Leaving

I have a nephew leaving on a mission today! I am taking my wife out to be with the family so she can go down with them to say good-bye. What a wonderful yet poignant time for them. I remember when my oldest left, wonderful and now that my youngest boy is preparing to go, I am so excited for him. It will be tough to lose his presence for a couple of years but there is nothing better that he could be doing at this stage of his life to make him a better person, father, son, student, friend and servant. It is an incredible and blessed time in the lives of those who choose to serve. I made my ride this morning on a full 17 for ride in the part rather than bump it half way through the mini hills. I can feel it a bit and I know I went farther and burned more calories and I feel good. Work is progressing. It looks like we might be making some progress with some larger accounts/customers in the valley. Fabulous! My 2nd assistant and I went on visits last night (my secretary and 1st assistant had other commitments on a Tuesday rather than our normal Wednesday visits) and had a wonderful time with a couple of our brethren. I really enjoy my calling. I hope I am able to touch lives and affect people by being a worthy representative of my Elder Brother. I love Him. I want to serve Him always and I can do that best by leaving my carnal self behind. Life and progress is about leaving.

Blowing

The wind is and has been blowing all night. Out basement (where we have our bedroom) is not the most airtight place in the house and I have been up, off and on, for most of the night listening to the wind howling and blowing. It whistles down here when it blows real hard and that was what kept awakening me all night. I woke up at least 5 times. Needless to say, I am not the most rested of individuals right now but I did get my ride in and it was a good one. I helped a daughter with a resume last night. She is looking for something that pays more. I can't say as I blame her for wanting more money but there is a LOT to be said for having really good insurance and being close to where one lives. She can walk to work if she wants. Gas and parking and time also play a huge role where one works. My work is going well. I think we have completed, and then some, our attendance for the IICRC certification that we are having in a couple of weeks. I just finish one big project and we have another one. What was I thinking?!?!?!?! Regardless, I got the place reserved in Ogden and it will be successful. Not because I am doing it but because we have a great presenter and the people coming are top notch. Life is good and things are blowing the right direction.

push

It's amazing what happens when we push ourselves, or, rather, in particular, what happens when I push myself. I bumped my riding level 1 this morning on my "Ride in the Park" from 16 to 17 as I entered the "climbing" stage (I used that term loosely because it's not really a climb but a sustained small up and down but the hardest portion of the ride, it is, afterall, called "Ride in the Park") and my heart rate got up to 158 and I was able to add an extra 2 tenths of a mile that that ride. Doesn't sound like much but it is at the end of a ride. Anyway, I am dripping and it feels good and I feel accomplished for my ride this morning. I started off at 10 just to let you know and I am at least at Level 14 on all the other rides except for "Pike's Peak" which I haven't done yet because I would be/am too noisy in the morning and I don't want to disturb my wife. On another note, I had Stake Priesthood last night and the Stake President spoke of a training they attended with President Packer and Elders Nelson and Ballard. Bishops and Stake Presidents were there. Elder Nelson asked all the Bishops to stand and he then asked them how many of them were dealing with the problem of pornography in their ward. If anyone wasn't, to please sit down. NONE sat down. He then asked how many had 2 or less, again, no one sat down. 3 or less, a few, very few sat down. He got up to 7 and approximately 60% of the bishops were still standing! I am amazed and saddened by that. I guess the computer, internet and our phones bring whatever we allow into our homes and lives. Our children have such challenges as we never did. I had magazines (they were put away and hard to access) but we, today, have it at our fingertips and can access it at any time we desire. The adversary is loose and rejoicing in his success. It is imperative that we have the computer in open areas, visible to everyone, we set limits on our and our children's phones and that we be ever vigilant. If we don't continue to push the evil one away we will be the ones that are pushed over the edge until it is everlastingly too late. Please be strong and push!

