October 30
Dear Mojo
When Austin was born in 1999, it was right during the time when ‘Austin Powers’ movies were quite the hit. At that time, my friends from Microsoft dubbed Austin ‘Mojo’ since that was something Austin Powers apparently had plenty of. The moniker has stuck, and I often call Austin by this nickname. Austin just turned 9 a couple of weeks ago, and I have rededicated myself to writing each of my children a ‘birthday letter’ (10/12/2008)
Dear Austin,
Congratulations on your ninth year! You are my favorite guy in the whole world. I love hanging out with you. We went on a few fishing trips this year, and I can see your excitement to be out in nature. It is a blast playing soccer with you. We had a number of matches in the front yard, and you are already getting too fast for me to keep up with you. I love the passion and intensity that you play with. We all love watching you play so well in your games and scoring a few ‘hat tricks’ in the process. I am so glad sports are such a big part of your life. It is so important to have those types of activities in your life that will help keep you healthy and fit.
You started up in cub scouts this past year, and are doing a wonderful job. You cruised right through your Bobcat and received your Wolf badge last summer. You also did great in getting your gold arrow point along with 6 silver arrow points. I remember your den leader, Sister Angel being so amazed at how much work you did before the pack meeting we had down at dash point. You had a whole bag of awards all for yourself-- There were all of the arrow points, a conservation badge, and about 8 belt slides! To add onto all of that, you also took first place in the Pinewood Derby and in the Raingutter Regata. You already have more scouting trophies in one year than I received in my whole life! ;) It was so fun spending the time with you to make your pinewood derby car and your raingutter regatta boat and then seeing you perform so well in the events. I am surely looking forward to the scouting years to come and know that with your drive and dedication that you will surely achieve all of the honors scouting has in store for you.
You really excelled this past year in your schooling. I loved seeing you cruise through seventy-something AR tests (Accelerated Reader)during your 2nd grade of school. It is great that you are a voracious reader. Books will be there throughout your life to take you on many great adventures. This year, you have started up in a GATE class (Gifted and Talented Education). It seemed a bit rough at first as you were not accustomed to the workload and being on the young end of the multi-age class (3-5th grade), but you are picking up steam and doing well. I love to read the stories that you write—they are so creative. You have also been excited about learning the recorder. You have already passed off your first two belts in ‘recorder karate’ (not sure what color they are.)
You are still a gaming maniac. You love playing on the Wii, DS and Xbox 360, and have been playing “Line Rider’ on the PC a lot as well. I like our multiplayer battles on the consoles. You hold your own very well, and have gotten way farther than me on Guitar Hero (even though you play it on your lap). For your birthday, you got a LineRider game for the Wii and a Kirby game for your DS. You also got a cool RC car that actually drives on the wall! (mom doesnt seem quite so crazy about it though :)) It is called a ‘Zero Gravity’ car and uses a vacuum to stick to the wall, and even the ceiling if it is smooth enough. Fun stuff! For your birthday, you went with a bunch of friends down to play lazer tag. It was great to see you and and a couple of your friends gang up on the teenagers in the arena and give them a taste of their own medicine. :)
You are an incredible young man. You are kind to your sisters and work hard at jobs around the house. You even weeded the back hillside practically by yourself last summer. When you set your mind to something, you do not stop until you get it. You are so funny and crack me up all the time. I love to wrestle with you and put you in the ‘scissor lock’. Thank you for being such a fine son and bringing such happiness into our lives.
Love, Dad
Dear Austin,
Congratulations on your ninth year! You are my favorite guy in the whole world. I love hanging out with you. We went on a few fishing trips this year, and I can see your excitement to be out in nature. It is a blast playing soccer with you. We had a number of matches in the front yard, and you are already getting too fast for me to keep up with you. I love the passion and intensity that you play with. We all love watching you play so well in your games and scoring a few ‘hat tricks’ in the process. I am so glad sports are such a big part of your life. It is so important to have those types of activities in your life that will help keep you healthy and fit.
