No Easter Here

Remember how I b*tched and moaned about working through Christmas vowing never to do it again? Why didn't I think at that time "let's make sure not to work on the other Christian holiday" which happens to be Easter.

Guess who's working? That's right...me!

Nothing says remembering the Savior and his Crucifixion and Resurrection like listening to some jerk whine about their unpaid bill or how I work for the most evil company in the world or how their phone won't work...even worse are the nice people who apologize for calling up on Easter...THEN DON'T DO IT!!!!!

This week I'm bidding on a new shift and there are quite a few with Sundays off. Please pray that I get one!! It'll at least cure the problem of Easter next year and Christmas will be taken care of by the fact that I haven't been able to use any sick time so far.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAYSON!

My nephew, Mayson, is four years old today! It's so unbelievable! He should just be a baby but he's a cute little kid and my favorite person in the whole world. And such a miracle as well!

He was born three months early due to complications from HELLP syndrome that his mother, Jody, had where the body thinks the fetus is a virus and attacks. He was only 1 lb 6 oz when he was born and looked like a little alien baby.

Even though he was very tiny and fragile looking he was very strong and had a very tight grasp with his tiny little fingers. I remember it being a scary time yet I felt calm about it, like I knew he would be all right. One night after he was born I took his father, Paul, to buy a shirt really quick as he needed a new one, and Paul said, "Don't tell anyone else, but I'm not worried about Mayson at all. Everyone is all upset but I just don't feel like that." I confirmed that I felt the same way.

It seemed like he was in the hospital forever, and I believe it was two months, but it was so great to finally be able to hold him and then have him at home. And it's been so much fun watching him grow up and learn. He's SOOOO smart and picks up on everything instantly. And he's funnier than even his dad.

He also just dotes on me and always wants to be where I am when I am around. We have a lot of fun playing BATman (that's how he says it to) or Spiderman or Wolverine, which essentially is play fighting. He also loves Mickey Mouse and the Muppets and every so often he requests to watch Bewitched, even though his daddy told him it was

dumb. (Mayson: "Daddy says Bewitched is dumb. He's a KY [how Mayson thinks you spell 'jerk'...but funny cause of the jelly].")

Anyway, I'm so blessed to be the uncle to the cutest little boy ever to hit the planet and I hope his birthday is fantastic!

Why Am I Crying??!

Ok, this is seriously so stupid but I have to write it out so I can hear how ridiculous it is so I'll stop crying! I'm literally in tears right now and I don't know why! I know what started it and it makes me mad because I'm such a baby. It was hearing the song "It Might Be You" by Stephen Bishop, which was made famous in the movie "Tootsie". I would try and find it on YouTube but if I hear it again I'll never stop crying.

It's supposed to be a love song but ever since I heard it when I was really little it's made me very sad. It's a stupid cheesy 80s love song that probably plays on continuous loop on KOZY.

Anyway, I heard it again tonight as part of a show I was watching. Everyone has left my house or has gone to bed and I keep on hearing it and when I saw these pins that Heather got me in Disneyland of the Muppets with Mickey ears, for some reason I started thinking of Mayson, my three-soon-to-be-four year old nephew, and how he seems to be really growing up fast lately.

I know, right? I'm seriously crazy! But hear me out...cause I don't know what else to do to stop crying. Holy cow, I haven't cried this much since my cats died!

Mayson stays at my house a lot and he absolutely loves me. He doesn't want to do anything unless it involves me. I always read him a couple stories before he goes to bed and he likes a lot of the things that I like, like the Muppets. And he LOVES Mickey Mouse! Anytime I come home and he's hear he shouts out my name, "DAVE!!" and asks where I've been and then about if we can watch a movie/play a game/play BATMan or whatever other super hero he wants to be. It really makes me happy and I feel like I'm really needed. I really like reading to him, though, because I remember how much I liked it when I was read to when I was little. There hasn't ever been a night where I couldn't read to him...there were nights where I wanted to go to bed earlier but gave in when he said, "Just one story, please!"

Last night I came home from Michelle's house and had to use the restroom first thing. As I was closing the door to the bathroom I thought I heard him. Usually if he knows I've come home and I'm in the bathroom, he'll play the Big Bad Wolf and come pound on the door and say, "I'll huff and blow your house in!" (One of his favorite stories is "The Three Little Pigs"). That happens EVERY TIME! Last night it didn't so I thought maybe I had just heard something. When I stepped out and into the living room he was there and turned and just said, "Hi Dave." He did come and give me a hug but then he went right back to watching whatever it was that he was watching.

As it was the evening of the time change and I did get home pretty late and had to work early today I told him I was going to go to bed prepared to hear that he wanted me to read to him. There was nothing but a "good night, Dave"....and that's it! I was glad but sad at the same time because we ALWAYS read a story.

While going to sleep I thought about how maybe the time is coming when Uncle Dave isn't so awesome anymore and I didn't think about it much more nor at all today.

I actually was in a good mood today because the sun was shining and for the first time ever I actually felt awake at work, even with the time change!

My family came over for dinner and Mayson was still here and we played Batman-Wolverine-Spiderman and watched the extras from "Up" and had a good time.

He and his family left along with the rest of the family that doesn't live here and I watched that show with that STUPID song in it with my cousin Tracey, and he left. I did tell Tracey that the song seriously makes me depressed and when I saw the Muppets with Mickey hats on it I just started bawling! I guess that's why I'm crying...Mayson is turning four this Friday and I guess really soon I'm not going to be the big star in his life anymore. I remember how I used to love sleeping over at my Aunt Carol's when I was little but how there are very few memories of doing so and I've realized that may happen with Mayson. He'll remember how much fun we had and I know he'll always love me, but I suppose there will be few memories since he's so young, and it just makes me sad.

