Traffic for 2012 January

(2) Tue Jan 03 2012 23:10 the year wrung in: Poor Dalton is so sick. He just lays there, the poor thing, and wakes himself up with fits of coughing. I hope he feels better soon.

On the road again. Trying a new place to stay; the jury is still out. I guess if I'm honest with myself it's nicer than where I lived for 11 months in India...is that good enough though? I guess I've found my new go-to litmus test for everything in life.

I'm sad Christmas is over. It's a nice time of year. January, on the other hand, is normally NOT a nice time of the year. The older I get, the more I realize that Christmas can have a profound affect on a person; especially when one did Christmas the unconventional way the year before. But I'm also learning that each Christmas season hits me in different ways. This season I didn't care so much to watch Christmas shows; I didn't even crack open a few of them. But I did listen to more Christmas music and I did celebrate it more with the kids.

The older I get the tougher life gets and the more things like Christmas help make life fun. My kids make life a lot of fun, when I'm not worried about them getting sick or hurt or they aren't whining or complaining or costing me lots of money in diapers. I used to think it was holding onto the good moments that mattered, but now that I see how infrequent they come, I think it's finding the good in the tough times that really matter. Which is hard to do.

Thu Jan 12 2012 09:17 control geeks: Accountants are such control freaks.

I'm in Chicago mentoring the future of the profession this week. My co-instructor, from the University of Kentucky, wrote the textbook I used at BYU!

The weather here was mild until today. It's snowing. Less than an inch outside thus far, with less than eight inches total expected by tomorrow. To me, no big deal.

To my colleagues, however, boy are they worried about getting home tomorrow night. Never mind Chicago is a city prepared for snow, never mind an inch of snow is really not a big deal, never mind it has not turned to ice yet, never mind tomorrow is still too far away to predict what will happen, they are all extremely worried about spending the weekend stuck here.

I'm not at all worried about the snow. I think India really mellowed me.

(2) Tue Jan 24 2012 16:21 0.9 miles: In Irvine since Saturday the 14th. Will be here until I don't know when. Came down with the family but they left yesterday.

I'm staying about a mile from the office in an extended stay. The kitchen is nice because I don't have to eat out every meal but the clientele is unfortunate. I did not rent a car since we drove down but now I am carless in the automotive city. I walk to work (it's just a straight shot down the same street) and I am enjoying the exercise. Except on the rainy days, that is.

I'm working a lot so staying out of trouble but last night I had nothing to do while the laundry was doing it's thing, so I watched the FL debate. I wonder if I am the only Mormon that can't really relate to Romney. He seems like a nice enough guy; but he also seems out of touch. And he seems to contradict himself a lot. Looking at the pot of GOP hopefuls, I'm thinking the incumbent should do just fine, regardless of his approval rating.

Disneyland was a lot of fun with the kids on the weekend. Dalton loves Autopia, which he calls racing. He also loves Small World, Dumbo, and any train or boat ride. Maggie had her first experiences on Star Tours, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Soarin Over California, and the Hollywood Tower of Terror. She didn't care for Space Mountain or Tower of Terror, but she also didn't cry. She throws bigger fits about avoiding Peter Pan than those rides. She still thinks it's a scary ride, the little nut. She liked Splash Mountain with me but not Susie because she got soaking wet. Come to think of it, she liked most rides better with me.

We actually saw Peter Pan in person on the way to Star Tours, so of course I teased her about it. She closed her eyes until he was out of sight.

Star Tours is all new-fangled now. Each ride is different! It's a lot better than it used to be, back when I was so sick of it I stopped riding it.

The new Little Mermaid ride is fine for a kid's ride. Dalton really likes it a lot more than Maggie. Cars land will open this summer.

Just enjoying the sunshine today otherwise. Did I mention it's 70 degrees today?

(2) Fri Jan 27 2012 15:19 Calling Dr. Justin Call: Poor Maggie. She doesn't want to turn five. She doesn't want to grow up either. She basically has a Peter Pan complex. Except she's afraid of Peter Pan. So she also has Peter-Pan-phobia. That's a lot of disorders for such a little girl.

I'm coming home tonight (for two days)!

(1) Sun Jan 29 2012 16:23 little miss popular: Today I realized I haven't checked the kid's gmail accounts in years. Logged into Dalton's easily enough, just a bunch of mail from ING about his college fund.

Maggie's was another issue. I thought I signed her up as Margaret but couldn't log in. Apparently I set her up as Maggie and finally figured out the password and got in. Maggie had mail from all sorts of people, mostly people from Maine giving updates on really old relatives in rest homes. You would think when you don't get a reply in two years you would check the address you are using. But no. This lady also likes forwards.

Also an email from Aunt Ashley inviting Maggie to a Mary Kay party. And to submit her entry to some Fall Newsletter. Sigh. I better keep up on their accounts more frequently. At least I check their college funds more frequently.