Happy Halloween!

 Thanks to Willyne for her wonderful smile and for giving me this fun tie!

Thanks to Fred Thomas for carving this amazing jack-o-lantern!

Today would have been Stephen Sanders' 60th birthday, so we took him a pumpkin we knew he would like to decorate his grave.  I turned the picture before I saved it, but sorry to say it still loaded sideways.

Halloween Demons and Those That Result From Our Choices ...

Up at 6, out walking with Willyne at 6:15.  It was cool, I wore my sweatshirt and walking hat.  Actually just about the right walking temperature, plus I got to be with Willyne, which was very nice.  We didn't set any speed records, it took an hour to do the two miles, but it felt good.

At 7:15 I wrestled with the water hoses.  We aren't going to water any more this year, and the trick-or-treaters are coming tonight, so it was best to move the hoses to be out of their way.  There are a lot of them, but I won the wrestling match in the end.

I read Mosiah 21.  There is a good summary chart on pages 159-160 of the Institute manual comparing the trials of the people of Alma, who voluntarily repented after believing Abinadi's second warning, and the people of Limhi, who did not repent until the were compelled to do so under the weight of a 50% tribute (tax) and their inability to win freedom in three bloody attempts.  Clearly there is an important blessing available to repenting voluntarily rather than when we have no choice.  (Or, worse still, there is the possible choice to follow the example of the Jaredites or the Nephites in Mormon's day, and not repent even when forced to do so.)

I am now at the office helping with month-end client billings.  That will consume much of my day until it is time for trick-or-treaters and family this evening.  That will be fun!

Happy Driving 300 miles round trip to Vegas--Willyne is Home!

I went to Las Vegas this afternoon to pick up my sweetie from the airport. I'm so glad she got to visit the Jacksons and Ragozzines! And I'm really glad she's home!!!

Can We Keep The Game Out Of The Refrigerator?

Doug Jr has been giving me text updates on the Jazz-Suns game.  Everytime the Jazz make it a game, the Suns pull away again.  It was 58-42 at halftime, now with 10 minutes to go in the game its 84-74.  We can still do it, but there's no time like the present!

Had two planning appointments today.  I like them the best, gets my creative juices flowing.  They are also the most work, I usually spend much more time getting ready for them than the appointments themselves actually take.  So I'm tired and pleased with the day tonight ...

My stomach has gotten a little less queasy each of the last two days.  I'm thankful for that, hope I make it all the way back ...  My quarterly appointment with Dr. Richards, my radiation oncologist, got moved today from Tuesday to Thursday next week.  I had my blood test two days ago in preparation for this, so now we get to wait two extra days to learn the results.  I'm thinking it will be good ...   :)

Doing some more thinking about turqoise ant and argyle grasshopper while driving 130 miles between appointments today (when the phone wasn't ringing with several new crises today.  If you are wondering about the economy, the view from Main Street, as reported by your friendly accountant who sees a wide cross-section up and down the Street, is definitely still fight for your life at every business).  Getting back to ants, grasshoppers, geese, and hens, we are going to have fun with this!

(At my first mission Christmas conference back in a previous lifetime (1972), the Dartford District skit was Old MacDonald's farm, wrapped up by yours truly singing his verse with a roll of adding machine tape coming out of his mouth -- old MacDonald had a computer to keep track of all the animals.  Guess life really does go in circles ...)

More Scrubbers - Got to Love It!

I just finished a meal of a salmon burger patty, vegetables, and water.  I knew it would sit well, and it is.  I love the feeling of scrubbers doing their excellent work!  I'm not sure what make a salmon burger patty different than a salmon fillet, but it was good as is, microwaved on my plate with the vegetables.  My treat when I am done writing this is an orange and vanilla ice cream bar.  Yum.  Yea for Willyne, she knew what I would like and made sure it was here.  Even when she is away, she is taking care of me.  I am a very blessed man.

I read Mosiah 19 today.  Interesting chapter.  Limhi and his people thankfully agreed to pay a 50% income tax on everything they produced -- no deductions.  Thankfully, because they thought they were about to be killed, and a 50% tax sounded much better than that.  It won't take too long before they decide they are essentially slaves, humble themselves before the Lord, and pray fervently for forgiveness and deliverance.  Is there anything we can learn from them for us today? 

