Great News

For the last week I have been working hard to complete my Teacher Work Sample. It is a requirement for my degree from WGU. I have to admit, I didn't want to do this  as it seemed like it was just hoops to jump through and busy work while I was trying to get through direct teaching. I kept seeing that I should wait until my second placement in the elementary setting rather than trying to do it in my SPED setting. After talking to Dan about his experience doing it and having him tell me to just do it now, I decided to make it happen.  I knew several weeks ago that we were going to be moving into a 3 week unit in remedial math roughly 5 weeks ago.  I approached my Host Teacher about making it happen and he was fully on board.  It is supposed to be a two week deal but because we are on an A day B day schedule I made it a three week plan.  The nice thing is that I have now been teaching the class on my own for almost 6 weeks.  I love it.  We have a lot of fun.  Anyway, long story short, this morning I went up to a district meeting and while there received a message that my final task for the TWS had been evaluated and I had passed.  That is exciting stuff.  I am quite relieved to have it done as I prepare to move into my second placement.  Nothing looming over my head.  Wonderful.  Well, I am super tired tonight.  It has been a full week.  Grateful to have made it though the TWS and look forward to having everything else done early in December.  Lots to do still.  

Making Progress

Just wanted to get on and give a quick update.  I am making some progress.  After tomorrow I have one week left in my SPED placement at Cedar High School.  I have loved every minute of this experience.  I have been teaching the remedial math class on my own for the last four weeks.  I love those kids.  7 of them are severe students and the severe students are my favorite.  I don't have them all in my class but I do make it a point everyday to go in and visit with them at some point.  I am in their room in the morning welcoming them to school, visiting with them, bumping knuckles, giving hugs or whatever else. If I don't see them there I stop by their table in the lunch room on my way home for lunch.  I walk down the table and say hello to each one of them, we bump some knuckles, laugh and have fun together.  Highlight of my day.  I told my clinical supervisor the other day how much I am going to miss that when it ends next week.  I suppose I am looking forward to the second week of December when I will be done with everything.  I will come back over to the high school and visit with my friends. I had an aid today tell me that she hopes a certain teacher retires so I can take that spot. Made me feel good.  I would love to have a spot there but have no problem with the current teacher. She does a good job. One of the teachers mentioned that her position may come open as her husband has opened an office in St. George and they don't know how they feel about commuting.  I would love that too. We will see how things progress and hope for the best. 

Things are busy.  We have had some crazy things happen at the Brick House and fortunately have been able to navigate through it.  It certainly isn't without its challenges but I have been able to stick to my busy schedule with students teaching and trying to get through everything else I have to do right now.  Good times.

So, there it is.  Sorry for the absence on the blog.  Just one of those things.  Hopefully I can keep up a little better.   

The Student Teacher

Today was the 6th day of school.  I have yet to really sit down and record any thoughts and figured it is appropriate to do so. I am the student teacher.  I don't know that there is another student teacher in the school at the moment.  As a WGU student I started on day 1 of the school year and that was pretty fantastic.  I've been able to sit through course disclosures on 6 separate occasions now.  They are perhaps the most exciting part of the new year. I think students probably tune out for these though they contain lots of good information.  As a parent I find myself bombarded with them at the beginning of the year or the semester. I admit that I don't read every detail and when I sign the document and hand it back to whichever child it belongs to I hope that they remember to turn it in so they can get the 50 special points or whatever points are assigned to my signature being on the form.  I am sure it is something teachers are required to do since they all do it. I wonder how I could make that a simpler thing?  It is already simple or can potentially be simple.  Some teachers tend to get a little too excited about their course.  Gotta love the disclosure. 

I have been assigned to work with James Davidson.  I met Davidson a couple of years ago as part of an optional assignment I did for one of my education classes at SUU.  He worked in Annie Drapers class with her when I was doing the growth mindset presentation there. I didn't realize that he was in special ed back then but it turns out that he is the department head. I have thoroughly enjoyed being his shadow. He is tall and thin and I am short and stocky so my actual shadow presence doesn't quite match but that is ok.  We get along pretty well and I enjoy asking questions and learning from him though I try to be cautious about asking too many questions. 

The students.  Love the students.  I am a shy person to begin with and I am also a guest in the school so it has taken me a bit to feel comfortable with the students but I am working on getting to know names and getting to know them. I find that I like them and like to learn about them and to show interest in what they are doing, hope to do etc.  One of the classes we have is an extended learning period where all of Davidson's cases are enrolled in the class.  These are all students with IEP's that he works with. I got to visit with several of them over the last two days about things they are interested in and are considering for careers and post high school life.  That was pretty cool.  A lot of them aren't all that certain but have some fun ideas.  Another one of my favorite classes is a remedial math class that Davidson teaches.  I have really enjoyed being in there with those students because the math is on a level that I can understand and many of these students are severe special ed which I happen to quite like.  They are wonderful. I have also spent some time in the severe classroom though it is broken up into two sections, those that are more mild and then those that are severe severe.  I have not done a lot with the severe severe but the mild severe is a great group. Lots of fun. 

My time here is going to be short.  I think I am realizing that more and more and I get a little sad to think that this is not a permanent thing for me.  I would love to be teaching at this school.  I like the faculty and love that I can walk there. I stroll home for lunch each day and that has been great.  Fortunately my next assignment is at South and so I will continue to walk to school.  Hopefully at the end of the student teaching I can find a position. I would love for it to be at the high school though I have no problem with South where I thoroughly enjoyed my pre-clinical experiences last spring. 

I don't know how hard this student teaching thing is really going to be.  I am having a lot of fun and just trying to absorb all that I can at this point.  I know there is so much more to learn and being the teacher of record would require me to do more that just being a shadow. I will do my best to pick up what I can during this time. 

Camping Out Back - Sunday 8/12

Tonight Andy and I are camping out in the backyard. There is a meteor shower in the forecast and we are going to try and see it. I may be fast asleep before the festivities in the sky become visible. Maybe not. Andy set up his tent and I am situated under the stars on an air mattress. Wonderful. Of course right now I can't see a thing because I am staring at this screen. No worries, I will soon put this away and stare at the night sky. Well, I am grateful for the time I am able to spend with my kids. This little outing is not my first choice for where I would like to sleep tonight but it is important to Andy so it is important to me. Jack isn't having any of the camping but we did get out and walk the canyon park trail earlier tonight. Good times. Well, grateful for the blessings of the gospel in our lives.

Home

Made a drive down to Lax Vegas today.  The boys traveled home from Alaska today. There were a few delays and we have no luggage but they are home. It is late and I am tired. I have already fallen asleep in this entry but I wanted to note the special occasion. Yesterday was my birthday and I enjoyed it. Having the boys home is a wonderful gift.

Babies Blessed

It was a special day today.  Two new babies belonging to siblings of mine were blessed today and that is always a special and tender thing.  Micheal David Morris and Walter Terry Fontano were blessed by their fathers Dan Morris and Dave Fontano.  Dan and Amy have big babies and it was funny to see how Mikey was so big compared to little Walter.  Granted, Mikey is a bit older and Walter came a little early and was small from the start but the size comparison does make me laugh a little.  Mikey reminds me of his brother Sambo who was one of the biggest babies I have ever seen (he has thinned out quite a bit now) and Terry looks just like his two older brothers.  Babies are a wonderful thing.  I love to be around them, to hold them, to feel of their great spirits.  It was a great honor for me to be there today and to participate in this special event.  It was wonderful to stand in the circle with my brothers and my father, with my brother in law and his father, with Dave's in-laws, and with other friends. Good people.  Grateful to be there. 

Earlier this morning we gathered at a storage unit that we have had for the last several years.  We cleaned out much of it.  There were some fun things to look at including several of dad's collections. There were magic tricks, hats, and an unusual number of harmonicas. We aren't certain that pops even plays the harmonica but he sure collects them.  Mike did some modeling of several of dads hats including a mullet equipped billy bob hat. Thankfully he opted to not put in the billy bob teeth. With every hat modeled he did a Fonzie impersonation of sorts. It was good for a laugh.  We also enjoyed a little journaling of mother's where she wrote about her being such a skank and then the word processor not being sure that she was using the word quite right.  No, no mother, you were not using the word correctly and it is not recommended that anyone refer to themselves that way. 

I realize that I said I would be stepping away from the blog. As you can see this is more than just a message about how tired I am. I will sit and write when I have something to record but I will not sit and struggle to stay awake for an hour just so I can punch out how tired I am on the keyboard.  I think this will work out well.  I did feel the withdrawal last night as I went to bed without keeping a record. I do think it will be more meaningful to sit down and record something because I have a feeling that I need to or want to rather than feeling an obligation to write something, anything just so I can check off a box that said I did it.  

Changing it Up

As I have reviewed my entries for the last several days I have realized just how lame they have been.  Suffice to say, I have been extremely tired by the time I have had the opportunity to sit down and record something. I am contemplating taking a step back on my daily entries.  It has been some 24 years that I have written daily in my journal.  That is a long time.  Some of those recordings are of greater importance in my life history than others.  Some simply reflect a commitment to keeping a record while others have deeper meaning.  I don't see a lot of value in those recordings that I have made lately. I am clearly tired but so is anybody that tries to squeeze every last second out of the day to do things of relatively little value.  I love mowing the lawn.  I did that yesterday.  It was wonderful.  I did several other things that kept me busy.  I even went and treated myself to a movie including popcorn and a drink.  That was big time for me because I really have a hard time spending money on food and drink at such outrageous mark ups.  Maybe it was just an early birthday treat, I don't know. In the end, I got home late, I was exhausted, I sat down to write and couldn't keep my eyes open.  I recording some meaningless garb about being tired.  What is the value in that?

