Useful Gifts

I have recently received two gifts noticably useful. The one in the picture is a bouquet of cookies. Our accounting firm sent these over today. They did get some extra business out of us with the new building. We need to have a cost-segragation study done in order to get the most beneficial tax treatment of the personal property permenantly fixed into the real property. (Huh?)

The second gift was actually received before the first. Phillip and Kelly gave me a heating pad for Christmas, and I love it. It heats deeply into the tissues, helping to loosen and soothe the arthiritus part of the back pain. It also soothes the disks when they decide to bulge and boogie. I can lay down on the couch with the constant pain weighing me down, making me dread living to 80 or 85. But the soothing action of the heating pad warms my soul. I am able to pull into a fetal position, put my thumb in my mouth and be comforted for a few minutes - at least until its time to head off to the Bishop's Office. Even then, my attitude is better and I am more emotionally capable of listening to the concern's of the ward. It is, I think, the perfect Christmas gift.

Thanks Phillip and Kelly!!

Moved In

We moved into the new ofice this week. The days of packing, bending and lifting left my back very sore. The disks were bulging and bent out of shape. So today we (Kayleen and I) went to the office to try to put everything away. First we had to take out the drawers again to fish the cables through the back. I had never seen drawers with this kind of release before. Kayleen helped solve the ancient chinese puzzle, took out the screws, pushed the appropriate releases, fished the cables, and reassembled the cabinet. I sat in a chair and supervised. We had four different guys (other managers at the company) who tried to solve the secret. Kayleen was the one who completed the project. She then put my files away under my pointing finger. We finished well before other (large) offices were put together. I will have to cook dinner for her as a thank you. I know she likes Mac-and-Cheese. We don't know yet which pictures we will hang in the office. I may put the "Red Barn" or the "Boat on the Shore" on the wall. I have also thought about turning one wall into a vanity wall with framed diplomas, CPA license, and the thank you from Pima College. But tonight, the walls are still bare.

Yes, that is a Dunder-Mifflin t-shirt. I thought it appropriate attire for Saturday office work.

Family First

At Lecia's wedding inDecember, we had our entire family together. Phillip, Kelly and their two boys, Gabriel and Andrew drove out from Fort Bragg. Tim, Tiffany and their boys came down from Utah. Lecia, of course, was here for a few days until she took off with Matt. Michael worked the video camera at the temple and the reception. What you can't see here is their Daddy - he is popping buttons from seeing his children as adults. Seeing Phillip in full uniform always gives me a thrill, to know that he is dedicating his life to protecting the freedom and the lives of others in the world. I wish every father could have that feeling of knowing that their children were doing good in the world and helping those in need.

Lecia used to refer to the three boys as "the brothers", as in "Daddy, the brothers are being mean to me again." It looks like the brothers are still able to man-handle their little sister.

New Diggs

In a week, I will be moving to a new office. We broke ground for the building in May. The final touches are being added to get the permanent "C of O." (And by "C of O," I mean Certificate of Occupancy). The new office is 12 x 20, which is much larger than my current office. In three weeks, I will have been in this office for 10 years. It is 10' X 11'. I had to stand out in the hallway to get this picture. The bookshelf hides a doorway. I blocked the doorway into the next office so that people would not use my office as a secret passageway. I had to get the first flat panel monitor in the company because there was not room for the old CRT type monitor. And yes, those are binders stacked on the floor in front of my desk. I am excited about having bunch more space to pile my stuff.

We move the weekend of Jan 26. I hope the Internet connection is working by then. A few days ago, another employee asked me, "How are you today, sir?". I told him I was not a sir, that I actually worked for a living. He said "I have seen your new office - You ARE a sir.!"

Arizona Highways

As we drove from Utah, we decided that the scenery was beautiful. This is a picture in the Joshua Tree Forest We also stopped at a Rest Area outside of Wickenburg. This is a beautiful women I met down by the river. I decided to take her home and keep her.
The hills and vegatation around the wetlands, We had to cross over a metal fence because there was no gate. I found I can still climb a fence successfully.
The water had been much higher just a short time earlier. Kayleen made me clean the mud off my shoes before I got back into the car.

Private Conversation

What did Lecia just say?

We finally started one too !!

We just drove in from Utah. We were at Lecia's wedding reception. The drive is about 14 hours long, so we had a lot of things to talk about. We talked about Kayleen's dad. He apparently is not doing very well again. He is down to 140 lbs and cannot hold food down. We knew that his health would cycle downwards, but it is hard watching the family go through one of these "bad" cycles. We talked about my mother, who seems to be doing quite well. She is able to speak more clearly than we had believed. Although the longer we spoke to her, the more difficult it became to understand what she was trying to communicate. Her right side is also much stronger and "controllable" than we were expecting.
We talked about our children and grand children and the blogs that keep us connected. So yes, we are now starting our blog. I don't expect to win any Pulitzer prizes or essay competitions. We may post pictures and video clips. We may talk about work in general. Of course Kayleen can't talk about any specifics due to HIPPA regulations. I can't talk about church stuff too much. If it works, we will keep it going. If not, at least we tried to keep up with the blogging revolution.