One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 29.  It starts out: 'O that I were an angel' and ends up being a lesson for me (and each of us) on the subject of humility and acceptance.  I continue to reread it often and ponder on what 'the Lord hath allotted unto me'.  I have gained much so far, but I know that I need to find more understanding from its message.  It is so easy to lose appreciation for our blessings and wonder about how much more we might have 'if' this or 'if' that.  Understanding exactly what we do  have and what we really are isn't as easy as I would like it  to be.  I know that I have aged a lot: I hope that I have also grown a lot as well.  I begin each new day here by trying to record as well as give something positive by what I write.  Sometimes I have an idea of what I will write long before I sit down, and sometimes the words just come as I begin.  I really don't know if there is much merit to it but I do enjoy the occasional comment from any of my '6' followers! Today is Halloween.  I guess today would be a good day to dress up as an 'angel', but maybe I ought to just try to act like one somehow in what I will do in this next 24 hours. 

I had nearly my whole page written when I noticed some of the birthday pieces stuck in a keyboard key.  I fiddled to remove them and noticed that it was the 'delete' key just as it deleted what I had done!  What I wrote was really good.  Questions about our time and what is going on throughout the world and what part the Lord is playing in it all.  I admitted my inability to grasp it all and the effect on my heart when I realize that all of this is happening to my 'family'.  Just my immediate family has enough drama to overwhelm me let alone those on the East coast and in other places in the world.  It makes you want to close it all out, but Sheila and I decided a long time ago to not do that.  Let it hurt when it hurts so that it can rejoice too.  It will be worth it in the long run, and yes, quite painful in the short run!  

Loved reliving my birthday in Disneyland with family.  Look forward to living with you-all as that happens in coming days.  Until then always remember that today is also a part of our eternity!

There is this thing about life that slowly dawns on you and as you come to accept it there also comes along times when you realize the powerful impact of it.  I am thinking of the reality of our limited power.  There is so much that we just cannot do.  We live with it all of our lives and so it is natural.  We accept it and plan accordingly.  

Then comes a day or an hour when you understand all that you are missing because you 'had' to do something else and you realize just how powerless you are.  Time, place and circumstance isn't really an enemy, but it sure helps shape your life.  Case in point:  Saturday Shelli and Phil are here for a while so Hunter can interview 2 'old folks'.  The BYU pre-game is on and Phil sees Elder Porter live and in color from Atlanta.  But options about what you want to do and what you can do are dictated by circumstance.  'Nick' doesn't have his cell phone.  So you call who you can and they are able to see him too.  Then Sunday requires a split of grandparents to do what needs doing.  She deserves what she does and I do what I have to do.  Finally, this morning and yesterday, I surf and see the pictures and events of family that make me year for a time when time, place and circumstance don't have such power over me.  Think about it!

So Sheila reads my last entry about my comfort zone and asks me if I really want to test my comfort zone and go outside in the yard and do some yard work with her.  I am taken aback and question why I wrote such a thing in the first place.  But it works on me and after the BYU football is over I actually decide to at least go outside (hoping that she is finished).  I come up stairs and I see her out back with Pete so I wait a bit after Pete has gone and I go outside looking for her.  I find the garbage can she has been using but she isn't there so I come back inside and find her sitting on a stool in the kitchen with her back to me.  When she turns around she is crying and she tells me that she had fallen.  My worst fears are quickly alleviated when she explains that she had tried to stuff leaves into that garbage can and it rocked back onto its wheels and tipped over taking her with it.  She fell onto it and then onto the driveway hitting her right ear and side of her head.  She hurts, but didn't break anything, but I am still gentle and concerned while trying to help her see the humor in it all.  She also hit her knee, but her ear and jaw hurt the most and the longest.  That was yesterday and she has pretty much recovered, but I never like it when my 'cobber' hurts and especially when I do something stupid to cause her to hurt.  I can't stand it when she cries.  Thankfully her tears didn't last long.  In fact, it is pretty much forgotten now that Saturday and now Sunday have come and gone.  Weekend's over & now to work...