Remember when contemplating your answer that we have many layers of taxation.  By the time you add up total government spending (national, state, local, etc.) as a percentage of total national production, we're not as much lower than 50% as you may think.  Then ask yourself, are tax increases or decreases in our future. 

Like I said, an interesting chapter.  Perhaps we should be praying more fervently for forgiveness and deliverance.

I'm going to have that orange and vanilla ice cream bar now.  Care to join me?

"Fine" defined

Today was a perfectly ordinary, nothing spectacular, workmanlike day.  That was designed to get the writing juices flowing at a moment when I don't have any.  There was nothing wrong with the day.  Perhaps I have just discovered the true defintion of a word I dislike, "fine".  Today was fine.   I worked.  I had lunch with Doug Jr. at his home.  We talked sports and politics.  (There is an election coming up next week, no big surprise there.)  I enjoyed it, and all too soon it was time to get going again.

I visited some clients in St. George.  I made several trips to the bano.  (Sorry, I don't know how to put the tilde over the n on a computer.)  Those trips left me feeling drained.  I still have days like that four months after finishing radiation treatments, and actually what they do is remind me how glad I am to have the good days.

I'm home now, just ate some dinner, then will be headed over to the church to take the minutes at bishopric meeting.  It is cool today, but the rain has stopped and the sky was pretty and blue.  Wrapping up in one of Willyne's big warm quilts sounds really good.  I miss her.  The house is very quiet without her, definitely feels like someone important is missing.  She is in Tampa visiting the Jacksons.  I'm glad she's there, actually wish I was there with her.  I love doing goofy things with my grandchildren!

It was a fine day!

Here I am dressed and ready to walk out the door for a cool, crisp evening walk!

I have a new post in my tax and money blog tonight if you'd like to take a look, this one is on changes that either have already taken place as a result of "health care reform" passed and signed into law last March ... or are scheduled to begin in January 2011.  Chances are good at least one of these changes will directly affect you ...

Please comment on what you first thought would be if someone told you there was a great new book out called "Ant World" that you just have to read!

Pictures

Yesterday I wrote quickly when I got home at midnight.  Here are the pictures I was talking about.

The entrance to the Willard Cemetery at about 500 North on US Highway 89.  This was taken at about 4 pm, it was the rain that made it look so dark.

Mary Louise Braegger Beecher (1901-1994) is my grandmother.  She lived most of her life at 132 Doxey Street (2750 South) in Ogden.  She is buried near her parents.  Make the third left turn, park by the first tree you see, walk a little up the hill past several members of the Facer family, and you'll find her with some of her siblings and her parents.

Abraham Braegger, Jr. (1863-1936) is Mary Louise Braegger Beecher's father and my great-grandfather.

Mary Ann Stauffer Braegger (1863-1954) is Mary Louise Braegger Beecher's mother and my great-grandmother.

I stopped in Orem for a couple hours last night to see Benjamin on the way home.  He fixed me dinner in his apartment, yummy scubbers!  We had whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce and steamed zucchini.  I was impressed with how quickly his steamer worked and how good the zucchini tasted.  The conversation was good too, thanks Benjamin!

After church today the Stevens family surprised me and brought me this plate of cookies.  Very nice, made me smile!

Whirlwind Over...For Tonight

I made it home at midnight. It feels like it too. I mentioned to Willyne recently that sometime in the future I would like to visit the graves of each of my 8 great grandparents, get the feeling of the area they lived in, take pictures, etc. We are talking 2 in Wisconsin, 3 in Iowa, 1 in Kansas ,,, and 2 in Willard, Utah.

When I got about 5 minutes from Willard driving home, I thought of stopping. It didn't sound so great as it was raining, but I decided to do it anyway.

I'll post the pictures tomorrow, and I'll tell about my high quality dinner with Benjamin tomorrow too.

Right now, I have 5 hours that can sleep and I'm ready! See you tomorrow!

Surprise!