You started up in cub scouts this past year, and are doing a wonderful job. You cruised right through your Bobcat and received your Wolf badge last summer. You also did great in getting your gold arrow point along with 6 silver arrow points. I remember your den leader, Sister Angel being so amazed at how much work you did before the pack meeting we had down at dash point. You had a whole bag of awards all for yourself-- There were all of the arrow points, a conservation badge, and about 8 belt slides! To add onto all of that, you also took first place in the Pinewood Derby and in the Raingutter Regata. You already have more scouting trophies in one year than I received in my whole life! ;) It was so fun spending the time with you to make your pinewood derby car and your raingutter regatta boat and then seeing you perform so well in the events. I am surely looking forward to the scouting years to come and know that with your drive and dedication that you will surely achieve all of the honors scouting has in store for you.
You really excelled this past year in your schooling. I loved seeing you cruise through seventy-something AR tests (Accelerated Reader)during your 2nd grade of school. It is great that you are a voracious reader. Books will be there throughout your life to take you on many great adventures. This year, you have started up in a GATE class (Gifted and Talented Education). It seemed a bit rough at first as you were not accustomed to the workload and being on the young end of the multi-age class (3-5th grade), but you are picking up steam and doing well. I love to read the stories that you write—they are so creative. You have also been excited about learning the recorder. You have already passed off your first two belts in ‘recorder karate’ (not sure what color they are.)
You are still a gaming maniac. You love playing on the Wii, DS and Xbox 360, and have been playing “Line Rider’ on the PC a lot as well. I like our multiplayer battles on the consoles. You hold your own very well, and have gotten way farther than me on Guitar Hero (even though you play it on your lap). For your birthday, you got a LineRider game for the Wii and a Kirby game for your DS. You also got a cool RC car that actually drives on the wall! (mom doesnt seem quite so crazy about it though :)) It is called a ‘Zero Gravity’ car and uses a vacuum to stick to the wall, and even the ceiling if it is smooth enough. Fun stuff! For your birthday, you went with a bunch of friends down to play lazer tag. It was great to see you and and a couple of your friends gang up on the teenagers in the arena and give them a taste of their own medicine. :)
You are an incredible young man. You are kind to your sisters and work hard at jobs around the house. You even weeded the back hillside practically by yourself last summer. When you set your mind to something, you do not stop until you get it. You are so funny and crack me up all the time. I love to wrestle with you and put you in the ‘scissor lock’. Thank you for being such a fine son and bringing such happiness into our lives.
Love, Dad
October 24
Kosuke
Gotta love Facebook. I received a friend request a few days ago from Kosuke Akagi, who was a missionary that I worked with in Japan. He was in my first area of Izumi, and a good friend. He spoke English very well since he had studied in America for a while. It was very helpful, as a Green Bean to have a native speaker there who could help me along. He now lives in Osaka and has a family of six. It was cool to chat with him for a bit through Facebook IM and see what he is up to now. (He seemed surprised that I still have a decent retention of Japanese ;)) Along with Kosuke, there are multiple other good friends from my past who have sprung up on Facebook. I have been able to catch up with Andy Bingham, who I knew from Brookwood and Albion Jr. High, Eric Rigby, from Holliday, who was in our ward and we were on the soccer team together, Erik Berge, from Willow Creek (elementary and Jr. High), and John Robbins, who I also knew from Albion Jr. High. Amazingly enough, John is now living in Seattle too and we will be getting together for lunch sometime soon. Along with this is the great chance to keep up with many relatives who I hardly have a chance to see anymore. With Facebook, it is like a mini twenty year reunion everyday! Good stuff!
