I was prepared for the loss, but BYU pulled off a miracle and won the game against U S U.  Years ago when I was involved in church sports I learned that 'sport can teach gospel principles' and I still believe that that is true.  I find watching some games very instructive about things that apply to life and learning.  I believe that I am able to be pretty objective, even when my grand kids are participating so the learning comes easier. Getting too 'close' to the game distorts the process.  I know that 'sport' in this life is so flawed and you have to understand that.  The stuff that is akin to eternal stuff is what is really important.  Anyway, it makes for interesting entertainment and can teach good things if we go about it in the right way.  

 

I am ready for conference weekend.  I expect it to be very tiring, but rewarding per my experience.  I look forward to it being a neat opportunity for a refreshing change as well as an opportunity to learn and be edified.  The family on Sunday can only make it more.

Some days just make me more thoughtful.  I'm trying to examine what happened today to make me that way, but there wasn't anything particularly special.  Oh, one phone call was quite disturbing.  An attorney that I served some papers for told me that his client was very angry with me and wanted to have him sue me.  It was a situation that I did mess up and I felt so lousy about what happened, but it scared me to think that I would have to come up with money to try to make it right.  There are so many other factors that exacerbated the matter, but I was surprised at how badly I felt about the part that we messed up.  I am learning that both mortal life and eternal life aren't always pleasant and warm and fuzzy.  There is really a lot of pain out there.  I dream about avoiding it, but that is not going to happen.  I better learn to deal with it better.  anyway, for whatever the reason I have been quite thoughtful.  Seems as though my serious meter has risen a notch or two.  I guess I am just getting old.  Or maybe I am just getting ready for conference.

I decided to not take my pain medicine this morning and through the day and it worked out okay.  I did notice some small amount of pain as the day wore on and when I had my dinner after our home teachers about 7:30 p.m. I did resume the Ibuprofan and will take my Lortab tonight before I go to bed.  I realize that I really am doing better but I also realize that total 100 % recovery will be a very long process.  I also know that I will have to keep doing some stretching and extending and flexing in order to regain and maintain proper movement in my shoulder.  I really an anxious to resume my push ups, but I admit that that scares me.  I don't believe that they caused my flare up, but I can't be sure that they didn't contribute so I intend to be extremely cautious.  I feel badly missing them, but then it was because I felt so very badly that I had to miss them.  Here's to my good health and well being.

 

I count today as about the best work day in 2 weeks.  And I have plenty of work left over to do tomorrow.  I can't say 'perfect' yet, but I will settle for really good and keep on trying one day at a time.

For some reason it seems to me that I am not able to relax and leave my world behind me.  Oh, I can nap and sleep through the night, but I seem incapable of pleasant day dreams like I used to have.  I keep thinking about stuff that goes wrong, or can go wrong, or stuff that happens that should make me stronger, but where is the relief.  Maybe that was one blessing of my week of pain that I passed over.  For about 8-10 days I was suffering so much that I did not think of anything else.  Can I now think of that as a positive.  If so it certainly was diminished by the fact that my mind was unable to focus on good stuff either.  I left so much undone during that time.  And I hurt so badly that it was hard to even care.  Well, I am moving forward now but my psyche is slower at recovering then I am.  I feel that that will take longer to fix then the bursitis, and I have no idea just how long that will take to be absolutely pain free and with no limit on my motion.  All of this feels like a new kind of test that has gotten gradually harder and harder as if to get to the point where I am unable to deal with it or too tired to try.  I am just surprised by what is happening to me and it will take me a while to get a handle on it all.  The lesson is some where right in front of me I just have to figure out what it is and then embrace it for my own good. 

The news of the day is that we won't be traveling to Eagle Mountain to watch Abigail play soccer anytime soon.  Seems that she was playing at the 'other' grandma's house yesterday and fell and broke her arm!  Not only was it a relatively serious break it was Shauni's 1st so it had a lot of trauma for them.  With me just coming off of over a week of serious pain I feel for the little princess.  It isn't one of our favorite things about being a grandparent just as it wasn't near the top of our list as parents either.  We will take it in stride, but it isn't what we would have wanted.  Maybe one day in years and years we can read about this and remember it without the drama, the trauma and the pain.  As for now we will just get by and keep on one day at a time.

