Happy Holidays

For those that know me pretty well, you'll know that I love food and I try to watch my weight. I love to play racquetball, but I also enjoy watching the holiday bowl games. I'm now publishing my Holiday Food Guide (plagiarized of course)which is how I've been able to maintain my youthful shape for so many years - particularly during the holidays. Enjoy!

Holiday Food Guide

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand and wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great holiday season!!

Happy Thanksgiving

For my anniversary, just a week before Thanksgiving, we received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

So, in desperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arms and said "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As I was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

I hope ya'll had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed it with people you love.

Dale

p.s. The parrot is in good still behaving itself, but the turkey - that's a different story. (Thanks to the unknown original author for this tidbit)

One of those days or was it a week

Today was the climax of an outstanding week.  It started out pretty nice.  My two sons and their families were at the house for the labor day weekend and they put in the labor in Labor Day.  On Saturday I picked up 15 new trees for around the house and rather than planting them, Justin, Jason and I went to the base and played an hours worth of racquetball.

On Monday, I was up at 6:45 so I could help the scouts get the flags out.  Two boys showed up right on time and we got them planted (the flags, not the boys) in 24:44.  And we only missed one house.  I guess I need to learn how to read though trailer court maps a bit better.  After getting home, from the flags we cut down two old trees that Susie and I didn't like and replaced them with the 15 new trees and fixed a flower bed and sprinklers.  We topped the day off with a BBQ.  Everybody helped out and it was an enjoyable time.

Thursday morning Pam called and said that the carpet downstairs was all wet.  Fortunately, I had the van at my office, so I went home to assess the problem.  Yep, it was wet.  Where did the water come from?  Somebody turned the sprinkler on last night and forgot to turn it off.  I think somebody made an EyeDeeTenTee error.  Oops, my bad! 

Well I moved the furniture, pulled back carpet,  blocked it up and got fans blowing under it.  Hopefully it will dry out ok and not stink to bad - sorry Pam and Justin.  (I did sneak another game of racquetball Thursday afternoon while the carpets were drying).  Friday I didn't do much except watch carpet dry and sneak in another game of racquetball.

However I was so tired that I went to sleep early Friday evening and woke up Saturday a.m. when Bailee came running into our bedroom and said something was broken.  We couldn't figure out what she was talking about so we followed her down stairs.  There we found our beautiful 3 year old granddaughter, Sydney, with one of the little brass couch wheels and a glass window that had a hole in the middle and millions of fractures throughout the glass.  The whole thing was just waiting to collapse.  We just had the door put in a few months ago and are now second guessing the wisdom of putting in a door with glass windows.

But all is well that ends well.  All of Sydney's body parts are present and accounted for.  I believe Joel got a short lecture about not hiding behind glass doors when the sis is mad and wants to throw things at you.  It makes life very interesting when there are a bunch of energetic young people mixed in with us older dudes.

However I  can't help but smile when I think of our kids getting some of the same treatment that they gave us.  If you want to know about the earlier generation just ask Stacey about the toilet, Melissa about Shovels, Justin about bricks, and Jason about dancing (to avoid the bricks) or his vocabulary.  However, I can't leave Jennifer and Amber out (I have to be a little cautious about telling stories on Jennifer and Amber - they aren't married yet and I don't want to ruin their opportunities. j/k).  There are some other really great stories that may be posted in the future.  Some of these tales (with perhaps a little elaboration) will absolutely knock your socks off.

Is that all? Nope! Jennifer came home from work early Saturday morning and left a note on the kitchen counter telling us that Justin's car had been egged. Finally, Saturday evening just after writing and posting the original draft of this post, the hard drive on my computer failed.

However, I get to count my blessings because on Monday morning I received the following e-mail from a friend.

"There I was sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large,trouble-making biker steps up next to me, grabs my drink and gulps it down in one swig.

"Well, whatcha gonna do about it?" he says, menacingly, as I burst into tears.

"Come on, man," the biker says, "I didn't think you'd CRY. I can`t stand to see a man crying."

