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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.

(1) Wed Apr 23 2008 22:40 Weeding & Speeding: Last night, after I ran another 5K in training for the Draper 5K this summer, I decided to weed the rock bed in the front yard. Maggie came with, as Susie was napping. Maggie wasn't letting me do any weeding, so I got her car out for her to play with.

The next thing I know, Maggie is cruising past me down the sidewalk on our steep hill. Luckily, her car was crooked and it crashed into the other rock bed. It stopped, she didn't fall off. I went over to her, and she had on the biggest grin in the world. So at that point I dutifully put away the gardening tools and proceeded to "drive" her up and down our steep sidewalk. I finished the gardening tonight. And played car again.

Who knew our shy little girl was such a daredevil?

(6) Sat Apr 19 2008 22:34 5K Foray: I ran in the SLC 5K today. I believe I finished around 27 minutes, making for a 9-minute mile. Disgraceful. I hope to do better in the Draper 5K this summer.

The thing that irks me about a 5K is that a lot of people enter it to walk. And these walkers think they should be at the start of the line. It's extremely difficult to get a good start with all of these walkers. I think the walkers should be at the back of the pack, but before the jogging stroller people. But that's just me.

The other thing that irks me about a 5K is the ruckus. Parking was a challenge, getting on the freeway to go home was a nightmare, and I had to get up at 5:30 am to wait in a cold park all morning for the shotgun. The finish line was chalk full of vendors, congratulating us with pizza, hot dogs, ice cream, etc. At 8 am. I don't know about most people, but running makes me lose my appetite, not gain it. And 9 am is way too early for such garbage. Luckily, EY provided us with fruit, yogurt, and toast. A much more seemly reward after running for the cure, whatever that means.

I'd like to think I could try the 1/2 marathon in two years. But realistically, I don't see it happening.

UPDATE: I ran it in 26:49, which means I ran 8:38 minute miles. That's not too terrible, I guess. I guess my real goal should be to not walk on that uphill block between 2nd & 3rd south next year.

(1) Thu Apr 17 2008 11:30 Dairy Queen: Maggie's favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, and milk. Some days, that's all she'll eat. Lately, she's chosen to drink a gallon of milk a day and then forgo anything else. Luckily, she doesn't seem to care for ice cream too much (too cold).

(7) Tue Apr 08 2008 22:52 Vindication: So, after all the complaining about gambling, guess what? I entered the work contest that required no upfront payment to participate, got second place, and won $75! Who would have thought Kansas would beat Memphis in the championship game? Apparently, me and the person who got first place.

In other news, Maggie has finally decided to no longer be tooth challenged. The teething has been a bit hard on her, but it does seem to quell yet another paternal worry. I wonder what new worry will fill the void? At any rate, at least I know it won't be about Maggie calling me a jerk. My heart goes out to you, Kristen.

(2) Thu Mar 27 2008 10:19 Dancing Queen: Against Susie's better judgment, I got Maggie two Wiggles DVD's for her birthday. So loves them to pieces. She watched one of them three times in a row at Jamie's house, and when Erin was watching her the other day, she brought Erin the DVD case and pointed at the tv repeatedly until Erin turned it on. She really gets into them. I may have created a monster. Now Susie & I will only be able to watch our shows when she's asleep. Good thing we don't really have any shows to speak of.

I guess if we wanted to watch a show we could always put the Wiggles on the laptop while we watch on the tv. Or we could be mean and show Maggie who's the boss. Though I think we may be surprised at the answer to that one.

I can tell that Maggie is ready for busy season to end. Now whenever she sees me she clings to me hard and cries if even Susie tries to take her so I can get stuff done. Poor little thing. She knows who the moneymaker is!

(4) Tue Mar 25 2008 12:18 Anti-Dentite: Last night I was dutifully flossing under my permanent retainer and poof, the glue holding the right side of the bar died. Needless to say, my tongue had an interesting night playing with it.