But I guess that's part of life is growing up and moving on and quite obviously I'm having a hard time with that. And I supposed that's why that STUPID song brought it up because it starts out:

Time... I've been passing time watching trains go by
All of my life...

I feel like that's what's happening watching Mayson grow up.

Anyway, I think I'm done with my tears and runny nose...though I suppose I'll look at the pins again and keep hearing that stupid song in my head, but I just needed to talk it out.

I'm as Mad as a Hatter about "Alice"!

This past weekend Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" was released. I've seen it twice all ready. I love the original story of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". It has got me to thinking how much the stories have been an influence in my life.

Like most people, I was introduced to them via Walt Disney's version that was originally released in 1951. However, I saw it for the first time at a family reunion at one of my mother's rich relatives houses

who was rich enough to actually own a VCR when they first came out. While the adults visited they put on this strange movie about a girl who falls down a rabbit hole, speaks to a disappearing cat, finds out it's her unbirthday and almost gets her head chopped off by a scary Queen covered in hearts. I loved all the nonsense and the puns and sheer comedy of it. I loved reading as a child (still do) and was quite pleased to find out that Alice's Adventures were in a story that seemed to be even funnier than the movie, though a bit different.

When we were able to rent videos, one of them most likely would be "Alice in Wonderland". My family loved it as well. Over time we saw different versions on TV and my brother brought home a book and record from one of the musicals. The book eventually got lost but we kept the record which had four songs on it, two of which my sister and I would listen to ov

er and over - "The Pun Song" and "The White Rabbit's Song".

On a trip to visit our Grandma we blew a tire in the canyon, just past Soldier Summit and had to wait for my uncle to come with a replacement.

While we waited out by the fence keeping the cattle in, Paul found a teacup that was literally in half, just like the March Hare had in Disney's version and without a beat Paul lifted it and said, "Just a half cup, please." That memory is relived every time we pass by that area.

When my family started going to Disneyland, one of my favorite rides were the Teacups as the Mad Tea Party is my favorite scene. Heather and I loved the ride and every visit afterwards we choose the same tea cup, the one with blue and gold trimmed flowers to ride in and always get a picture in it. Unfortunately, none of them are on this computer or I would post them.

In High School we had to write about our favorite author, and of course mine was about Lewis Carroll.

One of the first things I bought when I got my first job was an "Alice in Wonderland" shirt for my mom, a purple "tea"-shirt with embroidered characters along the bust. I wasn't sure that she would like it but she loved it and wore it until it was practically threads.

And I can imitate Disney's Mad Hatter to a "tea" LOL

I would also wager that not a week goes by that I don't throw out a "BUTTAH!" or "Exactickly".

Essentially, I want to thank Lewis Carroll aka Charles Dobson for that golden afternoon that he told the story to the real Alice and her sisters, even if he was a creep.

Thank You, My Two Preciouses!

Just this week, because of the bonus received previously mentioned, I upgraded my entertainment systems, specifically the TV and the DVD player in my bedroom. I did so because I was under the mistaken assumption that the TV was going out. It started making all the colors, especially red and white, just blow up on the screen. No amount of adjusting colors and contrast would work. It made me sad because this TV has been around forever and has been a good little TV.

It was one of my first big furniture/appliance purchases I made after getting my first job. It is a 13" Sony TV/VCR combo and was a dream come true for me because I love watching TV and even more importantly, I loved recording Bewitched on to tape. My family didn't share in my enthusiasm and I was sick of listening to their complaining or having to sit through the stuff they wanted to watch. At that time, we were just getting TV through the antennae on the roof and the picture on the living room TV was all right, but for some reason, this little TV/VCR combo made it look crystal clear! I also remember when we first watched Star Wars on it you could totally see the shaded boxes around the Tie-Fighters that weren't present on the bigger less clear TV. And it was great that I got both a TV and VCR all for the low price of $500! LOLOL! What??! It was 1994, give me a break! In the years since I've had it, the remote has pretty much given up, the front door cover to the VCR has fallen off but it still keeps chugging away. So when the colors started going flooey, I was sad:( So I decided it was time to get a new TV and catch up with the 21st century and get a flat screen HD 19" TV. To my horror, the problem with the bleeding colors wasn't my trusty old TV at all...it was my Tivo/DVD player, the other precious mentioned in the title!

I was one of the first people, probably in Utah, to get a Tivo. And it was THE best birthday surprise I have ever had! My family is not too big on surprises but this one came out of nowhere since it was really expensive and just for my birthday. But ever since I had heard Rosie O'Donnell extol the virtues of Tivo on her show, it sounded like the perfect fit for me. And it was. The family got me a Tivo with a DVD player, which they also thought was a DVD burner, which was to help in my obsession of recording every Bewitched episode, so rather than stockpile 294529472394723947 VHS tapes, I'd only have probably half as many DVDs and thinner to boot. Even without it having the burner capability it was awesome! I could record any show and just watch it when I wanted and I could pause live TV for awhile for a bathroom/snack break. It was glorious! Not to mention having a DVD player in my room, especially when Bewitched was released on DVD.

So after purchasing the HD TV and finding out that it was the Tivo/DVD player that was the culprit behind the bleeding colors I decided to really join the future and get a Blu-ray.

