Confession

Okay, so I have to admit something. We think our son is one of the cutest, most handsome kids ever. Yep, we are "those" parents. Here's the confession part. We even looked into modeling.

Now here's some more confession, dad (me) is cheeeeap! Do you realize how much head shots cost? So, I guess he will live out his life a regular kid instead of on the cover of a magazine.

A Baby!

I was looking at my blog and realized that my post of "No Baby Yet" was done the day before he came! It's been really fun and things are going well.

No Baby Yet

I'm just waiting for the phone call. My wife is getting into the stage where you start to think that pregnancy is a permanent condition. Hang in there! That boys got to come out sometime!

Hoping for Change

Well, a majority of people seem to think the Democrats have the right plans and policies for our country. Now they have their chance to prove it. We will see how it goes.

I Voted Constitution Party

Take a look at my post on the Bus Blog

http://fourfiftythreeinbound.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-voted-constitution-party.html

Marriage - Vote Yes California

Fast Approaching

My wife and I were talking about the fact that if our new baby came at the same time as our first(two weeks early), we'd be having him on Halloween! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Spooky

Motivation

A while back I got motivated to lose some weight. I worked hard. As a part of it, I got myself into a crazy race and that helped a lot. I did good. But today, I remembered why I originally got motivated and I realized I haven't met that goal. I want to dunk, and I'm not talkin' Oreos in milk.

So, I need to get back on track. Lose some more weight and focus on some exercises to increase vertical leap.

Do you think I can do it?

Logic

Yesterday my 4 year-old son was eating some Marshmallow Mateys. He pointed to the little cereal things that aren't marshmallows and said, "Are those the Mateys?"

My wife and I had a good laugh, hope you did too.

Making Bets with God

This post will be rather random with a number of topics included.

My son, when he prays, instead of saying "Please bless that we can have a good day" will say, "I bet we can have a good day" I don't know where he gets it from.

He calls me Jad instead of Dad sometimes because his best friend's name starts with J (we're not even sure when he swapped Dad for Daddy, we just noticed) , it is better than just being called by his best friend's name or being called Mom, so we are making progress.

Smarsh Mellow Mateys - this one has a long history, he used to call marshmallows "smells" then it evolved to smarshmellows, and lately he's found the joy of cold cereal. (My wife used to cook a hot breakfast every day, eggs, pancakes, french toast, sausage, isn't she amazing?)

My son is really into Transformers, and I've been making variations of the theme song, I was mostly doing it to tease him, but it didn't phase him at all, he goes with it, Transformers!, Robots with Big Eyes! except he says, Transformers, with Big Eyes!

Here are the Transformers we built with Legos. He's really into legos lately too, everything is a Transformer.



I fixed up the back yard. I dug up some dead grass, refilled the water barrel and put it on pavers, put some pavers down for the Grill and planted the tomatoes.



I still need to put up a hanger for the hose.

No means yes - My son uses no and yes interchangeably. This is confusing to say the least. My wife asked him the other day and he actually said, "Mom! No means Yes."

I always wondered if it was just that he hadn't really thought through his answer to a question before he stared to answer, but apparently he just interchanges them. "Do you want to take a bath?" "Ya, buuuuuut, I don't want to." "You don't want to?" "But I do!" Like I said, it's really confusing.

I helped fix the neighbor's truck. We replaced the starter.



I recently became the Elder's Quorum President in my ward and I'm pretty excited. I have a lot of ideas and hope to do some good.

Ortilla - my son leaves off the beginning of words, it's not that he can't say it right, he has just decided he likes it better that way or something.

Belly hugs - My cat likes to sleep on my wife's lap, I think it's funny because it looks like he's hugging her belly.



Ya, My son's upside down. He's crazy like that.

choke = cough - "Heavenly Father, I bet our chokes can get better" (My wife and son were both sick last weekend, my little sicky poos)

"My tummy says" My son tells us that his tummy says he's full, or that his tummy says he can't have one more bite, so that's all fairly normal, but when his tummy says things like he needs to go outside or isn't ready for bed, I get a little suspicious of his tummy's motives. The other day his tummy said he was done at dinner. I said, "I think your tummy just wants to go play." He said, Ya.