And so it is I find myself thinking about my journal keeping and wonder if it isn't time to make a change.  My life is about to get extremely busy with student teaching starting in 12 days.  I don't know what to expect.  I've got boys coming home next week and we are going to have a very busy 4 months.  Writing everyday that I am tired and busy just doesn't make sense especially since that simple recording usually involves me sitting down and falling asleep throughout the process until I finally give up trying to record something.  I believe it is time to stop wasting my time just so I can say I've kept a record.  I will continue to make recordings but will reserve those recordings for things of greater meaning in my life.  I don't know how that is all going to work but I am signing off of this daily reporting for now.  My focus moving forward will be to record things of greater value and more meaning in my life.  I don't know how often that will be.  I might be right back here tomorrow night because this is such an established routine for me.  Anyway, it is time. 

August 1st

It is already August. The count down begins. In 13 days school begins. I feel a bit of anxiety about that. I just get nervous about it all. There is much that will be required. Busy day again today. I am tired , need to get to bed.

Better

Fine day. So very tired. i i
Am ado tired. Vr1

G. THERE GOES TH E

I DONT know what has happened.  I.dozed off and woke uo.
?oh mhnjk
. 

Coming Together

Spent the day working to pull things together at the Depot and at the Brick. I think we are there with who the leaders will be. It is good. There are still some challenges ahead of us but we will get through them. We are making progress.

Rest Needed

Today was wonderful. It was a much needed day of rest after a few very busy days. I didn't feel well on Friday or Saturday.
I was exhausted. Big day again tomorrow. Need to catch some z's. I am fading. Must get to sleep. 

Oh, I got called to teach gospel doctrine. Pretty excited about it.

180 degrees

Today was the test. After what was quite possibly our worst day ever yesterday at the depot, today was the complete opposite. It was a great team effort and I was so grateful to see many step up.  Zach came over and will be permanently there in coming days. I am gratefulm

Even More Unsettling

Well it has been a long and difficult day. We had our new chef walk out tonight.  That was probably a good decision as she was fixing to get fired. The thing that Tom gave us was a certain sense of stability. Things were going to be ordered. Things were going to be prepped.  We were going to have someone in the kitchen cooking. That is somewhat of a staple.   Well, I am needing to curl up in the corner and cry. 

Unsettling

Just going through some transition pains right at the moment. It is a lot of stress for everyone. I am finding myself slightly frustrated by a few things that are going on. I hope we can get things ironed out quickly.

She Runs

I pulled the carburetor on the moped and managed to get it cleaned and put back together. It actually fired up and ran like a champ. That was awesome. Very excited about it. I cruised around the neighborhood for a few and then parked it. I am really tired at the moment. It was a good day.  Time for bed.

Pioneer

It was Pioneer day. I didn't do a lot of pioneering. I had some issues to address at the depot. My goodness, there are little things that need correction.  Hoping that we can dial things in quickly. I did get to dive into the moped a bit. Actually got it to fire with some starter fluid. Couldn't get it to continue running and think I may need to pull the carburetor. This is new for me, fortunately I have a brother in law that has a lot of experience with this kind of thing.

Had a great chat with the boys tonight. They told me all about their latest rides. They will be home in a couple weeks. Looking forward to having them home.

Scooter

I found a scooter today. It is actually a 125 cc and is considered a motorcycle class. I picked it up on the cheap. It is in great shape.  It needs the carb cleaned and a battery. With a few additional dollars the value will increase dramatically. I think Mr. Jack will be very excited, I am pretty excited about it.  It was a bit impulsive but I had actually been looking at them for a while. Hopefully it turns out well.

Gospel Doctrine

Today I was given the opportunity to teach a gospel doctrine class. It was great. I haven't taught gospel doctrine for roughly 22 years. I miss it. I have a little rust that I need to shake off but I had a good time.  I am not well versed in the scriptures and am not going to be able to give a detailed summation of what is happening. It is fun to explore the scriptures and see how they point us to Christ and apply to our lives. The class went well and I would love to do that more often.

Blind

Went out on a blind date tonight. It was a good time. Jacob and Holly invited me out to dinner with them and their friend. I agreed. She was a nice gal. Oh my goodness. It is late and I need to sleep. I am teaching Gospel Doctrine tomorrow and have been trying to prepare some things. I will continue with prep tomorrow morning. Oh my.  I must sleep now.

Rest is upon me.

Well dang it. I had just gotten a couple lines written and suddenly the page erased. I am quite ready for sleep. 

New Grass

Last Monday I planted grass seed around the yard. I had dug up a lot of grass when installing the sprinklers and needed to grow new stuff. It is starting to come along.  I am fairly tired at the moment.  Struggling to keep my eyes open so I'm going to call it a day.

Changes

We let chef Tom go today at depot. He took it well.  Almost as if he was expecting it. It is too bad that things didn't work out with him but the reality is that we totally missed the local market. Wow, so very tired today. It is rather late. Must get sleep.

Stressful

I went to a movie tonight and it was rather stressful. I watched the Skyscraper movie with "the rock".  It was a good movie but I was a bit overcome by anxiety as Dwayne conquered soaring heights. It got to be so much.  I was cringing and had to remember that it was just a movie and that Dwayne was going to be okay. Good movie.

Great Meal

I put frozen chicken tenderloins in the crock pot before church. Added minced garlic, sea salt, a few dashes of ground ginger, and maybe a half cup of Olive garden Italian dressing. I nearly forgot, green onions on top.  After church I added a half cup of whole milk followed by three or four handfuls of firsts blend cheese.  I let that sit in the crock for a bit and prepped some fresh cut zucchini and crook neck squash as well as a pot of rice.  When everything was ready I topped the rice with the cheesy chicken and the squash mix.  It reminded me of zucchini casserole. Quite good.

89

I made a run up to Provo today to pick up some supplies from the Sam's Club for the restaurants.  It was a good trip.  I was debating if I should run down into Springville and surprise Jay, Sara and fam.  I wasn't feeling great and kind of wanted to get back so decided I would just run in and turn around and run back down to Cedar.  I didn't even stop for lunch or get a hot dog combo at Sam's which is pretty much a major violation of the rules I govern myself by.  Anyway, I thought it would be funny if I ran into Jay and Sara at Sam's and so I started to chuckle to myself when all of the sudden I saw them.  I called out and then we stood and talked for some time right there on the bulk candy aisle.  It was a popular aisle.  Good times. It gave me a good break from driving and when I got back in the car I was feeling a lot better.  As I drove down into Nephi I got a crazy idea that I should head east and run through Manti.  The last time I had been to Manti was as a wee child and it was kind of scary.  I remember going to hunt birds with Brian the next morning and that is about it. I quite liked it today.  I stopped at the temple and walked around.  Sent the boys some pictures of it.  I really liked that building.  The drive added some time to the trip but it was a good time driving down 89 and seeing a bunch of Utah that I had never seen before or that I hadn't seen in years and really had no recollection of.

Go Kart

A couple of years ago I purchased a go kart for the kids.  It has been fun. There was the time that Jack almost ran over two girls from down the street, the time Andy rammed straight into the curb, and there were the great drives.  I got that thing dialed in earlier in the year and we took it out to Three Peaks and had a great time.  It was an ugly go kart.  I decided to paint it a month ago.  I took it apart, painted it, and put it back together.  I recovered the seats and had it looking really good.  Well, tonight I sold it.  The boys are moving on to motorcycles up in Alaska and I think they would have a better time with motorcycles or an ATV.  I am looking for those and may have found a couple of options.  We shall see.  The boys don't yet know that I have sold the go kart.  I might need to find something before they come home.  All will be just fine I am sure.  That kart went fast.  I put it up and within 30 minutes I had a cash offer and took it.  Not bad.  Not bad at all. 

Not Pleased

Got a phone call from the Principal of Cedar High School this morning.  He was calling to let me know that he still had not heard back from WGU and had a qualified candidate apply for the position he had offered me.  He would be interviewing that individual and would let me know in a couple of days.  It doesn't look real good for me.  This is quite disappointing news and I am pretty frustrated by the complete lack of response from my placement coordinator. I sent a message to my mentor that I was displeased.  About a half hour ago I got an email from the placement coordinator who was blaming a faulty computer and hard drive replacement for his delayed reply.  It has been a month.  Well, whatever.  I am not happy with that situation but will just keep pressing forward.  I don't have much of a choice.  There is work to be done and I need to get through this last semester.  All will be fine. Just wish it would have come together. 

Saw a Friend

Had my friend Karlee send me a message this morning about coming through town and wanting to meet for lunch.  It was good to sit and visit with her for a bit.  We are both single parents trying to take care of our children, go through school, and serve faithfully in the church.  She does a great job with it all, much better than I.  Anyway, we have similar views on several issues and we usually have a good laugh about things when we visit.  Life can be quite hilarious at times and in many circumstances.  It is good to keep things in perspective and to understand that trials are temporary, that we are here to have joy and that it can be found throughout our lives. 

