What the Heck Were They Thinking

Canby hits the big-time!

2009-11-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

I never thought we'd ever see a movie theater in Canby. But it's now open across from thriftway. Cool.

On Being Released From the Bishopric

2009-10-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Today, after five years and two months, I was released from my calling as first counselor to Bishop R. Kelly Porter in our ward who was also released. We served well together, which is not to say the burden was equal because he had the much, much heavier load.

It feels weird at the moment, but I know I will get over it. I do not have a new calling, yet, but that is just fine. During the two hours after sacrament meeting and in the hour after the meeting block, I felt lost with nothing to do. I'd given my binder and keys to the new counselor. I feel a bit naked without them.

For the past five years I've sat to Kelly's right as we (along with four second counselors, three ward clerks and three executive secretaries over the years) have been the ward leadership. Our main goal, among other things, was to not to lose any young men and get them on missions through a strong Young Men/Scouting program. We put a similar emphasis on the young women. While we were not 100% successful, we did very well in our youth programs and had the very best scouting program in the stake for a while. Our youth program is the best in the stake and the youth going through it are top-notch. We do not have any serious problems with our kids, and they are inclusive of each other and get along nearly perfectly. We do not take all the credit, but we put the best people in position we could and supported them and the youth as a bishopric at every activity including Mutual each week.

Bishop Porter was an extraordinary bishop for being just a common guy. He put his heart and soul in to his calling and honestly did the best he could. He tried mightily to energize our missionary program and reactivate many but we had minimal success. Still, we did what we could to spread the Gospel in this part of the vineyard. Bishop Porter was kind, patient and long-suffering. I never once saw him get upset at anything or anyone. Only a couple times could I detect he was frustrated. He spent countless hours reaching out to the struggling and the poor, especially. He was temple-focused and our ward is well-known at the temple. We strived to always meet our stake assignments in whatever form they took. We were obedient. Our ward is known for its kindness and the way we embrace newcomers. We feel good about all of these things.

My service was enjoyable. I had a much better experience this time around than last when I was only 29, had been a member of the Church for only six years and my leadership experience amounted to several years service as YM president. I had no clue what I was doing or what or how to be a bishop's counselor. And it got off on a very rough note when my dad had a heart attack and died as I was being sustained in sacrament meeting. I did not know how to balance work, church, a young family, and outside interests. The result was much of the burden fell to Mom. I have always regretted that. After a little over a year, I was released when our Young Men's program was in trouble trying to raise funds to go to a distant Church scouting jamboree. I was installed as YM president again to fix that, which we did. But I always regretted I was not more successful, at least in my mind, as a bishop's counselor.

This time around I felt more comfortable. I was older, wiser, more mature, more experienced, the kids were gone, and I was, thus, more relaxed. Staffing organizations and calling people to serve scared me the first time around. This time I merely asked if they would do what we wanted them to do. Nearly everyone accepted and those that couldn't or didn't, I did not pressure but had compansion for. That approach made all the difference for me. Kelly taught me that we are engaged in a marathon, not a sprint. The longer view made setbacks more easy to deal with. The fact I had engaged in marathon racewalking as hobby also made me realize this.

I take a bit of proper pride in being responsible for the organization of each sacrament meeting for the past four years. it was a duty that was never-ending and relentless in that each week it was expected to have a well-organized, thoughtful program of speakers that conveyed an interesting and tmely Gospel message that uplifted, rather than chastized. I feel I did this as well as i could and we received comments often that our sacrment meetings were very reverent and spiritfilled.

I asked Kelly today why he wanted me to serve as his first counselor as we did not know each other particularly well before. We had served together overseeing the Teacher's quorum and I was his home teacher. He said he was impressed with my love for the youth, my ability to teach principles well, my common-sense approach to things, that I balanced his weaknesses (I question this), and I had been recommended by Bishop Burnett who preceded him as I had serve well as his ward clerk for many years. He then prayed about it and felt that he should request I serve with him. I felt both honored and humble at these comments. We had never talked about this before.

The past five years has gone quickly. Both Kelly and I feel that it is time for a change. Our ward struggled for the past 18 months since the transfer of a quarter of our membership to Oregon City wards. We have finally stabilized the organizations and the feelings of loss are finally in the past for most everyone. It has not been easy. We were running like a well-oiled machine when the transfer occurred and we felt like it was a train wreck when it occurred. It tested our faith to a certain extent. But we persevered. It is now time for a new bishop and counselors to carry on as is the norm in the Church.

