On Home Inspections

The social worker assigned to inspecting our house came by yesterday.  Her intent for the visit was to go through our household to determine if it was a safe environment in which the State of California can place foster children.  This is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to foster some children with the intent of adopting them.

The inspection was extraordinarily intrusive to our household, and we had a lot of preparatory work to go through to be ready.  For example, we had to take everything that says "keep out of reach of children" and put them into a locked drawer or cupboard.  This means we had to first install some locks on the drawers and cupboards around the house.  I spent hours with a drill in my hand installing some nifty (and pricey, but they're worth it) locks called Tot Locks.  Being the not-so-handy guy that I am, I was very pleased that I only punched through one hole in a cupboard during all of the installations that I did!  (The repair process is going to take some time ...)

As we wandered the house looking at labels, we discovered that all sorts of stuff have those terrible words on them.  I urge you to look at stuff in your own house, just for the education of it.  Turn stuff over in your kitchen, your bathroom, your laundry room, and you'll find that such seemingly innocuous stuff such as toothpaste, sunscreen, and chap stick all are labeled thus.  All told, we ended up putting locks under the kitchen sink, in a cupboard above the sink, in two cupboards above the laundry machines, in three drawers in the two bathrooms upstairs, and under one of the bathroom sinks.  And those spaces are crowded!

The most painful one?  Putting the sharp kitchen knives in the locked cupboard in the kitchen.  As my wife cooks or bakes every day, several times a day, this was most distasteful to us.

In addition, we had to make similar preparations in our garage, so we ended up buying a large garage cabinet to put paint, fertilizers, and weed and pest killers.  Just going through the garage and the house, we found that we have so much "dangerous" stuff hanging around that by all rights my entire family should be dead.

We also had our cars inspected by a mechanic (we ending up replacing some wipers and tires), installed baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, adjusted the water temperature down (bummer), had somebody from the gas company come and inspect our appliances, and bought a lock for the outside freezer.

One interesting challenge was to clear the room we intend for the new children of all of our other stuff, including the closets.  This doesn't sound so hard, except that we've been using that room largely for storage for the last few years.  We had to move all that stuff to other places around the house.  My bedroom now has a craft table in it with all the related accoutrements, and my wife spent many hours going through the closets of the other kids to retire old stuff and to look for efficiencies in the utilization of their space.  All we could leave in the foster children's room was baby-related stuff.  It was quite a challenge!

So, now that we've passed our home inspection, we only need to complete one more regular training session and a CPR training session.  Once that's done in a few weeks, we will be certified to be foster parents!  It's all very exciting, but also somewhat emotional, too.  It's been a long road traveled, but we know the road stretches out far before us, too.

In any case, for your kicks and giggles and "for the record", I'm here posting the checklist that the social worker left with us.  Frankly, she was surprised that we passed on the first attempt, which, according to her, is quite rare.  Apparently most people still have some things that need to be tweaked before they are ready, but my wife and I went through this list very carefully and ensured we had everything ready.  It was a lot of work, but we're confident it will be worth it!

So, without further adieu, the list ...

Physical Plant (General):

