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.