The kid is like George Washington in the Cherry Tree story. He's really good about admitting to stuff. "Did you dump all the legos on the floor?" "I did Mom."

Woopsie - okay, so I say woopsie sometimes, but mostly to be funny, but now my son says it. For a while he thought it was the same as "I'm sorry" He came out on our porch and shoved the neighbor girl down (or something I'm not sure if I remember right) We were kind of shocked and said Hey! He said Woopsie! And my wife said, You need to tell her you're sorry. And he said, But Mom, I said woopsie! We had a good laugh and explained that woopsie didn't mean sorry.

Gianty - my son's made up word for huge or gigantic. "It's kind of gianty"

My son has a little tiny imaginary friend from another planet named Chaz, I think he gets the "other planet" idea from a Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon he watched. But the fingers on one hand often represent his little friend, he flies around, he goes places, he says things, he jumps on you jumps on you face and pokes you in the eyes. It's just great fun.

Hope you enjoyed the randomness

What is Happening?

Is air travel safe anymore? I have noticed story after story this month about deadly plane crashes.

Aug 8th Monticello Utah 3 dead
Aug 9th Bear Lake Utah 2 dead
Aug 10th Rock Springs Wyoming 3 dead
Aug 20th Madrid Spain 154 dead
Aug 22nd Moab Utah 10 dead
Aug 22nd Las Vegas Nevada 3 dead
Aug 24th Guatemala City Guatemala 10 dead
Aug 24th Bishkek Kyrgyzstan 68 dead

Thats 253 people, and thats just the ones I know about and August isn't over!

Scary
----------------------------------------------
UPDATE

I have learned that my brother-in-law was closely connected to those lost in the plane crash in Moab.

Cute

Some of my wife's family that live far away have been wanting to see a picture of her with her "cute" belly (she's pregnant if I haven't mentioned that before) so I took this picture while we were at the zoo.

Isn't it cute?


My little monkey


Two Cuties and One Big Tire
(Bingham Canyon Copper Mine)

F-R-E-E that spells Free

Sorry, you've probably got that dumb song in your head after reading my title.

Today was the day of free.

First, my son got his replacement Thomas the Tank Engine train because the original was reported to have lead paint, and... he got an extra train free as a gift from them. It was Toby if you are into that stuff.

Next, a friend of mine told me that you can get a coupon online for a free item at an Associated Foods store. This week is cookies. So we stopped in to get our free cookies and... pick up discount tickets for Hogle Zoo. Okay, the discount isn't really free, but those cookies were baby, and we didn't have to pay for the discount vouchers.

Then, when we were buying our tickets at Hogle Zoo, we found out that we only needed one to get the dollar discount for all three of us. I turned to the lady behind us and said, you need a dollar off? and... of course she needed a dollar off. I gave her our extra vouchers, for free mind you, and she got eight bucks off her entrance fee.

Next, we got to listen to my friends band play, for free (if you don't count that we had to pay to get in the zoo. That's right, he was playing at the zoo.) Associated Foods was doing prizes and drawings and such. We didn't really try to get in on that, but... you guessed it, the prizes were free.

Then, we went to dinner. We hit one of our favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. Now I know what you're thinking, you didn't get anything for free, ya baby we did. I had gone out to the car to grab something (some of the duties of parenting really aren't very good material for blog posts, that is unless you are aiming to gross people out) so anyway. When I got back, everyone was looking through their change. Then my wife asked me if I had either a quarter from 1984 or a California quarter. I had a quarter in my pocket, which is unusual and... it was like Virginia or something, lame! Apparently, whoever had one such quarter could get a free appetizer, or antipasta as we like to say in Olive Garden speak. Well, no one had either of those types of quarters. Is it any surprise? California? Come on! Then all of the sudden, the service manager calls out, "Okay, lets see, the first person to give me a Costco membership card gets the prize." I was only a step away from him, I stepped quickly towards him and poked/tapped him on the shoulder saying "I've got one." But others were rushing towards him as well, he said, "No, no, I've got to have it in my hand, the first to put it in my hand." Now, this is where the male has the definite advantage. The women rushing towards him had to dig in their purse for whatever they keep their cards in, then dig in that. I, however, have a wallet in my pocket. Like lighting my had was in my pocket, into my wallet, grabbing the back card in the top slot (wouldn't it have been disastrous if it was not in it's place?) Second advantage, height. By this time, the rush toward the service manager had caused him to step back and raise his hands somewhat into the air. I slapped the card down into his open palm. I was the first to reach him and tap him on the shoulder, it was only fair that I win. So hold on to your chair... we had a three choice appetizer, an 8.95 value, stuffed mushrooms, fried mozzarella, and baked ravioli, for... let me hear you say it,