This time now is especially necessary for me to support Momand help in caring for my mother in her time of failing health. Once again the burden of my absence has fallen on her, and it is time for me to do what I can in this difficult situation of my mom's decline. But I am a true believer of the scripture of Ecclessiastes 3 that there is a time for everything in its due time. It is now time for me to devote time to family. The Church will continue on just fine without me in a ward leadership role. I am not vain in needing to be in charge. I tried to serve well in leadership roles for most of the over 30 years we have lived in the ward. I do not mind taking a bit of break to do other important work.

Check out the new do!

2009-10-08T18:12:00.001-07:00

A Much Needed Getaway

2009-09-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

For Christmas the kids got us gift certificates for Skamania Lodge (thank you!), an upscale resort in the Columbia Gorge. After nearly nine months, we finally got a chance to use them. Mom has been burned-out from taking care of Grandma Hazel. She desperately needed a break. After what seemed like months, we finally settled on a weekend where we could both get away.

It was a wonderful trip! It's been ages since just the two of us were able to both be gone from work, church, grandma, other obilgations, etc. at the same time. We first drove to Hood River and took a four-hour train excursion on the Mt. Hood Railway up the Hood River valley to Parkdale, about two-thirds of the way to Mt. Hood. This is something we've both wanted to do. The train follows the Hood River through the many orchards that are heavy with fruit this time of year (mostly pears and apples). Our traincar was half full of Japanese tourists which was quite amusing to listen to and watch. In Parkdale, a town a lot like a Aurora, we had lunch of local fruit and Tillamook ice cream cones, and visited a museum. The sway of the traincar was very relaxing and most of the passengers were subdued or asleep on the 90 minute ride back down.

When we got back to Hood River, we drove out into the countryside to some lavender and fruit farms and got local produce. We returned and walked around the vibrant downtown area looking for a place to have an early dinner. Unfortunately, all the restaurants we were interested in didn't open until later. So we finally found a place that served crepes, which sounded good. When we went to order, they said the kitchen closed for dinner and crepes were only available for luunch. Rats! Who's ever heard of a restaurant with a smaller dinner menu? Tired of walking and as this was a pub, we settled for fish and chips and a salmon burger while others around us in the outdoor eating area guzzled great quantities of beer.

We then drove down the gorge to Skamania Lodge. Crossing the Columbia River at the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks, we had to wait for what seemed like an hour while the lady in front of us searched her purse, her vehicle, under the seats, etc. to find enouhg change for the $1.00 toll. Cars behind us started honking. Finally she poured a handful of change into the hand of the tolltaker. When I handed him a $1 bill, he smiled big and said with relief, "Thanks!" with much emphasis.

The lodge is nestled inthe trees above the Columbia. It is a beautiful lodge and the room was spacious. After a stroll around the grounds and out on the golf course, we spent most of the time just sitting outside on a very warm night watching the view and the people until after dark. One lady gushed and cooed over a chihuahua puppy someone had for what seemed like forever. Enough already! Later, we saw and heard the same lady using the same words and tone to gush and coo over a baby for about the same amount of time. No difference!

The next morning we had the full blown brunch, which is more food than anyone could eat. It is a spendy meal, but to die for, which we practically did after gorging ourselve on the dessert buffet after gorging on the breakfast buffet. I could have eaten a hundred huckleberry creme brulees.

Fully sated, we headed up the gorge on the Washington side of the Columbia, something I had never done. The two-lane road is certainly different than the freeway on the Oregon side. there are some interesting viewpoints to see the majesty of the Columbia gorge.

We went to the Maryhill museum, which is full of art. I had always wanted to go there as it is literally out in the middle of nowhere. Mom had been there in grade school. It was facinating, and had a wonderful traveling exhibit of Ansel Adams photography. It is quite a place and well worth the modest $7 admission.

Just down the road is a replica of Stonehenge, built by the same man who built the Maryhill mansion. He is buried at this site just off from the monument. Interesting place. Again, not near anything else, just there, overlooking the mighty Columbia.

We crossed over the river and headed home making a stop at the familiar Bonneville dam. We spent a great deal of time at the fish hatchery watching the seventy-year-old, 600 pound sturgeon in the pond and salmon packed into the returning gates ready to spawn.

All and all it was a relaxing trip to a part of Oregon and Washington neither of us had spent a lot of time in. Unfortunately we are back to the daily grind and now it is a distant memory. We need another, soon. Thanks, kids, for facilitating for a wonderful weekend!

