Bishop Squared: February 2009

It took a while to think of these.

Josh tagged me to write 25 random things about me. But on facebook, I don't have 25 friends who have not already taken the challenge. I only have 33 total facebook friends, and most of those have already done this. So I will post the items here.

I was Born in Provo, UT but only lived in Provo for 6 months when I was a senior in college.

My older brother Clark and I were often mistaken for each other during elementary school.

I kept the newspaper from July 21, 1969 for about 10 years. The front page story was about Neil Armstrong landing on the moon the day before. The newspaper was apparently thrown away when I moved away from home. Now I have a son who was born on the 15th anniversary of the 1st lunar landing.

I burned the field (just west of our house ) down several times when I was young. Some times were intentional, some not.

I like to get to the airport a few minutes early when I am flying out. Sometimes as much as 120 minutes early.

I have a BS degree from BYU in Business (Accounting) and a MA from University of Phoenix in Organizational Management.

I do not like instant pudding. I generally only eat "Cook and Serve" pudding.

I proposed to Kayleen, my wife during an argument. On Feb 23, 2009, we will have been married 30 years )

I gave up church basketball after the Bishop of a ward in our building broke my nose during an early morning game. It may not have been actually broken, but it bled for quite a while and my eyes were puffy.

During a missionary meeting in the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple, I was rebuked by Elder Gordon B. Hinckley. One of the Elders in our district insisted that "Eve's new name" was revealed during the endowment. I disagreed with the point, but agreed to ask the question during the meeting. Elder Hinckley said that it was ridiculous and such questions should never be asked anyway.

My total score for the CPA exam was 3 points over the absolute minimum to pass all four parts of the exam. Nevertheless, I am certified in 2 states, but I do not practice as a public accountant.

I believe in math - but I do not like Vector Calculus.

I have a real live phobia against snakes. Nothing will cause me to lose my cool faster than being close to a snake. (Unless it is having to listen to the "logic" of the Democratic Congressmen or Congress Women. Oh, come to think of it, they are also of the reptile variety.)

I bought the house that we have now lived in for over 23 years, without Kayleen ever seeing it. I do NOT recommend that course for people moving.

I have been to only one one regular season NFL game - a Monday night game in Phoenix in which Steve Young was put out for his career.

I have four children, all of which are different from each other, but each has attained a strong character of courage and service. Phillip is still serving in the Army - 82nd Airborne - and is on his 4th tour of the Middle East. Tim served a mission in Russia. Mike served a mission in Spain. Lecia was planning on serving a mission, but got married to her Mission Prep. teacher instead.

I was once kicked out of Seminary. The teacher was talking about the evils of "long hair" and I pointed out that the picture on the wall showed the Savior with "long hair." The teacher would no longer let his daughter play with my sister, because I would be a bad influence.

I helped Dad with his taxes a few times, and we once filed an amended return so that he could get $400 back in Investment Tax Credit. (ITC was done away with in about 1981, never to be heard from again.) After dad got the check from the IRS for $400 plus $40 interest, he gave me a hug and told me he was proud of me. I will always cherish those words.

I have suffered from depression for much of my life. A few times the depression has been severe enough for me to seriously worry. I now take my Lexipro every day to help keep those emotions under control.

I got Valley Fever in the fall of 2004. It is a fungus that you only really catch in Tucson and parts of Texas and parts of California. I would wake up at night with my pillow soaking wet from the night sweats, caused by the fungus.

Wally and I once pretended to fight. Mom came down to our room and began hitting me with a broom to break it up.
I used to milk cows, by hand. My hands always smelled like, well, they smelled like "cows." I used to be a little embarrassed by the smell, but I did have large forearms and a very strong grip.

I really never traveled much until our 25th anniversary. We went to Kauai. We have been back to Hawaii 5 time since, and to Aruba once.
When I was between jobs in 1997, I took up painting in order to stimulate my "right brain activity." I still paint, but I will never be good enough to show the works. Kayleen has hung many of the paintings in our house, and I have three of my favorites in my office.
My first computer was a Commodore 64, that had no hard drive and only a cassette tape drive or a 5 1/4" floppy disk drive. I taught myself Basic so that I could write my own programs for that computer. The next computer was a Packard Bell with a 20 MB Hard Drive. I told Kayleen that we would never need a drive bigger than 20 MB.

Bonus Round
Shortly after my 19th birthday, I received a truly remarkable spiritual manifestation of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. The reality of that experience remains, in many ways, more real than the memories of things that happened this morning. That changed my life, the way I approach life and the problems and challenges associated with life. I do not dare to deny that experience, or that the Book of Mormon is of Divine Origin.

It was approximately 3 months from the time I decided to go on a mission until I received my call to go to Germany. I waited only 5 weeks from the time I got my call until I entered the "Mission Home." (That was before the MTC was built.)