Seeing family (and a museum)

Today I got the chance to spend some time with Alison, Aaron, and Isaac at the Springville Museum of Art. To be honest, I found out that Alison and her Mom were coming down to Utah County by accident and managed to invite myself along. I'm not proud of it, but it remains a fact. After a quick trip to the library, I drove to Springville. Isaac and I spent quality time in the gift shop looking at fake ice cream magnets. It was pretty funny to see him making a joke about licking a plastic ice cream cone. He so enjoyed my laughter that he laughed himself, and then made the joke five or six more times. Isaac and I also entered a drawing to win a free quilt. (As a side note, I also entered a few of my family members into the drawing as well. If anyone gets a call saying they won a quilt from the Springville Museum of Art, it's my fault.) I wrote on the papers and folded them and Isaac put the papers in the container. Isaac was full of energy today. His zest for life is astounding and his ability to constantly move makes me jealous. As usual, Aaron was as cute as ever. He is quite the wiggle-bug.

The museum was having an exhibit on quilts. They were pretty impressive. I did notice that two quilts were made by a neighbor of my parents. I always knew that Mary Tibbitts was a quilter, but I had no idea the true talent she possessed. I spent two glorious hours in the presence of beloved family members. It ended with Issac showing us the statue of St. Francis of Assisi outside. In fact, he even sat in the statue's lap and put something in his hand for him to read. It was pretty cute.

It seems like forever since I've spent time with any of my siblings or nieces and nephews. It's only been a month since I've seen everyone but I miss them. I'm so glad that Alison and her mom let me tag along for the afternoon.

Dirtball of doom

When we turned the air conditioner on, I noticed something in one of the front room ceiling vents. Sarah and I took the vent cover off and the following dropped onto the floor:

Frightening? Yes. It freaked me out a little so the next night I started prying other vents open. All the vents in the ceilings and walls of our place are painted over so I used a razor blade, screwdriver, and a hammer. They were all pretty gross inside but there were no other dirtballs. I can't help but wonder what else is in our vents that I can't reach. I plan to take the vent in my bedroom off next and then the one in the bathroom.

Anyway, just in case everyone thinks that I am exagerating at the size, here is a picture of it next to a pair of sissors.

A poll

So, like my brother, I am interested in what people think. I have a poll on my blog so that I might better serve my readers. If you would be so kind as to participate, I will do my best to be considerate of the wants and needs of others. On another note, the air conditioning is working at my place again. The only problem is that I think we need to clean the ducts. Both Sarah and I woke up with horrible allergies this morning. When I slept with the window open and the wind blowing, I wasn't as stuffed up. One night of running the air conditioning drove my nose and lungs crazy. Hmmm, I think I need to take all the vents out and vacuum.

A hasty heart and wet lungs

Yesterday was not a good day for me at work. It started out well but ended in a mess. I was given a spreadsheet of some missing paperwork by a member of the Executive Committee. Being the proactive person that I am, I immediately started e-mailing managers and directors for the missing paperwork. Sadly, most of the managers and directors that I e-mailed had no idea what I was talking about. I got seven e-mails, three phone calls, and a personal visit from a confused manager. It turns out that my zealous nature had not given some Executive Committee members time to talk to their directors and managers about what needed to be done. I was concerned about what the person who originally had given me the project would think since some of the managers were pretty unhappy with me and was kind of freaking out by the end of the day.

When I arrived home, I told Sarah the problems of the day. Until late in the day, I had forgotten that I had tickets to a play the The Hale Centre Theater in Orem. Sarah and I went and had a pretty good time. Actually, Sarah enjoyed the whole play while I enjoyed it until half way through the second half.

First, a brief explanation of the play: The Hasty Heart takes place in 1945 in a British military hospital in Burma. There was a wide variety of accents including Scottish, Irish, English, Australian, Georgian (as in the state,) and a New Zealander. It reminded me a little of MASH but sweeter. It was a good play and I would highly recommend it. I plan to rent the movie from the library as soon as it comes in.