I am on a quick trip north.  Worked in the office yesterday morning, drove to near Ogden in the afternoon, had a business planning consultation with Tony Tams starting at 5, then headed on to Pocatello in the evening.  This morning I finished a detailed tax planning model utilizing an Excel spreadsheet for Tony's son-in-law who has dental offices in Pocatello and Idaho Falls.  Then I met with him this afternoon, answering questions by changing assumptions in the model and letting him see how those changes would affect the taxes he will need to pay.  Just one example, changing how the depreciation on equipment purchased earlier this year is allocated (all in one year or in multiple years) increased the tax in the current year but decreased total tax over a two year period by $7,000.  I like finding solutions like that.

I head home in the morning but first I showed up at Becca's door at 6:30 and surprised her.  The look on her face was wonderful!   We enjoyed two hours together and then I went back to Pocatello ...

A Magical Mystery Tour

Blogs are good.  Willyne is in Boston visiting the Ragozzines.  I really, really wish I was with her.  But I'm not.  I did a good, diligent day of work.  Now I am tired.  My relaxation of choice when I want to wind down at days end is to read, and if I have some unique music going, that makes the reading and relaxing even better.

You know I like a good magical mystery tour.  Turns out that's not limited to discovering new roads.  I find it relaxing to start looking for something and see where it takes me.  Sarah sent me an e-mail yesterday that said among other things that she didn't make my blog reading list (the one in the right column rather than the left column you are now reading).  She realized it was probably because her blog is private.  I think that is mostly true, but I'm not totally clear how blogger works on that.  She in fact is on my blog reading list.  So are a couple other private blogs.  I pondered that and remembered that one of the private blogs is still visible on my list, while the other two aren't.  And even that seems to change from time to time.

So tonight I clicked on the mysterious private blog that appeared on my list to see which one it would be this time.  Rachel, you have to check this out, if it will let you in.  I hope it will.  Why do I single out Rachel when I would actually recommend "In The Beechwood Forest" to each of you?  Because Rachel asked me about my Uncle Wally earlier this year.  It was a renewed affirmation that the world really is small, and it is a story worth retelling here.

Rachel has a friend named Sarah.  Not her sister Sarah Ragozzine, but I think several of you know this friend Sarah.  Sarah knew someone whose life was changed by someone named Walter Beecher.  Sarah asked Rachel if she was related to Walter somehow.  Rachel asked me.  There are probably several Walter Beechers in the world, but I just know one and to me he's always been Uncle Wally.  At 10 pm that night, I sent an e-mail to Rachel with his address and phone number to give to Sarah.

In this amazingly small world made smaller with the Internet, Rachel forwarded me this answer a short time later,

"Dad you are never going to believe this!
"I just got an update from my friend Sarah about Uncle Wally, I am copying and pasting you the part with the update

"i thought i would give you an update on uncle wally...

"so my dad called uncle wally and sure enough it was the one that woman was looking for. so my dad gave him her number and they were able to get in touch. here's the cool part.... this woman spoke in stake conference on sunday and she told the story of how when she was 19 she was drinking and driving and she killed two people. she ended up going to jail for 3 years. she was inactive, and started going to the prison branch and uncle wally was the branch president. he and his wife helped reactivate her. well one fast sunday uncle wally got up to bare his testimony and told that his son had been killed by a drunk driver when he was 6 years old, and that being the branch president and knowing this lady helped him forgive the person who killed his son. when she spoke in my parents stake she said that your uncle wally and his wife helped her learn to forgive herself. can you believe that??? so then the stake president got up and told the story of my dad texting me, me texting you, you talking to your dad, you giving me the info, me giving it to my dad, my dad calling uncle wally and then uncle wally calling her. what a small world. it made me even more grateful to have you as a friend. this woman told my dad how much it meant to her to get in contact with him. cool story huh? so you can spread the word to your family that uncle wally is an amazing man that has blessed the lives of others."

Uncle Wally is indeed an amazing man that has blessed the lives of others.  I got to know him better tonight by jumping around some of the early entries in his blog, hoping to get some of his history that I hadn't been aware of.  I wasn't disappointed.  Plus he provided a bonus, some thoughtful music.  I've now made a mental note to check out playlist.com because of it.   Take some time, have a good read and a listen.  You'll be well rewarded for it!