This morning I went to my old orthodontist. I've had the bar 9 years. The doctor said it's really only necessary to keep it for 6 years, so he could take it out. So now all my teeth are finally free! He also told me some people like to keep the bottom bar forever, and he'd reglue it if I wanted. I declined. He didn't charge me, and I only had to wait in his lobby for 10 minutes. All in all, not a bad start to the day.

(15) Sun Mar 23 2008 16:08 VCP?: Our DVD player died. It was a wedding gift and I'm sure we registered for cheapest old thing. Susie wanted to get it repaired but I looked up new machines and decided that it's probably cheaper just to buy a new one. So for $60 we got a VCP/DVD. Our VCR is mine from high school and also only works when repeatedly banged on. This new combo machine is pretty cool. You can play a video and a DVD at the same time and toggle back and forth while both play simultaneously. Don't know when I would ever do this, but it's a nice touch. Also, I should point out that this new machine does not allow video recording, only playing. Thus it's a VCP, not a VCR. Just so's you know.

My NCAA bracket is failing miserably. I'm sure glad I didn't enter my work tax group bracket. It cost $5 to enter. I opted out, as I figured it constituted gambling. However, the boss, a stake president, entered. As did most of my mormon coworkers. I'm confused. When would it be considered gambling. $6? $10? Why is this not gambling? This is why I don't necessarily want to still live here when Maggie enters teenage-dom. It's so much easier to explain to kids why our family values are different from their friends when all of their friends are from different faiths. But when they are from the same faith: how to explain it then? I think it'll be easier to raise kids with the values I adhere to elsewhere.

(1) Thu Mar 20 2008 12:49 Sitting Pretty: Yay! Luck was an airplane this weekend, my friends. I had to go to San Jose Tuesday night for a one-day training on Wednesday that made me stay until Thursday morning because there were no flights out that night.

My flight to San Jose was absolutely deserted. I think some connecting flight didn't make it. I had a whole row to myself to read and take a nap in. Then on the way home the flight was full, so guess who got bumped up to first class? Moi! First time ever. It was awesome. At least, it was once all the people boarding the plane are seated. It's hard to look at them in the face, so I buried my nose in a Sudoku book. Really, they are still my peeps, and I'll be rejoining them when I go to Dallas in May. But it was fun to pretend for a day that I'm worth a seat that's too big for me!

(6) Sat Mar 15 2008 23:22 Yeah, right: Because Maggie is a smallish tot, the doctor advised us to feed her foods like butter. Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea? So instead at lunch today I let her have some of my coconut ice cream. I am giving her something less healthy but hey, at least it tastes good and won't clog her arteries.

We have had most of the snow melted in our yard for about a week. There is a patch that has been clinging on, and refused to go. Today it held out for friends, and now we have about three new inches in our backyard. I guess the American Puxatawny Phil was right, winter's here to stay.

Lastly, I need some boba. Do I dare quit my oh-so-great job (heh) and open a boba store here? I'd be the only one in UT, so I'd have a lock on the market. But on the other hand, maybe there's a reason there isn't one in Utah. Maybe boba's against the word of wisdom.

(1) Tue Mar 11 2008 10:04 Somebody's poisoned the waterhole: Yesterday on the news they ran this whole segment on how they are finding significant trace amounts of various medications in our drinking water. No wonder my cholesterol is down.

This of course led me to reflect on a scene that occured shortly after Frances's passing. The home health nurse, and others at the scene, if my memory serves me, were urging Susie to dump three gallon-sized ziplock bags worth of old meds down the toilet. I really couldn't explain why at the time, but that really did not seem like a good idea to me. I really felt like dumping them in the garbage was the right answer. I know I know, dumpster divers would have had a field day. But still. I couldn't help but think that this was harming innocent fishies, let alone the human race.

As it turns out, in SL county at least, you can take your meds to the police station. They have bins to collect them that look like library return repositories. The officers weekly fire up the ovens. Wish we'd have known about this then. I still can't help but think how we were innocently cajoled into doing the wrong thing.

