I passed

I finally got the results back from my last national board exam! I passed! The test is out of a possible 800 points but they curve it to where 375 is a 75%. So since I got a 495 I scored a 99% on the test! not bad eh? Well I just wanted to post a little one to let everyone know how excited I am and to say thank you to all of those who had me in their thoughts and prayers! I send good karma back to you all.

too long

Ok for the last two months I have been kinda busy. I have been to St. Louis twice, had a birthday, my second child celebrated his first birthday, my parents and my sister came to visit, Also my favorite holiday Halloween, happened. so... where to begin.


I went to St. Louis in September for a review class I just got back from. for the big test I have high hopes that all went well, it was hard but I think I did ok. I still worry but there isn't much I can do anymore.

I turned 31 on the 8th of October. Sharon made me couple of cakes. We were trying for sticky toffee pudding. In the end we decided that we need to find a new recipe. It was very good but not one we will make again. I am not having any issues with getting older. I wasn't sure if I would but I feel good, I look not too bad, I have hopes and dreams that have yet to be squashed so, no complaints. That is not the cake by the way.

While I was in St. Louis the second time Oscar turned 1. He won't know the difference so we are going to celebrate this week or next. Still I felt guilty. He is so cute and such a good baby. well maybe Sharon has a different point of view on that one. He is tough and puts up with a lot of beating from his sister. He is lucky to have her though, she really loves him and most of the beatings are unintentional.
My parents were here at the end of September through the first week of October. It was great to have them here, but I didn't get to spend all that much time with them. except that my Dad and I went on a little road trip. we went up to Northern Indiana and took pictures of headstones in tiny little cemeteries in tiny little towns. We got a lot of geneology straighted out and even put some families back together. It was cool to see the places where a lot of my family came from. I also got to see the town where my paternal grandmother was born. I am glad she moved and I grew up in California, but it still was cool. My parents also gave me a cool birthday present while they were here. They took down the shelves in our kitchen pantry and put up new more useful shelving. It went from wire racks to actual shelves that were custom made. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My Sister came out at the end of October and stayed for Halloween. She wasn't feeling all that great when she got here and so I think it wasn't her most favorite vacation, but we had a good time and it was great to see her.

Halloween was, as always, a lot of fun. I single handedly decorated the office I work at with spider webs, skulls, bats , and other good stuff. We also had a Pumpkin decorating contest. There was supposed to be a prize. but the boss never came through on that one. I won with my carving or a simple smiling face with big teeth and long skinny balloons coming out of his head for hair.
It also looked good flying through the air into the dumpster with its multicolored dreadlocks trailing after it.

My hand is starting to hurt, if I took the Phalen's test I would not pass. (props to anyone who knows that one)!

Oh yeah. One more thing. The picture behind the blog title changes with every blog. I love bamboo, and typically look for a picture in google images that is either black or green or something close to keep with the color scheme.

There are green apples

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I usually have a green pic to go with the color layout. Well those apples looked so good, I couldn't help myself. Plus there are some green ones too. The apples made me think of fall, and landscape is just barely starting to change around here. Some of the trees are starting to turn a slight golden, and the grass is losing its vibrant green that it was for spring and summer. The temperature this weekend has cooled down and with it the humidity has dropped. Around here the weather is always a big topic. I guess it is rubbing off on me. I used to not care about it so much but that was because it never really changed. Now it is actually something to talk about.

During the recent storm scare of hurricane Gustav, there were about 1500 hundred people that were flown to Louisville. On Sunday our ward got a call for volunteers, I was one of the volunteers that got to go down to the State Fairgrounds and help out. I worked as a volunteer for the American Red Cross and got a brief training then we got to work. The shift I worked was from about 7:00 pm to 6:00 am. it wasn't really that bad until about 4:30 then it started hitting me. The next day my jaw was sore from all the yawning. We did things like set up cots, make lemonade, move some of the palates of food and plates and stuff around to get it ready for the next meal. We also cleaned and pointed people to the right places to go for the different services offered. The main job I had was working with another volunteer handing out towels to people on there way to the showers. We also had to escort them to the shower area. I guess they had some problems with people taking off and some of them even found a crack houses and liquor stores. I guess if you got an addiction you find a way to feed it. It was sad really to think about that kind of stuff. For the most part the people were very nice and appreciative. A lot of the kids looked like they were having fun. Almost like it was a big sleepover with their whole neighborhood. Not many of the adults looked like they REALLY wanted to be there. no surprise. but there wasn't any major complaints that I saw either. It was humbling. It make you grateful for the things you have and place you live.
After working a 12 hour shift on top of a full days of activities, I got 3 hours of sleep and went back to work at my normal job. that was not that fun. when I got home I knew I couldn't go to sleep right away or I would wake up at 4 in the morning so I started reading Breaking Dawn. I finished it yesterday. That is one seriously good series. It gets a little silly but for the most part there is enough action and drama and romance to keep you interested. but not so much that it loses the story. I thoroughly enjoyed each book but I think my favorites in order are 4, 3, 1, 2. 4 best 2 worst. but even at its worst it was really good. I know there are a lot of guys out there that think I may be a little girly for reading them, but so what. I liked them. I also like to bake, and decorate. Acessorising isn't my thing. but I like the design part of decorating. My point is I like what I like. Twilight is one of them. I still like football and hunting shows, and motorcycles, and power tools too.

A whole month?!?!

How did that happen? I guess a week went by and then another and then two more! oh well, My blog is inconsequential anyway. So I have not read any books this last month. I have started one, and I even like it, but life got busy and then the olympics, and I just haven't read much. Tomorrow I am probably going to get the latest Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, is that the name of it? so by Friday I should have that one in the bag.

