A Beautiful Spring Day

Today was almost a perfect day weatherwise. The temperature was perfect. There was no wind or rain and the sun shone beautifully until almost 9:00 pm. I was able to come home from work and putter in the yard. Well, before my puttering I put in my time at the gym. Sherrie motivated me to go - and I always feel better after I go. When I got home I pulled a few weeds, planted my new echinacea species (a native yellow form). I am trying to decide if my wisteria survived the winter. About a month ago it started to bud out after a few warm days. It turned cold again and the new growth froze. It hasn't done anything since then even though it has now been warm for a few days. I called a master gardener who said that it is probably just waiting for enough warm days (smart plant). I broke a few vines off and they are green inside. I will just let it be. If I don't have any growth in a couple of weeks I might then assume that it died. I hate to lose it because it has grown up over the trellis. The azaleas are blooming and are spectacular. I don't know why I always thought you couldn't grow azaleas and rhodys in the west. All mine wintered very well and are covered in beautiful blooms. I bought a few more this year. And the more I think about it, I might go get some more. I decided that subconsciously I am trying to make my yard look like the one I had in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pretty soon I will be bordering all my gardens with monkey grass. After pulling some weeds and clipping some old dead growth, I settled into my patio chair to enjoy the warm sun and beautiful flowers that are blooming. I have to relax a little because on Saturday we go down to bring Jordan back from school. I am not looking forward to packing all his stuff into the car. For some reason the things kids have at school multiply rapidly over the course of the school year. When we picked up Jared from BYU we almost didn't have enough room in the Suburban. I will probably take the Suburban to pick up Jordan just in case. I have been bringing things home little by little with my frequent visits down to Cedar City. It is going to be strange having three children in the house again. Well, I digress and it is well past my bedtime, but tomorrow is Friday. Maybe I will have to make a trip out to the Seafood Buffet...

Air Pollution in Alabama

Well, here they are, the top 5 cities in the United States for Ozone (O3) pollution. I had never heard of Cullman, Alabama until Jared served there several months ago. Now I see it in the top 5. Maybe I should send him a respirator to wear. I wonder how that would go over...

Top 5 Cities for Ozone Pollution

1. Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA

2. Fresno-Madera, CA

3. Bakersfield, CA

4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA

5. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL

Woops, I Did It Again...

There is something about spring and gardening that draws me to plant nurseries like bees to honey. I saw the azaleas that just arrived, ready to bloom, and I had to have some. The ones I planted last year did so well and are blooming beautifully right now. I bought a couple of pink azaleas to plant at the base of the pink dogwood tree. I bought a bright red dwarf rhododendron and a burnt red azalea for the front flower bed. I also had to pick up some canna bulbs. I planted them and put them in the hot bed I thought they would add some nice color and height to the front flower beds. I can't get anymore plants until the ones I have are in the ground and with my back the way it still is, that won't be anytime before the weekend (whoa is me). I have a number of plants flowering now so the gardens are really pretty. The summer blooming flowers are up and out of the ground. I noticed that my fancy clematis is putting out a number of flower buds. The wisteria is still holding out. I finally had to pull a couple of buds to see if they were alive. They are alive and today I saw the first evidence of leaves emerging. I do hope that they bloom this year. I spent last year training them on the trellis, now I would like to see a reward for all my efforts. I needed to mow the grass today (it was just mowed on Saturday), but I couldn't with my back. I put Revive (I think that is the name of the product) on it. We then had the rain and snow and it has gone crazy. I don't know what is in Revive (I hope I have the name right) but it sure does the job. Last year when the sod I laid was doing so poorly, I tried Revive and the sod recovery was almost miraculous. It is a product that I really believe in. This really isn't an advertisement or sales pitch for the product, but I have been amazed each time I've used it. I hope that my back feels better tomorrow. I really have too much to do in and out of the house to be out of commission. I've finally decided that the goal will be to have the stair project done by the time Jordan gets home from his mission. There has been only minimal progress in the last few weeks.

Looking Back A Year

This was us probably a little over a year ago. Now we will be there in just a few more weeks. Wow, how time flies.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

I am glad that my sore back and shoulder kept me from putting in my vegetable garden yesterday. I have plants in the tub blocking the back door that are ready to go into the ground. But consistent with good Utah weather, after a week in the 80's it snowed again today. It came down pretty good for a few minutes. The roofs were covered in white. But it is melted and gone now. So maybe sometime this week will be the time to plant.

The Jumpiest Nieces

I just received an email from my sister, Rachelle, and I have to brag on my nieces. They are the cutest little girls and they compete in an annual jump rope contest at their elementary school. Felicity (Grade 3) and Natalie (Grade 4) both made it from their grades. They have 15 minutes to try and jump as many jumps as they can. They can have three attempts within that 15 minutes. Felicity jumped almost the whole time and got 1,194 jumps. Natalie jumped 1,115 times. Felicity placed 1st in her grade and Natalie placed 3rd in her grade. CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM BOTH. I know I couldn't jump that many times and I'm not even sure I could jump for the entire 3 minutes.

