they were sharing their displeasure with the other mule, Jack.  I attempted to rustle up the mule named Jack but it was to no avail.  He just sat there yelling and carrying on.  I don't know what to do for that boy.  He refused to go home and ran up the street while I put his bike away.  He continued yelling.  Jack wanted to do something and John didn't want him to so the game of butting heads began.  Then it was a gang of 4 against Jack.  It was pretty rough.  There were things said to Jack about his bike and about his weight and whatever... he didn't take it well and that set him off in a not so good state.  And so it goes, two mules butting heads and being not so friendly.  I don't know how to correct it.  I had a conversation with Jack tonight about the mules that live on our street.  I think it clicked as he said something about the Dr. Seuss books and the two guys that refused to move out of the other's way.  I encouraged Jack to be a little wiser, a little more giving and patient, to walk away when he needs to,    Anyway, I'm going to pass out and I am a fairly certain that when I do pass out I will be like a stubborn mule - immovable. 

Simple Pleasures

I think I am a fairly simple guy, maybe I am not.  Maybe that is why I am 5 years divorced, dating no one and will probably... back to the topic.  I am a fairly simple guy or so I believe.  I fine pleasure in simple things.  I came home tonight a little frustrated as one of the employees I thought I would have when school started just gave me her two weeks notice.  Employees are not simple and sometimes dealing with them is not a pleasure.  Anyway, I was planning on a run to the store to pick up some paint so that I could paint the basement.  Well, we pulled into the driveway, I looked at the lawn and said to Jack something along the lines of 'we'll go to the store later, I'm mowing the lawn'.  And with that I went to work.  I love to mow the lawn.  It is such a relaxing activity and I like to do my best to make the yard look good.  It just gives me an hour or so when I don't worry about anything else going on and I just focus on moving, trimming, edging and cleaning.  It is truly a simple pleasure of life and I am grateful for that.  I really need to get some land, put in a big yard and just enjoy life keeping it up.  It's like being able to work the grill a couple of days ago.  I just find joy in doing some simple things now and again.  Maybe what I need to do is start a mobile yard service where I also cook a custom meal for my customers. 

The Creepy Basement

We had a visit from the health inspector yesterday and everything was in good order.  He did get on us about a section of wall outside the walk in freezer in the basement where some drywall was removed and insulation had spilled on the floor back when we had a small electrical fire there in the wall.  Really it was miraculous that it happened when it happened and that the entire place didn't burn to the ground.  Anyway, we didn't put up any new drywall so he said we needed to.  I decided not to procrastinate that and took in some drywall, some tape and some mud and got that all squared away today.  Then I turned my efforts into cleaning up the basement.  We haven't ever really done that but I hear all the time from the employees about the creepy basement and how scary it is.  Really it isn't all that creepy or scary.  There is a lot of junk down there that accumulated over the 50+ years of a restaurant being in operation there.  Anyway, I set to straightening some things up, moving some shelves, sweeping the floor and some other things.  I have wanted to do a haunted basement for Halloween and had a few ideas today.  Anyway, Jack got excited about converting one of the rooms in the basement to a train room.  What else would he convert it into?  I had him come down and tell me all about it in the not so creepy basement.  

On The Grill

I got in some grill time at the Brick House today.  That was nice.  I don't always get that opportunity and so when I get a chance to jump on it and make some Philly Cheese Steaks or burgers I have to take it.  I make other things but nothing makes me happier than putting together a Philly. It is a great sandwich and when I make it I have all the confidence in the world that the customer is going to enjoy it.  I also had an opportunity to go out and visit with some good folks that have become good friends over the last 4 years.  The Bahr family was in tonight as well as Richard Benson and his wife.  It was good to visit with them both. 

Jack and I made another midnight ride tonight and took the SUU loop that we normally do but we did it in reverse fashion.  It is a good ride and I am hoping that it will loosen up my lower back some and relieve some of the pain in my leg.  That is not a lot of fun.  I endure pain pretty well and so I will keep going despite the pain but it is not real comfortable right now.  Just going to work on stretching and hopefully working whatever it is out. 