FREE!

Bair Gutsman 2008 - Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt

This is a follow-up to a previous post.
On the left I'm at about 270 lbs, on the right I'm down to almost 250 lbs.

I did it! I survived! It took me about 4 hours and 40 minutes. I'm not sure what my official time was, but I'll post it when I see it on their website. If I ever do it again I need a lot more training on the steep uphill climbing and it would be good to weigh another 20 or 30 pounds less. I did well in the beginning, but I slowed to a shuffle for the last hour of uphill and got passed by quite a few people. I was blessed to have people show up who knew where they were going right when I came to the fern forest. Thanks Kevin! Also, I made good time coming down the road when another runner caught up to me and we stared talking and jogging together. Thanks Rich, I did much better than I would have if you hadn't showed up.

If you are thinking about running it, I'd get a good guide and scout the trail before and do lots of hiking to train for it. Running on a level surface or slight incline won't prepare you for what you are going to face.

I really liked the "SportBeans" chew a bean, drink some water, instant gatorade.

At the end I was sure I would never be so stupid as to try it again, but I'm starting to think I may be that stupid.

Feel free to comment, let me know your experience with the Bair Gutsman or questions you have about the race.


CONQUER THYSELF

I'm Okay, You're Okay

Here is a quote I liked from this book I'm reading:

"A friend of mine tells the following story about something that happened when he was a little boy. At the end of a meal his mother announced to the brothers and sisters, who numbered five, that dessert would be the remainder of a batch of her special homemade oatmeal cookies, whereupon she procured the cookie jar and set it on the table. There followed a noisy scramble by the children to get into the jar, with the littlest brother, age four, last, as usual. When he got to the jar, he found only one cookie left, and it had a piece missing, whereupon he grabbed it and tearfully threw it on the floor in a rage of despair, crying, 'My cookie is all broke!'"

"It is the nature of the Child to mistake disappointment for disaster, to destroy the whole cookie because a piece is missing or because it isn't as big, as perfect, or as tasty as someone else's cookie."

Now That's A Deal!

I guess this is an example of how lame I am, but I am really excited. I just went over to the gas station to buy some gum. It was on sale, buy 2 for 2 dollars, regularly 1.39 each. On my way to the cash register I saw a coupon for the same gum, buy one get one free. When they rang it up, I got both packs of gum for a total of 67 cents! Whahoo!

Okay, I know I'm lame, but you better hurry while supplies last.

Four Tens

Utah State Employees will be moving to a four day week in August. It should be interesting. I look forward to Friday's off, but I'm not so sure about the ten hour work day, especially since my commute is an hour and a half each way. I may have to get creative to get my exercise, still ride the bus and still get home before everyone goes to bed.

Crazy Fun

Lagoon! It’s where fun is!

We went to Stake Lagoon Day yesterday. I took my son to Lagoon for the first time last year. We just went in for free without ride passes and got him a pass and let him ride what he could. This time we went all out. I got a pass too, took the day off and he and I arrived at opening time.