Much better

Things are much better this morning. Yesterday I reached my goal for the month of March on push-ups and I did that last month on sit-ups. Both were done early and this morning I did my bike ride, as I sit here dripping (feels so good) on Rolling and just plowed through it. Since I missed my ride yesterday, I am going to ride tomorrow, Saturday, and do Pike's Peak and see how I do. I have been increasing the resistance on most of my other rides and I think it is time I did it on Rolling as well. I shall have to see on Pike's Peak, however. Work is going well. Things are progressing and now I have to prepare for our next big event which is the IICRC Carpet Certification. Should be good. Things are moving forward. We are already seeing some success from Wednesday's event. A school district called for pricing on some machines. Family is good. Things are quiet here at home just because no one is here. I like the quiet, I really like how neat and clean the house stays but I miss the buzz and the noise and the love and the energy that children and grandchildren provide in a home. I finished the BOM yesterday for the 3rd time this year and started on it again. I have to get going this morning because I have sales meeting in an hour and a half and I still have to shower, get there and set up but today, things are much better!

NOthing

I didn't do anything or nothing this morning. I think I am still recovering from yesterday. I woke up initially at 4:19, knew I had more time to sleep and I did until 5:44 and I have Rotary this morning. Too late to do anything. I also have sales meeting tomorrow so I have to get up early to do my ride. I didn't do push ups or sit ups yesterday, I was exhausted. We had our Open House yesterday and it went really well. The people with whom I work did a great job and the place looked great and we have over 100 people there yesterday. Fabulous. I grilled for about 3 hours straight, interacted with our customers and had a great time. It was very successful. I came home and grilled last night as well as my daughter from Provo came with some friends for Ecuadorian food. Good times! I feel lazy this morning. That's what I get for doing nothing.

Wasted

This morning was a wasted ride. I was doing the recovery test and the pulse monitors was all screwed up. Kept fluctuating and reading incorrectly. I ran it twice and it was messed up both times, tried another run but my heart just wasn't into it. I rode like 18 minutes all told and I am not even close to dripping. I have our Open House at work today. I am not nervous per se but I am anxious and hopeful that it turns out well. As of yesterday we had 72 confirmed!, which is way more than we had for our Open House a year ago. I hope we have enough food and stuff. I will see I guess. The people in the office have done a fabulous job of helping get ready. It's so great to work with competent people. I don't really have much else to say other than I hope tomorrow isn't wasted...

Nerves

We have a big Open House/Equipment Rodeo on Wednesday and I have a bit of nerves. I remembe we did one last year and it went all right but I had done Open Houses before. This is my first go around with an Equipment Rodeo. I think it is the same thing but we don't have a keynote speaker nor hard defined classes on things so I have a bit of nerves. Things are coming together fine but I don't know what I don't know about this and I guess I will find out after 2pm on Wednesday. I did go with my patient wife last night to Costco to get most of the stuff but I still have to make a run to Dick's for hamburgers, pop, water, plates, napkins, tablecloths, name tags, etc. I have succh great support from my co-workers at the office that there is no way I can mess it up. It is comforting to know that. My youngest daughter scored an A- in math!!!!! I am so proud of her. That is one subject in which she has struggled and to see her progress and, in some instances, teach herself the concepts, I am just so proud of her. Way to go, princess! My other girs (all of them) are in school and doing well. Keep up the great example for everyone else princessi (that's the plural for princess, kind of like octopus, in case you were wondering...) and keep making progress to take care of yourselves. You are educating the future as you are educated. That was a profound thought for so early in the morning, don't you think? Anyway, I slept in until 5:40 today, that is why I am a bit late. Good ride and a wonderful looking day. I wonder how does one kill a raccoon? We have one that keeps eating our dog food and it is getting, really bad, on my nerves!

