A week with the in-laws

Alrighty, we got here last Wednesday, and are leaving tomorrow, which means, sadly, that our vacation is coming to a close. :-( We have had fun being here with Rochelle's family. Her siblings are lots of fun to be with. It has been abominably hot for Oregon, 95 plus every day, and way too humid for my taste. The weather has kept us hiding from the sun inside, but we have managed to have fun despite ourselves. Tayler, Collin and I have played lots of ping-pong, pool, and chess, along with some pente and a little paint ball on the side. Collin is currently reading to me a list of jokes that got in the email some time ago, and has kept in a folder. We have also been witness to a bunch of different events while here. First of which, and our main reason for being here, was Anna's baptism. Other things we saw were Collin's piano recital, the Dance festival in which Marissa, Tayler, and Cara were all a part. Marissa also received her Personal Progress completion award. And last but not least Tayler recieved his Eagle Scout award. Well, I could write much more about all of this, and I probably will, but I think it shall wait until I'm at home wishing I could get another round of ping-pong in.

Procrastination is my (temporary) answer

Well, as the title implies, I have other things that I should be doing, and yet here I am, hoping against all odds that the material I should be studying will somehow seep into my brain while I do something... anything (!) else. Right now, "something" is giving the update on our fascinating life! Ok, so maybe it is not so fascinating, but it seems to be quite a whirlwind right now.
BJ and I had the pleasure of having both our fathers here with us on Father's Day yesterday. This was not exactly planned; but through a series of what you might call unfortunate events, we were able to host both of them. Now, don't get me wrong, it was not unfortunate for us that they were here! We were delighted to have both of them at the same time. No, the unfortunate part was some of the circumstances surrounding this event. To explain: We knew BJ's dad was coming; his wife (BJ's mom) was out of town, and we invited him over for Father's Day dinner. Then, I received news that my grandmother here in Utah was having emergency surgery, and that my dad was coming to be here with her and his siblings. He was here until Sunday night (Father's Day). So, while the reasons for him being here were less than desirable, we were delighted to have this unique opportunity. We all got to have dinner together (some of the recipes we used are posted in the recipe section of our website) and then we promptly left to take my dad back to the airport. Whew! As a note, my grandmother's condition is improving, but she will have a long recovery ahead of her. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, of course.
Today was the last day of classes for Spring Term, 2006! BJ has one more class to take before he graduates, and I have... dozens! Oh well, at least I am now finished with my generals. Anyway, we are leaving the day after tomorrow to go visit my family. The day after tomorrow also happens to be the first day of finals, and that means that we are taking our finals early. Tomorrow. Yikes. That is why I should be studying. I have a tremendous amount of material to cover by 9:00 tomorrow morning, and I feel like I have a long night ahead of me, as I have not made much headway on studying yet. That said, I guess I have had a long enough break, and will resume my dismal task.

Busy Day

Today has been one of the busiest days ever! In a good, mostly non- stressful way, of course. I worked this morning, as usual. BJ and I actually babysat our nieces for a good portion of the rest of the day. BJ had the girls for a few hours, then picked me up from work. We spent some time with the girls at the Bean Museum, the park, playing games (the likes of Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, and dominoes) etc. BJ went back to work for part of the time, then came back for an hour or two. I love children, and I have a lot of respect for parents in general. I usually experience a surge of that respect right after babysitting multiple children. I am not suggesting anything about my nieces (I think they are adorable, very smart, and fairly good- natured). It's just that babysitting kids makes me appreciate what moms and dads do, and the fact that parenting is a neverending babysitting job. I feel lucky, in that the parents that BJ and I have, and all of the members of our family who are parents, are great examples of good parents.
We were supposed to go to our dance class in the evening, but we were late, and pretty tired, (not to mention the fact that we are auditing the class, and are not trying to earn a grade) so we went home, only to walk 3 miles to go get ice cream at Stan's. Incidentally, THE Stan that "Stan's" is named after is BJ's grandfather. He sold the restaraunt quite a while ago, but the whole family still frequents the 1950's classic burger joint. It definitely has character, and some of the best fast food you'll ever try. Stan's is one of those places where if you have lived in Provo for any amount of time, you understand the kind of tradition that Stan's is; kind of a permanent fixture that draws college students, teenagers, and their parents alike. Everyone likes Stan's.

Today mate!

I'm afraid that my life is just not very interesting. I got up, went to work, came home, had dinner and went to dance class with Rochelle. Dance class wasn't especially exciting. We are in swing right now, and I enjoy that. It is my favorite dance, and although I already know most of the steps, it's fun to dance them, especially when Rochelle and I dance together. But now we are home, and the day is all but gone, and I have little to report here. And so, the best I can do for this blog is find some issue that I have feelings on, and speak my mind about it. Today's issue is found here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=296414 It's about the senate, and how they are elected. This may seem like a strange idea to many, but the senate has not always been voted for by the people, and it really isn't a good idea to have them voted in office by the people. They used to be voted in by the state legislature. It gave the states more power. Right now, the states have very little power on capitol hill. Right now, if the senate is to be concerned with state rights, it is because the people from that state are concerned with state rights. But honestly, how many people do you know who worry about the state government that they are in? In general, people feel that as long as the kids have a school to go to, and we have roads to travel on, I don't care who is in charge. But when the states don't have power, it destroys the structure that the founders set up for us. The founders gave us a very week national government, because they knew that there would be very little that the national government could do better than the states. Those few things (such as armies, and international affairs) were given to the national government to worry about, and the rest to the state government. So why should the states have power? Wouldn't that just mean that more states would mess everything up? No, not really. Every state wants to do well, otherwise they too get kicked out of office. The difference that is created here is that every state gets to do things a little different... they experiment, and the states that do the best get imitated by everyone else. So if we are having problems with our schools, let the states experiment with it, and keep the national government out. One or more of the states are likely to come up with some good ideas that work, and then we can all benefit. If the National Government is in charge, they aren't as likely to find a good solution. And we also have to consider the fact that every state is different. They are made up of different cities, and different people, and so maybe some states need one type of program while other states need another. The national government can't account for this. They simply give everyone the same plan, and hope it works for most of them. Of course, there are times when the national government needs to step in. When the civil rights movement was going on, the national government took control of some schools in some states because the states were not doing things right. This is a check on the states power, and is good. But this check does not mean that the states no longer get to make any more decisions. It means they made one very bad decision, and the national government needed to stop it. And so while I think it is unlikely, I want the 17th amendment repealed, and power given back to the states.