Tis the Season - Fa La La La La La La La La

So, after reading my fellow blogger's thoughts and opinions, I felt compelled to share my thoughts and feelings around this magical season. I love being able to know that we celebrate this holiday for one single reason - the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, generally, I don't get spiritual, so I won't but I just want all to know that I am so grateful for the blessings in my life and the opportunities His life and death afford me.

Now that I've gotten the deep, heavy stuff out of the way, let's talk about the other things that really get me excited (more so than the Magic Bullet even). I love: the smell of pine, sugar cookies, krumkakes, having an excuse to wear pajamas into the afternoon, reading Christmas books to my children (especially the ones I was read as a child), knowing that I have time off of work, seeing the look on people's faces as they open presents, seeing the look on grandma Nome's face when a picture is taken, playing with the kids and all their new toys (and my toys too), having Christmas Eve dinner at the McIllece's, Christmas music, Christmas movies, and a plethora of other things that have anything to do with St. Nick, elves, Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius, tasty treats, and bright lights.

Mostly, I'm glad that I get to spend time with my loved ones.

"Fragile... must be Italian."

Gobble Gobble Mutha Trucka

Hello all - I have to say that this last week was a great time and that this time of year really does make you reflect on how good life is. I am SO thankful for my wife and kids, they bring such joy to my life. I'm thankful for the blessings the Lord has placed in my life.

I'm also thankful for things like good friends, and good times... cannoles, video games, the internet, bleach, hardware stores, dry humor, the magic bullet, salad spinners, saran wrap, heaters, hot showers, and countless other things that would continue to make this list longer than it needs to be.

Lastly, I am thankful that I got four days off work and didn't get a single work related phone call the entire time. Now I just need to take about a week and a half off for Christmas and life will be golden for 2007.

...young little whipper snappers able to run up and down hills. In my day, we didn't get to wear red because people thought you were a communist and from the Soviet Union...

Tagged by Emily

Here are the rules:#1. Rules of the game must be posted at the beginning.#2. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.#3. At the end of the post, the player then tags other people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

"Wrote a song about it, like to hear it, here it goes..."
1 - When I was in middle school I won the geography bee - booyah!
2 - I still have one baby tooth that does not want to let go.
3 - I like chick-flicks, it's true... I think it's the happy endings. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy bloodshed though.
4 - I start listening to Christmas music as soon as the radio begins playing it (I share this with Donny I just found out - rock on brutha!)
5 - I have 7 siblings, 3 brothers and 4 sisters.
6 - I have an addictive personality - things I am trying to satiate it with right now: fitness, eating healthier, energy sodas (kind of contradicts the one right before it, I know), game nights, and sex (just can't seem to get enough, or maybe just don't get it often enough to know if it's sated).

Well, there you go. I choose to tag Russ (Emily, please inform him that he needs to write some interesting things) and my brother-in-law Rick (give us real facts, not things like your adopted Turkish son).

Peace out!

FOUL!

So, this past weekend I celebrated 29 wonderful years on this planet. In those years I've been through quite a few things and consider myself fairly accomplished for my age. However, after meeting with the high councilman tonight, I now know that I am about to embark on a new journey wrought with intrigue, mystery, and sweaty people. Yes, it's true, I am now a stake referee for all men's, women's, and young adult's sport activities. I know, I know... how can someone who cusses in sports be called to this position? Well, my guess is humility and patience. Humility for controlling my language when people dare question my calls and patience for young people questioning my calls.

Well, not much else happening in life. Em - I still owe you 6 things for being "tagged". Look for them shortly...

Halloween & Beantown

Here's a quick update on the last couple of days from us. We had a good Halloween with the kids. Both Conner and Easton got to dress up in their costumes for school and they loved it. We carved pumpkins the night before with my sister Emily and her husband Eric. It's always fun to get together with them. I'd also have to say that we all did a pretty good job on our pumpkins (bet you can't guess which one I did).


As for "Bahstun", good ol' Beantown, it was a blast. If you've never been I highly recommend it, even if you're not a Patriots or Red Sox fan (which was also a great time of year to be there... Go Sox!). We stayed on the harbor and were able to walk everywhere, which took away some of the guilt of having so many cannolis from the world's best pastry shop. We did the Freedom Trail, saw the Patriots game, and basically did some serious relaxing. It was good to get away, but good to be back too. Here's a couple of pics... first one is at Paul Revere's house, the next is the view from our hotel.

What's your Pirate Name?

My pirate name is:

Iron Tom Bonney

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Just Something to Think About

It's Friday, it's been a long week, and I have hit a wall as far as trying to get motivated at work and kick some serious butt. So, what do I do to try and get over these humps? (Besides thinking about not doing them and what the consequences would be.) I walk away from my desk for a little bit, chit chat with some people, come back to my desk, sit down and.... watch TV shows online. What?!?! Were you expecting something more motivational?

