Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife and to my very own mother!!!

My children don't yet realize how blessed they are to have the mother that Leslie is to them. I never knew how blessed I was either when I was still a young kid. Leslie loves our children even after some of them manage to cause her to question her sanity. She cares deeply about their development and worries about moving them around again away from friends they make. She is compassionate towards them at times when I might lose my temper with things they have done. Leslie has been the mom I could never be for our children and for which I am forever indebted to her and why I love her so much.

I will never forget the time I sorely dissappointed my mom and lost her trust because I made a horrble decision over some silly baseball cards. I felt as if my life was over for nearly 3 days following the incident. I am forever greatful for the miraculous forgiving nature that my mother possesses.

When, I registered for my classes for my Senior year in high School, I decided I would go ahead and attempt to tackle a second year of Spanish in order to earn my scholastic diploma. I can never forget her insight and the words she shared with me that if I chose to take a second year of Spanish that I would surely be called to serve a mission in a Spanish speaking country. My arrogant response was something along the lines of, "well if I am, I just won't go". Yet in the end, a miracle occured when as I barely managed to even graduate, due to almost not successfully completing and passing that Spanish class, and as I watched other friends who were true examples to me receive their calls to Spanish speaking nations, and as my call came in and my mother's prophecy was fulfilled, a change of heart allowed for me to willingly accept my call to serve and teach the Spanish speaking people of Colombia.

The first Sunday I spent in Colombia on my mission was Mother's Day. I had arrived a few days earlier and by that point I was in full blown culture shock. During the entire Sacrement meeting I was unable to hold back the tears as they recognized the mothers in that ward and I truly was missing my mother, not to mention a washing machine and dryer, hot water, and other things we all take for granted. The little girl next to me during sacrament kept asking me what was wrong and all I could say was "no se" which means I don't know. I did know but I couldn't express it in spanish words at that point. I was coming to the realization at that point in time of how blessed I was to have the mother I have.

Then when I made my call home to hear her voice and she heard how hard of a time I was having being a quarter of a world apart, I caused her to feel a sense of despair as she later told me she wondered to herself what had she done by sending me out into the world. Yet another mircale happened and I managed to stick with it and not give up or give in and ask to go home, as I finished my mission and returned with honor.

I continue to cause my mother and wife anguish and concern as I struggle to live my life and do the best I can to be as good of a parent to my kids as my mom has been to me and as my wife is to our children. And I am sorry for all the sadness and sorrow I have caused you both over the years and will undoubtedly continue to cause you both for years to come as I stumble and fall in my endeavor to be better than I am. Thank you for loving me and putting up with me. I love you Leslie. And I love you too mom.

Love,
Jeremy

April Post

So here is my April Post. Facebook stole most of my attention away from bloging. Here is the video that explains one of my recent statuses on Facebook... enjoy.

Pinewood Derby: T-minus 3.5 Weeks

Well... I guess I should just round down and say 3 weeks... Landon's 3rd Pinewood Derby is on March 28th. As many of you know, he has a title to defend... 2 years running 1st place overall in the Packs he's been in. His design stepped it up so much last year from the year before that I am not sure how or if he (maybe we) can outdo it.

His initial design concept this year was to make it look like a flame or fire. I have given him the "Master Mechanics" book that we got the first year we built his car and I asked him to review it. I also suggested that he come up with 2 or 3 more design concepts so as to have some choices to work with when finalizing the other important aspects of how the car needs to be designed in order to accommodate the science and physics of it all. The majority of all the neat tools that can make a major difference in how the car performs are now sold directly in the scout shop and so people won't have to hunt them down so much at hobby stores.

SO... here's my dilemma... how little should I help since he is now a Webelos and I think he should craft it all on his own??? OR How much should I help so as to reassure myself that his winning streak has nothing to fear??? Honestly, there are only 4 other boys in our pack and unless the parents of the other boys have some tricks up their sleeves, I am not too worried that there will be much competition based on what I have heard from the past year.

As the CubMaster, I do think that I need to build an additional car... you know the one that is the guaranteed-last-place, barely-keeps-its-wheels-on, possibly-can't-reach-the-finish-line, "loser car" so as to add some "competition". And then I think maybe I should make a guaranteed winner car for running against whomever the champion is among the boys so as to demonstrate that there can always be someone better...

Your thoughts and opinions now please.

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2007

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2008

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2009

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Stress + Procrastination = ???