The Train Room

I began working on the train room today.  For those who are unawares Jack is a big fan of trains, he has a few different sets and when we moved into this house we determined that the room Jay and Sara used for storage we would make into a train room.  Well, it has had trains in it and it has been a storage room of sorts.  Basically it has been a mess.  I cleaned it up a couple months ago and then moved some things in there for storage while I was putting in floors and refinishing the other rooms in the basement.  Today it was time to start on the train room and so this morning I moved things out of it.  I moved a few more things this evening and then I started doing some work on the room.  I decided that I would see if I could move the light fixture from the wall to the ceiling.  I was able to do so.  I think I will put in a ceiling fan now that I have the power run to the ceiling.  That required some tricky work to feed the wiring but I got it done with minimal wall damage and then fixed whatever damage I did the the wall.  I also went through and did a lot of work on the wall and other areas of the room.  A little plaster here and there never hurt anyone.  It is coming together.  There is still quite a bit to do but I think we made some good progress today.  I'm feeling much better about this room.  I need to tackle the closet in this room as well and do some adjusting.  Anyway, the train room is a coming.  The big train Jack had operating was moved out to the family room until the train room is officially opened for business.  I think I can get the wall work finished tomorrow and hopefully get some painting done this week as well.  Once those are complete I will move on to the flooring.  I told Jack it is going to have to double as a guest room and he was okay with it.  We'll see what we can make of it. 

Sunday Things

There is a push for us to raise the bar on Sabbath Day observance.  I have some work to do here I think.  Not that I was out and about doing bad things.  I spent a good portion of the day listening to talks from the Apostles, in meetings, at Church and out doing some Home Teaching.  I sat at dinner with Jack and I watched a wholesome movie this evening.  I think where I fell short was in allowing Jack to be on the computer watching videos about video games, playing games and doing whatever he wants.  I need to help steer him a bit more carefully.  I need to guide him to do the right kind of things and help him to have a desire to do those things on his own accord.  I invited him to watch the movie with me.  He told me the only movie he wanted to have a movie night for was the Mall Cop.  Well, that didn't happen.  Anyhow, I want to help my family have a desire to do those things on the Sabbath the draw us nearer to the Savior.  That can be a lot of different things.  I think we could make pies and take them around to members of the ward just as a gift and to let them know we were thinking of them.  That takes a little planning but it is just a little.  We need to look into our Family History work.  We can spend more time in study.  We can visit family and friends.  I need to make some of these things happen.  I need to continue to look at other ideas of things that would be appropriate for Sunday. 

Leg Pain

I'm not entirely sure if I hurt myself somehow or what is going on but I am experiencing a menacing pain in my left leg.  It goes from my shin through the knee and up into the thigh.  I don't quite know what I would have done.  Nothing to severe where I heard a snap or a crack.  It simply just began hurting.  Hopefully I can get it under control and figure out what the cause is.  I am hoping some stretching can ease the pain a skosh. 

Ahhh, Home

So happy to be back home tonight.  I just now posted my entry from last night.  It is in a picture format from the note that I wrote it on in my phone.  When I did my factory reset I did not download the Blogger app.  It didn't work very well and I didn't want it potentially messing up my phone so I left it off.  So without it I posted on a note.  It is almost like the old days when I would run out of space in my handwritten journal and end up writing on scrap pieces of paper that I just stuck in the journal.  I couldn't copy the text from the note the way it was saved in the phone so I just copy and pasted the format the note was saved in which was a picture.  Whatever I guess.  It worked.  Anyhow, back to my original statement, so happy to be back home tonight.  I don't sleep well in a tent on the ground.  I think I decided that I just need to invest in something comfortable to sleep on when I go camping.  Some sort of a thick pad or air mattress.  I did have a pad but it isn't all that thick or comfortable.  That and Jack being awake a lot, scared of the world outside of the tent.  It was a long night and one of those when you are just waiting for the sun to rise so it makes sense to be up and doing things.  That finally happened a little after 6.

Aside from the lack of sleep the morning was great.  We got things packed up and other things ready to go and then waited for my relief so we could maintain two deep leadership in the group.  It came and then we hiked out and came home.  I immediately began watering my sod that was looking neglected.  I think it will live.  I also passed out for an hour.  I just couldn't stay awake.  I did wake and adjust the water a couple of times but I was pretty well out otherwise.