"This is the worst day of my life," I say. "I'm a complete failure. I was late to a meeting and my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car had been stolen and I don't have any insurance. I left my wallet in the cab I took home. I found my old lady ran off with the gardener and then my dog bit me."

"So I came to this bar to work up the courage to put an end to it all, I buy a drink, I drop a capsule in and sit here watching the poison dissolve; then you, you butt-head, show up and drink the whole thing!

"But enough about me, how's your day going?"

August Update

July 31 (nearly August):  Melissa, Pedro & family left Centerton, Arkansas last night (Friday) to come out for a visit.  Today, Susie, the girls, and my grandaughter Bailee and I left to meet Mel & Co in Thermopolis, WY for a couple of days of R&R and then for a trip through Yellowstone Park.  Since the Suburban doesn't have air conditioning, we thought we'd find a rack for the Lumina and put some stuff on top of the car.  No luck.  Those temporary racks that we used in yester-year are extremely hard, if not impossible, to find.  Pam had offered their van and so we took it instead of one of our vehicles.

We arrived at Thermopolis mid afternoon and Mel & Co were already there.  Outside of the cabin where we stayed were some hot pools, so we spent the afternoon and evening playing with the kids in the pools.  Dinner was cooked over an open fire and life is good.

August 2:  We left Thermopolis this morning headed for Cody.  We were almost to Meteetsee when the van gave a bang, lost power, and put out a lot of black smoke.  Oops.  After pulling to the side, I looked under than van and discovered oil draining from the block.  Although I couldn't see any holes, I was pretty sure that we had thrown a rod and blown out a piece of the block.

Fortunately Mel & Co were right behind us and took Susie to Meteetsee where she had cell phone coverage.  Two hours later a tow truck showed up and towed us into Cody.  We called Justin & Pam, let them know the situation, rented a car, had dinner and found a hotel room.  After several discussions with J&P, we decided than van was terminal and needed to be disposed of, and then we would continue our trip through the park and meet Justin in Rexburg tomorrow evening.

August 3:  With the rental car and Mel & Co in their vehicle, we toured the park and made a few stops at various sites, including Old Faithful.  It was a nice trip through the park and it has been years since either Susie or I had been there.  We ended the day with dinner at Winger's in Rexburg and a night in another hotel.

August 4:  Justin and I drove with the Lumina and rental car back through Yellowstone Park to Cody, dropped off the Rental car, and then drove back through the park to Rexburg.  Elapsed time:  11 hours.  Stops:  West Yellowstone, Cody, & West Yellowstone.  However we did see 1 bear, 1 buffalo and a bunch of elk.

We then picked up Annaleise & Bailee from the Rasmussens and headed back home.  After we got home, Pam asked if we had said daily prayers over the van.  Nope, that part slipped my mind.  She then stated that she never went anywhere in the van without saying a prayer for it.  Pam also stated that even though the van was a financial loss, she was happy to see it gone.

August 14:   I was at Bear Lake today as a solo participant in a scouting event.  The event:  "Bike the Bear."  Please see My View of the World under the Fitness 101 category for my write-up of this event.  It was my first ever Century bike ride.  Although I didn't set any records, it was a good accomplishment for an otherwise uneventful (fitness wise) summer.  However, the Grand Canyon is coming and I'd better get back into shape.

I drove to Lewisville, Id. on August 15 to visit my dad.  His 85th birthday was on the 16th and I wanted to go up for a visit and wish him a happy birthday.  Dad, Mary and I had a nice visit and I ended up spending the night at their place.  After taking them to breakfast the next morning, I made the return drive back to Utah.

3rd Annual Grand Canyon Hike - Update

The plans are underway for the 3rd Annual hike.  Please see my Grand Canyon Adventurers blog for the details.  The cast of characters for this hike include my son Justin, Lynn, Jacob, and Maj J from earlier hikes, and a new addition to our motley crew, Lt Bob. 

Welcome to all.  My Grand Canyon Adventurers blog contains the details for this hike.