This idea of a 'comfort zone', is it a good thing or a bad thing?  My first thought is that 'comfort' can't be bad, but then the very cliche was coined to define a state of mind (or body) that actually confines us or restricts us from venturing outside to something that might be just as 'comforting' or even better for us.  I started to see that my 'narrowing of focus' over many years might just be limiting me as much as it is helping me.  Do I need to be ready for something outside the zone, or should I look at ways to broaden my perspective?  I didn't see this at all over the past decades.  I didn't have the time.  And as I was able to 'narrow my focus' it seemed like a real good idea.  In fact, I know that it was a real good idea to mature in my goals and my dreams.  But maybe now is a time for readjustment.  After all,  if I have been 'praying' to know His will for me all of these years had I not better be ready to know it if it is something outside of my 'comfort zone'?  Just thinking that way makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.  Perhaps that is a sign.    Maybe I am just thinking randomly, but perhaps I am feeling some kind of a premonition.  What might the future hold for me (us)?

Our home teacher (and friend) has said that in this life everything either breaks, wears out, or dies.  Yesterday I spent considerable time and effort with my usually dependable printer.  Actually it was one of the cartridges that I finally replaced after 2 trips to the store.  It stopped working even though it still had plenty of ink left.  I get so used to routine that I don't want to deal with disruption.  I can, I just don't want to.  With that I barely made a dent in my pile of work.  I did get lots done, just less.  Now I have today and Saturday with loads more to do.  I guess that isn't a bad thing, but it does make me tired just thinking about it.  The positive is that it isn't catch up from Disneyland.  That went surprisingly quickly.  I just have lots of work that has come in this week, and I am grateful for that.  We really need to slowly climb out of a hole that we have been in for some time.  I guess I have quit dreaming about magic and fantasy and am ready to just go to work.  Perhaps that is really where the magic is anyway.  Maybe I have just written the answer to my questions that I have asked myself the last several days  (!?).

Being fully immersed in my work now on my 4th day back and into my new era I don't have much time to think.  But I still take time, especially in the early morning moments and then on and off through out the day.  It seems that much of this new plateau thing is directly related to my pondering process which seems to be so much more advanced and serious then ever before in my life, like I am finally getting to the graduate stuff after learning important, but preliminary up to now.  I am not comparing me to anyone else, but just evaluating my own personal progress which does seem to be about really important truths that I need to know and perhaps should have gotten before.  (never too late!)  What I wrote 2 days ago felt really good to me.  I continue to ponder and build on that and so much other connected truth.  My work load seems so pressing, but I realize that Disneyland isn't possible all of the time.  I do enjoy what I do, but I struggle to find the compatibility with it and the high thoughts I am experiencing.  But this stage of my life, whatever it turns out to be is really special and I look forward to it as it unfolds one day at a time, frustrating as it may be.

What I actually wrote Monday morning and what I thought I wrote ended up being quite different when I just reread it to refresh my memory.  I did write 'sabbatical' which was true, but I do remember telling Sheila that I felt like I had arrived at a new plateau of sorts after my 66th birthday on Friday and then kind of restarting when Monday morning rolled around.  I have pondered that concept since and feel more and more that my life is somehow different from what it was before our trip.  The trip itself was out of this world so before and now after is what I am thinking about, and I do feel very different.  I first noticed it on Sunday at church.  I can't quite explain it even to myself other then to say that it is a new plateau, a new era, a new stage of life or level of progress.  It doesn't seem strange, just a little new and unfamiliar.  This has happened to me many times before, but this one seems even more different.  Maybe that's the way that it is supposed to work in the eternal progression thing.  After all,  today is as much a part of my eternity as any other day, past or future.  I do really wonder what it all means.