Shooting Time

I got a call from Dan asking if I would go and cover for him with the Teachers Quorum as he is stuck up north.  Disc golf was on the schedule for the evening and I thought it would be a fun outing so I said yes. I got over to the church at the scheduled time and was supposed to meet up with Will Mitchell to go out with teachers as two-deep leadership.  Turns out Will was stuck up on the mountain.  Carl Johnson came and told me he was without a second for the Priests Quorum so the teachers and the priests joined up tonight and went out to the shooting range.  I have not gone shooting in quite some time. We were just shooting 22's so it wasn't a high power affair but we sure had a good time.  Grabbed some of my old spray paint cans and it was a good time seeing them explode when shot.  I keep telling myself I need to pick up a couple of guns, after tonight I really believe that is in order. Andy loves to shoot and I think Jack has a good time with it too.  I'm sure Natty would be down.  I think I need to make this happen. 

Planting Seed

I have several sections of my yard that have need of grass. Sections where I had cut out to put in sprinkler pipe had not fully grown back and several feet died. I prepped the areas, built up some soil in areas and then went and planted seeds. Hopefully everything will grow in nicely. I think it will. 

Still trying to get everything figured out with school. Not sure yet if I will be interning or student teaching. Waiting to hear. That is mildly frustrating and I would like to know what direction I am going.  Soon enough I will know.

Sushi Sunday

We had a little family gathering with those of us residing in Cedar. We had a special birthday dinner for mom.  It was a fun one. We had sushi. Fun to roll our own. I had prepped a crab cream cheese mix as well as that same mix with siracha sauce. It was actually quite good. I think we may have to do it more often. It was a good gathering. Grateful for mom and grateful we could celebrate her birthday.

Round Two

I got a call that the hood stopped working again.  Back to it I guess. I went and the hood was on. I went and took care of some other things and when I stopped back it was off.  I had to get into it. I think I have it dialed in now. At least it made it the rest of the day without having another problem. I really hope it is fine now.

Made a run to the temple tonight. Wonderful as always.

Exhaust Hood Fail

Got a call from Zach this morning who informed me that our hood was out. The motor had shut down on an overload a couple of weeks ago. I had some reservations about it and was hoping it was going to be fine. For the last two weeks it was fine but today It died. I ended up pulling the motor and then I went and got a new one from the folks that sold us the last one. Dan and I put it in and fired it up. All was good but the rotation was going the wrong way.  We smoked out the dining room a bit as we pushed exhaust in instead of pulling it out. So we pulled the motor, changed the wiring for the rotation, reinstalled it and were good to go.  There were times when a job like this would have scared me but there really wasn't much to be scared of. Just pulling and replacing. Good to have the experience. Glad we got it done and that it is doing the job.

the 5th of July

What is so special about the day after the fourth of July?  I guess for starters, I lived to see it.  Not that I was super concerned about not living to see it.  The day was busy.  Started out at the depot grill and shutting off the water to the building in order to remove a dishwasher up at the bar that did nothing but leak water and ruin hardwood flooring.  I had to cut and cap a waterline and that worked out well.  Dan and Amy had a little wine cooling fridges and gave it to us so I took that in this morning and we put it where the dishwasher was.  Perfect little spot now at the bar for keeping things cold.  By things I mean syrups and mix-ins for soda fountain specialty drinks.  Next came the task of changing out the light bulbs for 100W LED bulbs.  There are six large acorn lamp covers in the dining area and it is a bit intimidating to move them, we managed to get it all done and brightened up the place a skosh.  Nice to get those projects done.  I have a counter project to get done at the brick house and may need some forward thinking on it to knock it out without being in the way. 

I mowed the lawn tonight.  That is a great activity for me.  So therapeutic. Now, I can rest easy. 

The 4th

As I begin to write this entry I hear fireworks exploding outside of my window. This is a special day in America as we celebrate our independence.  I had a fine day that began early as I got up at 4:45 in the morning and went about gathering supplies for the ward breakfast.  It was a good meal and came together well.  Kerry Mitchell's was on the cooking crew and I quite enjoyed visiting with him. He is a professional chef and is really good.  We shared stories. It was a good time.  The breakfast was good and the flag raising that preceded breakfast was wonderful. Grateful for the land in which I live and the freedoms which I enjoy. 

Had a lovely meal with the fam this evening. They are wonderful. Good to be with them.

Hoping

Well, I have had no news from my placement coordinator since I spoke with him about being offered an internship at the high school.  I did find out that he actually had a conversation with the principal so that is positive.  The principal said he was waiting to hear back on one issue that the placement coordinator needed clarification on.  I sent a message to the placement coordinator this morning as a follow up.  Hopefully we can get this figured out.  I would really like to have that opportunity to go to work and to get my foot in the door at the high school. If it doesn't work out that is fine too and I will do my student teaching a more traditional way. 

Working on several little projects at both locations right now.  Have a few things figured out and will try to be at the depot early on Thursday to get lights changed out and to get a water line capped and a dishwasher removed.  I have a couple of shelves to install over at the Brick and would like to get that done soon as well.  I need to paint the kitchen at the Brick as well.  Just gotta get through it.

Well, not much else to report.  I have to get up in a few hours to go and help with the Ward 4th of July breakfast.  Busy morning fast approaching. 

Hot Day

When I went outside this morning the first thing that hit me was just how hot it was. At one point the temp was 96 in the shade. That is hot for Cedar. Yikes. I don't know how it is going to be for the rest of the week. Hopefully not too insanely hot.

Struggle

Sometimes I struggle.  I know, hard to believe right?  It's true.  I struggle with some things. I do some things that I am asked to do and sometimes those things irritate me.  One thing I find irritating was a major focus point in our elders quorum lesson today.  It has to do with everyone moving up for the lesson in the chapel.  I don't like having to move up.  I like having my space. I like having agency to chose where I will sit. Anyway, we are asked each week to move up and to sit closer to the front.  It is somewhat irritating and I move up begrudgingly.  So I guess this message was directed at me and others like me and then those that opt not to move up at all.  There was a video shown of one of the general authorities of the church talking about the very act of moving forward when invited to do so.  Great, now I feel like crap for having a poor attitude about it. I mean, I do it but I don't necessarily want to do it.  Not a great attitude at all.  So the message today was irritating to me.  Irritating because I don't want to hear about it.  Irritating because I don't want to feel guilty for liking to sit on the back row.  Irritating because I think people might assume a bit much when it comes to someone that prefers to have a little distance. I love the Lord and I do my best to serve in any way that I can.  I attend to my meetings faithfully and sometimes I attend those meetings on the back row.  Well, Sacrament meeting is typically on the second row, left side of the chapel unless someone is occupying that space in which case it might turn into center front or somewhere else in the left and center front area of the chapel.  I wonder what that indicates?  Anyway, I will try to have a better attitude about it and will do my best to show the Lord that I sustain those he has called.  I can't say it won't be a struggle.  I am sure it will be and I will want to rebel and enjoy my space.  Nevertheless, I do love the Lord and will try and show him that in this way. 

Tommy Baptism

Made a quick trip up north today to attend Tommy's baptism.  8 years have passed quickly.  It was a great meeting and I'm glad I was able to attend.  I made a run up to Salt Lake after so I could pick up some stuff from Standard Restaurant supply.  Before heading there I made a trip out to the Oquirh Mountain temple.  It is a beautiful building. Glad I was able to go. 

So I made a poor decision yesterday. I decided to get sugar free Russell Stover chocolate candies. They are now sweetened with stevia so I thought that would do the trick. Wow, Russell Stover is short for welcome to hell.  Just destroyed me inside. I have had major cramping all day. Brutal.

I am exhausted. Heading to bed.

Nap

I have not slept very well for the last few days and have had full days. Today began with meetings that went a little longer than I thought they would. The meetings were good. Dan and Jesse from US Foods were up to help us with some stuff at the Depot. They also met with Each yesterday at Brick House. Always good to have them up.  Had another meeting after that with our front of house people. That went well also.  I hope we are moving things in the right direction. 

I stopped in to check on the Brick House afterwards. They had a busy lunch and were starting to recover.  We have some good people there. 

I made it home sometime around 4:30. I was going to get moving on some projects but made the mistake of sitting down for a minute.  I was out at that point and got a bit of a nap in.  Still tired.  Time for another nap. 

Go Cart

I got a wild hair and decided to paint the go cart. Actually, I had sanded it down well over a year ago and then didn't do anything with it. So I really just got around to continuing this project. Tonight I removed the motor Now that seems a bit more involved than my original idea.  Any how, I am tired and need some sleep. Heading for bed.

One AM Haircuts

Sometimes when you are a man, you give yourself a haircut at 1 in the morning, just for fun.  I had several things I was working on this evening. At 20 or so after 11, I decided to go on a bike ride. It was a good ride. Anyway, I got home sometime after midnight and took care of A few things before heading up stairs. I was going to have a shower then saw my hair in the mirror and decided it was time.  I am pretty much asleep.  Time to call it. Goodnight.

6/26/2018

This year is passing quickly.  I am amazed that it is almost July.  Time is passing too quickly. We will see how fast the year passes once I begin my student teaching adventures.  Hopefully it will pass just as quickly and without too much trouble.  I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed and nervous for what has to happen  It will be a busy time and I hope that I can keep up. 

Cast my vote today as it was election day. Looks like a couple people I voted for were able to win.  One is too close to call  It is okay.

I treated the Nat to a movie tonight.  We saw Jurassic World.  It was pretty good.  Apparently Natty got pretty emotional through several parts of the movie.  I enjoyed the movie but it wasn't exactly a tear jerk-er.  Fun times.

