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Sun Sep 07 2008 15:21 Badger of Honor: I posted a few weeks ago about the curse of responsibility getting me a calling as the EQ home teaching/guilt coordinator. Well. That never happened. Today I was made EQ Secretary, which means the guilt role PLUS a bunch more stuff, including weekly meetings. Joy.

I've explained to Susie that this calling was inevitably mine, because I do my home teaching AND I go to EQ every week (unless I'm in Nursery with Maggie). Half the ward only shows up every few weeks to remind us they are alive. The other half mysteriously disappears during EQ. They were in Sacrament Meeting, and their kids were in Nursury when I picked Maggie up, but they were nowhere to be found. Probably smoking in the boys room.

In other news, one more week to go to the dreaded deadline. This has been the worst one stress wise and the second to worse hours wise.

Mon Aug 25 2008 22:20 Ryan started the fire: Our mountain is on fire. Lucky for us, the wind is blowing hard northeast, so we can' smell it, nor do we have smoke and ash all over our yard. Unlucky for us, Brook is on a fire in Oregon.

Contrary to popular belief, a woman need not be bitchy to get the respect of a man in the workplace. Just sos you know.

Fri Aug 15 2008 18:55 Alpine this: So we had a work party yesterday at the Park City Mountain resort. We got to ride the Alpine coaster in turns while Maggie took a nap. And we took Maggie on the lift and the Alpine slide! Technically you have to be two to ride, so we lied. Honestly, do you really have to be two to sit on your dad's lap on the lift pointing frantically at the alpine slide? Maggie did clutch me pretty tight on some of the drops, though. She's been obsessed with slides as of late, so this trip must have been a dream come true for her.

I can see why some chidren should not be allowed to ride, however. It would be a harrowing 20 minutes indeed if you had to ride a ski lift with a toddler that refuses to sit still!

We saw all sorts of gophers and prarie dogs trying frantically to burrow under the slide. I wonder if they're up to something. We also happened across a gopher the size of a cat along the way. Be afraid. The alpine coaster is awesome! You just meander all the way up the mountain, lulling you into a false sense of a serene country ride. Don't be fooled; the down parts were fast and furious. It was pretty cool.

Lastly, I found out that Mike (a neighbor) is kin (a cousin) to Stephanie Meyer, of the Twilight persuasion, not the bologna persuasion.

(3) Wed Aug 06 2008 19:03 Young & the helpless: With yet another traumatic event that happened in our lives in the wee hours of the morning, I must say I'm not a happy camper with life in general. It seems this summer Susie and I have suffered one problem after another, all completely different, and most very jarring. I've kept a good front so far, and really tried to Pollyanna-ize the whole experience by playing the glad game. But I don't think I have it in me for anything further at this time. Please, all, send some good vibrations our way. Thanks.

(3) Sun Aug 03 2008 15:20 with style (and green gravy): Susie and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday by dropping the Beet off at Jodi's and jaunting over to Le Cheesecake Factory. I had the Miso Salmon, and I must say it was excellent. The miso and something about the salmon took away all traces of fish taste. Susie even tried it. Now that's really something. Even though it was on the lunch menu, it was enough for two meals.

We got a cheesecake to eat and one to go. To go, we got my favorite: Lemon Raspberry Creme Cheesecake, full of lemon-raspberry soaked lady fingers surrounded by cheesecake. Yum. For the table, we decided to try something new: Pistachio Cheesecake. It had a flourless chocolate cake crust and was beyond good.

Afterwards we walked around the mall. We used to always peruse South Coast (indoor mall) and The Spectrum (outdoor mall) in SoCal but here we normally stay away from malls. I figured out why yesterday. South Coast, in particular, had no food court. It had real restaraunts. It also had H&M, Borders, Williams-Sonoma, etc. All the malls here have to offer include Panda Express, Hot Dog on a Stick, and stupid trend shops like Hot Topic and Aeropostale. Nothing fun. I used to enjoy clothes shopping. Now it's a chore (except for Maggie--it's still fun to buy her clothes).