 

My day was actually pretty good.  In fact, too good. I felt so good that I should have done more, but not good enough to have done more.  It was so nice to sit pain free, yet a guilty pleasure at the same time.  Maybe my push ups are closer to reality then I think.

Yesterday we got to see Shauni and Jeff and the four 'A'-migos when we drove to Eagle Mountain for a soccer game.  It was a good time and we hope to see them all again next Sunday.  Today Sheila had 3 Primary programs and I had 2.  We saw Robert and Cicily's 3 with Lucas being the only one old enough to be in the program.  He was 'in' the program the way most little boys are 'in' a Primary program.  But it was good for him.  Then we drove to Kaysville and 3 of the boys were 'in' the program, but the entire family did sing a song together.  Colton was all snazzed out with his Sunday best to to meeting mechanical widgits and was lots of fun for me because he spent most of his time feeding me cookies.  After dinner with the Rosbach's we drove home and enjoyed a quiet evening and I have felt pretty good.  My pills still make me very sleepy and I'd say that I am 95 o/o pain free and about 90 0/0 well, but still have some to go to fee totally good.  I figure that may be the pills fault, but either way I don't figure on being back to 100 o/o for several days.  I worry about my push ups and really don't know how that will go.  My sleep routine is also still discombobulated with no forecast total recovery.  Your sympathy is always appreciated, but money will always be accepted.  Bit number 65 is just around the corner.

 It seems that everything can bring a dilemma.  Even feeling good has a down side.  Here I am finally feeling better after what seems like forever and yet it isn't all good.  I just am not totally there.  And being out of it for so long actually makes it hard because I seem to have lost a step here and there and I just can't perform the way that I want to.  It is so nice to have the pain gone, but I am unable to do all that I want to do.  My motion and movement with my shoulder is so much better, but 'normal' just isn't possible yet.  I must be patient.  And I can't be too anxious to do it all at once.  It doesn't take much to remind me me of that.  The pain isn't very far away and does remind me that I need to take it as it comes and not try to rush things.  But it sure is better to journey forward without the pain and minimize the gain then try to be tougher then I really am.

It seems that we have pretty short memories.  And that is a good thing, right?  I figure that normally it is a good thing to have a short memory.  But right now I am thinking that I need to do some remembering even if it is to just yesterday in order to appreciate the way that I feel now as opposed to the way that I felt then.  It was just last night around 10 when I took my Lortab power pill to help me make it through the night.  And lo and behold, it was from that point until now that I have been virtually pain free!  It has been wonderful to work and to move and to just be without the kind of pain that has bothered me (yes, tortured me) for over a week.  I am still apprehensive because I don't trust my body to do everything that I need to be able to do, but I am noticing my shoulder and arm doing stuff on its own that I have been unable to do for several days.  Last night I did have my best night's sleep in a week.  And today I was able to just settle in and work.  Anyway, I realize that I don't feel the way that I felt, and my memory is weak and even non-existant as to that pain.  So good, I'm glad to be over it, and bad because I need to remember what it was like and how much I really appreciate the way that it is now.  It seems a thought that applies to life in general and not only to painful times, so examine it and gain what good it has for me, and always remember in order to keep being thankful for what is, and what can be compared to times when it wasn't quite so good.

I am not so optimistic tonight.  I believe that I a being honest when I say that this just might go on beyond the weekend.  I did not have but a short few moments when I felt no pain and that the medication was actually working well.  Most of the time I had this dull pain which was a real bother but which I worked through, or at least mostly worked through.  I guess that it was that way last night too.  I did sleep a couple of times, but sat a lot more.  Tonight will be either good that way or a repeat of another bad night.  I just can't seem to come out of this fatigue too.  Almost any moment I can drift off, but I can't because even a dull pain keeps me from doing that.  Here's hoping for progress for tonight, and of course for the longer haul, which I hope is starting to come to an end.  With my health, my beard and my shaggy hair and not being able to really bath appropriately I am probably not fun to be around. (to say nothing of the actual pain !)

