Go ahead and find six things you didn't know about me in this long post - then we'll call it all good as far as Susan 'tagging' me
It's a challenge sometimes to get to Saturday and still have energy after working all week. Some Saturdays I have to treat more as a 'day of rest' than Sunday is/can be. This past Saturday I decided to do lots of stuff even though I was tired from late work nights on Wed and Thurs and a relatively busy Friday at work - of course I ended up recovering today (Monday) and not going to work until 4:30 :)
First of all, on Friday evening I did some 'home bookkeeping' and reported to Susan with an excel spreadsheet where all of our money goes in a month. I told her I was NOT getting after her or me, I just thought it was a good idea for us to measure and realize how much was spent eating out, on amazon.com, and at . . . Border's. I'd rather save some of that money and be able to go a mission as soon as Toby goes into the MTC - and having a goal will make it easier to NOT spend the money on frivolous stuff.
Oh, and I took all 3 kids swimming on Friday night while Susan went grocery shopping. Toby went without a diaper because we were out of swim diapers and luckily he didn't have any accidents (not that I noticed, anyways). I bribed Heather with a dollar to jump from the 94 degree spa into the 70 degree pool - she jumped in and screamed that it was cold and got out pretty quick :)
On Saturday I went to our chapel before 8 am and gave blood - they talked me into giving the 'power red' which means they draw the red blood cells and rehydrate your body instead of just taking blood. They said it was twice as beneficial for them, so I gave in and let them take my red blood cells and pump a bag of saline back into me in exchange. I was amazed at how much equipment they have to set up and all the procedures they have to go through to get someone's blood. I was back at the chapel to help setup for the ward trunk or treat at 5 PM and everything was already cleared out - they had 8 different 'private' consultation rooms each with a laptop networked together (they had my record from when I last gave blood - as a senior in high school) and a printer and all the cords taped down to the floor, plus the blood sucking equipment and stations. I guess my main thought of the whole thing was that if they went through all that trouble I'd think they would be willing to pay for my blood/cells - but then I read their brochure explaining that they no longer pay for blood because then people lie about their histories in order to be able to give blood and get the cash. Donors don't lie, I guess - interesting concept. And I wasn't there for money either - so it was just a 'feel good' thing to do. Oh - my other observation is that they ask you if you have had any piercings/tattoos - I though it ironic that the male technicians actually doing the needle sticks and blood drawing both had both ears pierced and looked like the type that probably had tattoos under those long sleeve scrubs!?!
So - I survived giving blood and didn't feel faint/tired at all. When I got home, Susan took off for Stake Relief Society Super Saturday and I cooked - kind of. I made some 'hummingbird nectar' by mixing some warm water with sugar and food coloring - unfortunately we didn't have any red food coloring left, and the yellow looks red in the jar - so I tried it - but still turned out yellow. I put together our new hummingbird feeder and went on a 'field trip' with the kids to hang it from the tree right behid our house where we see hummingbirds all of the time. Hopefully the neighborhood kids will leave the feeder alone
Susan came back from Super Saturday and took Heather to the museum for her date that she has earned with accountable kids. I prepared and packed the 3 rockets that the kids and Susan got me for my birthday back in June and took TJ and Toby on the bike to the 'launching pad' at the elementary school. We saw them go WAY up, but could never quite see them coming back down :) TJ found one of them right near us, but we rode the bike around searching for the other 2 that must've ended up in someone's backyard! Toby has been making "vwooooosh" sounds ever since we launched the rockets.
We had a fun afternoon watching some nascar and going to the ward trunk or treat with the Wildungs. Susan got all the pics on her blog - I was too busy talking about the mini (we used it because it has the smallest trunk to decorate) and shooting the laser at balloons :)
Sunday morning I thought it was weird that I was back at the same chapel at the same time and how different it felt (compared to giving blood). The kids did a great job in their primary program and got lots of attention from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen who got ready early and came to our ward (along with LOTS of other parents/grandparents). It was one of the noisiest sacrament meetings I remember going to (and our stake presidency has been stressing reverence :) ), but it was a very spiritual and entertaining experience. TJ was sure handsome and tall standing along the back row. Heather was a ham sitting near the front and making lots of hand gestures. Toby was restless sitting with four adult laps to choose from.
I was recruited to teach Elders' Quorum with 1/2 hour notice - it went fine and is always fun to do - I like just trying to get a group of guys to talk to each other (and get to know each others' names with how much turn over we have). The tougher part of prepping for that lesson was that I had already 'reserved' Gospel Doctrine (some Sunday School President I am - at least I rang the bells on time) as time to prepare for my home teaching lesson with our first appointment RIGHT AFTER Elders' Quorum. So we had some good home teaching visits - my companion's dad was my bishop when I was just older than TJ is now - with some great families - and I went to Ward Council in the middle of them. Susan was SOUND asleep once I got home - but the kids were downstairs playing. Our home teachers came, then we had dinner and then the kids got to watch Extreme Home Makeover since it was in Arizona on the Indian reservation. Once the kids were in bed both Susan and I commented - where did the weekend go!?!
So . . . this morning I finally planted the plants I bought over a week ago (so that the automatic drip system could water them instead of me having to with a hose) and cleaned the pool filters/steps/chlorinator. And then I took it easy and read a cool book - Leadership and Self-Deception - and fell asleep until the kids (noisily) came home from school and made jack-o-lanterns with Aunt Emilia (pics coming soon on Susan's blog, I'm sure) before I headed to work to see who had been calling me and for some evening appointments. It's nice having a flexible job where I can do that once in awhile, even though I'll be working hard the rest of the week, too :) I just hope there's some energy left to have a fun Saturday again! Oh - one more fun thing - Heather sang "The Phantom of the Opera is in my mind" all the way to school this morning - TJ said "she's embarrassing, huh, Dad?" after we dropped her off in the kindergarten playground :)
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