Super Mario

It is Halloween.  We had a fine time.  For the last several days Jack has stated repeatedly that he was not going trick or treating and that he was not dressing up.  He delivered on his promise to not dress up but after seeing his little brother in Super Mario mode he decided to join in the festivities.   He went house to house with Andy and I and told people he dressed up as himself. He got a few laughs.

Well, Super Mario was ready to go.  I took a couple of minutes to change my shoes and, well, Super Mario does not possess super patience.   When we finally got out there we had a great time.  Natty manned the homefront and passed out candy.  What a wonderful Halloween it was.

Some Things Disgust Me

When you are in the restaurant industry you learn quickly that grease tends to be everywhere.  It is a constant effort to clean it and when you move into a building that belonged to someone else you tend to inherit their grease. Not my idea of a good time.  I spent days degreasing the old bakery before we were able to do anything in that location.  This location, we had some to do for sure and we still have more.  Today I had the unpleasant experience of having our dishwasher begin backing up.  I thought it was a freak accident at first and then it happened again so I had to investigate the drain line.  Talk about grease - the drain is 2" pvc that come off the dishwasher and drains into a floor drain.  It was covered in nastiness so I cleaned it.  I guess I was about to skip over an important part.  The drain line was completely clogged up with what appears to be a dry soap mixture and then a bunch of straws.  That was surprising.  This was stuff that had been there for some time and, as I freed up some of the nastiness, I caught a whiff of it all and thought I was going to lose it.  Well, the exterior of the pipe is once again a bright white and the inside is clear of blockage.  I also cleaned the floor drain which was not in the best shape but it all looks good now.  It is also functioning properly which is always a plus.  Anyway, the grease inheritance, I don't recommend it.  It disgusts me.

Answer the Call

What do you do when the calls comes asking for help?  Do you ignore it or do you act?  I have done both though I always feel better when I act.  We are not always in a position to be able to act.  I think here we can answer like King Benjamin instructs - I give not because I have not but if I had I would give.  There are times when regardless of our desire to serve we simply cannot make it, the Lord understands that.  Sacrifice sometimes requires that we act even when we may not necessarily want to.  It may require that we give up something we want to help the Lord with what he wants.  As mentioned, there are times when I act and there are times when I do not.  I always feel better when I act, when I answer the call. 

I did have such and opportunity tonight when I received a message that a brother in the ward was in need of some help.  His house was affected by yesterdays storm.  The message came that help was needed.  I was in the middle of a catering quote for someone at work and needed to get that done first.  As I completed that task I was able to head over.    

Mighty Winds of Cedar

On Saturday I was on a roof, baking in the sun.  Perhaps it was more of a slow roast.  My point,  the weather was amazing.   Rumors of snow fall in Cedar on Monday seemed impossible.   Yesterday winds began to blow and leaves that were previously determined to outlast this autumn season began to fall.  Enter Monday morning and wind gusts ripping through Cedar at 70 mph took a toll on more than just the leaves. 

When I got to the LBH Dave told me about a blown out window.  He was sweeping up the glass when I pulled in.  One of the windows on our front door was popping out.  It was a bit of challenge today with the wind but we managed.

I did get a call from Sara letting me know our trampoline was trying to fly away.  She then sent me a pic of it and a pic of the neighbors trailer that blew into our yard.  Oh the mighty winds of Cedar.  They could blow you away.

A Prophet of God

This morning during our Sacrament Meeting was the primary program.  It was fantastic.  The theme this year was I am a child of God.  The primary children did a great job.  Jack would not participate, I think it was too much for him to handle.  I invited him to participate a few times over the last couple weeks but he had made up his mind that he was not doing it.  I think some of that has to do with the chaos of preparing for it.  Lots of kids, lots of noise, lots of confusion and that is too much for Jack to handle.  Andy on the other hand was up there singing his little heart out.  He did great on his part and he had fun sitting up in his chair.  Sometimes he would disappear for a bit and then a song would start and then a second or two later up would pop Andy singing right along.  Funny.

One part of the program discussed our living prophet President Thomas S. Monson.  The kids spoke about the recent loss of Sister Monson, they spoke about President Monson's love for the Lord and his love for each of us.  It was the Blodgett's oldest son who shared a lovely message about President Monson and then the kids all sang We Thank Thee oh God for a Prophet.  It was a powerful moment in the program for me as the Spirit bore witness once again that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God.  I am grateful for that knowledge and for the joy that brings.   

Back on the Roof

When I moved to Lakeland Florida in 2005 it was just after 3 of the 4 hurricanes that hit Florida that year went through Lakeland.  It was a disaster area with blue tarps on roofs all over the place.  I had no idea what was going on but I soon learned that we were a roof repair crew there in the Lakeland Ward.  Well, today it was time to gt back on the roof.  The Blodgetts are building a home and they are doing the roof themselves.  It is supposed to snow on Tuesday so we were called in to help get the roof done.  It isn't done but it is underway.  It is fun being up there.  Had good times with Carl Johnson, Ben Jackson and Craig & Dianne. 

Speaking of being back, tonight was soupfest and because I won last year I had to represent this year.  There was some good soup this year.  Though my soup, a Creamy Butternut Squash and Apple, was fantastic there was one that I though was better.  Then the attendees thought I should not qualify as I run the Brick House.  No official announcement.  It really doesn't matter to me.  Just fun to get together with friends - big thanks to Greg and Laurie Mauger for hosting. 

Re-Routine

We love to live on a good routine here at our house.  The recent renovation of the new location of The Brick House Cafe - I guess I should clarify that we are now officially calling it The Brick House Cafe - anyhow, the renovation completely took over life as we were under a major time crunch.  Routine was sidelined and life was anything but routine.  As we have gotten the new location up and running I have reached a point where we can begin getting back to routine.  Oh, we are not there quite yet as far as everything we had in line but we are a little closer today than we were yesterday and that is a good thing.

There is a routine that the kids are on that I need to curb.  They are all about watching videos online and will spend a lot of time doing so.  Sometimes there are some pretty informative things that they watch and I don't mind them learning something valuable.  Lately it seems they are watching more and more minecraft videos.  We've got to change this and we will, somehow...