My lesson this morning taught me a much deeper and broader definition of the word: repentance.  I realized that as with most 'major' gospel words I continue to learn and appreciate what they can mean and how they are all woven into this amazing 'eternal round' of truth, adding to one another and creating such powerful truth that can and does make us better.  Such is the case with the word 'repentance'.  My insight began a couple of days ago when I was reading Alma 29:2 for an entirely different purpose.  But the words 'repentance and the plan of redemption..and come unto Christ' struck me.  Then, this morning I was taught that to repent is not just to repent from something, but to repent to something.  The Bible Dictionary reads:  a change of mind, i.e. a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world', and 'a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin'.  It is the repent 'to' something that touches me.  This 'plan of redemption' is our life and its real meaning.  To repent, to be redeemed, to become something new and pure and holy (see Moroni 10:33) is why we are here, and what we need to do.  And just imagine, we get to do it together!

I feel like I am restarting after a sabbatical of sorts.  You know, a vacation followed by a short recovery from the vacation vacation and finally back to reality.  We drove all the way home on Saturday and Sunday was that 'recovery vacation', not necessarily physically, but my little grey cells were still on vacation and needed that extra day to find energy and focus.  So now, Monday morning, on this the 23rd day of October I am officially starting my 67th year.  (I figure I can do that if I want too, after all it is my birthday!)  My journal writing was a little spotty last week.  It all went so fast!  I really plan on many, many more pictures coming on Shelli's blog and her Facebook.  Right now I am still quite proud of the fact that I did not rent me a scooter (or Sheila).  The desire was there, but I 'endured' to the end of the walk, the trek and the day.  It got uncomfortable and even hurt, but we both finally made it through.  I did, however, find my push ups too uncomfortable after Vegas.  The hard floors in the condo really hurt and there wasn't enough room in our bedroom,  so I did not do them.  Sunday morning I actually finished all 58 with surprising ease and am now back into that routine.  I am, however, facing the large piles of my work 'routine' here in the office (along with birthday graffiti all over the place, thank you Kathy and Richard!).   I feel ready to launch myself into my work, and strangely into a new year or era of sorts.  The trip was a time away for recharge and refreshment and now I am ready to proceed.

It is Friday mornng and my birthday.  Last night was my latest night at the parks so when I got home I went to bed right away. We had started the day with a trip to see the Newport Temple and a short drive along the coast highway.  Then we spent the afternoon and evening in the park.  I got Sheila to go on tlhe ferris wheel and we did that soaring ride.  We got to a number of the shows which I really enjoyed.  I don't remember me being much for the shows in times past, but they were really good this time around and not only because they were sit down and air conditioned.  Phil, Chase and I went on the Tower of Terror once more and Chase got to see my magic floating hat.  Right now Sheila is crashing on the couch behind me and it is all quiet because we are the only ones left as the Rosbach's have gone off to the park to begin their last day.  We will join them later. I can't believe 'last day' as the time has actually flown by for me.  We will spend some time together and then join them for the rest of the day.    Happy 66th to me!!

I'm not the only one feeling the effects of this rigorous journey.  I may be suffering the most, but I am certainly not alone.  My short visit to the pool yesterday was a moment of relief, but I sure noticed my boyancy in the pool and the 'added' weight when I got out and felt cooled for a while.  But I still felt like I needed to stay back here in the condo and rest when the others went back into the parks for Splash Mountain which had broken before they could ride it earlier in the day.  But I was up early this morning and feel ready to go again.  I am finding what I figured and that is being here mostly for the kids.  Watching them each day has been really fun for me (us).  Yesterday it was the Mark Twain, the Haunted Mansion, the Tiki Room,  jungle river run a live show at The Golden Horseshoe where Hunter almost got adopted, and mostly just pushing the stroller around the park so I could lean of it some.  In some ways I am living outside of my world, but I do plan on surviving and continuing to enjoy Colton with his baloon.

