Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

Have you ever noticed how analog clocks in catalogs and ads usually read 10:10? The idea behind this (I've been told) is the clocks look "happy" at that time. Why is the clock happy? One theory is that the hands look like a smile. We just started the 9:00 am schedule at church, starting with Sacrament Meeting. As that 70 minute meeting was ending yesterday, I looked up at the clock. Maybe that's why 10:10 is considered a happy time.

We've been here in Dallas with Kara since just before Christmas, and up until today everything has worked out pretty well. This is due primarily to the fact that a set of eleven-year-old twins was staying in the condo next door, and the girls have had a great time playing with them. That all changed today when those kids left for home, and I heard the first grumblings of boredom from mine. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a very long day. We have also benefited from the fact that we don't have cable at our house, so Disney Channel and Animal Planet are all new and exciting. But even that began to wear thin today. I think we'll be headed back to the house for good on Saturday. There is no way we can get home, changed, and to church in time, as we start the 9-12 schedule at church on Sunday. I was hoping for the 10-11 schedule, but such is life.

Today our Stake had a Pioneer Day celebration at the park. We had a real pioneer breakfast of pancakes from powdered mix (the Costco variety) and Kirkland brand imitation maple syrup. There were some fun games, too. Anna took a stab at the potato peeling contest. She did pretty well, considering the first time she actually put a vegetable peeler into action was this past week when she decided the peeler looked like a fun tool. I have to agree. She also participated in the tug of war and the wagon races. She didn't want to risk personal injury in the nail pounding and log cutting competitions. Alyssa's participation only went as far as watching and pouting. But she had fun on the swings and slide. There was also a pioneer day parade, that involved walking around the park and singing "Pioneer Children." Sadly, my journalistic responsibilities prevented me from walking with them.

Despite being unseasonably cold, we had a great weekend. Saturday was every bit as busy as predicted. I went to the storage unit and filled the truck. It will probably take me several weeks to get the boxes all emptied out, but I wanted to bring home as much as I could. We still have stuff in three units, and my goal is to get that trimmed down to 2 before we have to pay rent again at the end of the month. Kara worked hard at getting things ready for Easter. She spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen boiling eggs and baking. The girls had a great time doing the easter eggs this year. We made 15, and there are only 5 left! I think this will be the first year we won't have to throw a bunch of boiled eggs away. The easter bunny was good to the girls this year. Each got a puzzle and a computer game and some socks. A little bit of chocolate, too. Kara made blueberry bunny pancakes for breakfast. Yum! She also made a delicious trifle for dessert, and she made the pudding from scratch....

This weekend was General Conference , and I thought we would be able to watch it with streaming video. So I brought my computer out to the living room and hooked it up to the TV. We were able to watch BYU 's feed for about half an hour before it hung. KSL 's feed made you start at the beginning, which I wasn't really interested in doing. So I just loaded the audio feed and let it run through the Windows Media Player. I hate to admit this, but I enjoyed watching conference this way. The audio came through just great, and the swirling colors of the "visualization" was more interesting to look at than a person standing at a podium. With the computer in the living room, writing today's blog is more of a family affair. I asked the girls what to write about. Alyssa said "doggie," which I can only assume is a reference to a dog we saw today (at a distance) while we went for a walk between sessions. After two nearly solid days of rain, we have now had two ab...

We met in our new church building yesterday. It's finally finished. No, this isn't the replacement for the one that burned down. The church was already in the process of building a chapel in Azle, the town just north of us. I think it's a Phase 1 building, which means that it was designed for a small ward. The chapel has about 12 rows of pews. To accommodate our rather average size ward, all three overflows were opened. It's a nice little building. Standard early 21st century LDS. It looks just like so many other buildings I've been in, and after meeting at the Church of Christ for several weeks, it was a bit of a letdown. Not that it isn't a nice building - it's actually quite a bit nicer than the other church. It's just that it's so unoriginal. Now, I understand why the church has a little folder full of blueprints that they use over and over again. A s many buildings as they build, it would be prohibitive to come up with a new design for each one...

Our Sacrament Meeting yesterday was at the Church of Christ down the street and around the corner. It was a nice big building, although very different from an LDS chapel. The thing I liked best about it was the stained concrete floors. I've become very observant of building materials as of late, and while that building was rather spartan in its amenities, it was a relatively "safe" building. The Weatherford chapel, being 25 years old, was fairly safe, too, having off-gassed many of the chemicals used in the building materials. I'm concerned about what a new building will hold in store for us. Sacrament Meeting ran for 100 minutes, but that was the only meeting that we had, and given the circumstances and the amount of spirit and emotion, it seemed appropriate. The investigation into the fire has been closed, and the cause was apparently wiring in a light switch. I was scheduled to teach in priesthood, and I wanted to share the story of I Hemolele and the origins of t...

At the end of a week-long trip, it's important to hit the ground running. This weekend I just about ran my little feet off. But now it's Monday night, and I'm still standing. (OK, actually I'm sitting, but I deserve it.) The Jumbo/LARGE to do list is still pretty big, but I finally got all of the laundry done. I also drug the girls out into the rain to do grocery shopping. While we were gone, our "Mother of All Residential Water Systems" sprung a leak and soaked all of the 72 hour kits. Fortunately, my wise sister recommended that we put everything from the kits into plastic bags, so the damage was minimal. But the fact that we even have to put up with this kind of problem in a system that cost as much as a good certified used car..... In the mail on Saturday was a letter to Anna reminding her that she was giving a talk in Primary. I got up early on Sunday morning and wrote her a quick outline. Because I am a computer geek, I couldn't actually write it by ...