(1) Sun Mar 09 2008 22:34 Birthday Girl: Happy Birthday to the littlest princess. I think she knew something was up, because she sure was in great spirits all day. It's been a year full of learning experiences, sleepless nights, and snugglefests. Here's to a lot more where all that came from.

(3) Fri Mar 07 2008 10:45 Unbelievable!: Our neighbors three doors up are selling their house. It's the same style as ours and I wanted to know the asking price. Unbelievable. The picture on the website is of OUR HOUSE!

I called the realtor to tell him his photographer did the wrong house and he says, get this, I KNOW! The neighbors haven't had a photographer yet so he just pulled ours from the file because you can't really see the address in the picture anyway. Do I have a problem with that, he asks?

I'm a reasonable human being, so I told him I guess not, since pictures of the real house will be up by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. But isn't this a violation of my privacy? Shouldn't he have to ask my permission first? I'm too lazy to look into the legal ramifications of this, but I have a feeling the law would be on my side.

(9) Wed Mar 05 2008 10:10 Fiscal Fight: The UT legislature is busy working their 30 required days now, wrapping up the budget mostly. I have recently come to find out that it is written in the UT constitution that a balanced budget is required and debt is strictly prohibited. Thus the state is always in the black.

I for one think that's awesome. Some people here cry that all that means is that taxes are super high to ensure the budget can logically be balanced every year. But my research disagrees. Of the states polled, 19 have rates higher than UT, 15 have rates lower than UT, and 14 are substantially similar. I know, that only adds up to 48 + UT makes 49. Somehow in my haste to publish I missed a state. I'll blame TX. They're not a part of the Union anyhow =).

And it's true. I got a pay increase moving here. Not literally. But in take-home pay. Something like $40 a paycheck more than I got in Cal.

What would it be like to have such laws written into our federal constitution? Well, for one thing, spending on frivolities, like a war, would cease. Or at least it would curb the issue of $200 toilet seats being shipped to Iraq. What a different world that would be.

Fri Feb 29 2008 19:54 I cannot believe it: There actually is a company out there called "Websidestory."

(8) Fri Feb 22 2008 19:22 They were right: I do miss SoCal winters. But the good news is that today it was too warm to snow so it rained, the inversion is gone, and next week is supposed to reach 45 degrees. I know that seems cold, but it sure feels warm now. There are patches where I can actually see grass!I am definitely going to get out this weekend and enjoy it. Winter's firm grasp on us is slowly loosening.

Speaking of grass, it's almost that dreaded time where we have to buy a lawnmower. I really don't want to buy a gas mower. They are noisy, yucky, require additional gas purchases, and just plain bother me. So the dilemma is this: do we splurge for a cordless electric one (never would I buy a corded one, what a nightmare), or go old school cheap with a push mower?

Pro to electric mower: it does all the work. Con: it costs $400.

Pro to push mower: the epitome of eco-friendly. Cheap. Cons: Quite a workout, our house is on a hillside.

I guess that final point could be a pro, but probably not at first. What to do?

(2) Wed Feb 20 2008 14:21 Going postal without the gun: Maggie's getting over something or other. Who knows anymore what it is. I've lost interest. But she was up in the night screaming for like an hour. Susie said "I can't go in there; she'll make me feed her." So I picked up on the cue and went into her. I gave her some water. Still screaming. I gave her some pain medicine. She wouldn't take it. So I picked her up and gave it to her. By this point, as you all realize, I am holding her. And did so for 15 minutes afterward. She was still awake when I put her back down and stared at me through her crib bars so I couldn't leave. Finally she rolled over so I curled up on her floor with a boppy as a pillow. Fifteen minutes later I was back in bed. I still think Susie should have to get a paper route if I have to work and do night duty.

This morning I had to leave early for a "breakfast meeting" at 8 am. The "breakfast" offered was a stale muffin. The "meeting" to speak of was a chance for the individual practice to mingle with the corporate/partnership practice. What, we couldn't have done this over lunch? Or better yet, done this not during busy season? I am soooo tired and have such a headache.

