Quiet Strength

A few months ago I mentioned how, as a member of the Bishopric, I hear about the ailments of most members of the Ward. One thing I've certainly learned in the 4 years I've held this calling is that people are in pain. Whether physical, due to illness; emotional, due to loss; or even psychological, due to regret - people are hurting out there.

Earlier tonight I saw two people who have so many reasons to feel down due to the hands they've been dealt. Both have cancer, both have had multiple surgeries, both have suffered extreme losses over the past year or so. And yet, neither was willing to give into despair. Our visits tonight were so inspiring and I came away with the greatest amount of respect for each of these wonderful individuals. I know that I have witnessed the hand of the Lord in each of their lives and they have shown me the incredible strength that each of us has as as we recognize our divine potential.

Long Weekend

The past couple of days have really worn us out. Everything started innocently enough as we had some friends over on Friday night. We played Guitar Hero (the guys mostly played GH) and wii Sports (here's where our wives became interested) for a few hours, while the kids ran around the house. It's always fun when you can get together on the spur of the moment, without making a big production out of a Friday night.

Yesterday we headed down to Utah County for an adult's only Houtz party. The party was over before it even started as Tara's dad hurt his back and had to go to the ER for treatment. I guess Lyn had been working a little too hard yesterday and his back seized up on him. Needless to say, no one else really wanted to get together while their dad was at the hospital. We ate a quick dinner with Char, Bonnie, and Dick then headed over to the emergency room to visit Tara's dad.

The other issue from last night was my bout with an upset tummy. On the way down to Springville I started feeling sick and it kept getting worse throughout the evening. By the time we got to the hospital, I had to excuse myself to throw up in the restroom before going in to see Lyn. There's nothing worse than knowing you're going to lose it - oh wait, there is.. Knowing you're going to lose it while you're in a hospital waiting room. That was awful. We kept our visit short and I went home and straight to bed.

When I woke up this morning the 24 hour bug was gone and I was back on my feet. The only problem was that I was back on my feet but running an hour late due to daylight savings. I checked the clock and thought I was okay since it was only 6:30 - nope today it was 7:30 and I had already missed 1 1/2 meetings. I hurriedly dressed and was out the door within 20 minutes but I didn't hear the end of my late arrival throughout the rest of the day at church.

I don't know about most of you out there, but daylight savings is one of my pet peeves. I just don't get it. Why do we need to increase or decrease the amount of light we need during different times of the year anymore? I think daylight savings is more about tradition, and a whole lot less about efficiency. Plus, anyone with little kids will agree that sleep is thrown off for a couple of days or more every time we switch the clocks.

Enough of the weekend, I guess I'm ready to go back to work....

Still Waiting

As I left the house this morning, I mentioned to Tara how I liked taking the 13th East bus because it got me to work earlier than the Highland Drive bus. Little did I know the jinx I had just put on myself.

Normally, the 213 (13th East bus) arrives around 8:30 and gets me to work at 9:00. Sure, it may be 5 minutes late from time to time, but no big deal. Today I arrived at the stop about 5 minutes early. I was alone, but was shorted joined by two ladies who were headed up to the U as well. 10 minutes went by and I really didn't think anything of it. 20 minutes and now there's a problem. None of us are going to make it to work or appointments on time. It's starting to feel really cold outside and nothing seems to be happening. There's only so many times you can look down the street to see if the bus is on the way. One of the ladies called UTA to check on our bus that was now 15 minutes late.

"No problems, just running about 20 minutes late."

We all decided that we could wait another 5 minutes for the bus to arrive. 30 minutes later I gave up. It was now 9:20 and I had been at the stop for an hour. Normally, I love the bus because it gives me a chance to relax and prepare for the day. Today, I worried that the day would never come.

PS - Best story while waiting for the bus today. A woman walked by us and she had a paper stitched into the back of her jacket. It said something along the lines - Satan worshipers will be punished unless they break free of their cult (a reference to Mormonism) and accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Then it gave the address for a Born Again church. Wow! You really have to believe in a message to make it a part of your coat. Ah, the stuff you experience while waiting for the bus!

Dede Talk

Earlier today Kennedy and I had a fun little Daddy/Daughter chat:

"Daddy, were you at work yesterday?"

"Yep, I was gone all day, huh."

"Ya, I missed you Daddy-O."

"I missed you too Dede-O."

"Are you going to work today?"

"Yep, I've got to get going right now."

"Oh, CRAP!"

Utah Coalition for Educational Technology

I've just finished two days at another great technology conference. This year the UCET conference included a couple of highlights. I participated in a panel discussion with the keynote speaker, David Pogue. I've written before about how much I enjoy his columns in the New York Times and meeting him was a thrill. I know this makes me sound like a tech geek, but that's ok - in my world Pogue is a pretty big deal.

The other highlight from UCET involved the election. No, I'm not talking about Hillary and Obama. This time I'm talking about me. I ran for an office for the second time in my life. I really like the work that UCET does for teachers across Utah, so I ran to become a board member. I didn't have to make any speeches or kiss any babies, but somehow I won a position on the board. I don't know all of my responsibilities yet, but I'll have the next two years to figure it out.