My Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

As I contemplate the 4th of July (our nation's Independence Day) this year, I think back to my post that I did last year.  It had the exact same title which either proves that I totally lack creativity or that good ideas never go out of style.  ;-)

But I'm so glad that I jumped into that pool 3 years ago.  I feel like somehow that that was an important moment in my life.  Independence Day can be more than just a time when we (rightfully and importantly) celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans.  It can be a time when we celebrate our own freedoms as well--freedom from bad habits that need to be changed, the freedom to improve ourselves, and the freedom to seek search for happiness and joy in our lives.  I think that my decision to jump into that pool helped put me on the path to all of those things.

Freedom doesn't come easily.  Remember the children of Israel?  Moses led them out of Egypt in a dramatic, triumphant, and miraculous way that saw the complete destruction of the mighty army of Pharoah.  But soon thereafter, the people began to murmur and complain because they were hungry and wished that they were back in bondage, in Egypt, where they had their "flesh pots" and plenty of bread.  (Exodus 16:3).  A merciful Heavenly Father sent them manna from heaven to feed them.

Manna from heaven

The children of Israel had security and were not hungry--but they were also not free.  Once they received their freedom, they didn't always value it.  Being free isn't the same thing as being secure--at least in the short term.  In the long run, freedom does lead to stability and prosperity.  We need to exercise faith that when we do what is right we will be blessed--even if we don't know exactly how (or when) those blessings will come.  The children of Israel were better off with their freedom--even if they didn't realize it at the time.  But the Lord knew it and He helped them by (ultimately) leading them to the Promised Land, where they had freedom, security, and prosperity (as long as they were righteous).

Protestors in Cairo's Tahrir Square

I'm also inspired by people around the world that are desperately seeking the basic freedoms that we often don't even think about in this country.  For example, this very moment, the people of Egypt are demonstrating to demand the right to religious freedom in their country--to worship how they choose.  They are also seeking the freedom to have economic opportunity.  And they are seeking that freedom at potential great risk to themselves (and in defiance to current U.S. policy which inexplicably is apparently threatening to withdraw U.S. aid if they demonstrators are successful.)  I saw one Egyptian woman who was interviewed and told the camera that they U.S. could keep its money--the Egyptian people wanted their freedom.  They know that with freedom will ultimately come stability and prosperity.

I'm grateful today for the freedoms that I enjoy both as an American and (more importantly) as a child of God.  Like the children of Israel, I may not know the exact route that the Lord intends for me to travel, but I hope that I am always grateful for my freedoms.  We are expected to use those freedoms to make wise, good choices.  I made a good choice 3 years ago when I decided to basically learn how to swim so that I could do a triathlon.  I hope that I will continue to make good choices.

So that's what I'm thinking about this morning on Independence Day (and I'm also thinking that some good food would be nice too!).  What are you thinking about today?

Gratuitous photo of my "Rugrats" in action....

Walmart: Price Check on Aisle 4

Great Value?  One is a better "value" than the other...

I made a little trip to Walmart on Saturday evening because I needed some cleaning supplies for the shower. I love Walmart because they have such great prices, but I was a little perplexed when I came across these two products...

Take a close look...the labels are similar but not identical.  One product is labeled "Mold & Mildew Remover" and the label proclaims that it kills 99.9% of germs.  The other product is labeled "All Purpose Cleaner with Bleach."  One sticker claims that it kills the Flu Virus and the label also claims that it removes stains and disinfects.

Then look at the active ingredients--both have 2.0% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach).  Sounds like their pretty much the same right?

The back of the bottles...

So I flipped the bottles around and the back labels are nearly identical except for the bar code.  Both labels claim to the exact same household germs, including e. coli, salmonella, staph, strep, mildew, athlete's foot, and the H1N1 influenza virus.   An impressive list indeed.  But an identical list.

The only rational conclusion is that this is the exact same product--just different packaging.  So you might think that the price would be the same.  Au contraire mon frere!  The one on the right is $1.88 for 32 ounces.  The one on the left....$2.88 for 32 ounces.  That's $1.00 more (53%)!!!

So it just goes to show that it pays to read the label--even at Walmart.  Just because Walmart has great deals doesn't mean that all of its deals are created equal.

