Author: midder

So I’ve been told by my little Gracie O that our blog background “is lame.” I’ve also been told that we need to join the 21st century and put music on our blog. Apparently you blogspot homeys out there have impressed her. She likes to listen to the music when she goes to the different sites. She also said that she was embarrassed by my comment about deer heads over at Catherine and Zac’s blog. Speaking of being embarrassed, we went in to take lunch to Abigail and speak to her teacher about 2 weeks ago. We saw Grace as we were leaving. I went to go say hello to her and she TOTALLY HOSED ME! Poor girl is already embarrassed by her father.

Julie told me (in all seriousness, I found out) that she thinks she has the bird flu. She, Lucy, and Grace are all out for the count. We went up to Prescott over the weekend to see Julie’s sister Nancy and her new baby. We came back with more sickies. We’re hoping we didn’t spread the love too much up there. Nancy’s baby is beautiful and I love Prescott. It’s always such a production to get us out the door to anywhere.

Poor Lucy is moaning on the couch right now, so I’ll need to go take a smoke break or something and see what I can do for her. You know, since I’m working. It seems my hours these days are: 8am – 8:40am, 9:30am – 12noon, 1pm – 3pm, 4pm – 5:30pm, 7pm – 11pm. It’s great. Tonight is racquetball night, though, so Julie’s going to have to figure out how to calm the locals for an hour or so.

Unfortunately (for some) the Super Bowl weather wasn’t exactly Chamber of Commerce-worthy. But my opinion is that you take all the cloudy, cool days you can get around here, because you know it’s bound to change. This winter has been the absolute most pleasant winter I can remember. It’s been relatively cool and wet. You know that when you hear desert folks constantly complain of how cold it is, it’s been really nice. I’m just hoping that it’s the start of man-made global cooling so that Phoenix summers can be more like they used to be when I was a kid. You know, rain actually hits the ground during the monsoon season?

In any event, it’s funny to see how you adapt so quickly to what’s around you. I have frequent conversations with folks up in Utah and in Boston about work things, but it always shifts to the weather for some reason. They all end up asking me how things are out by the pool. They seriously think I’m fibbing when I tell them that it’s in the 60s. They get downright angry when I say that we’ll be in the 70s this weekend and for the foreseeable future. Then it turns to belligerence when they remind me that it will be hotter than the surface of the sun in 7 months. Somehow that makes them feel better. And, while it is true, I prefer to just enjoy myself for now. You know, I’m just a glass half full kind of guy. Or something.

I’ve been working quite a bit lately. Lots going on. The day job, the side job, the hit job, everything. Hopefully this is the year that I break out and actually conquer the world instead of just talk about it. What does that mean? Who knows. In reality, it probably means do a project and get paid more than $3/hr to do it. We shall see.

We’re heading up to Prescott this weekend to see Julie’s sister Nancy and her family. She just had baby #4 and they’ll be blessing her on Sunday. We got a hotel up there Saturday night, so it should be a little less hectic than normal. Maybe. Everyone’s finally starting to feel well. We were passing things back and forth there for a while and it was no fun. So now we’ll plant some stuff in the garden, pull some weeds, finish painting, etc.

I’m ever surprised by anything that happens in this house. Especially with Lucy and Gwenyth. I mean, how could I ever be surprised to find this in Gwenyth’s room (after a supposed nap):

When this is your big sister?

Gwenyth doesn’t have a chance! It got even better after lunch as Lucy donned her pink scarf to go with her bag lady hat and rock star glasses for preschool.

Update: Catherine (and Julie, actually) asked what that is in Gwenyth’s room. The papers are Julie’s sewing machine manual that Gwen ripped the pages out of one by one. There’s also an entire package of wipes dispersed throughout the room.

A little late, perhaps. Life has forced the beelog to take a backseat. Luckily, Sean has been keeping up the slack with thought-provoking stories of life in north Mesa. Central Surprise isn’t as happening, I guess.

We had a ragin’ New Year’s Eve party with some friends. Here’s what you get when you mix Mormons and Martinelli’s:

We were also able to make the Elcock crab fest for the first time in way too long.

Followed by some hot tub action

Our first nearly 4 weeks of 2008 have been good. We’ve stayed relatively healthy, except for a few sniffles and coughs in the last few days. And, while my own resolutions inevitably fall to the wayside, my girls have come up with their own goals for the new year.

Abigail

1. Not be so bossy
2. Be more polite

Here is Abby’s hand-written text: “Try to be less bossy by not giving commands often and not yell. Try to more polite by saying please and thank you, and wait in turn. Try to remember things by using my brain before I forget. Work hard! Don’t cry, pout, or wine!”

Grace

1. Go to bed on time
2. Don’t cry so much

Lucy

1. Learn how to say please and thank you
2. Learn to share toys with my sisters

Gwen

1. Learn to use potty
2. Learn to sleep in a big girl bed

Julie

1. Exercise more
2. Keep a clean house

Brian

1. Get up earlier
2. Get 4 extra projects going

Family

1. Eat healthy food
2. Read scriptures each day

Nothing too over-reaching, but still challenging enough that we need to think about it. Every single day, in fact. What I didn’t realize is that I needed to include something about Rock Band in my goals. Or at least Guitar Hero. But then I guess that would probably necessitate my changing one or more of my other goals. So maybe it’s good that I didn’t include that. Plus, the image of Luke Davies with his rock star glasses, his brother Mason striking a pose as the lead singer, Grace pounding on the drums, and Abigail strumming the geetar. I don’t know . . .

I also have been given daily goals by my lovely wife. The house has been in an all-too permanent state of disrepair lately. There’s a lot of painting and patching to do yet, and I’m afraid I will be unable to shirk my duty much longer. This may even require my foregoing racquetball Tuesdays. Hopefully it doesn’t get that bad.

Work for me has been busy lately. Yes, Jana, I do work. We had a presentation to Apple yesterday that went very well. We are looking to get their rebate business. Julie has been asked to work with the young women at church, which means I get to work more with the younger women at home, which is fine. She’s also been asked to speak in a meeting this weekend, which she forever stresses about. But I’m looking forward to inspiration about nurturing your family through the Gospel. I think I threw off her thinking a little bit when I reminded her that “family” included me. Nurturing me. She looked at me like I had 3 heads.

It’s been a wonderful January in the desert, weather-wise. Cool enough to wear sweaters, but still nice enough to look out the window at the nice sunshine. The rain last night is supposed to give way to much more tomorrow night. Hopefully the desert blooms this spring.

With the economy heading in the tank, you’ll have to help me out by clicking on the ads. I signed up for Google AdWords in 2004 sometime, hoping for early retirement due to my vast audience. I keep waiting for a check. Unfortunately, they don’t send a check out until you’ve reached $50. So maybe the retirement will have to wait. But I figure that almost $50 in almost 4 years isn’t too bad, is it?