Both new purchases are awesome, however, I will always love my TV/VCR and Tivo/DVD player. They both provided years of entertainment and lulling me to bed. It makes me happy to know I can have them for backup though if I start to get scared of all my new technology.

The Looniness of Libra

If you are into astrology, it'll help you understand what you are about to read. I don't believe that I am ruled by the "rules" of my astrological sign, however I use it as my excuse for my decision making abilities.

I am a Libra, the sign of the scales, or balances. Which means that I like to make things balance and weigh every option, much of the time to the point where I can't make a decision because I'm afraid I haven't weighed every possibility and foreseen every possible outcome.

So it goes with my current employment.

Recently I received a HUGE bonus plus a nice raise. I haven't worked at a company EVER that gave out such a huge bonus nor a raise all at the same time. My euphoria over that led me to believe that all my weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over how much I hated my job was for naught, because look at all the great benefits! When I found out about how much it was I was elated and it seemed like I had broken through the darkness. But after about four hours I was back in my dark place feeling hopeless and lost that I had to put up with all the stress and negativity related to my job.

I've been looking for other employment but it hasn't been fruitful with the exception of having the opportunity to go back to my old job, which is without even insurance benefits and definitely no chance of bonus. But, I don't remember feeling helpless and anxiety ridden and angry all the time there...just bored.

I've found that were I to go back to Old Job I would have weekends off, which I haven't had for about six months now which means I'd be able to go back to Church and nurse my dying spirit, and I wouldn't have to cut my weekend playing short for getting up early the next day.

But on the other hand, I would have to work from about 2:30 - 11PM Mon - Friday. I really enjoy having the evenings off.

So back and forth I go weighing this option and that....it's driving me nuts!! But then again so is my job! What do I do?

My Possible Date with Death

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the passing away of my Uncle Dave and it's got me to thinking about something that I keep in the backburners of my mind on low, and that is the possible family curse. Not so much on the family but on the Davids of the family, particularly my mom's side of the family.

My Uncle Dave is my mom's brother, her oldest brother, and he passed away from a brain tumor which he was diagnosed with about seven years before he died. He was only 37 years old.

My mom's youngest sister Carol married a David. He was the oldest of his siblings and he passed away in 1997 due to leukemia. He was 39.

You're all familiar with my first name.

I am the oldest of my siblings.

And, like it or not (I mainly say that part to myself), I am 33 years old.

None of the other siblings of my mother have passed away or had their spouses pass away from cancer-related causes.

I also think it would totally be ironic for me to get colon cancer as that is how Elizabeth Montgomery met her demise and I've always wanted to get to know her better, however, I wouldn't like to know what having colon cancer, or any cancer for that matter, is.

I know I'm being silly, but it still haunts me, that I'm the third David in the family and I'm getting close to the ages of the other Daves. I would like to say "third time is a charm" however, I also realize that deaths come in threes, and for such similarities between us Daves, I'm not thinking I'm going to be the charmed one.

My Review of Awakening Land, The (1978/TV) (3 DVD Set)

Originally submitted at WB Shop

Unschooled homesteader Sayward Luckett couldn’t read her name if you showed it to her, yet she fell in love with and married agnostic, book-learned frontier lawyer Portius Wheeler. Now it’s time to make a life with him in wild, wooded 1790s Ohio Territory. There will be children, seven in all; joy ...

Awakening Land, The (1978/TV) (3 DVD Set)

Great Liz Montgomery movie!

By David*P from Salt Lake City, UT on 1/27/2010

 

4out of 5

Pros: Informative, Entertaining, Engaging Characters, Original, Great Cinematography, High Production Value

Best Uses: Adult Viewers, Perfect Gift, At Home

Describe Yourself: Movie Buff

I've been waiting years for this awesome TV movie trilogy to be released and Warner Bros has come through! The picture quality overall is great, though there are few places where the film becomes a lighter blue.

And the only disappointment is finding out that in the first part on Disc 1 there are five minutes missing:( I hope Warner Bros can find a better copy of this first disc and make a way for those of us that purchased to get it.

(legalese)

Unicorns! Rainbows! Bunnies! Oh my!! PBBBBBBTTT!!!

Everyone always says that your day is what you make of it. I especially remember my Grandma Slack telling me when I'd complain about having to go to school, especially that part about waking up early, "Now, David, if you just tell yourself 'I'm going to be happy and have a great day' than you will."

BULL SH*T!

I have tried and tried these past couple months, every so often, to look at my job from a different point of view. I will honestly get to the point where I think, "You know? What are you complaining about? It's not that bad. In fact, it's good. You have great co-workers, you make money, and it's close to home." And then I'll take my first call of the day and that is not only blown to smithereens, but it's chewed, swallowed, digested and the crapped out in a big ol' lump of IN YA FACE!!!

Today was no exception. And I know everyone is tired of hearing me complain but I literally will go crazy and blow up if I don't! There is no where for it to go. So I've tried my damnedest since my last blow up here to not say anything about work, I've tried on Facebook and elsewhere, but I just can't do it. I figured that I would save my griping for those that truly understand and that would be my co-workers.

So today at lunch, after a harrowing morning of listening to bigoted blow-hards and crabby ignorant "people", I went into how much I thought it was a bunch of crap to have to put up with it when immediately one of my co-workers shoots me down and says, "You know we have to deal with negativity out there, and I'm sorry, but if you're going to bring negativity to the breaks, I'm going to have to leave."