Scout Camp 2009

2009-08-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

As M used to say, according to my hypothesis and calculations, or in my case after looking back at my day planners, this was my eighth year attending scount camp for the full week over the years. This year we were at beautiful Camp Baldwin on the east side of Mt. Hood. I hadn't been to Baldwin for many years and all I could remember was the dust. It's still there, big poofs of it every step you take...except all of it that came back with me.

This year I had just 5 boys, younger ones as the older guys in our troop are going to a high adventure camp in Washington. I went because our scoutmaster's wife just had a baby and the other scout leasders that could go are going on the high adventure. Included in our group was a non-member and two kids with disabilites. We went with Troop 400 from Canby 2nd Ward who had 5 young guys go, including only two from their ward, two from Utah who were the nephews of their scoutmaster and one non-member from another troop who missed his summer camp. All the kids meshed instantly in the parking lot before leaving. They were a great group. Steve Langford, the scoutmaster for 400 is great. No problems at all...except about a million yellow jackets. I avoided getting stung but four of our group were not so lucky.

I spent most of the week sheparding our two autistic kids - making sure they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there and doing what they needed to be doing. My plan was to make sure they were buddied up and attended the same merit badge classes and activities at the same time, but that was short-lived when they scheduled all different things except one merit badge. So each day I'd start out with both, drop one at the nature center, take the other to snorkeling, then back to the nature center to check on that one, then back to the lake to pick up the snorkeler and get him to woodcarving, the back to the nature center to make sure he didn't wander off between classes, then back to woodcarving to make sure he got to the rifle range, at which time I'd take a bit of a break, then gather them all up and go back to camp for lunch, then start over again for the afternoon sessions. By the end of the day I was pooped.

But it was all worth it as they both earned three merit badges and some partials that can easily be completed back here at home. One also earned his BSA Snorkeling card and made the dime club in riflery (five shots inside of the area of a dime.) They were thrilled and so were there parents when they got home.

Once again, I couldn't be prouder of our kids. They were fun, obedient, helpful, etc. Just no problems. I spent five days helping one of our guys at horsemanship, a very difficult merit badge that he could complete but he did the hard thngs and had a great experience that he has not stopped talking about. I learned a lot about horses, myself (ask me to name 15 parts of a horse, 7 parts of a saddle and 3 parts of a bridle and five breeds, etc.)

The weather was great on day one but got progressively colder and windier as the week went on as it was downright cold the last night. Still, we didn't get rained on so it was alright.

One kid from Troop 400 went fishing for the first time and caught a 12 inch rainbow trout, which we cleaned, cooked and ate. the nice thing about Camp Baldwin is you cook your food in camp and have to clean up afterward so it keeps the kids busy from 7 in the morning until 10 at night. Very little free time to get into trouble and they are ready to sleep when night comes.

Despite having a good sleeping pad, it's not as easy as it once was to sleep on a hard surface (platform tents) for a week, but it was worth. Nevertheless, it was a great week and well worth it be with great kids having funs and being able to teach them about scouting things.

Youth Conference

2009-08-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

This year we were asked to put on a ward youth conference rather than the stake doing one. We could do it alone or with another ward. At first our kids wanted to go with another ward at the coast, but when that fell through, they wanted to do it with another ward in the stake. When that fell through, we had to come up with something on our own. In a Bishop's Youth Committee, someone suggested we do a COPE course (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience). We looked into it and found one in Salem near the Enchanted Forest that is sponsored by a world-wide youth ministry. We contacted them and found the price to be more than we could afford. But we asked if we could send a group of volunteers down to do service work in exchange for time on the course. Surprisingly, they agreed and earlier in the year we sent 40 people down who worked 4 to 8 hours on projects they had. They were so impressed with the work they gave us a half-day free per person on the course for use for our youth conference.

This past weekend we had just about the perfect ward conference. It is probably the most successful event I've been involved in in over 30 years working with youth groups. Our BYC planned it and the kids organized all aspects of it. It was super fun, super hard, super exhausting, a super experience and super spiritual.

Let me first say that the kids that we have in the young men and young women groups are the finest collective kids we've ever had in the ward. For sure there have been some great kids go through our program (mine included) but there have been a number of stinkers from time to time in most groups. Not this one. All of our kids get along, support each other, are polite, helpful, courteous, obedient, reverent, etc (Boy Scout law traits) and have no cliques. They rally around each other and are great to be around, easy to teach, and teachable.

