Side-Step into trouble!

Trouble....I might just be in it! But, holy cow...he left himself signed in! AWESOME! How can I not take advantage of that? After all he is due for a little payback! Hahahah! Click Here if you want to learn more about this awesome picture!

I decided while I'm risking life and limb to hijack his blog for the day, I'd make a list of some of my first favorite "Shawn moments:"

1. The very first time I saw him: He was the new kid at work (USANA) and he was pulling an order. As he was walking back towards the computers, (where I was) I noticed he was SINGING and DANCING as he came back to grab his products! Not quietly either, I was ten feet away and could tell he had a very nice voice...and was that a jazz square I just saw? (jk☻) At first I was stunned that a man would do that, then I thought it was awesome. He never really cares what other think...he's very happy and secure with who he is!

2. The second time I really noticed him was a few months later, Halloween 1996...the shipping department went out to eat at La Frontera's. (one of my Fav's) The waiters were handing out everyone lunches...one guy in a very Spanish accent yelled out "Who ordered the hamburger?" Every head spun around to see who ordered a HAMBURGER at a Mexican restaurant! It was that same kid who sings and dances! He had on a big COW BOY HAT(for his Halloween Costume) and I don't know why but because of that I thought that he must LOVE country music! So you can imagine it was a big surprise to find out that he really, really, really, doesn't like country music!

3. The third time I noticed him was when my friends and I were on break up in the lunch room. We were all sitting around just bantering back and forth, the topic of "FUNNY" last names came up and we were all taking turns listing out ones that we've heard. I had a real funny one, I told them that at my last job there was a kid with the last name of Crabtree...hahaha! Instead of laughter I got 5 swift kicks from under the table! OUCH! The gal closest, points behind me so I turn and see this same singing, dancing, cowboy hat-wearing kid, reading a book at the next table! What? "Don't you know his name?" No I honestly didn't. So when I went back down to work I asked my Lead Tiffany what his name was....Shawn CRABB???? ...and he's your little BROTHER!?? ...Oh! Ahhh, Awkward! Hahahha!

4. The first time I realized he like me: I was working on the computers and the same singing, dancing, cowboy hat-wearing, funny named kid...had come up to those of us who were at that station. We were all casually talking to him, he was really easy to talk to and was so nice to everyone, a few minutes later he said he needed to get back to work and he turned and left. The other girls around me started to giggle and Kelly leaned over and said, "You know he really likes you!" WHAT? I though I had graduated high school almost a year ago! "No seriously he really does," they all said...yeah sure! She told me they could prove it! Kelly said that at lunch time he always says good-bye to ME as we are passing by his work station. Okay fine, I'll pay attention and see if he says hi to just me or to all of us (he's just a really nice, friendly guy!) So lunch break was called, we started toward the door, and I could see that Shawn was at the other end of the room working on the computer...haha, there was no way he would get to the door before I left for lunch. Just before the shelving rack was about to block my view I saw him look up and notice that we were walking out for lunch. Then he jumped up and through the bottom the shelving unit I watched his feet RUN the length of the gravity feed and stop just before the end. By the time I could see him again, he was casually re-adjusting the products on the edge of the shelf, he looked over at ME, smiled and simply said, Bye! I remember looking back at Kelly who was smiling that "told you so!" smile!

5. Meeting the family: I remember volunteering to work the 4th of July holiday in Will call. I also remember that after I signed up, that same dancing, singing, cowboy hat-wearing, funny last name, gravity feed-running kid - - ironically had also signed up! Now truthfully, at this point Shawn and I had been on a few dates and I was incredibly flattered he was paying so much attention to me. While we were working that day, he asked me what my holiday plans were for the night. Well since I lived 3 hours from my parents and didn't have any thing planned with my cousins or sister, my plans were to go to work get some nice over time/holiday pay and then go home! (Wahoo!) He then told me that his family had a BBQ and that he would love it if I would come with him. After asking a dozen times if he was sure his family wouldn't mind that I came and butted-it and after a dozen times of him reassuring me that it would be fine...we drove over to the family BBQ. What Shawn didn't tell me was that it was an EXTENDED FAMILY BBQ and that every living relative that he had in the valley was going to be there! So not only did I meet his mom, sisters and cute little brother, but I met his aunts, uncles, all his cousins and even the new puppy dog Boochie! I think they were all just as shocked as I was to see me there!