October 22
8 Things Tag from Stacy
Per the instructions on the bottom of my cousin Stacy’s blog—since I replied to her post, I need to blog my responses:
8 TV shows I like to watch:
1. Prison Break
2. Heroes
3. The Office
4. My Name is Earl
5. The Amazing Race
6. Seinfeld (yep. still watching. gotta love syndication)
7. Man vs. Wild
8. Crusoe
8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Read ‘Queste’
2. Wrote Automation at work
3. Wore my earmuffs in the morning because it was sooo cold
4. Watched an episode of ‘The Flintstones’ on my Sansa on the way home
5. Ate yakisoba in the car while going to pick up Austin from his ‘Tech Start’ class.
6. Took Austin to soccer practice—watched his intensity in scrimmage.
7. Went on a visit for EQ to the Joak family. Met their tall, basketball playin’ boys
8. Listened to Jaylin read me a bedtime story.
8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. College basketball season starting – UW basketball should be WAY better than football this year—not hard to beat a 0% winning percentage…
2. Getting books in the mail from Bookmooch.com
3. Training for a 5K with the family
4. Halloween. Taking the kids around, then mooching their best candy. (Thats my second ‘mooch’ in the top 4—you can see I like getting things for free! ;))
5. Getting the next movie from Netflix (You dont mess with the Zohan)
6. Soccer Games on Saturday
7. Sisters Kelly and Ashley coming down to watch said soccer games. Going out to lunch with them in between games.
8. Going out to lunch today with LeAnn. She has an errand in Seattle, and will come pick me up.
8 things on my wish list:
1. Go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant (With Niagara Falls thrown in as a bonus)
2. Go tour Italy with LeAnn
3. Eternal life with my family (swiped from Stacy… :))
4. Make it through that 5K without my knee swelling up like a grapefruit
5. For my family to be healthy and happy
6. To keep my extended family working on Family History
7. Plan a nice trip for LeAnn an my 15th anniversary next summer
8. Keep Japanese language retention through continual study
8 TV shows I like to watch:
1. Prison Break
2. Heroes
3. The Office
4. My Name is Earl
5. The Amazing Race
6. Seinfeld (yep. still watching. gotta love syndication)
7. Man vs. Wild
8. Crusoe
8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Read ‘Queste’
2. Wrote Automation at work
3. Wore my earmuffs in the morning because it was sooo cold
4. Watched an episode of ‘The Flintstones’ on my Sansa on the way home
5. Ate yakisoba in the car while going to pick up Austin from his ‘Tech Start’ class.
6. Took Austin to soccer practice—watched his intensity in scrimmage.
7. Went on a visit for EQ to the Joak family. Met their tall, basketball playin’ boys
8. Listened to Jaylin read me a bedtime story.
8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. College basketball season starting – UW basketball should be WAY better than football this year—not hard to beat a 0% winning percentage…
2. Getting books in the mail from Bookmooch.com
3. Training for a 5K with the family
4. Halloween. Taking the kids around, then mooching their best candy. (Thats my second ‘mooch’ in the top 4—you can see I like getting things for free! ;))