I also have no work. I gave it all to a staff, like I was instructed to, becasue I had "too much." Now everyone who didn't give anything up has work, and here I sit. With nothing to do to distract me from my headache. Is it possible to call in sick from my life for a day?

(1) Sun Feb 10 2008 16:29 Oh Deer: Saturday morning I awoke to find something interesting in the snow in the front yard. It sure was not dog droppings. It looked like rabbit droppings, only bigger. I became nervous our neighbors had a wererabbit or something.

Other droppings in the neighboring vicinity confirmed that the deer have come down the mountain to eat my leafage. Which is fine. But please, I don't require you leave behind anything in return. I hope none of them get hit by cars coming this far down the mountain.

(4) Fri Feb 08 2008 22:23 I'm not Joe or Sumana: But I still have an opinion. (Kristen had asked what Joe &/or Sumana thinks of the stimilus bill). But I am a tax accountant. And that does qualify me to state my anger at this bill. It's NOT free money. It's an advance on your 2008 tax return. So if you normally get a refund, your refund in 2009 will be smaller. If you usually owe, expect to owe a lot more.

How is this helpful? It's a timing difference only. And my guess is that most people won't realize this, spend the money, and will find themselves in dire straights next spring. Where's the beef? they'll ask. And then, with the realization that the money they spent is no more, a real spending freeze will occur, and the potential for another recession will loom. What a fiasco.

What with busy season in full swing now, I was having fun thinking of how to spend my money. Now I'll probably just end up saving it. Bye-bye elliptical. Bye-bye new computer. Back to work.

UPDATE: Apparently I was misinformed. The tax rebate is indeed free money. It will appear as a one-time refundable tax credit on your 2008 tax return that you have already received. (two cents)But that still doesn't make it good. Anytime the government issues money and thereby increases the national deficit, we as Americans have elected to place our spending policies on the backs of our posterity. So I will probably still save my money for Maggie's/future children's college funds. I cannot in good faith spend money I've stolen from my children and grandchildren. I know it is the American way, but as for me and my house, we will not squander their inheritance. (/two cents).

(3) Sun Feb 03 2008 11:07 Reality check's in the mail: I spent all last week in the OC. The weather was beautiful and everyone was happy/shocked to see me. Joe even bought me Jollibees, and no mealtime went by without a dining invitation. On the downside, I ended up working 70 hours and hardly had a chance to catchup with anybody or even realize where I was. It felt surreal to be back there. At least we finished early Thursday and I made it back to my room just in time to watch Lost.

Now it's snowing like crazy. So bad, in fact, that they have canceled church. Now that's a first. People here don't think twice about driving in the snow. At least, my coworkers don't. I fully intend to enjoy the time home with my Maggie.

(2) Fri Jan 25 2008 13:33 Life Events: On Kristen's note, I got my first speeding ticket last week. And I totally deserved it. Going 60 in a 35 zone. But my cop was nice and only wrote me up for 11 over, and traffic school will take the points off my record. I'm actually kind of glad it happened. I need to slow down and the cop treated me very fairly. I didn't even ask him to reduce the ticket. 27 over and reckless driving to 11 over is a big plus. Hopefully I can go another 11 1/2 years before getting another one.

Susie and I received a calling -- Sunday School teachers to the youth. I'm way excited. The Bishop said the Primary came running for us (big surprise) but he staved them off since we spent the last 2+ years in there. He could tell we needed a break. I've always said I wanted to teach Sunday School. I have no weekday commitments, and I find the lessons more interesting than the "farmed-out" versions of stuff they use in YM/EQ. On a side note, I don't particularly like those president manuals. They don't give the whole story and sometimes quotes are taken out of the context in which they were given. It bothers me.

It is the winter of endless snow here, and I'm ready for spring. Unfortunately, two more storms are coming. Pretty soon we won't be able to shovel over the hills on our driveway. I guess if Congress ends up giving up a $1500 rebate, we could be good consumers and buy a snowthrower. But I'd rather spend the money on an elliptical machine.

Lastly, it's busy season. I've got a lot of work to do, and the commute is getting in the way. I may ask the boss if I can work from home one day a week.