My son and I rode

Dracula’s Castle – nothing scares this kid, The Space Scrambler (twice) – a classic and lots of fun for both of us, Tilt-a-whirl – didn’t get as may good spins as I usually can, this ride took a while to get on because some little girl waiting in line got her knee stuck in the fence and they had us all wait while they resolved the problem, Paratroopers (twice) – deceivingly simple, we had great fun on this one, I think it gives more of the sensation of flying than even The Bat, The Sky Scraper – great view, kind of boring, Flying Aces – this has always been one of my favorites, again deceivingly simple, but if you do it right you get quite a ride, Dinosaur Drop & Lady Bug Bop – two fun smaller versions of the Rocket: Re Entry, OdySea (twice) – good if you want to get wet, pretty busy since it’s new, The log flume (twice) – no line, we went twice in a row, as far as I know it’s the only one that my son got enough of a rush out of to have to close his eyes, if you’re not aware, he’s only 3, Rattlesnake Rapids (twice) – very wet and very fun, The Musik Express – again one of the classics, my son loved it, Tidal Wave – this is one I’ve historically avoided because it freaks me out, we tried nearer the middle and I found I can handle that much better, the boy older than mine straight across from us screamed, “I’m going to die!”, The Rock-O-Plane – I’ve generally avoided this one as well and was surprised we could ride it together, my son loved it when I locked us upside down, we did it over and over, some teenage girl commented about my son as we left the ride, “Oh look he’s so cute” which I assume was just her expression of surprise at such a little guy doing that ride, Puff the Little Fire Dragon – after some of the stuff I took him on, this was nothing, I realized how boring the little kid rides are, but he loved big and small alike, Kontiki – little version of the Tidal Wave, it was ok, The Sky Ride – nice calm ride over the park, my son has no fear, he tried to lean out and look around, The Terror Ride – I think I was freaked out by the two scary rides when I was young, my son likes them, they are much less scary as an adult, The Dragon Fly – little swing set, I barely fit in, I told my wife, “I think I strained something putting that seatbelt on,” I think all the parents standing around the ride were laughing at me.

My son rode

Bulgy, The Red Barron, Scamper – I think these little bumper cars lend a little too much control of the ride to such little tikes, my son was stuck spinning around and around until he burst into tears (funny it’s the only ride that made him cry) We kept yelling, “Turn the wheel all the way around” but to no avail, Sky Fighter, The Speedway Jr. – this ride was fun for him, my wife and I got a little tired of the woman ahead of us with the unruly kids, Moonraker.

My wife and son rode

The Carousel – I hear he rode on the frog. I was waiting in line for Wicked.

We all rode

The Wild Kingdom Train – poor animals in cement cages, but my son loves trains, so what can you do?

I rode

Wicked – wild and fun, definitely the one of the best in the park, The Wild Mouse – ho hum, The Bat - yawn, The Rocket: Blast Off – caught me off guard and took my breath away, I never even had a chance to scream.

Weight Loss Methods

I thought I'd list some of the things I'm trying to do in order to lose weight. Either it will give you some ideas or you can offer me some more suggestions.

Eating Breakfast - For a long time I felt like I was getting up too early for breakfast and it was too complicated anyway. I finally found some oatmeal packs that I could make with hot water and in the microwave and it really helped me get into the habit of eating breakfast. Now I just make breakfast using regular oatmeal and skip buying the individual packets. Also, since I heard the explanation on Biggest Loser about your metabolism being slowed by your "fast" through the night not getting going again until you eat some breakfast, I am trying to eat a little something before I leave for the bus in the morning in the hopes that it will start my metabolism going then, rather than wait until I have my breakfast at 8 or 9. I usually just have a quick spoonful of cottage cheese or a handful on nuts.

Walking - I walk to the bus stop in the morning. It's about a mile and takes between 15 and 20 minutes. I usually have this walk home too unless we have something going on and I need to be home sooner.

Taking the Stairs - I try to avoid the elevator at work. That's three flights.

Playing Basketball - I try to play twice a week with some friends from work.

Chewing gum – This is another trick I learned originally from the Biggest Loser. I am a habitual overeater, but I find that a stick of gum after a meal gets my mind off eating more and also serves as dessert. I find that with all the flavors of gum, I’m still a fan of plain old spearmint.

Avoiding Dessert, Sweets and Soda – I just don’t eat or drink them anymore. If I try to have just a little, I end up in a big will power struggle. Instead I drink water and have a stick of gum.

