"My dad died"

Ten days ago on Friday night mom was in bed, nearly asleep, expecting to work the next day. I was reading in the family room. The phone rang about 11:20 pm. A few minutes later I walked into the bedroom, wondering who called. Mom said, "my dad died". It was hard to imagine that he died without notice. Just like that he was gone. The nursing home had called many other times when he had experienced some type of health issue--but not this time. The call was merely to tell mom that Don had passed in his sleep. For me, it was profound. How quickly things can change. As a missionary in Nampa Idaho, I knew a man named Roger Kotter. He was a fiery, great man, with the looks of Elder Eyring. He was a stake missionary, so I spent many evenings with him. His memorable angst was always the lax attitude that people had about life, "it's as if they have a contract on life--like they'll live forever." Well, we don't have a contract on life. Life can change quickly--for the better or worse. Let's treat today like it's a precious gift. Let's not expect that the gift of tomorrow will always be there. It most certainly will not. Dad

Where we are...

In an effort to stay connected, I thought I'd do a little post about where we are at right now in life.

I know that Leanna & Nate and Ryan & Heather have had some big events this month -- way bigger and more important than our month.  Maybe others have had big months too...

Clayton is in soul-searching mode.  He has been very thoughtful, prayerful, and communicative about his career.  He is excited to go meet with a career counselor to help him in his process.  I am proud of the progress he has made and I'm optimistic with where we are going.

I am enjoying my class.  It seems like around this time of year, sixth graders really let their true colors shine. Sometimes I wonder why I chose teaching.  Other times it is obvious.  Here are a couple illustrations of my days.

Story 1: Sixth graders can be difficult
I walk across the room to grab something and I see a student sitting under his desk.  I'm thinking, "what the heck, we're not having an earthquake drill..." Instead of saying this, I just look at him and say, "WHAT are you doing under your desk?" --I'm pretty blunt about it (more so than I maybe should have been) because I'm totally irritated.  He looks at me and says "well, I couldn't find my chair so I just sat down under my desk."  Seriously.  Under your desk? HOW is that your first thought?

Well, we had a little chat about how it probably would have been a better idea to LOOK for another chair (there were two sitting at our back table less than three feet from him) instead of sitting under his desk.  Sometimes these poor kids do the stupidest things to get attention.  I could tell he thought he was being funny and would get some attention from some "cool" kids....poor guy.  

Story 2: Sixth graders can be funny
Here is typical sixth grade boy.  There are always little posses of boys in sixth grade.  They are the attractive, rich, sporty kids.  It isn't only me who knows this about them...they are totally aware of it themselves.  It is obvious in how they talk to each other, AND to me.  Conveniently for me, I am, in the mind of a 12 year old boy, young enough to relate to (I'm not sure they really understand that I'm twice their age).  They try so hard to impress me with how fast they can run, what sport games they won, etc.  Back to my story -- there is a boy in my co worker's class.  He is trying to look very suave to his friends who are in my class.  He is walking past our classroom window slowly, acting very nonchalant, waving, grinning, totally being everything a 12-year-old boy who thinks he is all that would be.  Unfortunately for him, around the corner comes a very eager fifth grade girl.  He, looking in our classroom, totally oblivious to her existence, smacks right into her.  I start laughing because I saw it all and, I mean, come on, he deserved it.  Then I feel bad because he is a student (and all sixth graders have fragile self-esteem), so I tone down my laughter and try to get back to my lesson.  Later, at break, my students are in the halls getting drinks and they tell him how I laughed at him and he comes up to me like "I can't believe you laughed at me!!" Ahh...sixth graders.  They are so funny.

Story 3: Sixth graders can be precious
Today, we finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows. Well, I'm hoping you remember the ending.  If not, it is quite emotional.  I have to read it out loud, and tears are just rolling freely down my cheeks. I'm not the only one -- girls AND boys are crying.  Sniffles, snorts, and firm cheek wipes are happening all around the room.  My kids are all so tender.  Well, we go into a conversation about the ending and I am listening to all sorts of comments.  Most of them were sweet and well intentioned, like "I really liked this book, but why did it have to have such a sad ending?"  Well, one girl, a brilliant over-achiever who is so so sweet raises her hand.  She doesn't have a lot of friends because she is really smart.  She says, "I'm glad we read this book, because recently, my cat died."  She is the only one who is willing to talk WHILE crying.  She breaks down slowly and softly and it is the SWEETEST thing.  If you haven't read the book, you won't see the significance.  Well, she had written a letter to me last week about how her cat got run over by her dad's car and she stayed with it (and its crushed little body) for hours as it slowly passed away.  Gosh, she is the sweetest thing.

Well, anyway.  I didn't edit that at all, so it probably was fairly confusing, but hopefully you got the point.  I like teaching sixth grade, but it is hard.  I am considering (lightly) looking into a change of grades.  I have a hard time not having any social outlet at work.  It is also hard for me to do SO much every day and still feel like I'm only doing a mediocre job.

Anyway, I think that is about it.  Just chugging along...trying to plan some fun things for the year.

Love you guys!

Voting Today?