5. Getting the next movie from Netflix (You dont mess with the Zohan)
6. Soccer Games on Saturday
7. Sisters Kelly and Ashley coming down to watch said soccer games. Going out to lunch with them in between games.
8. Going out to lunch today with LeAnn. She has an errand in Seattle, and will come pick me up.
8 things on my wish list:
1. Go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant (With Niagara Falls thrown in as a bonus)
2. Go tour Italy with LeAnn
3. Eternal life with my family (swiped from Stacy… :))
4. Make it through that 5K without my knee swelling up like a grapefruit
5. For my family to be healthy and happy
6. To keep my extended family working on Family History
7. Plan a nice trip for LeAnn an my 15th anniversary next summer
8. Keep Japanese language retention through continual study
October 20
In the dark
As I usually leave quite early to work in the morning. I try to be as quiet and have everything ready to go the night before. I put all of my clothes in the bathroom and have my wallet, phone, keys, etc. ready on my bedside table. This morning. I slept in a bit and ended up hitting the showers about the same time as Autumn was getting ready for school. After getting ready I will turn off the light in the bathroom and emerge into the bedroom where I make my way around the bed to say goodbye to LeAnn. This morning there was another voice I heard as I came out. It was Autumn sitting in bed with LeAnn. Then she started making fun of me because I couldnt see when coming out into the dark room! She says: “Look mom, he cant see” (their eyes were adjusted to the dark). “Wow, he looks like an old man!” and “Maybe we should get him a cane!” So, I shuffled my way over there and tried to grab her in the dark. She thought she was so funny… (Well, I guess maybe it was. :))
October 17
People watching on the bus
Usually on the bus ride home from work I am pretty involved in reading books. I just completed reading Brisingr, which was great. That one kept me up late a few nights as I was absorbed into the plot of the book. I started a new one yesterday called ‘Queste’. It hasnt quite hooked me in yet so I did not read it on the way home. Instead, I watched a couple of cartoons on my Sansa. I watched a couple of Tom and Jerry clips for about 15 minutes or so. After finishing, I started to people watch. Usually, at that point of the ride, about 50 percent of the people have drifted off to sleep. There are about 30% who are reading, and the other 20 are just staring vacantly into space or out the window. I was sitting on a bench near the front which faces the opposite side of the bus instead of the normal rows. I watched as right across from me there was a small guy who probably weighed about 120, was sitting there and then there was a space between him and another lady—so usually space for three people. At the last stop before leaving Seattle, about 5 more people got on. At this time, the bus was a bit crowded, but there were still at least 15 seats left. One of those five people was a very large lady that must have come in at 280 or so. I watched as she squished herself in between this guy and the other lady. As he was sitting next to an arm rest, it was like a wedge was being driven between him and the other lady. I saw his eyes get bigger, and by the time she finally parked it, he was smushed over and leaning to his right about 20 degrees because there was nowhere else for him to go. I thought he would get up and move to a row where the two seaters were open, but he stayed right there. That would have made me very uncomfortable being wedged in like that. (Actually, I am lucky to be a big guy on the bus because often times that leaves me more room as people that get on would rather find a seat next to a small man or woman where there is more room.) At any rate, that guy and the large lady were a couple of the ‘sleepers’. The close proximity to each other didnt seem to bother either of them—maybe it made it even more comfortable? Then about five minutes before getting home, I looked over at the guy again and saw that his mouth was wide open as he slept. The next second this HUGE string of drool came dripping out of his mouth! Ack! He felt it come out and wiped up after himself and looked around sheepishly. I feigned ignorance as he cleaned up after himself. It turned out to be one of those times where I wish I had been reading my book…
October 13
Feed me
Yesterday in Gospel Doctrine, Cory Smith was commenting on how his children often come to him and ask him to make them something to eat. He talked about how they knew how to do this by themselves, but would still come to him anyway. I mentioned that I had the exact same thing happen to me with Jaylin that morning. Jaylin asked me a couple of times if I could make her something for lunch. As it was a fast Sunday, and I wasnt particularly interested in going into a tempting kitchen, I asked her to go make a sandwich for herself. She left, but never ended up doing it herself. (I ended up throwing some ramen in the microwave for her a bit later) Cory went on to explain that in a similar manner, we, as adults, often go to Father in Heaven asking for him to give us a “Spiritual Experience”.
It is something we should know how to do for ourselves, but we usually want it to be ‘given to us’ without putting in the required effort. Even though we are older and more learned, we often act just like our children in many aspects of life.
It is something we should know how to do for ourselves, but we usually want it to be ‘given to us’ without putting in the required effort. Even though we are older and more learned, we often act just like our children in many aspects of life.
October 10
106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions - CNN.com
I’ve got two years to start saving up for one of these bad boys…
106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions - CNN.com
106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions - CNN.com
Miller Times – September, 2008
Ahhh. Back to school. The parents have a big sigh of relief. The kids have a big groan of angst. Autumn actually lucked out a bit, and her school started a week late. The TAF Academy (Technology Access Foundation Academy) is a newly implemented program in our area where the students have technology driven curriculum. Each student gets their own laptop, and Autumn has already created a number of PowerPoint presentations and is tracking homework assignments online. She was very excited to start the program and has enjoyed it very much. Initially it was a hard decision for her not to go to regular middle school with the majority of her friends, but she is pleased with her choice now.