Thus, everyone was on time and 25 youth and 6 adult leaders left Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. for Salem. Arriving at 9:00 at the course, the broke us into three teams of teams (ours was the Funky Maroon Bats (G0 Bats!). Each team had a staff facilitator. Ours was Luba from the Ukraine, a great young lady! We did team building exercises for about an hour first.

Team-building marble roll relay

Then we hit the low course which are challenges just off the ground. These required teamwork, physical exertion, balance (my downfall), faith in your teammates, cooperation and mental challenges to figure out the best way to accomplish the task (often without talking or blindfolded, etc.). The leader for each challenge was a different young person each time (adults were to follow, not lead).

Low course

At 12:30 we had a short half-hour lunch and then hit the high course. High meant relatively hight. At least 20 feet up and often 35 to 40 feet up. Safety was first rate. We all had climbing harnesses, were locked in to safety lines above us and were belayed by teammates when climbing. I'm not fond of heights but after the first high course I had complete confidence in the equipment, training and my teammates and the facilitator. We did the high obstacle course first which really helped our team as we were fresh. The team that did it last at the end of the day struggled more because they were pooped. Our one special needs kid struggled on the papmer pole (40-foot high telephone-type pole with a 9-inch disk on top that you had to climb, then stand on, then leap off!). He stop at every step saying he couldn't go on but his team encourage him all the way to the top and then he managed to stand up and leap off. they all cheered mightliy for him! So many gospel principles in just this one action!

High obstacle course

Balancing - about 35 feet up!

After a debriefing, we left at 5:30 after a full 8 hours on the course. The kids were beat but thrilled. We went to a family's house who used to live in our ward but now live on a hill overlooking the Enchanted Forest at the same exit on the freeway. they have a tremendousn view of the valley and Cascade mountains. Up there we had a bar-b-que dinner. After dinner, Sis. Charlotte Laughlin (oldest daughter of former stake president Jim Bean) came a put a fabulous fireside. She is a returned missionary, sealed in the temple, has 8 kids, is a super multi-talented musician and just happens to be a triathlete in her spare time (she's done the Hawaiian Ironman). She spent half a day on the high course with the kids so she got to know them and understood what they had experience. She tailored her talk to that experience. She spoke on the three most important things she thinks kids in the church need: good friends who lift you up, not pull you down, daily scripture study, recognizing the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and having a personal relationship with the Savior. (Yes, that's four but she through in the good friends for good measure.) Her examples and stories were memorable, especially when she tied them all together when she had to deal with the knowledge before the birth of her last child that it wouldn't live much beyond birth (5 weeks in fact). It was a powerful fireside that had the kids riveted.

We then brought the kids back to Canby where the girls spent the night at the Iranagas and the boys at the bishops' place. We then convened at the church early for an outdoor breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausages, and juice. we had the classic moment when everyone was seated on the lawn next to the church when - the sprinklers all came on! It was a mad dash of screaming kids trying to avoid being drenched! Classic!. We salvaged breakfast (it didn't get wet) and then had a couple hours of workshops on the theme of the conference - being one of the believers. Sis. Mikkelsen taught about purity and the atonement; Br. Crum taught about charity; Sis Gordon the former stake YW pres. taught about faith; and stake Pres. Counselor Parker taught about bridling our tongue.

Last was an hour testimony meeting that was very spiritual. Not the typical girls camp or stake youth conference testimony meeting where the kids talk about the friends and apologize for how they behaved or for offending someone, but real testimonies of what they had experienced and knew to be true based on the weekend. It was spiritually touching.

Our kids are amazing and, as the bishop said, the Church will be in good hands with our kids as leaders. I do not doubt that. It couldn't have been a better youth conference. My face is sore from smiling for two straight days (as well as a few other muscles not used much - I was the oldest guy there and kept up pretty well if I say so myself!).

How was your 4th?

2009-07-05T17:34:00.001-07:00

Mine was great! Morning golf , preparing food, time with the family and grandkids, General Canby Day parade, fun at the park, BBQ at Michelle & Greg's, music from their neighbors, fun in the street, and neighborhood fireworks. A great day to celebrate our independence to say the least!

Apostrophists and other grammarians

2009-06-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here's an article from today's Oregonian that sums up my feelings about correct punctuation.

http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2009/06/essay_apostrophism_a_note.html

vegie garden

2009-06-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is our rocking garden all done in pots at the end of the driveway. No weeding, a few bugs but not as many as you would normally get. We did beans, tomatoes, and plenty of lettuce and spinach. We also have some herbs such as chives, Basil, and Cilantro, Squash. We thought this would be a good idea to plant in pots this year. Hopefully we get a good crop of beans. Looking forward to that. If this works we will do this every year.