It's August, which means only one thing to me: personal life goes on hold while work takes over. I have so much to do between now and October 15th that I am literally losing sleep over how to get it all done on time.

(3) Thu Jul 31 2008 21:40 5 years and counting: Today marks 5 years of bliss. Susie got a new computer to commemorate the ocassion, which I am now proudly using. We got a desktop and it's nice to have a real keyboard, mouse, and a big screen to type on. Susie got me a coupon for a massage. I'm apprehensive to use it, however. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it will relieve some stress, which work just can't seem to give me enough of these days. But I'm a little nervous to be touched by a stranger. I like my personal space very much.

I hate it when Maggie gets sick. We pamper her, especially in the night. Then when she gets better, she expects the same pampering. This usually leads Susie & I to sleep on the air mattress in the basement so we can sleep through the crying until Maggie remembers the real status quo, as opposed to the poor sick baby status quo. Here's hoping for a good night sleep, if there is such a thing for a dad.

(3) Mon Jul 28 2008 10:04 Just wonderin: So Maggie has been up all night coughing. And because cough medicine has been deemed dangerous to babies in our day and age (even though we were all raised on it, thankyouverymuch) I've had to put up with her. I've given her tylenol for the pain and even some oragel. She got the oragel all over me so I licked my fingers clean. My tongue went numb! Apparently oragel is nothing more than novocaine. Which raises an interesting point: if novocaine can be given orally, then what's with the shot of novocaine at the dentist? Why not give it orally? It just goes to prove my point: doctors and dentists are sadists.

Poor Maggie is sick. I was up all night with her Saturday. Then Sunday after 2 hours of sleep it was off to teach Sunday School. Then home and back to bed. Maggie's cough has lessened so last night was thankfully less eventful. Today is back to the grind all over again.

(1) Sun Jul 20 2008 15:43 Single Parenthood: I honestly don't know how they do it. I've been a single parent for the past four days. And I still had to work, which meant taking full advantage of naptime and then working into the wee hours of the night, starting at 8 pm when Maggie is in bed and continuing until the work is done. Which sometimes wasn't until 3 am. And then all over again the next day, beginning at 7 am, Maggie's signature wake-up time. Don't even mention yard work, though I did manage to mow the lawn last night. Susie, come home.

This week was Draper Days so I took Maggie to the parade yesterday. She seemed to enjoy it. Some of the people realized not everyone could chase for the candy so a few people actually handed Maggie tootsie rolls and salt water taffy, the signature parade candies. Maggie especially enjoyed the Herbie replica, the horses, a man dressed as a cow imploring us to eat more chicken, but did not care at all for Chewbacca.

Maggie and I have also spent the evenings at the park. Though I don't like going on the slide with her, because it shocks us over and over again, Maggie's really enjoyed it. It's next to a skate park, which means that I occasionally have to put up with pre-teens making out in the slides. All I can say is I am glad to no longer be playing the dating game.

Maggie has been good about eating. She usually wants what I'm having. So I put a banana in my Instant Breakfast and she loved it. Susie's not too happy about it, however. And since raspberries are $1 per package right now, we've been having lots of smoothies. This morning I put raspberries in my cereal and Maggie thought that was pretty cool. So once again, she had what I was having.

We missed church today. I was supposed to teach Sunday School and get set apart for another calling in EQ today, but oh well. Maggie woke up at 6 am (shudders) and by 8:45 was ready for a nap. So I gave her one, assuming we'd just skip sacrament meeting. She didn't wake up until 11:45. She's never done that before, and of course it was on a day when I had to stay home with her. I figure it's karma anyway. One time we didn't have Sunday School because the youth all went to a retirement home to do Sacrament meeting. No one told us, and we weren't happy about coming home early from a vacation only to sit in an empty classroom for 45 minutes. Today must have been payback.