Welcome Katie

She's here.

Katie

Katie was born just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 22.  Both mom and baby are doing well and the rest of us enjoying the event and trying to help wherever possible.

I'm grateful that both Katie and Stacey are doing well.  A new baby always brings joy and happiness, plus a little fear and trepidation.  But once again, things went well and both are doing extremely well.

However, I must confess a little concern.  As much as I love and enjoy all of my children and grandchildren.  What's with all the girls!  I know that they are cute, adorable, full of kisses and giggles, but where's the balance?

Katie, Mom, Big Sister Emily, Grandma

My wife and I now have 10 grandchildren.  Eight of them are girls.  Where's the balance?  Is there some unknown formula for producing girls?  Is it hereditary?  My wife comes a family of 7 girls and 1 boy.  She produced 2 boys (twins), followed by 4 girls and now we have 2 grandsons and 8 granddaughters.  Is there a fibonacci sequence that has yet to be identified - or a dominant gene?

Just wondering!

Welcome Katie, you are a keeper!

Third Annual - You Guessed it - Columbus Day Grand Canyon Hike

It's here!

My permit showed up today.  We're scheduled for another 5 day, 4 night GC adventure.  This trip will start at the Bass trail head where we'll drop into the canyon.  Two miles down, we'll head West towards the Royal Arch area, then we'll drop down to the river and visit Elves Chasm.  Finally we'll head East, pickup the Tonto trail and spend our last night at the Bass/Tonto junction area.  Our last day will be a climb back out of the canyon to the vehicles at the trail head.

I've established a new countdown timer.  Am I excited or what?  But I fly a desk all day long and these type of activities make the job bearable.

BTW, I'll in the process of revamping my blog.  Stay tuned for some changes.

Dale

Another Change

My last 'Hello World" announced that I was released from one calling and called as 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency and as an assistant scoutmaster.  During my 'lengthy' tenure, I've gone on four overnighters and taught maybe 5 or 6 lessons.  But in the church, one thing is certain, you get called and you get released.  I was really enjoying the position.  However, sometimes good things don't last very long.

I've now been released from both the 2nd counselor and assistant scoutmaster positions.  

So what's in store for me now?  I've been called as the Teacher's Quorum advisor and Varsity Scout Coach.  The person that had the job moved out of the ward and as I was 'recommended' as the replacement.  Hopefully I will do well in this position.  I've already gone on one outing with the older boys.  It was planned before I got involved and I was planning on going on it anyway.  The outing leader needed another adult to go on the hike and he knew that I was a glutton for punishment when it comes to those type of activities (Meaning that I like backpacking and enjoy going to new places.)

Old Store at Sego, UT

On 16-18 June I went with the Teacher's Quorum down to the Thompson Springs area and spent a few days in the southern part of the state.  It was a good outing and I got to know the boys a bit better.  We did some exploring of the old Sego mining town and then went on an overnight backpacking trip up Nash Wash.  The boys followed it up with a service project at Cunningham Ranch.


This past weekend, 25-26 June, I had one last commitment with the Boy Scouts and that was a short backpacking trip up by Causey Resevoir.  It was a short hike, about 2 miles each direction, but the boys made it and I didn't hear any complaining from any of them.

Change is Good

I was recently released from my Church calling and have been given a new one.  I had my old calling, or one similar to it, for 11 of the past 13 years.  I have been an assistant or secretary in the HP Quorum for the majority of the last 13 years with brief lapses when I served in the bishopric and when the Group Leader was released, but I've always been called right back into the the HP Quorum.

Not this time.  I'm now second counselor in the ward Young Men's organization.  It's been a long time since I've worked with the young men, and most of the time it has been a challenging, but enjoyable calling.  I'm excited for the change.