How's your fruit?

2009-05-31T17:39:00.001-07:00

After reading recent blogs and comments by our kids, Mom asked me why our kids are so funny in their comments and we aren't? Then she started cracking up remembering a time when J was little and told her he needed some new underwear because his had holes in them. Mom asked him, " Is your fruit hanging out of your loom?" Obvioulsy, Mom can be hilarious!

Game Over

2009-03-07T10:21:00.002-08:00

For many years I have been formulating my view of where American society is headed in the next fifty or so years.

In a nutshell, I see a substantial decline in the American standard of living. This is based on the observation that: 1) we cannot keep up our pace of material acquisitions when it is funded by debt; 2) it is a global economy now and the US is no longer the dominant economy in the world to the exclusion of others; 3) our legacy costs (wage and benefit levels, cost structure) in relationship to the rest of the world make us uncompetitive (see GM as a micro-example); 4) the resources of the world are finite and dwindling while population is continually expanding, which will lead to shortages of critical materials and exorbitant costs as demand vastly exceeds supply; and 5) humanity is inherently selfish and cannot work cooperatively on a large scale to resolve these issues and live peacefully on a shared and equal basis. This may seem pessimistic, but it is in line with the biblical view of the last days.

I see an unavoidable simplification of life that will be enforced upon us absent the US enforcing (militarily) its demands on the rest of the world. Families will need to go back to multigenerational households. Widespread unemployment, high taxation, and high-cost basic necessities will cause this. Unemployment will occur (even as I type this) as we buy less of the meaningless stuff we've been buying (for heaven sake, we have four TVs in our house!), are forced to eat out less, etc. as our discretionary income shrinks.

I could go on but don't see the need to since I found a book that generally lays out my vision of the future far better than I can. The book is Game Over: How You prosper in a Shattered Economy by Stephen Leeb, PhD. It is a simple read as it is written more in summary form without a lot of supporting material, but what is there is compelling. It is written, admittedly, in an alarming fashion because the author believes, as do I, that an alarm needs to be rung. If not, game over for our society. It is not a perfect book - he dismisses conservation efforts too easily and doesn't give enough consideration to the military actions that will occur when the shortages occur and civilization rebels/panics. But it fairly captures my concerns. I'm not sure his recommedations on how to prosper are practical for most people.

Another economic book I recommend every one read is the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. We read it in college (community college, not the four-year institution where I received by business degree). Most people don't realize it is, at its core, an economic document. The gist is that societies over time will slowly polarize into a few who control the majority of money, resources and power and the many who do not. The few will exploit and oppress the many to the benefit of the few until such time as the many can't take it any more and rise up and physically overthrow the few and disburse the spoils to the many, at which time the cycle begins to repeat itself. Does this story/cycle sound familiar BOM readers? Does this sound like the direction of American society?

In the US, I see the role of government being to manage this revision in the standard of living to avoid outright revolt and chaos that will result when large-scale urban unemployment occurs. People will not be able to feed themselves and we do not any longer have the ability to sustain ourselves on our own. This will lead to massive tax increases on those who have the means. The dole will be the reality. The illegal drug business will thrive as a means for people to be employed (see Mexico, Columbia, etc. as examples). It can happen here.

We have leaders who have forewarned and are forewarning us of these events. My best advice is to be knowledgeable of long-term trends that will proceed beyond my lifetime. Situate yourselves to deal with them. Have skills that are useful by others. Stay out of debt. Live frugally and within your means. Be able to sustain yourself when others won't be able to. Maintain relationships with fmaily and friends that you can ally yourself with in times of need. If not, game over.

I reiterate that this will not occur overnight but over an extended period of time, although that time period may be accelerating. The recent collapse of our banking system and the forcing of the government to prop it up via unprecedent national borrowings means we have mortgaged our future. Eastern Europe is on the verge of economic ruin which will take down the Western European banks which have financed Eastern's growth since the end of the cold war in the 1980's. China and India have emerged from being underdeveloped nations on the back of their primary resource - 2 billion low-wage citizens who have provided the labor for the rest of the developed world's stuff. Those people have tasted the better life that economic properity brings and will be reluctant to go back. Already unemployment is rising rapidly in China as the US stops buying TVs, DVDs, etc. In the past year, there have been over 20,000 protest in China over the loss of jobs. That would have been unheard of under previous totalitarian regimes. if these people become violent in their protest, look for China to quickly revert to military control of its masses, the only way a government can survive when it is trying to manage a billion poor people.