It's gonna be a busy summer at work from here on out. At least it'll take my mind off of the heat.

(3) Sun Jul 13 2008 17:43 Birthday Bonanza: My BIL turned 29 on the 9th. My nephew Logan turned 14 yesterday. My nephew James turned 9 today. Logan got a cell phone for his birthday. My brother is the best father in the world and only got him one so he can continue to fit in with his friends. It's now come to that. Cell phone=surviving Jr high. Back when I was there it required trendy clothes. Now it requires gadgets. Wonder how Jr high will evolve when it's Maggie's turn.

In other news, men suck.

(2) Wed Jul 09 2008 17:29 The winds of change: Had to fly to San Jose last night, after quite a long day at the office. While checking in, I noticed a seat opening on the front row! So I switched seats. I was first to board in the general class, had loads of legroom, and had plenty of overhead bin capacity to put all my luggage in. I never check luggage, as I don't believe in the practice. Too much to be left to chance. Also, the Delta magazine was brand new so I got to do all the sudokus and crosswords, which occupied the entire flight. And the lady who sat next to me was the last to board so I had plenty of room until the end.

I was also the first off the plane. And since I don't check luggage, I got right into a taxi and was in my hotel room by 10:15. I bet the rest of the office didn't saunter in until around 11:00. Sweet.

Maggie keeps getting cuter and cuter. Her favorite activities lately include brushing her teeth with our toothbrushes, running away when we ask her to come, putting rocks in her car, putting rocks in the green waste, playing with her kitchen, coloring (well, more like playing with crayons than coloring), and, as usual, watching The Wiggles.

Sunday I assisted with fast offerings because all the YM are apparently out of town until August. Let me tell you, I'll be slow to "volunteer" ever again. It took two hours, it was 95 degrees outside, and two people were not very nice to me. I also need to start home teaching less, or they'll slap me with more people. My stellar record has already prompted them to call me as the Home Teaching Supervisor. I may demand a raise.

(2) Sat Jul 05 2008 17:36 hot and heavy: The 4th was pleasantly cool yesterday, due to cloud cover and some slight breezes. We spent the morning at the Lehi pool for the annual Holbrook swim extravaganza. Maggie decided to hate the pool for the first 5 minutes, but thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the swim. She mostly cruised around in her little inflatable thingy, and watched people dive and play. She also snuggled with Grandma and ate raisins while we had water relay races.

Lunch was at the cabin, and we stayed the night. Maggie got to pet the neighbor's horses and seemed to be pretty excited about it. Today's much hotter so we are hiding inside. I'm ready for September weather now.

Grandma June was supposed to die Thursday night, but she still made it to the parties, and actually stayed at the cabin until the last family left. It's amazing what one can do on her deathbed.

(1) Thu Jun 26 2008 17:07 Patient Patient: I am the worst infirm person ever. I pulled my quad about two weeks ago running a 10K. As I was only 4 miles in, I somehow plucked up the stamina to run the other 2 miles and finish the race. The pulled quad put undue strain on my opposite ankle, which in turn has led to quite the sprain.

I put myself on bed rest starting Tuesday, because Monday night after work I noticed my ankle had tripled in size. I have been on bed rest ever since, and am starting to go stir crazy. I'd rather be sick than have a sprained ankle. I can't get up and walk. Finally this morning I am able to walk without pain, but obviously the area is still sensitive and will require rehabilitation to get me back up to speed.

I'm not used to being waited on, so I still try and do things on my own. It's frustrating me because my ankle still hurts, it frustrates Susie, who is only trying to help, and it frustrates Maggie because she is pretty bored of sitting on my bed all day.

Every morning it feels gradually better. I can't wait to be back up on my feet again.

Sun Jun 15 2008 14:48 Mr Lonely: For some unexplained reason, I find it comforting to log onto Gmail and find Leonard logged in as well. Even if he is on "away" status most of the time. I guess with my crazy work hours and random e-mail checks, it's nice to feel like I'm not the only one still working. And he's two hours ahead of me to boot!