This is why I am voting for Mitt Romney today. I hope you’re all able to vote. There are really two primary concerns for me (and I understand that about half of the country disagrees with my view of the current situation--isn't democracy a beautful thing?!?): 1. I am concerned that the economic engine of our country is being damaged by our President. We need jobs today. We need jobs in the future. We can’t help anyone in this country (or the rest of the world) if we have a weak economy and a government that harms business. Most of all, I want my children to be able to find productive jobs. Unfortunately, the current administration seems to have more of an apathy toward business and the business climate of our country--rather than an appreciation for the jobs and income that business provides. 2. I feel that our neglect of the national debt is immoral—we shouldn’t be spending money and expecting the next generations to pay the bills. I feel President Obama has looked the other way and has no real interest in dealing with this crisis. I think it’s obvious that his agenda doesn’t include dealing with the debt. Here’s the way I see it playing out: someday the national debt will have dire consequences—similar to Europe and Greece, our government will have to make some last minute decisions on how to survive. For example, they’ll decide in a matter of days or weeks how Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be redesigned in the future—that’s no way to lead or manage. I’d prefer that our elected officials act as adults—and craft a manageable plan to save these entitlements—without the pressure of an impending crisis. Things must change and this President has shown little interest in protecting the future of our government or these programs. Those issues are front and center asI head into the voting booth! Dad

Beach2Battleship Ironman Pictures

Beach2Battleship Ironman Event

The blog doesn't seem to want to take the text with the pictures, so the pictures will follow. Mission Accomplished!****** Thirty eight weeks after beginning the journey, it’s over! ****** Here’s a recap: Mom and I had an enjoyable trip to the southern coast of North Carolina, staying in a community called Wrightsville Beach—literally overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived Wednesday night, allowing for a relaxing day on Thursday.****** Race preparation began in earnest on Friday, pulling all the last minute details together—delivering four separate bags of equipment (one for the swim to bike transition, one for the half-way point in the bike, one for the bike to run transition, and one for half-way point on the run) and a bike. I am a pretty good planner, but the logistics tested my limits. On Friday evening we shared dinner with about 1000 competitors and guests. The full Iron distance race had 665 entrants and the half Iron distance had 1200; you should have seen the first transition area—more bikes than you’d ever want to count!****** I ate breakfast at 4:15 on Saturday then went back to bed—giving the food plenty of time to digest. I caught a 6 am shuttle bus to the start line. The swim was a point to point event—beginning at the tip of a long peninsula which protected us from the waves of the Atlantic ocean. It was a beautiful morning—no clouds in the sky, with temperatures about 60 degrees. Following the national anthem, we hit the water in a mass start! We headed down the channel for about 2+ miles before turning into another channel toward the finish. I felt fine during the swim—even a few mouthfuls of salt water didn’t throw me off too much. The biggest swim challenge was not knowing how much farther we had to swim. There were no yard or mile markers—so I was continually guessing how much farther we needed to swim. So I had to take Dory’s advice from Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”****** We rented a bike from the hotel for mom to ride during the race. By the time I exited the water she had biked her way from the start line to T1 and was there to greet me with her camera, balloons, and a kiss! I saw her many times on the course and she was very encouraging! Traveling the bike course was a bit challenging—and mom would admit that she’s not the best with maps, so it was quite the feat to navigate rural NC (especially since the bike maps were shy on details).****** Before I knew it, I was on my bike—heading out of Wrightsville Beach. 112 miles is a long bike ride—but it went as well as I could have hoped. I felt strong almost the entire way, except for a one hour section at about mile 70, where I felt sluggish, tired, and pretty weary. I doused myself with two bottles of water—and then I felt 100%--just like that! (There is a pick-me-up tip for my graduate school sons—but don’t try it in the library.) My bike split was just under 7 hours—which is a long time to sit in a car and an even longer time to ride a bike.****** The transition to the run was done inside of Wilmington’s convention center, which was very unique and pretty cool. The run started out warm—probably upper 70s. Mom got stuck in a very long traffic delay (courtesy of the race), so she missed the beginning of the run. I felt bad for the hundreds of vehicles (including mom’s) that were delayed by our race.****** After the first six miles, most of the marathon was very challenging; my legs and body felt fine—but I didn’t have much energy to draw on. I am guessing that my body was just plain tired after 11 hours of racing. The last third of the marathon I alternated between walking 40 yards and running 200-300—that seemed to work. I was in the back third of the field, with virtually everyone walking—so finding others to emulate (who were running) was not easy. I could have easily chosen to walk the rest of the marathon, but at about mile 12 I decided that I didn’t do all the training to merely walk the marathon. ****** Eventually I got within about a mile of the finish line—and cherished the moment—knowing that the end was so near. Knowing that this was my last long event, I was somewhat sentimental, tearful, and grateful. My first marathon was 11 years earlier at age 44 and now at age 55 the longer distance events were coming to an end (entirely by my choosing—because I think it is time to adjust my lifestyle a bit—spending less time training for these longer events). I am most grateful that I have been able to share the start and finish lines with so many focused and disciplined athletes/people—and that I was blessed with the lifestyle, DNA, and ambition to let me to participate in such high energy events.****** Overall, my swim and bike were very satisfying. My run was challenging and much more difficult than Vineman. As I reviewed the race results I could see that there were quite a few participants who didn’t finish the event. I am grateful that I was able to finish—and experience the finish line experience with a lot of people providing genuine recognition for the accomplishment that was mine. ****** Thanks to all who provided so much encouragement and support—before, during, and after the event. As I have said before, each of you has your own personal mountain to climb—at least as challenging as this weekend’s event. I respect your patience, drive, resilience, and resolve—and am confident of your ability to meet each of your challenges!