Well, let me explain. By washing my brain completely of everything I was thinking of before, this allows me to "veg". Once I've had a good "vegging", I strap on my headphones, crank up some Jimi Hendrix, and pound out a good 30-45 minutes of work. Then the cycle repeats. WARNING - don't try this if you have specific goals to meet by the hour, or day. I can get away with this for two reasons: I'm much smarter than anyone else in my group and therefore good at what I do, and I can type and think really fast, so that 30-45 minutes of work actually equates to about 4 hours of someone else.

What's the point in this blog. Nothing... except maybe it gave you enough time to start clearing your head. Now, go here and finish the job, and then get back to work.

Nuff Said

When I arrived home yesterday from work I was greeted by a couple of wonderful things. One immediately upon walking into the door, and the other while I was preparing dinner for the fam. The first was a nice, odorous "poo" that Conner had left in the upstairs bathroom that clogged the toilet and had been waiting for me to plunge it out. (Thanks, son, now you get to watch and learn how to do this so I don't have to again).

The second was Easton holding his "pee" for so long while playing outside that when he was called inside for dinner and went to the bathroom, it couldn't wait the additional 12 inches to the toilet and he let it go all over the bathroom floor downstairs. At this point, trying to keep my cool because he likes to do this every once in a while, I merely send him upstairs to change while I start cleaning away.

So, all in all, kids are wonderful because they test your patience and give you the opportunity to teach them the lessons of life. I suppose they think these things are funny, because after all, who doesn't laugh when you say "poo"?

BTW, this photo is of toys made in the UK. Some people and their potty humor.

One Month Later...

Hola everyone, it's been a while since I've updated this blog. Needless to say we've been pretty busy around our house(s). We've finally got a place of our own again and are officially Rivertonians (or maybe it's Rivertonites). Regardless, we are SO excited to be in our new home and to be able to do our own things again. I will have to post some pics for peoples to see.

I think that within the next few weeks we are going to have to have a little shin dig and invite friends and family over to check it out. That is if I can actually get a hold of some stinking landscape guys to do some quick work.

On all other fronts life is pretty much the same. Michelle and I will be going to Boston at the end of the month to go to a Patriots game and check out the city. I can't wait... viva los Patriotos.

Well, work is calling... literally, who is this number?

When you're off, you're off

And man, we were off at last night's softball game. I added two beautiful errors, a catch I should've had but didn't go the right spot despite some direction, and two outs when up to bat (not strikeouts, I'm not that bad) to the display. Piss poor performance from me, and I apologize.

I've decided that after beating myself last night about it, that instead I would write this blog to help release some of the frustration. POOP!!! That helped too. I've also decided that perhaps you should always walk over and see how your spouse is after they've been pelted in the leg with a fast one off the bat. Otherwise, it's only going to come up later and at that point you can't say "walk it off" again.

The Ruckus - let's get past this one and rake the next team over the coals with our bats of vengeance and fury.

Out with the old...

So, my boss calls me last night and says that he's leaving to go work for Apple in their iPhone division. Cool for him, not so cool for me, because now I get to decide who and where I'd like to work again in eBay. talk about deja vu, I just did that at the beginning of the year.

All I can hope for is that I get to go to someone who knows what I've been working on for the past year, and they can appreciate my knowledge enough so I can get a raise come focal time in March. What a crapper!

Well, at least there's some softball tonight, unless we get rained out. (please no rain, I need this game)

To be continued on what happens to my life here at eBay...

Work Sucks A$$

So, if you couldn't tell by the title, I am back at work for the second day in a row and feeling like I wish I weren't here. People that were supposed to be working on things while I was gone decided that they didn't know how to do things and decided to wait almost 6 weeks to ask questions when I returned. Dumb asses, don't you know how to think by yourselves?!!!

Sorry for the vent. I was glad, however, to have gotten to play softball last night with the Ruckus and kick some trash. That made my day a little better.

Well, not much else going on. Just waiting for our house to finish getting built and to run the marathon relay in a couple of weeks.

TTYL

Back from the Wild...

Hola all -

Just got back from five days in the rugged backcountry of southeastern Idaho with the boys. My family meets up there every year to do a family campout. I tested my newly found dutch oven skills (and did pretty well) and got some good fishing in. That's a surprise to me since I usually don't do that well.

We also did some good hiking and 4-wheeling. Found some awesome trails that had some serious jumps and went into the woods quite a ways.

It rained the last night we were there, but it didn't dampen our fun and we still hung out around the fire in the drizzle and had a good time. Now it's rest for a couple of days and then I'm heading south with the boys again for another campout near Fairfield canyon. I just hope the fire going on down there isn't that close. I'll have to ask the guy we're going with (he's got some property we're using down there) to see how close it is.