Sat Jun 14 2008 22:47 I Nailed It: I am so sick of the bare wall in our front room, especially since we haven't touched up the wall from the previous owners, so it is full of holes. We want to make it a picture wall. So to accomplish this, we took family pictures back in Nov. Problem was, it was a cold day and the photographer did a poor job. So we couldn't use those.

December was ok because the Christmas tree went there. But from Jan-today I have been frequently upset at this huge, bare wall. So we took family pictures again in May. Susie and I placed our order in record speed. Unfortunately, my family moves at a snails pace, and the order all went in as one. So we are still waiting.

Today I couldn't take it anymore, and hung all the frames on the wall, even though the only pictures in the frames are of those people that come with the frame. I'm sure they are nice people, and now they are our people. Honestly, I don't care anymore. It looks awesome to me, and I should have done it months ago. Who cares if I don't know them, and some of them are sideways because I know the picture we ordered will go the other way? Finally, I have a family picture wall. I officially feel moved in now.

(1) Sun Jun 08 2008 21:43 Summer Days: It's been so long since I've lived in a neighborhood where children can be heard out playing into the wee hours of the night. It's really calming for me to go to sleep hearing the neighbor kids playing their summer vacation away. I enjoy that about our neighborhood.

Other recent successes include: actually getting home taught for the first time in 3 years, getting caught up on all the weeding, planning ahead for Sunday School lessons (today we played Cranium, church style, to high acclaim of the participants), losing 5 pounds, getting new glasses & prescription sunglasses, spending quality time with family, and organizing a successful IHOP party for Grandma June.

Also, though Maggie is months away from talking, she understands a lot of what we say. She can point to all the body parts covered in the song "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" and when we say things like "let's go for a walk" she goes to the door; or "can you get your shoes" she actually fetches her shoes. Now we just have to get her to listen when we say things like "come back please." She loves to run down the street. Being a parent is loads of fun!

(1) Fri Jun 06 2008 13:40 Go Green Go: Yesterday at work was a happy day. For the next two months, in order to promote flexibility, encourage EY employees to go green, and to help the workforce adjust to the new levels of inflation, we are allowed to work from home once a week. I have asked for Wed, (nice commuter's break right in the middle of the week). I'm very excited about this, and the implications it has for company morale, UT's air quality, and the environment as a whole.

I've often wondered if the world would switch more to a telecommuting system as we scramble to have mass transit catch up with rising fuel costs. Unfortunately, I think that, due to the extreme lack of professionalism exhibited by many people, that pipe dream is still a way's off. Both because I've been certified a professional by both the states of CA & UT, at least I can benefit. Here's to the planet's future!

Sat May 31 2008 17:03 Timing is everything: This morning I opened all the windows in the house before I went running, to keep the house cool in anticipation for a hot day. Then after my run I played the piano. Our neighbors heard it, and stopped by. Their two daughters need piano lessons, as they just bought a piano at DI. And because they heard me playing, Susie now has two more students!

Then on our walk with Maggie this morning we happened by a yard sale selling a "Little Tikes" table and two chairs! For $10! These things are like hundreds of dollars at the store. Now we can move past the high chair and we have a craft table for her to work at.

We also took Grandma June to the cemetary to retrieve items off Grandpa Garn's grave and to IHOP. Grandma misunderstood Susie on the phone and thought ALL the Chadwick's were coming, when what Susie really meant was that I was coming. Maggie ate almost an entire pancack off my plate--cornbread pancakes.

Got home just in time for Maggie's nap, and I'm getting lots done in the meantime. I love the weekend.