Austin started in GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) class for 3rd grade, and although his workload has increased significantly, he is excelling there as well. This is a multi-grade class which has about 10 students from 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. We just heard from his teacher that he is excelling there as well and just tested at a reading level of 7.4. Maybe we should have him skip a few grades? ;)
Jaylin started up in 1st grade and is also in a K-1-2 class. She is working hard and becoming quite a reader as well. I understand that oftentimes, she asks to complete the work that is given to the second graders as well as her own grade level work. Each of the kids is very tired after having to adjust their schedules and start waking up earlier.
Soccer started up again for Austin and Jaylin. Both are doing very well. Austin’s team is undefeated, and for the first time in three years Todd is not coaching. I feel a bit out of place on the sidelines now, but that doesnt keep me from yelling instructions out. :) Of course, their practices fall on the same days at the same time, so LeAnn and I go to separate practice sites on alternate days. I take Austin on Tuesday and Jaylin on Thursdays. Luckily, their game sites are only about 5 minutes apart, so if their games are close to the same time, we can get to both of them.
LeAnn had a busy month with canning salsa (which is some of the best I have ever tasted!) with her mom, joined a bookclub with some ladies from our ward, and then took a 5 day trip to Arizona to go to her cousins wedding. I survived as Mr. Mom during that time by getting plenty of help from our friends (ahh, just like the Beatles song—”I get by with a little help from my friends” ;) who picked up the kids after school and took care of them until I got back from work. We definitely missed LeAnn. A LOT! One night, as I was talking with Austin about missing LeAnn, he said, “Dad, You’re doing good – So far, the house hasnt caught on fire!” The next morning, Jaylin came in around 6:45. I guess she is not up-to-speed on my Saturday morning rule—Dont come into our room, just go straight downstairs and watch TV.But she is pretty cute, so I let it slide. She had brought in her little pink purse which she has stuffed with various nick-knacks. I started to tease and tickle her. To that she backed away a few steps and held out her purse. Then in a funny, mock threatening voice she said, “Dad! I have a purse, and I’m not afraid to use it!” Our kids are whizzes with the one-liners.
LeAnn and Todd went on a couple of fun dates during September. We went to a Mariners game one afternoon and saw them break their 10 game losing streak (That was quite a treat!) and the weather was perfect for baseball in the open-air stadium. The following week I had gotten us tickets to the Beach Boys concert--Yes, they are still alive and kicking! A friend at work mentioned how he had gone to see them in concert in Seattle about 20 years ago. :) LeAnn drove up and picked me up from work at 5:30. We went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the International district called Koharu. The food was ‘amari oishikunai’ (not so tasty) this time and will likely be the last time I go there. I ordered the sukiyaki, which is usually one of my favorites, but the meat was pretty low quality. We finished there about 6:30 and then walked down to Safeco field (The Mariners baseball stadium) where the concert was to be held. We were on the 300 level, and stopped to watch the sunset go down over the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. It was a beautiful night. Of course, they made fun of their age a number of times. Once, after a couple of songs, Mike Love said “We are going to take and intermission now.” paused for a few seconds, then said “we need to go backstage to take a nap!” That brought a good chuckle from the crowd. Overall they sounded good, and had a few younger helpers sing some of their old classics. We heard ‘Surfin USA’, California Girls," "Kokomo, and many others that everyone knows well and would sing along to. It was a fun night to spend with LeAnn.
Austin started in GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) class for 3rd grade, and although his workload has increased significantly, he is excelling there as well. This is a multi-grade class which has about 10 students from 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. We just heard from his teacher that he is excelling there as well and just tested at a reading level of 7.4. Maybe we should have him skip a few grades? ;)
Jaylin started up in 1st grade and is also in a K-1-2 class. She is working hard and becoming quite a reader as well. I understand that oftentimes, she asks to complete the work that is given to the second graders as well as her own grade level work. Each of the kids is very tired after having to adjust their schedules and start waking up earlier.