Primary Spotlight on S.

The spotlight was on S. yesterday in Primary...

In our church, the children's Sunday School is also known as the Primary.  They do a lot of fun stuff in the Primary to teach the kids about Heavenly Father and Jesus.  One of the things that they do is to do a "Spotlight" on a different child each week about that child's likes and other fun stuff that make them special.

Unbeknownst to me, S. had a spotlight moment yesterday.  I only know about it because I got the following fun email from one of our friends who was there yesterday.  (I wanted to post it here so that the grandparents and extended family could enjoy it):

Sister Blake: "S., where is your favorite place to eat?"
 S.: "I don't know... BUT I REALLY LOVE NOODLES!"
 (Haha! So cute! xo amy)

Thanks Amy R. for taking a moment to send the fun email and the cute pics. We love your family too! 

George Strait - Give It All We Got Tonight

George Strait - The King of Country

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Yesterday was one of those days.  A series of unfortunate events combined against me, only this was no Lemony Snicket novel...it was real life.

First, we got socked with a heat wave that pushed temps to the mid-80s.  It was so hot, that I decided to push my training run to the night so as to escape the heat of the day.

Second, I had a big work project that kept me chained to my laptop through the heat of the day.  At least I was inside where it was cooler, but I couldn't take my kids to the beach or do something fun.  I am pretty busy during the week, so I try hard to keep my weekends free to do family stuff with the kids.  Yesterday would have been ideal to hit the beach, but my project made it impossible.

Third, our good friends (Royal and Nicole) are moving to Arizona and their farewell party was yesterday afternoon/evening.  The party was fun and the food was fantastic.  Nicole is pretty much a gourmet baker of desserts and her talents were on full display.  I consciously had to hold back for fear that my workouts would never be able to keep up with the calories I was consuming.  I'm happy for Royal's great new job, but selfishly I'm going to miss both of them. A lot.  Royal has been a great race partner and Nicole has always been super nice to me.

During the party, I handed my iPhone to Baby M. to keep him occupied.  Big mistake.  Baby M. decided to channel Cy Young and threw my iPhone down onto the concrete.  My iPhone responded by giving me the "Dreaded Green Screen of Death."  Hence no pics of Royal and Nicole's party.  The phone is barely functional.  Worse, I hate breaking things and losing things, so breaking my phone at the party that was already making me sad did nothing for my mood.

My brother came up after the party and we were supposed to do our run together, but that didn't happen.  I was consumed with trying to get my iPhone fixed and I found a kiosk at the mall that claimed to be able to fix it.  I jumped into my car to drive to the mall only to find that the battery was dead.  Kaput.  I got the car jumped just as my brother arrived.  The car turned on [barely] just as he pulled up and made a horrendous sound.  My brother diagnosed the problem for me...my engine was blown.  Those were unfortunate event numbers five (dead battery) and six (blown engine).

It doesn't look that old does it?

At this point I was too despondent to deal with R.'s complaint that his Kindle wasn't working.  I told him to charge it overnight and we'd check it in the morning.  I think at this point I was afraid of anything else that I owned falling to pieces!

My brother was kind enough to drive to the mall.  I figure that my day had finally hit rock bottom with the realization that my car (which has nearly 245,000 miles on it) was going to be towed out of my driveway and I'd never see it again.  I can tell you that I had plenty of other things in my budget to spend money on.  My car is 8.5 years old and nearly a quarter of a million miles on it, but I was in no hurry to replace it.  When you have kids, it seems like there are always things that they need more than I need a new car.  In addition, I really don't have an ego about my car.  It works great and doesn't cost me a lot to get around.  I'm good with that.

We got to the mall and the kiosk guy "fixed" my iPhone.  The battery on my phone was dead, so I had to charge it before I could start using it again, so I went to the Verizon store to charge it.  I got the phone charged and guess what...still broken.  :-/

At this point, I had the Verizon guy check the account and turns out I had free replacement coverage on the phone through my job.  After what seemed like an eternity, I left the store without a phone (bummer), but with the promise that my brand new iPhone is being shipped directly to my office for Tuesday (yay!).