1. Walls and ceilings (paint/wallpaper) are clean and in good order.
2. Windows, screens, and curtains/blinds are in good condition and operate properly.
3. Doors are in good condition and operate properly.
4. Smoke detectors operate properly and fire extinguishers are properly charged.
5. Furniture and fixtures are in good repair.
6. Equipment and supplies are not stored in the ayrd or areas used by children.  Tools safely stored.
7. Weapons are locked up and ammunition is locked separately from firearms.
8. Toxins, pesticides, insecticides, paint, bleach, cleanser, nail polish remover, disinfectants, cleaning solutions and any other items which could pose a danger to children are inaccessible (locked).
9. Knives, scissors, razors, and other sharp objects are inaccessible to children (sharp knives must be locked).
10. Passageways, stairways, and doors are not blocked or obstructed.
11. Handrails and deck rails are securely fastened.
12. Rooms are clean, safe, sanitary, and free of odors.
13. Room temperature is a minimum of 68 degrees and a maximum of 85 degrees (in extreme heat, maximum temperature is 30 degrees less than outside).
14. Pools, ponds, spas, hot tubs, and other bodies of water are made inaccessible through fencing at least 5 feet high, with a self-closing and self-latching gate that opens away from the pool, or a cover labeled F1346-91 by the American Society for Testing Materials, that can support the weight of an adult.  Pool is properly maintained for sanitation.
15. Above-ground pools that are five feet high shall be made inaccessible when not in use by removing or making the ladder inaccessible or erecting a barricade to prevent access to decking.  Above-ground pools under five feet high must be fenced.
16. All in-ground and above-ground pools which cannot be emptied after each use have an operative pump and filtering system.
17. Windows that face a pool are separated by a fence.
18. Fireplaces, open face heaters, and wood burning stoves are inaccessible to children.  Use of a fireplace screen or similar barrier will meet this requirement.
19. There is a working phone on premises.
20. Building and grounds are free from hazards and rubbish (e.g., broken glass, exposed electrical wiring, protruding nails, dog droppings, etc.).
21. Fence is in good condition.
22. Home is free of flies and other insects.  Wood pile has been re-stacked and checked for spiders in the last six months.
23. Glass doors have decals at children's eye level.
24. Lead-free paint for refinishing toys and furniture was used.
25. Freezers or other large chests are locked and inaccessible.
26. Home and yard checked for poisonous plants and out of reach of small children.  Examples are dieffenbachia, foxglove, rhubarb, potato leaves, laurel, azaleas, rhododendrons, castor beans, lantana, and oleander.
27. Furnace and water heater have been checked within the last year.
28. Parent is able to shut off gas, electricity, and water in case of emergency.
29. Emergency items maintained (flashlight with batteries, first aid kit and instructional handbook, fire extinguisher, etc.)
30. Keep a safe home environment by securing water heater, tall bookcases, etc.
31. Breakout windows, ladders for homes with more than one story, etc. have been inspected.  If the home has bars on windows or doors, do they release easily and quickly from the inside without use of a key or other tool?

Client Rooms:

1. Sheets, pillowcases, mattress pads, blankets, bedspreads are clean and in good condition.
2. Mattresses, box springs, and pillows are in good repair.
3. There is adequate dresser and closet space for children's clothing and belongings.  Closets and drawers cannot be used to store any of the foster parents' belongings (considered a personal space intrusion).  Clothes in dresser and closets are clean.
4. There is a well-lit space for studying (if applicable).
5. There are no more than 2 children to a room.
6. Children of the opposite sex, including those of the certified parents, do not share a room unless under age 5.
7. Children, including those of the certified parents, do not share a room with an adult unless they are under 2.
8. No room commonly used for other purposes shall be used as a bedroom.  Such rooms shall include but not be limited to halls, stairways, unfinished attics or basements, garages, storage areas and sheds, or similar detached buildings.
9. No bedroom shall be used as a public or general passageway to another room (this includes the garage or back yard).
10. Linen is changed at least one a week and more often if necessary.
11. Bunk beds have a rail on the upper tier, have no more than 2 tiers and are not used by children under five or by children unable to climb into them unassisted.

Bathrooms:

1. Hot water is 105-120 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sinks, tubs, toilets, and showers are clean and operable.
3. Common towels and washcloths are not used.

Supplies:

1. Equipment and supplies for personal hygiene are available for children in sufficient amounts.
2. There is a sufficient supply of clean linens to permit changing weekly or more often as needed.