Well I think this is a long enough post for now, maybe I will post more if I ever find myself in a position to do so again! Depending on how Shawn feels about this post, he may be way more careful when he signs himself into his blog!

I love my husband very much, he is a very wonderful man...and I just noticed he left the last of his Father's day steak for me to eat for lunch! (at least I think he left it for me!) What a sweet guy! Feel free to leave a comment with YOUR favorite "Shawn Memory!"

Love you forever Shawn! ☺

♥ Rhoda

Vacuuming...And it didn't suck!

I know what you're thinking. Your first thought was "Wow, two posts in two days!" Yeah, don't let that fool you. I just happened to have some stuff to write about for two days in a row. Also, sorry about the lame joke in the title. At least I make myself laugh.

So a couple of weeks ago, there was an announcement in Church: "We need at least 15 volunteers to help clean the temple on June 21st from 11pm until 1am." I chuckle as people start groaning about how late that is, and how they have to get up early for work the next day and stuff. It doesn't really sound late to me. The only question that crossed my mind is "Do I have any deadlines the next day (at either job) that might cause me to need to work extra late that night?"

I didn't, so I signed up. It's something I've never done before. It sounded like a great experience, and I'm sure that having these assignments is what keeps the temples so clean and nice.

So June 21st came. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I am almost always late for everything. I don't know what it is but I just can't seem to get places on time. We were supposed to be there at 11. I actually got to the temple at 10:50, which gave me plenty of time to get changed (they have white scrubs to wear while you clean) before 11. I sat there in the chapel in the baptistry, just thinking about the temple, and how I don't go nearly as often as I would like to go. I also had this great memory of me and my friends in high school, in that very same room, when we would get to the temple at like 5am, sometimes every week for weeks at a time, to do baptisms for the dead, and what a cool experience that was for me as a teen. I looked around and saw all sorts of people from our ward. I think there were about 20.

It was simple. They divided us into groups and assigned us to a worker. It only makes sense, but I had no idea that there are employees who clean the temple late at night, and we're there to assist. I got the assignment of vacuuming a certain area and mopping a couple of floors. Even the vacuum was quiet in the temple. I was working pretty much by myself, and it gave me the chance to just think about the temple. It's a pretty neat place. I'm not saying that I had a vision or anything tonight, but I will say that I felt the Spirit, and I have no doubts that it is the House of God. Where else can you feel the Spirit of the Lord while vacuuming?

Being a Father

So for somewhat obvious reasons, I've been thinking about fathers today. I have a lot of great fathers that have taught me so much and I look up to them so much. One day, when I grow up, I want to be just like them.

Father's day is usually a day where everyone writes stuff about their fathers and when they've learned from them and things, but it got me thinking about actually being a father, so I thought I'd write some stuff from the dad's perspective. At least, from my perspective. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in these thoughts and feelings.

First of all, I wouldn't even be a father without my beautiful, wonderful, amazing, supportive wife. She is really the guiding, stabilizing force in our family. She is so giving and loving. Which brings me to our having 4 kids. Aside from everything else, to see all the changes and difficulty that she went through with each pregnancy, that she was willing to submit to that 3 more times (after she'd already gone through it once). My part in the whole thing was pretty insubstantial, in comparison. But that's not all that she gives to our family. I am constantly amazed at how much work she puts into making our children happy, and giving them wonderful experiences.

The feelings as I rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night in anticipation of having my first child.
So much was going through my mind those last few weeks (besides finals). I thought often about the responsibilities that go along with being a father. Responsibilities that I had yet to take on. I wondered if I'd be up to the challenges that lie ahead. I wondered if I'd be able to provide for my son the kind of life and upbringing he deserved. I wondered if he'd be healthy. I wondered if I'd be able to keep him safe. Such a small little life, depending on me for his care. What if I wasn't up to the task? I wondered if my wife and others knew how afraid I was of failing at those things. I thought a lot about my dad, and the things he did for our family, and wondered if I'd be able to fill those big shoes. We arrived at the hospital, and new concerns arose. Are they going to keep us here or send us home? Is the staff on duty qualified to handle the delivery of MY child. Sure, they do that all the time, but for MY child? Only the best is good enough!

