Gots to Gear Up

My new semester starts tomorrow and I've got to gear up for it. Sometimes it would be nice to have a bit of a break but seriously, I don't have time to take a break right now. I need to get this done. I had to run over to the high school today and saw John Dodds. He asked how much longer I had left. I told home I was hoping to be student teaching a year from now. He asked if I could do an internship and I told him they specifically state that you cannot do that if you are going into SPED.  He seemed pretty positive that a spot would open up in a year from now. That would be fantastic. Anyway, got get psyched for tomorrow and gotta crank out some work.

35 Done

So I managed to pass my last class and that brings my total credits up to 35. Not bad for a semester. I have to do just about the same in my next semester that starts on Wednesday. Not much of a semester break but so it goes.  My mentor Dawn told me the other day that I pretty much knocked out three semesters for the price of one. Not bad at all. I hope I can keep up the pace and plow through some work. I've got preclinical experiences coming up. Lots of videos to watch.

All Around Good Day

It was a fabulous day. I quite enjoyed sacrament meeting, a newly married couple that is new to the ward spoke and I enjoyed their talks. They lead me to reflect on the atonement and seeking to become better each day.
I taught the 12 and 13 year olds for Sunday School and quite enjoyed the class. The class was large in number today as there were lots of visitors. Anyway, we discussed the doctrine of Christ. We spent a lot of time in 2 Nephi 31 today which is an excellent chapter on the doctrine of Christ. We had a good discussion. I do enjoy teaching and certainly enjoyed this class. It is Jacks class and has some great youth.
In Elders quorum we had a lesson about the sacrament. It was excellent. There is much to improve on. The lesson was on The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy conference talk by Elder Peter F. Meurs. It is great and one I will be reviewing with the kids for family home evening. 
Jack joined me on a home teaching visit and did a great job as a companion. He was pretty funny at the end as after the prayer he immediately asked if there was anything he could improve on. He was great.
We went to youth standards night tonight. it was great. There were two sisters that play basketball for SUU. I want to say Keisha and Whitney Johnson are their names but I could be wrong. Both are return missionaries. Anyway, it was a great evening that was uplifting.
I enjoyed the day and am grateful for the things I learned and felt today.

Running

I got my 5 miles in tonight. It has been a rough week routine wise. Been busy trying to get through my last class and then other things that have come up.  I finished the week at 11.2 miles which is short of my usual. Oh well, back on the saddle next week.

Kitchen Time

Put a little time in the kitchen in today. I had to make carrot cake and peanut butter pie. Both actually smell quite wonderful. The employees tend to get excited and curious. That is fun. I did get to play around with a bit of a problem when I got there this afternoon. We had a ladle get sucked into the meat grinder and it jammed it up. I was not there when it happened, just saw the end result. It wasn't good. I managed to get it loose but it wouldn't come free. I managed to get the auger part to realign where I could hook everything back up and then I put the grinder in reverse and pulled the ladle out. Just in time as they needed to grind more beef and patty more burgers for tonight.  Well, fun times. 

15 Years Ago

Yesterday marked 15 years since the funeral of Grandma Vi.  I do miss that wonderful woman.  I used to love going to visit her and just enjoying some laughs and good times. Sometimes we would just sit and watch a Jazz basketball game on TV or one of her other favorite shows.  Breakfast usually consisted of her making breakfast casserole, so dang good.  I always loved that she could have a good, hearty laugh at herself.  Like the time she had been working at the temple and on her way home she had fallen asleep in the car at a stop light.  When she woke up the cars that were previously around her were gone and she was still sitting there.  She thought that was hilarious.  I do miss those visits and that time I got to spend with her.  Grateful for her life and her legacy of faith. 

Seventeen in 2017

I don't know how I got to be so old.  I don't feel like I should be 43 but here I am, 43 years old and now I have a seventeen year old daughter.  How the heck does this happen?  Well, I know the technical aspects of producing life and how we all age as time passes.  I can deduce that in the year 2000 I had a child.  Yes, it all makes perfect sense when we look at those fine details.  I just have a hard time believing it has been 17 years already.  I often feel like I simply have no clue what I am doing and am making things up as I go.  It is crazy.  Well, Natty Sue is seventeen and she is truly a wonderful girl.  She has her struggles and her challenges but she tries to be kind to everyone and would do whatever she possibly could to help someone in need.  Today she was very excited to wear her new cat tights to school.  What a goofball.  She loves them and said everyone else thought they were great as well.  I feel blessed and fortunate to be her father.  Thanks for being a most wonderful daughter and Happy Birthday Natty!