Food Services:

1. Food storage and preparation areas (pantries, cupboards, freezers, stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, counters) are clean.
2. There are no pesticides or toxins (ant spray, rodent poison) stores in any food storage or preparation room or with utensils.
3. Cleaning supplies are kept in areas separate from food supplies.
4. Contaminated or spoiled food is discarded.
5. Food supplies are kept covered and inaccessible to pets.
6. Frozen foods are properly wrapped. Recommend that food supplies be dated and rotated to use old items first.
7. Kitchen and outdoor trash cans have tight fitting covers.
8. Snacks and beverages are available in the home at all times (e.g. fruit, milk, juice, etc.).
9. Dishes, glasses, and utensils are clean and in good condition.
10. Modified diets are provided as needed.
11. Powdered milk is not used as a beverage.
12. There is an adequate supply of fresh, perishable, and non-perishable food in the home to prepare the next three meals and snacks.  A 7-day supply of non-perishables is required.
13. Infants younger than 7 months of age are held during bottle feeding.
14. Children in placement have their meals with family members and are served food of the same quality as that served to family members.

Medications:

1. All medications (including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, alcohol, aspirin, inhalers, etc.) are locked.
2. All medications kept in the refrigerator are locked.
3. Psychotropic medications are double-locked.
4. Medications are stored in compliance with label instructions.
5. There are no expired medications (including over-the-counter medicines).
6. Each prescription medication bottle has been logged on the medication count record.
7. Destroyed medications are logged on the medication count record.
8. There is enough medications left in each bottle to order a refill before the current supply runs out.
9. Medications are given according to label/physician instructions.
10. Prescriptions and non-prescription (over-the-counter) PRN medication (that is to be taken on an "as need" basis) is only given after documented permission from child's doctor.
11. Medication labels are not altered.
12. Medications are not transferred from their bottles to other containers.
13. There are no permanently discontinued medications or medications for former foster children in the home.
14. There is documentation of contacting the doctor when children refuse medication.
15. Current Psychotropic Medication Authorization is on file with expiration dates listed and reviewed every six months.

Activities:

1. Available activities include: activities requiring group interaction, physical and education activities, leisure time, and instruction in daily living skills.
2. Toys, games, books, and recreational and education material appropriate to children's ages, and mental and physical development are available.
3. Voluntary attendance at religious activities is available to children.

Personal Rights:

1. Children are accorded dignity in their relationships with the foster family.
2. Children are free from corporal or unusual punishment, infliction of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule, coercion, threat, mental abuse or other action of a punitive nature including but not limited to: interference with daily living functions, such as eating, sleeping, and toileting; or withholding of shelter, clothing, medication, or aids to physical functioning.
3. Exits from rooms and building (home) are not locked in a way that prevent children from leaving.
4. Children are not placed in restraining devices.
5. Children are allowed visitors unless prohibited by court order or the child's authorized representative.
6. Children are allowed access to phones to make and receive confidential calls unless prohibited by court order or the child's authorized representative.
7. Children can send and receive unopened mail unless prohibited by court order or the child's authorized representative.

Miscellaneous:

1. Changes in family composition reported immediately, with a social worker having completed an immediate assessment and written a home study update within two weeks.
2. Vehicles used to transport children are maintained in safe operating condition and have the State's required auto insurance.
3. Children are secured in car seats designed for their age, weight, and in accordance with current law.
4. Individuals without appropriate fingerprint and child abuse index clearance (friends, family, neighbors) are not used as babysitters.  Foster or birth child cannot be used as a babysitter.
5. The home is equipped with first aid supplies (sterile first aid dressing, bandages, adhesive tape, scissors, tweezers, thermometer, antiseptic solution) and a current first aid manual.  Commonly used items (such as band-aids) have been replenished.
6. Medications and poisons that are commonly found in a first aid kit (such as aspirin, hydrogen peroxide, etc.) are kept in a locked medication are, not in the first aid kit.
7. Dogs have had their rabies shots, and a record of current rabies shots is kept.
8. A list of emergency numbers (emergency/disaster plan which includes indication of meeting place) and a floor plan (indicating emergency exits) are posted by the telephone. Family's goal should be to evacuate their home within 90 seconds.
9. Fire/disaster drill completed every six months.
10. Foster parent Certificate of Approval (certification) available and posted.
11. Training hours for annual re-certification have been completed.