Jack and I did go into the Brick House a little later and then I had to make a run to the store.  Jack came a long.  He fell asleep in the car.  I left it on with the ac and locked it with him inside.  We did communicate about it and I told him he had to listen for the knock when I got back.  When I did get back he was completely knocked out.  I knocked and knocked again.  I went over to the passenger window and knocked there.  Still no answer.  I then pounded on the window closest to his ears.  It did the trick and he was up.  Anyhow, it was a tiring day.  We were a little wiped out from the camp.  It was a good camp but I am definitely ready to go retire to my own bed. 

My Note from Last Nights Scout Camp

Growing Like A Weed!

When I got home from my mission it was amazing to see how much my brother Jay had grown.  He was a wee lad when I left and was bigger than I was when I returned.  Jim talked about being able to watch him grow during his Senior year of high school.  Right now I am watching Jack grow.  He finished the school year in size 12 pants that were starting to get snug.  I purchased him some size 14 shorts and cinched them up for him on the adjustable waistband.  We have let out those waistbands and I just bought him some size 16 shorts tonight because the 14 shorts are getting snug.  My goodness he is growing fast.  We are headed to scout camp in the morning and I set a pair of pants out for him.  They are 12's.  I don't know that he is going to fit.  I certainly wasn't anticipating this growth spurt a couple of months ago but it is happening. 

Try to Magnify

Since being called to the Sunday School we have not had any turn over in teachers until this week.  We have been working on new teacher orientation and we've been learning some things about teaching ourselves.  Personally I have been going through the Teaching, No Greater Call manual and find it to be fantastic.  Anyhow, tonight Jake Whetman and I were able to go and make a visit to Heath and Amberlee Stephenson who were just called as new Youth Sunday School teachers.  We had a wonderful visit with them and were able to discuss different aspects of their callings.  We reviewed the handbook of instructions relative to teachers and also went through the Come Follow Me manual for youth Sunday School.  The church has put together an incredible program for teaching youth.  It is really quite remarkable and offers so much.  Anyhow, we were happy to make this visit and are excited for the Stephenson's.  They are going to be great.  It is fun to have an opportunity to serve in the church and try to help the work progress.  There is so much that I have to learn about teaching and the Sunday School as I grow in this calling.  As for right now I will try my best to magnify the calling. 

Family Home Evening Adventures

For Family Home Evening we were actually out and about.  We took Jack's plane up to the middle school and did our best to fly that thing.  It started off fairly well and then that ended pretty quickly.  Jack stuck the plane in a tree.  I was recording the entire flight though I only caught the take off, forgot I was recording, shot the parking lot and then remembered and pulled up the camera when he was in the tree.  That is some high quality camera work right there.  Anyway, we were able to pull it out of the tree, it had minimal damage and then Jack was off again.  The second run ended pretty quickly as well with a crash the hurt the nose a bit.  Once again the prop was spared and we made yet another flight.  I didn't think we were going to be able to because the motor mount got bent and I thought I heard it break when Jack was bending it back.  Anyhow, I flew it once and it did pretty well but had a bit of a nose dive on a quick landing.  Still alive however, Jack took it for another flight, did well, landed well and tore the motor off the nose.  I think it was actually broken for the last two flights but was hanging on via some tape and probably a very slight connection in the metal.  Four short flights, four rough landings, one broken motor mount but a prop that is still in tact.  Not too shabby.  We'll get to fine tune this bird yet again and build a new motor mount.  Jack is getting better and I hope we can get him flying that thing for more then a few seconds before an abrupt and rough landing.  Getting on the throttle myself it is pretty exciting and fast especially with the lack of experience.  Perhaps a little panic sets in and it is hard to get the controls right in your head.  A little more time and hopefully very few new props and Jack will be dialed in.  Good times at the park with the plane. 

Wonderful Day

I really enjoyed the day today.  Got to have a little activity with Jack this morning prior to church that involved his plane and another crash landing.  One day he will get that thing up in the air and it will be amazing .  Shortly after that we headed to church and I quite enjoyed the sacrament meeting.  We had the Bishop, his wife and three youth share experiences from the youth Trek last week.  It was a good meeting and there was a powerful spirit present.  Trae Elison was one of the speakers and he did a tremendous job.  I was impressed with the other youth who spake as well as Bishop and Sister Elison.  What an awesome adventure these people got to go on.  It was a special thing to cross the Still Water and to go through Martin's Cove.  I've never done it but the feelings shared about that area and the testimonies shared of the work that goes on there were powerful. 