I wanted him to be happy and safe and protected. I wanted him to have everything he needed, and I saw immediately what I guessed: Rhoda was there, giving him almost everything he needed. I loved him instantly. Unbelievably, that little, fragile, baby, was my son, and I loved him.

Will I have enough love for both of them?
In time, we were expecting our second. We didn't find out beforehand whether it would be a boy or girl, but I knew I'd love this child either way. And yet I had more fears. Adding another person to our family that needed support and protection and care. I had felt so much love for my first. Would I be able to feel that for my second, without the feelings for the other diminishing? How would that be possible? Would I be able to wisely divide my time between the two.

Same questions, same miracles.
In time, we had two more. Wow. I don't know that I ever looked forward at my life and imagined having 4 kids. Each time we were antipating one of them joining our family, I wondered the same things, even though the miracle had occurred each time. My capacity for loving apparently has grown, because I so dearly love my wife, and each of my four children beyond comprehension. I would be utterly and completely lost without them. My youngest is now about two and a half, and I still have the same fears and concerns. Will I be able to give my children what they need and will I be able to teach them what I need to teach them and will I be able to provide lasting memories for them to hold on to.

As time passes
I think about how the world has changed in my lifetime. I grew up in a little neighborhood, where all the neighbors knew each other and watched out for each other. We didn't lock our door, and we never had any problems. You'd watch the news and it was news and information, not just a list of crimes that had been committed, as so often happens these days. I watch that and think about my children, and the challenges they face, growing up, going to school. The world is not the safest place, and yet I want to be there to protect my children. And not just from crime, but from hurt. It's heart-wrenching to hear that your child has had a hard day at school because others weren't being nice. Or the look on the kids' face when you've gone too far in your reprimand, and you break their little heart. And yet, in no time, they've forgiven you and want everything to do with you. Amazing.

Realizations
Over time, I've realized a few things. I know that they are not new things, but they are things that I only partly understood until I became a father myself.

• Your children want you to be happy, and they try to do stuff for you, like making sure they use your favorite color when they make a picture, or making sure that you get to eat the sucker they gave you right away, and even tasting it first to make sure it's a good one for you.


• Your children want you to be proud of them. You could give them stuff, but in the end they just want your approval. It just takes a few seconds, but the joy on the childrens' faces when you take that couple of seconds and watch the "cool move" they do on the trampoline, or when they tell a joke, and you laugh.


• Your children are "so glad when daddy comes home". I love walking through the door at the end of a long day, and hearing the kids, almost simultaneously, yell "Daddy, you're home!" It erases, if even for a minute, the frustrations and tiredness from a long day's work.

This list could go on forever (like this post already has), because there have been so many things I've realized over the past 8 and a half years that I've been a dad.


It's the Best
So I love it. It's hard and scary, and you give up a lot to do it, but I love it. I love that it goes on forever. I love that I have lots of chances every day to do better, because I mess up a lot. I love that I get to be the silly, goofy, crazy, loving, concerned, protective dad. I love it all. I'll take the good with the bad, the joy with the frustration. It all tips in my favor. The joy and the good outweigh the frustration and bad. I think I can sum up my feelings about it in a few short words:

Being a dad is the best job in the world!

CrAzY cRaZy Schedule!

So I am continuously joking about my to do list at work. I am juggling many different things, ranging from small to large tasks, as well as ranging from critical to 'when you get a chance' tasks. I have a task list to keep track of it all. There are some days that I get to check off a few of those tasks. There are other days that I don't. Most days, I add one or two tasks, and some days I add a bunch. The thing is, I'm not sure that I'm keeping up. The list keeps getting longer and longer and to me that says that I'm not completing tasks at the rate that I'm getting new ones.

One of the problems with this, I have come to realize, is that there is ever-increasing pressure to finish tasks as quickly as possible to move on to the next task. Of course, this is how it should always be, but often this increased pressure leads to a task being only done enough to move on, but it's not completely done the way I'd like it to be. Sometimes, that leads to manual intervention on my part later because I don't have time to add as many features or options. Most times, that leads to another, smaller task to "finish" that task, so while I cross the big item off the list, I don't often reduce the actual number of tasks. Whenever someone gives me a new task, especially if it is "top priority" and I have to put everything else off to work on that, I often think, "Yeah, I'll never get anything done."

