New and Exciting!

This week we started to attend our meetings in a brand new building. This is the second ward meetinghouse in Star. I am rather fond of it because while I was working for my previous employer, I designed the plumbing and HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) systems. I am the engineer of record for this design and I got to take several tours of the building while it was under construction. I have always wanted to know what goes on inside the guts of a church building, and now I have a little more understanding than I did before. I think the construction went very smoothly; I had very few questions to answer from the contractors. That means either one of two things - my design was exceptionally clear and easy to interpret from the design documents; or the contractor didn't really care what I showed on the drawings and did it the way he wanted to. I tend to think it is the latter, since I observed the construction progress and the contractor pretty much installed it the way it was drawn.

It is neat to have a brand new building where you can be the first one to crack open the hymnbook and enjoy that new book smell. When we first moved to Star way back in 2000, our first Sunday was also the first Sunday that the "old" Star building was used too, so I guess we have a track record now with new buildings in Star, Idaho.

In preparation for the new building, one Sunday Kristin showed me an announcement in the bulletin. It said there would be training for the new organ on a certain day and that all who were interested were invited to attend. I have played the piano since I was 8 years old. I have never really played on the organ before, but it is one of my favorite instruments to listen to. I thought that I would go to the training and see what it was all about. I don't really want to be called as the ward organist right now as I am having waaay too much fun with my 11-year old scouts, but I wanted to know more about the organ.

At the training, one of the 3 organists from our ward was there. She said "I didn't know you played the organ!" and I had to tell her that I never had, but was interested to know what they were all about. We sat through the training in which one of the local music shop owners gave the pointers on how to set up and play the organ. I was soaking it up like a sponge! Everything was so exciting - I have always been amazed at all the sounds the organ can produce, so it was very enlightening for me to now see how to make them. If there is one gripe I have with the "standard" ward organist, it is that it seems to me that they like to play it safe - all the hymns are rendered with pretty much the same registration settings. It reminded me of a time late on my mission where the wife of the Bishop in the Pittsfield Ward was converted as an adult and she was the organist. She played all sorts of different ways and with different sounds - it was quite refreshing, added to my enjoyment of the music and helped me feel the Spirit more as I sang.

So when all was said and done for the evening, Sister Wood asked me if I wanted to learn how to play. I said "ABSOLUTELY!" She told me that she thought it would be a good idea for me to practice and then play prelude and postlude music for Sacrament meeting on a Sunday when I was ready. I agreed and she let me borrow one of her prelude music books.

Since Kristin is in the Relief Society presidency, she was issued keys for the new building in advance of our Sunday meeting time. I asked her if I could borrow the key to get in and practice on the organ. Kristin hates the organ, so I know she thought I was knocked in the head when I wanted to go play it. Well, I love it! It is so fun to play the organ. I do not know how to play the foot pedals yet, but I know that will come in time. I have been looking up anything I can find on the Internet to feed my desire to know more about how to play it. My first time at the organ during church will be on March 6th. I am practicing hard. Hopefully I will do a good job.

I made it the whole week!

Well, I made it through the entire week at my new job. I wouldn't say I am proud of it or anything, I am just thrilled to have a job! I keep telling my new co-workers that I am stoked to be at work. They kind of look at me sideways and get a funny look on their face, like they are not sure what to think. I tell them that I really am excited to be there and they just kind of smirk and walk away, shaking their heads as they go. I can't help it if it's the truth - I am totally jazzed about being at work. I am helping the team by working on an energy simulation model that we have going on for a school district in central Idaho (confidentiality requires that I say no more about the client).

I think I am making a good impression on my new co-workers. I hope that as they get to know me a little better, they can use my talents. I think this process has been hard for Joel. He was promoted and I took his job, but he still has some of the same responsibilities until he can hand them off to me. I have been asking him for tasks and he says something like "Do you want to do this for me?" and I say to him, "If that is what you need me to do, I will do it." Sometimes I think he is afraid I will tell him no. I don't know why he would think that, especially since this is what they hired me to do. Oh well, I will just keep on trying to exceed their expectations and do the best I can all the time.

Here is a picture of Erin on our trip to Stanley last year. When we got to the hill for sledding, there were no tracks in the snow at all, so we ran the snowmobiles down the hill a few times to try to get the snow packed down a little bit and make a trail. When Erin got on the sled to go down the hill, she followed the path for a little bit, then jumped off the trail and almost ran into the rock that is mostly snow-covered in this picture. I don't think she would admit it, but from my vantage point it sure looked like she was having fun.

This one is from the Blue and Gold Banquet last February. Tyler earned his Webelos Rank. As part of the ceremony, all the boys who earned their rank advancements had to get them out of a cupcake without using their hands. The rank badge had been baked in the cupcake and then frosted, so it fun to see that some boys just got after it to get their badge and didn't care how messy they got. Other boys tried not to get any frosting on themselves. Since these were my Webleos boys, I walked around the table behind all of them as they were finding their badges in the middle of the cupcakes. I accidentally bumped a few boys which had the unfortunate result of them getting more frosting on their face than they had hoped. The two boys in the background of this picture just got their Bobcat ranks and had had their faces painted with bobcat whiskers by their moms. It was a great time!

The Adventure Begins

Tomorrow is the big day for me! I feel a lot like a schoolboy going to the first day of classes. I am a little nervous and yet really excited as I begin my next chapter of life tomorrow by starting work for McKinstry Company. I am eagerly looking forward to joining the team and settling in to get things done. Being out of work for the past 7 weeks has for sure been a trying experience for me. I know it is sad to admit, but I have missed being in a routine and schedule. I know that helps to give me some direction and purpose to life. I was telling Kristin last night as I was doing the ironing that it would be the last day of only 6 things to iron. Now all my work shirts and pants will be added in again and I will not be able to finish so quickly.

As I look back on the last 7 weeks, I may begin to consider this unemployment experience as my mid-life crisis, but I haven't been able to get a new sportscar out of it.... Perhaps that will still be in the future, who knows? But whatever happens for the next little while, I know that the Lord is blessing me with what I need.

Switching gears a little bit now and for this new year, I have committed to updating the blog at least once a week, so I also have some pictures to share too. This one is of Conner making snow angels during our trip to Stanley, Idaho in January of 2010. One of my former co-workers, Mick Grefenson, has a cabin that his family owns there in Stanley. Mick and his family took me and my family on a trip to do some sledding and snowmobile riding. It was a great trip and the whole family had fun.

This one is of the Sawtooth Mountains - essentially it is the view out of the picture windows of Mick's cabin. Imagine waking up to this vista every morning! To me that would be worth enduring the -11 degree temperatures that dominate the winter there in Stanley. This picture still reminds me of how COLD it was up there, but I did not mind just cuddling up with Kristin near the fireplace and enjoying it.