What I did on my summer vacation. I got up...

Home again, Home again...oops off again!

We have been traveling quite a bit lately. From the time our summer school jobs ended, we have been gone out of town all but three days.

First we went to visit my parents, and various members of my family and kin who came while we were there. Then we went to visit one of my longest lifetime friends. It amazes us to see how much every one has changed and grown. Everyone except my great aunt, who never seems to change.

Yesterday, we went to Lagoon, taking with us my wife's brother and two of his kids, and her sister's son. I think everyone had fun, even though the rain moved in around six and drenched almost everyone. It stopped after a few minutes, and then only sprinkled occasionally the rest of the night. It was still fairly warm, so wasn't too bad. It had been a scorcher earlier, with high humidity, so the rain was a little relief from that. We got home at around 12:30 last night.

You would think that would be enough traveling, but no. Now, the boys and I have to pack today to leave in the morning to go to Scout camp. For the second year in a row, I (foolishly) :O)volunteered to go to camp as an adult chaperon. I have the time off, and no one else could go for the entire week. Not sure where we are even going. Somewhere in Idaho I think. We'll see how it goes before I decide if I'll do this again next year.

For now, I think I'll try to enjoy the few hours respite.

Take care, and have a great day! Stick.

Rocky Ridge

Sitting in church on the Sunday following the 24th of July, and wrote this.

I paused to take a breath
As I pulled our humble cart.
I felt my legs both trembling,
Quite different than at the start.
The hill seemed never ending
That we had to surmount,
And the snow came down in layers
In inches too many to count.

My father lay in fever
Atop our worldly goods,
While my mother and my sister
Trudged alongside through the woods.
The last meal we had eaten
Was cold gruel and moldy bread,
But so far we had avoided
Being counted among the dead.

I once more started pulling
Stepping slowly to reach the top.
I felt that I could make five more
Before I had to stop.
But then, five had passed,
And five more beyond those,
I felt my burden lightened,
Though I could hardly feel my toes.

Each time that I looked forward
I'd think to myself in my mind,
"I can go only so much farther",
And then when I'd get there I'd find
That my feet seemed to carry me upward
In spite of my weakness and pain.
I felt my cart push ME onward
Maintaining our place in the train.

Then at last the peak was surmounted.
The ridge lay behind us to stay.
I fell to my knees in exhaustion,
And while there, I started to pray.
I thanked my Father in Heaven
For the succor that we did receive,
And asked him to bless all the others
Who had reason to grieve.

We felt that God must have sent angels
To help us to get to the top,
For without help from our Father,
I'm sure that I would have said stop.
But, we made it on into the haven
Where the rescuers awaited us all,
And in spite of all of our trials,
We're glad that we heeded the call.

Trivialities

A poem that I hope strikes chords:


I've got a little problem
That has been on my mind.
It really doesn't matter,
And I'm sure it'll be just fine.
But it keeps on nagging
At the edges of my brain,
And if I don't solve it,
I think I'll go insane.

It's just a little matter,
And I'm sure it'll be alright,
But it has kept me thinking
Through the day and through the night.
I spent one whole hour
Puzzling over this test of mine,
But I couldn't find the answer
In that entire time.

I'll have to let it go.
There's nothing else to do.
I'll have to be resolved
That my searching now is through.
I just don't know the answer,
And I'm sure that no one does.
You see I've got another problem,
I've forgotten what it was!

Decisions, Clarifications, and Other Miscellaneous Fluff

AFter much consideration, I decicded to apply for the Master's Degree program at the University of Wyoming. I feel that the benefits for this far outway the work invovled compared to the alternative.

I will also be able to ride the bus with the students to get to work. Just a side note here though. If I had decided to get an apartment in the town where I will be working, the school provides help. The town is so small, that there is very little housing there, so they have several houses kept just for school teachers, and they subsidize those as one of the perks for working in this school. The cost to me would have been minimal, or nothing.

We have also been working on house renovations. We have almost finished laying laminate flooring (Tacoma Oak) in our kitchen, living room, and hallway. We still have a little ways to go laying the floor, and then the trim work needed to finish it up. It is looking very nice, and we are looking forward to having it done.

Included in all of this remodel, is the repainting of trim work {and in some cases, the entire room--got the wrong can of paint for the touch-up work :o(}, and the replacment of some tile edges removed to make room for the new floor. We can't wait to be a construction free zone again.

We took our kids to a local amusement park (is 180 mile trip one way local?) on Friday. We spent the entire day there, and got home VERY tired at 1:30 am. We all had fun, the kids more so I think.

Yesterday, I spent part of the day cooking pulled pork roasts for an outing for our older men's church group, and their families. (High Priests Social) It turned out really well, and we had a good turnout. We had the dinner at a little park located about 10 miles out of town in a little subdivision. Very pretty little park. If any of you have seen pictures of my 2nd and 3rd daughters posted on their facebook, they took pictures at this park. It must be a popular place for pictures, because there was a wedding party there taking pictures when we got there. Great time, great place, good food, and good company. What more can you ask?

Hope all is well with you. Stick

Patience for the Job

I have been looking for a new full-time teaching position for about a year now. After seeing how many Special Education jobs were open, and nothing else, and after a lot of prayer, I decided to apply for those jobs with the understanding that I would have to go back to school and certify in order to teach. I GOT THE JOB!

I will be teaching 6th through 12th grade Resource at a school in our district. We don't have to move, but I do have to commute about 40 miles. I have been told that I can ride the school bus up and back each day, but have not confirmed that yet. If I cannot ride the bus (will it be a SHORT bus?), I will look into an apartment there, and will come home weekends. I really don't want to do that, but the cost of driving 80+ miles a day would take away the benefit of the better paying job.

I am also currently enrolling at the state University here to take online courses to complete the certification that I need for this position. I have two choices here as well, and I am seeking advice. I can either take 30 credit hours and just certify, or I can take 36-39 credit hours and get a Masters. The pay difference is minimal, but the workload might be higher to be able to finish in the three years I have to certify. As it is, it will be 6 hours a semester to certify, or 7-9 hours a semester for the masters. I think I can finish the Masters later.

Any Thoughts? Stick.

Renovation Station

While I was at work Saturday, my wife had our boys start to rip the tile off of our dining room floor. We have been intending to do this, so that we can replace it with laminate floor. I didn't know they were going to start it, and would have waited. We are hosting some youth this Thursday night for our Stake Youth Conference. Now we are trying to finish the floor before them. Lots of work in a short amount of time. Wish us luck.

Take Care. Stick.