A Daily Slice of Awesome

I have a long history with legos. They are a big part of my formative years, from castles to spaceships. I'm big on spaceships. The point of saying that is I'm an expert. I know how to play with them, and turn any pile of ordinary or un-ordinary pieces into something extraordinary. Last night though, I saw something that truly put me to shame. It was a new way to play with legos. I guess I never really considered how my lego people felt when I played with them. After a long day's session of building the perfect thing, I left my people in the bin, on the floor, or fixed in place in whatever epic battle I was interrupted in the middle of with bedtime.  My daughter, done with her people for the night, tucked them in, and then had me tuck her in.  When she plays with legos, she cares.

I was impressed. It's always kind of interesting to see how our hunt for the Christmas tree goes. I'll be forthright, I don't always like the adventure of trying to find the right tree. This year almost careened into disaster-land when we decided to attempt to find a new tree farm just by driving out towards the hills. I'm not good with wanderlust. I'm a find a place, go there, and ignore everything on the way kind of person. I'm also better at going to the same place I went last year sort of person too. Regardless, once we decided that wandering around in the hills with about thirty miles of gas left in the car wasn't a good idea, we went to a farm we were familiar with and I swear had a tree picked out within about ten minutes of wandering around. That's expeditious! The kids were successful as well, and got two Charlie Brown small trees for their room. They demanded lights--multicolored lights of course because what kid loves classy-looking white li

My youngest brother was in town for Thanksgiving. Of course, he stayed with my other brother, who has unlimited movies, video games, and no children to break up the fun. I can forgive that, I guess. They both came down to Salem today to have lunch and though our hearts were broken due to our favorite Korean restaurant being closed for remodeling, we settled on excellent Mexican food and had a good time. It was good to see him and for the three of us to chat. I have awesome brothers. They would be more awesome if they both suddenly got rich and were kind enough to prop me up a bit. Until that happens, we'll patiently continue to visit one another and have cheap lunches.

I remember many years ago when we were visiting my Grandma in California and she wanted to buy us all a present. I wanted a domino set that was more than her budget but she was grandma and I was her grandson--as well as dead set on having that domino set. I can't remember if it was mom or dad that was sort of upset with me for wanting something expensive, but I feel a little bad even today. Regardless, my son has decided he wants Pokemon cards. *Groan* At least have some class and want Magic cards so I can play too. Realizing that he was short on money and long on desire, he informed us last night he wanted to make a phone call to Virginia Grandma (Who I guess can't be Virginia Grandma anymore since they don't live in Virginia). I told him in no uncertain terms he was not to start hitting up Grandma for money. This morning, he remembered he wanted to make that phone call. My encouraging wife let him do it, and he wanted to take the phone and hide in another room out of

We did it. My wife shared her experience when we got married that she'd been flush with cash and then sunk it all on my loans when I finished law school. That's true. I like to think it was a pretty good investment, even if it's now only starting to give a good return. We paid off the last loan this week. I guess I should thank the government for having programs in place to help students cope with the astronomical costs of little pieces of paper that say I worked really hard in school. But still, take that, government! I don't owe you anything more than the similarly astronomical taxes I owe every year. Wait. That's not as awesome. Well, I guess I owe the government a little less. We went to Red Robin in celebration. I think the kids like the balloons more than the food, but I enjoyed that burger. Now it's time for the house....and the car....and.....sigh. Still, eleven years of work has paid off, literally. Getting out of debt is awesome.

There are many awesome things about Thanksgiving. I"m grateful for many things--my family, my extended family, good food, all the things that we enjoy in our world today, lots of things. A few standouts from the day yesterday though were: 1. Playing ping pong with six people around a ping pong table. In around the world people are constantly rotating (read: running, leaping, diving) around the table as the ball is hit back and forth. Volleys are rare and most of the time the ball is flying off in some distant corner of the barn we played in. Apparently, my nieces and nephews know virtually every song on the radio. 2. Rich man poor man. A card game that goes by many names. Scum, Butt-man are a few of the others I've heard. Most of the names explain the fundamental premise of the game that there is a rich man and someone who is not. The game yesterday was good, lots of rags to riches stories and vice versa. 3. The kids didn't fall to pieces when we left. All in all,