Progress !?  I have to admit to progress.  But when you mix in too much impatience then progress becomes anxiety.  I am at the stage where I play tricks on myself.  I feel good enough to move this way or to try that and immediately I know that I am not 'there' yet.  My time table just isn't obvious.  But at least I am doing almost a days worth of work.  I feel so slow, but I'm not sure that I was ever any faster when I was whole.  So I start to feel more positive and then when I do that then my should starts to throb or ache or just hurt and I wonder where I really am.  My home teacher called this morning to ask about the blessing that he gave me last Thursday night.  I know that going from excruciating to just severe pain is a major step forward.  But that subject can be another whole topic of thought and discussion.  So I just try to back off and take it as it comes.  I am in a routine.  2 Ibuprofan 3 times a day and my generic Lortab before I go to bed.  Each day continues to be an adventure, but only different in style and actual substance (in my case: pain) from any of your circumstances.  When Robert broke his Sears tool a 2nd time I wondered if I was any worse off then him.  So I hope and pray for all of you, and my shoulder and wonder about how it will be different in the next act of this three part play.

I have to count today as successful.  Of course, it wasn't what I would have wanted it to be, but I know that is the case so for what it was it was okay.  I still feel the pain, but as much as that I feel the effects of the medication.  And right now even though I haven't taken 'the' pill yet I feel the need to sleep that is really a good part of it all because sleeping through the night is such a relief after near a week of not doing that very well.  Last night I had such weird dreams and Sheila said that it was from the Lortab ( or its less expensive generic equivalent).  Dreams I don't mind because to dream you have to be mostly asleep.  So for now I see this event ending someday.  When, I just hope sooner then later, but I don't really know for sure.  This will only be night #2 with the good stuff.  I was able to work more today then any of the last 7 or so.  That felt good.  Now to really get better, that's what I want.  Normal, I never felt normal, but right now it isn't normal, so normal is what I want.  Oh, to just be 'normal' again!

Now is crunch time.  ( Actually, crunch time was about 15 minutes ago when I fell up my stairs and crunched my shoulder and then my nose!)  But I finally have my illegal drugs to take when I finish this.  Everybody tells me that I will virtually go right to sleep, so that is my crunch time.  Will it work for me, and is it the turnaround moment that I have been hoping for this last week or so?  I was able to have a nearly normal work day today, but the pain is still my companion and I want it to go away.  I am anxious to move on.  I really should have gone to a doctor before today, but finally I did so now we will see if it will do the trick.  There really is lots riding on it.  I have tasks piling up that I haven't felt like I could do.  So now I have basically 2 tests:  one will the medicine work, and two can I do all of the rehabilitation that will need to go along with it because bursitis is a stubborn thing and has more then pain to it.  I will need to coax my flexibility along, but only if the pain will allow me to.

Time to move on and see what happens.  Stay tune!

Usually s Sunday if a day of rest, but now I've had 3 days in a row of being 'sick' and I am tired of it.  I had hopes that toady would see me feeling much better, but that has not happened. The pain has not been excruciating since the blessing of last Thursday night, but it has still remained.  I've tolerated it and had ice on my arm and I've taken lots of pills and I have avoided doing anything while using a sling on my left arm. but I am getting desperate.  I did call my doctor but he would not give me anything stronger without an office visit so I decided to just tough it out.  Well, I am not that tough!  If I don't feel better tomorrow I will go to a place close by and try to get them to prescribe some real pain medicine.  I have to get back to a normal work day pretty soon.  It is driving me crazy.  Funny how much you begin to see that you use some body part when it hurts so much that you can't use it.  And I think all of the pills have had an effect on me as well.  It has really disrupted my days.  And frankly has caused me to feel real crappy.  Thank you Sherri for you call to me today.  So maybe we are a jinx when it comes to Spencer's games, but hearing from you was a good thing for me today.