Out of breath just thinking about it

Up at 5,, out the door at 6, blew a tire just past 7 (and I just had them checked - does that sound familiar Becca?), AAA came and put the donut back on, realized I didn't get Willyne a Southwest Airlines boarding pass a few minutes later, pulled over, asked her to drive, spent the next hour pulling a rabbit out of a hat and got her a good boarding pass, an important thing because she was carrying bubble wrapped ceramic nativity pieces in her carry-on and there needed to be room in the overhead bin, got a couple really nice e-mails from Sarah just as I pulled up at the curbside melee at McCarran, glad you like my cleaner desk (can't say clean yet, it is a work in progress), started driving back, filled the tank with gas, ate two pancakes and scrambled eggs because I needed to calm down with some comfort food, found out Willyne got a good seat on the emergency exit row and there was a room in the overhead bin, pancakes, syrup, and cold milk did their job and I calmed down, met with a real estate agent client when I got to Mesquite, business is actually going good for this client (yea!), stopped and picked up some Popeyes to surprise Doug and Josh, talked to Doug for a little while when I dropped off the chicken wraps and chicken biscuits with lots of honey mustard packets, he has been a loyal supporter of this blog, thanks for all the great comments in the 7 months this has been going!, stopped to get some papers at the office, Harry was still there finishing up a report I am taking to see a client up north tomorrow so I told him about the client I saw in Mesquite today, got a phone call from a client who lives in Pahrump, Nevada just as I pulled up at the house got my city council book, client is in St. George for two hours to go to their granddaughters' third birthday party, "can we meet with you to give you some tax papers before we go home tonight?", ate a bite of grated cheese (a good blend, yum), said hello to Danielle, voted to approve committing city funds to match a state grant to build some more sidewalk on State Street, suggested doing a six-foot wide sidewalk instead of four so there is room to plant trees and put in street lights, Hugh Howard agreed that was a good idea, so staff is going to see what this is going to cost and report back to us, we discussed what our options are for fire protection since Hurricane has indicated its intent to withdraw from the fire district in January 2012, we don't understand why they want to withdraw, it is better for everyone to be in this together but we will do OK with Toquerville and Virgin if they go through with this, went back home, nuked a high quality orange chicken bowl, heard rain and thunder start pounding on the roof, where did that come from, ten minutes later there was a pause in the rain, I headed back to St. George to meet with the client, that went well, returned home, took the trash can to the street, and started typing this.  I am 2 for 3 on walking this week.  Plan was to do it tonight, but I couldn't talk myself into walking in the pouring rain and thunder.  I have the clock set for 5 and hope there is a break in the weather then.   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, and not a minute too soon!

(The lengthy run-on sentence adds to ambiance of this post, don't you think?)

This is going to be short as don't feel so great tonight. Nothing serious, just another night of queasy stomach. I seem to be having more of that lately. Not sure why.

I did go on a walk to the church and back this morning so we're at day 2 on that.

Not Even Once

Some of my thoughts throughout the day ...

I read Mosiah 18:9 with some of the commitments the people of Alma made when they were baptized, and which we make when we are baptized ...

... mourn with those that mourn
...comfort those that stand in need of comfort
...to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death

Then I read what Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote about this verse.  He declared that our baptismal covenants require righteousness no matter how difficult the circumstances: “When we covenant in the waters of baptism to ‘stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places,’ we’re not talking solely about fast and testimony meetings. It may not always be easy, convenient, or politically correct to stand for truth and right, but it is always the right thing to do—always” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 51; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 37).

I am now picturing Sister Wendy Watson Nelson, the wife of Elder Nelson of the Twelve, passing the barn with "NOT EVEN ONCE" painted on the roof.  (See page 158 of her book Change Your Questions, Change Your Life for a picture of the barn roof and page 165 for the application to "not even once will I miss the opportunity to (you fill in the blank) ..."

Not even once will I miss the opportunity to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.

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Like a lot of people, I'm quite interested in the national elections that are now fifteen days away.  I found a couple articles today that I think are worth your time to look at, how about you read them, then comment here with your thoughts about

• Comparing Germany and Korea, Texas and California
• I've felt all year that the Nevada U.S. Senate race is symbolic of the overall national mood about what we as a nation want our government to be and do.  Here is a thoughtful article in New Yorker magazine that gives detail on who Harry Reid and Sharron Angle are and how they got to where they are in an election definitely still too close to call.