Drinking Water – I’m drinking it not only as a substitute to soda and juices, but I’m drinking more in general. I have heard that sometimes when you think you are hungry; it is really just mild thirst that you mistake for hunger.

Supplements – I am taking Relacore, not because I’m really thinking it will be a solution for me, but because I bought a big bottle at Costco a while back and haven’t used it. I can’t stand letting things go to waste that I spent good money on.

Letting things go to waste – Okay, so not letting things go to waste has been one of my problems too. Whether it’s cookies, candies, all that extra food at family gatherings, my son’s uneaten dinner, or whatever else, I’m learning that I don’t have to eat it and it’s fine if it just gets thrown out.

Eating less and eating healthier – For now, these are kind of still just goals. It’s expensive sometimes and just harder… well, I’ve got a lot of excuses for this one.

Crazy Plans – This serves as motivation. I signed up for the Bair Gutsman. It is a 14 mile race that goes straight up the mountain in Farmington and then down the dirt road. I’ve gotten out jogging a few times and it is good motivation to get out and jog a few more times before August 2nd.

Competition – I’ve challenged some of my family to a weight loss competition. Not much has come of this yet except that I have been posting my results, had it on my mind, had a reason to turn down things I shouldn’t eat, and well, I guess quite a bit has come from it so far.

Any suggestions?

Moving On

A wise person once said, "If you are having a hard time getting rid of something, take a picture and throw it out anyway. Then, in a year, take out the picture and thow it away too."

So, here are some pictures of my T-shirts that I was having a hard time throwing out.

The Animal T-shirt was an awesome find at the DI when I went there with a bunch of friends not long after graduating high school. So it was used when I got it and let's see... how long ago did I graduate? Yikes!

The Official Water Detective T-shirt was a prize I won at work or was given to be for helping out with something, I can't remember really. I always liked it because if people didn't look close they thought I was an off-duty police officer or fireman or something. Ya I'm cool, you know I am.

Run Fat Boy Run or Big Loser

"Before"

I would say biggest loser, but so far no one has really taken my challenge for a biggest loser contest. I challenged my brother, but he says he's too busy. You all better get in on this because I'm only going to be able to do this once. I'm not going to put the weight back on just so we can have another competition later. So for now I'm just trying to be a big loser. I'm doing pretty good huh? (Wait, I haven't told you how I'm doing, so why were you nodding your head? Hey you aren't calling me a ... naw, you wouldn't) I'm on week 4. I first weighed in at 269.6 lbs. At the start of this week, I was at 258.6 lbs. So far so good.

The "Run Fat Boy Run" comes from the title of a movie for which I have seen previews. I don't think I'll ever watch the movie, but some of the preview is funny. What it refers to with me though is that I have entered the Bair Gutsman. Apparently you run straight up the mountain in Farmington and then run down the dirt road that goes up the canyon. I go back and forth from thinking, "I can do that" to "That might kill me" But at the very least, it is a motivator. I have done some jogging which I haven't done since... lets see... ya, I don't think I've ever gone jogging before.

So here's to losing lots of weight and not dying on the mountain.

"Hey, I lost some weight last week, you didn't find it did you?"

Water Ballon Fun

My son got some water ballons today and we had fun playing with them in the parking lot. The first batch I filled were all popped by the time I made it from the back yard to the front. So I kept a closer watch on the second batch. I scared the cat, we played catch, he threw some at me, I tossed some high in the air and tossed some for distance. I thought the pattern it made was cool so I had to take a picture. It would only last for a short time after impact before just becoming an indistinct puddle, so I had to hurry.

I wanted to do something fun and unique with each ballon and I kept asking my son what we should do with the next one. Without fail, his response was, "Throw it on the ground!"

First Father and Son Camp Out

My boy and I went camping over the weekend. We stayed the night in Vernon Utah and in the morning helped out on the ranch. It was a lot of fun.

Sem Vergonha or Shameless

A couple of weekends ago, we had a social even in the park with a number of members from our church. The most exciting part of the evening had to be the brownie bites we bought at Costco, but a close second was my son dropping his pants and peeing in the grass in front of everyone. My wife and I were too far away to do much about it.