I have often thought that just working a little extra each day will help get these tasks done, but I want to TRY to maintain a little balance.

Balance. Haha. That's pretty funny.

So, on top of my task list at work, I have been given the awesome opportunity to do some consulting work for another company, which has been a HUGE financial blessing for my family. Our debt is shrinking rather than growing (FINALLY!), and we're determined to get out of debt. Now, they've got plenty for me to do (although admittedly, not nearly as many items on my task list there--mostly just one big job) and it provides ample opportunity for me to earn extra money, so I try to put extra time in there too. So my weekday schedule lately has been like this:

• Get up
• Get ready for work
• Get kids started getting ready for school
• Go to work
• Go straight from there to my consulting gig
• Come home in time to do nighttime routines with the family and put the kids to bed
• Often, I go back to my consulting work after the kids are in bed
• Come home
• Go to bed
• Start it all over again when I wake up a few hours later

So much for balance.

Now of course, I've got a similar task list issue at home too. I've got all sorts of things that I'd like to get working on, but largely because I work a lot, and as a family we have a lot going on as well (lots of things scheduled), I don't get nearly enough time to work on that stuff as I'd like. And I'll be honest. When I do get time, I don't always really want to spend it on that stuff. For example, I took some time to go through our sprinkler system, taking careful note of which sprinklers didn't work very well (they didn't work very well all through last summer. Rhoda was watering some parts of our lawn by hand all summer), and I bought the sprinklers that I needed to replace. I think that was a month ago. About half of the new sprinklers are sitting in the bag they were in when I bought them. The ones that are in the ground didn't get put in until at least two weeks after I bought them. Thank goodness it's been a pretty rainy season. Anyway, we also had a bunch of trees cut down, and to save money, we didn't have them remove or grind down the stumps. I want to get them out because we'd like to plant a couple of different kinds of trees as well as fix our grass in the back yard. Yeah, so anyway, the home task list is pretty long too, and it's not really getting any shorter.

Now, that being said, I think I'm doing an ok job at juggling all this stuff, but that's just my personal opinion. Admittedly, the list of home stuff suffers. But at the same time, a task list is just a task list, right? On top of all of that, I try to go out of my way to spend time and do stuff with my family when I can because that is really my top priority--making sure my family is safe and happy and that we have good, happy memories together. If I don't make a point to specifically schedule time to do that--actually spend time with my family, not just complete task lists at work and home--among everything else going on, then everything else is pointless. "No other success can compensate for failure in the home." I really believe that.

Two-Thirty

I can't hear the time "two-thirty" or anything like "what time do you go to the dentist?" without thinking about the old joke: "When is it time to go to the dentist?" "Tooth-Hurt-y" I thought that was an appropriate title for my post because this is the story of a man and his toothache.

I started having some pain Thursday night. Just a bit, not too bad. Friday morning it was worse, and I called the dentist, only to find that their office is closed on Fridays. Having recently changed dentists, I thought I'd try to see if I could get into my previous dentists office. Apparently, they are closed Fridays as well. Starting to sense a trend, I think "Well it's not THAT bad. I'll be OK getting it taken care of on Monday." The pain comes and goes, and each time it comes, it gets a little worse. Later in the day on Friday, when it gets bad, I look up emergency dentists, thinking maybe I should get in there ASAP because if it keeps getting worse like this all weekend, that won't be good. I see what they charge to do work outside of normal office hours, and think "I'm not paying that! I'd rather suffer with the toothache!". So, I take a regular-dosage cocktail of pain medicine (just over-the-counter stuff). Preparing for what could end up being a long weekend (and not in a good way), I also stop at the store on my way home and buy two different kinds of toothache reliever medicine.

OK, so that's all good, and I finish out the day Friday, being pretty OK. I find when I go to bed, if I take just the right medicine, slather a generous amount Orajel on my tooth and gums, and then go to bed, applying slight pressure to just the right spot on my jaw, I don't have any trouble falling asleep. Of course, to anyone that knows me and some of the people I'm related to, it should come as no surprise that sleeping is never something I have trouble with. If I'm awake like 3 minutes after I lay down, I think "Man, I'm having a hard time getting to sleep!" But I digress.