During Sunday School I got to assist in one of our youth classes where we went on a field trip to the Sacrament Preparation closet and I shared with them some of what happens there.  I also got to share some feelings about the Sacrament.  I chose a story I had just listened to by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from the last conference.  He shared the story of two brothers who were hiking in Snow Canyon State Park and a moment of desperation when they found themselves up at the top of a cliff with no way down and ledge they couldn't get around.  The older brother gets his younger brother to the top and then has to jump.  He knew he would likely die.  He managed to get his arms up on the ledge and found no finger holds.  He began to slip and knew he would surely die.  Then powerful hands reached out and grabbed him, it was his brother and he was determined to not let him fall.  I thought about that story and I thought about the sacrament and how we all far short of the example of the savior.  There are times when we have nothing to grab onto, when all seems lost and we will surely die.  In those times we need to remember the savior and reach out to him knowing that he will catch us with his powerful arms and will not let go.  I am grateful for that, grateful to have a savior who loves us.

Anyhow, we went over and visited the folks.  Pops is looking good and says he is already feeling a difference.  That is exciting.  So very grateful for the blessings the lord provides us in our lives.  

Laying Sod

A few months ago I took an old apple tree out of the front yard.  I squared off the corner where the tree was, meaning I cut a nice square out of the lawn so that I could easily lay down some sod in the area.  Well, I also wanted to put down some sprinklers so I ended up cutting out more and more grass to facilitate my design.  Then there was a big section that I had to redo so I tore all of that out.  Well, it has been a bit of a mess but today I was finally able to lay down some sod.  It may have taken me a bit longer than it should have but I was flying solo, well, mostly solo.  Jack did help spray water for a few minutes.  There ended up being a lot of trimming to do and that got a bit tiring on the knees.  I have to say it pretty well wiped me out today.  Granted I was tilling and raking and mixing in some compost and raking again and smoothing out then laying the sod.  I have no idea if the compost is helpful but I always do it when I lay sod.  Just trying to throw some nutrient rich stuff into the soil.  I must be getting old though because my legs are dead.  Maybe it was the midnight ride last night and I just didn't realize it.  Well, fun times.  The yard is looking good.  I love to see that immediate transformation that happens with sod.  There are those who like to seed and go that route.  I am not one that likes to do that.  I tried that once and didn't have much success but the sod is always successful.  I like that.

After the sod party and after getting cleaned up, Jack and I went into the Brick House.  It was busy and pretty good timing as we got there as orders started coming back from a crowd that had just arrived.  Jack hung out and watched videos and then I took him down to the July Jamboree and we walked down Main St and enjoyed a great car show and other fun things.  Jack loved the old cars and spotted a Model A and a Model T.  He also quite liked a classic old race car that had a very small circular windshield right in front of the steering wheel only.  It was pretty cool.  I was a big fan of the VW Westfalia and VW Bus.  They were both in prime condition.  Such fun vehicles.  Anyhow, it was a good night and we capped it off with another midnight ride.  This was a short one but still a good time and probably all my body could handle. 

Night Riders!

I'm in no way referencing David Hasselhoff or his talking car Kit when I make reference to night riders!  Actually wasn't that Knight Rider with a K?  I don't recall.  Regardless this post has nothing to do with this television classic.  Nope.  Tonight Jack and I made a run to St. George and after a quick temple trip we headed over to a store and I picked up a bike I had spied out last week.  We had picked up a bike for Jack early last week and I was looking and have been looking for one for myself for a while.  So tonight I picked it up.  We got home around 10 or so and a little before 11 we took off on a ride.  It was great.  Just rode down and around SUU then out and around the football stadium and finally back to our house.  It was a good workout for Jack who was letting me know how tight his thighs and calves were. Anyhow it is the 11 PM bike riding that is the source of the title.  We had a lot of fun and will be sure to do it more often. 

Birthdays!

