4/27/08

What’s bakin’ this week? You still hard at it? It’s the NFL draft yesterday and today. Most of it happens today, but all the hype and pomp and what not happens yesterday with the first and second rounds. Your Niners are not adding anyone spectacular, at least that I know. But my Steelers added a sweet Running Back out of Illinois that it’s amazing he slipped to 26^th in the first round where the Steelers were hanging out. So that is a nice bonus add there. Willie Parker finally has someone to spell him and a young prodigy to take the reigns in a couple of years max. I’m pleased with that pick up. I watched most of the 5 ½ hours last night. It’s easy when you have TraVo burning through commercials and awkward commentator pauses when they run out of stuff to say in the 4^th hour. Ha ha. So it was good. I won’t watch any today, it’s all just circumstantial bidniss to be attended to today. I’ll just check the internet to see who went where and what kind of drafts all the teams had. See if any local boys went anywhere good. That kind of thing. Speaking of your 49ers… we were at lunch at Wingers on Friday and they were hyping the draft on Sports Center on the TVs in there. This kid in the booth next to us must have been about 4 yrs old max. When they started talking about San Fran, he starts chanting “49ers suck, 49ers suck…” It was pretty funny. I’m sure you would have loved it. Ha ha. Anyway, so Shelli took that 9 yesterday, so I’m going to get a 40. No need to worry about that. It’s all been decided. I just wasn’t sure if Shelli was going to want the 9 for sure and at that deal I was getting, I would have kept it for sure. But now that it’s official, I’m going with the 40. I am pretty excited for Tuesday. I’ll be officially a card carrier. I hired Shelli’s friend and secret crush Joseph Featherstone to work at the FC last week. He starts tomorrow. I brought him in for an interview on Friday (not that I needed to, I already got him the job) to have a little time to get my psychological strategies planted into his mind. I had plenty of success too by the way. We’ll see if things start to develop a little now. I had to keep it subtle, but I think we might see a little more inclination to ask Shelli out. The whole family wants to see that relationship develop and hopefully get those two together for good and have little Joseph/Shelli babies. Little Jellies if you will. Ha ha. I think he’s a quality kid. It was fate that I ran into him on the Subway in NYC a few years back. A city of over 7 million peeps and I happen to run into him on the subway in NYC? Come on! It’s a future brother in law introduction is what that is. Now Shelli needs a little bit of convincing there too. We’ll see. While he was there for his “interview” Jessie called and said she was over at the retail store there on campus and asked if I could come hook her up with a discount on planners. I told her sure and took Joseph in tow with me. So we had more chance to discuss things on the walk across the parking lot. So Jessie met him too and liked him as well. When she found out he was Vaughn J’s grandson she lit up and said “he was our mission area authority”. I told her the he was ours too and explained to Joseph that Jessie and I were on our missions at the same time close together in D.C. and NYC. I recapped my encounter with his Grandpa too where he presided over the mission conference that I conducted. So I sat next to him on the stand. He liked to do this little exercise in the middle of it to loosen up and had you turn to your right and give a shoulder rub to the guy next to you (which happened to be me), so he was rubbing my shoulders. Then turn around and switch it up, so I was rubbing his shoulders. It was kind of surreal to be literally rubbing shoulders with a General Authority. He seemed to think that was kind of funny. When we were walking out of the store, he asked me if Jessie was my wife. Ha ha. So I gave him the overview. We are going to Ma’s and Pa’s tonight for dinner and everyone will be there, so we’ll have to have a Joseph discussion. Better yet, maybe I should invite him over. Ha ha. Now that would be fun!

Yesterday, we went to Gardner Village and did a little bedroom set shopping and found a screamin’ deal on a nice set. So we bought it. I have to go pick it up sometime this week. While we were there, I bought Brinlee a pony ride. She had fun with that. She was a little nervous at first, but got the feel for it and loved it. The landscapers did a little more work on the yard yesterday too. At the rate they are going, I hope they have it done by the time you are home.

So how’s the work? What are you working on now? I still have yet to get a feel for topics and examples of what you are training. What about pictures? You have any new pics to send home anytime soon? The Blog is drying up because letters are few between and I’ve been sans pics for a while now. See what you can do about sending some pictures when you can.

So how do you feel about coming home on 08-08-08? How sweet is that date? You won’t ever forget the day you returned home eh? I’m glad to hear that the quotes of the week are actually doing some good now and then. I hope my letters make a difference every once in a while. Well, I’m going to take off and get ready for church but I will finish this up tonight when we get back from Ma’s and Pa’s.

K, we are back from the Natals house and now it’s 10:26 PM Sunday night. We were there kind of late. Dinner was good. Meatballs and noodles among other things. A little reminiscing, a lot of laughs, etc. We gave Gramps a blessing for his eye procedure he’s having done on his other eye now. That is on Thursday. A blessing for Staci for baby stuff. And were going to do a blessing for dad on his colonoscopy tomorrow, but he chickened out for some reason. So oh well. That was nice anyway. Shelby wasn’t there till everyone left (except for us). She had a date after work or something. So she got home later and had just enough time to play with the girls just before we left. The date wasn’t with Joseph, so I didn’t care who it was and didn’t get any further details on it. I’m only interested in one dude being with Shelli right now. She thinks I have a man crush on him. What can I say? I’m just a good judge of character and potential.

I helped mom print off your letter so everyone could read it tonight. She couldn’t figure it out for some reason. So everyone had a chance to read your letter this week. I also installed Microsoft Office for XP. It’s about time you had office over there. So now you have Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Front Page, etc. Whatever is all in Office. There you go. You have been wanting those on there for a while, yes?

So to get into your letter to Ma and Pa… Wow, so you get 40 min. to talk on Mothers day, eh? What will we do with all the spare time after we have talked everything out? I mean, we can have a slightly meaningful conversation and it’s time to go. What’s up with 40 min? I think I have sat on the turlet longer than that a few times! Oh well. We get what we get and we don’t throw a fit, right?

Sounds like you had quite the episode with the keys getting lost. They never turned up, eh? That’s good that it worked out the way it did at least.

How’s the journal coming? Still plugging away on a daily basis? You know the other thing I got thinking about I’m way glad I did? Every roommate and companion and even a few others just on splits would sign this little book I had, almost like a year book and put their home address and phone numbers. This was before e-mail really, so I didn’t have e-mail addresses, but that was AWESOME to have. I just went through it again for the first time many years and had actually forgotten some names and people that the book reminded me of and now I can contact them again if I get the hankering. Something to consider if you have not kept something like that. How are the Parker’s holding up? Need any refills yet? You know I got your back with whatever you need if you need it.

Well, I better get ready for bed. It’s late now and I have a busy week ahead of me. I’ll check with you later on.

Oh, time for a quote of the week, eh? I almost forgot. Here you go…

“If we do not do our duty in regard to missionary service, then I am convinced that God will hold us responsible for the people we might have saved had we done our duty.”

- Spencer W. Kimball

I like that quote, even though it seems a bit harsh sometimes, but I think it’s true. Missionaries who slack, who are out there for a 2 year get away, or who just occasionally get lazy, I think will have a harsh reality check in the world to come when the accountability is doled out. Make sure you are doing all you can to save every last soul while you are out there. Leave it all on the field, or in the field in this case. I know you will. You always bring it hard.

I guess I’ll talk to you on Madres’s day. But I still look forward to whatever letters you send out. I have run dry on the blog. Needing some photos or good blog fodder to get out to your peeps. So whatever you got, send it along.

Talk to you soon.

Love,

Trav