I am still hurting, but not as much as BYU is.  I just turned it off and its only at the end of the 3rd quarter.  I hope my night goes better.  My progress these last three days has been hard to notice, but I think I have made improvement.  Sunday will be very different for us due to my shoulder and her tending situation.  I need to figure a way to do something that will be worthwhile, but I am afraid that it will just be a time to survive.  Hopefully I will be wrong and something good may come of the day.

A little better, but situation is pretty much the same.
I really do not enjoy this.

I'm typing with one hand tonight,  That should tell you what kind of a day it has been.  Tomorrow can only be better,  That would be a 'blessing'.

Today was some better.  At least 'better enough' to not be 'crappy'.  But to make up for it my bursitis was so painful that it became the most important aspect of my day.  It didn't keep me from doing every thing, but most of the things that I did I tried to do when the medicine kicked in or in spite of the horrific pain.  We did go to Lucas' birthday party and after we were there a while and until before we left I was relatively free from pain.  But the drive to and from was agonizing.  We stopped at Harmon's on the way home and Shelia bought me some Ibuprofen which took more then an hour to kick in and now causes me to be afraid of my night because I'm not supposed to take more until 8 hours.  I'm not that hopeful that it will work that well that long.  I would like to think that it will start to get better pretty soon.  But I'm not that hopeful about that either.  I have pretty much accepted that my week will be less then desirable, and now I just hope that I can survive.  The pain is the main thing, but the fatigue and the inability to be able to focus on anything else is just as bad.  I plan on it shutting me down for some time but I will just hope for the best and expect the worse, and endure this terrible pain, as if I had any other choice.

Well, yesterday was disappointing, but today was downright crappy!  I made it through the night okay and I even did my 45 last night and this morning.  But my shoulder starting hurting later on in the morning and the pain took me out of my game.  I did take 3 of Sheila's pain pills and it did help it feel better, but I was so concerned about the pain that I was paralyzed.  I was so aware of the possibility of the pain that I just sat, trying not to move my arm, and doing nothing.  It really depressed me to just sit and anticipate the pain that did come every once in a while, but would also go away some too.  It ruined my day, and then I made it worse by being critical of my own behavior.  It was like a major episode of depression.  It actually made me feel ill.  So here I am looking at more of the same and almost ready to throw in the towel for the whole week.  So much is weighing down on me and my state of mind is leaning to giving up rather then getting back.  But the full moon did look beautiful coming up over the mountains and my beautiful companion is still here giving me love and support, so just maybe tomorrow can turn me around.  I know that feeling negative is one thing, but I usually then feel guilty about feeling negative, so I have to have a good talk with myself and work on both of those.   I am anxious to see what I end up writing tomorrow night.

I did tough it out and I started my day of with 45 of them.  My shoulder has felt some better today and I am planning on another 45 before I go to bed tonight.  Other then that today has been pretty uneventful.  I did work, in fact, no not really, I did not work very hard.  I was hoping for more work to do and more work to get done, but that didn't happen either.  I am to calloused to let it bother me.  I have been disappointed for years and I am used to things not going the way that I would like them to.  I see us surviving and sometimes I just settle for that knowing that lots of good folks don't even do that.  It is hard for me to complain when I see others with so much less.  Last night I watched a show about the life of J K Rowling who wrote "Harry Potter" who, in 3 years went from welfare to the richest person in England.  I was happy for her success, but her life was something that I wouldn't want to struggle through.  Oh, I dream about the big bucks, but what price should I put on having the gospel in my life?  It may sound cliche, but I wouldn't trade that for anything.  I say I'd like to have both, but that doesn't seem to be the offer, so I'll take what I have and be grateful for it.  I do think about what comes next more then I have before.  After all, I'm closer to the end then I am the beginning.  And I see a little about how I can affect it for the good.  So I try to do that when I can and if I sacrifice a little of now for then, so be it.  'Then' is going to end up being a lot longer then 'now' is so it does deserve my attention.

