"Free At Last, Free At Last..."

Work & Play
Again...I'm supposed to be studying...but I had to take a break and share MY latest news.

With apologies to Dr. King (Happy Birthday, by the way), I couldn't help but think of his famous words when I first got the news a couple of weeks back that I was going to be released as EQ president. It didn't take long for me to start feeling guilty, first for having the insensitivity (what? Cheeto insensitive? come on...) to compare a calling in the church with the plight of African-Americans, and second, for being excited to be released in the first place.

Then I realized that the emotions were perfectly natural. Alot like coming home from a mission. I've heard of people who said "I didn't want to leave." They lie, but they are also telling the truth. It's one of those strange paradoxeseseses (whatever). As exciting as it is to be "free" from the mission rules (or in my most recent case, free from the responsibilities of my calling) you really don't want to have to leave. I thought I was ready to be released, but then when the Stake President said the words in priesthood meeting on Sunday, I got a huge lump in my throat and wanted to say "please don't release me."

It also reminded me of the feelings of shortcoming that I had leaving the field. To be honest, I feel that way about anything I do, but the feelings seem especially poignant when it comes to people's salvation. After the mission I remember thinking "If I had just worked a little harder, sacrificed a little more I could have made a bigger difference." I had the same feelings Sunday, but the big difference this time was that it wasn't just ME who had to sacrifice...it was my family too. It's one thing for me to expect a little more sacrifice from myself, and another to expect more from my family. It's just not fair to expect it from them.

I also couldn't believe how quickly the time went. When I spoke with the Stake President when he warned me that they would be making the change, I told him that I was disappointed that I had only served for 2 1/2 years. For some reason I had in my mind that it was a calling that a capable president would hold for 6 or 7 years. I don't know if he was just trying to make me feel better or not, but he kind of chuckled and said "my experience in this Stake tells me that you served about the average amount of time. It is a taxing calling and it is hard to expect young families to deal with it for much longer than that." I will take his statement at face value. It makes me feel a little bit better, anyway.

Anyway, sorry for the semi-serious tangent, which isn't a normal theme for this blog. But I felt like I needed to write this down somewhere. This is my "journal" after all.

Arellano Update
Since I got a little news today, I'll share it.

Lettie & Kris are getting REALLY close to moving into their new house. They bought a fridge this weekend and have their interest rate locked in. Just a few more weeks and they will have the keys. Everyone around here is excited for them. I'm curious to see how long it is before Cade and Kelson start bugging to spend the night. I give them 1 day. As a matter of fact, the day we are moving them in, they will probably start asking.

I called Marcos at about 5:30, and he was still at the office!!! That probably doesn't mean much to anybody else, but it does to me. The guy makes an incredible amount of money (think Terrell Owens or Tiger Woods...and thus far has done about 40 hours of work (total) in the 5 months he's been working. I was excited for his first "late night." I'm sure there are plenty more on the way.

Christensen Update
I talked to Sky the other day for a minute. He told me that the Patriots were the biggest bunch of cheaters in the world and he hopes they lose their next game by 824 points. (Ok, he didn't say that, but I did talk to him. Love that guy)

FOOD:

I know you'd be disappointed if I didn't share, so here you go:

Breakfast: About 10 maple frosted mini-wheats (what was left in the box), a small bowl of frosted flakes and two pieces of toast with nasty ol' "spray on butter" (fat free, no less!) that Shena uses on her popcorn sometimes. Our usual Brummel and Brown spread was all gone. Just not the same with that aerosol butter.

Lunch: A cheeseburger on pita bread. Ever tried that? My first time. It was interesting. Came with the regular cucumber sauce that you get on a gyro. I think next time I'll just go with the regular ol' gyro instead. I like the lamb meat better than the beef patties. French fries, Mt. Dew.

Dinner: Shena sat down with the kids on Sunday night and made a menu for the week. Let all the kids pick out what they wanted for dinner. Tonight was Analise's turn. I missed exactly HOW she requested this meal, but somehow Shena blamed it on her. We had eggs, cheese and bacon bagels (HUGE bagels, by the way) and milk. My family loves breakfast for dinner. I don't because it just doesn't fill me up. 11 pm - 2 am, breakfast food is great and one of my favorites, but for dinner it just isn't enough. I'll have a big piece of cake and a large glass of milk when I get home.