Providing Care for a Child 0-36 Months:

1. All electrical outlets are protected by outlet covers.
2. Foster parent reports that poisonous plants are kept out of reach of small children.
3. A safety gate or door at the top and bottom of stairs prevents a child's access to stairs.
4. The crib has no knobs or sharp edges.
5. The crib is placed away from windows, pictures, and shelves.
6. Infant sleeps in a crib that has a firm mattress (waterbed mattress not permitted).
7. Quilts, blankets, comforters, sheepskin, or other similar soft material are not being placed in crib or under infant.
8. Soft stuffed toys, pillows, bean bags, sheepskin, or thick blankets are not placed in the crib with the infant.
9. The mattress on the crib is kept low enough so the child cannot climb out of the bed.
10. The slats on the crib are less than 2 3/8 inches apart (a soda can, held vertically, is unable to fit through the opening).
11. Cords to drapes and blinds are out of reach of children.
12. There are no more than two infants under the age of 2 (both foster and birth) in the foster home without obtaining additional household help, or an exception from Licensing.
13. A rear-facing infant car seat is used for children 0-19 pounds, and is placed in the back seat if tehre are front passenger seat air bags.
14. A front-facing car seat is used for children 20-40 pounds, and is placed in the back seat if there are front passenger seat air bags.
15. Foster parent has been notified that the baby is to be placed on his/her back or side only, to sleep (SIDS prevention).
16. Foster parent reports that they do not smoke around an infant.

Personal Property:

1. Children's cash records are current.
2. Children's cash records balance with cash being safeguarded.
3. Personal property list is updated with additions and deletions.

On Boy-Yow and Unanimous

So, my oldest son, being 12, is learning all sorts of interesting turns of phrases.  One he slaughtered tonight was when he attempted a sarcastic use of the term "boy-yow".

Me: "Boy-yow ... what's that mean?"

Him: "Er ... never mind."

Me (after contemplating what he said and how he said it): "You mean boo-yah?"

Him (red-faced): "Uh, yeah."

Love it.  Then, later when he was embarrassed that I was actually posting this to my blog, I reminded him that there's no names posted here, so it was extraordinarily unlikely that his friends from school would see it, he said, "Oh, so it's unanimous."

I just looked at him, then asked, "You mean anonymous?"

Too funny!  It's one of life's greatest joys to be able to embarrass your pre-teen ...

A Feel Good Moment

So the social worker came by yesterday from L.A. County to have interviews with my family as we continue our preparations to foster a few children with the hopes of adopting them.  The purpose of the interviews is to enable the social worker to write up a biography of my family so that she can add it to the record and make it available to judges who will place children in our home.

The best moment of the interview was when she looked at me and said, "I would describe your build as 'athletic'."  AWESOME!  Never in my life has anybody said such a thing to me, and I was wonderfully flattered.

I mentioned this to my wife with my kids in earshot, and my daughter, bless her heart, suggested that the social worker was just flirting with me.

Hmm ...

Gratitude Day 30 - Done!

So for my final day, I'm cheating a little.  I'm recycling aspects of my previous lists in order to highlight the top #3 things that I'm most grateful for.  The irony is that none of them are "things":

1) My Heavenly Father, who has given me a compass to follow, a moral code that improves my life, a belief system that inspires eternal hope, and a village of like-minded people in which to raise my family.
2) My wife, as my marriage to her was simply the best decision I have ever made.
3) My children, for they bring joy to my life and hope for the future.

So, I did it.  I finished 30 days of my Gratitude List.  At times, it was actually pretty hard to think of things that I hadn't done before.  For today, I cheated a bit but this was really how I wanted to end this anyway.  So ... what are you grateful for?