As soon as I finished writing last night I realized that I did not mention Logan.  While we were up North to see Spencer's game we found out about the games of Hunter, Chase and Logan.  Timing wise the only one we could make was Logan's at 3:00 p.m.  We did see the whole family, but the purpose was to watch Logan.  And that was an entertaining hour.  He plays the game with such joy and enthusiasm while having virtually now idea what he is doing out there.  We also had some questions about Colton answered when Shelli hooked him up post-nap and he reacted the way he has and does.  I realized that I need to be more patient in my expectation, and I am getting there.  I did write about me getting roasted a bit and it showed today.  But the main deal with today was my shoulder.  My nasty bursitis  back again.  I caused me to rethink my 45 push ups for this morning and for tonight.  I am taking time off from that part of my ritual.  I hope missing a couple of times doesn't make it too hard when I start up again.  Right now that might be tomorrow, but if it acts up tonight the way that it did last night I will abstain for another day.  I was disappointed in church today.  The speakers furthered the reputation of 'dry' council.  I am usually pretty lenient, but today was as bad as I remember.  I just don't go to church to hear someone lament that he was surprised that the sun came up what with the cougars, the utes and the yankees losing yesterday!  Anyway, life goes on.  This coming week suggests both good things and challenges the same as any other week.  And we will just try to do the best that we can, one day at a time.

If I could order the kind of life I could have, today would be sort of that way.  (except BYU would win) ( and I guess Spencer's team would win too)  But what I mean is that Sheila and I could drive around and watch our grand kids in their games and not have to work or anything like that.  That's not wishing for retirement because retirement isn't all Saturdays and that's what it would take for my wish to be real.  Oh well.  I do ere in my wish because for one is just isn't possible and two my real life isn't all that bad.  (but I still would have liked for Byu and Spencer's team to have won)  We did get one good thing from Spencer that made it fun and exciting.  He ran an end around right at us at about the 25 yard line and turned it up field and 'took it to the house' for a touchdown.!  I did get a bit of a sunburn and the long drive was a bit tiring, but we got to see 5 of our grand kids today and we had 3 more last night and Sheila got to see 4 others yesterday at Abby's birthday party.  Now I need to rehydrate and get to bed for my 2nd favorite kind of day is a Sunday.

I believe that my computer has a mind of its own.  Now, I don't believe in artificial intelligence, but I know that there is something going on with my computer that I do not understand.  And when it comes to Facebook, well there's another mystery.  I see my kids and grand kids with the other techno stuff and I just leave it alone, because I don't follow it as well.  I'm just glad that I can do what I do on my computer and I work on it lots during the day.  I have a lot of sites 'bookmarked' that I use in my work, you know, P I stuff.  Nothing that isn't publicly accessible, but I worked hard to find them all and I use them everyday.  But I feel like there is so much more that I could do if I had more 'geekness savy'.  But I am continual amazed when something weird happens or when I push an odd button and 'it' goes off on me.  Even this blog changed stuff on me a few weeks back and I don't know what I did to make that happen, let alone what to do to make it go back the way that is was.  So I just use it as it is and when I screw up I just do the best that I can do without always understanding the why and wherefore.

Well, time to call it a day, and spend a little time with my own original equipment computer and see what I can figure out about my life and future.

My, how my wife has changed.  Here she is today getting back from some errands for both her and me and dropping off a card for Zach's birthday and she tells me that she actually did some shopping for Christmas.  It's the 8th of September and she has started her Christmas shopping!  I hear that Colton got a present today too.  He went in for his100 mile check up and had his engine tuned.  I didn't talk to Shelli nor was I there (this time) but I can imagine good things.  I know that the truth of the matter is that it is still only the beginning of a long process, but I can dream, can't I?  I have spent a lot time thinking about how those 'experts' have described this new sense that Colton is now dealing with.  It is fascinating to me and I have tried to understand it.  I have likened it to learning about the spirit.  Whether it happens when one is older or has always been there it still has to be recognized and then realized.  Course it is something that I am still trying to do both with even at my age.  It seems that everything in this world tries to tell us that it isn't real.  But it is actually the most real.  And being real and the key to all understanding it isn't an easy thing to recognize or realize.  My experience watching Colton has helped me to understand it better.  I think that I will use that in my next priesthood lesson.