*SIGH*

So really, I understand where she's coming from because she agrees with what I've been saying all along: it's nothing BUT negativity when dealing with our customers. However, I CAN NOT act like everything is OK, and that I'm fine with people telling me how horrible the company is I work for, how I essentially don't know anything, how I should even flinch at their not paying their bill etcetera. That's not how I'm designed! I'm designed to be me and guess what? ME doesn't give one rat's ass about something so STUPID as an unpaid bill, a broken piece of equipment, nor what you think about what you're paying for. I can't even ACT like I care. Now, were these people to tell me about how their wife is divorcing them, how they don't know how to control their kids, how they feel lost in life, how they enjoy mountain biking, THEN I would truly care.

I felt like Co-worker wanted me to come in and sing about unicorns, and candy, and kittens and clouds just so I can stay positive. Well, screw that!! Every time I do try to be positive, that energy is retaliated with more than double the amount of negativity coming from the customers and I'm not doing it!

I am in the midst of searching for other employment, but please understand, I am have to vent or I will literally have a melt down.

2009...eh!

So it's a couple hours into 2010 and all ready it's great because 1) it's not 2009 and 2) it's peaceful. As part of tradition here is a recap of the past year:

January

• Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America, the first African-American to hold that office. I stayed home from work to watch the inauguration and was so glad I did. The feeling of that day was priceless. It felt like one of hope and joy.
• Michelle's husband, Michael, moved here permanently and it's so nice to have him here.

February

• Mayson held my arm one night at Paul's and looked up at me and said, "Dave, I want to be you. You're funny."
• Bewitched Season Seven was released on DVD. It is my favorite season of Dick Sargent's because of the Salem-centered episodes and other great episodes.
• Went to HOT Katy Perry's concert with Michael and Michelle and it was a lot of fun. And did I mention she's HOT?!!!
• Mayson told me for the first time that he loved me when we had a very fun day playing games and watching Mickey Mouse. It was so sweet!
• Took Mayson to the Safe Kids Fair to see Spider Man. Mayson was so good and well-behaved and it was a lot of fun. We got our pic with the Star Wars characters.

March

• Mayson turned three!! I got him a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playset that plays the "Hotdog Song" which he loves!
• Mayson's birthday party was held two weeks later at Classic Skating and I was having a really good time and doing really well at skating until dumb a$$ Pibby had to come up behind me and tickle me, not once, but twice causing me to fall down really hard. So then I lost my temper and since I'm such a girl I could only try to slap hit him and almost got kicked out by the manager. I was so embarrassed and I really wanted to end Pibby's life right there.

April

• It was so uneventful I didn't even bother to write about it in my journal.

May

• Paula Abdul released "Here for the Music" and performed it on American Idol. It's seriously such an awesome song and they played it like once on the radio.
• I was invited in studio at 97.1 ZHT to speak to Paula when they interviewed her over the phone and I got to tell her I love her and she said she loved me:) I also got to ask her when she was going to release her music videos on DVD and she said it was all in due time.
• We (my brothers and sisters-in-law...Heather didn't do anything but go get pizza and says she watched Mayson) and some other people re-roofed my parent's house. I didn't think we'd be able to do it but we did a great job. It was HARD work!
• I got a new job at Verizon Wireless in the Customer Service, which I was excited about, because of the benefits and because the Post Office was so boring. I also met awesome people in my training class.

June

• All on the same day, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Mackenzie's niece Sadie passed away. It was such a sad weird day.

July

• After over 20 years, I FINALLY received an apology from Jessica Fitton, via Facebook, for the way she treated me when we "broke up" as friends. It made me feel so good to know that she realized she had hurt me but that she also cared enough to apologize.
• Went to Lagoon with my friends a couple times and it was a lot of fun.
• Found a new Bewitched friend, Dayna, that lives in West Jordan and went over to her house to celebrate the DVD release of the Eighth, and Final, Season when all my friends declined my invitation for a viewing party. It was a lot of fun! However, I had hoped that maybe Dayna and I could start a romantic relationship and I found out she's a lesbian (or at least claims to be...I don't believe it...sorry Dayna!)

August

• My dad started dialysis and it's really strange watching him slowly deteriorate and very painful to see how it's affecting my mom.
• Grandma Pierce suffered a heart attack and stroke on the same day and we were told she wasn't going to make it. I missed many days of work, yet she's still around. It's really sad to see her suffering like that, but she refuses to give up the ghost.

September

• Not much happened except that I was in transition at work and started realizing how much I hated the job.

October

• My 33rd birthday occurred and I had a lot of fun with my friends and family at Pizza Factory again and then seeing one of my all time new favorite movies, "Where the Wild Things Are".
• Got to go to Reno for Halloween for the first time in two years! It was so fun and great to see Andrea and her family and Jone.

November

• Started to work for real at work with no assistance and my supervisor was the biggest ass! Had multiple breakdowns at work and had to come home early just to cope.
• Thanksgiving was nice at the Wilde's again.

December

• Got an earlier shift and a new supervisor, who is so nice, which I thought would help me in my liking my job better, but to no avail.
• The Slack Family Christmas party was a lot of fun.
• Christmas was SCREWED by the fact that I had to work on Christmas Day for four hours missing all the festivities at home.
• The day after Christmas I was violently ill with the flu...projectile vomiting, etc...so I called into work and was out the next three days. Because I decided not to subject my co-workers to my ill-ness, I am now thisclose to being fired because I didn't have enough time to cover it.
• I was thinking I wasn't going to do anything for New Year's, but Michelle came through in a pinch and put together a fun dinner party with a great ham dinner and I brought some awesome homemade Chex mix Mom made. Amanda, Mariah, Natalie and her boyfriend and Kyle were all there. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end the year.