Lastly, take heart in the eternal nature of things and our bond to each other.

Comments?

Memorial to Bubba

2009-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Bubba, our 20 plus-pound big black cat died today. We are heartbroken. He was the best cat...more like a dog than a cat. He was loyal and very loving. He'd purr at anything. he loved his head rubbed. He loved sharing breakfast with me. He loved laying on Debi and getting loved.

Bubba joined our family in 1996 as best we can remember. He came to us when Myndi picked him out from a litter our friends the Crums' cat had. Bubba was the runt of the litter and the one no one wanted. When he came home he fit in the palm of our hands. He quickly grew to be a BIG cat and being inky black, the name Bubba just seemed to fit.

We had one other cat, a female named Sox, because of pure white sox on her paws. Sox was from a feral mother and was not terribly friendly but stunningly beautiful, a gray and white fluffy long-hair. Bubba always wanted to play and be friends with her, but she wouldn't have it. She tolerated him til she died in 2005.

He was a good hunter when he was young, bring an occasional bird or mouse or even a leaf and putting it on the porch. He often went into the garage of our neighbors through their dog door.

Myndi went away to college a few years after getting Bubba and he became our cat. When he was fairly young he was didn't come in one evening. We searched and called for him for hours but to not avail. We even took out turkey and tuna, his favorites but he didn't come for those like he always did. Leter we opened the front for to find him on the porch with a broken back. He'd been hit by a car and drug himself home by his front feet. We rushed him to an all-night pet hospital and they said he would either get better and live or die but there really wasn't anything they could do for him. We took him home and Debi nursed him back to health. He always had a sway in his back and trouble walking after that couldn't run very well. his weight went up from there.

Vets would always tell us we were overfeeding our cat. In fact, we were very careful feeding him ( I never gave him much from the table) because we knew he wasn't very active. he became a pampered house cat, which wasn't what he wanted. He loved to be outdoors for most years up until he was older. He had his spots to lay and watch the world go by. He espcially like being out at night like all nocturnal animals. It was often hard to get him to come in but turkey or tune almost always lured him in. From the time he was hit by the car he never went near the street again; his territory was the front, back and side yards. He loved laying in the flowers of Debi's garden.

In the evenings he'd come jump on our bed for a nightly love session. I have always been allergic to cats so his laying on my face wasn't pleasant. I'd slowly crowd him over to Debi's side of the bed where he'd ultimately climb up on her and purr like crazy. Twenty-plus pounds on your chest makes it not easy to breath.

Our grandson Noah came to like Bubba, the first animal he was around much. When ever he'd come over he'd ask, "Where's Bubba," when he came in the door. Other people would always remark that they'd never seen such a big black cat when first meeting him. In fact, his front paws were huge.

In his later years he'd just loll around the house in various places. Recently he developed what we thought was a bladder infection according to a vet. His treatment cleared it up but it soon was back. It turned out he had bladder cancer. We could tell over the past few months he was failing. but he was always loving and nver seemd in pain. Yesterday was particulary bad for him. Debi took him to a different vet who found he had a toumor in his bladder and his kidneys were failing. We brought him for one last night. This morning we had to take him back to be put down. He is buried in one of his favorite garden places out in Debi's garden near the butterfly tree in the back.

One charateristic of Bubba was the way he wagged his tail when you called his name. He was more dog than cat in his demeanor. Debi is crushed; Bubba was mom's best friend. I'll miss him a lot, too. He was a good ol' cat, like his name indicated, big, black and loveable.

musing of a menopausal momma

2008-04-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

I think that this should be the title of our blog, but my better half did not agree. Seems as I continue to experience so much joy during this faze of my life, I thought I would share some of this joy with you. I have always loved and appreciated the blessing of taking a shower, standing in the warm water feels so great. I would prefer one shower a day but the last few years the showers come all day long, coming unexpected, the best ones are reserved for nighttime. Some call them hot flashes or hot flushing. I call them a pain in the butt. I have tried a variety of things to relieve them, but to no avail. I am sure these lovely sweating events have something to teach me, and I suspect as soon as I figure it out they will go away. Oh, if I could only figure it out. Then there is the lovely gray hair that coloring does not cover as well anymore. Must be too much gray to cover. The sagging eyelids and the wrinkles, where the heck did they come from. They were not there yesterday or were they? Oh well enough on this sad tale.

