Sara Ellyn's birthday and Amir Kessler's Bar Mitzvah
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."
These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas,
beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some
benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.
"Well, I am behind 13 weeks on my Thoughtlets. It is now the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and I'm starting to work on catching up. Seems like I got about this far behind last summer. Oh well! Last week I caught up on my swallow sheets, discovering I missed several things in previous Thoughtlets. For example the following possible stanza for Prime Words:
<![CDATA[ "Brothers and sisters
Squabble a lot
And in the end
They love each other"
Dan Stanton, Fast & Testimony Meeting, Nottingham Country Ward, 05 Aug 2007]]>
Then, when I was working so hard on the Deerwood project (0728.html, 0730.html, 0732.html, and 0733.html) I found a note on a swallow sheet dated August 9th about residents not owning, but leasing a Porche, a Lexus, diamonds, or laptops only when they needed access to them.
Lastly, on Friday the 17th of August, the day after Dave Johnson was fired, my swallow sheets showed I took a test in the book on "The Speed of Truth" which I had been reading:
<![CDATA["Integrity: 4 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 3 = 21
Intent: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25
Capabilities: 4 + 4+ 5 + 5 + 5 = 23
Results: 4 + 3 + 3 + 3+ 5 = 18
TOTAL: = 87"]]>
I find these results fascinating, as it shows the area I fall down on the most is in actually delivering results. It certainly is true, even though I do not like to admit it. The "Speed of Truth" is a good book, and I recommend each of you read it.
So as I look at the 13 weeks I'm behind on Thoughtlets I have a lot of thoughts. It is due to similar emotional struggles as last year. The difference is instead of my biological family, the worries have been centered around my step family. It seems I can not focus on writing my blog, or my journal, or my thoughtlets, or whatever one chooses to call them if I am distracted with strong feelings about relationships with those I love. Maybe years from now one of you, or one of your children will read these words and be able to use them to not make the same mistakes I make. One thought is to just give up. However, there are a few of you who regularly read these Thoughtlets and how give me enough positive feedback I'm going to let the inertia of 11 years of work keep me going. So as a review by title of what is coming up:
With all of this disclaimer,I will go back to my notes and add a few comments and attempt to organize the notes. On Monday there wase-mail from Quentiin Reed with link to http://www.glumbert.com/media/connie, where it shows a young girl competing in England on one of these talent shows. Really good. Brought a tear to my eye. On Tuesday Fred told me Jenny had a baby boy, 7 pounds 9 ounces . Jenny is one of Fred Hilterman's Chinese graduate students at the University of Houston. She fainted on the stairs when we evacuated the building, and we have become friends since this happened. Tuesday night Andrea and I went to the temple for August, and I did an vicarious endowment session for Juan Nepomuceno Montes Gonzales of Mexico.
On Wednesday I had a discussing with John Gillooley about how Geokinetics is taking advantage of my Landmark license. Jumping ahead to when I was laid off, this disagreement became the basis, although never stated to me except in passing by Lee Bell, for me being laid off. My bright spot for the day was e-mail from Melanie, which I received in the morning. Ir said:
<![CDATA["Thanks for sending the thoughtlet dad! I've been thinking about you a lot lately... I'm sorry I missed
calling on Sunday. I've gotten out of the habit during the summer time huh? Jared's brother just
returned from his mission to SLC and so we had a lot of family in town this weekend.
We're doing well... I am Colby's soccer coach (funny - since I don't know anything about soccer!!) and
our first practice is tomorrow and first game is September 8th. I'm pretty anxious for it to start b/c I
really don't know how it'll go. Good thing they are 5 and there is not much competition for soccer in
the area. Hopefully it will just be a lot of fun for the boys (& me). He starts Kindergarten next Monday!
I can't believe it. Jared's cousin will be his teacher and he has I think 8 LDS kids in his class (out of
maybe 20) so that's pretty cool. 3 of his very best friends got in the same class as him. Taylor has
started dance and she is so adorable! She loves it which is great to see as she has always been so shy
and not really wanting to do much of anything social that requires her to leave the house. She just likes
to be home. We also found out that she needs glasses so she has picked out some really cute pink frames
and we should get them in a few days. One of her eyes kept crossing and so I took her to the optometrist
and she is far sighted so her eyes will cross to focus. And, Halle has learned out to walk! She is getting
cuter and cuter all of the time. She is starting to be more demanding but that's ok.
Jared has an interview tomorrow with a pre-professional committee at Lamar. From this interview, they
will write a letter of recommendation for him as part of his dental school application. He should have
gotten this letter before the end of last semester but they would not schedule it until August. So, we
have been waiting on this for his application to be complete. We're getting anxious for this to happen
because schools are already sending out interviews but they won't look at your application until it is all
of the way complete. A little frustrating. Jared scored ok on his DAT... actually pretty low. On his
DAT score and GPA alone, he would most likely not get in to dental school this year. However, he
didn't score so low that he doesn't have a shot. And we think his best shot is in Houston because of
that summer program. We've heard different stats - but two different sources have said that 90% of
the participants in their summer programs were accepted to that particular school. And they didn't
know about the other 10% - could have been accepted to a different school. So... I guess its just wait
and see for now.
I love you! I'm sorry I haven't been better at keeping in touch this summer. And no, I do not understand
how .html works... maybe one day I can figure that out. I heard about Roice moving and selling his
house the same way you had - I think it all happened really fast. Anyway... I'll talk to you soon.
Maybe call on Sunday to wish Colby a great first day of school!