Really, my job has tainted how I view this year along with Grandma Pierce taunting death and my dad just getting increasingly sicker. It wasn't really that bad of year, but it wasn't that great. I just have a feeling 2010 is going to be a stellar year...it has to be starting off with a blue moon!

So Much for the Happiest Season of All

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I loved how, generally, the world was blanketed in white, drowning out all the drab colors brought on by the cold, and also the drowning out of all the noise. It's peaceful. I also always loved all the twinkling lights on display, no matter if they were carefully designed or just thrown up pell-mell, I loved all of it.

I also liked the general feeling of good cheer and peace that seems to permeate everyone which I always liked to believe was brought on by the rumination over the Birth of the Savior Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago. That maybe, those who claim to have nothing to do with God or religion, actually take a moment to realize what the Season, and really life is all about.

Christmas has always been going to Temple Square to see the light displays and the beautiful life-size Nativity, having the Slack Family Christmas Party, going to my brother Paul's house on Christmas Eve to celebrate with his in-laws and then having a HUGE Christmas breakfast at my parent's house Christmas morning consisting of sausage casserole, abelskievers (spherical pancakes), and bacon, and orange juice, unwrapping presents and having the thrill of seeing someone who I bought a gift for unwrap it, and then laying around all day and maybe going to a movie that evening. It's also been going to church and hearing the choirs sing and then having the testimonies borne of the Savior's birth. It's just been great.

This year seemed like Christmas never even happened. Because of my new schedule at my job that I detest, I haven't been to Church in over four months. I haven't had any semblance of feeling any of God's love because I get to hear morons day in and day out complaining about their bills, their service or what have you, and tell me how horrible the company is that I work for. I also had to work not only Christmas Eve, but on Christmas Day!!! What in the hell is wrong with people??!! Granted, I only had to work four hours, but just working one minute on Christmas is a travesty. And that four hours came right at the time Christmas breakfast is meaning I missed out on most of breakfast and ALL of the gift opening.

Because I've been so depressed about my job I haven't felt like doing anything Christmasy. I never went to Temple Square, never went and saw all the lights, was pissed off because the lights I did hang on my own house looked terrible because of the way the new roof was put on. Granted, I did get to enjoy the Slack Family Christmas party and the party at Paul's house, but I just didn't seem as excited. I miss it.

So I'm saying this right now: I will NOT ever work on Christmas again...EVER!!! There is no reason for it! In fact, I will find employment that will be shut down Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and will not require me to be there on Sundays. I don't care what people say about church, how it's man made and boring and blah, blah, blah. It's what you make of it. That is where God wants you to be one day out of the week so that you can think on spiritual things with your fellow man instead of the constant crap going on day in and day out. True, I've complained about getting ready to go to Church, but once I'm there, with rare exception (I refer to the day crazy homeless guy got up in testimony meeting speaking of killing cats), I love it.

My Grandpa Slack

"E Potz!!"

That is something my Grandpa Slack would often say just to be silly. I have been thinking of him often lately as I am currently in possession of his history that he wrote that comprises THREE 3-ring binders! Now, that is impressive even for long hand but keep in mind that my Grandpa typed on an old type-writer all the pages with the last binder holding pages with type on both sides!

The marvelous thing about Grandpa is that he hadn't always kept a journal. He began writing it while recovering from having his one lung removed in 1975. He had the most intricate and detailed memory his whole life and so it was quite easy for him to relate of his early boyhood, his meeting Grandma and starting a family and everything up to that point, after which he pretty much wrote two to three times a week until the month before his death. And it was fitting that the last entry in his journal was about the night of his and Grandma's 50th Anniversary Celebration, which was a good time had by all.

Grandpa didn't provide many details as far as feelings and that goes, however he went into intricate detail when describing his massive garden that was envied by all the neighbors and whenever he built something he described the exact length and precise size of nails or screws he used. But when he did describe his feelings they were sweet. Almost every wedding anniversary, he would always say if he had to do it all over again he would've chosen the same sweet beautiful woman. He also always went on about how much he loved his children. And I don't know if it's because she's my mother, but it seemed he always described how Beverly brought sunshine into any room she was in and how she made him so happy. Other times that would elicit feelings from him were when he would describe the symphonies and concertos that he loved to listen to. He played the French Horn in the BYU orchestra, which is where he met my Grandma (she played violin), and most of his entries about when he would listen to music on his massive record collection or when he would see a relative playing an instrument would thrill him to tears.

Also in reading his journal, I've realized just how spiritually great he was too. It was so wonderful reading of how when he was being introduced to give a talk one Sunday in the last years of his life, the person introducing him said, "Brother Slack keeps all of the commandments." I have never heard a truer statement. I never heard, nor read, of my Grandpa speaking ill of anyone, even if they hadn't treated him well at all, he never swore, and he always had that glow of someone great, a glow you could only have by following in the Lord's footsteps.

Grandpa also had a quirky sense of humor which I briefly mentioned at the first, but he was always up for a good natured laugh. I believe it was the day before his death, my mom and my brother, Paul, and my aunt Carol were visiting him at home and he was telling us about how he and his brother Lawrence had this language they made up. He would speak it and it was hysterical.

All of this has reminded me of how much I have been blessed with to have been related to him and only hope that I can be remembered as fondly when my time comes. I have taken a page from my Grandpa (and not his journal's) and have kept a journal off and on over the years since I was 13. I hope that my progenitors get as much a great feeling reading those as I have had reading his.