Now that the play has been explained, let me continue with my story. I bought a bottle of water during the intermission. Halfway through the second act I took a big swig of water just as a very funny line was said. I started to laugh, tried to stop, and proceeded to spit half the water out while swallowing the other half (although it helps to swallow water into your stomach and not your lungs.) I immediately gagged and coughed. Being the ever polite person I am, I tried to do so quietly. For a minute, I couldn't breathe and panicked. At every audience laugh, I coughed loudly so I could clear my lungs. I then coughed most of the night and didn't get much sleep. By the time I awoke from a very interrupted sleep, my throat and chest hurt. I wouldn't recommend trying to drown yourself buy inhaling water at a play.

At work today, I continued my coughing spree. At this point it hurts to breathe, but I seem to be coughing less and am hopeful for a complete recovery by tomorrow morning. I'm told that breathing dry, warm air will help. That, at least, can be done in my house since the air conditioning is still at a standstill. The parts have been ordered though, and it isn't as bad as I might lead my readers to believe. I also watched the news last night and the trusty weatherman assured both Sarah and I that this weekend would be cooler than this past week. Anyway, thus end the story.

Warning: a religious post

In regards to the title, I thought I should give a warning to any blog readers that have no desire to read about religion. This is about what happened at church today. In Sacrament Meeting, Jerica talked about making sacrifices for the Lord. It was an interesting talk since I watched the movie Legacy last night. While I am not asked to cross a prairie like the main character in Legacy, I am asked to have a contrite spirit and obey the Lord's commandments. I have to wonder which is harder, to physically endure or to resist temptation and choose the right in this modern age. There was a beautiful flute/piano duet, followed by a member of the high counsel who spoke on testimonies.

In Sunday school, our class had a discussion about the Millennium. For those who are unaware, the Millennium is the period of time after Christ returns to the Earth. It can be hard to discuss something that is going to happen in the future. The general idea is there, but the specifics are not. For example, we are taught that once the Millennium begins, disease will not plague the human race. Does this mean that those who are suffering from disease, even terminal ones, will be automatically cured when Christ comes? Also, in Doctrine and Covenants 101:29, it says that we will have no sorrow. But we are taught that without sorrow, we can't really experience joy. Hmm; it's an interesting dilemma. Luckily, I don't have to worry about the details of Millennium. I know that once I die, my questions can be answered.

Anyway, the Relief Society lesson was a hard one. It was #14 in the Joseph Smith manual which is entitled "Words of hope and consolation at the time of death." I was ok until the teacher began talking about children who have died. I couldn't sit and listen with memories of Caleb pressing against my skull. While the pain lessens through the years, I don't think I will every be able to hear a lesson like that without feeling a little pain. I took a little walk to clear my head and then returned to Relief Society.

All in all, I really like going to church. When I was younger, I will admit that I went because my parents took me. But I go now for myself. Even when Sarah isn't here and no one would judge me, I still go because it make me feel good. What I learn at church makes me a better person. Thus ends my little soapbox sermon for the day. I wish you all a good Sunday.

Hello from the center of the sun

Ok, so it hasn't been quite that hot in my house lately, but it's been a little warmer than usual. While Sarah and I were watching the Olympics on Tuesday night, the air conditioning went off. We could hear the motor running but no cool air was coming out of the vents. Sarah turned down the temperature but nothing happened. After a call to her parents, she checked the air filter. It was almost a solid mass. It isn't surprising since we had many fans in here two weeks ago to dry off the from the flood. Sarah changed the filter but still, the cursed monster gave no reply. After another call to her parents, it was hypothesised that it had frozen up and we had to wait for it to thaw. (For those of you who know anything about air conditioners, you will know what I mean. I don't have the technical terms to describe it.) Sarah went to sleep at her parents house and I stayed to guard the home front. It actually hasn't been so bad. I just open my bedroom window and Sarah's and let the cross breeze do it's thing. Between that and the fan, I actually got cold last night.
Aunt Diane and Uncle Larry came over last night to take a look. It turns out that there is probably something wrong with the motor and it will have to wait until at least Monday. Luckily, the weathermen say that it won't get above 85 this weekend so I am sitting pretty. Sarah will be staying at her parent's house so I will get to walk around in any state that strikes my fancy. Oh wait, did I say that? Whoops. ;)

On another subject, I am feeling almost 100% and work is going pretty well. I hope my few readers are also feeling well.

