Why am I still awake?

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

I love you both.  Good night.

Should be in bed.  Long, busy day.  Started with chores in the kitchen and worked on some laundry.  Changed oil in the mower.  Had some lunch, then went out to "finish the chicken coop."  Shouldn't take more than two hours, right?  Ha ha ha ha ha ha.  We finally quit at 10:00 pm and it's still not done.  Got to make another trip to the hardware store, discovered that the lumber yard closes earlier.  Fortunately they had pity on me and let me get a single 2x4.  Got a nasty splinter buried deep in my thumb, had to dig that out.  We should finish on Monday.  Or we're eating chicken stew for dinner that night.

Art City Days was cancelled this year, but the fireworks were tonight.  It was a great show.  We watched it from the deck as we do every year.  So nice – great view, no traffic.  The kids were even in bed before the show started and they got to come down to see it.

Forgot to mention yesterday that I went to the dermatologist on Friday.  The spot they checked a couple weeks ago was basal cell carcinoma, so they cut more of it out.  Their numbing stuff is amazing.  It never does hurt.

Thankful: Family.  We had lots of good helpers with the chicken palace and weeding the garden.

Ministering: On my way out of the hardware store I complimented a biker on his motorcycle.  He seemed genuinely pleased.  And it was a very nice bike.  I also talked to all of my ministering families today.  Maybe that makes up for my "Phooey" Thursday.

More later…

Knee art.  If you want more of the story, you'll have to ask Mark.  But I'm not sure I recommend that...

Fresh pineapple is SO good

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

I hope your day today was delightful.  I had a nice day, and am thankful for that.

We found out that the missionaries in our area are also allowed to join members for meals if they eat outside.  So in a couple weeks we are going to have FIVE Spanish-speaking missionaries over for a picnic dinner.  It will be great.

I love you both!

Love,

Dad

I felt like I got a lot done today at work, and that was really nice.  Worked on our ongoing computer security project and made some progress there.  Talked to a couple people about loans, worked on some marketing, and discussed the configuration for a risk management program that is new but not set up right yet.  Felt good to get a lot done.

We had a lot of fun at home tonight.  Julie went to Costco today and we had a colorful feast for dinner.  Hot dogs, fresh pineapple (amazing), watermelon, vegies and dip, with chocolate milk to drink.  Delicious.  Then we went outside and played Hobbes ball, the girls played with Maddie, and we just enjoyed being outside.  Weather was beautiful.

Thankful: I'm thankful for the blessings that come when we read the scriptures intentionally.  I had a good scripture study today at lunch, and I think that helped the rest of my day go well.  Two ideas came to me today while reading:

Alma 11:38-39 – Amulek's answer to Zeezrom's question struck me as being remarkably clear.  Yes, Jesus is the eternal father of heaven, earth, and everything that is in them.  His role as the Father's agent in creating all these things makes him the honored and glorious Eternal Father without taking anything away from the glory and majesty of our Father, Elohim.

Alma 11:40 – Jesus Christ will come into the world to redeem his people and take upon him the transgressions of his people.  That is his unique mission.  All the rest of us came to earth to be tested, but he did not need any testing.

One other item, not directly from the scriptures.  I was thinking about a particular doctrine that I don't understand very well.  An idea came to me that presented this doctrine in a totally different light and that doesn't contradict the little bit that we know about it.  "Wow," I thought, "we really don't know much about this doctrine."  And immediately the gentle thought came, "You're right, you (plural you, "Ustedes" in Spanish) don't."  I tried probing a little further to try to understand more, and got nowhere… just that same gentle reminder that we don't know much.  I realized that the reason we don't know much is because God hasn't revealed much.  And if He's not telling, there's no point in trying to figure it out on my own.  And I'm okay with that.

Ministering: I texted a friend today.  It's not much, but ministering doesn't have to be big to make a big difference to the people that matter.

More later…

Dinner tonight was so colorful... and tasty!

Playing Hobbes ball together (on a lawn that needs to be mowed tomorrow!)

Ping Pong! I Play Ping Pong!

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

I'm off to help Abbie rinse out her mouth.  

Love,

Dad

Good day.  Worked hard.  Had a couple meaningful meetings to identify ways to be better.  I hope to make real progress.

Tonight we didn't work on the chicken coop.  Instead Spencer and I went to Scott's house and played ping pong and a couple games.  It was lots of fun.  At one point, Scott was sharing a very funny story and Spencer was laughing so hard.  As he finished, I made one simple comment that caused Spencer to snort water out of his nose.  Poor kid, but it was so funny.

Thankful: Fun with Scott, Jennie, and Spencer.

Ministering: Phooey.

More later…

Spencer trying not to sneeze his brains out of his nose...

Stubborn goats

Happy six-month mark Nathaniel!

Journal entry:

Full day.  Got lots done.  Marketing meeting this morning, organizing some projects for members of my staff.  Need to prepare Board meeting agenda tomorrow.

Tonight worked more on the chicken coop.  Will be nice when it's done.  Nice to have Mark's experience and willingness on the project.  Finished with ice cream cones for the family and neighbor children behind us. 

Funny story: while working on the coop, we needed to get into the goat yard.  The goats immediately ran out to eat the grass outside their pen.  No problem.  Then they realized they could eat the grapes and sprinted to the fence and started eating grape leaves as fast as they could.  We grabbed them and got two back into their pen, but Streusel wouldn't come.  Mark grabbed her collar, so she just sat down like a stubborn toddler.  So, Mark just picked her up like a determined parent and lugged her back to the pen with her bleating in protest the whole way.  Very, very funny.

Read scriptures then helped wash out Abbie's wisdom teeth holes again.  Her teeth seem to be healing slower than Jessie and Mark's, but they're doing okay.  Cleaned the kitchen, ate a bedtime snack, time for sleep.