As some in this fam likes to talk about what irritates them I thought I would jump on the band wagon.
1. People with a total lack of social skills. Is this a lost art?
People talking on their cell phones when you are trying to help them with something. Oh, I guess my time is not worth anything.
People coming in to apply for a job talking on the cell phone, wearing jeans and hoodies with the hood up, and talking in a mumble that is barely understood. Am I deaf or are they talking a new language?
Oh lets not forget that they always need a pen and lots of help with the application questions.
My fav is the young men that come in with their pants around there knees, with their lovely underwear showing. What makes them think I want to see their undies. Someone poke my eyes out.
2. Standing in a long line at any given store and finally, finally getting almost to the checker and the clown in front of you decides oh, I forgot something and takes off to find it. 10 minutes later they come back with another 12 items. What part of them thinks this is socially exceptable.
3. Back to job app. Person...Yo do you have any jobs? Is this a question or is this a figment of my imagination? How do you spell JOB?
4. Folks driving, talking on the cell phone, drinking coffee, putting on eyeliner and reading the paper all at the same time.
5. Folks camping out at Walmart.
6. Folks yelling at Walmart.
7. Folks that take up two parking spots or better yet they just park in the driving lane.
8. Women who wear high heels, designer clothes and really puffy hair and 16 pieces jewlery to Walmart in Utah.
9. Folks who tell the checker at the check-out stand that there is no more milk in the cold case. The cold case being at the back of the store as far from the checker as possible and why the hell would she care or what the hell can she do about it? Or maybe in her free time she can go and fill it.
Alright this is enough on the irritations of a lack of social skills. Must be a menopausal moment.
10. I hate it when people blame irritations on menopause. HA HA

One of my favorite things these days if the Music I-Pod. I can listen to it for hours. I have to take it off when I go to work. This is the hardest part of going to work. Speaking of work, it is so nice to work in a nice place with good employee's and really great and special residents who's lives inspire me daily.

The last thing I would like to talk about is the Joy of being a grandma. Having three little grandson's is just the greatest thing I can ever imagine. Having the gospel in our lives and seeing these young little boys either being sealed or being born under the covenant is my greatest dream come true. There is nothing I could possiblely want more than this. The worldly things seem so nice and important at times it is easy to get distraced by things that ultimatly have no worth. Thank heavens for the gospel and a prophet to lead and guide us along and to help clear our vision. Thank heavens we know that weak things can become strong when we humble ourselves and have faith. Thank heavens we know that we can feast upon the words of Christ for hehold the words of Christ will tell us all things what we should do. These things are a great comfort to me as I often do not know what to do or what direction to go at times, but I am trying harder to learn to wait upon the lord and to realize that when it seems my prayers are not answered that the lord speaks peace to my mind concerning matters and then I realize that this is the answer.

Thought for the day...D&C 84:88
Ask him to go before my face, to be on my right hand, to be on my left hand, and his spirit in my heart and his angels round about me to bear me up.

MMM

Word of the day

2008-04-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Tortfeasor: In law, one who commits a tort, a civil (as opposed to criminal) wrong.

I've acknowledged my new addiction in reading appellate (sorry, Greg, I misspelled it previously) court opinions. Nothing is as bizarre as the reality of life and the twisted (at times) legal logic of appellate judges. As I've said, it's like Cops, Judge Judy, Dr. Phil et al rolled into one. And the sweet extra benefit in reading these is the new vocabulary words I'm learning.

Which brings me to tortfeasor. I do believe it is the ugliest word I've ever encountered, not counting vulgar words. It sounds ugly; it doesn't roll off the tongue easily. It seems to imply nastiness. I'm sure if you went into a bar and called someone a "son of a tortfeasor" you would surely be punched out. You probably wouldn't even need to go into a bar.

I challenge you to come up with an uglier word.

Network morning news interviews really annoy me

2008-03-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

I have to vent about the network morning news show interviews. They last all of two or three minutes and the hosts are so focused on asking the questions that they interrupt constantly, try to be combative in many cases, and then end at the time limit by cutting off the interviewee. It's rude, annoying and the worst example of scripted "programming."

Today it dawned on me...

2008-03-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

I had an epiphany today while browsing books at Borders.