We had a family outing at the Dallas Aquatic Center, which I have to say for a town that is pretty small, is pretty awesome. My kids love it. My son is a boy, through and through. Give him water and he will try and assault you with it. He will also jump in the water without much regard for the fact he hasn't quite gotten the hang of keeping his head above water. He's getting there though. My daughter is a polar opposite. I think she likes the pool, but only as long as not a drop of water gets on her face or head. If that happens, she's pretty quite to tire of the venture. Of course, you put a big brother in the pool and no matter how many times you tell him not to, he's going to nail his sister. It was a good day. No bloody noses, no floating diapers in sight. It wasn't even all that crowded. I'd say the only possible downside might be the slight burning sensation from the overabundance of chlorine in the pool. You get in the shower at home and you can smell

My daughter is extremely cautious regarding what she will do with her one allotted treat per finished meal. When we do pizza, we usually get a free two-liter soda with it. Each time we do, she asks before she imbibes: "Is this a treat?" If you say yes, she won't drink it--her notion of value places it lower than a piece of candy. If you say no, she happily guzzles the soda. Last night, my wife made orange rolls. They are delicious. However, in my eager desire to dispense with dishwashing for the night, I washed the mixing bowl that I mistakenly thought had extra left-over dough in it when it fact, it was the icing for them. They still taste goood, they just don't have the additional icing. So, my daughter finishes her dinner and wants an orange roll. That's perfectly fine. She asks: "Is this a treat?" I answer: "Yes." She thinks, and then nods, alright. She goes over to the cooling racks upon which the rolls are resting and picks which one

Working at an Energy from Waste facility can be interesting. I get a lot of phone calls because somewhere my name appears associated with the facility. I think the Facility Manager did it on purpose so I would get my fair share of bizarre requests. He still got the craziest of all time though. He once had a message on his phone (thank heavens he didn't have to field this one live) from an obviously disturbed individual asking if he could show up and throw himself in the refuse pit. I'm not going to dwell on this too much but wow. And to be perfectly clear, we don't honor such requests and wouldn't even if we were allowed to. Today though, I got what is becoming an increasingly common phone call for me. It's the can you process _________ call. Dead animals, toxic plants, avian bird flu vaccine, you name it, we've probably been asked about it. This one was from the Oregon State Liquor Board. Could we process large amounts of confiscated marijuana? Well, I do

So, I have this theory that if you invest in your kids really young, they'll someday grow up and want to play all the games you really want  to play with them. Let's face it, Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and Hungry Hungry Hippos are fun like the first time you play it. I must digress for a moment and say that Chutes and Ladders was created by Satan himself to torture parents with a game that can literally go on forever. We finally had to make a house rule that you could only make a mistake once, that if you landed on it again, you had "repented" of that ill and didn't have to take the slide back down to the bottom. At the same age our kids wanted to play that game they couldn't count either, adding another level of frustration. I hate that game and when my grandkids want to play it I'll probably smile and give them money for ice cream instead. But if you invest in them, they will eventually continue to want to play cooler games. We taught our son how to

We had Priesthood Leadership training tonight and even though I was part of those presenters, it was still a good meeting. We have good people here. I've been fortunate to interact with good people in many places and that's one thing I really like about the Church and the different places we've lived. Tonight's training was on self-reliance, welfare, and more importantly, and underlying re-emphasis on the vital importance of charity. No service we give will have any real effect or benefit if it was done out of duty. It absolutely has to be done because we love the Lord and been found worthy to carry His love to others. When we do that, awesomeness ensues. There is much that is good in this world, and we have the option, despite whatever darkness or depression we face, to add more goodness. I'm pretty sure I won't be out there tomorrow, saving lives, righting every wrong, or solving every ill, but I do know that I can smile, be friendly, be giving with my tim

I don't know how experienced you have to get to appreciate an experienced, good boss, and what that means. I suppose it can take many forms. I really like my boss--I like that he's fairly hands off but willing to help and guide. I like that he lives 600 miles away and that works for what we need to accomplish with the responsibilities we both have. I like that he is equally appreciative of a really nice meal in a fancy restaurant, and cheap mexican food in Keizer, OR. He's a fair guy, and in business these days it feels like that's getting rare. He cares about the people he works with and for. We'll excuse him for the way he sometimes invades your personal space, and he's a lot of fun to watch when he's a little drunk. He's from Pittsburgh, and it seems like people from Pittsburgh are just a little louder than the rest. Good bosses are awesome. And you know, even bad bosses, once you've finally stopped working for them, can teach you things too