That which does not kill me makes me stronger--haah haah!    I wish.  I am referring to my experience of yesterday, but I could be referring to this present experience of dealing with Shelli's laptop which I'm sure works well for her and will eventually for me, but it is an entirely new experience for me.  Anyway, yesterday in my desire to be a good grand father I chose to ride the California Screamer with Phil, Shelli, Hunter and Chase.  What a reminder of my humanality, especially my almost 66 year old humanality.  I now remember why I haven't done a roller coaster in decades, and none of them took you upside down!!!  I did not throw up, but but it took me off of my game and I called it a day.  Sheila and I left the park with Colton while the rest stayed for several hours more.  As for the rest of the day, well, I slept through most of it.  Got up early this morning, and outside a little stiffness, I feel pretty good.  We are all ready for a change of pace today, and the plan is to be doing less demanding things like shows and boat rides, but I'm sure that the boys will still be the boys and there will be 'screamer's' on the agenda.  I do believe that I will survive at least another day, or should that be I 'hope' that I survive another day!!!

I was actually surprised that I made it through this 1st day at Disneyland as well as I have.  No mechanical scooter, no wheel chair and no ambulance.  In fact, outside of being worn out and in need of an early night I am in quite good shape.  (Better then Shelli's compu more days toter which just needed artificial respiration for me to be able to continue this.)  Anyway,  we were up early and it took much longer to get this group ready to leave then it took for us to walk over to the park and take a shuttle to the park entrance.  From then til now I will let the pictures tell most of the story when they get put online, but it was full of mostly actual rides and stuff and less waiting in line then you might think.  The boys were the hit of it all for me, and Sheila (and Shelli and Phil too, I think.) I even went on several rides.  My 1st (Thunder Mountain) was the most violent and surprised me some and made me realize that I needed to act my age.  After that it was the more kind and gentler Disneyland that was my choice.  But there were still plenty of opportunity for grandpa duty, and imagine this: we have 4 more days to go!!!  Time to get some sleep (and probably a shower too!)

With's Shelli's help I have actually gotten her laptop to work, but actually typing on this machine is a different matter.  The word to describe this machine is 'persnickidy'.  Also, the format still looks strange to me.  But I will precede as if I know what I am doing.  We left Vegas this morning earlier then sane people and after visiting 2 temples (Redlands and Los Angelos) we arrived and are now settled in and will attempt sleep shortly.  The consensus is that we will get up way too early and begin our experiment and if I survive (without a scooter) I will be alive to write again tomorrow sometime.  There are also going to be pictures, especially at the temples.  I do admit that so far it is 'stellar' and I expect that that will continue and actually get better as 'we have only just begun'.  Oh, by the way, the show last night at Ex Caliber was really, really neat for the kids, and therefore, for us, because that's why we went there.  There will be pictures of that too.  Wish you were all here, but we wouldn't have anyplace for all of you to sleep!

It's time!  In just about an hour (hopefully) we will be loaded and on the road.  The Rosbach's stayed the night so we would be up early and off and away.  I woke Sheila up just before 6 and we got up and showered and I shaved (maybe last time for a week--but then, that is not unusual).  With all of our experience and our planning for this trip we figure we are well prepared.  So far nothing really unusual has happened, but it is obviously very early, so who know what might occur.  I really don't know how my journal entries will go for the next week.  They should be okay on Shelli's laptop and if I am able to remember the passwords.  When I get back home I will be a year older!  Right now I am planning on starting out without a ride around the park.  I feel in pretty good shape, and I impressed my doctor yesterday during my visit (he says I am a straight A patient.)

But I remember the sore feet and the tired body from years ago when I was much younger, so we'll see how it goes.  Time for some breakfast and final packing and then off we will go.