All through grade school I was in the top five of the best math students in my class. Never number one; that was Paul Wallulis, the smartest kid in our school. He now teaches math at Central Catholic HS. I loved math and always thought I was pretty good at it. In high school I understood algebra, loved geometry, managed trig, but ran into an absolute brick wall in advanced math/calculus. The only thing I understood was the analogy of the the frog that hops halfway to the end of the table with each jump. I got it that he would never reach the end but would get infinitely close that you could say he was there. When I took chemistry, the math kicked my butt, even though I loved science. So I came to the realization I wasn't so smart in math. In fact, it drove me to seek after an arts degree. At CCC, I took all literature, writing and social science classes to the extent I could. (The best I remember of college algebra was Mrs. Kondo, who was less than five feet tall, not being able to figure out someone hid the chalk on top of the chalkboard each class and she would have to leave for five minutes to go get more.) Thus, I feel I write good...I mean well.

When I transferred to BYU, the only degree they offered for business was a B.S. Thus I had to go back and take science classes to meet the graduation requirements. Fortunately, they understood there were people like me, and the bone-head classes they offered dealt with theory as opposed to mathematical proofs, and I got through physics understanding the concepts of the laws without having to prove the theory of relativity or quantum mechanics. My friends in the honors program or pre-med took real physics, and I said a prayer of thanks everytime I saw them with a book four inches thick, slaving over proofs and story problems each night. The closest I got to real math at BYU was the business statistics class and, once again, my butt got kicked. And I really like statistics and understand averages (mean, median and mode), standard deviation, bell curves, etc. But the advanced stuff stymied me. My day-to-day math knowledge and skills have served me well in banking. I can handle the math of money and do it well.

So today in Borders I found myself in the reference section and noticed a number of AP books for people wanting to bone up on those kinds of classes. I picked up the AP Calculus book and opened to the middle and started looking at the equations. To my utter suprise and after nearly forty years, I understood them. I read more and grasped what the equation was trying to calculate. I remembered integrals, summation, notation and other concepts. I thought to myself, "I understand this. I could do this. I can do this!"

And there was my epiphany. I picked up some other advanced course books and realized I understand more than I thought I do. In fact, as I picked up a philosophy book, I remembered the story of Socrates sending his student Plato to find the wisest man in Greece. After a long search and speaking with the top scholars in the land who each declared themselves to be the smartest person, Plato returned to his mentor and report that he, Plato, was the wisest man in Greece because he realized he did not know everything and grasped Aristotle's admonition to him to alway seek learning.

As I started to leave Borders, I wondered, "Why couldn't I have been this smart forty years ago? I would be so much smarter, wiser and useful today if I understood then what I grasp now." I looked over the store and wished I could read all the books in there. There is so much to learn...and a lot less time to learn it...

Mother...Wife...Children...Grandchildren...Life...

2008-03-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

As I watch my mother fade with age, I realize how fortunate I was to have a mom like her. She was always there for my brother and me, supporting us (she never missed one of our ballgames, even when we didn't play), playing games with us (rummy, yahtze, parchessi, etc.) putting up with me and my brother's antics (like shooting baskets in the kitchen over her into a bucket while she cooked dinner), chauferring us everywhere (getting a ticket for running a stop sign while taking me to a formal dance) and teaching us so many things (cooking, cleaning, sewing, and especially how to clam dig). She is not the same person today but I have comfort in my memories.

Maybe there is truth that boys look for a girl to marry like their mother, That appears to be the case with me. My wife is the kindest, hardest working, least selfserving person...just like mom. She is so much like my mom in all the good ways and has done all of the above for our children (well maybe not the clam digging, but many other things). Our children have been just as fortunate to have her for a mother. She has always been there for them with great sacrifice of herself. And now she gets to influence our grandchildren.
And our children are turing out to be better parents that we are. I am so impressed with their personal accomplishments and the good people that they are. If I have one great hope, it is that my children will be better than me.

And grandchildren are more fun than I ever imagined. I did not grow up associating much with my grandparents and I think I missed something.
Today I realized that in one week I will be eligible for early retirement if I wanted to (I don't and can't). I never thought I'd be so old. There are not many thing I would have done differently if could (mostly I would have gone with my best friend on that cross-county trip after high school), but mostly I wouldn't have jeopardized the events that led to having the wife and children that I do. They are my joy.

I was thinking of the things I' like to do that I haven't done. There are so many but one thng I've always wanted to do, and we've talked about often, is coach a baseball team with my son. Not a great team, but one where the kids are fun and want to learn the game. And moms could come sit in the stands and support their boys like mine did and like my wife did. That would be a summer to remember.

Welcome

2008-03-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Mom and I have a blog! Just when you thought we couldn't get into the 21st Century, here we are! DSL, blogs, cell phones, iPods, digital music. We still draw the line at cable TV, though. Mom says she won't have much to say but look for her to muse the most. I'm too practical to just wander off on thoughts.