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Benjamin, this is for you ...

Your mother and I did go on a walk this evening.  Day 1 happened.  Thanks for your support!

Despain Visit Pictures and More

I think these pictures speak for themselves!  It was great to have the Despains here this weekend.

They did head home midafternoon today.  Later, I went to the yearly stake high priests quorum meeting.  It was unique in that we had all four stake presidents that have served since our stake was formed in 1981 speak to us tonight.  Two themes.  The first speaker, President Lewis introduced the Alma 13 part of the theme, particularly verses 3 and 4 which discusses the calling of high priests.  President Kerry Gubler then spoke on the second theme, that he wouldn't trade his experience serving with his wife as a senior missonary for anything, even though he wasn't ready to retire and didn't see how he could do it yet.  He and his wife knew it was what the Lord wanted them to do.  He thought there could be 50-100 in our quorum that could begin serving within six months.  That seems like a breathtaking number, but wow what a blessing that would be ...

It was a great meeting -- all in an hour, wow.

Cleaning our City

Today was the yearly city State Street clean up day (click here to see a picture and get more details).

We had 110 volunteers and the highway looks great!  LaVerkin 1st and 5th wards shared the section from 170 South to the bridge, with 19 volunteers each.  La Verkin 3rd and LeGrand Imlay's youth group cleaned from 170 South to 200 North.  3rd ward had 11 volunteers, the youth group came a couple days early for their section so I don't have an exact number for them, but they did a great job!  LaVerkin 2nd and 7th wards did from 200 to 500 North, with 16 and 35 volunteers, respectively.  The section of the highway beyond the north signal light was shared by LaVerkin 4th and 6th wards, with 7 and 3 volunteers, respectively.

Thanks to all for a job well done, and especially to 7th ward with such a great turnout!

Made It

I got home from work about 10 pm.  We got it done.  You would think after hundreds of deadlines it wouldn't be a big deal any more, but it is.  It is a good feeling when you give all and get it done.  Giving all means physical pain.  I came home with aches and pains in places all over my body and a queasy stomach.

Fortunately, a little time home with my sweet and I feel much better!

Twas the night before deadline

And I'm having fun working, but the best part of my day was sneaking over to Panda Buffet for an hour to be with my sweetie.  It wasn't the food.  There is a new owner, and most things were the same, but a few things were not quite what they were.  The coconut shrimp has some breading now for example. 

It was the conversation.  We even lingered a little while after we were done, how often do you do that in a buffet?  It was nice on a busy day to talk for a bit.  Now Willyne is on to an 8 pm Zumba class and I'm back at the office for awhile longer.  I'll turn on the Pandora and think of my sweet and get a little more done ...

Teamwork

All 33 Chilean miners have been rescued.  What a wonderful example of teamwork we all witnessed!

I got to eat homemade, soup, rolls, and brownies with the Relief Society tonight.  And hear my sweetheart lead a well-received, timely discussion of hope, self-esteem, putting first things first.  It was wonderful seeing their teamwork as they turned to their neighbor and said things they appreciate about each other.

The soup was good too!

Another busy day at work as we near the October 15 deadline for those who filed tax extensions six months ago to get their tax returns in.

I've memorized four more lines of The Living Christ, and appreciating it more and more. This is a great experience!

Miracles

I am watching TV with Willyne, amazed at the rescue tonight of the first 3 of 33 miners trapped 2040 feet below ground for 70 days in Chile. It is wonderful when people work together the great things that can be accomplished!

I spoke on the phone today with my cousin Jacque who is in Illinois with my aunt Helena while Mark and Sharon are in Utah at a grandchild's wedding. Today is Helena's 102nd birthday--that is a miracle too. Helena and Jacque both sounded happy and healthy and enjoyed the day! We should all do that well for that many years!

If A Cluttered Desk Is A Sign Of A Cluttered Mind, An Empty Desk Is A Sign Of ...

... I'm not sure!  But I'd sure like to find out!

Or more precisely, I'd like to have a clean, organized desk and have that be a sign of a clean, organized mind.