Since I have always done better in Math than other subjects I have always considered Math to be my Favorite subject. It always made me feel special and important when I could comprehend what seemed so hard for others to get the hang of. So if you don't enjoy reading my half-baked, technical bologna, then I promise I will try to not make this post so convoluted... note the emphasis on the try.

I don't recommend Procrastination or Stress, but for me it is what tends to either yield disaster or the difference between an impressive, almost miraculous result and a mediocre sum of unfocused efforts. Fortunatey, I think I avoided disaster by the end of last week and the result was one I can feel proud to say I helped to make happen.

I am in no way entirely responsible for the success that was our Blue and Gold Banquet. If it weren't for Leslie being the glue that held it all together, and her brother Kirk's generous willingness to share his hobbies and talents, and her father Gerry's kindness to allow us to employ his technical gadgetry, and the handful of other family and ward members who saved the day with their service in making it all happen, then I can say without a doubt that Saturday would have been an utterly embarassing disaster.

SO THANK YOU to everyone that hung in there with me and didn't abandon me in the deplorable procrastination induced stressful final hours leading up to showtime. I will let Leslie provide pictures and highlights of the event on her blog.

Not much to say...

I haven't posted anything in the last month and a half because I have not had anything noteworthy to share that Leslie hasn't already shared on her blog.

Work is going well. I spent 3 days last week with our advanced Hosting departement. I learned a lot. I applied for another promotion which would have meant switching back to working at night but I was already turned down as an applicant since I have not been with the company for a full year yet.

That's all for now...

Life in the Fast Lane!!!

So for anyone who ever stops in to see what I have to say... I GOT MY PROMOTION!!!

I started a day shift and went in for training today!!! I am excited for the opportunity. It will be a challenge and is taking me out of my comfort zone. But that is waht they want... they want us to get out of and stay out of our comfort zone so that we can grow and learn...

Anyway... I am essentially filling a management role and will speak to customers who have asked to speak to a supervisor as well as I will be a 2nd level support for the rest of our representatives. I am getting a bigger overview of how many different departments make us the well oiled machine that we want to be.

Our Holiday Party was awesome! Awesome in terms of the level of attention that it received from the media. Awesome in terms of the excitement of anticipating the possibility of winning a cash prize from the several hundred drawings that were held. NO we did not win... our name was not drawn... but we went into it fully expecting not to win and decided we just wanted to enjoy ourselves. Most of the fun was just in dressing up and going out on the town... SEE LESLIE's BLOG FOR PICTURES The food was acceptable. The entertainment was very entertaining. And the drunks were entertaining as well.

That's all for now.

FOG of ....BLAH... and kids veto their father!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and with Leslie and I celebrating our 11th anniversary on the 6th and with a Christmas party for my work on the 13th, and Christmas itself approaching like a Semi-truck with no brakes... and... and... and....

So, I tried to cancel Christmas but my kids vetoed me. With so many exciting upcoming events I was only trying to minimize the potential for post holiday blues ;o).

A position at work that would be a promotion for me has opened back up, and I am anxious to get another chance to interview. The last time I had my interview for the position I applied for, I felt like it went very well. Although I did not get the promotion back then I was later told that the interviewers were impressed and had considered me as an alternate candidate. The open positions at that time went to applicants who had more time with the company, and some of whom had previously worked in that position, and for whatever reasons had moved on and were now back trying to climb up the company ladder again.

In preparation for the next time the position was open, I had taken advice from my supervisor and read a book about Leadership and teambuilding. I have continued to pursue learning as much as possible about technology in general as it applies to our products and services that we offer. So, Saturday I took and passed 2 Exams that are part of a couple of internal certifications which are being used as a prefered qualification for the applicants of the new position that I applied for. Prior to these 2 tests I had completed 2 other Exams and a project that was designed not only to test your ability, but also served as a very enlightening experience from which I gained some beginner Server Administrator knowledge. I have continued in my role as a liason for our team on issues where we can see room for changes to make improvements both internally as well as for the ease of use of our products by our customers.

But one of the biggest feathers in my cap now is that I was given the opportunity to put together some material for a training course for the other support representatives who do the same job as myself. Initially I spent a weekend trying to gather my thoughts and formulate questions that I had in my mind about a particular product of ours that my supervisor and I determined would be an excellent topic for the training. When we met to further discuss it I was still no where near prepared to actually present any course to my co-workers, as I had come up wth as many questions to which I still didn't have the answers to as I had answered questions that I brought into the process at its inception. Luckily I had a couple of more days to finish preparing what I would present.