Rainy Day Garden Fever

This morning I awoke (well, it almost wasn't morning anymore) to Eugene, Oregon type weather. It was misting outside. It had apparently rained all night and we were situated inside the cloud that was up against the mountain. What can one do on such a dismal day? Go shopping of course - help boost the sagging economy. Sherrie and I headed into Salt Lake to find places that would be willing to take our money. I dropped her off at Aero Postale while I headed to Lowes Garden Center. I found a beautiful pink blooming dogwood tree (just like we had in Knoxville) and a contorted filbert. I also picked up a few more perennials (can a garden ever have enough perennials?). I got a bright pink carnation (marginal as to whether it will survive the winter, but I'll mulch it good), a Wasatch Penstemon (a wildflower that is native to the Wasatch Mountains, and another one that I can't recall right now (and my back doesn't feel up to going outside to find out). I also found a plant for my little water garden next to the patio. It has a beautiful white flower that comes up out of the water. Sherrie found a rustic looking pottery table decoration that she couldn't live without. All in all, it wasn't a bad day. I'll have to wait until Monday to plant the trees and perennials. It is just too wet outside (unusual for Utah) to plant anything and even if it weren't, I don't think my back and arm would let me. I think that it is about time to take one of the pain killers.

Bring On The Pain

Well, that is about how it happened. I was not paying attention to where I was walking and caught the front of my sandal on the concrete step and DOWN I went. I think my subconscious mind must have a thing for pain. I didn't just fall, but sprawled out across the step hurting my wrists, knee, shin, feet, hands and neck. The only thing that didn't impact the concrete was my head (which left me conscious to feel the pain). After a few minutes of recovery I was back on my feet. After four hours in the car I can barely move. Again I bemoan the literal pain of growing older.

April Showers Bring April Flowers

Spring is in full swing. The daffodils are just about done blossoming and tulips and early perennials are blooming. The trees are budding out with the pear and cherry trees in full bloom. I even had my grass greened up (I've had to mow it three times already). I now need to get my neck healed so that I can start putting in the pond. I love this time of year. I just want to stay outside until the last rays of light are gone.

Jared Wednesday Update - 04/22/09

I received Jared's email earlier than usual this week. It was nice to read. With my snazzy new phone I can read email on my phone. Now I just need those cornea video screen implants and I could read email all the time... I'll get back on track. Jared had a great week in Gadsden, Alabama. The biggest surprise of the week was probably hearing from his brother, Jordan. We obtained permission from Jared's mission president for Jordan to make a brief call and tell him where he was called to. Jared writes, "Wednesday night we were in PEC meeting with the bishop and all and I left with one of the elders to go and do a church tour. Elder Bybee comes running out of the room saying, “Elder Gibby, your brother is on the phone!!” I’m like what!???!?!?! I was able to talk to Jordan for 12 minutes and he told me where he was going to be serving. I’m super excited for him to be able to go to Brazil. He is going to love it. I know that is where he is supposed to go. It was really wonderful to be able to talk to Jordan. I was so excited. I didn’t want to be breaking mission rules so I’m glad that he told me he got permission from President Tate." I am also glad that Jared didn't break the rules. I am especially grateful to President Tate, who graciously consented to the call. Jared and Jordan have been close growing up (Irish twins). They will share about 8 months in the mission field.

Jared is also seeing how people's lives can change for the better. "Kristin, one of our investigators, came to church Sunday. We taught her before church started and she has read almost half the Book of Mormon. I was super surprised. On a first impression you wouldn’t have given her the time of day. When we first met her she said she was a lesbian, dressed like a gothic emo, and told us she was atheist. We still talked to her and taught her the restoration. She has come to church for the past 3 weeks and loves it. ... Monday we were able to teach her in a members home and watch the Restoration DVD. It went really well. She might get baptized soon."

This coming Sunday they will having Stake Conference with Elder L. Tom Perry as their speaker. We had Elder Perry speak at our Stake Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma when I served as a Bishop there. That will be a great experience for Jared.

One comment I will make, is that it is certainly easier having them on their mission than getting prepared to leave. We just went through this a year ago with Jared and now we are starting it with Jordan. There is an added step that Jordan has to obtain a passport (which was much easier to do years and years and years ago when I had mine). Hopefully we will get the passport thing taken care of this week and then Mom will be able to rest easier.

A Real Engineer

We are performing our annual stack testing this week. This is an activity where I get to feel like a real engineer. I don the safety equipment, talk on the radio and work odd hours (odd and long). Last night we finished up a little after 8:00 pm. As expected there were a few glitches in getting everything going. Today it seems to be running much smoother. Of course how well things go isn't really determined until the end of all the tests and the results are in (a few weeks down the road). At any rate, I know that I will be tired by close of business on Thursday. On the bright side, we are experiencing beautiful weather here on the west side of the Great Salt Lake and it is nice to be outside.