I have two desks in my office.  One is now completely clean, with a final push tonight from Willyne.  (Thank you very, very much!!!)  You can see the other desk.  After days of effort, I now have five of six segments of the front of it clean.  This represents taking the time to put every piece of paper where it goes, which means looking at every piece of paper and deciding what should be done with it.  (Fear not, the large round file with wheels on the bottom (read dumpster), which holds the papers destined for the shredder, got a very sizable donation!)

You will note I said the front of the desk.  The back still needs to be done, as do several boxes underneath and at the side of the desk.  But I have done what I can for this week.  Now I will work on deadlines for several days, and revisit this again this coming weekend.

Rachel, you get another shout out here, because ten days ago you saw what this looked like.  Sarah, you do too, because Rachel tried to convince me that I should bring you out and put you in charge of this project -- you apparently LOVE doing this.  :)

Enough of that, I will close with a link to this fortnight's tax and money blog entry.  I got too wound up with computer maintenance to post the link here Saturday (although I finished writing the entry Friday morning).  So.... you get it now. Please clieck here to visit that blog and see the new entry.

God is the Father of My Spirit

Willyne and I went to Red Cliffs 5th Ward in St. George after our own 9 am Sacrament Meeting to be there for Ethan to be in his ward's Primary program in their Sacrament Meeting.  So did Doug Jr, Grandmother Forsyth, and my parents.

Ethan was the second reader of the program, he had seven words to say, "God is the Father of My Spirit".  He was a little nervous, but he was sure pleased with his accomplishment when he was done!  He knew maybe half of the songs, he especially likes "Follow the Prophet". 

It was the highlight of my day -- I loved sharing that with him!

Humpty Dumpty Part 2

It was a long but good day. Worked on 6 computers at once, threw out half a large trash can of obsolete stuff including an old computer--after taking everything off it. The tortoise is smiling...

Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again

On Day 2 back walking I went 2 miles in 45 minutes, which is 7 minutes better than yesterday.  I even took 10 minutes of business calls while walking (I began at 7:22 am -- some like calling early!). Talking while walking can get interesting, because I was breathing heavily and my listeners were wondering what was going on.  So I told them. It's all good.

Willyne and I are working on memorizing "The Living Christ" by Christmas.  She's got it already, I had about a paragraph done in the same amount of time (around a month)  I got this genius idea to do it on my walk and it really helps.  I am up to 12 lines now.  

By the way, this is an amazing thing to do -- the words pack so much more meaning when you start memorizing them!  Really makes you think about Him more often and more deeply.  I recommend it!

We have our QuickBooks server back at the office.  Now begins the process I call putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.  Loading backup files back on the computer.  Reinstalling printer drivers so you can print from it directly or remotely.  Reinstall the software that allows us to access the server from computers away from the office, which turns out to be a major part of our operation.  Making sure every other computer in the office can communicate with this one.  Testing QuickBooks, tax preparation, and other programs to make sure they work.  Load virus protection and internet security software.  Set up automatic data backup in the background.  And lots more.  Josh helped for half the day.  Harry helped all day.  I'm still here in the evening (8:49 pm), checking programs that are still running every few minutes to hit button to keep them going.  That part will continue tomorrow as well, but at least I can do other things at the same time.  It really is amazing what it takes to keep these machines running, but I still know I could never go back to the way we did things before we had these machines.  And I am indeed old enough to have done it both ways ...  (I know, that is saying something ...)

One

It's time to call it a day.  I needed to get energized so I switched Pandora stations a little while ago from my usual collection of piano and instrumentals and now have on my classic 60s-70s mix.  This station is seeded from the Moody Blues, and the computer has suggested songs I give thumbs up or down to from there.  The most recent song it played was "One" by Three Dog Night.  (It's the "loneliest number that you'll ever do" with a very catchy beat.)

The techie working on our computer at the store didn't come in today, so we got a substitute who wasn't as good.  So another day passed without getting it back, but Harry will pick it up and bring it in tomorrow morning and we can start trying to return to normal and not a minute too soon -- tax extensions run out Friday of next week.

I am surprised the stock market hasn't been hit with more profit taking recently.  I think it is perfectly logical that it has been stuck in a fairly narrow range for several months now.  The economy is no longer terrible (just stuck in general malaise), so it shouldn't drop too low, but there is really no persuasive reason for it to rally much either.  It has now pushed through the high end of its range, where it is now stalled.  So maybe the profit taking is about to begin.  Or maybe it will take a little longer yet, but I do believe it is coming ...