What a Difference the Day Makes

This week I've begun my new shift at work and it's been the GREATEST spirit lifter! As you all know, I've not been too kind in speaking of my job and it's because I feel like I've been trapped and left for dead working with customers that, for the most part, resemble nothing close to civilized human beings. That and the fact that my shift started at 2:30 PM and dragged on through the evening until 11 PM, Sunday - Thursday. It's been horrible to say the least.

My family has Family Dinner every other Sunday and I've missed them pretty much since the middle of summer. That has been the worst part of my previous shift. The other part is that the days that I would work I'd wake up around 10:30 - 11 AM and stew over the fact that soon I would have to be at work and then I'd be at work just dreading every minute. I would never see any of my friends or family, and if I did, it would have to be carefully choreographed because I had so little time on Friday and Saturday to fit everyone in. Not to mention I had to quit going to the Ward I was going to, that I was teaching in and loved, to do this crap.

The other horrible part was my supervisor, a red-headed bearded fellow with the manic energy of a fly on crack. I believe I tune into other people's energies and his was too much to handle even in the first moments of meeting him. He seemed to always be on the look out for failure and wouldn't keep eye contact when you would speak with him. Needless to say, he made me nervous.

But now, on to New Shift!

New Shift is 7:30 AM - 4:15 PM Thur - Mon with a new supervisor!! I thought I would dread changing my sleep schedule considering I am NOT a morning person, but it's been a blessing because I don't even really gain consciousness until about 10:30 AM. Before then, I'm on auto-pilot so by the time I've fully realized where I am and what I'm doing, I've all ready been at work for three hours! To be able to leave work in daylight has made me tingle all over with excitement knowing that I'll be able to see my friends and family, the latter especially on those every-other-Sundays. My new supervisor has a calm, sweet energy that is a complete 180 from Old Supervisor. She knows how to get the job done and wants to help us get the job done and so far, knock on wood, it's been pleasant.

I'm still missing Church, which makes me sad. And the customers are still crazy as an outhouse rat, but having a better energy around me, and being able to just be at work and not have to think about it before I actually go, is going to help me handle their crazy much better...and my crazy too:)

40 Years of Sunny Days

On November 10th one of my all time favorite TV shows celebrated it's 40th anniversary, and no, it's not Bewitched, it was Sesame Street. I don't think any show has been more influential on myself or my family than this show. It seemed to be always entertaining and quite funny, even now. And I'm speaking more about the earlier years than what has happened with the Street now, all though I do recognize it's doing a lot of good. But those earlier years seemed to have a magic all their own. I once asked my mom when I was younger why was there Sesame Street and she told me it's so you can watch it when you're bored. Which I did for many years until I realized I could count in Spanish:)

In honor of Sesame Street's 40th I wanted to share 6 favorite moments via video clips. I chose 6 because that's how old Big Bird always is and 10 is just too many:)

I remember this one so much from being really little because I had a huge fascination with Grandfather clocks when I was little. To see this one destroyed was morbidly fascinating! I even had a large Lego like set that I would build a clock with and then destroy but always have the two parts of the outercase of the clock left standing like this one did:)

This one represents the brilliance of Jim Henson for me. It's so basic, from the rhyming, to the set, to the puppets,

but so wild and awesome and just plain hilarious!

Cookie Monster was always one of my favorites because he was blue and a monster and he loved cookies.

This one is so precious!! I just want to give that little girl, Joey, a big hug. When I was little I was totally blown

away that not only when they spoke the letters did they appear but when she threw in Cookie Monster, he

appeared as a letter!

This song has to be one of THE coolest songs! And I loved that all these famous people were in it, including the Simpsons!

Cookie Monster kills me with his trying to be polite but also not understanding that not everywhere would have cookies!

Jesus, Tell Me What's Up With That?!

The other night my friend Michelle found out that a good friend of hers had committed suicide. It was really sad and it brought up a lot of questions like suicide always does. We were discussing the whys and hows of life and death, particularly what happens to someone when they commit suicide on the other side of the veil.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure, though I believe it's really not up to us to decide, it's just up to us to know, that we have no business committing suicide.

That got us to thinking about what we would ask God about if we had the chance. That is something I've thought about often because I've got a TON of questions!

The way I imagine it though is that we will get a time for questions right after the Judgement takes place, our own Personal Priesthood Interview, if you will, with Jesus Christ. After we've reviewed my life, everything has been weighted and decided, I think Jesus would say, "Now, what questions do you have for me?"

Mine are, as follows:

1. Why is that some people die young and way before their time and yet others *cough, Grandma Pierce, cough* live years and years in sickness and loneliness?

2. Can I see what would've happened in certain circumstances had I made a different choice? Quite frankly I think the answer to this would be "no" because I think seeing the outcome of most things would be too painful and regretful.

3. May I see my father's life from his birth to pretty much when I was born? That one is important to me because I don't feel that I know why my father is the way he is, though I definitely know why my mother is the way she is. Her sisters have always said that our household was just like theirs growing up plus all of them talk about their lives so much I pretty much know it anyway.

3.a. and b. In addition to my dad's life, I would like to see my Grandma and Grandpa Pierce's life.

4. Please tell me the purpose of dinosaurs...leftovers from other worlds used to create the Earth, practice for future animals, what?

5. How did John F. Kennedy really die?

6. How do the gays work into all this? It's quite plain in the Bible that homosexuality is a sin yet it seems like not many people believe that. And I know quite a few homosexuals that are very great people whom I love dearly. What's going to happen to them?