(1) Fri May 30 2008 22:31 Just do it: Now that we have a home and space to fill, Susie & I have finally put an emphasis on building up an emergency supply storage. We have beefed up our 72 hour kits and have started to horde water. We were going to buy a 55-gallon barrel, as seems to be popular among the Mormon food storage crowd, but it just didn't seem right to me. Firstly, how in the world do you rotate that water out? Secondly, if we had to evacuate our home, I can't lift 500 pounds of water up the stairs. Thirdly, I didn't like the idea of running a hose through the window to fill it up with sub-par water. So instead we are going to buy a variety of 6-gallon jugs. They are portable (though still weigh about 50 pounds when full), are easy to rotate, and can be filled up with inside water. So far we are up to 20 gallons (or roughly 120 pounds) of water, 25 pounds of flour, and 3 strategically placed emergency kits filled with flashlights, clothes, food, toilet paper, diapers, etc. We also have a little propane stove.

Still need to buy sleeping bags, spare propane barrel, and stock up on food we can feasibly rotate. Susie has also planted a garden. We are just hitting the tip of the iceberg. What a lot of work.

(5) Tue May 27 2008 10:44 Feelin' It: Had a very nice Memorial Day weekend, despite the cold and the wet. Kristen, Aaron, Lily, & Gunnar came for breakfast Friday morning. Lily & Gunnar picked on Maggie a little bit, but I think it was good for her. Susie says Maggie picks on Collette sometimes. So it was her karma catching up with her. Friday afternoon we made the trek to Provo to pay homage to Roy & Frances. We walked around campus afterward and I finally came to peace with BYU. The walk was nice and I realized it's a nice place. I no longer hold the university in contempt.

Saturday we took Justin to see "Prince Caspian." I clearly have forgotten the Narnia series, as I was confused in a few places. But I really enjoyed the movie. Maggie wanted to play, of course, so I sat on the floor off to the side while she walked around and read books. She started throwing things, so I scolded her, she cried as usual, and I rocked her until, miracle of miracles, she fell asleep in a public place (something she refuses to do). So even though my entire left arm fell asleep, I got to watch the last half of the movie in peace. We spent the rest of Saturday at my parent's entertaining Chad. He was supposed to go paintballing, but Jodi & Franco bailed without telling him. Poor kid. He spent the day weeding. So we got him pizza for dinner.

Sunday was awesome. I taught a personal best Sunday School lesson. I think the kids really enjoyed it. It was on prophets so we split into teams and we played memory with the quorum members. We also listened to parts of conference and they had to guess which of the brethren was speaking just by the voice. Then I played some Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc to do the same thing with. The point was that they need to get to know the brethren as well as they know One Republic. But they actually did a pretty good job at naming the prophet by voice (better than Susie & I did). We've had two less active kids coming more regularly lately as well. I felt like I related to the kids really well. Problem is, it's hard to come up with lessons like that every week. The manual, of course, is no help.

Sunday night we went to the cabin and spent the night. It was really fun. Even though we did the same thing we do every night at home (went for a walk, put Maggie to bed, read books, went to bed) it was fun to do it somewhere else. It wasn't too cold and we got to watch a lot of people fishing at the lake.

Today is back to work (and to running). I'm up to 4 miles now every morning, so I am improving. I'm really enjoying these early morning runs.

Mon May 19 2008 13:20 Mouse in the House: Saturday we toiled in the yard in the oppressive heat of the day. We mowed the lawn, weeded the side yards, and planted our garden! That night, after Maggie went to sleep, Susie and I layed out on the backyard grass to enjoy the twilight. I thought out of the corner of my eye something moved in the garden, on the hill near the bushes and ground cover. So I went over to the whole in the ground I uncovered while trimming back the ground cover the other day, and there was a mouse, no bigger than my thumb, looking up at me quite apprehensively.

Susie is enjoying conjuring up ways to end its life. My stance is to live and let live, as long as its not in the house. And we have mice poison boxes in the house left from the previous tenants (and now I know why!) If it were a rat, I'd feel differently.

Maggie had her own mouse encounter last week. Picture here.

