56 Continued (or More about my Birthday)

I received 3 gifts from employees: 1 conserative (missionary) tie; one jar of Hershey Kisses (not from a secret admirer, just someone who knows I love choclate); and this:


Good picture, right? I have to admit, of these 3 gifts, the wrestler's mask is my favorite.

Picked-up MTB at the airport. She spent the weekend with me.

Taught an Institute class, always an enjoyable experience.

Ate tacos al pastor at Tacos Chamizal with MTB. She put too much hot sauce on her tacos, and as they say here, 'se enchiló', meaning she started coughing because she had too much chili in her throat.

On Friday, MTB and I went to see the ballet Swan Lake. You can see a few fotos from that event in her blog (click here).

On Saturday, MTB and I went to the Temple, and then went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.

On Sunday morning I took MTB to the airport. Shortly therafter, I was wishing we could still be together.

The best gift of all was to have MTB here with me. It was a great weekend!!!

56

Subtract from it my age when BabyTheShady was born, and you get how old I was when I married MTB.

Add 1 to it and you get my Dad's age when I left for my mission in Brasil.

Subtract from it Poodles's age and you get my age when MTB started pulling the gray hairs from my head. Fortunately, she gave up, and I still have hair.

Subtract from it Brother's age and you get my age when I graduated from Northwestern.

Subtract from it Bethany's age, and you get my age when I was told I was to young to have a baby.

Subtract from it Fernash's age, and you get my waistline, in inches, when I graduated from high school. I'm happy to report I'm only 1 or 2 inches larger now!

After April 25, subtract MTB's age and get how old I was when my Dad had to open the blanket around me because he didn't believe the doctor when told that I was a boy. After having four daughters, Dad wanted to make sure.

Add to it my age when I started working in Mexico and you get 100.

Turn it around, and it is 65.

In 3.5 years, I can withdraw from my 401(k) or IRA without penalty.

-- OR --

I can keep contributing to them for 14.5 more years before I have to make withdrawals, the more likely scenario.

Thanx to everyone who remembered me on my day last Thursday! I had a great day.

MTB Still Loves Me (even though I'm an Idiot)

MTB and I had planned to arrive in Amsterdam on Saturday morning. But alas!! I did not make sure I had my passport with me when we left for the airport! We arrived at check-in at 2:45 pm for a 3:45 pm flight. No way we were going to make it home and back in time. So instead of riding the Eurorail, we navigated the Houston freeways. Instead of eating in Brussels last night, we ate at the local bakery, Oh La La in Katy. Instead of a 4-star hotel in Brussels, we stayed in our apartment.

But the apartment looks a bit better now. Instead of relaxing in Luxembourg, we bought a solid Mahogany bedroom set. Being an idiot does have its price!!

Christmas Memories, 2009

Here is what I will remember about our 2009 Christmas.

1. Getting peanuts from 3 of my children. When they were younger, and we didn't have much, they always gave me peanuts for presents.

2. Caroline getting excited about going to dinner at Costco! She ate the foot-long hot dog and almost all of a 16-oz cup of yogurt.

3. Devin thanking me profusely for changing his diaper. He is the only child that has thanked me for this service.

4. Carrie and Bethany getting a bit teary-eyed as they saw their oldest children (Caroline and Mabel, respectively) riding their own bikes.

5. Devin patting my pockets and saying 'Money', then patting my zipper and saying 'Money'.

6. Annie grabbing her dad's hands to help her put together the tracks for their little train. She did this after her dad helped her push together some of the tracks.

7. Mabel clutching the dress she received from Suma's mother. Mabel took it to bed with her, and put it on first thing the next morning, Sunday, and wore it to church.

8. Leah's face lighting up with a full, open-mouthed smile -- Just like Brittany when she was an infant.

9. Asher getting exited about most everything and doing his scissor kicks.

10. Spending 17 days with MTB and the Fam!!!

Thanx everyone for a great holiday!!!

Merry Christmas

I love being in Houston with family. I miss Poodle and Fernash, but I'm sure they are enjoying their skiing trip to West Virginia. I miss Lindsey, but I'm happy that she can spend the holidays with Brandon's family. Christmas is always a wonderful day for our family. And now with grandkids, we have some funny stories.


We gave Caroline and Devin little bikes for Christmas. They were in the office at Ryan's home, where Ryan keeps his carbon-fiber road bike. We took Caroline and Devin into the office and asked them which bike they thought was for them. Caroline took the pink Princess bike. Devin looked around, then pointed to Ryan's bike. But we convinced him it was too big for him. So he took the 'Cars' bike.

And it appears that my children remember what they have always given me for Christmas, as I received a bottle of dry-roasted peanuts, one bottle each from Bethany, Ryan, and Carrie!

May the Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of Christmas, be with you always!!

It´s a Tough Job, but Somebody Has to Do It, Part 2

What do Memphis, TN; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Paris, France; Provo, UT; Houston, TX; Huatulco, Mexico; and Beverly Hills, CA have in common?

These are places I've traveled to since mid-October of this year. And only the trips to Provo and Houston were vacation. The remainder of the trips were for business. Next week, I will actually spend Monday through Friday in the office, for the first time since the end of October. A week from tomorrow, on Monday 21 December, we leave to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in Houston. I'll return to the office on 7 January, 2010. Then in mid January, I'm off to Orlando, for business, of course.

It´s a tough job, but somebody has to do it!!!

Only a Physician Would Notice

I have become almost addicted to sleeping with a fan. I like the 'humm'. We were at Ryan's home Saturday night. I went to bed at about 11:00 pm. And as always, I turned on the fan. MTB stayed up later to read a book. I knew when she came to bed, but fell asleep very quickly. I woke up a few hours later, and she was gone. I assumed I had been snoring, which happens regularly. And I fell asleep again.

On Sunday morning, I commented that I must have been snoring quite loudly, since she had to leave and sleep on the couch.

MTB: 'No, you weren't snoring.'

DTB: 'So why did you leave?'

MTB: 'The fan was mimicking a heart murmmer, and it wasn't a benign murmer. It drove me crazy, and I had to leave."

Only a Physician would notice.......