"That's not my son, no, I think my son is over at the playground."

"Rapaz! Sem Vergonha!"

UGIC Conference

I'm on my way to a conference this week. I love southern Utah.

I just thought I should post something related to my GIS career since the blog is called Map Making and More.

Tent Mania

A short while ago, I helped my little boy make a tent in the living room with blankets and chairs. He loved it. He got to go in there with a flashlight and have a blast. The cat really liked it too. Now my son asks to make a tent every day (what have I done! Do you ever have that thought? Why did I have to go and teach him that or say that in his presence. Like today my wife was getting some chicken ready to cook and he was curious about the little thing under the frozen chicken. She told him that it was to catch the blood, and then we told him that this meat was once a chicken and they killed it so we can eat it, and my wife said something about chopping of the chicken's head, and of course now we have a three year-old going around talking about chopping off heads, killing and blood. It's funny because when you say stuff, you forget, even though it's already happened a million times, that they are going to be saying it now, and at the most inopportune times. Hey, whoa, I'm still in parentheses and way off track, where was I? here we go) and making a tent every day and cleaning it up isn't exactly my dream come true. So, of course, I did something else I probably shouldn't have done. I set up our little two man tent in the living room. Honestly, It's been pretty fun, but now he cries when I say we need to put it away. Plus he always wants it opened or closed. Anyway. Saturday night, I turned it toward the television and tuned into the Jazz game. We had fun watching the game and tossing a ball back and forth. During halftime, I read him some stories and he went to sleep in the tent. The End.

Destiny

I was thinking this morning (I have some good thinking time on my walk to and from the bus stop) about a dream I had a long time ago. It was very vivid and I remember getting up and trying to write it down so I wouldn't forget it. I think I was in my early teens. Anyway, you know how in dreams you sometimes know something very clearly even though the images and events of the dream don't say it or show it. Well, I remember this dream really giving me the impression that it had something to do with the girl I would marry. And here's something interesting too, I couldn't ever picture the face of the girl in the dream. I remember it being very clear in the dream but then never being able to bring it to mind after I woke up. (Which was weird for me because I'm very good with faces) I even think later on in life I tried to imagine that girls I knew or liked were that girl, but they never fit. This is getting a little of subject now, because the girl isn't the interesting or key point in the story as I look back at it now. In the dream I was chasing the girl when she left a room and I couldn't catch up to her. I wanted to talk to her. I chased and I looked and I finally gave up. But in this building there was a computer kiosk where you could send a song to someone (this is interesting too in that I don't think I even had an email address at this point and this kind of a thing wasn't common or "doable" i guess, back then like it would be today) I sat down and picked a song and tried to send it, but it started playing a song that I wasn't familiar with, that wasn't the song I picked. I was confused and trying to go back, but it just played the song and I couldn't control it anymore.

Q: What was the song?

A: Moon River

Q: Why is that significant?

A: It's only my wife's favorite song from her favorite movie. That's all.

I love you honey! I can't believe it's almost been five years that we've been married. You're wonderful and such a blessing to my life. I love you!

Brian Presents

I must be climbing in the ranks of popularity. My personal blog has been linked to by an old high school friend (who is also a friend from my mission) I think that brings my total to two people outside my family that link to my blog on their blog. Exciting I know.

It takes me back to another time when I felt like my popularity was skyrocketing (I don't have much of this popularity stuff, so small increases can be termed as "skyrocketing") It was when this same friend, Brian, included me in what was called "Brian Presents" A bunch of us went to Brian's house to learn about, watch and then talk about an old film. (I always called them films, Brian thought that was cool) We watched all kinds of great films and it really opened my eyes to how enjoyable an old film can be. We watched 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Gold Rush, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, Vertigo (his favorite), The Bridge on the River Kwai, Casablanca, and probably a couple of others. It was a lot of fun. The experience prompted me to watch It's a Wonderful Life and Lawrence of Arabia for the first time too. Trust me, if you are passing over movies just because they are old, you are missing out.