Gratitude Days 27-29

Ack, so another few days have gone by without me posting my Gratitude List.  I've only got a few more days, which will be somewhat of a relief because life is, frankly, busy, and being required to write every night has been a pain.  Anyway, here's my list for today, related to events from the past few days:

1) I'm grateful for good friends who bring us Christmas goodies.  Even though my hypoglycemic wife can't eat any of it, I sure do appreciate it!  And she does appreciate the sentiment, even if not the goodies.
2) I'm grateful that my children have a great piano teacher that cares about them and encourages them and, the meanie, forces them to have bi-yearly recitals to show off what they've been learning.  Without those, I'm not sure they would learn anything at all!
3) I'm grateful for the good people that work for me.  I lead a small team of software developers -- one of many of the duties that I do at work -- and each one of them is a reliable, responsible, and effective worker.  A few years back, when I was assembling my team, I was throwing the dice looking for a few good programmers, and the team that I have is awesome.
4) I'm grateful that my oldest son has finals right now.  He hates studying, but my wife and I are having a wonderful time torturing him.  We're so glad that he's being forced to be responsible with his schooling and take things seriously.
5) Related to this, I'm grateful that my wife is such a great teacher.  She has bachelors degrees in elementary education and special education, and even though she's never used those degrees in a professional setting, I can honestly say that whatever measure of success my children have had in school is a direct reflection of her amazing influence.  Right now she's drilling my oldest son on the structure of the federal government and how certain states rights are limited.  Awesome.
6) I'm grateful for Christmas.  I think I said something about this before, but my previous item was about the holiday season.  I really am grateful for Christmas itself, and how it is an opportunity to remember the great gift of the Savior and all the amazing things he has done for us.
7) I'm grateful for the U.S. Postal Service.  I know there's lots of people that want to do away with it, but I appreciate the fact that I can send a letter for a reasonable price and that mail is delivered to me reliably.  At this time of year, we use this service quite a bit exchanging Christmas cards and the like, and I am grateful that we can count on them.
8) I'm grateful for Christmas cards.  We take all the ones we get in the mail and tape them to the back of our front door.  This has been a tradition that I got from my parents, and it is a wonderful thing to see, at a glance, many of the wonderful people that we have crossed paths with in this life and who, at least for this one time of year, think about us and we about them and how they are doing.  Despite the evident cost savings that come from sending digital "cards", I hope that social inertia keeps people sending physical cards around.
9) I'm grateful for my health insurance which I get through my work.  I hate unexpected bills, and my HMO keeps me from getting nasty unexpected bills in the mail at random times.  The fact that my wife and I can go and randomly visit the doctor for various purposes (including getting physicals and blood work done for our adoption efforts) and never worry about the overall cost to us (okay, I admit that I detest paying out for co-pays) is something that I actually do think about and appreciate.

So, that's it for tonight!  2 more nights to go!

Gratitude Days 23-26

Wow, so I totally fell down this week in doing my Gratitude lists, so I'm going to do them all in one blow.  A few notes from this week ...

 Wednesday I came home late from work and found all well with my family.  My wife was still suffering some of the worst effects from her cold, but she was doing all right.  We did nothing noteworthy that evening.

Thursday I went to work in the morning for a review to determine the readiness of my software to be deployed for use the by Mars missions (which went very well, as usual) and then came home early so I could get a nurse to look at where I had my TB test done on Tuesday.  I met with the wife and daughter and we went out to lunch and had a great day.  I tried to work from home the balance of the day, but it was scattershot due to my wife still not feeling very well and me volunteering to go pick up my younger son from school.  My older son, though, went to volunteer at the library (2 hours of sorting books -- woo hoo!) and then he and I went to the church for a white elephant party with all the young men and women from our ward and our neighboring ward.  It was sorta silly, but I wouldn't say it was "fun" because people didn't bring very inspiring stuff (the hottest gifts were some pink Christmas socks, a Christmas blanket, and a remote control spider that supposedly climbs walls).