Today my sweet mother turned 65 years old.  That is pretty dang amazing.  There is one thing that just never quits and that is getting older.  Well, eventually there will come a time and we will all love that time when it comes.  Regardless, we age, constantly.  Sometimes  things respond very well to age like eating beets or know who Neil Diamond is.  Sometimes the body lets you know it is getting a bit older.  I am sure that mom is feeling strong at 65 and is zipping around enjoying her big day.  As a birthday present pops seems to be doing great with the recovery.  I am sure that news made moms day all the much better. 

I am quite exhausted tonight.  I am having problems with some tired legs.  The feet are hurting and I am about to call it.  Grateful for mom.  Grateful to celebrate her birthday.  Grateful for all she does for us. 

Beets

What is not to like about beets?  So they are a little earthy.  They are supposed to be earthy they come from the earth.  I happen to love beets.  I believe I always have.  At least I don't remember a time when I haven't liked beets.  When I was in South Africa I remember having beet root salad occasionally and I loved it.  Usually it consisted of sliced beets and onion slices mixed together, something like that anyway.  Wonderful stuff.  One of the things that I really truly enjoy is whole beets that are not pickled.  We serve them in the salad bar and trust me, they are a popular item.  We can't seem to get them through a supplier so I am constantly raiding the shelves at Smiths and Wal-mart of all their cans of small whole beets.  I was discussing beets with several of the employees today and to my surprise there was only one who liked beets and she loves the fact that we serve whole beets.  Most of those I quizzed were younger and so I don't know that they have grown to appreciate such things as beets.  It may be that beets are an acquired taste when you get a little older.  I don't know.  I do know that I love them.  Celery on the other hand, that is disgusting.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat that garbage even if it takes more calories to eat it than it provides.  That is probably a good reason not to eat it.  So anyway, eat beets.  They are delicious and earthy, earthylicious!

On another note, I was quizzing many of these same employees about one of the greatest musicians of all time and they looked at me like I was crazy and had no idea who I was talking about.  Neil Diamond folks!  I was embarrassed for these kids and for their parents.  How do you not teach your children about Neil Diamond?  How do you not raise them on his classics feeding their minds with great music and their bellies with delicious beets?  I think the two go hand in hand and I think they speak the character of the individual.  Anyone who knows Neil and has a liking for beets is a well rounded individual.  I do believe these will now be two of my major questions in the interview process whilst hiring new employees.  Who knew it could be so simple?  

Factory Reset

I've been experiencing some technical difficulties with my phone for the last while.  It has pretty much become a major source of irritation as I am trying to pull up certain docs and I can't get things to update or sync.  I finally decided I was done with this buffoonery and executed a factory reset on the phone.  That pretty much just wipes everything out and takes you back to what you get from the factory.  Okay, that can work and for the most part it did.  I thought things like my contact list would come back without a problem.  It appeared to and then I got a phone call that didn't show up in my contacts.  I didn't answer.  Then it called again and finally on the third call I picked it up.  It was Kaden Leko.  He should have been in my contacts.  Well, he's back in them now.  Not sure what happened with that.  I had to go in and re-enter all of my accounts including passwords.  That isn't a very easy thing to do.  It would appear now that I have everything up to date.  The other nice thing is that everything is functioning properly.  Sometimes I wish I could do a factory reset on myself.  I could come back feeling fantastic having dropped some unnecessary weight.  I think it would be wonderful.  I suppose we get to look forward to an eternal factory reset in the next life.  Won't that be nice? 

Tornado

Over the last few days we have enjoyed playing a few rounds of what I grew up calling Tornado.  It is a basketball game where everyone lines up, there are two balls and two shooters at a time.  The goal is to get your ball in before the person you are following.  If you are successful that person is out of the game.  You also have to be quick because if the person behind has the ball if they make it in before you then yes, yes they are still in it and you are sidelined.  It goes around and around like a tornado and sends people flying.  This is perhaps my favorite basketball related game.  Anyway, I call it tornado but others call it elimination and yet even others call it knock out.  Whatever title you chose to give to this game it is a lot of fun.  We've had some good times around the tornado that's for sure! 