Soccer started up again for Austin and Jaylin. Both are doing very well. Austin’s team is undefeated, and for the first time in three years Todd is not coaching. I feel a bit out of place on the sidelines now, but that doesnt keep me from yelling instructions out. :) Of course, their practices fall on the same days at the same time, so LeAnn and I go to separate practice sites on alternate days. I take Austin on Tuesday and Jaylin on Thursdays. Luckily, their game sites are only about 5 minutes apart, so if their games are close to the same time, we can get to both of them.
LeAnn had a busy month with canning salsa (which is some of the best I have ever tasted!) with her mom, joined a bookclub with some ladies from our ward, and then took a 5 day trip to Arizona to go to her cousins wedding. I survived as Mr. Mom during that time by getting plenty of help from our friends (ahh, just like the Beatles song—”I get by with a little help from my friends” ;) who picked up the kids after school and took care of them until I got back from work. We definitely missed LeAnn. A LOT! One night, as I was talking with Austin about missing LeAnn, he said, “Dad, You’re doing good – So far, the house hasnt caught on fire!” The next morning, Jaylin came in around 6:45. I guess she is not up-to-speed on my Saturday morning rule—Dont come into our room, just go straight downstairs and watch TV.But she is pretty cute, so I let it slide. She had brought in her little pink purse which she has stuffed with various nick-knacks. I started to tease and tickle her. To that she backed away a few steps and held out her purse. Then in a funny, mock threatening voice she said, “Dad! I have a purse, and I’m not afraid to use it!” Our kids are whizzes with the one-liners.
LeAnn and Todd went on a couple of fun dates during September. We went to a Mariners game one afternoon and saw them break their 10 game losing streak (That was quite a treat!) and the weather was perfect for baseball in the open-air stadium. The following week I had gotten us tickets to the Beach Boys concert--Yes, they are still alive and kicking! A friend at work mentioned how he had gone to see them in concert in Seattle about 20 years ago. :) LeAnn drove up and picked me up from work at 5:30. We went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the International district called Koharu. The food was ‘amari oishikunai’ (not so tasty) this time and will likely be the last time I go there. I ordered the sukiyaki, which is usually one of my favorites, but the meat was pretty low quality. We finished there about 6:30 and then walked down to Safeco field (The Mariners baseball stadium) where the concert was to be held. We were on the 300 level, and stopped to watch the sunset go down over the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. It was a beautiful night. Of course, they made fun of their age a number of times. Once, after a couple of songs, Mike Love said “We are going to take and intermission now.” paused for a few seconds, then said “we need to go backstage to take a nap!” That brought a good chuckle from the crowd. Overall they sounded good, and had a few younger helpers sing some of their old classics. We heard ‘Surfin USA’, California Girls," "Kokomo, and many others that everyone knows well and would sing along to. It was a fun night to spend with LeAnn.
October 09
Football
Yep, Im still bitter that American Football stole the term ‘Football’ from American ‘soccer’ players. I played soccer basically year round from the time I was 5 until graduating from High School. It never made sense to me that a sport where they use their feet about 2 percent of the time could get away with calling themselves football. There were plenty of my friends that played football that made fun of soccer players – not physical enough, etc. Then we would run circles around them in pickup football games… ;)
Speaking of Futbol, Austin had a great game last Saturday, the 4th of October. He was a bit sluggish at first, and the other team got off to a quick 1-0 lead. About ten minutes later, Jarun, who I like to call the Tornado, because he is fast and bounces around so quick, popped one in to tie the game. It was tied at half time. The other team was a bit bigger than us and had been knocking our guys around pretty good. Austin takes it pretty well to a point, then he starts to get MAD. I can see the switch turn in his eyes and he starts to get more aggressive. In the second half, their big fullback, who is 5 inches taller and probably 50 pounds bigger than any of the boys out there rammed through Austin pretty hard and it was quite flagrant. (He usually gets attacked harder because he can dribble around most players with ease). Austin was really upset after that hit and just limped off the field. He had the wind knocked out of him. LeAnn and I told him he couldnt just walk off the field like that—that he needed to tell his coach that he needs to come out. After that, the other coach took his hitman out of the game, and Austin ended up composing himself and going back in. It was amazing to see his intensity as they were down 2-1 at that point. A couple of minutes later, he took a cross and juked it past the goalie. He really knows how to play the angles well. Then five minutes later he dribbled through basically their whole team and nailed another one in to take the lead. It seems he can just flip a switch and score at will. It was a great performance and fun to see the come-from-behind win!
