Funerals and Stuff

I haven't written in here since the death of my brother. Things were a little bit hectic, but I am here now, and I will try to recall what I can to write about.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, I chose to go to work. There was no sense sitting around my house where my thoughts may overwhelm me. There was a need to go to work and try to keep this out of my mind as much as possible. Had there been something I could do or say to anybody to help out at this terrible time, I would've done so. Eileen happens to be in North Carolina and is too far for me to be able to do any of that. A lot of emails were sent around to the family members as to what would be going on for this funeral and all the arrangements. I also had to get my flight tickets, and everything else. My wife decided to come with me on this trip, and I am grateful for all of her support in this. The tickets cost me $1150 for roundtrip for two as well as our hotel room and a car with unlimited miles for Saturday through Tuesday. I didn't think this was too bad for last minute tickets, and am feeling pretty good about it.

I took Friday off from work as my regular day off from work that I do every two weeks. The day was spent in getting ready for this trip. Not too much more happened of note.

Saturday morning, we got up nice and early so we could drive to the airport. We got there nice and early like we were supposed too. Nothing much happened to us, and we got through the new puffer machines just fine (they put you in a spot while air is puffed at you to see if there is any residue from bomb making stuff). We sat at the airport for awhile and wondered where my mom, dad, sister and Natalie were. They got there on time, but it seems that when my brother reserved Natalies ticket under the family name instead of her real name. Had she been 21 (she is 20) they said she wouldn't have been able to get on the flight. Anyway, we made it just fine. There was a long layover in Cincinatti.

We met up with Keith in North Carolina. We got our rental car and took him to his hotel, and then went to our hotel. Problem is, we got lost getting to our hotel. That lasted way too long. The streets in Raleigh curve everywhere, and it isn't the easiest place to find things. After all of that, we went to Eileens house. We spent a little time there, and were told to come back at 8:00 AM for breakfast before church. We got Keith home OK, and then got lost in the dark trying to get back to our place. We finally arrived at our hotel around midnight. We didn't have the best temperments.

Sunday morning we got up, got Keith and headed to Eileens. Surprisingly, we were the first ones there. This is the first time I was able to see my brothers house and yard in the daylight. It is absolutely gorgeous. He has a slight swamp in the backyard, with Beavers who keep on building a dam that he keeps on tearing down so it doesn't flood his yard. My brother never could simply get rid of the Beavers because they are just doing what the do naturally. Breakfast was great, and we then headed for church. We only went to Sacrament meeting.

We left church and just kind of hung out at Eileens during the day. There was a lot of food there so there was eating and socializing. Some had gone to their hotels for some rest. That night, we went to the mortuary at 6:00 PM for the viewing at 7:00 PM. There was a ton of people at the viewing. An employee at the mortuary said that she had been at the mortuary for 7 years and had never seen so many people show up. The line was long. It went down the hall, outside and through the parking lot over to the grass of the cemetary. In the end, we looked at the registry book and found that over 1,000 people had come. It was a long night with a lot of good people who came to support Eileen in her loss of her husband, as well as the family. It was well appreciated, and we could see the lives that my brother Randy had touched.

Monday morning came awful early. Once again, we took the trek to Eileens house and visited for a bit there as well as had breakfast once again. I should mention here that we felt the Southern hospitality throughout our stay. There was always a lot of food and a lot of well wishers. People wanted to do things for Eileen so there was one man who directed people with what they could do. They fixed the stairs coming up to her house. They powerwashed the house. They cleaned every room in the house including moving things to clean under them. They got rid of some of the old vehicles that Randy never quite got around to doing something with. They took some things to the dump, some to good will. People were busy doing service for my brother and his wife that was very much appreciated. There were those who came over and gave comfort, peace and love. Of this, my family is most grateful.

Well, we finally got to the church. We had a prayer meeting. Eileen opened the casket and told those who wanted to go up and see my brother to come up and look. I don't like open caskets at all, so, of course I refused to go up and look. From my understanding, he was quite beat up from the accident and didn't really look much like the Randy that we had all known and loved. I didn't want to see his body in particular all broken up. This is not the way I want to remember him. I want to remember him with his livelyness (if that isn't a word it should be). The family prayer was said by Alan (his son) and then we pall bearers went into the actual funeral services. I really didn't want to speak, but I was asked too as were all of us in the family. The funeral services went for about 2 1/2 hours.

Here is my talk (well, I changed it a little, but this is what I had written down).

Memories of Randy

When I was asked to give my memories about Randy, I struggled with it. I am a bit younger than him, so I didn’t do a lot with him. But, I know who he is, and the type of person that he has turned out to be.

The first thing that I thought of about Randy is the fact that he was always a peacemaker. No matter what was going on, he would be able to diffuse the situation. He had a real talent there and a real gift. It is one that I wish I could have, but just doesn’t seem to be inside of me.