Neck Hernia

I am not sure which is worse, pain in my arm and neck or sleeping all the time (okay, I do know which is worse - but I am growing a little tired - no pun intended - of sleeping or wanting to sleep all the time). I did make it up for work this morning, but only after sleeping through my alarm for over an hour. The alarm noise translated into dogs barking at my in a dream. I didn't take my muscle relaxant this morning, but I am still having a hard time staying awake at work. After reading about the prognosis for this condition, I am feeling somewhat better. Lose weight and exercise more to strengthen the back and neck muscles. If I don't do those things it will eventually end up as surgical intervention with the vertebrae being fused. I have a bunch of yard and landscaping work to get done this spring. I hope this condition won't interfere with it.

Tooele High School Prom 2009

 

Well, here I find myself recovering from another exciting weekend (what will I do with myself when I no longer have teenage children living at home). Sarah went to the Tooele HIgh School Junior Prom with Micah Robbins. They went on a date earlier in the day where they participated in a scavenger hunt at Walmart. Afterwards they enjoyed lunch at Subway (conveniently located in Walmart - A person could probably actually live in Walmart and never have to leave the store). They had a blast. Sarah had an appointment at 1:30 to have her hair done for the dance. Micah came by at about 2:15 to pick her up. We were able to meet Micah's Mom, Cheryl. They make a stunning couple as you can see from the pictures. We see them as Professors Ken and Barbie. They went with a group of really nice kids from Tooele. First stop was to have their pictures taken. I am hoping to see the proofs in a day or two. They had some time before dinner so they all went and walked around Temple Square. Of course they received numerous compliments. I think those senior Sister Missionaries love seeing the beautiful young ladies with their dates on Temple Square. They all enjoyed dinner at Rodizio Grill at Trolley Square. Fortunately we had just been to Trolley square for dinner last weekend and Sarah made an addition trip there when she forgot her purse, so she knew how to get there. When she got home on Friday night she talked alot about dinner (she really seemed to like the restaurant - I guess we will have to take it up a notch to impress our children). They all had a fun time at the dance. Sarah arrived home happy and tired (but we did manage to stay up until about 1:30 talking about the dance). She also arrived home with blisters on her feet (good thing I have moleskin for running) and sore earlobes (must be why woman pierece their ears rather than wear clipons). Today she was able to wear her dress to church. All the little girls in the ward thought she looked like a princess. It gave the older women in the ward the opportunity to reflect back on their proms. I guess we have just one more prom related activity and that is to have the dress cleaned. I guess it is good that I only have one daughter because I wanted her really dolled up for the prom.

Winter Strikes AGAIN

Old man winter struck again early this morning. When I was sitting up with my aching arm I noticed the snow starting to fall. It was coming down like large cotton balls. We awoke this morning to 6-8 inches of heavy wet snow. It wasn't terribly cold, but it was miserable having to clean it off the cars to drive. It was too heavy for the windshield wipers to scrape off. Of course, by the time I made it down to Stansbury they had substantially less snow than we did. A little rise on the bench can make a big difference in the snow fall.

Jared Wednesday Update - 04/15/09

"A cool bird named Kooskoe"
"The slot machine was at this old mans house who we visited on our team up with Attalla. Don't worry, I didn't gamble! haha"

Life continues to be good to Jared in Gadsden, Alabama. He was able to play the piano during the Easter Program in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. "Monday was a sweet day. We had a ton of appointments and taught some sweet people. In the morning we did MAUs and had some wonderful success. One lady actually had been taught by missionaries before and remembered their names. She wants us to come back and visit with her again. I also taught this black guy, Davounto Ray, he is way cool. He said that he would love coming up to church and he told me that he also has a recording studio and wants me to come and record some piano pieces. I’m actually writing a song right now so that’s going to be fun. In the afternoon we went to a referrals house and gave him a BOM and taught him lesson one. I also ended up setting up his home network for his computer. That was pretty funny. He was really thankful and we are probably going to give him a church tour this weekend."

Jared ran into a member of our ward in Farragut, Tennessee. "After we went to the temple we ate at Jim ‘N Nicks, a BBQ place, mmmmm it’s amazing. Some other missionaries from the Leads ward ate with us and the member that drove them knows grandpa. His name is Charles Brinkman. I guess he studied with him at the U and is a ceramic engineer. He used to work at INEEL and Oakridge in Farragut. He might have even met dad. It was really cool talking with him." Chuck Brinkman was a member of the Farragut Ward for the five years that we lived there. Jared was too young to have remembered him. I remember when my parents came out to visit one time, Dad was able to talk to him. So in response to Jared's comment that I might have met him before. Yes, I saw him almost weekly for five years. He even met Sherrie's Mom out in Colorado Springs. It really is a small world.

One of the highlights of yesterday for us was Jordan's opportunity to call Jared directly and tell him about his mission call. I call President Tate and obtained permission for Jordan to call and speak with him for just a few minutes and let him know where his mission call was to. I really felt strongly about having Jordan tell him personally. They have always been so close and growing up talked about when they would be serving missions at the same time. Jared will miss Jordan's farewell and Jordan will miss Jared's homecoming, but I wanted them to be able to share this one experience. President Tate was very gracious in allowing the contact. I think Jared was surprised that Jordan called him. They will be able to email each other over the next year (I love technology).