Stitches Update

Sammy got his stitches out today!!! We stopped by the doctor's office and nurse Terry took them out. Sammy did very well and only bled a little bit. I had to hold his hands to keep him from knocking the scissors and tweezers out of the Terry's hands. Now Sammy has some tape over the scar to keep things held together while the healing continues. He is going to have one cool scar!!

For his bravery Sammy got a Small Gulp (little brother to the Big Gulp)!

Best Burger Anywhere!

Last week I was in Page, AZ on business. I was looking for someplace to eat for dinner and remembered a really good place just off the main drag.

If you ever find yourself in Page, stop by and have a bite to eat at Slackers. I had the Bacon Burger. Wow!!! I can't begin to describe how incredibly delicious the burger was. It was grilled to perfection and topped with crisp bacon, just the way I like it.

For the cost conscious, you can't go wrong at Slackers. I had the bacon burger, fries, and a drink for $8.75. Compare that to the barely edible rib eye steak I had the night before at one of the local steak joints in Page for which I paid $24.

http://www.slackersrestaurant.com/

Ouch!! That hurts!!

I spent most of the past week at a customer site working on some equipment issues they were having. Finally, Friday morning we had fixed the problems and I was ready to head for home. On my way into town to gas up and head out, I called home to tell the family the good news. I was greeted on the phone by Adam. Adam told me that mom was busy taking care of Sammy.

Sammy had been playing with the kids across the street. He was hiding next to their truck and turned to run...right into the open door of the truck. As you can see from the pictures, Sammy did quite a number on his forehead. Marni finally called me on her way to the doctor to get things sewn up. She called me later to tell me that Sammy had six stitches in his forehead. Later when she took the bandage off, we realized that he really has seven stitches. Poor kid. Now he is going to have a cool scar...Lucky!!

This going out of town thing is dangerous for my family. I was in Rexburg, Idaho one time and Marni called to tell me that Carolyn had fallen back on a chair and hit her head on the table. If I remember right, Carolyn ended up with five staples in the back of her head from that one.

Influence of older siblings

This morning, the girls helped me out by bringing the mail in. Carolyn did her best carrying the ads. She had obviously dropped them a few times and was having trouble keeping them together. She just put them in a nice pile on the table.

A while later, Erin (all of 20 months) was sitting at the table drinking some water while I cleaned off the remnants left behind from breakfast and lunch. I looked over at one point and she had her elbows on the table, her hands to her chin, looking through the WalMart Ad. She was flipping the pages and talking to herself.

As I watched her, she turned to a page with a game console displayed. She mumbled a few words to herself and then clearly said "Xbox." I about laughed myself silly. Obviously she has been listening to her brothers better than I had thought.

A page or two later and she found a picture of a guy working a grill. Erin promptly muttered to herself "Daddy's cooking," and then looked up at me and grinned. It was enough to melt my stubborn heart and contemplate firing up the grill and throwing some steaks on.

Boston Temple

One of my evening trips while in Boston was to attend a session at the Boston Temple with a friend from my days as a missionary in Taiwan.

After the temple session, we went to Chinatown in Boston and ate at the Taiwan Cafe. The food was wonderful and took me back to my days as a missionary.

A long day and the virtues of alcoholic beverages

I arrived home at 4am this morning after one very long day. The day started out innocent enough. I was in Foxboro, MA attending a training class for work. Friday was the last day of class. We finished at 10:30 a.m. I was on the road headed for Providence, RI to catch a flight home. I dropped of my rental car and was in the airport by Noon, hoping to catch an earlier flight home. That is where things went south.

I found out that flights were being canceled and that there were no earlier flights out. I was doomed to sit in the airport until 5:30 p.m. when my flight would leave. Around 4 p.m. I was told that the plane was still stuck in Chicago and that the airport there was closed because of bad weather.

A little while later word came that the plane was in the air and would arrive at 7:30 p.m. We would board and get out of Providence quickly after that. I could never be that lucky! Pretty soon the word came that our flight out would be delayed until 9:55 p.m. Not to worry, my flight out of Chicago was delayed as well and I would have no problem getting my connection to Salt Lake City.

Well, the flight time was still pretty fluid at that point and kept bouncing around so the pilot boarded us at 8:45 p.m., hoping to catch a break and get out earlier. As luck would have it we were able to get off the ground around 9:30 p.m.


Now to back track a moment. While all of this drama was going on, there was a rather obnoxious passenger hanging out at the Mexican Food joint/bar in the terminal. As the flight got more delayed, he would drink more beer and eat more food. I guess the poor idiot doesn't know when to quit and the moron bar tender didn't know when to cut the idiot off.

The idiot got onto the plane, drunk, weaving, slurring, and cussing. Unfortunately for me, he was in the row ahead and to the left of me. After we got off the ground I think his world came crashing down upon him. At one point I looked up and the idiot was puking into one of those little bags that they have in the seat pocket in front of you on a plane and looking for another one. He had puked all over himself. He spent much of the rest of the flight trying to clean his pants and hold down whatever was left in his stomach.

I am not sure if he will remember the night or not, but I am pretty sure the rest of the passengers on the plane will never forget that flight. I hope he remembers the flight though and how stupid he looked with puke all over himself. If nothing else, I have a great example to use when I teach about the Word of Wisdom.