Routine

I am back in my routine and it feels so good. I missed my workout on Friday (I don't ride on Saturday or Sunday) but that one day made me feel sluggish and lethargic. It was for a good cause; Rotary President Training and networking (I made some really good contacts and it looks like we might be getting into Head Start) and it was good but my stomach was upset (I found out I wasn't alone in that malady) and we have just been so busy that there hasn't been time. We left on Friday at about 6:30 and made it on time for the opening session. It was good. We had nephew's farewell yesterday and a ward party Saturday night for him, we picked up our daughter from Provo on Saturday, went to Tooele on Saturday night, went to Tooele yesterday for the Sacrement meeting and then back to Provo and we had to arrange to get "el rojo" jumped so my youngest son could go back to Logan. Busy weekend and a fitting end to a hectic week. This week I have to go shopping tonight and tomorrow night for prizes and food for our equipment rodeo at work on Wednesday. I hope we have a good turnout. Life is good and busy. It was good having kids home again for the week end and my youngest son for all of last week on Spring Break. He was able to work and get some money, he was happy. Life is good and it is comforting to get back into my routine.

Interesting

I had an interesting ride this morning. I put the program on "Cardio" and the heart rate monitor was all over the place. I tried to endure to the end but I had to switch programs. It was an interesting ride. Life in general is interesting. I complain about things but all in all life is very good. Work is good, my calling is good, my wife, kids and grandkids are great, my health is improving, (up to 22 now and climbing) and things are good. Things are interesting but so good. We need spice in our lives and we need to also enjoy the periods of peace and tranquility. All phases are interesting.

A little later

I slept in a little later today. I didn't wake up until 4:56! That was good, I rolled over, thought for a while and then got up at around 5:33. Nice but I feel a bit behind right now. My wife had a friend and his family over last night from her mission. It was good to see him again and to meet his family. Nice, sweet people. Good hearts and good people. I wasn't able to stay very long, however, because I went to do Home Teaching and I didn't get home until about 6:00 and I had to leave at 6:30. I felt bad. I was down south yesterday. Put about 300 miles in driving yesterday. Went to Heber, Juab, Payson and then around Provo and then home. Made for a long day but a productive one nonetheless. I think we are making progress in some places there. Life and things are going well. Family is good and work is going well and I thoroughly enjoy my calling in church. It feels like we are heading in the right direction. I just have to keep striving to do what is right, be slow to anger/upset (a realy tough one for me but I am working on it) praying, reading and obeying the commandments and not putting things off for a little later.

Bushed

I am bushed. It seems that the 2nd or 3rd day of the time change always hits me the hardest. It him me hard yesterday, I woke up at 3:30 and didn't really get back to sleep because I didn't want my obnoxious alarm to wake my wife so I tossed and turned until about 5:10 and then got up. I woke up at 4:38 today, rolled over and got up at 5:13. Not too bad but I am still bushed and I could feel it in my ride this morning. I thought I was going to bonk but I didn't. I even kept it at my level and rasied it a bit but I couldn't really catch my breath and it was a hard ride. I was listening to a webinar yesterday at work, late in the afternoon, (it was REALLY boring) and I guess I dozed off at my desk and my boss walks in while is was listening/dozing. He busted my chops and I explained what had happened in the morning and he just laughed. Embarassing. Work went well, I translated for a company that uses us yesterday, about 3 hours worth. I forget how tiring it is to do that and to be on my feet and thinking and being entertaining. It was good to do that again. My youngest daughter is already down here (it's 6:09). She has a morning-side. I appreciate how faithful she is and the example that she sets. Well, I have to take her and I have to quit dripping. Hard ride and I am already bushed!