I have been busy working and trying to find a car cheap enough that runs well enough for us. There are some amazing vehicles out there. Most of which are out of our price range, but even the ones that are can be interesting! We found a 78 Civic, looked cool but was won on ebay by a collector. I wasn't pay too much for one of those. I even put a bid in for one of my dream cars. it was a 2006 Jaguar XKR it was a convertible, I prefer hardtop, but I didn't win that one either. Oh well, the search goes on.

Olympics... We only get NBC so I missed a bunch from the other networks, of which I am most disappointed in not seeing was the Handball. I know only a little bit about the sport but it looks really fun. and really cool! I read somewhere that it is like the number two or three team sport in the world behind Soccer. I wish the US had more of that around. good workout, fun, exciting, challenging, tons of action, lots of scoring! what more to sports is there? OK I guess that is enough for the Handball.

I also have received a new assignment in church. I am now the Ward Mission Leader. I am replacing a Former Mission President, but I am super excited about it, and I am looking forward to doing things a little differently, but hopefully just as well! That is also a bit of a vampire for my time. I don't mind, it just is.

I got a comment on the last post from and old friend about boys blogging. I realize I am in the minority. Most of you reading this are probably women. I recognize that typically it is the woman in the family that would do one of these blog things. Well... I don't care. I like it. Mostly I like trying to find obscure pictures for the top of my blog. It also is a way for me to communicate with my wife and family. I know that sounds dysfunctional, and well, it is, but I don't get cut off here, (mom) I don't get interrupted, (kids, they are asleep), and I can re-read things and then delete the things I shouldn't say or don't sound right, (wife). Now tell me, what man wouldn't love to be able to use the delete key in a few conversations with his wife! NONE, we all would! So Becky, I am happy you found my blog, I appreciate it even more you made a comment, and welcome more. BUT, Blogging is not just for girls. I can be a manly guy and still keep a blog!

Book

I finished "One for the Money", it was a good read. Not hard to get into at all. There was someone that told me the author was HILARIOUS, well she was funny but not HILARIOUS. The Next in the series is "2 for the show"

I also just finished a book I heard about on NPR called Sunshine by Robin McKinley. It was a vampire story but it was a little bit weird. I liked it but it was set in some weird future setting where it was a world of people that fought against demons vampires and were people. it sounds really weird like that but it was pretty good. The main character was a baker and also a vampire slayer and magic handler. If I had known it was going to be that weird I don't know that I would have started it, it was good but I wouldn't read a sequel.
It did however inspire me to make Muffins for breakfast this morning. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com, that is my favorite site for looking up fun things to make. The Muffins had over 2ooo reviews, and the average rating was 4.5/5. They were very good! The picture isn't mine but they looked about like that.

Wild Rabbits

Well I don't know if "wild" is the right word. The neighbor behind us has an acre or two and his land covers the length of the complex we live in and the fence isn't that high. He has a couple of bird feeders and a bird bath and the birds and the squirrels all love it. Well, I have been noticing more and more a little brown rabbit hopping around and usually going toward or away from the vegetable garden. I haven't ever seen a hutch so I assume he is wild, but really how wild could he be. It is kinda cute and it looks well fed.

I really don't have anything all that exciting to post, as you can tell. I have been working and coming home and do a little bit of other stuff in between. I recently have been going out and doing "massage days" at local business', I go and do a ten minute chair massage to the employees. I also give out a little gift bag with a bunch of stuff with the company name, you get the idea. I am also supposed to try and bring them in as new patients if they seem like they would benefit from treatment. Well really, who wouldn't? So I do my thing, and I have got a few people to sign up and come in for an exam and blah blah and per the coupon there is no cost. When someone that I sign up comes in, I get a $25 dollar bonus, plus when they come back and actually become a patient, that $25 turns into $75. So I have been kinda pumped about that since I don't really make much. Well the first 4 people I signed up flaked. one called but the other 3 just never showed up! I was pissed! That could have been an extra $300, that would have been nice. Well on Friday, one finally showed up. and he will more than likely turn into the $75. On the schedule there will more than likely be one more come in, she seemed solid when I scheduled her. So keep your fingers crossed for me that they all come in!
Oh yeah, I also started reading a new book. It is called One for the Money. A brook woman becomes a bounty hunter, that is the premise for the story. it is pretty good, a little bit rough around the edges but fun.
and one more book I would recommend is called "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan, it is all pictures, but a compelling story none the less, it has been done very well!
oh yeah one last thing, Happy Birthday to my favorite Brother in-law in Mountain View with blonde hair and 3 children. Way to go Paul for making it 3 decades!

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blog

There really isn't much to report on for me. Life is pretty much on cruise right now. I go to work, I come home, kids go to bed, we clean up, talk to the Mrs., go to bed. At least that is what is kinda feels like.
The main picture above is of a gadget on igoogle (if you don't know what that is I'll explain in a sec.) that I think funny but feel a little guilty about. The girl falls through space and crashes into the bubbles. it is a very simple idea, but I get great amusement from it.
igoogle gadgets are little features you can add to your google homepage. ig you go to google you can see a little link to igoogle. then you make it your own by adding stuff, that is the link "add stuff" type is boneless girl. and add the gadget. you too will enjoy countless minutes of watching injuries. hint: if she gets stuck, just click and drag her. that can be fun too.
oh yeah when you do the search don't look at too many other gadgets, some (most if not all) are kinda bad.