I guess I should thank Brian, because as I will explain, this experience also had a big affect later in my life. When I was invited to meet my wife for the first time, I felt quite nervous and young (I'm four years younger than her, which I came to think was five years because she had a birthday right after we met) I saw her in that apartment when I went in and just thought my friend (my trainer from my mission) was crazy. (which, if you know him, is very believable) What is this tall, slim, beautiful, older girl going to want with me?

We had a nice dinner and then it was suggested that we watch a movie. They were looking through the choices and pulled one out called Charade. She said she loved the movie, but they all looked at me hesitantly and asked if I would be okay with it. They were I guess worried that it being an old movie, I would not be interested. It was great to be able to tell them about all these old films I had seen, what I knew about them and how much I liked them. I think I scored major points with her. I wasn't just this know nothing kid fresh off my mission, but I was cultured!

Anyway, that was the first film I watched with my wife and we've had a great time watching the classics together. I even like the A&E Pride and Prejudice, so eat your heart out girls. Movies have been a big part of our life together and we are always looking for our next favorite. Old or new.

Bloggin Along

So now I have about a million blogs. And apparently people want you to post something new to all of them rather than just one of them. For anyone who didn't know, I started a new blog with my friends on the bus ride into town. www.fourfiftythreeinbound.blogspot.com So if you have been waiting to see what I would write next, check out the other one where I put up some new posts. If you read the other one, and you are still frustrated that I haven't posted here, well tuff. Wait, I just did it, you must be pleased.

Amamos Arroz or We Love Rice

Over the weekend we made a trip to Costco (one of those big membership wherehouse stores) and bought a few things. As we are loading our car, some random guy walking throught the parking lot says to us, "Wow, you guys must really like rice."

It left us both speechless for a moment. It sounded somewhat sarcastic and demeaning. Who does this guys think he is? All I could say at first was, "We do." (He was probably already out of earshot) What I wish I'd said was, "It's called food storage, ya ever heard of it?" or "Well don't come begging at our door for some rice when the disaster strikes" or "It's Costco ya moron, this is their smallest size" or "Arroz e Fejao pra sempre!" (Rice and Beans forever!)

Anyway, I've decided that this will be my new way to demean things.

Like, "the Denver Nuggets must really like rice" or, well you get the idea I think.

Now for other random stuff.

On Sunday I told my son to go get his church clothes on. When I came upstairs he was still playing and I said, "You don't have your church clothes on yet?" and he said, "It's three minutes!, I don't have a clock."

Lately I've been walking to the bus stop in the morning and then my wife and son meet me when I get off the bus. My son puts up a huge struggle and argument when it's time to get in the car to go get me. He says things like, "Mom, Daddy said we don't have to get him" or "Mom, I told you!" So this morning, he was awake when I was leaving and he said, "Daddy, you drive your car." I recognized that he was refering to this ordeal of picking me up. I said, "I'm going to walk, but you don't have to come get me." That seemed to put him at ease.

Anyone want to give me a ride?

Do You Know How?

So my wife called me this morning and asked me, "Do you know how to shut off the water main?"

That's not a good call to get.

I heard the sound of rushing water in the background.

My pulse quickened.

I think I stayed pretty calm if I do say so my self.

I quickly described the location and workings of the shut off valve.

"Is everything okay?" I asked hesitantly.

Turns out everything was fine at our place.

The rushing water was just the laundry.

She was asking for a neighbor.

They were well...

They're fine too.

Were you scared?

My Report

My first in a series of reports was finally published to the website. It's pretty exciting. In completing the draft of the next report, I have already found some things I would change, but I'm not looking back. Onward and upward.

http://www.water.utah.gov/planning/landuse/publ.htm - Uintah Basin 2006

Check it out! Even just a quick look at the overall layout, Maps and figures and let me know what you think. Especially page 4 of the report, the tenth page in pdf.

David Archuleta

Okay, I know I'm lame, so here's a post about American Idol.

My wife and I watched the season when Carrie Underwood won. It was a lot of fun. I haven't watched any other season all the way through and frankly none of them seemed like they would have been worth it anyway.

