Aging

I have only one more week in my 20's. The decade of my youth. I had so many things to do, places to go. What did I accomplish? Have I done enough to call it a success? Am I old? Am I on track to get where I'm going?

These are thoughts and questions I have had running through my head the last couple of weeks as I approach the end of my 20's and anticipate the start of my 30's. I remember when my dad had his 30th birthday and I remember thinking he must be old. Now, conveniently, it doesn't seem so old. I know that age is all relative to the person, but it does have some significance.

Yesterday I taught the 16 year old Sunday School Class at church. I feel like I am just a few years removed from them. We had a good lesson discussing Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah. I took a different approach on the lesson though. We related it to peer pressure and what types of influences they must have faced to choose to act the way they did. I enjoyed the lesson and tried to impress upon them the fact that regardless of where they are in life, the temptations and choices will never end. I see them every day, big and small.

The Reason

I have been asked and continue to be asked why I'm not going to the Bahamas this summer with my wife and her family. I'm not sure how to answer it in a way that satisfies anyone.

Originally it was more a financial thing, knowing we need the money to spend on the house we bought last November. Janna really wanted to go, so of course I'm not going to hold her back. I on the other hand, will be home with the boys. Of course my time would be best spent at home working on the house, but of course, having 3 boys to care for will be only a road block to getting anything done. How Janna does it, I will never know. I guess years of practice will build up your stamina. So instead of rushing back to Denver, I will stay an extra week in Idaho.

I knew I would have to use the week to care for them or try and find a sitter for them while I am at work, so I opted to take the week off. Hopefully it will be a little easier having family around. Either way I will be a single father that week. Rusty will be turning 3 that week as well, he loves his birthday so much I would hate to miss it. I love my boys so much despite having to be away from home so much during the day. They want nothing more than to wrestle and play catch and help me do anything. It will be nice to be able to show them where I was a little boy and take them to places that were part of my childhood. Since moving to Colorado we haven't been back up to Idaho, so being able to spend a couple of weeks there will be a treat.

The hardest part about living here isn't the place, it's the distance. We have no family here. Both of our parents live about 1000 miles away. We have a lot of family in Utah, but they are about 600 miles from here, and now with the gas prices doubling in the last year or so, it's not as cheap as it used to be. That is disappointing because we really wanted to get there more this year to see family.

I don't know if I have a good answer for not going. I don't know if this really was an answer as much as a thought process. I actually want to go, I love my inlaws and have so much fun with them and all of Janna's siblings and their spouses. We had one of the best trips of my life a few years ago to Maui. I also love the beach. However, this time I guess there are just a few other things that I need to do.

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness?

Dwight: Jim, Jim, Jim. Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim.
Jim: Oh, hey, Dwight.
Dwight: : I’m going to be your new boss. It’s my greatest dream come true. Welcome to the Hotel Hell. Check-in time is now. Check-out time is never.
Jim: Does my room have cable?
Dwight: No. And the sheets are made of fire!
Jim: Can I change rooms?
Dwight: Sorry, we’re all booked up. Hell convention in town.
Jim: Can I have a late check-out?
Dwight: I’ll have to talk to the manager.
Jim: You’re not the manager? Even in your own fantasy?
Dwight: I’m the owner. The co-owner. With Satan.
Jim: Okay, just so I understand it. In your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.
Dwight: Yeah, but I haven’t told you my salary yet.
Jim: Go. Dwight: $80,000 a year.

Feeling Lucky?

I've got an ongoing conversation in my head that revolves around LUCK. Often I have people misspell my name LUKE as LUCK. Not a bad thing I guess. Since my legal name is Lucas and I go by Luke, people mix the two and get Luck. For whatever reason, it must rub off on me because I seem to have it. Janna says that I am the luckiest person she knows. I have mentioned before that I have streaks of luck here and there (on our family blog). This weekend was no different. After helping a friend move some things around at his place, Rusty and I stopped by a furniture store to see if a couch we liked was still there. It had been on clearance for a few weeks b/c it was a floor model. They wouldn't go any lower than $350 so they said, yet as I walked up they were in the act of marking the price down an additional $100. When it was all said and done I was able to buy it for 1/2 of what we planned on spending for a new couch. Luck, maybe. Good timing, probably. Persistence, mostly.