What a difference a day makes.  Oh how I know the truth of that.  In fact, I depend on it.  I try to see each day made up of many, many different parts.  I don't believe that I will ever have a day (in this life) in which every part goes right.  But there are enough parts that some of them are bound to out do others.  Sometimes some parts even hit high marks.  Such was today.  Most elements of today were pretty average.  But a few came through even better then I imagined they would.  With that kind of thinking I can almost always find something to like about a day, and seldom do the negatives take over and make my day seem a failure.  Sure, I do fail in things, even several things, every day, but overall I have to admit that they reward me well enough.  Tonight I had a 5-7 minute moment that affected my day quite nicely.  I ran upstairs and turned Sheila's TV over to catch a song on BYU TV from Starlite Express that brought back strong memories.  It was quickly over, but the feeling lingers on in my mind.  I wonder if you kids remember it at all.  All in all i rate today with several good marks enough so that I am excited to get up in the morning and continue on knowing that good work and good results are certain.  Not great anything, but enough good to anticipate it going down as a success.  (definition***)

Routine is a good thing.  It helps one be consistent and if the routine is good then it is a vital part of progression because even if you're doing the same things over and over you can't help but get better at those things.  You know, that which we persist in doing becomes easier....  But life isn't always consistent.  So disruption in one's schedule is inevitable.  I hadn't thought about it much until tonight when I saw all kinds of things go differently then I expected them to go.  I didn't write 'go wrong' because different is different much of the time, although different can also be wrong or at least feel wrong.  When we expect things to be different as in Nicholas' new life, and Sheila starting to work after so many years one prepares the mind for that change and it can even be fun.  But it can also be a challenge and require us (me) to use the little gray cells to come up with something new.  Maybe that cliche about old dogs and new tricks has some application to this circumstance.  For a fact, I am an 'old dog' and I believe that I have dealt okay with 'new tricks' when required.  But I do recognize a certain trepidation about anything major that might come along.  And I have mentioned some premonition of just that in past entry's.  So if my minor glitches of today challenge me a little, what can I expect if something major pops up?  Maybe I just need to practice now so I will be better prepared later.  I do look forward to a time when I do have something 'major' to announce to the family, but certainly not any of these petty challenges like today.  But who knows what the future will bring?

 

I just saw the pictures that Phil posted about their hike today.  The Porter family and the Rosbach family joined together in that event.  We know that Sharon had flags to post and then homework to to and then she did my work and when we saw her she was waiting for Linzi and Zach to get home.  We figure that Robert and family are now home or soon will be back from their week in North Carolina.  Not sure about the rest of the family, but we hope that they all had something good to say about their Labor Day holiday.  As for us old folks, we just hung around.  Actually we did go shopping and we both bought a new pair of Wrangler Jeans.  Then we ended up going out to McGrath's for dinner.  I ordered what I thought would be good, and it was alright. But regardless of what you spend for a meal you will still end up hungry before too long.  I'm used to the 'cheaper' meals and we spent more then we should have this time.  But Sheila is worth that every once in a while.  After all, my main purpose was that she not have to prepare the meal.  And the main benefit of a holiday is that you take time off from work.  That usually does not happen for me.  But today I did not do any work unless you call going to Sharon's to pick up the work she did, and I do not.  I just call it a ride.  So no work for me this Labor Day holiday.  But bright and early Tuesday will come and back to work we will go.  That seems to be the way that it works.