Then we got home.  It was late and my brother and I were both tired. I grabbed my keys and walked over for one last look at my poor car.  I distinctly remember saying to my brother as we walked over to it: "It's too bad you can't give a car a priesthood blessing."  His reply: "Yeah, but that would be like trying to heal a 100-year-old man.  It's had a good life."

Yes, it has, but I started it up anyway.  To my surprise, the car started and worked!  I got back in it today and was able to drive it to church. It was "good as new"--as if nothing had ever happened.  I really and truly do believe that it's a miracle.  I wish that I could say that it's because I was living right or that I somehow "deserved" divine intervention.  But I don't think that's the case.  I do think that it was an example of Heavenly Father being merciful though.  And for that I'm grateful.

La Ferrari -- My next car?  ;-)

It has got me thinking that I should be prepared to replace my car at some point.  It is probably unrealistic of me to think that I can get it to drive a million miles--or even another 250,000.  Anyone have any good ideas?  :-)

So in the end, it all worked out.  I was so relieved that I was able to replace my iPhone for free and that I wouldn't have to spend thousands of dollars on a new car, that it overshadowed the series of unfortunate events that had befallen me earlier in the day.  So much so that I was almost tempted to name this post after another book--Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well."

PS--I also fixed R.'s Kindle today too!  What can I say, I was on a roll!  :-)

Cub Scout Camp 2013

Cub Scout Camp is all week for our camp, but I drew parent volunteer duty today. I'm here with one other mom to supervise the 7 kids ages 8-10 who are part of our den. All told, there are probably a couple hundred kids here. 

This picture shows about half the camp at the opening flag ceremony.

The day got off to a great start when I was signing in this morning. As I bent over to check in, one of the rambunctious kids yelled right in my ear. It wasn't intentional, but it also wasn't very fun. I hope that's not a harbinger of things to come. 

I'm going to try and post some pics and updates throughout the day. 

First station of the morning was arts and crafts where the boys made fishes out of a CD. It went a lot better after S. figured out how to use the glue dots. I think a lot of glue dots got wasted. Hope they don't run out by the end if the day...  :-/

Archery was up next. I even got to shoot a few, which was fun. I was impressed with how well the kids listened to the archery RangeMaster, and how well they shot. 

The June Gloom is in full effect at the moment, but maybe the sun will burn off the coastal haze soon. 

Now it's on to lunch...

30 minutes left for lunch. I don't know what we would do if the fire department hadn't come to the rescue!

Cheap entertainment  :-)

The firefighters truly showed that they are Camp Pendleton's bravest by facing the onslaught of bored, hot cub scouters with nothing but their fire houses for protection.  Still, I think the firefighters came out on top judging by how wet the kids were...

Following boogie board races in a shallow pond built by the camp staff and a windy beach ball/volleyball game, we are on to knots...

Luckily, all the boys managed to master tying a square knot. As a reward, they got to tackle this obstacle...

Less than an hour left people!!

The grand finale...the cub scouters hit this water slides while I find a nice seat in the shade.  #bestideaever

These helicopters have been buzzing the camp all day. It's been really fun!  It's also been awesome seeing the tanks and humvees roll by all day too. 

Camp's done and we are out if here. Too bad I won't be back tomorrow. :-/

I'm so tired that I'd go take a nap if I didn't have to go into work!

Father's Day 2013

R. and Me (circa 2005) - M. and Me  (Feb. 2, 2013)

Today was Father's Day.  It was a lot of fun to see pictures and tributes from friends, family, and other acquaintances to their dads yesterday.

I did a birthday post for my dad's birthday last year.  I'm not sure what else I can add to that.  He's still my dad.  He's still my hero.

The picture above is a composite.  The one on the left is from 2005.  It's a picture of R. and me and I have it framed and it sits in my office. I think it's from watching the fireworks for the 4th of July in 2005.  I love that picture.

The one on the right is from earlier this year and it's a picture of M. and I at S.'s basketball game.  I love how cute and chubby his little arm is and I love how his eyes are locked in on the basketball game.  I also love the way that his hand is resting on the basketball.  It's no secret that we love hoops in my family and I hope M. loves the game as much as I have.

The Rug Rats - June 2013

I'm not the perfect dad, but I'm trying to improve.  I still have a long ways to go. But I'm really grateful that I am their dad.  Happy Father's Day!