I read Mosiah 15 today.  I really admire Abinadi's courage.  He stood before King Noah in chains and boldly explained many wonderful things about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.  It is one thing to do that comfortably in General Conference.  I have enough admiration for our apostles and prophets who do that.  But Abinadi doing it in such adverse conditions is especially noteworthy for me.

What else did I do today?  Research on my latest tax blog post, which will come out Saturday.  Helped Willyne get set up for a nice potluck she had with the Relief Society sisters.  Had a yummy dinner of lasagna (thanks).  Discussed city business on the phone with the mayor and also with a fellow community member.  Got excited that Pamela Despain has an e-mail address and the Internet.  I'm happy for you!  Confirmed that Floryne's car ad is delected from KSL.com and Craig's List.  (The car is sold and the ad was already removed).

Which brings me back to one.  I am on day one on walking.  Willyne went for a walk this morning, I invited myself along, so the walking has started again. I didn't feel like it, but of course I was glad when I got done.

Overall, it was a pretty typical day -- I touched lots of things.  Now I think I'll touch my pillow ....  :)

Several unrelated topics of the day

The hard drive on the computer we use as our QuickBooks server at the office failed this past weekend.  We have since learned that the information on it can't be recovered, so we are having to not only replace the hard drive, but re-enter all information since the last backup, which turns out to have been two weeks ago.

We have been blessed with rain for three days now.  Very amazing for this arid country, but certainly needed...

Willyne returned from taking Becca back to school in Idaho this afternoon.  I was so glad to see her (even though she was only gone 30 hours.  Amazing what you can do in 30 hours, isn't it!

I attended the city beautification committee meeting at 5 this afternoon, followed by city council at 6.  We made final arrangements for the State Street cleanup to be held Saturday morning, October 16.  Last year we had 175 participants, hopefully this year will be just as good ...  We received word that for the first time ever, the city's liability insurance company returned part of our premium - $4,892 - in the form of a dividend, meaning claims were enough less than premiums that they were able to give part back.  Wonderful news!  ... We received a report from the volunteer committee reviewing what can and should be done with the historic building we all call the Old White Church, which now serves as a community center and council chambers.  It will need major roof renovations, among other fixes, if it is determined to try to save it.  The committee has met twice now and will meet again October 27 to continue work on its evaluation.  I will be quite interested in the results ... The regional committee working on a proposal to upgrade the current state scenic byway through LaVerkin to Zion Park (state highway 9) to a national scenic byway is getting closer to completion.  We expect to see a presentation of the final plan at our council meeting the first week of December. ... Work is progressing on putting a new rubberized surface in the children's play equipment area in Zion View Park to replace the wood chips that have been used in the past, but have blown away in our winds to all the neighbors yards.  Clearly another solution beside wood chips is needed, so this is a welcome project!  (FYI, besides Wanlass Park and Zion View Park, we also have Riverwood and Vintage Parks in our city, not bad for a populated area approximately one mile square.  ... There was more, but those were the highlights for tonight.

Setting Stephen's Monument in the Rain

I had the honor today of watching Stephen Sanders' headstone be set in place today.  It was overcast all day, then started raining pretty steadily 15 minutes before the monument people arrived.  It rained the whole hour they were there.  It was worth it -- what a great tribute to Stephen and the things he valued most, his parents, the temple, his music.

It's 10 pm. Do you know where your smiling tortoise is?

For those of you as old as me, you may remember Utah's channel 5 starting it's late daily news broadcast with "It's 10 pm in Salt Lake City.  Do you know where your children are?"  I'm not sure when they stopped saying that, but it's been a long time.

Well, it's 10 pm and I'm still at work, which tells you the kind of day I had.

I'm glad to have a lot to do.  As I have always said, it beats the alternative!

An Unexpected Trip to Nephi

We had a happy house full of family this morning for breakfast and conference. Shortly thereafter, most everyone started leaving.  But before they did, we got this picture -- I love it!

Willyne, Doug Jr, and I were quietly watching the afternoon conference session when the phone rang and our day changed.