Randy also loved to paint. I remember seeing him sit for hours painting on his easel. He entered quite a few paintings into 4-H competitions. He did pretty well there. I never understood how somebody could sit there for hours taking care of the minutest details on the paintings. Randy had the patience that I so desire. Randy loved the 4-H. He was quite involved with them through the years.

Randy’s paintings showed his love of nature. He loved nature. He had a love for plants and animals. His love for animals was so great that he even fell in love and married a woman (Eileen) who had a Rabbit for a vehicle. I recall when Eileen called Randy for a date. Randy was excited. He asked if that was the really cute girl he had met, and was quite excited. He never remembered names very easily so my mother told him to remember her name by word association, that is, I lean on Eileen. Seriously though, he really does love nature. He was always stopping to look at Gods creations. He was always in awe. Always humble about life. He also collected bugs. He always seemed to have a net around that he was quite good at catching the next beautiful butterfly. Most of the time, after capturing them, he would look at them, and then release them. However, he did keep some of them to add to his collection.

I remember his lizards. Randy had chameleons. He kept them in a terrarium. Well, most of the time they were kept there. Mom didn’t much like the lizards. There were a couple of times that they got out, and we couldn’t let mom know that they were lost. Sooner or later, they were found and put back in. When Randy left on his mission, he asked me to take care of the chameleons. I really didn’t want to do it, but being that he was on the Lords errand, it was the least I could do. Randy left on his mission, and I went to feed the chameleons the next morning. Both of them were dead. I guess they too were heartbroken that this wonderful man would be gone.

Well, these are a few of my memories about Randy. From these few examples we can see a quality human being. Randy is a peacemaker, a man with patience, a man who loves everything and everybody on this earth. I don’t think he had any malice toward anybody. Even the critters knew they would miss him. Randy, if we could all be like you, this world would be the celestial kingdom. We need more people like you. May your love fill all of us here? May we all feel peace, knowing that you are in your final rest? We are going to miss you. We love you. Enjoy your new experiences.

(End of my talk - I kept it short because there were so many people to speak).

There was over 600 people at the funeral services.

Next we had a ride in the Limos to the cemetary with a police escort. Once again, a lot of people came. My dad dedicated the grave of his son, and then we hung out for a bit. We were taken back to the church. My wifes group got lost because they tried to follow my limo, and was a bit late to the church and lunch. They did arrive, and we had a wonderful lunch. The chicken burritos were hand made all the way from plucking the chicken. The vegetables were all from the same ladys garden. It was a fabulous meal.

After the lunch, Larry said that he was inviting the family that was 13 and over to go to Lake Powell on the 20th of June. He discouraged parents and wanted it to be a teen age thing. Then he said that this was with the exception of Glens family as they had already planned on going. Basically, this excluded only two people. My daughter and my sisters daughter. We were a bit hurt by that. Larry explained it later. He was really looking for something for some of the teens to do that had stress in their lives (my sisters because of her husband in the prison, and Eileens family because of this death). He told me that he has since changed it, and all are invited to come.

We left the funeral and went back to our hotel. We sat around for awhile and then decided to go to the mall. While at the mall, my brother Larry called. They were looking for something to do. We had been talking about a movie, and they said they would probably do that. They all got together at Eileens house, and we felt it was too far to drive and they wouldn't want to wait anyway. We went and picked up Keith instead, and headed out to a theatre that was near to where we were. We went to see "The Da Vinchi Code". We really enjoyed that.

Tuesday morning, we slept in a bit. We then picked up Keith and went to Eileens house. Once again, lots of food and just plain old talking with each other and reminiscing. Of course, we went to the airport and left to go to Atlanta, and after a 2 hour lay over there on to Salt Lake. We arrived home at 11:00 PM, and my mother-in-law was at our house with our kids. She will sleep on the couch, and we will be getting some sleep as well.

Here is an article on my brother from his newspaper.

NCSU prof dies in Clayton crash
Randy Rose, 52, is remembered as a popular teacher who did enzymes research

Rose taught toxicology, did research.

Mandy Locke, Staff Writer

Randy Rose died just blocks from his Clayton home Tuesday evening when a sport utility vehicle knocked his car into the path of a truck.

Rose, an N.C. State University toxicology professor and researcher, was killed instantly.

Rose, 52, left work about 5 p.m. Tuesday and headed home to Johnston County in rush-hour traffic. He slowed his 14-year-old Honda Civic to a stop on Guy Road to turn left into his subdivision, said state Highway Patrol Trooper D.L. Braswell. As Rose waited for a pickup to clear the oncoming lane, a Ford Expedition slammed into his rear, knocking him into oncoming traffic.