The big question on our minds is whether or not the car will make it through the day.  It only has to last through a few errands and until tonight when we take it in to the shop.  But it has gotten worse and we just hope it will make it through.  We will baby it today as best we can, but it is also our last day to prepare to leave in the morning so the things that need doing need doing today.  We did get most of them done in the last few days, but...  we shall see what we shall see.  On the way home yesterday it was really laboring and was a problem to drive in traffic.  Slow is the word!  Nearing home we worried about others reactions.  We saw that neighbor Pete was behind us and kindly just slowed and didn't honk or press or pass.  When we got home we spoke and explained our problem.  He said that he just thought that I was driving 'like a grandpa'.  Boy, do I look forward to a fixed car and not such a huge bill and to be able to drive 'like a teenager' again!

Sheila is off doing her fruit.  I am sitting at our computer with new socks, new slacks and a new shirt.  The need has been there for a long time because my wife (me too on occasion) threw away shirts as they grew old and died.  I was getting down to not enough and with our trip we knew that we would have to get some new stuff for both of us.  Now getting me to go shopping; that is another thing.  But yesterday I said 'let's go shopping' and she didn't hardly react.  I know she was really flabbergasted, but show it, no way.  I even tried on the items to see how they fit.  That is something I usually haven't done before.  So now when she gets back home in several hours (she will stay to have lunch with the girls) we'll see if she will react or just pretend that she doesn't notice.  We are both trying hard to make sure we are prepared to be gone for a week. I could worry about lots of stuff, but if I prepare well and help Richard be prepared I should be able to just let go and hardly think about it.  I will celebrate my birthday in Disneyland.  I haven't thought too much about my age, but I am always pondering on my stage in life.  When physical focus declines spiritual focus increases.  There is usually so much going on in my head (and 'heart') that I feel overwhelmed.  But then 'tasting the light' really feels good.  So I am usually quite happy in my struggling and fumbling.

I may have given the impression that because I am an old man that I don't 'anticipate' events with child-like enthusiasm.  I may even have given that idea to myself.  Therefore, it pleases me to be able to announce that I am excited for our up coming trip to Disneyland with our own Rosbach family.  My thoughts are tempered with notions of sore feet and fatigue beyond my desire to withstand and sleeping in foreign beds is never my choice.  But all of that being said I really am a little bit giddy.  Now, I have been there before.  I am not 'seeing' me doing the rides or stuff for myself (I know I will do some), but the 4 amigos and even their parents, that's what I want to see.  Maybe even getting grandma on something too.  (I accept that the tower of terror is outside of that reality--do they have one in Disneyland?)  I am a bit anxious about leaving the office, but Richard (with Kathy's help) is certainly capable.  It will be lots more work for the week, but he will be able to handle it.   We (Sheila and I) are trying to prepare well.  I even have to buy me some new shirts and maybe a new pair of pants.  But, 3 more a.m.'s!

For several days I have struggled with my 58.  I ended up doing them, but I had to apply my version of the 5 second rule (you know, when food lands on the floor and you retrieve it for consumption in no more then 5 seconds!)  I would get up to 50 or even 54 and my arms would tighten up something fierce and I would lean back, stretch out and take a breath and then continue right away.  It seemed to be much harder then it has been, and frankly, it worried me.  Then this morning I adjusted something (mostly my attitude) and I made it through with relative ease.  It is still taxing and actually requires work, but my triad of 'habits' to start out my day seems to serve me well (scripture reading, 58 push ups and my prayer).  It seems that I often think of laying longer in bed, but I don't.  I just get up and start my day.  Now that I am doing this (writing) in the morning rather then in the evening as I did for years and years it has changed my content.  I don't seem to review quite as much, but, rather, I explore.  I write about what my pondering has discovered.  I write more about what is going on in my heart rather then in my memory.  I wonder if that is at all apparent to my 'many' readers.  I would appreciate some feedback.  It helps me start my day with my mind full of ideas that hopefully add to my day.