Over

We had ward conference yesterday and all last week. It is finally over. Not that it was a bad thing but there is always extra pressure when the stake is there. We did the things that we always do but one wonders if it is the right thing or how are we doing or whatever. Anyway we had a great meeting yesterday and I felt spiritually renewed and our bishop gave us all a blessing. It was wonderful. There are challenges in our ward, there are people without work, with health problems but all in all, things are going well. I am so embarassed. I called my oldest daughter to bust he chops that she hadn't called in a while and she stated that she thought that we would call for our oldest granddaughter's birthday on the 4th! Yes, I am a crappy grandfather. I have now put birthdays in my phone (aka my brain) and now, hopefully, I won't have to endure that embarassment again. Of course, the rule as always is, dad is an.... We also changed time; we "sprang forward" already. This change is always hard on me. I have been up and worried about getting up on time since ab out 3 the new time. I slept off an on, checking my brain (phone) for the time, not wanting the alarm to go off and disturb my wife so I am already tired. It will take a while to adjust but I did get my ride in and it was a good one. I am almost done dripping. Not that I went less time but I had to re-start the computer a couple of times so I had to sit around waiting for it to boot so I got to cool off a bit. My youngest son has work today at my work, installing soap dispensers and perhaps towel and tissue as well later this week. He is so excited for his mission, it is contagious. I remember that time in my life. It was a great time but I sure do enjoy the time I am in right now. I am glad that my younger days are behind me but I don't want this time to quite be over.

Earlier Start

Every sales meeting day I have an earlier start. I have to move my routine up by at least 15-20 minutes, hence my earlier post if you are checking out the time. You could be saying, "Wow, he got up early today and is posting a lot earlier than normal. I wonder if he rode his bike?" Yes, I did and got my full time and distance in hence the drip marks on the keyboard and desk. I would show you but I don't have the time to take the pictures and then uploand and post them. Take my word for it, I am "moist", well more than "moist", I am drenched. My youngest son came home last night from school for spring break. He made Milky Way brownies. I didn't have any because it was too late. Great self will on my part, no? At least I thought so. My youngest daughter gets 4 teeth pulled today for her braces. She is nervous but I am glad that it is going to get done today so she has the week end to recover. She had a birthday party tonight, we'll see if she is able to go. She could be more than a little loopy with her pain meds. I guess we will soon see. I am not looking forward to the time change this week end. It always takes me a couple of weeks to adjust and with my early starts in the morning, it could be rough. I will have to force myself to bed an hour earlier. I hope I will be sufficiently tired to get to sleep so I can get up. Fell asleep watching TV last night and got to bed. My wife kept telling me to go to bed and I kept telling her I was fine. Wives are so smart, mine especially. I need to listen more and that way it won't seem to bad to get an earlier start.

Life

I love life with all of its' challenges and frustrations and triumphs and joys and happinesses and sorrows and ups and downs. Life is so grand. Life is worth living and working through and just being in it day by day and the here and now. I don't know why I am writing this but I am just so grateful for life and all it brings. Work was great yesterday. I was with my newest salesman and he is progressing with a school district west of our main offices. We were basically told yesterday that if we keep coming out, we will get business because they buy from people that show up. I guess that is my point, 90% of life is just showing up. If you do, good things are bound to happen to you. If we do what we commit to do and what we way we will do, things will work out. I am not saying that there won't be challenges, there will be but it will all work out in the end. After all, isn't that why we are here, to make things ultimately work out in the end? Doesn't really matter through what trials we pass here on earth as long as we remain true and faithful, things will work out for us in the end with our Father and that is what we want. We do have to make wise and correct choices and when (not if but when) we make incorrect choices, we must rectify that through the atonement of our Elder Brother and that makes things work out for us but we can't "procrastinate the day of our repentance until it is everlastingly too late" as both Alma and Amulek admonish us. The Lord is telling us to get it together, to make it right and to enjoy the ride that is life.

Sweet

I went to the temple yesterday, Sweet!

I felt the Spirit yesterday, Sweet!

I feel the Spirit now as I write about and contemplate my day yesterday, Sweet!

I went through the temple for someone yesterday from Nigeria, Way Sweet!

Work is going well, Sweet!

I heard from a man rep that my new guy is doing well, knows when to listen on calls, a relief and Sweet!

I am dripping again as I write this, Sweet!

I did my "fat burn" routine (and we all know I need that) without bonking this time, Sweet!

Kdis are all doing well, Sweet!

Grandkids are doing well, Sweet!

We are going on visits tonight, Sweet!

I am sitting here, enjoying the peace, quiet and solitude, knowing my family is here and, if not here, they are good and safe, Sweet!