Flooring Depot

The day began early and went late. It never slowed down for me. Had to get over to the Brick early to let the floor guy in.  I was also throwing away the old tile that we put in the back of my truck. I was then out running errands for the flooring guy. Home Depot was pretty much a joke and made a mess of this entire order. The only bright spot from their end was the installer that came and did the work. He was good in a  bad situation. Anyway,  the floor is done and it looks a lot better. It was a good time. I am passing out and need to get to bed.

Grass

Last week I planted some grass seed in the front yard. I wasn't sure how it would do and I'm still not certain what will happen with it.  It is supposed to make some magic happen in two weeks. I was not seeing any magic. Yesterday I finally started seeing a few little green shoots. Today that number has increased a great deal.  I am pretty excited to see that happening.

Our garden is also making some progress. Radishes are doing quite well and I have eaten several right out of the dirt. Delicious. We have zucchini and summed squash both doing well.  Finally, there are a couple of pumpkin plants getting bigger every day. I don't know if we will see anything come from any of those but maybe we will.  These are low maintenance plants so know that my effort has been minimal. I have never had a vegetable garden of my own before. It is pretty fun stuff.

Congratulations!

Just before 10 PM this evening, I received congratulatory notice that I had passed my second task for children's literature and successfully completed the course.  As of right now I am 87% done with my degree.  I have 119 out of 137 credits completed and will finish the final 18 during my student teaching, or direct teaching, in the fall.  It has been a full three years. It feels really good right now.  I am looking forward to finishing and graduating with my bachelors in special education / elementary education.  It is hard to believe that I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel and that end should be sometime in the middle of December.  Sweet!  I now have the month of July to relax a skosh before the school year begins in August.  I need to find something fun to do. Perhaps some hiking is in order.  Well, congratulations to me I guess.

Crash

I spent the day working through my last task for my current load.  I say my last task for current load because though it is my last class I still have tasks that I will need to complete during student teaching. What a pain in the shorts that will be. I just need to knock it out.  It will be heavy and a bit overwhelming but I will get through it. I hope this final task makes the grade on the first round. I will feel wonderful when it is over.

I was on a walk on Tuesday evening and all was good on my path. Tonight I was riding my bike and ended up on the same walkway I was on the other night. It is over at the high school. I was cruising right along, fast, when all of the sudden the sidewalk was gone. I tried to stop quickly but it was rough and I went down.  It was graceful..  No major damage but I did break my phone holding contraption. Good times. I guess I better sleep it off.

June 21, 2018

It is the 21st of June. Not much to report on.  I went over and helped Dan with some sprinkler repair stuff.  It was a good time. Had some restaurant stuff to take care of and then had a teaching seminar to attend for my teacher work sample.  This was an overwhelming meeting for me.  It was like the first day of a semester when the professor outlines the course, it always feels pretty heavy to me.  I am not looking forward to it but it must be done and I am going to have to keep moving.  Gotta get it done. 

Nat Home

Ran down to Vegas today to pick Natty up from the airport.  Strange to have the Nat home and not the boys.  Great to have Natty home. Still missing those boys. 

The drive went well.  I was planning to refuel in Mesquite on the drive home.  I started talking to Natty about the trip to Reno and seeing Mike and Liana and Meta.  I was telling about the Miracle that she is and their experience.  I looked up and saw the second exit to Mesquite as I was driving right by it and then I looked down and saw that my fuel light was on and I hadn't even notices it.  I thought about making an illegal U-turn and heading back into Mesquite but it was difficult to see areas where that could happen and all were marked with a no u-turn sign.  Nat pulled up that there were a couple of gas stations in Littlefield so I felt good that we would be able to get gas there.  Not the case.  Both locations we followed GPS to had no gas stations.  We were on empty and headed back to Mesquite.  Natty was nervous and didn't think we were going to make it.  I had no worries.  We got there with plenty of fuel to spare. 

Good to be home.  Time for some sleep. 

Ruined

I am working on a task right now that involves examination of children's books.  The task requires me to look at a pre-21st century book that is considered controversial as well as two other non-controversial books, one from the 21st century and one from any point in time.  I found that The Giving Tree is considered controversial.  How sad is that?  The book is all about a boy who loves a tree and a tree who loves a boy and gives all that is has to the boy throughout his life. The tree gives and receives little or nothing in return and it gives repeatedly.  I love the story as it demonstrates much of what I experience as both a child to my parents who so willingly gave to me, and also as a parent and my desire to provide for and love my children.  Why would this be controversial?  Well, good question. There is a professor out there who has her classes read this book at the beginning of each semester and then engages them in exploring the book once again while considering gender inequality.  It is said that the tree represents girls and women while the boy represents boys and men. When you read it in that light it kind of changes things and suddenly you see women as being oppressed and taken advantage of by men in pursuit of their own desires with no thought of what their actions do to the woman.  That is kind of a sad interpretation of the story.  I wonder if that thought ever entered the mind of Shel Silverstein when he wrote the story?  Perhaps it did, I don't know.  I do know that I like the idea of reading the book with the mindset of serving and loving others. Certainly we can all give of ourselves to help those around us regardless of what our gender is.  We can give of ourselves and give again.  The law of reciprocation says that when someone does something nice for us, we want to do something nice for them in return.  That doesn't fully fit the narrative in this book but maybe it is something that could be focused on instead of gender inequality.  I don't know, I understand the message of the lesson and the challenge of the task I am working on, however, I don't know that I want to focus on something that never even popped into my mind before as it relates to the aforementioned book.  That thought kind of ruins it for me. 

Submitted

Well, it is quite nearly 2 AM.  I have just submitted my first task for my children's lit task.  It made for a late night. I hope it goes through and we can wrap up this class up.  Well, I have one additional task to do and I am going to get started on it tomorrow.  I want to be done and so I have to do.  Looking forward to being through with this. 

Father's Day 2018

I would say the highlight of the day for me was being able to see my kiddos via FaceTime.  They have been gone for almost a month and I am missing them. They all look pretty good and seem to be doing well.  They showed me outside of their house. It is very green and marshy looking. Very flat.  They say it has been raining for the last few days. Anyway, wonderful to see them. 

Other highlights of the day would be dinner at the folks and spending time with the fam.  Always a good time.  Pops made ribs for dinner. We had them a couple weeks ago and they were amazing.  Not quite as amazing today but still very good. There was a kickin spice pops used last time that was fantastic.  It was a good meal and a good time.

For the ward we did the father's day pies. The young women were helping. I taught them how to make pies yesterday and today They served those pies. Sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves and were well fed. The young women did a marvelous job.  I snuck a half of lemon cream over to Men and Georgia.  Georgia missed mothers day pie and KB missed it today so I wanted to get over there.  Sat and visited for a good hour. Sure do love Men and Georgia.  KB said he wants to find out where they will have the Union Pacific Big Boy on display so we can go see it.  He remembers that night he took us out to see it fondly.  It was a great adventure. 

I am grateful to be a father and grateful for my own father.  I am grateful for others who are good fathers to their families and grateful for those who serve and love others as they seek to serve and to follow our Heavenly Father. 

Just Good

As I reflect on the day there were a number of things I liked about it. First was having the young women, their leaders, and Amy over to make pies for father's day.  That army of pie makers makes things so much easier.  I also think it makes it more meaningful for the youth as well as those partaking of said pie. We are set for tomorrow.

Had a great visit to the temple this evening.  Sometimes while I go i see people differently, I see them about the Lord.   This is a cool experience and helps me to feel a love for those that work in the temple.

Oh my, I must sleep.

6/15/18

Not much to report. It was a day. I had to get some house cleaning done in preparation for the young women coming over to make I picked up a tire balancer for Dan as a thank you for helping with tires and for giving them to me. We gave it a whirl. It worked pretty well. Pretty handy to be able to mount and balance tires on your own.  Well, have a lot to do in the morning.

Tires

Worked on my task this morning and made some progress.  Not quite done with it yet.  I had to run to the store for the Brick House and then spent a bit of time there.  It was nice to have a little break from the work.  Made a run by the folks, they were not home but Dan and Amy had stopped by.  Dan and I have been going to change the tires out on the little pick up truck for a while and decided we would do it today.  I think both of us should have probably been doing homework but changing tires is much more fun.  He had some studded tires that came with a ranger he picked up a few months back.  They were the exact size I needed for the Mazda PU and he gave them to me.  Granted they are studded but they were free and they have a ton of life still on them and the tires I had on the truck were dead.  I was surprised that one of the tires was actually holding air.  It was in really rough shape.  Anyhow, it was a good time taking tires off of a rim and putting new ones on. I had never done that before. Once you get the hang of it you can get them done pretty quick.  We do need to balance them and I might just go and get Dan a tire balance get up over at Harbor Freight.  It will allow us to balance the tires and also gives him a sweet tool for his collection and says thank you for your help.  Since he has the other tool for doing tires I thought this might be just the right addition.  Anyway, good time.  Truck is in much better shape with these new-er tires. 

Gotta Go

I am pressing forward with my children's lit class. Made some progress today on the first task.  Not so bad.  Now I need to write a lesson plan for it.  Hopefully I can get that knocked out tomorrow.  It will be a great relief to get through this final class.  I would like to have both tasks completed by next Wednesday.  We will see if I can get it done. 

Had no word from either Cedar High School or WGU today on their conversation  I don't know if I can get that internship or not.  Would be great if it can work out but if not, I am already gearing up to do my student teaching in the fall. 

Hoping and praying for the kids to be well.  Nat comes home next Wednesday and then the boys a month later.  It will be great to have them home again.  It is rather quiet here without them. 