Friday (last night), I went to Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles with my oldest son.  The occasion was a field trip for the kids in his grade who are taking Spanish.  We took the Metro (1 hour both ways!) to get there and he was grouped with a bunch of nice kids.  We wandered the street for 4 hours!  We didn't need anywhere near that much time, but that's how the Spanish teacher scheduled it.  Myself and another father were the chaperones for our little group of six kids and it was quite nice to visit with him.  It took us a few hours to figure out that we were both members of the church, and he actually attends our old ward over in Valencia.  It's funny how we Mormons tend to find each other ...

This morning (Saturday), I went with my kids over to Lowe's for a workshop where they assembled a little wooden train. This was the third Saturday and the final one to get the complete Christmas train.  Afterwards we went to the mall and wandered around.  3 hours later we returned home nearly empty handed ... I had some light bulbs for some nightlights that we've needed and my younger son had purchased a little gift for his mother.  Ah, gotta love shopping right before the holidays.  We had some funny discussions about how when we go shopping for Mom for Christmas it's a tough job because it has to be a combination of something she wants or needs, but at an acceptable price, which is tough to do knowing what a bargain shopper she is.  We giggled about how she's not averse to taking things back that she gets for Christmas and all the kids thought it was funny when I said, in a high-pitched voice, "You paid how much for that?" mimicking my wife.  Okay, it wasn't funny, but ... well, okay, it was funny.  Meanwhile, my wife was off at Costco braving the crowds and not having any fun at all.

Now, I'm blogging instead of cleaning the toilets ...

So, my Gratitude List:

1) I'm grateful for being a salaried employee, so that I can take the time to be home when I need to be home, and make it up at other times.
2) I'm grateful that my work supports telecommuting and teleconferencing, for without that, it would be so much harder to make up those times ...
3) I'm grateful for the ability to telecommute and teleconference, in all its various flavors, so that I can work with people all across the country and in Europe and barely flinch at the differences in time zones and environments.
4) I'm grateful for my older son's voluntary attitude.  Sometimes he volunteers to help a little too much (example: he will on occasion offer to help people do the work that they are paid to do), but his willingness is always surprising.
5) I'm grateful for Christmas parties and that they only come once a year.  If they came more often then they wouldn't be so special.
6) I'm grateful for the school my oldest son goes to.  It's a charter school and is focused on college prep, and it actually hard for him.  As a smaller school with a dress code, it doesn't harbor many of the problems that run rampant through the regular junior high schools.
7) I'm grateful that my daughter is being home-schooled.  It's a wonderful blessing for her to be home with her mother and I appreciate the time they have together.  One of these days she's going to go back to public school and I think my wife is really going to miss having her here, and my daughter, I know, is going to miss having that time with her mother.
8) I'm grateful that my younger son has the wonderful 1st grade teacher that he has.  He had her last year in a kindergarten/1st grade split, and he's been cycled back in for his 2nd year.  She's a fantastic teacher that loves her students and I'm grateful that he has her as a teacher.
9) I'm grateful for my wife and that she is a very frugal woman.  She makes it possible for our little family to always have what we need because she uses the resources that we have so well.
10) I'm grateful that I have time to be with my children and to be able to go places with them.  Just walking the mall with them (and telling them "No, we're not buying that" about a million times) is such a rewarding thing for me, as I feel so blessed to have them.
11) I'm grateful that each of my children are healthy.  Talking with the other chaperone last night, I discovered he has a Down Syndrome 2-year-old, and I can't even imagine how challenging that must be and the long road he has ahead of him.
12) I'm grateful for Christmas lights, for they make everything look so bright and cheerful.

There, I think that catches me up ... a little random, but there you have it!