Sweet is the peace the Gospel brings and that, of everything, is the most Sweet!

Temptation

I got a temptation yesterday: A 3 night stay at a REALLY nice hotel (Wynn Properties) in Vegas and 2 free tickets to their show which is similar to Cirque de Soliel. I asked my wife and youngest daughter if they wanted to go over Spring Break (hers) and she, my youngest daughter, said that we were already spending enough money on our cruise and to save my money for that and to spoil them there! She is so much more mature, in a lot of ways, than I but I still want to go. Killer deal, upgraded room and I haven't been away from here for a while. Like I said, tempting. Work went well yesterday. My daugther asked a boy to MORP (prom backwards, casual, not fancy) on Sunday and she got her answer yesterday: Yes! It was a really clever way to say yes. She is excited and I am "happy" for her. Happy that she got a positive answer but really upset that she is dating. All of my girls knew that they weren't to date until they were 35 or they got married, which ever came first. NONE of them have done that. Oh well, I guess that's the way it is, kids never listen to their parents... My wife had as good of an experience as one can with a dentist yesterday. She said he was gentle, spoke Spanish (yay, much easier for her), and explained things weren't as bad as other dentists had led her to believe. I think we found a winner. Well, it's time to finish drip drying and get ready for work. I did 15 and 55 yesterday! I am getting better. My goal of 25 by the end of the month seems reachable to me now, that is if I avoid a lot of junk and crappy food, stay consistent and avoid temptation!

Lasagna

I made lasagna, wanna get some on ya? Yes, you would. It wasn't half bad. Not one of my best, it was medium but it was still tasty! Not much is going on. Had most of the kids home this week end. The married ones are far away (bummer) but 3/4ths of the singles were here and we would have taken up an entire row almost if the older ones had wandered in on time for Sacrament meeting. Anyway, it was good to sit in church together. I taught the lesson in HP Group yesterday. I think it went all right. It felt good and there was some good participation. I enjoy that if I am able to facilitate a discussion and direct it for good. We had that yesterday. I am still dripping... Good work out this morning. My sweet wife has a dentist appointment this morning. I feel bad that I won't be there with her but I had a prior commitment in Ogden before she made the appointment. I know how much fun a visit to the dentist can be... Life is progressing, inexorably. I feel so much joy and peace even with all the turbulence around in the world. I know that is what our Savior promised when He promised peace, "not as the world giveth, but as I give" and that is peaceful. Dinner, in fact, was peaceful yesterday with the lasagna.

Average

I am average. I just realized that this morning when my bike told me I was. I ran a fitness test and I was told I was average. Not bad considering that when I started back in January I was poor or worse (I can't really remember what the bike told me but I know it was at least "poor") so I have improved to average. How comforting that is... Oh well, at least I am confirming what others have told me all my life... hahahahaha Life is good and I am improving on the bike. I can feel it. After my "bonk" the other day, I have felt stronger (a bit) and I have improved my push-ups by 1 every day so far. I hope to continue that trend tonight when I do them. Work was good yesterday. We had a couple of issues and things are never dull and always changing. That's why I like what I am doing. It is never the same, I don't have to be stuck in an office all day (although I was yesterday but I almost got my powerpoint done for next Friday's sales meeting) and I get out and meet different people, or visit the sames ones over again. It is good and I think, no, I know, that I am bringing value to my company. Sure, there are things that I would change but I am grateful for what I have. My wife is doing well. I get to pick up my daughter from down south today. It has been a couple of months since she has been home. That will be nice. I am still dripping and it feels good to be average!