Chance

I spoke to my placement coordinator today in regards to the possible internship at Cedar High School.  He told me how things would work if I were to become a teacher of record.  My student teaching would be pushed to the Spring semester. I would have to take a 6 week unpaid leave during the spring to go and do my elementary ed student teaching.  It is very much a possibility.  He was going to contact the principal to discuss the situation.  I don't know if this will go through or not but there is a chance that I could actually be a teacher of record beginning in the fall.  That is pretty crazy stuff.  We will see how it progresses.  In the meantime I continued working on my children's lit class and read several children's books today.  I think I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to do for the first task and made some progress on it.  I want to get that knocked out in the next day or so and then move on the the second task.  I have the books ready for that one and read those today as well.  It will be an interesting lesson about kindness.  I like it.

Went over tonight to give a blessing to the folks.  Dan came also.  It was a good visit. Pops is not in real good shape right now. He had a few doctors visits today and a few tests. He goes for more testing in the next day or so.  Hopefully we can get this figured out quickly and get him back to feeling better. Lots of pain in his back and that is a bit discouraging. It was good to give blessings.

Progress

I got myself to the library again today with a determination to gather the books I needed for the tasks that I have to accomplish for my childrens literature class.  I managed to find what I needed, not everything on my list but what I needed.  That should set me up to begin working through the tasks.  I really just want to be done but wanting to be done doesn't automatically make it so.  I still have to put forth the effort.  That has to happen.  Hopefully I can make sense of what they are asking me to do and can get it done with out too much trouble. 

I had a conversation today with John Dodds.  He is the Principal at Cedar High School where I will begin student teaching in August.  He wants me to come on for the full year in an internship.  I am totally on board with that but I actually have to student teach in the elementary school as well.  He is going to talk to WGU about the possibility of arranging things differently.  I don't know if that will work out or not but we will see.  I definitely want to get through what I need to in order to earn my degree.  That is of most importance to me.  I would love to do the internship if it can be worked out for me to also meet all of the requirements for my degree. 

We will see where we get from here.  It is an interesting time for sure. 

Released

After just over three years I was released as the 8th ward Sunday school president.  It has been a wonderful calling and I have loved the opportunity to serve. The changes to gospel teaching and teaching in the Saviors Way made this calling truly joyful.  It was fun to launch this new program, to grow from participating in it, and to see others grow.  I will miss that. 

I had three great counselors and a wonderful Secretary during my time. Jake Whetman, Gary Scholes, and Blake Clark served as counselors and William Bagnall as Secretary. I truly loved serving with these good brethren.

Not Enough Heat

I was up and starting breakfast before 6 AM. I had everything rolling and coming together.  There was only one problem; I could not get enough heat out of the camp chef and also out of the sternos I had with the chaffing dishes.  It was painful.  The good part is that I had cooked everything on Thursday night.  All I had to do was reheat items.  I thought it was going to go much faster and that I would generate the heat that I needed to accomplish my plan.  That was a bit frustrating.  I think the good part was the flavor of the sausage and eggs was pretty tasty.  Things were a little warm, just couldn't get it all warm and prepared quickly enough.  I learned some things today and the next time I do breakfast buritto's I will be better equipped. 

Father and Sons

I am on my way to the father and sons campout.  I will not have coverage to write my post tonight so I thought I would tap out a quick note. My sons are not with me for this camp out this year.  Normally this is scheduled in May but there were no available weekends in May so it was pushed to this weekend.  It is fine though I would rather have the boys with me.  I am doing the breakfast in the morning.  Everything is prepped.  I believe I have everything plus other stuff in the truck, ready to go.  I will review my checklist before departure. I suppose I will be in the middle of it tomorrow and find that I forgot to put something on the checklist.  I think I am pretty well prepared for it and it should be an easy breakfast.  We will hope for that anyway. Grateful always to go and participate in this camp out to commemorate the restoration of the priesthood. 

Cooking

Spent a few hours this evening getting food prepped for the father and sons breakfast. Sausage and eggs ready to go.  I made my store run this evening and picked up everything I need food wise. It is going to be a full day tomorrow and then an early start on Saturday. 

In other news, Dave and Dani had their baby boy Walter today. He is a tiny guy at 5 pounds 3 ounces. 18 inches tall.  He looks like his older brothers.  Wonderful day.

Back At It

Got up this morning and ran into the Brick House where we ran through the menu with the cooks and members of the wait staff.  We wanted to help people get familiar with what the sandwiches are and how they should look.  We also wanted to get the cooks familiar with proper cooking procedures and how we want certain things to be done and to look.  Things didn't go exactly how I envisioned and I don't know that those that the message was intended for were in attendance or were paying attention.  We will move on to individual instruction. Hopefully something about the meeting was beneficial to those that came and they are more familiar with the sandwiches.

I ended up spending the day at the Brick.  I did get a little bit of home time and mowed the lawn.  Later I was able to join Amy and Dan for dinner this evening.  A little shoyu chicken.  Delicious. 

Trying to get ready for fathers and sons campout this weekend.  I am in charge of breakfast.  Going to do breakfast burritos.  Working on scrambled eggs in a bag and a few other things.  Hopefully I can get it all together quickly. 

Not much else for tonight. Just back in the saddle, trying to keep up with it all. 

The Drive

It was time to return home to Cedar today.  I have to say, that drive really wasn't too bad. I realize Highway 50 is supposed to be the loneliest highway, didn't find it that bad.  The GPS said we were looking at an 8 hour 17 minute trip. We took about 9 hours. There was construction that heald us up multiple times between Fallon and Austin. That was a bit of a pain. Oh my goodness I am tired. Had to stop so pops could go to the bathroom., had to stop for dinner.  We made pretty good time all things considered. I need to pass out about now.

Carson

Carson City's Nevada may very well be the place I consider as my home town. I was not born in Carson, nor have I lived a majority of my life there.  It was the place we lived when I started school and it is the place we lived when I graduated high school. It is just one of those places in my life that has had an important impact on me.  Today we drove in to Carson.  It was fantastic! Had to eat at a couple of places. China East and Basil. Not hungry at all right now. It was good.  Mom and Laude had planned that menu for some time.  Laura and fam, Jim and Clo,  Mike and Liana were at China East for lunch with us.  Jim and Clo headed home to Vegas, Laura and Miguel took their kids up to a children's museum in Reno, the rest of us went up to Tahoe.  Tahoe is a beautiful lake.  I love how clear the water is there.  We went to Sand Harbor and walked around the board walk.  Wonderful.  Also headed in to Incline Village and found Aunt Junes cabin. Love it up there.  We came back down and went to Basil,  Thai place in Carson. It was a good time.  Wow, can't keep my eyes open.  Time for bed.

Beautiful Meta

Today was a very special day. I am so glad that I was here to participate I'm the baby blessing of Meta, the miracle baby.  Mike blessed his beautiful little-known girl. It was sweet, it was powerful, it was tender.  I walked from that circle when the blessing was over with tears in my eyes.  It makes me very happy to watch Mike and Liana with their little one. I see their joy and their gratitude to the Lord and I am filled with gratitude.

In the fast and testimony meeting both Mike and Liana shared their testimonies and it was very powerful. Mike talked about how they were called to be temple workers and in being set apart were told that their dreams would come true.  After 9 years of marriage and trying and wanting to have children and then believing that they would not have children of their own, the promise was fulfilled and their dream of having a baby came true.  Mike spoke about Liana's faith and how powerful that has been. It was quite moving. 

Liana also shared her testimony and talked about how hard it was to want children but to be barren. She talked about seeing a picture in her head of a barren wasteland she would see when she thought of having children, not because she didn't want them but because she couldn't. One day that wasteland vision changed to flowing water and she knew she would be having a baby. 

When I say miracle baby I mean miracle baby.  This is a special little girl and a tremendous gift to Mike and Liana and our entire family.  Feel quite blessed today.

Family Time

Had a fine day here in the Reno area.  Prior to going to a nice family gathering at the Olive garden we made a run over to Scheels. That was a pretty impressive store. I had never been their before. I had been to a Cabellas or Bass Pro Shop before but never Scheels. We didn't get to explore everything as our time was short. We had a good time over at the Olive Garden. After that we ran over to Mike's ward building where we played a variety of games. Had some fun playing 4 square and dodge ball.  Had fun with a couple other games, one I can't remember and then a game Chameleon.  Fun times.  Always good to hang out with the fam and enjoy a little-known time with them.

Reno

Today we made the drive from Cedar to Reno.  We went out to Panaca, up to Ely, West on Highway 50 until we got on to the 80 in Feebly and then into Reno.  I had never driven that route before. It was pretty cool and a bit mire scenic than the drive from Vegas up the 95. Sometimes you just need to spend 8 or 9 hours behind the wheel. We are here for Meta's baby blessing.

Jay put up some pics and videos of taking his kids up to Chimney beach today.  It has been a lot of years since I have been there.  The water level is way up.  That is good.  Jay said the jump wasn't quite as exciting as it was in the passed. Love that place.  Maybe one day I will get back there. 

Quick Visit

Made a run up to the temple tonight. I enjoy being there and participating in the work. I need to try and make that more of a regular thing all the time.  I get there weekly when the kids are in Alaska or away from home.  That is a little more difficult to do when I am juggling life and responsibilities with the kids. There is a season when I will be more available.  I thought about that tonight as I walked upstairs. Taking an assignment as a temple worker would be something I would love to do but right now I am unable to because I am a single parent with young children.  And so there will be a season for that. Until such a season I will do my best to be there serving in the ways that I can. Sometimes that will be a quick visit. 