The good news is that Becca and Marissa were watched over and survived the car rolling over three times with nothing more than glass cuts, scrapes, and sores.

Marissa's parents came for her and Willyne, Doug Jr, and I made the round trip north to Nephi. I'm goad to say she is now home in bed, which is where I am headed now!

General Conference, Marathon, Food, Football, Pool Moving - Lots Happening Today!

Started the day at Grandmother Floryne's house watching conference.  President Monson, Elder Holland, and Elder Christopherson were all great.  President Uchtdorf was the concluding speaker, and amont other things quoted Leonardo Da Vinci, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".  I'm going to have to go back and study all of the talks in this session carefully, they were great.

Next came the St. George Marathon, I'll let the videos and pictures do the talking for that:

They did GREAT!

Doug, Doug, Josh, Benjamin, and Jacob later enjoyed dinner at Texas Roadhouse before going to Priesthood Meeting.  Well, make that everyone except Doug Jr.  I should have taken a picture of his chicken fried bread crumbs -- seeing would have been believing.  Next time, Doug, try the pulled pork and barbeque ribs ...  :)

Priesthood featured the MTC Choir, Elder Nelson talking about boldness in doing missionary work, President Uchtdorf revisiting President Benson's classic on avoiding pride, and President Monson emphasizing the vital importance of  not giving into pressure to do something "just once". 

We came home, settled in to watch the recorded Florida-Alabama football game.  Just as we're getting into it, at 9:20 pm, come the guys to remove the pool on their trailer.  Couldn't believe when they decided to do it. 

The game itself was a blowout, but we always like to be together and talk, so at least that was good.  Sorry, Gators.  There is always Atlanta in December for redemption, but better start practicing now.  You can do it but it won't be easy.

Getting Acquainted with Wendy Watson Nelson's "Change Your Questions-Change Your Life"

Last night as I was winding down the day, Willyne handed me the book I mentioned in my title and asked me to look it over for 5-10 minutes.

There is a lot in this book.  My 5-10 minutes turned into 30, and even then I did not want to put it down and go to bed.  I'm sure I will be writing more about this book in the days and weeks to come, but for tonight I will focus on just one point from the book.  Sister Nelson gives a challenge to ask one of your toughest life questions each day for 30 days -- and see how you are blessed by trying to find the answer in the scriptures.  (Which she calls our answer books).

My initial reaction was to think that was fine if your tough question was something like how do you repent when you are about to give up hope thinking your sins are impossible to overcome.  But would the scriptures really have the answer to pressing questions in say, your business?

I was in the temple tonight.  It has been a tough week, and I needed a recharge, so even though I didn't think I had time to go, I went anyway.  I knew I needed some kind of inspiration, but not really sure what as I sat in the temple session.  Then I remembered Sister Nelson's book from last night and decided to put it to the test.  As I thought about it, the question I decided to focus on tonight was "How do you reconcile the two seemingly conflicting commandments to "be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of own your free will" and "don't run faster than you have strength"?

I was amazed.  First I pondered which scripture to start with.  I thought of the "don't run faster" classic, but that didn't feel right, and instead I settled on "Organize yourself, prepare every needful thing."  I wound up reading D&C 88:118-125.  That sent me to D&C 89, especially the first three and the last four verses.  That sent me to the topical guide on health, then strength, then diligence.  Many of the scriptures there didn't apply to my exact question, but some in each category did, and very well.

The main points I got out of this were,

1.  Be organized
2.  Don't waste time on trivial things, and especially not on sin.
3.  Go to bed early, get up early
4.  Keep the word of wisdom
5.  Be very diligent. There is no time to waste.
6.  We should do many things, but in an order, not all at once.
7.  We should take care to preserve what we have.  (That was an interesting one I hadn't noticed in the scriptures before)

I feel like I have enough material on this one question to profitably study for at least a week and really get a complete answer to my question.

I'm still overwhelmed with everything I need to do.  (My to do list is about 4 pages long, single spaced, and no matter how much I get done in a day, it seems to continue growing -- hence the strong need to do something about that)  But I feel more assured having had this experience in the temple tonight.

I will  write more notes on this as I study it further -- I'm pretty excited about this!