Thankful: Power tools.  Having the right tools makes a job so much easier.

Ministering: Talked to Bro. Rowley, our stake self-reliance coordinator about the self-reliance program.

More later…

Isaac loved having a turn with the drill.

Matthew 6:6

Chicken coop is 15% done...

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

Mark knows about the progress we made on the coop tonight.  He was a major part of getting it done.  Need to go to sleep soon.  Look forward to visiting on p-day tomorrow!

Love,

Dad

Better day at work today.  I intentionally scheduled my "big rocks" time later in the day because I had some projects that I needed to work on first thing.  There were a few frustrations as companies I work with should have done a better job providing services to us.  Working with them to help them see what they need to do.  Also need to work with my employees to determine how to better support each other and serve our members.  We're good, but have lots of room for improvement.

Tonight we started working on the chicken coop.  We had a bit of a slow start figuring out how to get it together, but started moving faster.  We have one whole wall built so far.  Still need to make the door and the rest of the sides.  It will take a while yet to finish.

Thankful: I am thankful for sleep, which is what I need to do pronto.  I am also thankful that I can identify personal attributes I want to change.  The way I am today is not the way I need to stay.  Tomorrow is not a prisoner to yesterday.  Today I can choose to be a little better, kinder, and diligent.  I can also do hard things.

Ministering: Ouch.  I didn't do very well at this today.

More later…

Snow in June?

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

I love you both.  Good night!

Love,

Dad

Short entry. Worked with Mark on Spanish during normal journal time.  Work was okay today.  Got the rest of the stuff to build the chicken coop.  FHE tonight was nice.  Isaac taught the lesson, did a nice job teaching about baptism and including everyone.  Dessert was pizzelli's shaped into fortune cookies.  Mine tasted like popcorn.  Very strange.  Weather today was very cool; there's a dusting of fresh powder on the mountains.

Thankful: Cold cereal for a bedtime snack.

Ministering: My family.  Took care of chickens tonight. Bought coop-stuff at lunch.  Worked with Mark on Spanish.  Rinsed out Abbie's wisdom teeth holes.  A little kitchen clean up and geography bee questions still to come before bedtime.

More later…

Zzzzzzzz (for three hours)

Dear Sister Payne and Elder Payne,

Happy Sunday!  I hope your days were very nice.  Here is my report for the day.  Talk to you again tomorrow!

Love,

Dad

I'm not sure what I think about today.  Parts of it were really nice. 

I started with in-person high council meeting at 7:00 am.  It was nice to be together again with the stake presidency and members of the high council.  I attended one of the Fourth Ward sacrament meetings today.  It was odd sitting on the stand wearing a mask, looking over the sparsely filled chapel, 2/3 of whom were also wearing masks.  I came home from Church and we had the sacrament here as a family, and it was nice too. 

After the sacrament I was reading a story to Emma and Camilla and realized my words were slurring together and I was falling asleep.  I finished the story and stretched out on the couch for a short nap.  Julie covered me up with a blanket, and the next thing I knew almost three hours had passed.  Wow, I guess I was more sleep deprived than I thought.  Getting up a couple times last night with Emma who was afraid she was going to throw up didn't help.  Taking a little nap on the sabbath is nice, but sleeping through three hours isn't how I want to spend my Sundays.  I feel a responsibility to make good memories with my children and serve Julie, all while worshipping the Savior.  I guess several weeks of not quite enough sleep finally caught up with me, but I hope to do better next week.

I had a fun scripture activity that we did this afternoon.  I chose five passages of scripture from this week's Come, Follow Me lesson and wrote two questions for each passage.  The first part of the question asked what Alma taught, and the second part related to how we can apply the teaching.  Each scripture and associated question was in a different color.  I gave each person a slip with a question pair, then they had to go find the matching color-coded scripture that was hidden.  Once everyone found their scripture we read the scriptures together and answered the questions.  I think it was a good way to study the scriptures together.

Dinner tonight was garlic-butter pork tenderloin cooked in the oven.  Everyone really liked it, except Julie who likes her meat well done.  This was cooked to medium-well with just the faintest hint of pink in it.  I even served her slices from the end that were most done.  Still not done enough for her taste.  Next time I'll put hers on the griddle and sear hers there until it's done just the way she likes it too.  I could have done that today, but didn't realize how well-done it needs to be.  Everyone else is looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!

Tonight was a little disappointing.  We went to dad and mom's house for a visit with Stephanie, who is in town with her kids for a visit.  Some people were busy playing on their phones and others were discussing a variety of non-sabbath topics.  That's all right, but as the conversation delved deeper into current events (and they are really messy now), we tried to pull the conversation around to something doctrinal.  That totally failed, and we left shortly thereafter.  It would have been nice to have some sort of spiritual discussion with my family.  When we got home we sang a few hymns together to finish the day on a more spiritual note.

I really hope I am able to use this week well at work.  I am beginning to feel an increased sense of urgency to accomplish good things.  I need to build the capacity of the members of my team and develop their abilities.  I don't want to do things the way we have in the past.  I want to magnify my impact by combining my efforts with the unique talents and skills of others to do more together than we could ever do individually.  Stephen Covey called it interdependence.  I'm still too centered in the independence sphere, and I'm tired of being there.

Thankful: I am thankful that we are slowly beginning to transition to a "new normal" in life.  I don't want to rush things prematurely, but I am anxious to get back to the temple, eager for my missionary children to be able to share the gospel, and really hope that my school-aged children will be able to return to the classroom this fall.

Ministering: Today I indirectly ministered to others by serving in my calling.  That's good… but I want to do more intentional, direct ministering.

More later…

A surprise selfie I found on my phone.  (Don't look now, but I think Isaac has an actual smile!!)