Love you,
Mel"]]>
Paul also sent a note:
<![CDATA["Read the thoughtlet...hope that doesn't mean you have died per the 80/20 rule. :)
Paul"]]>
Funny Paul. Maybe. Maybe I just don't know I'm dead. On Thursday, Luis Viertel and I had a long conversation about Paradigm. He was thinking of going to work there. Turns out his friend left Paradigm, and he did not follow-up on this opportunity. It continually amazes me how small of a world the Geophysics world is. It was Sara Ellyn's birthday, and so Andrea, Rob, and I went up to have a surprise birthday party for her. Rob drove both to and back from Austin. Tim Sullivan helped make it a surprise. He told Sara he was taking her out to dinner for her birthday. They were late getting to the restaurant. It was fun to watch Roice as he text messaged back and forth with Tim about how slow Sara was in getting her hair ready, etc. It was a nice dinner and a great time. There are some digital photos of the evening at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/07_Sara/070823_Saras_Birthday_Dinner. Since Andrea had to get up early for Seminary and I had to go to work it worked really good to have Rob drive for us.
Friday Sara Ellyn sent the following note:
<![CDATA["Dad, Andrea and Rob,
Thank you so much for the surprise visit! You truly made my birthday a special one.
I was shocked and a bit nervous for Tim to meet you all with no warning, but I'd say
it went well. :) I hope you made it back safely to Houston.
Love,
Sara E. Nelson"]]>
Friday and Saturday were the big days for Amir Kessler. It was wonderful to be able to participate in his special day with him. After work Friday, Andrea and I drove over to the Jewish Temple where they attend. It is off of Eldridge Road, a little south of Memorial. Rabbi Todd Thalblum presided at Amir Kessler's Bar Mitzva. It was very similar to Yarden Kessler's Bat Mitzvah (0432.html) and also to Sam LeRoy's son Ira's Bar Mitzva (0227.html), both of which were also under his direction. I wrote two possible stanzas for Prime Words Friday evening:
<![CDATA["The day of judgment
Is when God measures
Our deeds and our worksheet
And weighs us on a scale"
"We should not have in our bag
Two rulers to measures
And to weigh our deeds
God judges us all equally"]]>
Saturday morning I mowed lawn. I miss Matt. Not just because he used to the mow the lawns. And I worry about him, which I know doesn't do any good. Jeff Jurinak called and told me John Boyce is my new Home Teaching Companion. Also Matthew Reynold's school project is starting up again. He sent me the following e-mail note:
<![CDATA["I hope you all are doing well. I would like to ask for your permission to speak about my
UH senior project for a moment.
My senior project is now getting started. This Tuesday I am scheduled to submit my project to
Mr. Pyka (Professor in charge of the senior project). I will also need to tell him who my sponsors
are for the project.
I am excited to continue with the WatervibeTM project. A small update on the project so far:
1.After the class last semester I contacted a friend in NY who is a patent lawyer now working in the Intellectual property dept. Buffalo university. After some conversations by phone he eventually encouraged me to apply for a provisional patent which would assign the 'Patent Pending' title. So I have spent a lot of time putting together technical drawings and writing descriptions concerning the WatervibeTM Instrument. All information and $100.00 has been submitted and I'm now waiting for a response.
2.Spoken to various musicians about the instrument to get an idea of market interest.
3.Acquired Software for analyzing the range of the instrument (computer based sound spectrum analyzer)
For this semester I plan to fulfill the following goals:
1.Polishing up my proposal.
2.Finishing the experimental version of the Instrument, 80% complete.
3.Mapping out the range and nature of the instrument.
4.Building a 4 stringed version of the instrument.
5.Gathering musicians together to play a piece of classical music with the accompaniment of the WatervibeTM instrument.
I appreciate all the confidence you have shown in me as well as the motivation and direction you have
offered. I would be honored by your continued involvement in the project. Please let me know if you
are willing on participating with me on this project during this next few months (and onward if its in
your interest).
Sincerely,
Matthew Reynolds"]]>
It has been fun and rewarding to work with Matthew on his project. Around lunch we went to the formal big Bar Mitzva ceremony back at the temple. Then in the evening we went to the party, which was at a country club on Clay Road. There are over 80 digital photos and 10 movies at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Friends/Kessler_David_Karen/070825_Amir_Kessler_Bar_Mitzvah. It was a nice evening. I thoroughly enjoyed David and Karen's cousins. At dinner they asked what I am doing, and I told them about my Deerwood project. There was immediate understanding of what I want to do, and a lot of interest. They referenced me to a magazine named "Dwell," looked up the web pages I have been putting together on their Blackberry, and promised to follow the project on the web. It made me feel like I am not so far out in left field as I often feel when I attempt to talk about projects like this which are very important to me. Oh well! Some understand and can see long term, and some can't.
Sunday I shared PAIRS brochure to friends at church, and have about came to the conclusion it would be good for Andrea and I to go to Pairs. However, it would be pretty hard to do with her Japanese classes and early morning seminary. Oh well! I did note that the open house is on Thursday August 30th, and again on September 13th and & 27th at 7:00 PM. We did not talk an more about going, and did not go this time. Maybe in the future. We did enjoy Sara Ellyn's surprise birthday and Amir Kessler's Bar Mitzvah. These two activities made it a good week."
Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet"
(little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me).
Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They
were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me.
Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes
were shared with my family because I know how important the
written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and
forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of
daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love.
It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids
and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.
Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to
work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to
make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of
misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will
aggressively
pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets
behind a password).
The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at
http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets,
or you can e-mail me with
questions or requests at
rnelson@walden3d.com
(note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails
within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)