Anyway, so Saturday, I get up, repeat the process (pain medication + Orajel) and go throughout the day, secretly slipping away to apply more Orajel. I had a great time going to a number of events on Saturday, and got to see some old friends, and hang out with some family. All the while, wishing I could enjoy it more and really trying to act "normal" (if you can call how I typically would behave normal), hoping I'm fooling people. That night we get home late, and I'm supposed to teach a lesson and prepare for a meeting I have in the morning, neither of which I'm very prepared for at all. So I sit there trying to concentrate on that stuff. Meanwhile, I'm very tired and very much in pain. I think it was Saturday night that I told my wife that maybe what I need is an ice skate and a rock. (Sorry for the old movie reference. That scene from Castaway was so vivid!)

Sunday comes. I usually love Sunday. It is my family day. I go to work so much Monday through Saturday, and I get to spend almost all day Sunday every Sunday with them. Now, I go to my meeting. 4 people show up out of about 10-11 people that could be there. I guess that's pretty normal. Church is good, but again, I'm wishing I could enjoy it more than I really am. We go to other family's house and same story. I do have a good time, but it's tainted by my tooth. Anyway, so I'm able to make it through OK, using the same techniques. By the end of the night, I'm just so looking forward to calling the dentist Monday morning and getting an appointment.

Monday morning, the dentist opens at 8am. I call at 8:03. They tell me that they can get me in at 3:30 that afternoon. I must have sounded a little disappointed as I told her that would work, because she said, "Or, if you can make it in before 8:30 this morning, that would work too". Um, yeah. I can.

I sit down at the dentist, and he comes in telling me "I thought for sure that the other tooth would give you trouble first". Great. Something to look forward too.

Anyway, so he says "I'm gonna try a couple of tests". He pokes at it, and then taps on it. Whoa. That hurt. Then he says "I'm going to put this cold thing on there, and you raise your hand as soon as it feels a little cold and I'll take it off." I'm thinking that sounds just terrible. I steel myself for the pain. He proceeds to stick something cold on the tooth, and SURPRISE! I didn't feel it! "It's completely dead", he says, and "Taps" starts playing in my head, while I'm thinking "Then why does it hurt so much?"

So a ROOT CANAL it is. Got that done. Got to watch part of a movie in the ceiling while they worked just like my kids do when they go to their dentist. Awesome!. All the while thinking "It is going to make it feel SO MUCH BETTER!!!!" Which it did, especially while it was numb. Dentist gives me a prescription for some pain meds and antibiotics (yep, infected).

Fast-forward to work a few hours later. Being the stupid tough guy that I am, I don't fill both kinds of pain meds, forgetting that you can alternate between the two. (Um, yeah, that's probably why he gave me a prescription for both, duh!) Anyway, so I'm cruising through my day, feeling pretty good, when the feeling starts coming back to my mouth. I start wondering if it really should hurt worse than it did over the weekend, because it does. I guess it should. Infection doesn't just magically disappear, and there's all sorts of traumatic things my jaw went through besides. On the way home from work I get the other pain med prescription filled and do the best I can, but it hurts worse than it did all weekend, and I can't help but think how not cool that is.

Today, Tuesday, I guess we've made some progress. I woke up and the toothache itself was minimal. I guess over 24 hours of antibiotic will help take care of that. However, it feels like I've been PUNCHED IN THE FACE. Or maybe been on the wrong end of a ROUNDHOUSE or something. With how I feel, I look in the mirror expecting to see some bruising along my jaw line, or swelling or something. No, it looks normal. So I guess we're on the way out of feeling that way. I can handle a bruised, swollen feeling a lot easier than I can handle a toothache.

Here's the moral of the story: When I go in to the dentist for a checkup, and he says something like "You probably ought to get those two teeth taken care of as soon as you can." I think in my mind, "Yeah, OK. I'll get that taken care of sometime", but that's pretty much it. He just ends up reminding me every 6 months. Who would have thought that he meant "Get them fixed some time in the next 3 weeks?"