I haven't been watching this time either, but I started hearing about a kid from Murray Utah that the Judges were really liking. I decided to check it out and I really like him. It'd be fun for someone local to go all the way to the end.

Here's some of his stuff, see what you think.

Style

My wife often laments how out of style we are. We are maybe starting to fall into that catergory of people who like the styles we thought were cool while in our prime, rather than all the new things that come along.

But can you blame us? Here is a photo from a recent fashion show.


















Now tell me how that is better than anything I wear. Yikes!

I think I've figured out the formula to becoming a world famous fashion designer. Be absolutely nuts and ... well I guess that's it. It's a pretty simple formula. I don't think you even have to know how to sew. There's other people around to do that.

Today

Today I got a haircut and I shaved my beard.

Wow I'm boring. I read other people's blogs and they seem to have a lot more interesting stuff to write about. Plus the only person who actually reads me blog is this guy I became friends with on the bus to work. Hey man, how's it going? Having a good weekend? Anyway, maybe people are just better at finding the seemingly mundane things in their life and writing about them in a way that makes them seem really cool. For example, on guy I know wrote a post about his Super Nintendo game cartridges that he was organizing. How cool is that? Well let me tell you, it was pretty cool. Another was writing about how this dinosaur museum was really lame. I wish I was cool enough to go to a lame dinosaur museum.

Okay, so here it goes. I'm going to try to sound really cool.

I wrote a couple of songs a few years ago. Guitar accompaniment and everything, that I play. I know, I'm awesome. We'll I dusted the old mp3's off and guess what. I need to update my recordings. I've made some great changes to the songs since that time. So that's what I'm up to lately. I pulled out the guitar and I'm going to get ready for an all out recording session. Watch for the updated songs to hit the top of the charts soon.

So how'd I do?

I know, lousy.

But at least now I can continue to impress people by telling them about how I have a blog online. Seriously, people are like, "Wow! I've never met a real live blogger before."

Anyway, got to go. I have some songs to practice.

ESRI User Conference 2007

I attended my first ESRI USers Conference this past summer and had a great time.

Awesome

HD vs Blu Ray

The headline is that Blu Ray technology has won out over HD. I don't think that kind of technology is going to last long with flash drives becoming so popular. This was brought home to my wife and me while we were vacationing over the weekend. We were about fed up with the problems we were having with our portable dvd player. We both agreed that disks are too fragile and that a player with a usb port and a movie on a usb would be a million times better. I think I'll wait on running out to get a new blu ray disc player.

What do you think?

Beautiful Songs

There was a wonderful song sung at President Hinckley's Funeral that I had never heard before. It is now one of my new favorites.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need



Just for fun, here is what is probably my favorite hymn if I had to pick just one.

Come Thou Fount

President Hinckley's Passing

I feel at peace with the news of President Hinckley's passing. What a great man and what a long and wonderful life. I sustained him as a Prophet, Seer and Revelator and I am so thankful for the great blessing he was to my life. He became the prophet just before I started seminary and memorized who the first presidency and apostles were. He signed my mission call. I love him and was always inspired by his example. I feel like I did when President Faust passed away. There is a man who has gone to a glorious and honorable return home. There is no reason for sadness or worry. The Lord is still at the head of the church and He will now call others to serve. In fact, I am always excited at the prospect of new calls to the apostleship.

Facebook

Well, I'm finally part of facebook. I resisted the whole myspace thing. Frankly, what I always heard about myspace just freaked me out. I like that facebook is meant to be people's real identity and that people can't see your stuff or connect to you without your approval. Now I just need to figure out all the features. I worry people think I don't have a clue about computers with how I've performed so far, but just be patient, I'll get the hang of it.

San Diego Trip

Who Me?

Okay, so my wife says that if someone looks at my blog, they are more interested in what I have to say than what someone else has already said. So I guess I have to actually type entries rather than just post things that I found that really interest me. I think she's right. So I guess I'll try to write my own posts and write comments on things I decide are worthy of sharing. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get people to actually come read it.