OK...Lets See What You Got!! Bring It!!

63 words

Speed test

Take the typing speed test and rush back here and tell me how you did. See if you can type faster than your favorite "Cable Guy!" (Kinda sounds like something you'd see at the Carnival..."Step right up, Beat the Cable Guy and win some Crap!)

Don't be scared...Do it..do it...do it.

I'm Sick of Moving

My wife and I have been sleeping on a futon mattress for 5 straight months. As in, a futon mattress with no frame. As in, a once 6 inch thick futon mattress but now a mattress that has been squished into something reminicent of fruit leather due to my herculean size. (Well herculean might be a little heroic)

Ah, but no more. This lovely Friday evening I find myself in Tucson retrieving the rest of our personal earthly belongings that have been held so long in storage. Included in that collection of the aforementioned personal belongings is my beloved new king size bed that I bought a little over 8 months ago. This bed is the size of a battleship and twice as comfortable. I cannot wait to sleep in it again this Sunday night.

All of this hub-bub brings me to the theme of tonights post. Which is:

I HATE MOVING!

Don't get me wrong...I have had the good fortune of having this move paid for by the United States Government. Specifically the Executive Branch of that government. This money so graciously given to me by GeeDub is of course more commonly known as the "Economic Stimulus Check." Now... a year or so ago I would have preferred to put this money into action somewhere else. However, having the perspective I posses now, which will forever be known as the "Futon Perspective" I am more than happy to spend every American cent of this "Stimulus" on getting my bed back.

Anyway. Not only was the move paid for...when I arrived here in Tucson and showed up at the storage facility, droves of men from the Bear Canyon Ward showed up to help me load the truck! Talk about great people. These men left their families to help me. Plus...it was hotter than blazes outside. Quite humbling really.

There are those that never move. That build roots. Have families that never move. They build roots. Generations of folks that never move and family is abundant and close.

I envy these people. How I wish I was one of these types. Especially now when I miss my three oldest daughters and my grandson sooooo bad. Especially when I miss all of my former wards soooo bad. And my dear friends... and co-workers.

But you know, for some reason it is not my nature to stay in the same place very long. So even though I've hated moving for as long as I can remember, I have still moved when I felt like it was time. Even now, as bad as I miss all of the things I have talked about, I can't go back. It just doesn't feel right to go back. Not only that, while I'm miss my these things and while certain scenarios haven't worked out the way I thought they would in certain moves, I have never second guessed myself in one of my moves. Well maybe one. OK definately one but that was 20 years ago! I loved elements about Tacoma/Seattle but when I go there now I expect it to feel like an old friend but it doesn't, it feels heavy. Now I'm in Tucson and it feels heavy. My comfort now is upon returning back to the Wood River Valley to my family. With my bed.

Fishing Time!

Today I officially got my resident fishing license and with that $25 piece of paper you are entitled to fish all over the great state of Idaho. Within minutes from our home in Hailey, out near Route 20, flows the Big Wood River on it's meandering course to Magic Reservoir. There are lots of nice fishing holes along the Big Wood. On our way home today from Boise we stopped off the road for just a few minutes of fishing. Within moments I had caught this fine German Brown Trout hiding under a fallen tree. Holding the fish is my sweet daughter Sarah. She has become my expert fishing assistant and has caught many fish herself this summer.

Touchdown for Tommy!!

I guess I'd have to say that my big reading "renaissance" came between the ages of 6 and 10 years old.


Quite the world was opened for me when I discovered that:

1. I was decent at sports
(and)
2. That there were books written about other people who were decent at sports.

I remember quite clearly my second grade teacher, Miss Kennedy, approaching me while I was reading Basketball Sparkplug.
Very sweetly she said to me,
"You like sports don't you Brent."
Way too cool to acknowledge my sweet teacher,
I said.. nothing.
Just kept my eyes on the pages.

Yes, I read lots of books during those years. Perhaps....dozens.
None more exciting to me than Touchdown for Tommy.
Here was a grand book:
-Boy's has no parents.
-Boy's life has no meaning.
-Boy discovers football.
-Boy's life starts to have meaning.
-Boy hopes foster parents adopt him
-Boy....I won't give it away unless you want to read it.

Absolutely Thrilling!!

True Story:

I remember sitting around a "semi-influential group" of folks during my junior year at University of Utah . The conversation drifted to "Hey what's your favorite book?" Everyone answered and oooohs and ahhhhhs were the typical response, as in oooohhhhh I love that book! and ahhhhhh YES that's a good book!

Saved for last, with all eyes on me I was asked ,

"Well, whats your favorite book?"

I froze.

"Er, uh...Touchdown for Tommy?" I blurted.

Silence was met with blank stares.

Awkward silence.

Deafening silence.

Want to get away silence.

DANG! OK I'm not a reader!! I get it, was my thought as I shrank and sneered at the same time.

I'm not a total clod. The story ends happy.

A few short months later I received an academic scholarship that paid for my tuition the following year. Several people in the "semi-influential group" were part of determining who got the scholarship. Was it a coincidence that I mentioned "Touchdown for Tommy" to this group and a mere 2 months later received a full tuition academic scholarship for my senior year, at the prestigious University of Utah?

I don't think so.

In fact, based on this experience, I've been conditioned into believing that it's not how much you read but what your read that matters (in my case no matter how little). Obviously for me that book was "Touchdown for Tommy."


(Did I mention that I read all the books listed above?)