'Wintry Mix'

Work & Play
Ran errands first thing in the morning before the weather turned nasty. They said it would be here around 3, it showed up about 1:00. That's weatherpersons for you.

I decided to go with a Franklin Binder, with a built in PDA holder (because I know you have all been on pins and needles wanting to know what I would do). I took about 30 minutes in the Franklin store looking at the different binders and sizes before I finally settled on a black one that had leather on the spine, but was a backpack (nylon) type material on the rest of the binder. Then spent another $30 or so on filler stuff. We later stopped by Office Depot and I just happened to check to see what kind of binders they had there, and found a similar FranklinCovey binder there for the same price, but this one was all leather, brown and had the fillers I had purchased at the Franklin Store. If I was working on commission at the regular Franklin stores I'd be a little ticked that they sell a better binder at Office Depot for the same price. Not to mention, I just noticed that the same binder I bought at Franlin is $15 cheaper online. So now the company is undercutting their store salesman in two different places. That's pretty harsh.

We were home by about 3, and the roads were getting a little slushy, but not real slick. The way people were driving, though, you'd think there was an inch of ice on the roads and it was a blizzard out there. We drove 20 miles an hour back to our house from mom and dad's (where we ate our lunch). Apparently people thought their car would suddenly slide out of control without any warning if they went 21 MPH or faster. It's not MY driving in the bad weather, it's all the other idiots on the road that worries me!

Finally got haricuts in the afternoon. It's been three weeks and I was looking pretty shaggy. Granted, a haircut won't improve my looks that much, but every little bit helps. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, waiting for the "church has been canceled" phone call that we were sure would eventually come. It did at 10:15 pm, and I spent the next 1/2 hour making the phone calls to people in the ward. I guess it's better to call at 10:30 at night than 7:30 in the morning when they are in the middle of getting ready for church.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Kelson surprised me this morning. He came in to wake me up, and we layed in bed and watched "Noggin" for a few minutes. In between one of the shows, the letter "S" came on the screen, and I heard him make an "ssththth" sound (kind of with his tongue). At first it didn't connect, but then I heard the animal character on the screen say, "This is the letter 'S'. It makes an "ssss" sound. And then I realized that he had recognized the "S" sound before the guy on the screen said it. Kind of cool if you ask me. Smartest kid I know...besides Cade, of course. He also doesn't make a pure "sssss" sounds...as I spelled earlier, it's more of a "ssththth" sound, using his tongue or something. Very funny.

Cade has started using the word "but" the way a teenage girl uses the work "like." I'm not sure where he picked it up, but he begins every other sentence with the word. I asked him later "what's with all the butt talk? Do I need to get some butt?" (southern for "Spank.") He giggled and said, "no dad. Not MY butt."

He also was going crazy about the snow. He stood inside mom and dad's holding his hand out the sliding glass door trying to catch snowflakes, but trying to keep the door closed because he was cold and didn't have any shoes on. Luckily he hasn't asked us to build a snowman yet. It would be impossible with the amount and type of snow we got. I'd hate to disappoint him.

Arellano Update
Apparently Marcos went to a fight in Atlantic City last night with my cousin from mom's side. Not sure all the details yet, so I'll fill you in later.

Visited mom and dad for an hour or so during the snow storm. Didn't stay too long because we wanted to get home before the roads got too nasty. She will be mad at me for telling this, but she was rooting just as hard as Shena and I that church get cancelled!

Heard news that Adam & Melissa (sounds like Adam was the only one involved) bought a 2001 Land Rover. They have only had one car since they've been married, and its worked out ok, but since they are moving out here in the fall, they will need two cars, so I guess they found a deal on this one or something.

Christensen Update


Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: ^Hi 32 - Low 18 - butt nippin' cold

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 to 7:00 - a restless night...woke up once coughing (got something down the wrong tube or something...not sure what that was all about) and once to help Cade go to the bathroom...he was pretty much sleep walking. Then Kelson came in about 5:30 and climbed into bed with us. At that point I was too tired to care much.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Taco Bell - bean burrito, no onion - steak gordita supreme, no tomato - instead of the gordita supreme I had ordered a grilled steak burrito, but I didn't realize that put a salsa on it that has fresh tomatoes on it...Shena liked it so we swapped.

Dinner: Campbell's Chunky Steak Chili, covered with cheese, saltines - drinking some Stephen's Hot Chocolate right now for dessert