Talking with Jack

Got a call from Jack this evening. They spent the day in Disneyland. He called to tell me all about it. His favorite was the Indiana Jones ride. He rode several rides like space mountain, splash mountain, thunder mountain railroad, and several others. It is exciting to hear that they actually went on rides. It was pretty neat.

Final Test Done

Today I took my final assessment for Visual and Performing Arts.  This is the final proctored exam that I have to take for WGU.  I studied a few times for this and felt somewhat confident going in.  There were several questions that I was comfortable with and then there were several questions that were pretty difficult and challenged me. I finished and submitted and then anxiously looked up the outcome not sure what it would be.  I was quite relieved to see that I had passed the assessment. That feels great.  I have one more class to finish that involves completing two performance assessments.  I would like to have it done now but it will take me a bit to get through it.  That is my final class until student teaching begins in August.  Really just need to get it knocked out so I can take a few weeks to relax from the studies before diving in for four months of student teaching.  There is light at the end of the tunnel. That is nice.  Wasn't sure we were ever going to get to a point where we would see that light. I have to keep pushing.  It will be great to get it done. 

Ribs

Had a nice dinner this evening at the folks house.  Pops has a new smoker, one of those pellet grills, and it is pretty sweet.  I have not been a huge fan of ribs but after what we had tonight I might need to start making that a regular meal.  Really good.  I like that smoker. It is pretty impressive.

For breakfast this morning it would have been much nicer to have had ribs, I tried overnight oats for the first time. It was an interesting dish. It definitely wasn't my favorite thing.  Dan and Amy told me some things they do when they make it and so I am going to try it again tonight.  I just pulled up a recipe last night when I decided to attempt it.  We will see how it is tomorrow morning when round two is ready.  If it isn't the best I may just need to start eating ribs for breakfast. 

Sunday Evening Drive

Had a great visit and lesson in Sunday School with Derek and Paige Christensen. They were the only two in Gospel Principles today and had a great Lesson going on. I joined for the last bit and enjoyed a nice discussion related to 1 Nephi Chapter 1. We talked goodly parents and the strength of Nephi. We talked record keeping. I have always been impressed by this great couple. Good people.
I decided to go on a drive this evening. I had never driven West from Cesar into Nevada. I have driven west, just not that far. I actually drove to the outskirts of Panaca. Not a bad little-known drive. I will be heading that direction again on Friday when we head up to Reno for Meta's baby blessing. That is only a short portion of the drive. Should be a nice trip. Anyway, it was a nice drive this evening even when I had to come to a stand still because a group of cows were slowly crossing the street. I enjoyed the scenery. I enjoyed the open road.

Flying Solo

Went to see Solo tonight. It was good.  Spoiler alert, going to mention part of the movie. At one point Han is joining the empire. He has to provide his name. He only has his first name.  I thought it was pretty fun.  guy in charge calls or assigns him Solo when Han shares that he had no people, no last name.  The movie was good. Enjoyed it. Now I must sleep.

New Cooler

I purchased a new evaporative cooler for the house.  We have one and it has been swell, it just doesn't push the cool air up the stairs when it gets hot out. The new cooler is installed in my room and it is producing cool air, up stairs, and flowing easily down stairs.  It is nice in the house.  This might be a nice upgrade from our other one. I might have to have a few blankets on tonight. I can live with it.  Easier to put more blankets to get warm then take off clothes to cool.  I am ready to head to bed.  I will try not to freeze 

Allergies

My allergies have not been fun this year. I remember my first year back in Cedar being fairly rough but it seemed to have gotten much better over the last 6 years.  For whatever reason I have had it fairly bad this year.  Not all that much fun but we do our best to press forward and handle it.  I just feel constantly stuffed up and I'm sniffling quite frequently. I have not had major sinuses headaches though I have had a few minor ones. I will survive, just not a big fan of the allergies. 

Gone

This morning Rachel and her husband Walter came to the house to pick up the kids for the summer.  This is not my favorite day as it is always hard to see the kids go.  I did take the opportunity, as we always do, to give them a fathers blessing before their departure.  Grateful that I can do that and grateful to the Lord who watches over them and keeps them safe. 

Seems that every time the kids go I think to myself that I will now have a little time to go on some dates.  I might get in one or two dates but the reality is that I seem to be just as busy.  Maybe dating is just not a priority in my life. Truthfully, right now it is not.  My kids are the priority and have been for the last eight years.  I think that is hard for some people to grasp and some feel I should be remarried and moving on with life.  I suppose there is some truth to that but at the same time, life just isn't that simple. I have a couple of classes to finish still and then I might have a little free time until the new school year begins and I am student teaching.  Then all bets are off. I don't think I will know what free time is for 4 months or so.  That won't be anything new though. 

Well, sad times in Cedar City.  Nat will be back in a month and the boys will be home sometime in late July or early August.  It will be quiet around here but we will make it through. 

Temple Baptism Negotiations

I was excited on Sunday when I learned that the youth from the 8th ward had a Baptismal assignment at the temple tonight.  I really have felt like Jack needs to go.  He has always had a conflict or has just not wanted to go in the past.  I thought today was going to be different but the when I reminded him after school he was not happy about it.  I tried to share my feelings about the temple with him but he was not having any.  Finally, when I was at a loss and didn't want to talk about it longer I let it go and Jack then came at me with some negotiation tactics.  He said if I would have offered him a blizzard at the DQ he would go.  I told him it was a done deal and we would go.  He got ready and I got him there. We forgot his recommend at home so we made the drive home and back and tried again. He went in and I heard he was a bit nervous but then came out with the biggest smile. Great.  I had run up and done some initiatory work but got to go and sit in the baptistry while they were finishing up.  I got to go in and do the confirmations with him.  That was a special moment for me and I was so grateful that we were finally able to get him over that hurdle. If I would have thought about negotiating with a blizzard I would have done it a while ago.  Of course if it was my idea he would have probably rejected it without a second thought. Because it was his thought it was a much easier negotiation.  Very grateful we were both able to go and serve in the temple tonight. 

Planting Seeds

My sprinkler system installation all started with the idea that Andy wanted to plant a bit of a garden.  I began prepping the garden area and went about digging a trench for sprinklers to be installed for the garden.  It was then that I decided to just trench the entire back yard and install a sprinkler system.  Well, for the most part that sprinkler system is complete.  I had to make a couple of adjustments today but now have that pretty well dialed in.  At least I hope so.  Tonight it was time to get the seeds in the ground.  I tilled up the garden area once again, added some good soil, tilled it all together again, raked in out and then went about planting seeds. We will see how this turns out.  I don't really grow gardens and so this is a first attempt.  Hopefully something grows out of all of this.  We shall see.

Seminary Graduate

In the middle of last week I wasn't sure Natalie was going to graduate from seminary.  She had missed some classes that she needed to make up and was also trying to get caught up on school classes so she could graduate from High School.  It was a very stressful week for me as I watched with concern.  Anyway, she made it for both high school and seminary. This was not an easy accomplishment in the life of Natty.  She battled depression and anxiety throughout her high school career including major panic attacks and a multitude of other problems.  In the end, she never gave up and kept pushing. Proud of the Natty Sue for graduating from seminary today. 

Because the kids are heading out this week Natalie will not really get a chance to speak in out ward.  The Bishop wanted to hear her talk a out how seminary blessed her life and she was called to speak today. She did a great job and talked about avocados.  She dressed for the part in her avocado colored dress.  It actually went very well and her avocado analogy worked.  Hard to believe we are reaching this point with Natty.  I don't know if I am quite ready to have my daughter moving out of the home and beginning her own life adventures. I certainly hope for her every success and pray for her to find great friends in a student ward and be active in her future ward.  I know she has a foundation to stand on in her testimony of the Savior. 

Graduation Party

Today we had a great family activity where we partied in celebration of Natalie and Mack graduating from high school.  Hard to believe that we are at this stage of life.  It has all gone by too quickly.  Anyway, we got down to St. George for the scheduled festivities.  We arrived a little before 1 and then saw that others were just leaving Cedar.  That left us a bit of time before anyone else would arrive.  We ran over to iceberg and picked up some shakes.  I had promised the boys last night that we would get a treat as part of their helping me to clean the house.  Those shakes are quite large. We did not finish.  Jack and I got close but did not fully tip the scales.  We had a good time anyway.  Then we were off to laser mania where things started out pretty fun.  There was one of those power punching machines.  Jay had the record so I was told to challenge it.  I did and successfully took the record.  Then I got to punch it again and beat my record.  Each time you set a record you get an additional punch so I hit it a third time and was not successful in beating it a third time.  The boys gave it a shot and did pretty well. Jim had been providing some coaching secrets to help us all be successful in our punching.  He stepped up to the challenge himself and laid a serious right hook on the bag.  It was powerful.  Unfortunately the right hook sends the bag the wrong direction and he failed to even register a score. It was fantastic.  We had a good laugh.  He did straighten it up and then followed his own coaching advise and laid a pretty decent shot on the bag.  It did not best my score.  I went again and set another new high score but then could not keep it going.  Jay came back around and laid into it, my record was gone.  Fun stuff.  We had a total of 16 adults and youth to play laser tag.  We split up randomly as we entered the arena and had a great time.  Laser tag gets you moving a bit and the laser vest produces a bit of heat.  I felt like I got a lot more exercise then I actually did.  Anyway, we all had a good time.