All in all, the first week of this sabbatical has been pretty good. I haven't shaved in over a week and look pretty grizzly so far. (We'll see how long Michelle allows it to continue).

So, went on a good ride today on Wasatch Blvd. and around into Draper, etc. To those doing the Spudman, good luck, and when you feel good enough to ride/run again, just holla... I'm not doing anything.

TTYL

Only 3 Working Days Left

So, can I say that I am so excited, anxious, and just plain spaced out at work right now because all I can think of is having the next 6 weeks off of work - paid!

I start my sabbatical next Wednesday and don't go back to work until August 27th. I've got so much camping planned already that I'll be a regular lumberjack when I get back. Ol' Grizzly Adams.

Plus, I have to hurry and decide if I'm going to do the Park City half marathon on 8/25 - anyone interested in doing it with me?

Well, because I leave work so shortly, I have to abruptly end this little entry today and get back to work. I've only got 26 open action items to get done before next Tuesday. Although that sounds like a small number, I have to work with idiots to try and resolve them. Sometimes I feel like my sister who really does work with handis all day. Love ya Boo, you're a saint.

Geez - is it only 2:20 still, why won't that damn clock move faster.

I am NOT a Superhero

So, I am saddened that I didn't get to go on a ride Saturday morning, but Michelle is sort-of glad I stayed home that morning (plus, I'm not going to lie, I didn't even get out of bed until 8:30 after Michelle had been up that morning a few times - if you know what I mean).

However, later that morning, around 10:15 she felt a little better and I decided to go on a run. Mistake #1 - don't start a run near afternoon when it's already like 89 degrees outside. So, I got on my shoes and stuff and grabbed a bottle of water and headed out. Mistake #2 - take more than a bottle of water if you don't know how long you're going to run for. So, about 3.5 miles into the run and near the mouth of Little Cottonwood I am down to about two sips of water left, looking for people's sprinklers (I found an old lady's house getting watered and I thank her for watering when she's not supposed to), and decide to head down 94th. Mistake #3 - going farther than you're water supply can handle. So, needless to say, after running about 6.2 miles I get to the top of the street and have to walk (at this time it was 95 already - I saw it at the Walgreens). I go to the McIllece's neighbor, the Chards, all dripping in sweat and ask if I can jump in their pool. I grabbed the boys, jumped in, cooled off, and was basically wiped out for the day. Thank heaven for hose filled pools that are ice cold.

So, word to the wise - don't run in the afternoon when it's friggin' hot, take alot of water, and don't try and run uphill most of the way (it really drains your water and you).

High School Reunions

Last night Michelle and I went to our high school reunion - 10 years. We thought it was going to be horrible, but it turned out to be a little less so than we thought it would be. We paid for dinner but when we got there all the other people who hadn't paid had eaten it already. Thanks people for common courtesy (geez - I've gotten a heavy dose of people like that in the past 2 days).

Anywho, we stayed for about an hour and talked to the people we had remote interest in and then went to Porcupine for dinner with the people we still like and wanted to catch up with. It was only about 12 of us altogether. (I think that's a pretty good figure personally since my name tag for the night was "Dick").

I guess we'll see what all those people look like in another ten years...

I Love Fireworks

Spent yesterday, the fabulous 4th of July, by going to breakfast with our friends Greg and Chantel and their chit-lins, then we BBQ'd, hit the parade, and then watched fireworks. All in all, a grand day spent in the presence of family and complete weirdo strangers.

Speaking of - the stereo typical Mormon inbred family, and then their friends of the same stereotype, sat by us at the parade. Three floats in their children are all standing in front of us, scrambling for candy, and grabbing every flier as if they were playing supermarket scramble. It got worse when the mom actually gets up and runs over to pick up two otters pops that had been in the road a mere 15 seconds because they hadn't been snagged yet. I suppose they were working on their food storage, or that was their dinner. Needless to say, when the parade was over we were very happy to move our stuff and wait for the fireworks in peace.

I'd also like to voice my patriotism and thank all the service members of our armed forces for their dedication and commitment to making this the best damn country in the world. I love America, and I love people who stand up for it. So, to Kelly, Greg, Jeff, Jaren, and Brit (I mean Brett) - thanks! You rock.

Day 3 of Lots of Work

Today is day 3 of me having to watch the kids while Michelle is out of town. And while Michelle's parents have been around a bit, I am still at that point where I know she does stuff harder than me all day (albeit not as stressful, but definitely harder). I will be glad when she is back and when I can go back to work.

Also, the other countdown is that I have 2 1/2 weeks of work left before my 6 week sabbatical starts. That's 11 days (thank you 4th of July) of having to fix other people's problems before I can relax in wilderness for a while.

Well, kids are fighting and emails are coming in... how is it possible to work from home I ask?

TTYL