Sun May 11 2008 19:28 On the way home: Today we visited our old ward in Costa Mesa. Talk about a warm reception. Everyone, including the Bishop, asked if we were back for good. When we said no, they seemed disappointed. Then in sacrament meeting the bishop formally announced that we were visiting today and everyone should come and say hi. And people listened. People I had never talked to when we lived here expressed how much they missed us. Susie mentioned that it felt like we were going home, not going on vacation. Our church experience made that true.

We went to Sunday School, held in the Relief Society room. I'd never been there before, due to our lifetime Primary calling. It was a trip. The room is painted light pink. Pink. And they have these wierd valance and curtains with floral patterns from the eighties. I also had to ask for directions to Priesthood.

I think we're slowly fitting into our new ward in Draper, though I still feel inadequate working with the youth. I just have an easier time relating to children than to teenagers. But I just can't shake the feeling that the Costa Mesa II ward is home, and that we are not done with the place.

(1) Sat May 10 2008 23:14 Serta-fied: For Mother's Day I bought Susie something that will hopefully provide us both a better life: an expensive, fancy-type mattress cover. It has a pillow top to it. We tried it out last night and I slept great! It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud. Or like I was sleeping in a swank hotel room bed, which I get to do for work travel sometimes, and is also where the idea for this present came from. Susie unfortunately didn't sleep any better. Well, Happy Mother's Day anyway, sweet baboo!

(4) Mon May 05 2008 09:55 Can you hear me now?: So yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. There's this new lady in the ward, from England, rather obnoxious really, and her cell phone rings in church. She answers it, while sitting on the second row of pews, and talks on it for a good 5 minutes before putting it away. All the while, this lady is on the stand crying about something or other.

I have to wonder where some people learn their etiquette. Would it have killed her to sit in the foyer if she is expecting a call. Or, at the very least to answer it, say "hold on a minute, love" and walk into the foyer to continue her conversation? I was not raise to presume the world revolves around me. But apparently some people were. What it must be like to be living in that sort of delusion.

(1) Sun May 04 2008 22:26 Lightly Toasted: I took Friday off (speaking of the term quite liberally, considering I told my coworkers I needed a day off to rejuvenate, but they still called me all day long). Anyway, we fixed the shower, pulled weeds, planted some flowers, pulled weeds, planted some little bushes, pulled weeds, mowed the lawn, pulled weeds, turned on the sprinklers, pulled weeds, went to Ember's soccer game, yelled at the weeds, and on and on.

Saturday we went to the cemetery with Grandma June, because it was Grandpa's 97th birthday (that is, if he were still alive). My mom's car got a screw in the tire, so we waited on the grass for about 30 minutes for AAA. Then we worked more in the yard. I think I am half tanned, half sunburned now. I guess it beats the pasty white complexion one gets all winter here. Maggie got to experience the whole weekend my way, because she wouldn't leave my side. I can't help thinking Frances would be proud of my horticultural efforts. I think sometimes I feel her inspiring to keep pruning and beautifying., because I certainly don't do it for fun.

Speaking of lightly toasting, congrats to Sumana on her upcoming graduation!

(6) Wed Apr 30 2008 21:20 The Office: Ever had one of those days where you just want to throw your computer out the window and storm out of the office, never to return? If not, have you ever dreamed of saying "you can't fire me, I quit!" If not, have you ever thought of slipping your boss a mickey?

I've had two such days, both of them since I moved to the SLC office. Today was one of those days. Interestingly enough, on both of these days, pay days, I mysteriously got an extra $500 in my paycheck, mostly for good behavior. I guess it's a sign to focus on the good, and forget the bad. So today I simply turned off my computer and left without doing my timesheet. It wasn't as dramatic as the the above-mentioned notions, but it sufficed. The money is nice, but really I appreciate being appreciated. I guess I'll live to see another day as an accountant.

Back to watching the Wiggles with Maggie.