Saturday afternoon we went bowling with Janna's dad Wayne, who was visiting. We had about 1/2 hour left when they announced it was Game Show night and adults could sign up. I hesitated at first, then decided to try it knowing our time was short. I knew that I would only have a shot to go up with the first group if at all. Sure enough, whose name was called first, mine. I went up with the first group of 4 people. It was Price is Right style, we bid on a home appliance. We all overbid, the girl after me went a dollar higher, screwing my chances. Too bad girl, we overbid. 2nd time around, you know it.

I was within $100 too and they decided that was worth an extra prize and they gave me a jacket. Not just any jacket, a Seattle Seahawks jacket. Remember, I'm in Denver-Broncos country, and they come out with a Seahawks jacket. I was probably the only one in the place who is a Seattle fan, and they didn't know it. The game I played was Card-Shark. They give you 7 cards and you have to guess if the next one is higher or lower. I was able to swap out one card if I didn't like it during the game which I did on the 4th card. It was an 8 and the new one was an Ace. 7 cards later I was a winner and won us a bunch of free pizza.

I finished the game in time to go finish my last game of bowling and get going. Luck, maybe. Timing, probably.

I've often had my name drawn in raffles and drawings. I won my first ipod in a free drawing at RCWilley. Earlier this year I got a pair of tickets to Maroon 5 handed to me and didn't even have to enter the drawing. Two weeks ago I had 2nd row tickets to an NHL game given to me and I'd never even been to a hockey game in my life. Luck, maybe. Timing, probably.

I don't know if I'm lucky or not, but I do know that usually what goes around, comes back around. I have tried to be a giver most of my life and help out others as much as I can, and I hope that has something to do with it. Call it Karma, the Secret, Power of Positive Thinking, connections, whatever. I call it a blessing. I do believe that positive thinking is good for the mind and body and that it's always easier to be around a positive person. Thus, I try to reflect it in my own life and the results follow suit. It's not to say that I am 100% positive all day, but hopefully more than your average grumpy old man.

Not as slow as I used to be

72 words

Speed test

That was with 0 errors. I attribute it to Instant Messaging for several years.

Better than Mace

I'm not a big fan of forwarded emails, especially when I've seen them a few dozen times already, but this one was certainly worth my time. Janna has been concerned about taking walks and/or excercising in the neighborhood early in the morning or late at night, I think this might be a good solution to her concerns. I would like to get a couple of them actually.

Spring is Here

Last week I finished up my work at the CIS project. We had a couple of pours mixed in with a few poor weather days. It went from 60 and sunshine on Monday to blizzard-like conditions on Thursday which carried into Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning we woke up and it was back up into decent weather again with some wind.

Thursday I had a 4 hour training learning how to do onscreen takeoffs (actually a great tool) and then went back to the job and packed up. Friday morning I had another training at the area office and then moved my things into the area office. I am scheduled to be here until May 12. I hope that is accurate.

Last night we went on a walk with the boys down to one of the parks in the neighborhood. On our way back I took the double stroller with the boy in it and we went off-roading. They all thought it was so fun to go up and over everything and even Van was laughing hysterically. It was so important to them that we beat mommy home. Everything is a race for them. Lately one of their favorite things to do is play a game they call "Baby chase" where they run around the main floor and Janna tries to catch them. She is a good sport and plays over and over.

I am getting excited for the summer. I have all the days off that I needed to get for our trips to Newport Beach, CA and Coeur D' Alene, ID. It can't come soon enough. Of course, then it flies by and we are back to wishing it was still to come.

We are looking at doing a no-cost refinance to lower our interest rate on our house. We found an excellent guy to help us. The industry has taken such a huge beating that I think they are desperate for business. I tried the company who bought our loan, but they weren't helpful at all. We actually called in on a mailer and this guy has been fabulous. We will end up saving almost $60 a month, which is huge for us. We are trying to eliminate any unnecessary expenses where we can. If we can effectively do this I think we will be on the right track. If we can take a portion of that and spend it on food storage and put the rest into savings, then I think we will be establishing good habits and doing things we can teach our boys how to do as they get older.

We got our lawn aereated a week ago by the boy scouts. The timing was good because of all of the precipitation we received this past week. We seeded the areas where the previous owner's dog had decided to dig, and the grass has started to come up. We also noticed yesterday how the entire backyard is quickly becoming green. Hopefully with a week of sunshine it will really come into its own.