7. What happened to my kitties Kizsha and Snowy?

8. Are there certain people that truly share a flow of thought constantly though they have no contact with each other?

9. What really happened during the Salem Witchcraft trials? Was it all just a horrible game or was the devil and his minions really rampant in that area? And why?

10. Were some people just born attracting all the great things and others born repelling all great things? What for? And if not, why does it seem like that?

I'm sure I have million others but I really want to know the answers to those.

Hopping My Broom to Reno!

Right now I am in the midst of packing for what once was my Annual Trip to Reno for Halloween. Because of money I haven't been able to go the past two years which has been VERY depressing. I'm SO excited that I'm going this year!

Why so excited, Dave?

Well, let me tell you. The reason it's Reno is because my dear friend Andrea lives there. Actually, she lives in Sparks, a suburb of Reno, but nobody ever knows where Sparks is. She lives there with her husband and two boys, Cody and Zack. Andrea loves Halloween as much as I do, if not more. Andrea also loves Bewitched but I'm gonna say not as much as I do, but she loves it enough to care to post on Bewitched boards, which is how we met way back in 1999. Oh wow! I just realized that's 10 years ago! HOLY COW! Anyway....

In 2000 some of us on the Bewitched board decided to have a get together to meet face to face. Andrea wanted to host it in Reno since she was the only one with kids and couldn't get away. The get together was set for August. I had never seen a picture of Andrea before so I didn't have any idea who to look for when I got to the hotel where she was going to meet us to take us out to her house. However, when I saw her shiny eyes and red hair I knew immediately it was her. She hadn't seen a pic of me before either but she said she knew immediately who I was and this was before I ever had a Bewitched shirt. We all had a great time and she said that I must come back in October for her Halloween party that she throws every year. I accepted and so Heather and I did go back that October.

I was blown away by how much all of her friends went all out on their costumes! Even more so by all the decorating she does. It was just like in the movies where there are tons of people with awesome costumes, games and tons of dancing. In fact that night Andrea and I danced from about 7 PM to 2 AM with maybe a bathroom break. We were both so tired and crippled from dancing but we had so much fun! And so every year after (with the exception of one where she was mad at her friends and decided not to throw it) I've been.

Aside from the awesome party, I just love hanging out with Andrea and her family. I feel as though I've known them my whole life. They are part of my family and I definitely feel a part of theirs. Our friend Jone also joins us and I would be remiss in not mentioning that I also get to see her as she flies in for it too. Jone and I have always been room buddies on our get togethers.

But the past two years, money has been tight so I couldn't justify going and it was really depressing.

So tomorrow I will be flying to Reno for five days/four nights and I can't wait!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So Maybe "Deplore" Was a Bit Much...

I have to say that when I last blogged I was in a frightful mood. What you saw there was the equivalent of an emotional HUGE zit that popped - satisfying, yet disgusting. It was the culmination of many days of frustration and just over all raw nerves.

The following day I was shown how to do something at work that I hadn't been doing because I felt there wasn't an effective way to do it. This is because I had either been misinformed or misunderstood. I choose to believe the former as there were several others in my training class who believed as I did. Now that I know how to do the particular task, which leads to more money for me and happiness for my customers, my mood has improved considerably! Do not take this change in mood for my actually liking my position, cause I don't. However it is much easier to deal with.

I DEPLORE my job!

There is no other word for it...well, yes, there are, like "detest", "loathe", and the not-so-violent "hate". Honestly, I cannot remember the last time that I hated a job as much as I hate this one. Actually, yes, I can...when I worked at McDonald's when I was younger, but since then, this one takes the cake.

I work for a major telecommunications company known world wide. I will say that I love the company, I like what they stand for, and they do have great benefits. However, all of that is being over shadowed by my current position as a customer service representative. Of the five days a week I go there 4 1/2 of them are absolutely awful. There always seems to be that 1/2 day that comes where people are pleasant and things just go right which gets me thinking, "You know? Maybe you really don't hate this job." But then it delves right back in to days like this. I spend most of my nights having panic attacks about what I should do about my job and if I'm going to last there and that's just not right. I HATE every minute that I'm there and I hate the hours leading up to all those minutes. I work an evening shift so my sleep schedule is all messed up. I get up around 11 - 11:30 AM every day and for the couple hours before I go to work all I think about is how much I would rather be hit by a train.

Today I went to lunch with a good friend (who incidentally is not enjoying her job either) and I told her that I've decided I'm going to write down everything that happens that leads me down Crazy Town Lane. And I did...I only wrote down the first HOUR of things that absolutely drive me nuts and lead me to believe that I MUST find other employment. Here is the list:

1. 2:30 - 11 PM shift, working on Sundays.

2. First call of the day: I was told that I'm the reason that companies outsource their work to other countries because I'm so incompetent. And when I responded to her that I didn't appreciate her talking to me like that she asked for a supervisor. Keep in mind, I am NEVER to respond to customers berating comments. I'm supposed to move on.

3. When trying to find a supervisor there were none on the floor so I had to call the Escalated Calls team, which looks bad on my stats, and though she was very kind and understanding told me that she couldn't help this customer with what her original reason for calling was, that a supervisor should take this kind of call.

4. A customer's phone has been breaking down the past couple months. He is eligible in two weeks to upgrade to a new phone with a discount in addition to the all ready discounted prices. When I ask my supervisor who had just returned from wherever he was, he said it was too bad, he'd only approve the all ready discounted prices but not the huge additional discount. He'd have to wait the two weeks.

5. Tried helping aforementioned customer troubleshoot his newest problem which was that the ringer had stopped working. One of the troubleshooting steps is to take the battery out. After we did that found that because of one of his previous problems with his on/off button no longer working his phone no longer will turn back on.