Crunch Time

My semester is drawing to a close and I have one last project I need to get done.  It is a task that is going to stretch me some. I just need to get moving on it and get it done. In addition to my stuff it is also crunch time for Natalie and she really needs to step up on several assignments in several classes. I cannot get it done for her and if she doesn't make it happen she is going to be in rough shape with school.  It is all somewhat overwhelming right now as I am doing my best to keep everyone moving forward with school. Just gotta keep moving. 

Thank Yous

Might I begin by offering my thanks to my siblings that contributed to the ticket for the singles conference. That was very nice of you to give that gift to me.  I realize that it is the hope of many of you that I will find a woman, fall in love and get married again. Certainly that would be a wonderful thing and I look forward to a day when that will happen. It has been a slow process for me. Life is sometimes so very busy and I often feel like I am on the verge of drowning. There are things that have to happen everyday just to maintain a routine that works for the kids. Life can be challenging.  This conference provides me the opportunity to mingle with singles my age and to just enjoy life.    It gives me a chance to recharge spiritually and I need that.  So thank you for a wonderful weekend. 

Over

The Lad Vegas Single Adult conference for 2017 has drawn to a close. The conference was good but tonight was definitely the best part. Alex Boye spoke at the closing fireside and that was awesome. He is one energetic dude.  I loved it. Loved the time with friends. Good stuff.  Very grateful for Jim and Clo making it possible. 

Asleep

I am wiped out. So tired. Conference has been great.  Must now sleep.

Passed

I was able to log on and take that exam that wouldn't load up last night. I managed to pass it. That is a relief​. 

Sorry. I am passing out. Must get to bed.

Well, Crap!

For those who find the word crap offensive I offer my apologies.  In South Africa it is considered a swear word and I know there are those who just don't like it.  I suppose I could have used the S version of this 4 letter word but that might have offended a few more.  In any case I have been studying for most of the day for a test and was just trying to take it but there is an error with the testing center.  That pretty much sucks.  I have a very busy day tomorrow and need to get this done now.  Well, guess I have no choice but to wait and that my friends, is crap.  I don't want to wait.  I have tried to schedule 4 times to no avail.  The computer was rebooted, the web page reloaded and whatever else I could think to do.  Nothing going.  I will retire for the day and will have to try again in the morning.  I don't want to put it off much further than that.  

Emergency Move

Got a call from Dan this evening. He needed some help moving a few items to their new place. They've had water damage and have mold growing on the walls.  That is nasty. They let them out of the lease and refunded some monies.  Hope all goes well and now I need to sleep. 

Valentine's Day 2017

Oh my gosh we had a busy day. I am ready to pass out. I am so tired right now. Oh my goodness. It is late start Wednesday tomorrow which is one of my favorite days of the week.  Must sleep. Sorry, .

Business Lunch

At the Chamber lunch I attended last week with pops and Tyler, the Bricks Housed was recognized as the business of the month. In that meeting we also made paper airplanes and flew them across the room then randomly selected one. We had all written our names inside and so we opened up the airplane and had a random person we needed to then meet and schedule a lunch meeting with.  Today I had lunch with the guy whose plane I picked up. His name is Oscar. Really nice guy. He grew up in Midvale and went to Hillcrest High, graduated in 86. I asked if he knew Jared Bills. He did but said he actually played baseball with Walt. Pretty cool to randomly meet a dude and then be able to make connections.  It was a good visit, not something I would have done on my own.  Anyhow, I've got another one tomorrow and am hoping her husband comes with her or it is going to be uncomfortable, especially on Valentine's.

Transformation

Today in our ward we had a special privilege of hearing a report from a recent return missionary. Cassie Jenkins returned home from Spain on Thursday and spike in the ward today.  Cassie worked for us prior to leaving on mission. She did not want to work with customers and enjoyed washing the dishes. She was fantastic, a hard worker and very efficient.  She was also somewhat reserved and shy. Today as she got up and shared her talk I was amazed at her growth and development. She was confident, warm and engaging. She has always been solid in her testimony. I always enjoyed visiting with her when she was in our employ. I was filled with joy to she how much she has grown over the last while.  I also quite enjoyed looking at her dad while she spoke. He had a huge grin on his face. It was a great meeting.

Pipe Closing Up

I am sitting here with my throat feeling like it is closing up. I had a California roll from the store for dinner and am either having a reaction to something in it or I am getting sick. I don't have time to be sick nor do I want to be so.  Speaking of pipes closing up, got to clean out our main drain line flowing out to the grease trap this evening. It is the worst job. I managed to not have the nasty drain water shoot out of the pipe and all over me.  That was cause for celebration. Then I stepped off the ladder with the bucket and it spilled some, all over men. Much fun. The pipe wasn't too bad and I got it flowing pretty quick.  Relief .