Olympic (and health) update

The last few days have been pretty good for Olympic watching. Between swimming, diving, and gymnastics, I'm probably not getting enough sleep. Sarah and I were both incredibly excited when the USA men won the Mens 4x100 relay in swimming. After all the trash talk from the French, it was awesome when we won. The US is killing it in the swimming events in this Olympics. The last time I checked, Michael Phelps has 3 goals and is in position for a few more. While I'm sure he is sick of the comparison, he really reminds me of watching Thorpe swim for Australia.
We also could barely take our eyes off the Men's Gymnastics team as they won the Bronze medal last night. We stayed up until almost midnight. After the loss of the Hamm brothers, a lot of people didn't expect the US to win a medal at all in this sport. I thought they were especially impressive on the high bar. While I love the US, I have to say the male Chinese gymnasts were amazing. On another note, we took all the medals in women's fencing.
As to my health, I'm feeling ok. My cough is almost gone and my runny nose is slowing down for now. I'm tired; but that could be because I stayed up watching the Olympics. Right now, Sarah and I are watching the Women's Synchro diving.

Watching the Olympics while sneezing (or not)

Right now I am watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. I always love the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I try to watch it every two years (both winter and summer.) Right now I have stopped sneezing. For the last week I have had a bad cold. It was so bad that I have been going into work late this week and leaving at a decent hour. I may get close to 40 hours instead of my usual 45-55. In fact, there's a chance that I may have only worked 39 hours. I can only hope that I feel much better tomorrow. If I don't, I won't be able to go up for the family dinner on Sunday to celebrate Jen's birthday. I plan to go to bed early, drink a lot of water and orange juice, and watch the Olympics tonight and tomorrow. I already feel better than I did yesterday and the day before.

I am really looking forward to the Olympics this year. While I like the actual sporting events, I am far more interested in the political and cultural coverage. The running of the Olympic torch alone has been fraught with controversy so it should be interesting. China is so different from the United States when it comes to politics, culture, and even ways of thinking. For the next 17 days, the west will meet the east. Who else is excited?

Sidney's baptism

On Saturday morning I arose early so I could drive up to Sidney's baptism. It makes me feel so old to know that I have a niece that is old enough to be getting baptized. Anyway, I drove up North and had a great time. Sidney looked beautiful and I couldn't have been more proud of her. I couldn't help but remember when she was born and how small she was. I loved babysitting her, singing to her, and making her laugh. Anyway, I teared up twice and made an attempt at giving a short talk on the Holy Ghost. Sidney was baptized first of the three kids there for the occasion. After the two boys were baptized it was time for Sidney to be confirmed. It was wonderful; luckily, the fire alarm didn't go off until after her confirmation. Apparently a small child not related to us pulled the alarm.
After the confusion, we all went to Sidney's house for food. All the kids ran around and the adults watched the chaos. After the party, Sid, Wyatt, Taylor, and Easton went to the Treehouse Museum. I was so exhausted that I didn't join them. Instead, I went to my parents house to rest. Two hours later I got a phone call from a friend and headed down to Orem. By the time I got to Lehi, my plans were canceled. I spent the night shopping, cleaning, reading, and surfing the Internet. All in all, it was a good day (the best part being Sidney of course.)

Carpet padding

Yeah! We now have carpet padding and our front room is back to normal. Now if I could just get over my deep nagging feeling that I need to shampoo the carpets