For lunch/dinner we went over to the Brick Oven Pizza place.  I had never been there.  We got some special and ate to our hearts content.  It was pretty good, better than I had expected based on what I have heard about the place.  I do think I was expecting a different kind of pizza, more of a woodfired type as it is called Brick Oven.  It wasn't quite what I thought but I liked the deal we got there with a pizza buffet, salad bar, soup and homemade rootbeer.

We headed back to Cedar and went and hung out at the Main St. park for a while.  Had a little graduation ceremony for Nat and Mack.  Jay and I spoke, Nat and Mack spoke.  Clorinda gave them each a special medallion.  It was fun.  I sure do love the Nat and am proud of the effort she put forth to graduate from High School and Seminary.  It was not easy but she managed to get through it.

Grateful for family and the times we have together.    

Throbbing

The pain in my hands continues to be overpowering. They just flat out hurt.  I have on braces at the moment and it is turning this typing into a bit of a challenge. Hoping to get some relief soon.  Not sure what to do for that.  Anyway, twas a fine day.  Ok. I am exhausted and cannot keep my eyes open.  Time to call it and go to bed. 

Dead Hands

The sprinkler system install has taken its toll on my hands.  All of the impact from digging has just hammered them.  I woke up last night with the tingling sensation that occurs when hands or feet fall asleep.  It is painful and irritating.  Today my hands did not get any sort of break.  The good news is that the new automatic sprinkler system is installed and working like a champ.  So nice.  I also managed to finish 90% of the back filling in the trenches.  I have some dead looking sod to go back through and re-install.  I don't know if it will take but we will try.  It has been an expensive endeavor but it will be worth it in the long run. 

Well, I am exceedingly tired. Looking forward to slumber.  I will put braces on my hands tonight.  Hopefully they will not bother me tonight but they are throbbing at the moment so that may not be the best.  Anyway, good times.  Ready to crash out for sure. 

Repeat

I did not want to type sprinklers as the topic two days in a row.  This is a continuation of my work on the sprinkler system.  I thought I was going to be in good shape for an easy tie in of the front yard zones and then put valves together and run it.  That didn't quite go as easily as I had anticipated.  Started off by digging a trench. I got through some hard ground and then came to the door way in the block wall.  I was thinking it wouldn't be bad at all.  I was wrong. 

I am very tired.  Need to fined a a place to sleep. 

Sprinklers

I think something happens to you when you have lived in a house or houses that have automatic sprinkler systems.  You grow accustomed to the convenience of programming your watering and making life easy on yourself.  A couple of summers ago I installed sprinklers in the front yard.  They are not automatic but they were much nicer than having to move a sprinkler around the yard. They also gave me full coverage of the yard in two convenient zones.  I did not tackle the back yard at that time.  I made a surface mounted sprinkler contraption that I had to move around the yard.  It worked okay but had it's flaws.  Last Friday I started trenching a line for a garden for Andy and decided I was going to trench the entire yard and do the sprinkler system.  I spent a little time on Friday evening and then all day Saturday digging in the yard.  I designed a system that would give me the coverage I needed. I hoped to work on it yesterday to get pipe in the ground but that didn't happen.  Today, I went to the Home Depot and picked up my supplies, most of them anyway.  I came home and started laying it out.  Then I went around and glued it all in.  4 complete zones to cover the back yard - including Andy's garden.  Around 8 or so I was able to start clearing the lines and then tested the system.  3 of the 4 zones work like a dream.  Coverage is fantastic.  One of the zones is a little disappointing so I will need to make a couple of adjustments to make it more effective.  I am confident we can get it dialed in the way we want it.  I have to purchase a couple of valve systems and valve boxes and an automatic sprinkler system in order to get it programmed and working on autopilot with out me having to babysit it.  I have to trench a bit more to tie in the front and back systems together but that shouldn't be too bad.  It is an investment to be sure as it doesn't come cheap and has certainly required an investment of my time.  It will be worth it. 

Not My Plan

I had not planned on spending all day at Brick House but that is what I did.  I had scheduled a management meeting for this morning and thought it went well. I do need to make them mire efficient but this was good. Anyway, we have lots of good stuff going on. Just need to keep a few things in check and make sure we are in control of our spending. It is a tough time of year, it's always a tough time of year. Restaurant business isn't easy.

My plan was to have the meeting and then go and get sprinkler products for the yard. I hoped to have installed it but such did not happen today. Anyhow, I am exhausted. I just need me some sleep.

The Pies for Mother's Day

Last year the Brick House did the pies for the 8th Ward Mother's Day treat.  It was good and it was a lot of work.  This year I thought it would be better all around to have the youth help make the pies.  It will save on the Ward budget and it will involve the youth in the pie making process.  We did that and I think it worked out very well.  There were a couple of things that I probably needed to oversee a little closer and I will make a few adjustments in order to create a better pie but all in all I think it went well.  The sisters had plenty of pie to partake of and at the end, there was enough pie for all of the young men to get a little taste as well.  The youth sure seemed to enjoy themselves and I think it was just a little more meaningful to them knowing that they participated in making the pies, decorating the pies, and serving the wonderful women and young women of our ward. 

Next up are pies for Father's Day and teaching the young women how to make pie.  I will make a few recipe adjustments to improve a couple of the pies and then we will be off.  I think we will find great success once again. 

Happy Mother's Day to my own mother on this fine day.  We Cedar City people gathered at the folks for a meal and enjoyed each others company. Andy had picked out a great card with a strange looking cat and we gave it to mom with a little message and some treats - chocolate covered cashews and almonds, no pies.  

In the Trenches

Had the young men come over to the Brick House today and taught them how to make pies for mothers day.  We knocked out 20 pies. I thought it would be better this way to have the youth involved rather then having me do it all. It also helps with the ward budget.  They all did a great job. I think it will turn out Just fine.

Did a little moving help with Stephanie today. I was cleaning up the shop after pie and Dan had taken the teachers and priests over to start. They made quick work of it. . 

Spent a lot of time digging trenched.  I am asleep.  It was great. Must close, 

Long Day

I was on the move as soon as the boys left for the bus this morning.  Headed to the Home Depot and traded in a swamp cooler that I picked up last night and was not happy with for a different style.  I am excited about installing it and cooling off the upstairs efficiently.  Of course after a beautiful week the weather turned and it is chilly.  I don't know that we need any cooling help today.  It is going to be a process to get this thing up there but we'll get it. 

I am completely beat right now.  Did a lot of running around for the Brick, some interviewing with Tom, even did some tilling and trenching in the back yard for the future garden Andy and I are starting. 

Eyes are closing and I am out. 

Focus

After a busy week with school and work last week I find that I am struggling to get focused on the two classes that I have to finish still.  I have looked at them, taken a pre-assessment for the one that I need to test for, and I am pondering what to do for the tasks. I am just not excited about either one of these classes and the tasks seem pretty lame so I am less than enthusiastic. At the same time, these are the last two classes I need to do before student teaching.  I am on a time crunch to get them done. I just need to buckle down and knock them out. I am very much ready for a break so I guess I will have to focus for a few weeks and then I can relax for a couple of months. 

Cool Down

After having snow a week ago we are now up in the 80's and the house is warm. Had a hard time falling asleep last night with the room being uncomfortably warm. This evening I set up the swamp cooler. Oh my goodness, that thing is heaven. I am thinking seriously about getting another one to put up in my window. The problem with the current set up is that it is difficult to cool the upstairs. Bringing the unit up to my level of the house will make things better. Well, not much else to say. Must rest.

Knock Out

I got up today and had a runny nose and some mild eye irritation.  The good ole spring time allergies are trying to get me down.  I took a little allergy relief pill and it has basically just knocked me out.  I have been so exhausted because of it.  So dang tired today.  I just woke myself up .  Brutal.  It is hard sometimes.  So dang tired. 

Mowing Time

Got home this afternoon and decided it was time to give the lawn a mow.  It was getting long and I was wanting to trim it up.  I had a good time  I decided it was time to change the oil, sharpen the blade and clean it up some.  That all went well.  It had only been 10 years since I had put new oil in it and sharpened the blade.  I have cleaned it a few times before.  It wasn't too bad to do and I hope it makes a difference to the performance of the machine.  Not that it was performing bad. 

Well, not bad.  I must sleep  Lots going on with trying to wrap up the final two classes.  I will be quite thrilled when that is oer. 

Continue

As a Sunday School Presidency we have been in for three years.  Bishop says he doesn't want members in callings for more than three years so a release should be coming at some point.  I have no idea when that will be.  It doesn't really matter to me when it does come, I am happy to continue to serve and have truly enjoyed this calling.  I am sure there are several things I could do better and probably should do better. It has been a great learning experience during an exciting time for the Sunday School with the establishment of Teaching in the Savior's Way.  I have really loved participating in Teacher Council Meetings and learning from great members of the ward who serve faithfully as teachers and leaders. 

It was a good day at church as we had fast and testimony meeting. I realized sitting there that this might be the last fast and testimony that I will be in with Natty for a while as she is graduating and then probably moving on to a student ward and other opportunities.  That is exciting stuff for her and will be a good opportunity for her to be involved.  I took the moment to share some fatherly wisdom with her. That fatherly wisdom consisted of sharing my thoughts about the Savior and his love for Natty and his love for each of us.  I focused on the fact that the Savior knows who we are and loves us through the highest highs and the lowest lows. He knows when we are down and is there to lift us and love us.  I am grateful for Him.  I am grateful for Natty and Jack and Andy.  What a tremendous blessing these kids are in my life.  They are wonderful and I am grateful to be their dad. 