Gratitude Day 22

I stayed home from work today in order to go get a tuberculosis test this morning.  My wife also had the same test and also had a physical examination by the doctor.  We had to do these things as part of our paperwork to get ready to adopt.  Apparently, they want to know that we're not going to fall down dead the second after we get children in our home.  I can see their point, but it's a terrible hassle.  Worth it, though, we think.

The mid-day interruption, though, completely killed my productivity for work.  Ah, well.  That's the way it goes sometimes.  It didn't help that my wife wasn't doing very well this morning, so I took the time to take my boys to school.  This killed a good 45 minutes, but on the way, somehow my oldest son and I got talking about anti-trust laws.  It's so weird to have these kinds of conversations with him, as this is quite a grown-up topic.  Even so, he was fascinated as I shared with him the tale of Microsoft and their clobbering of Netscape in the browser wars, and how they were taken to court due to their anti-competitive policy of bundling Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system.  Crazy stuff.

Later, I heard some interesting news from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that is now recommending that all handheld usage for texting and talking be disallowed due to such activity being such a prominent cause of accidents.  They would make it illegal for drivers to use these kinds of devices, including in so-called "hands free" modes.  They make no such statements for passengers.  I can totally see their point, and I know I am not a great example when it comes to using such devices while I'm driving.  It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

So, my Gratitude List is an odd one today, related to these three topics:

1) I'm grateful for doctors, because it is very nice to be able to go to somebody who -- most of the time -- can provide words of wisdom, direction, and help when I'm not feeling so well.
2) I'm grateful for the NTSB.  Really, I am!  I watch The Amazing Race enough to see what the rest of the world is like for drivers, and I'm very, very grateful that we have such a governmental organization whose sole purpose is to seek for better transportation solutions.  They're not a flawless organization, to be sure, but I'm confident we're better off with them than without them.
3) I'm grateful for anti-trust laws.  The fact that we, as Americans, can go into pretty much any kind of store and be confronted with such an amazing assortment of choices at prices as low as they are (yes, they really are low compared to most other places in the world) is testimony to me that having businesses compete is by far more beneficial to the consumer than otherwise.

These things are a little random, but I do appreciate them!

Gratitude Day 21

Today was my second day back at work since getting sick.  It was ... well ... it was.  I had a decent day.  I finished reviewing a 51 page document, met with some people to dispel some misunderstandings they had about how expensive it is to do some of the work that I do, and made plans to attend meetings in the near future in places that will be much colder than it is here.  I'll have to

1) I am grateful that I live in sunny southern California, where even when it's not sunny, the weather is still better than pretty much anywhere else in the country at any given moment in time.
2) I am grateful for opportunities that I have to travel to other places.  I prefer doing so with my family but I don't mind so much when I need to travel for work.  I appreciate that I have the freedom and the resources to do so and I most especially enjoy being able to explore new places and to experience new things.
3) I am grateful that I have the job that I have because, well, I actually like it.  This is huge, I know.  The other day I was looking through some stuff from my past and came across the final report for my senior project.  When my daughter asked what it was, I told her that it was the source of all things that enable her to live a comfortable life.  She didn't get it, but it is absolutely true that the genesis of all of the success I have seen in my career is that little spiral-bound senior project report.  Funny how life is ...

Gratitude Day 20

Today is Sunday.  It is supposed to be a "day of rest", and today kinda was.  I ended up flying solo to church with the kids because my wife still isn't very well.  She seems to be bouncing back today, though, and we'll see how well she is doing tomorrow.

Sacrament meeting was pretty darn peaceful.  My kids were well-behaved and the speakers were quite good.  There was a musical number by seven sisters in the ward who played a musical number on the flute.  It was quite good and I was very impressed.  Playing the flute seems to be a dying art, and it was surprising that there were so many in our ward who play.