Braswell said he thinks Geneva Cox, 49, the driver of the Expedition, didn't notice that Rose has stopped. He estimates that she rammed Rose's car at 40 miles per hour.

Rose's car slid into the path of a Dodge pickup, which pushed his car back into the original lane. Rose then clipped a Pontiac Grand Am before his car finally stopped spinning, Braswell said.

Rose's son, one of his five children, happened upon the crash within moments, Braswell said.

Charges against Cox are pending, Braswell said.

Rose helped run the environmental and molecular toxicology research lab at NCSU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, university officials said. He joined the staff in 1989, soon after earning his doctorate at Louisiana State University.

Rose spent much of his time researching how enzymes might aid human metabolism of chemicals such as pesticides. He was also a sought-after professor in the classroom, said Ernest Hodgson, the former head of NCSU's department of toxicology.

Students gravitated to Rose after taking his general toxicology course, Hodgson said. "They knew Randy was someone they could go to who would be interested in their problems," he said.

Rose planned to spend the summer researching.

Visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at McLaurin Funeral Home in Clayton. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Smithfield.

Staff writer Mandy Locke can be reached at 829-8927 or mandy.locke@newsobserver.com.
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Here is the obituary:

Dr. Randy Lynn Rose, 52, May 23, 2006.

Funeral service will be held on Monday, May 29, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Garner. Interment will follow at Maplewood Cemetery, Clayton.

Randy was born on April 24, 1954 in Kane, UT to Wayne and Joy Rose. At 19 years of age, Randy served a two-year mission for the Latter Day Saints Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth and continued to serve more than 25 years as a scout leader. He was a baseball coach in the Clayton Little League program for 13 consecutive years.

Randy received his Bachelor and Masters degrees from Utah State University and his PhD from Louisiana State University. He began his career at North Carolina State University under a post doctorate program and in 1989 helped to found the Dept. of Toxicology with his focus research on human metabolism and toxicology. He was an accomplished, internationally renowned toxicology researcher and speaker, published many times in professional journals.

He held many positions in the church including Bishop, Branch President, High Counselor, Young Men's President and teacher. His love was working with the youth of the church.

Randy is survived by his wife, Eileen G. Rose; sons, Brian Rose, Alan Rose, Gordon Rose, Oran Rose; and daughter, Karen Rose all of Clayton; parents, Wayne and Joy Rose of Salt Lake City, Ut.; brothers, Larry Rose, Keith Rose and Scott Rose of Bountiful, Ut., Craig Rose of West Jordan, Ut. and Glen Rose of Cedar Hills, Ut.; sister, Sharon Crockett of Highland, Ut.

In lieu of flowers a fund has been established in the memory of Randy Rose c/o Eileen Rose 2315 Huntsbridge Dr. Clayton, NC 27520.

The family will receive friends and relatives on Sunday evening, May 28, 2006 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at McLaurin Funeral Home.

Condolences may be made to the family at www.mclaurinatpinecrest.com.

Arrangements by McLaurin at Pinecrest, Funerals & Cremations, Clayton.

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The funeral cost around $11,000 and so far they have gotten donations of about $4,400.

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Death of Randy

Work was quite busy today. I have a lot to do and so little time at the moment. I was glad to get home. When I arrived home, I gathered up some books so that I could get them to the library on time. Just before I got out of the house, the phone rang.

My dad was on the phone. He didn't have a lot of information, but what I heard stunned me. My brother, Randy, was driving home and was hit by two cars. He's dead. Dad told me that Eilene was incoherent at times while she was talking with him and that she was actually in the ambulance when she called.

My wife wouldn't let me go to the library. She didn't think I would be able to drive there because of this news. She was coloring her cousins hair at the time. Well, I had to do something. I ended up getting the dog and taking a walk. I can't believe my brother is dead. He is 52 years old. He leaves behind his wife and five children. The oldest is around 25 or so. The youngest is 15.

After my wife was done with her cousins hair (and she took my library books in), we headed out to my parents house. Karen was there. I didn't really know what to say to her about her dad dying in this way. She went to the airport about 1/2 hour after we got there to be with her mom and her family. Randy lives in North Carolina. One son was driving home from Virginia, and the other son is driving home from Florida. I don't know when I will be flying out there yet. The tickets are quite high priced.

It seems that my brother was coming home from work, and was turning left across traffic to get into his subdivision. He was waiting for traffic, when he was hit behind into the oncoming traffic, and then pretty well was hit head on. They believe he died instantly. Even so, there was a member of his ward who gave him a priesthood blessing. His son, Gordon, was driving somewhere and saw his fathers car in the road and called his mom letting her know that Randy had been involved in an accident. As mentioned earlier, Eilene called my dad from the ambulance.

