cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, and Maxine Shirts
"Early in the week I drove down to the office where my
Landmark software licenses are, Interactive Interpretation
& Tranining (II&T), and somewhere along the way I got
bombed. Matt and David took the attached photo of my
reaction, which hopefully shows how glad I am the window
wasn't down when the big bird dropped it's cargo. In
many ways the photo describes my week.
Just after we got home from Conference and the SEG Andrea received a phone call telling her her Uncle, the last person besides her Mom of that generation and side of the family, had died. I told her, if it was one of my uncles I would go to the funeral. So after a lot of worry about money she went and spent from Tuesday to Tuesday in Cedar and the surrounding area.
Richard James Laub's obituary does not capture Andrea's admiration for his gardening and the number of folks he helped in his retirement years:
It was a good thing for me to not have my eternal
companion around for a week. No I didn't go out and
get drunk (bombed). And it is amazing how after only
three years I have become so dependent on all of the
good things she does for me and around the house.
And it was good for Andrea to have time with family
and friends. She got back Tuesday evening, and it
looks like it will take a week to unwind from all of
the emotions tied up with the trip. There were so
many good things, and there were some things that
bombed. I think the negative experience of Andrea's
trip is summarized by a letter left in the hallway
upstairs, which she picked when cleaning up this
morning. It includes the sentance:
Monday night before Andrea left we went to see the
movie `Moonlight Mile,' which is rated an A- in the
Houston Chronicle entertainment section. Both Andrea
and I would rate it about a C-. Although I can
understand there are young people who are so insecure
or angry inside they refuse to find and to be honest
about their feelings and so any interaction with them
comes across sideways. You, and probably they, really
don't know what is really going on. The movie was
reasonable in the sense the it shows the the way in
which relationships are impendingly bombed when
someone adopts or chooses, either consciously or
unconsciously, to live out someone elses' anger or
bitterness or grudges or hopes or dreams or whatever.
During the day on Monday, Andrea, David, and I went to the Bishop's Storehouse and packaged a few hundred cans and sealed packages of food storage. For those of you interested in having some food storage in case a big check you are expecting doesn't come in some month, you ought to consider doing something like this. It is inexpensive, and the food is good. When you are next here you can check out the stuff we got. And if there is any interest, we can probably make arrangements for a family canning day over the Christmas holidays, where we all go up and can and package a bunch of food storage for all of us.
On Tuesday I went over the synthetic seismic trace generated for well KK-2 and tied to line 66-72-08 with Jude. I came away from this meeting concerned about receiving payment for the large invoice that was due. When Jude told me the money was not there on Friday, I became quite concerned, and expressed my concern to several of you when we talked on the phone Sunday evening. The concern was unfounded, at least in that the money was deposited in my bank on Monday of this week.
I had two interesting meetings with Dan Morris, co-founder of Coherency Technology and later e-Seis during the week. He is quite interested in what we have put together as Dynamic Resources, and he claims to have access to a Canadian investor whom he thinks would have an interest in some of Dynamic's AMIs (Areas-of-Mutual-Interest) or TMIs (Technologies-of-Mutual-Interest). As always, time will tell if there is any wind in this sail.
I spent most of the rest of the week at home. Quite a bit of the time was spent working on my new book: An Open Mind. I like it, and it will be interesting to get all y'all's reaction when and if you have any interest in reviewing what I've been writing. Matt needed rides to tutoring, to Young Men's activity, to soccer practice, to usher at the school play, etc. There were dinners to cook, dishes to wash, things to clean up, and I found myself watching TV movies in the evenings because I was so tired. David Moore did get us to play a game of Monoply one night. It was the first time I've done that in probably 30 years. Doesn't say much for my relationship with you kids, does it? Maby it is part of the reason I too often feel I have bombed in that area.
Sunday was busy. Ward Council Meeting, with the bimonthly calendar. Taking Matt's soccer shirt to the team Mom because the game was rained out on Saturday. Ward Conference and some nice testimonies from members of the congregation during Sacrament Meeting. Maybe it is because I felt bombed this week, but I was particularly touched by the opening song, Secret Prayer, and the verses:
I wrote two stanzas for Prime Words as a result of
comments made from the stand:
My second week of teaching the Junior's and Senior's
Sunday School went pretty good. Good kids, and they
have a good spirit. One of the Bingham kids was
visiting because he took one of the Wood kids to
Homecoming. I didn't ask him if they still have the
piano we gave them, which was the first purchase
Marti and I made, partly to establish credit, after
we were married and moved to Dallas. Memories never
go away, at least not mine.
After church there was Halibut and rice in cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup ready, along with a tossed green salad. Wasn't as good as Andrea does, and it was eatable. Then I went to Highway 6 and about 290 for Kevin Dennis McMullin's Eagle Court of Honor. It was really neat. I finally understood the big difference between an LDS and a non-LDS Eagle Court of Honor. Maybe the difference can be tied to the fact callings regularly change, and in the church we don't have consistency in the members of our Advancement Committee. Kevin had letters from 40 prominant politicans and community leaders congratulating him. He went to the National Jamboree on his own initiative. He is active in Theater, and this has helped him get over shyness. Dennis, his father and my friend, was obviously pleased. It was a neat experience. I wish each of you could have been there with me to see what it means to be a scout.
When I got back Matt and I went Home Teaching to the Riches and Bret Thompson. Good visits. Matt did want to get home and play with David, and so we still have three families to Home Teach next month. It was a nice evening. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to each of you I was able to talk to Sunday evening. And I must admit, especially Ethan. He started crying a few minutes after Ben called me back. Ben went in and looked out the window and said there was nothing there to worry about. With prompting from his Dad, Ethan said, `Hi Grandma,' between sobs. In my typical way of reacting, I said on the phone, `Don't worry. If anyone comes to hurt you I will beat them up.' I heard Ben snort. The whole experience brought to mind a song I wrote for Ben a long time ago:
There have been a couple of very nice e-mail messages
from Ben this last week, and it felt really good to
read them. I apologize for my words about failure.
The words of those I consider to be God's mouthpiece
for our time, including David O. McKay (`No success
in life can compensate for failure in the home.'),
and in this last General Conference Gordon B. Hinckley
(`No man is truly successful who has failed in his
home') are like knives striking at my very soul. In
my mind I realize I can not take credit for the
accomplishments, nor responsibility for the mistakes
of my children nor my step-children. I realize there
is a difference between marriage (i.e. divorce) and
home, in regards to the word failure. I know it
takes two to make or break a marriage. I also know
it's not over until the final book is written and
presented at the judgement seat of God. Hopefully
my emotional venting in these Thoughtlets can be
overlooked, especially as you kids grow older and
realize just how human I am (i.e. how many weaknesses
I have).
The point of this week is simply the fact it is much nicer to have the car window up than not when one get's unexpectedly bombed."