Fun Times with the Fam

I kind of feel like I checked out of all of life's worries and concerns for the last few days and just enjoyed some fun times with the fam.  It was quite nice.  I still took care of certain responsibilities and didn't abandon all things normal but it was good to have a bit of a break of those things and just enjoy family.  We've had some good times.  Tonight for instance Pete, Jim, Mike and myself were singing Neil Diamond songs from the Jazz Singer.  Those are some fantastic songs and it was fun to simply start singing, hitting the lyrics and the timing perfectly and laughing as we did it.  Good stuff.  Grateful for fun times.  Grateful for family.  Grateful for all we are blessed with as a family and pray for continued blessings of our heavenly father to strengthen our feeble knees and help us progress on our journey back to him. 

Happy 4th 2015

Well what to say?  It was a most excellent 4th of July.  Had much fun.  I am beat and so this is going to be brief.  We had a great time.  I took Pete, Jay, Mike and Liana, Clo, Marien and Katherine on the Ash Down Gorge hike.  It was slow moving but beautiful.  We took a while to get up to the meat of the hike and it was already time to go.  It was time to go because we suddenly got to experience a major down pour in the slot canyon.  We made some quick time getting down the trail and back to the cars but we were soaked and beaten by hail and rain.  We were getting some flash flood conditions.  We all made it out safe.  It was a beating of sorts. 

Had a great celebration here at the house with everyone.  Had some 50/50 bacon burgers and other delicious food.  We had a talent show/lip sync.  That was a good addition to the evening.

I am completely passing out so I am going to sign off.  

Special Days

Life seems to get in the way of the important things sometimes.  We get caught up in career and other activities that time with family can be hard to come by.  Don't get me wrong, career and providing for our families is a very important part of life.  We have to work and labor for our support.  In this thing called life we learn to appreciate the special days, the rare occasions when the family gathers and nearly all are accounted for.  Today was such a day for the Fontano family.  With the exception of Natty and Andy who are currently in Alaska we had all or our family together.  By our family I mean my parents and their 8 children and nearly all of their grandchildren.  It was truly a special day to be appreciated.  We were also able to witness and some participate in the temple sealing of our mother to her parents.  That was wonderful.  We also went on to do temple sealings for several family names that Jim had prepared and ready to go.  It was really a good visit to the temple.

We also had a little family luau at the New Harmony church building.  It was quite good.  Played some bunco-ish game that was a little different.  It was a good game though I didn't fare so well.  We enjoyed our foods and then somehow came up with a game of shooting little Hawaiian drink umbrellas into an open bottle of water.  It pretty much kicks the old game of napkin basket ball.  So much more challenging. 

Mom turns 65 next week so part of this gathering was a surprise birthday party for her.  Several friends were able to stop in and say hi.  We had a great time.

I am truly grateful for the special days when special things happen with wonderful people. 

Family Time

Tonight we had a very rare thing take place.  We were gathered as a family for dinner.  That doesn't exactly sound like a rare thing but this was rare because by we I mean all of my siblings and the folks and our families.  There were three people missing in the group, Dave who had another engagement tonight and then my two, Natty and Andy, who are up in Alaska.  Pretty amazing stuff and quite fun to have everyone together.  We will do it again in a few hours when we gather for lunch in St. George.  This time we will have Dave with us.  That will be a lot of fun.  We have a full day ahead including a temple trip and a surprise party for mom.  Should be quite the day.  Anyhow, we do not enjoy this kind of a gathering very often.  It is a good time. 

The Dash

Jack and I were out on a walk/ride tonight.  He wanted to ride his new bike and I was the one walking.  We went up to the high school track and I told him before I left that my legs were tired and I wouldn't be running tonight.  He said it was okay and that we could just do one lap.  As we got to the track Jack rode on ahead and then stopped.  I asked if he wanted to have a 100 Yard dash with him riding his bike while I sprinted it.  He agreed.  As we began the race I had a pretty easy lead on him but then he got some momentum going and by the time we were two thirds the way done he had passed me easily and left me in his dust.  He was quick.  I continued walking around the track and we talked about his great race and then I asked if he wanted to go again down the back stretch.  He agreed.  We lined up as before and this time I took off and gave it everything I had.  I was moving down the track.  There was no way he was going to catch me on this 100 yard dash.  It was a good race and it made the exercising that much more enjoyable to throw a little competition in it.  Perhaps we will dash again in the future.  I have to keep my speed up that's for sure.  He did tell me that if we were going 150 yards there is no way I would have beat him.  I think he is right on that.