I didn't give it a whole lot of thought at the time.  But now in retrospect I see just what a marvelous job my wife and the matriarch of our clan did with her contribution to our fhe last night.  She provided most of the meal and as usual she did some fretting about what she was going to present.  We had talked about it earlier and she had asked for a few suggestions from others, but I wasn't aware of what she was going to do, and I hadn't really concerned myself about it.  I did know that she had a plan for part of it at least a week ahead of time because she had to buy the dowels and get Robert to cut them before Saturday night when she prepared the bread sticks which she had learned about at a Relief Society thing a couple of weeks ago.  Then when I heard 'pasta bar' I had and idea, but did not appreciate the scope of that project nor the amount of work it required.  Later last night when we sat for a moment after all had gone and our day was near finished she asked me if she had succeeded.  I said 'yes', but that didn't say enough.  "YES" you did succeed as you have always succeeded.  We (I) take it all for granted, but for once and right now I really want you to know just how much you have succeeded.  But words will never be sufficient I will just have walk and walk as well as talk the talk.  Yes, yes yes.

I waited until tonight to write so that I'd have more time to organize all of the things that I have seen and heard from conference.  But even though in our fhe lesson Russ asked us to give something that we remembered from conference that impressed us it still isn't really settled in my head.  There was so much, and then I also had some thoughts given to me this morning that are all floating around waiting for some kind of assimilation or filing.  It was way better then I thought that it would be.  So much to learn and so much to inspire something from me too.  I hope that I can 'digest' at least some of it.  This church is soo big and yet it testifies of the intimacy of it all as well.  God is so much more then I can comprehend.  I truly do 'stand all amazed'!  Can't help but feel that our evening together as a family was a part of that too.  We certainly aren't a perfect family, but my family is perfect for me.  They make it all worthwhile for me.  Now I can take a moment as the house is much quieter, but the family feeling remains.  They actually do make me better, or at least they inspire me to try and be better.  It is a work that I want to do, and do well.  There is so much ahead for us, some of which I foresee, but so much that is beyond my understanding.  More and more I realize that I can and must just live one day at a time.  And really each day does have lots to offer me, and in so many different ways.  What's not to enjoy?

As this conference weekend approached I found it a good time to see myself and how I had grown (or not!).  I have really been looking forward to it knowing that it would be a neat spiritual feast.  I also knew that it would be quite demanding physically, mentally and spiritually.  It is only 10 hours of 'church' and you get to sit down almost all of the time, so how hard can that be?  But for me it is an all-in kind of thing that does drain me despite all that it gives at the same time.  I also found that I am still me in the way of being distracted by the world.  What would I miss if I wasn't surfing the channels and hopping around from game to show or the History Channel?  Or what about a little office work on this a day off just to pass the time?  No!  For me it is all in.  Six hours today and four more tomorrow.  The afternoon session today will feature three of our grand kids, so we have to watch for them.  And content, yes.  I have been thinking as hard this morning before I got into the shower as anytime I remember in preparation.  So my mind is ready, I have brought a 'bucket' to be filled instead of a cup.  I am ready to realize a promise, and I look forward to it all.

The trick is that you can't just 'plan', 'implement', evaluate' or 'revise' at any one time.  They are so intertwined that there is always an overlap or connection.  You can't stop one or two or three to do any one.  They all need to be fed, and at the same time.  So balance becomes the operative word.  Usually planning does comes at the beginning of a day and evaluation at the day's end, but it doesn't always happen according to any schedule.  Anytime, any place is good for any of them.  A good plan never seems to not be revised before implementation, and evaluation is really a part of each of the other three.  For me they are only four words to help me describe for myself this huge, lifelong process we are all involved in.  I can just as easily use other words, say like, faith, hope, charity and love; or repentance and endure to the end (which I like to use the word 'continue' instead of 'endure') or even just one word:  faithfulness.  However you choose to describe your personal journey we all find ourselves in the same boat.  The better we understand 'it' the heavier it weighs upon us, or in other words: the more the we are given the more that is required of us.  So kids, if you think that your lot is hard now just wait until you age some and learn some more and are faced with that greater responsibility that comes with that territory.  And you'll have to face it without the 'strength of youth', but with the 'wisdom of age'!