I have a double-header today. The picture above is for the second item so you will have to patiently read the first part before you get to that. Stay tuned. I was sitting at work today when all of a sudden, everything went dark. Let me remind you I work at a power plant. If we go dark, something has gone pretty wrong. Turns out, someone had been fixing some fuses and pulled one he thought wasn't vital. It was vital. Screens went dark, lights extinguished, and the comforting hum of machines slowly died off. I walked up to the control room and I have to say, it's pretty awesome working with an experienced team of operators who stay cool in the face of what looked like something out of a movie with alarms going off and warning lights blinking. They had things rectified in short order and we moved on. Pretty cool. Public Service Announcement: Don't pull fuses you aren't sure about. To the picture. This is a tree burning from the inside. A good friend of mine in the

Legos are awesome. Yesterday, I had the kids to myself while the wife was away in Portland on a Time Out for Women conference. We had a good time, and the standout moment was playing Legos. I like buildings and structures. I typically try and build what I term Kid-Proof structures, just to see if they can withstand the test of my daughter's constant movement. I have yet to succeed with the way she can't seem to sit still and is constantly unaware of where all her appendages are. An errant foot flies through my perfect wall, knocking it down. It bothers her brother too as his creations, as he refers to them as, are typically on the less sturdy side. I think what really makes me the most proud though is that I started working on a new build, and immediately, my son identified what was missing--the gigantic laser turret that revolves around the entire build. If my stuff gets in the way, nope, not happening dad, you need to get that out of the way to make room for the turret

Bro time is awesome. The wife was out on the town with her sister, which left an evening which, after the kids were put to bed, was left to the boys to decide what to do. It's never a tough decision. Video games, war movies, and Henry Weinhart's fine beverages. Sadly, it could  not be done in person this time due to the omnipresent traffic and accidents on I-5 that choke the way out of Portland. Secretly, I think Portland conspires against its own population to keep them imprisoned within city limits. With Skype and the internet though, video games can still be enjoyed. I enjoyed the war movie and beverages by myself. Not ideal but hey, it was still fun. We played Borderlands 2, a most excellent game. It's nice living relatively close to one member of my family, but how awesome is this world when circumstances prevent live, in-person, manrichment time, that there is technology available to bridge the gap. Good times.

I was sitting in my office, which happens to be a converted closet space down on the first floor of the facility, staring out my window (hey, it's got a window!), when I noticed how many spiders had taken up residence in the corners. There were like, seven or something. Maybe nine. Too many. Currently, we have an agreement: they stay outside, and I don't get out the boot. It's worked out so far. Anyway, as I was watching, a mosquito-looking bug flew into the web and wow, I've never seen an arachnid so interested in lunch. A spider shot across its web and snatched that bug. I think he played with it for a while too before he wrapped it up and devoured it. I'm so glad that I am a human and not a fly. I'm glad the spider was outside, and not eating in my office. I know there are bigger spiders out in the world but the ones on my window are big enough. I don't like them, but I have to say, it's awesome to watch one shoot across a web and capture a meal.

November is here, and with it, the rain. Like a faucet had been turned on, it began raining again this afternoon. It could be here to stay. Today's awesomeness is brought to you by...Environmental training. It was excruciatingly, totally, and one-hundred percent, pure boredom. I can get excited about a lot of things. I've sat through countless hours of classroom, church, and community meetings, but the hour and a half today left me feeling like someone had sucked the soul out of my body. Ever been in one of those? It's important stuff. It had to be done. It's awesome because for another year, I'm a certified employee. I guess now if I see a black or purple plume of smoke billow out of the smokestack at work I'll know what to do. It's a little sad that we had to be trained to do more than stop and stare, but that's the world we live in.

So, I still don't like Halloween. That said, I did enjoy watching the kids survey their bounty. We live in a pretty good neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Some people were giving out full-sized bags of Skittles. That's crazy! I think the best part was watching them pour out their loot, count it, sort it, stack it, organize it again, put it into various containers, and then begin swapping candy. It reminds me of what my brother used to do with his candy. The little punk hoarded it and then extracted money from the rest of us when we'd eaten all of ours. He probably made quite a bit of money off of me. Somehow, I shall have the last laugh! My son must have decided at some point a hand-crafted satchel wasn't good enough to hold his candy treasure, and found one of those plastic bins you can affix a lid to and put it in there. Now he carries it around like a briefcase. I don't get into Halloween myself, but watching the kids has been pretty awesome. So here'