Well, whatever comes I will do my best to press forward, to continue on with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to try and set an example for my children to follow. 

Passed and Passed

Great News!  Passed by Praxis exam for Special Education  That was the big one and I was a bit on the nervous side for how that would turn out. What a great relief that is. 

Just got my social studies task back and I managed to pass that as well.  Good 24 hours for score reports.  I've got 6 more credits to go before student teaching.  Really happy about that.  Need to get them knocked out quick.  Speaking of knocked out, i am ready for some sleep. 

Need Sleep

I am completely dead.  I got up first thing and worked on my task for Social Studies.  Got it submitted.  I really hope it passes.  Then I took a shower and went to work.  Spent the greater part of the next 12 hours on my feet cooking.  It was SUU graduation and out day was full.  It wasn't just full, it was non stop.  It was a record setting day for us.  We ran out of hamburger buns even after I went and picked up another 36 at the store.  We sold out of chicken fried steak.  I am ready to pass out.  Ready to just crumble in bed.  My legs are aching bad.  I just took some ibuprophen and hope it kick in quickly.  Record breaking day - not just barely breaking the record either.  We put some distance on that one.  The nice part is, we were properly staffed and well prepared in the kitchen.  I am exhausted.  I have to head back in tomorrow to help keep us in front of it.  Hopefully we will not be quite as busy.  We don't have the product to be that busy again tomorrow.  Oh my goodness.  I cannot believe just how tired I am right now.  Look forward to sleep. 

Empty Tank

I am currently running on empty.  It has been a very long day. I ran in to sign a check this morning and ended up working all day.  It was a busy day at the Brick which was very good.  Tomorrow is going to be even busier and we have to be up to the task.  It will not be easy as it is SUU graduation and the volume of people will be heavy.  We will do the best we can.  I am really quite tired right now. Holy cow.  I finally got started on my social studies task around 11. I am close to being done but can no longer keep my eyes open.  Time to call it and then I will get a fresh pair of eyes on it tomorrow where I can wrap it up and submit it. Just want to be done. 

Stay Awake!

Still laboring on my current task for Social Studies.  I need to get through this thing.  Had to redo quite a bit because I didn't quite get it lined up exactly with what I think they are looking for.  There are a lot of parts to this thing and I don't really want to do it twice so I am hoping that a little extra time now will help me to dot all the I's and cross all the T's to get this done.  Oh my goodness. It is exhausting.  Ready to be done with it.

Making Progress

Got word that I passed my pre-clinicals today.  That is great.  Happy to be done with one more.  I spent the day working on an 8 week social studies unit.  I think I have it together.  There are a few more things that I have to do on other parts of the task. When I get through those I will submit it and hope to get that class done.  Technically I was supposed to have both of these completed yesterday to stay on track but I am pretty dang close and have a bit of a cushion to play with.  Just don't want to burn up that cushion.  Gotta get through this as I have some work demands coming on here shortly. By shortly I mean any moment.

I took Natty and Jack to see Black Panther tonight. I hadn't seen it and wanted to catch it before it left the theater.  Tonight is the $5 special ticket price at the theater so we went.  Andy didn't want to go so he stayed home.  It was a good flick.  I rather enjoyed it.  There was a lot of hype about this movie. I think it was well deserved.  The kids seemed to enjoy it as well. 

Well, we will keep pressing forward and working on making progress.  It feels good to have the classes winding down.  Still lots to do but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Touch of Flu?

So I woke up completely exhausted still.  I started thinking that perhaps the allergy pill was not the source of my exhaustion. Today, 24 hours after having taken the allergy pill, I am still exhausted.  I went back to bed after having prayer and Jack heading to the bus stop.  I was way tired and passed out until 10.  I went and worked after that and have been home since.  Just exhausted though.  Ready for bed. Must go to sleep now. 

Hot Dogs

I have been tired all day today.  I woke up with itchy eyes and decided to take some allergy meds, just a basic pill, and I have been very sleepy all day. I decided to be a bit strategic during a combined meeting in the third hour.  Jack was in the foyer listening so I stayed out there with him.  That included sitting, standing, walking around a bit, pretty much anything I could do to remain alert and attentive.  It worked out fine and the meeting was enjoyed much more than if I would have gone in and sat in a pew only to nod off in the middle of it.  Ministering was the topic and there were some great messages shared. 

Decided to make hot dogs for dinner tonight.  I thought about what would be easy to do and that seemed like it would work.  I bought some nice dogs, Nathans, or maybe it was Hebrew Nationals.  Anyway, they were the nicest hot dogs on the shelf.  All beef.  They cooked up beautifully and I had fresh sliced onion and tomato ready to top them off with.  I had a bag of sauerkraut but I didn't actually open it. Next time.  The kids all had a couple and dinner was easy.  That is what I need in my life some days, simple.  Especially on Sundays.  Sometimes I decide to get crazy and spend hours in the kitchen.  Not worth it.  Well, not worth it when I am in there by myself doing all the work.  Anyways, the hot dogs were well received and I quite enjoyed them.  If I make this a tradition I am going to go out and find some interesting options for the hot dogs themselves.  This will likely require me to have standard back up dogs for those picky eaters I know.  I don't know, we will see what we can do. 

Very much grateful for my children.  They are good people.  Love them very much. 

Early Morning

Had one of those morning when I woke up early and then could not fall back asleep.  When I say I woke up early it is because the sun had not come up.  In fact there was no light coming in from outside.  It was still the dark morning hours.  I couldn't sleep.  I tried.  I wanted to.  It did not happen.  So I finally got out of bed sometime before 6 AM.  That is not what I like to do on an open Saturday.  Let me just sleep in and then wake up and start the day well rested. Not today!  I was up and aware.  The hope of sleep had faded away.  I got up, came down stairs and went to work.  Just trying to get this class done and I was able to handle it.  I have actually been on the move all day.  It has been productive to say the least.  It has also worn me out so I am doing to go to bed shortly.  I am grateful for all blessings I receive each day even when they start in the early morning. 

Nearly Done

I am very close right now to being done with my pre-clinical experiences.  I need to submit this final task and have it all done with the exception of the last section that is asking me about the application of content area methods.  I don't eve know what that means exactly.  I am too tired to figure out aything.  I just want to go sleep.  I also just want to have this class done and really want to submit the task.. I just am not quite there.  Maybe some rest will do me good as i can hardly keep my eyes awake right now. Just ready to be done.  Also too tired to think right now.  I'm going to bed.  

A Win

Had a fine day. It was busy. I did get to take an hour to go play racquet ball. It was a good. Just Kaden and I tonight. We had two good games.  Went 14 all before I finally lost. In the second game I pulled off the win 15 to 11.  Sometimes I get lucky. 

Gotta Make It

Just submitted the second of three tasks for my preclinical experiences class.  One note to go along with two mire days in the classroom. I don't know how things are going to play out but chances are I am going to be busy at the shop for the next while.  Ashley is having a baby any moment and the heart of the kitchen staff is gone.  It is going to be brutal. Anyway, I have to get this school stuff done.  When it is done I can breathe for a little-known bit until next school year begins.  At that point I willing be student teaching from mid August to mid December.  That is a long time.  Then I willing work in getting a job. Won't that be nice.  Long days are upon me.  Longer days are ahead. 

Fast Baby

We had a meeting at the depot this afternoon and afterwards, as we were parting ways, mom got a call and it was Amy.  She had gone to a doctors appointment and was told she could not leave and they were going to induce.  We made a car swap and I took pops to another meeting. By the time we made it to his houses after the meetings the baby had been born. Crazy fast.

Kitchen Hope

Had the opportunity to visit without Zack and Jib tonight.  Zack is coming in as the new kitchen manager at the Brick. Jib has worked with Zack for the last couple off years and is coming in board to be his right hand man. I think we have a lot of hope now for the kitchen and the success of our business. It is not easy to find good people and i feel fortunate to have these guys coming in. I think it gives us a big step up in the right direction.  Excited for this change. Pops was with me at that meeting and I think he felt the same.

The Autism Conference

The day has been non stop.  I woke up before my alarm and then ended up just getting up ant going. Had the autism conference catering today. It actually went very well as I had most of the stuff packed up last night band ready to go. It was good. 

Had a great crew in this morning and we got the box lunches knocked out Pretty quick. All went well and the feedback received by those in charge of the conference was very good. That is good.  It was a long day and I was headed to bed a couple hours ago when I received a message about needing to be at the Brick to unload cheesecakes. 15 minutes to go and I am looking forward to getting it done so I can go to bed.  Long day.

Ready... Didn't Pass

So it is nearly midnight thirty.  I am ready for bed and I am about as ready as I can be at this point for the autism conference tomorrow.  The coolers are loaded and iced with lots of soda and lots of water.  I have also completely run out of ice at the shop as I have iced down the coolers.  They complained about not having enough ice last year so there will be plenty this year.  Icing everything all night should also help with the beverages being cold.  We will see what it looks like in the morning, I do have to go in and pick up a few more things and might also need to reload some ice. Fun. It will be great to have it done.  Gotta get there early enough to lay claim to the cart so I can get things in quickly.  Always so much fun.  I am looking forward to about 13 hours from now when I should be loaded up and leaving the school for the last time.  I will be coming home and taking a nap.

I got my review back on my task.  Needs some revision.  It is only one spot where I didn't clearly specify what part of differentiated instruction will motivate students.  I will do my best to address that and get it resubmitted. Sometimes these things irritate me.  I have to keep pushing.

Time for bed.  Have to try and get a few hours in before heading on to the next thing.