Better

I did much better this morning. In fact, I did much better last night, although "much" is a relative term. I did an extra push up yesterday so I have improved 10% since the start of the week. I just felt drained all day yesterday. I got home from work and my wife asked my how tired I was because I guess I looked like a felt (which is a change because I always look like crap but I always feel really good and happy) so I imagine that I looked pretty run down. Anyway, work went well. There are a lot of things percolating very well right now. Looks like we might be able to penetrate more school districts and that is really good. We went and did visits last night. They went really well. We gave a brother in our group a blessing last night as he faces prostate cancer and prepares for surgery in April. We will hold a special fast for him prior to his surgery. I just feel that we need, as a group. to be more concerned about our brother. That has really been weighing on me. I don't know how we are going to do that but with the challenging times coming, we need to be our brother's keeper. We need to know each other more than superficially as we do at church. It is an interesting dilemma. I look forward to being an instrument. I just want to do my Father's will, be a good dad, be a good son, be a good home teacher and just, generally, be better.

BONK!

I totally bonked this morning on my ride. That hasn't happened since I started riding my bike. Ususally I get a pleasant feeling/buzz from my rides but this morning I totally and I mean totally bonked! I went to go on the "Cardio" workout with my heartrate between 133-143, a normal range for me when I am working out at my top end (which I have been doing for a while now) but I got the bike and my rate up there and I could only make 19 minutes. I then tried a "mets" program for 9 minutes and I only made it 3 minutes. I feel frustrated right now. I guess I need to bonk to get better but this was ridiculous, I couldn't even get in my 25 minutes. Oh well. I am doing my sit ups and push ups (those killed yesterday as I was burning through tight muscles from Monday and push ups also use stomach muscles (different than sit up ones) and I struggled last night with sit ups) and my arms feel jell-oee this morning as well. Rough start to the day. Anyway, work is going well. Things are happening and in the works and we should start turning the corner again. We had another rough February. I don't know why the last couple of February's have been so down but they have. Anyway, I am dripping still from my workout so that must mean something, right?... It sucks to bonk!

2nd Wind

I got my 2nd wind this morning riding my bike. I was getting tired, I pushed through and then it kicked in: my 2nd wind. I love it when I get that. It's like in life, when we are faced with challenges and setbacks, if we persevere, stay faithful, continue to read out scriptures, attend our meetings, pay an honest and generous tithe and fast offering, pray, we get our 2nd wind from our Saviour and we continue forward, knowing that we will be blessed and that, through Him, we will triumph over the adversary, our challenges and be called forth to join Him and Our Father in Their Kingdom. Life is full of corrollaries (sp?) and similies and I enjoy understanding them more each day. I am also pathetic. I have been adding to my exercise repertoire monthly. January I started on the bike and I continue, February I started on sit ups with a goal of 50 which I accomplished and am continuing and this month, March, I have started push ups and I attempted them for the first time last night and I could only do 10! :( I am SOOOO pathetic. My goal is to get to 25 by the end of the month. I can't believe how out of it I am but I am pressing forward with this and hope to get a 1st wind on my push ups and then acquire a 2nd wind...

Rhythm

Rhythm is a weird word to write. Have you ever noticed this? There are 2 "r's" and you don't really pronouce either one except to make the "m" a little separated from the "t". I guess it would look weird if we got rid of the second "h". That, however, is not the reason for my post today. I just looked at the word and got caught off on a tangent. A big surprise, I know, right? Anyway, I am back into the rhythm of the week with my bike ride and yes, I am kind of dripping, which feel good. Had a good ride and a great week-end. Church was good. We had our HP group leadership meeting and then we had our committee chairmen over and got some goals set for the coming quarter and we are moving forward. I went home teaching with one of my assistants whose companion had moved away. It was good. Saturday we had my youngest daughter's swim banquet. It was wonderful. She earned her letter. I am proud of her. I just hope that she decides to continue with swimming. Not that fact that it is swimming (which is a great exercise) but the fact of the discipline and sense of belonging and pulling together that it provides. I think it helps prepare one for college better if the discipline learned is applied once there. My youngest son has started to get things outlined for his mission and to get his papers started. He is a good kid, as are all of my children. I feel so blessed to be a parent to my kids and more than anything, to be part of my wife's life. She makes me better and, being latina, has helped my with my rhythm!