6. Tried using the application on the computer to call a customer back as it looks better on my stats rather than the buttons on my phone and ended up getting another phone call, delaying my call to the customer who I had just told I was going to call right back.

7. Received an email saying a meeting was cancelled meaning more time taking phone calls.

8. Supervisor comes around after said email was sent saying to log out to the meeting and he disappears like earlier. So we sit around wondering if we're supposed to go to a meeting and end up taking calls again but it has now ruined our availability stats as well as our schedule adherence stats.

9. Late for another meeting because of problems mentioned in #5 and #6.

10. Customer calls because his bill was sent to some stranger's address who opened his bill and called him to tell him about it. When looking at the comments on his account found that a request for the change had come in on a remittance slip. He said he had no idea what that address was and hadn't moved so why would he do that? He was concerned about security and when I ask a supervisor (who wasn't mine because of course he isn't at his desk) she tells me, "He made the request because there's the remittance slip." I advise her he didn't and she just looks at me blankly and says, "He did. It doesn't matter what he's telling you." So I have to go back and tell him that I honestly don't know how that happened but it looks like he requested it.

That was all within an hour period. And, truly, you multiply that by eight, which gives you a day in my work life. Is it any wonder I hate my job?

Who Once Was Lost...

...now is found via Facebook!

The "Who" to whom I am referring is quite possibly my Uncle John, my mom's youngest sibling and Snoop Dogg look-a-like (white edition, of course). We have not seen nor really heard from John in about 10 years and if you know my mom and her family, this is HIGHLY unusual! You see, throughout the course of John's life he made some very bad choices leading him on a very rocky path which was lined by monetary loans from my Grandparents. When my Grandma passed away in 1999 (Grandpa having died in 1994) my Aunt Irene was left as executor of the estate because of her aptitude in finance. She discovered that Grandpa had written receipts, some of which were signed by John, of how much the loans were and when he would pay them back. However, he never did. He had borrowed upwards of $40,000.00 with no attempt to pay back. Irene held a family council with my mom and the rest of the siblings to discuss the impending inheritance all of them were to get. She brought up the fact that John had borrowed all this money and the fact he had never made any retribution. It is true the rest of them borrowed money from time to time but it was always rendered back. So it was unanimously decided that John had all ready received his inheritance and that he would not have to pay back to the estate.

This did not sit well with John's wife at all and in fact she wrote a nasty letter to Irene accusing her and the rest of the siblings of malice. And that was it. We never heard John's feelings on the subject and any phone calls or letters to him have gone unanswered.

Keep in mind my mother was like his second mother. There is 20 years difference in their ages and when John was little their father had to have massive surgery in Denver leaving my mom to take care of her brothers and sisters. I remember John telling me when I was younger that he thought of my mom as his mom more than his own mother. For John to cut off contact with my mother has been devastating to her. But that's the weird thing...we all think that it's not so much that John has cut off contact so much as it is that Kimberly has all control of that household. My mom has sent them birthday cards and Christmas cards every year and she'll call him on his birthday but her attempts are never acknowledged.

A couple years ago I found John's son Stephan on My Space. I didn't really know him that well but I thought it would be a good "in" to see how his dad is doing and possibly get him to call my mom. But Stephan was very evasive when asked about his father.

Just tonight, as I was looking over my cousin Greg's Facebook, I noticed that he recently became friends with Kimberly!! Greg and John were best friends growing up as they were the same age and John hasn't even tried to contact Greg. So this was a shock! Of course, Kimberly's profile is set to "private" however she does have an old photo of her and John. I also noticed that Kimberly has posted comments on Greg's Facebook that make it seem like nothing is wrong.

Maybe so much time has passed that she's not bitter anymore and hopefully this will be the "in" that my mom and her family so desperately want so that they can re-kindle their relationship with their long lost brother. I certainly hope so!

God Loves Even the Pizza Girl

Yesterday I had a hankerin' for Little Squeezers (that's what I call it) $5.00 Pizza! Pizza! so I rolled on into the establishment located in what is considered the ghetto part of town. As I was entering I was first thinking, "I can't wait to eat some pizza! I'm SOOO hungry!" and the second was, "Look at these people working here! I'm glad I'm not one of them."

Yes, it turns out I have a shallow side and I can be judgmental. But I just looked at them having their kinda greasy hair and their seeming lack of hope cooking up my pizza and taking my five bucks. The cashier was a middle aged woman and I kind of had pity for her working in Ghetto Squeezers and for the possible fact that being the cashier in Ghetto Squeezers is her lot in life, when out of nowhere I heard/felt, "You know, she is one of my daughters and I love her more than you can fathom. And the same goes for the rest of her co-workers... and you."

Keep in mind, I haven't done anything more spiritual than watch an hour of General Conference in the past two months because of my work schedule and quite frankly I've been feeling further from God than ever, though I do pray every day. For me to have that prompting, something which I haven't experienced in a long time was overwhelming to me in the fact that I kind of felt since I've forgotten God in the past little while he may have forgotten me. How silly is that?!

I almost started crying there at Little Squeezers and thankfully they are good workers so our transaction time was quite minimal thus allowing me to leave with my composure in tact.

But it is true. I know that God loves me more than I can fathom and that he loves all of my brothers and sisters here on Earth even if I don't know why. And I hope that you all know this too and keep it mind. Though we may get bogged down in the crap at work, the crap at home, and the crap in the world, one thing remains, and that is God loves us!