Prime Rib

Tonight we started the valentines day special at the Brick House. We are offering prime rib for the first time. It turned out great. Perfectly cooked and quite delicious. We had a pretty good day but not to the level of previous valentines specials. It is different this year with how things lined up as valentines falls on Tuesday instead of over the weekend.  Hopefully we will see things carry on through next week. I think it will go well.  Those that had the prime rib seemed to quite like it and one said he thought he would be back on Monday for round two. Sounds good to me.

Down

It has been a very full day and I am really happy to be laying down in my bed right now. We had catering tonight, did Hawaiian and it was excellent. The flavors were right on. Loved it. I only got a small nible of the bulgolgi beef and the shoyu chicken but they were both excellent. The reports on the meal were very positive and that made me happy. They also didn't run out of food which was a good thing.  There was a Polynesian couple there when I went in to pick up the serving pans and what not. They were quite happy with it, said the flavors were right on and better than a local Hawaiian restaurant here in Cedar. That was a nice compliment.  Well, that project was a big one, quite exhausting. Ready to pass out.

Other Work

The last couple of weeks have been a bit hectic. I have struggled to stay in front of my current class the way I would like. I have had a lot going on with work that I have had to attend to. And there have been other activities as well. I am simply not progressing in this class as fast as I would like to. We have a large catering job tomorrow for the sons of Utah Pioneers and I spent the day making pies and cooking pasta. I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow as well. My class is not going to be progressing much. I will be making mac salad, cooking up a lot of  chicken and beef and rice. Throwing together food for 100 people is not as simple as it sounds.  We shall survive.

Overload

I am trying to hammer through this special ed class but I am feeling overloaded at the moment.  There is a ton of information in this course. I am trying to absorb it as best I can but wow, it is a serious struggle right now. I've got a lot of other things happening this month so it is a bit rough. I will keep pushing.

Two Six Seventeen

We needed a small miracle last weekend in order for us to cover all of our expenses today. There were prayers said and miracles received.  We had what we needed for payroll, had what we needed to cover a check to a supplier and we have a little left over to go towards rent on Wednesday.  It has actually been a year where we have not had to supplement the account with other resources or loans.  That is a good thing. If the business can be self sufficient then we are in good shape.  Grateful that it has been able to provide for the needs that it has especially during this slow and challenging time of year.  We have seen business increase and that is good. That isn't to say everything is perfect and we never have to worry financially.  Everything is far from perfect and there are times when a little heartburn sets in as we are trying to manage resources the best we can but don't know how we are going to cover something. Well, this weekend we had a miracle occur and are very grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives. 

A Legend

Today was the Superbowl. The Patriots vs the Falcons. It started out somewhat slow and then the Falcons took a commanding lead. In the second half the Falcons had a 25 point lead. The Patriots somehow managed to come back and tie the game, sending it to the first overtime in Superbowl history.  It was pretty dang amazing. Tom Brady became the first quarterback with 5 Superbowl championships as the pistons. He is one of, if not the best of all times. It was amazing. 

Sledding Out of Camp

The Klondike continued today. We had a fine breakfast this morning, got packed up and came down the mountain. I liked this picture of the group. It was a good time. We drove from there up to woods ranch for the activities. When we pulled up, Jack and Andy declared they would not be getting out. I thought this might be the case. They both had a great time but were done.  It was a good time and I definitely don't mind going on a winter camp when it involves a cabin.

Klondike Derby

The scouts are out on their klondike derby tonight. Andy and I came up to accompany Jack though he was feeling good about going on his own. So here we are camping in the snow. Well actually, this may be the best Klondike derby of all time. We are actually enjoying this snow camp in the comfort of Howard Thorley's cabin. I don't mind this kind of snow camping. We had a great baked potato bar and cinnamon rolls for dinner. That was a fine meal, quite good for a scout outing.  I brought up some sushi and was surprised at how many of the scouts tackled it. Anyway, good times. Happy to be here.

Fading

I am fading here a bit.  Fading because it is late and I am way tired.  Fading because the road ahead of me is pretty much overwhelming based on my goals and I seriously don't know that I will be able to handle everything that I need to.  Oh my word, I cannot even focus. Falling asleep behind the keyboard.  So much fun. 

Two One Seventeen

Another full day. Got my carrot cakes made. Hopefully they are ok. Seemed a little grainy. They should do. I am going to try the pineapple cakes tomorrow.

Had an SEP with Andy this afternoon. He is getting a 93% in his class right now and is really excited. He was even more excited when he learned the E he has as his grade is for excellent and his score is actually an A. His goal was to get a B. It was pretty awesome to see him shining there and doing well. His confidence is growing, he is communicating well, it was a great meeting.  

After some homework and other studies we had a little dinner and then went up to the pool. It was good times.