I managed to throw together a decent sized power point presentation which took about 45 minutes to go through and discuss. I think my supervisor was pretty impressed with it and on Thanksgiving day I presented it to 2 different classes. I received some great compliments from my co-workers who felt that it was well worth their time to have attended the training. And my supervisor told me I did a nice job. I then got to present the same class one more time on Friday morning to another team.

So... with so much happening and working the shift that I do, maybe its more of a "Blur of BLAH" as opposed to a "Fog". Sorry for all the vagueness. It was intentional.

All I want for Christmas is my tooth #7...

I know this is going to sound silly since its easy to claim after the fact. But as Leslie and I were trying to decide where to go for our date Saturday night, I kept feeling like it didn't matter where we went to eat, that somehow I was going to regret eating. We chose Black Angus... and I can't remember the last time we went out for a nice meal on a date since we have been in the poor house.

So I was biting off a piece of the yummy fried zuchini when I felt the discomfort of what I hoped was just an extra crunchy part of the batter lodged between my front tooth #8 and it's next door neighbor tooth # 7. No such luck... the LARGE filling I had from about 6 years ago which was looking very poor due to the stain in the seam between the filling and the leftover half of my tooth, had finally broken off and so now I am sporting a true snaggle tooth... oh wait Halloween has come and gone... A few weeks late and a half a tooth short!

Anyway, I am still waiting for my gums and empty tooth sockets to heal so I can eventually get some implants to replace a couple of teeth that I had extracted because they were beyond saving. I could go on and on about my poor oral health but then I would have to hear about my less than perfect oral hygiene habits and not be allowed to blame it on all the Mountain Dew I drank a ton of in my youth and/or genetics... Actually the dentists at the school where I am playing guinea pig will tell you that our need for oral hygiene is a direct result of our diet in this modern day and age. Back in the dark ages the people had far worse dental hygiene and yet the skulls of the dead reflect far less dental decay than what you would think.

So if you see me in the next couple of weeks and all I can do is grin for a smile... you'll understand I am just trying not to ruin the shock value for next Halloween.

Back in the public eye for now

So Leslie kept insisting that I create my facebook profile yesterday... so I told her to go ahead and start it up for me... Before you know it I am spending all day trying to add friends. Then I decided to search for people I knew from my mission in Colombia. I had started my Spanish blog (http://elderjeremysmith.blogspot.com) in August in hopes that some people might find me and renew contact. Well I knew that at least one person I had taught on my mission had gone on to serve a mission and had some form of access on the internet since he had a profile in his missions website. So I searched facebook for Juan Pablo Parra Monroy and found a result with a profile picture which was surely him. When I viewed the List of his friends then I was positive because his mom, Luidina (aka Ludy) was listed as one of his friends. And then I saw his sister Silvia's picture who was 12 or 13 when we baptized her and it had the Salt Lake City network associated with it and I couldn't believe that any of their family was possibly living here in the USA.

This morning I awoke to find that I created quite the International commotion. Ludy had accepted my invitation and written on my facebook wall. As I was attempting to write on her wall I received the notification that her youngest daughter Silvia had also accepted me as a friend and then Silvia initiated a chat via facebook's chat interface and told me her parents are in Spain now and that her mom had called her this morning about the fact that we had renewed contact with each other via facebook. The next thing I know I am getting a call from Spain at 6 am this morning. Their son Ivan is in Switzerland and the only one still back in Colombia is Andrea, and she is in Medellin from what I gathered. I was on speaker phone and they had their daughter in Utah on their Webcam listening back in. I talked to their cousin in English who was their with them in Spain.

Hearing from them and knowing how they have continued to progress in the church has renewed my spirit. Being far from perfect, I can only imagine that the inexplicable joy which overwhelms me with excitement is surely a fraction of the joy that is mentioned in Doctrine & Covenants 18:15. "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

The Parra Monroy family was the golden family that every missionary hopes to have the chance to find and teach. Although we initially only baptized Ludy, and 3 of the 4 kids, their father was also baptized. We had also baptized a neighbor who listened and learned with them. I understand Brother Parra wnt on to serve as Bishop and that the neighbor that we taught is now the bishop in that ward. And the fact that Juan Pablo served a mission in Barranquilla means the domino effect of lives which have been blessed by my decision to serve our Heavenly Father has snowballed not to mention their cross continental movement.

Truly a transfiguration will be the only means by which any of us will be able to contain, experience, and feel the joy which our Heavenly Father has in store for us.