The house is finally quiet again.  It was very peaceful from after church until almost 5, and even then when they all got here there was only 15 plus 1, but there was still lots of noise and activity.  Sheila's meal was wonderful and we enjoyed the Porters the Rosbachs and Sharon plus a lovely young lady from Maryland who is a friend of Nicholas' and is out here attending BYU.  It was wonderful to see Colton, but I need to temper my expectations a bit.  I want him to perform the way that in reality will take a long, long time.  It certainly a better situation for him, but patience is still the key word.  As is the case whenever we get together I appreciate our family more and more. It is worth the hassle and is actually not an inconvenience at all.  It is just family, and I have a history with this group and I have and do choose them over anything else.  They sure do know how to attack a pantry though.  Funny, we had food left over from the meal, but the candy and cookies and rice crispy squares were all gone.  Quiet or noisy, hectic or serene my Sunday is over.  Right now I am thankful for a holiday tomorrow.  A good sleep, and little office work and some quality time with my wife and I will be a happy camper and ready to get back to it again on Tuesday.  It could have been better only if we had more of the family here with us. But in the real world....

Both Sheila and I left about 8 p.m.  She was finally able to leave to go do some grocery shopping, and I walked over to the church to lock it down for the night.  She had to get some things for our FHE meal for tomorrow night, and tried to get away earlier today, but something kept keeping her here with some task or another, or a phone call.  She put in a lot of time cleaning the house which was made more necessary to her when Russ called and told us that he would be bringing a guest with them when they come tomorrow.  Me, well I was off for the month of August checking out the church.  But there was a change to a new electronic key system at the beginning of September so I figured that I would get the keys back and do my duty for the month of September.  It helps make me feel useful to have something to do and a little walk over and around the church is probably good for me too.  My day was okay and a little productive.  My best part was the BYU victory 14-13.  It was  hard for them to be productive for the first 3 quarters because they were playing so badly.  BUT they finally did enough to win and I will enjoy reading the papers tomorrow, which I probably couldn't have read if they hadn't won.  (Fine fair weather fan I am.)   Mostly I look to Sunday to be better then today because many of the family will be showing up, including the little dude with the new electronic hearing system.

Our poor fishees did survive.  I heard the water being turned on about 8 this morning and I figured it was the Water's Edge guy with the new pump for the pond.  I was right and he had it already installed when I went outside to check.  This morning before Sheila went to work she looked out and saw the fishees swimming near the surface gulping for air.  We were told that's what they do when the air gets thin in the water.  So she sprayed water into the pond for a few minutes and it seemed to help.  After she left I did the same for longer because it had been since Tuesday that the pump blew up and died.  But now the system is up and running normally and they have to be happy, sterile, but happy.  We have been thinking a lot today about Colton.  I guess we called Shelli about 5 times.  Seems like that adventure is continuing with good things and some frustration.  By now the whole world has had a chance to view the video.  It seems to have brought dozens to tears watching the poor kid being tortured.  As for me, I am anxious to be able to communicate with the little guy.  I mean talk with him and know that he knows who I am.  Seems like this thing has caused Shelli and Phil to take on a new role where they can help others going through similar experiences.  This life sure brings lots of stuff to us that we do not expect.

I have to count it as progress.  I decided to take the time to drive Sheila to Bountiful and stay there during Colton's hook up time.  I had made all kinds of excuses to stay home, but in the end it just came down to it being the right thing to do.  Sure, it would have gone off well without me, but it was good and right for me to be there.  I wasn't quite sure just what to expect and I was surprised at Colton's reactions during the process.  Shelli said that to her it was like he was being electrocuted.  It did appear that it was painful for him.  But the reality was not necessarily pain, but certainly anxiety over something that was startling and confusing.  He did seem to make some progress right there in the 2 hours of the process.  But apparently he didn't seemed too thrilled with the new machines on his head later at home.  Obviously it will continue to be a new thing for him to get used too.  It is something that I never really thought much about before, this idea of hearing being strange and new and confusing.  For me there are a lot of things that are strange and new and confusing, just not hearing (maybe listening, but not hearing).  I am really looking forward to our grandson continuing to make progress in this area and one day I will be able to bore him with my Tarzan yell just as I have with all of the other grand kids in their time.  It is quite an experience for all of us, but the object of our hopes, dreams and prayers is, of course, Colton with a little left over for the family as it spreads out to Shelli, Phil the other boys and then the whole motley gang.