True to expectations, I didn't get a chance to share my lesson during deacon's quorum today.  The new secretary needed to be set apart, and the boys needed to debrief from the campout, and we needed to do some training on how to appropriately stand when they pass the sacrament.  All this ate up all the time, and when they finally turned the time over to me, we were already due to end the meeting.  So much for my preparations, but at least I was able to give the boys something to walk away with.  I had prepared a flyer on the Duty to God that outlined steps for finishing their deacon duties.  It's another tool they can use to help them make progress ... and another one for them to ignore, if they choose.

Anyway, after church we came home and had some quiet time and then I took my oldest son over to the church for a board of review so he can advance to the rank of 1st Class in the Boy Scouts.  He was well-prepared and I didn't worry about him at all.  The rest of the family joined us and we went in to visit with the bishop for tithing settlement this year.  It was a nice meeting, but my wife still wasn't doing well, so I sent her home pretty quick.

The rest of the day my wife and I called our parents, we played with the kids, dinner was made, dishes were washed, laundry was folded, and we watched The Amazing Race from 2 weeks ago.  The kids were happy and they each did what they each like to do ... the two oldest kids read and my youngest played with cars and Legos.

A good day.

So, my Gratitude List for today:

1) I'm grateful for the Boy Scouts of America.  It's a great program, which has given so much to me personally and to my family collectively.
2) I'm grateful for Legos.  They're expensive, but worth it.
3) I'm grateful for books.  My children are readers and it is special to be able to share so many ideas with them.

Well, there you have it.  Good night!

Gratitude Day 19

Today was a strange day.  I actually got up and went garage saling with my wife, and we found a few really great things.  One was a baby gate, which we managed to get for a song, and we also got a bunch of winter clothes that we've been needing, which we later found was worth several hundred dollars.  Score!

Later in the morning, we went over to Lowe's for their workshop, where the kids made a "coal car" for Santa's train.  Next week they'll build the actual engine, which should be interesting.

After that, we stayed home and mostly did laundry and picked things up.  We started reorganizing the room where my wife's craft stuff was kept, which we will be turning into an honest-to-goodness bedroom again for the child/ren we hope to adopt in the new year.  This meant we also needed to do some cleanup in our room, as most of that stuff is going into there.  We've done some furniture shuffling (I moved the treadmill and a bookshelf twice!) and have even gone through and weeded through some books that we've been hoarding for years.  It's been therapeutic in a way.

We also did some cooking to prepare for the Ward Christmas Party, which I went to without my dear wife, who is still quite sick from the cold she caught.  It seems clear she caught my daughter's version of the cold, as the symptoms are not quite like mine and she seems to be bouncing a lot faster than I did.  We'll see, though.

My oldest son finally got home from his camping trip a few hours before the party, and he was safe and happy, so we are, too.

The party was great.  As always, the ward did a fantastic job pulling it together.  There were a few songs, a performance of "The Night Before Christmas" (including an appearance by Santa!), and, best of all, a video about the birth of the Savior.  They had tri-tip steak, baked potatoes, corn, rolls, and brownies with ice cream to eat.  The kids were in heaven, though I'm grateful my wife stayed home as she couldn't really eat any of that except the meat (we brought a lot home for her).  As for me, I was mostly anti-social.  I remember a time when I used to visit with everybody, but tonight I mostly just felt like sitting and watching.

The kids came home happy from the party, and quite full.  I tried to be Responsible Dad and only let them have one serving of the dessert, but after the kids were so insistent about it, Cool Dad made an appearance.

Later tonight, I prepared a lesson for church tomorrow, which I probably won't be able to give because the quorum meetings are so darn slow going.

Quite the day!

My Gratitude List today includes a bunch of random stuff sort of related to this:

1) I'm so very grateful for our great ward, with such good friends whom we love and appreciate.
2) I'm so very grateful that we live in a safe place where we can enjoy peace and tranquility and where we can have civility enough to enjoy these kinds of things.
3) I'm so very grateful for meat.  And brownies.  Seriously, I love them both.