Speaking of Futbol, Austin had a great game last Saturday, the 4th of October. He was a bit sluggish at first, and the other team got off to a quick 1-0 lead. About ten minutes later, Jarun, who I like to call the Tornado, because he is fast and bounces around so quick, popped one in to tie the game. It was tied at half time. The other team was a bit bigger than us and had been knocking our guys around pretty good. Austin takes it pretty well to a point, then he starts to get MAD. I can see the switch turn in his eyes and he starts to get more aggressive. In the second half, their big fullback, who is 5 inches taller and probably 50 pounds bigger than any of the boys out there rammed through Austin pretty hard and it was quite flagrant. (He usually gets attacked harder because he can dribble around most players with ease). Austin was really upset after that hit and just limped off the field. He had the wind knocked out of him. LeAnn and I told him he couldnt just walk off the field like that—that he needed to tell his coach that he needs to come out. After that, the other coach took his hitman out of the game, and Austin ended up composing himself and going back in. It was amazing to see his intensity as they were down 2-1 at that point. A couple of minutes later, he took a cross and juked it past the goalie. He really knows how to play the angles well. Then five minutes later he dribbled through basically their whole team and nailed another one in to take the lead. It seems he can just flip a switch and score at will. It was a great performance and fun to see the come-from-behind win!
The Professor
LeAnn’s older sister, Leslee, was up here last weekend to present a paper at the University of Washington. Leslee is a professor of Victorian Literature at BYU. We were excited that we would get a chance to see her and LeAnn and I worked it out so we could go and listen to her presentation at the UW. On Friday, the 3rd, LeAnn picked me up at 2:30 and we drove up to the campus. I had printed out a map so we knew exactly where we were going. I graduated from the UW in ‘96, but had few chances to go to the main campus as the classes I took were at a branch campus in Bothell. I had been there a few times for study groups and such though. The lecture was in the Husky Union Building (HUB) and we found it without too much trouble. We arrived a bit early and grabbed a bagel sandwich for LeAnn, who hadnt had lunch yet. It was kind of fun to be on campus with all of the hustle and bustle of academia all around you. We then went upstairs and found the room where Professor Thorne-Murphy was presenting. It was like meeting a celebrity! :) She introduced us to a couple of other people there and we took our seats. The first lecture was by a professor from the University of San Diego. He talked about an English Philosopher, John Stuart Mill. I hadnt heard of him before, but the professor handed out his paper to all of those in attendance, so I got a better feel for his philosophies after browsing through that. He spoke for 15 minutes and then it was Leslee’s turn. She talked initially talked about Victorian Bazaars in the mid 1800s. From there, she segued into a particular author, Harriet Martineau, who had written a book called Dawn Island, which she printed and sold at the bazaar. As Leslee was discussing this, I went to my smart phone and googled ‘Dawn Island’. It pulled up a result in Google Books, which I showed LeAnn as I knew she was curious to read the book in the future as well. Leslee did a great job and kept the participants interested in her presentation. She has a great tone of voice and style which is easy to listen to. After her, there was another professor who talked about religion during that era. (This one almost put me to sleep – just like in the old days.) Afterwards, we found a lounge nearby where we chatted for a bit. Leslee was staying there to listen to another presentation from one of her colleagues. LeAnn and I then left to go pick up her brother Alan, who lives nearby campus on Capitol Hill. The three siblings were planning to go out to dinner when Leslee finished. I was planning on getting back home to be with the kids, who Autumn had been watching since after school. After we got Alan, we drove toward where a bus stop was so I could catch a ride back home. As we got closer to the stop, we saw the bus I needed to get on coming toward us from the opposite direction. As soon as we saw it, Alan said to LeAnn, “Flip a U’ey, and follow it!” Great idea. We turned around and followed it for about 5 blocks before it stopped. I jumped out and was able to get on the bus and head back home. It all worked out quite well.