Many years ago (so long that it can't be found on the internet!) there was a program adopted by the church Sunday School program from its President (a former Hughes executive) called the P.I.E.R Program (for plan, implement, evaluate and revise)  I have tried to do that throughout these many years.  (Kinda sounds like repentance, and I try to that too.)  Anyway, yesterday and this morning the 'revise' part has been on my mind.  I have this feeling about something that I need to do better.  These packages of feelings don't usually come with directions so the 'evaluate' part means you really have to figure out what you are doing and how to do it better.  It is also such a personal thing that the only place to look is inside, and that can be a taxing undertaking.  But that is what I am doing.  What can I change and how do I do that?  My guide is the scriptures and inspiration.  And, of course, the subject is me.  Understanding me is the first hurdle.  But that is my purpose for today.  One question is how do I in this 'hermit' like life of mine 'make a difference' when I barely leave my 'shell' (a hermit crab reference joke!)  So much to do how can I do this?  I guess we'll see.  Sheila wished me a 'fun and interesting morning' when she left. I guess we'll see how all of this comes together.

Let's see.  It's 23 minutes after 7.  I did wake up.  Then I got out of bed when Sheila left for work.  I read my scriptures.  I took my blood number (you know, poking my finger with a needle) and I turned on the shower.  Then I did do my 58 push ups while counting and listening to the creaking of the water pipes denoting the water heating up.  Funny, for the most part of last month the 57 were quite easy.  But starting this month just the 'one more' seemed a barrier that seemed harder.  I made it, and again this morning, but it felt like my limit.  Funny how habits behave.  I dressed and felt it a privilege to kneel for my prayer.  It was a new feeling for me.  I try to never make it routine, but for some reason today it felt special.  I don't know why, but I will take it.  Maybe it has something to do with General Conference coming up and my thought preparation or maybe it is because of my project that I finished last week and have felt strangely accomplished over.  I made a copy to be sent to Elder Porter, now out in the field.  I really don't expect anything, but just knowing that I finished it feels good.   I'll publish this and then read my paper and then launch into this Wednesday.  It will be as good as 'We' make it.

So, here I am in my office early on this 2nd morning of the 4th quarter.   I walked into the office facing more work that needs doing then I have had in a long time.  Sharon's hernia surgery has rippled down to me because the work piled and piled until now when the piles are on my desk.  No regrets.  Rather she get well then anything piling up for me.  I'll just take small bites of this elephant and if I don't get all done there will be tomorrow.  In her groggy, drug-induced state of confusion she also finished another project which fills another of my desks.  I now have the complete package of pictures of her's and Johnny's family to put up on my wall.  Trouble is that now I'll need to do another wall!  That will take me a little time considering the other desks full of work, but it will get done, sometime!  Per habit I checked the other blogs and Facebook before I started writing.  Seems now I have 4 more 'in the family' including a hermit crab named 'Jonah'.  Mercy (!), I just can't keep up with it all. But I'll just plug along and see where the day takes me (us). 

Fourth quarter!  I say that to myself as I raise my hand up with the four fingers extended.  I saw all of our boys do that when they were playing football, as well as about every other football player I have seen, to signal the start of the last quarter of the game. (Pros don't do it because I guess they think they always play that way.) Here and now for me it is the start of October and the 4th quarter of 2012.  It really only signals the start of the end of the year, or changes the attitude a little.  For me it does up the urgency a tich because we all like to end things with a little better effort and go out on a higher note.  For me it signals a quarter of Disneyland, Thanksgiving and Christmas and then the finale before starting all over again.  Specifically it meant 58.  You know: 58 push ups this morning and then again tonight and so on for October.  December will be 60.  And where I really didn't know that I could do that earlier this year I now know that I will be able to.  But just 58 this morning.  Course right now my challenge it to just make this 1st day of October at least 'good'.  'Better' would be wonderful.  'Great' don't think that that will happen.  But here's to a 'good' 1st day of my 4th quarter!