I've been car camping with them twice, and have been favorably impressed with most of the boys, but there are some behaviors that concern me.  One is that a few of the boys try diligently to do as little as possible.  For example, we've worked on the personnel fitness merit badge which requires, among other things, for them to set a benchmark for situps, pushups, pull-ups, stretch and a run.  After working through a fitness program, they do the same events again and try to show some improvement.  Most of the boys gave their benchmarking session a real diligent effort.  However, a couple of them walked the entire distance and did the absolute minimums on other exercises.  Talk about taking the easy path.

We have one young man with Cerebal Palsey.  Everything is difficult for him, but he never quits and he has given it his whole effort 0n each event.  He used his walker for the run, and he gave it every bit of energy that he had in order to make it around the loop twice.  I asked if he wanted to quit after the first lap, but he saw that all of the other boys went around twice and so he hung in there until he made the second lap.  I was totally impressed.

I'm looking for a good opportunity to serve the YM, but it has been a long time.  Hopefully I'll have the patience for it and I'll be able to help them in some small was as they continue to mature.

Tonto is in the bag

Last month we had plans to hike another segment of the Tonto Trail.  It's now in the bag.  See my trip report at the Grand Canyon Adventurers link.  It's now time to start planning for our next hike, hopefully the Western most segment on the Tonto and a visit to Elves Chasm and Royal Arch.  More to come as our plans are developed.

My hiking buddy, Mr. J, recently announced that he is moving to the Boston, MA area.  Ouch, this hurts.  Mr. J and I have been to Grand Canyon four times, Dollar Lake and the Kings Peak area in Utah three times, a trip on the Teton Crest trail in Wyoming and a trip to Boston where we hiked along the freedom trail.  We've also done a few Triathlons together and I'm going to miss his friendship and willingness to be out and about.

Tonto Rides Again

Another Grand Canyon hike in the making!

As noted in earlier posts, I have a goal to hike the Tonto.  I've hiked from the eastern beginnings of the Tonto to the tipoff at the Kiabab.  In Oct 2009 I hiked from the Bass to the Boucher.  Can we get another permit allowing us to hike from the tipoff to the Boucher?

Mr. J and I originally kicked around the idea of another President's day weekend hike.  However, for various reasons, it was not to be.  However, on President's day I sent a request for permits for the week of 8 March.  After 9 days, I still didn't have a response, so after trying to get through on the phones to see if I could find out our status, I sent an email.  Later that afternoon, I made one more phone call and this time I got through.  The ranger told me that my permit was denied because the campsites were all occupied.  I then asked if there were other possibilities that allowed us to do that segment of the trail.  He said they had two open nights at Monument Creek.  I signed up for those two nights and he put my name back on the list for consideration.

Saturday, Feb 27 I received an email stating that the two nights at Monument Creek were approved for March 11 & 12.  Now we need to plan a trip around those two nights.  My initial thoughts were to go down the Hermits, day hike to Boucher and back, and then hike out.  If energy and time was ok, instead of hiking out the Hermits trail, we would make a long day and hike out of the Bright Angel.  Justin suggested hiking down the BA to Indian Gardens and then over to Monument.  It makes for a long day, but it is probably doable.  Need to check out the mileages.

My victims for the hike are Mr. J and my son Justin.  This will be Justin's first hike into the Grand Canyon since we did the Christmas holiday rim-rim-rim hike back in December 1991.  He was 12 years old at the time and was quite the hiker/backpacker back then.  He'll probably smoke the old guy again.  The details for this hike can be seen at the Grand Canyon Adventures link.

I've done the Bright Angel trail from the trailhead to Indian Gardens multiple times as part of other hikes.  These other hikes include the Rim-Rim hike in 1982 and a Rim-Rim-Rim hike with my sons in December of 1991.  The last time I hiked this trail was in March 1992 and on the return trip up the BA, we were temporarily stopped when 4 mules were spooked and fell/slide/tumbled over 600 feet vertical and landed on the trail between my daughter and I and my sons.  The boys were about 3 minutes ahead of us and didn't see or hear the mules.  My daughter and I had to wait on the trail until Park Service personnel came down.  Three of the mules were so severely injured that they had to be put down before we continue on our hike out.