Shattered
Last Saturday, October 4th, we had some crazy weather come whipping through the Puget Sound. I had gone out in the garage to get something and looked out into the front yard. It was literally raining sideways. A moment later, I heard a scream from LeAnn in the kitchen. I ran back in to see if she was OK and she exclaimed that the patio table on our back porch had just shattered. I went to look through the back window and saw a huge pile of shattered glass from the patio table top spread out all over the patio. The strong wind had picked up the still-opened table umbrella and literally ripped it through the glass table top which the post went through into the umbrella stand. The umbrella had then been blown back across the yard. LeAnn was quite upset as this was a nice patio set that I had given her for her birthday a few years ago. Now we have to figure out if we should try to replace the glass top, or if it will be more economical to just buy a new table next spring. I also mentioned that we could just nail down a nice piece of plywood on top…. :) (LeAnn didnt think that was too funny)
Played
Just found out this morning that I got played by six year old Jaylin last night. LeAnn, Autumn and Austin were gone at the church for Young Women’s, Young Women’s camp prep and cub scouts. So I told Jaylin that we would go to the library as I needed to take a book back and pick another up that I had on hold. Before we left, Jaylin asked me if she could get her own library card. Without much thought, I figured that wouldnt be a bad idea, and reviewed with her the responsibilities she would have as a card owner—that she would need to take care of not losing her card and also making sure she got the books back on time, and that if she lost one, she would be responsible for paying for it. She nodded her head in excited agreement. She was SOOOO excited. We got there and filled out the form for her. She chose a mini purple card that attaches to a stretchy keyring that can go on your wrist. She was absolutely beaming. She found a Dr. Seuss book and checked it out all by herself. Everything was perfect….
THEN, this morning I got a call from LeAnn. Unbeknownst to me, she had had the Library Card discussion with Jaylin a number of times previously. Apparently, Jaylin has had a problem with not keeping good track of the books that she had checked out from the school library. A couple had been lost by her. She had told Jaylin that until she could prove that she was responsible for taking care of the books she checked out at school, that she would not be getting a public library card. So, Jaylin got busted this morning when she proudly announced to everyone that she got a library card with dad last night.
Parents, watch out for these young manipulators-- We are surrounded by them!
THEN, this morning I got a call from LeAnn. Unbeknownst to me, she had had the Library Card discussion with Jaylin a number of times previously. Apparently, Jaylin has had a problem with not keeping good track of the books that she had checked out from the school library. A couple had been lost by her. She had told Jaylin that until she could prove that she was responsible for taking care of the books she checked out at school, that she would not be getting a public library card. So, Jaylin got busted this morning when she proudly announced to everyone that she got a library card with dad last night.
Parents, watch out for these young manipulators-- We are surrounded by them!
October 03
Racing the Train
We just moved to a new office building that is south of downtown Seattle (SODO). I am now adjusting to a bit of a new bus schedule since I have to walk a bit farther and contend with busier cross-streets. Where it took me about five minutes to walk to my stop after work from Pioneer Square, now it will take me at least 10. Yesterday, as I was working my way over to the stop, the gates were down across the train tracks. I saw that the train was stopped further north on the tracks and wasnt moving. Stupid that it was just sitting there blocking traffic. I waited for about 3 minutes while it stayed put. I was already pushing missing the bus, and didnt know how much longer it would sit there in its stupor, so I mad a run for it. I crossed the first three sets of tracks, then right as I ran across the last set of tracks, the train blasted its whistle at me. I just about lost my beans. Freaked me out—it was SOOOO loud. I heard it start to move at that point, so I wasnt sure whether the whistle was meant specifically for me, or just a general “Get ready, here I come!!” whistle. Either way, I got quite a shot of adrenaline. Then, for good measure, it blasted its darn whistle about 5 more times, just to annoy everyone in the vicinity.