I don't know how I feel. My wife doesn't think it has fully hit me yet, and she is confused by the way I am acting (or not acting). It all seems so surreal. I don't know what to think or to feel at the moment. I am grateful for the gospel and for the fact that all of us will be resurrected. I am grateful that my brother lived the gospel, and I am pretty certain that he will be in the Celestial Kingdom. He is a great guy. I have had some tears, but it still doesn't quite seem real to me. My wife says that I am acting funny. I think it is frustrating her because she doesn't quite understand the way I think at the moment.

Tired Sunday

This morning, I only got up because I'm supposed to do that. I still hadn't caught up on sleep from that last trip. I got over to the church just a little bit early only to find out that the Deacons had set up the chairs after the Eagle Court of Honor last night. That was nice, but we still had to set chairs up on the stage.

I talked to a couple of people about Codys' Court of Honor and found that it was over 2 1/2 hours. That was way too long. They had 11 different speakers, Cody being one of them. I heard the family described as being narcissistic. It fits from everything I know of them.

I went to Deacons quorum but couldn't tell you what the lesson was about (remember I am tired). I headed home to rest for an hour before going back for Sacrament meeting. A lot of good that did me. I fell asleep during Sacrament meeting (at least I didn't snore). I did hear bits and pieces from the speakers. The talks were on missionary service.

My wife told me that I should go to sleep, but I really didn't want too because I knew that would just make me so I couldn't sleep tonight. My wife went with my daughter to a fireside (we didn't make my son go because he had his Friday evening). Aubree called me and wants me to see what I can do to help her pay back $800 to her mother for wisdom teeth that were taken out this week. I told her I would look into what I could do, but was certain I couldn't come up with the full $800. Her mother already was paying around $500. I need to ask her for the bill so I can at least see it and decide from there what to do. My wife and I played around with paying $200-400 and then possibly the full amount depending how we felt about it after all of this. For now I'll just have to wait and see.

I had a nice walk with my wife tonight and met one of our new neighbors. Not too much else going on.

Color Blind

My color blindness got in my way yesterday (well actually two days ago). When I got in this morning, I found that I had taken a GUI interface and didn't connect some of my jobs up. So, I had to start some things up that didn't run because of that. One problem I had was that (after fixing this) there are red lines and green lines to hook up things. The red line is what to do if the process doesn't work, and the green line says what to do if the process does work. I reversed those lines and couldn't see it until I looked really close at them. Oh well, I'll get through it.

After I got home from work Friday, I got a few things ready to go to a priesthood commemoration. I did however, close the garage door on the open door of our new Honda Pilot. It did a nice scratch in the paint and a ding. I was furious with myself for doing this, but there really isn't a whole lot I can do about it now. Anyway, my son and I headed over to the church for going up to the Mays cabin.

The Mays cabin is up in a place called Timberlake. That is about 7-8 miles away from Heber City. We were the first to arrive at the gate, and had to wait for the rest of the vehicles (Brother May was right behind us). The cabin was absolutely beautiful. It is a log cabin. You go into the entry way where you kick off your shoes. Immediately, you have the master bedroom, and another room. Then a nice big kitchen with a 10-12 foot island. A family room is also found there. Going upstairs from that there is an area to play and watch TV. In a hallway is 3 bedrooms. The bedrooms had twin beds and double beds. Between all of them, there were 3 twin beds, and two double beds. Of course there is a bathroom on each level as well. From the play area, you can go up to a loft. The loft had 4 or 5 more double beds and a lot of room to play or sleep (not sleep as was our case). Some stairs from the main level went to a basement. There is a garage in there currently with snowmobiles and four wheelers. There is also room to build some more rooms down there. So, basically it was big and done in great taste.

We messed around a bit, and then were all settled down for a fireside. We had Jeff Frandsen (of BYU fame) talk to us (I didn't even know he was in our ward till tonight). He, of course talked to us about his football days and what it took him to get there. He played with Ty Detmer and really enjoyed his time with football. It was an enjoyable fireside. We also saw some footage of his career.

After Jeff left, we were left to play and do things on our own. I visited with a few people while they were playing games. There was foosball, playstation 2 (Madden 2006), and some card games. I finally joined a card game called Scum. I played that game until around 1:30 AM on Saturday morning. After watching some TV, I decided to try to get some sleep. This was next to impossible because the guys stayed up all night making all kinds of noises. I probably got a total of 1/2 sleep when I finally got up around 8:00 AM.

We had breakfast, and then had to get the boys to clean up. They didn't do that well, so the leaders ended up doing most of that. My carload of boys got home around noon. I took a shower, and just before walking out the door, got a call from my wife asking me to bring the keys to the car because she had locked her keys inside it. My son and I joined my wife and daughter at Liberty Park. We were celebrating Annes birthday out there. It was a nice day. Our gazebo broke which was irritating, but other than that, a great day. On the way home, my wife just about wrecked the car in a cement block that is on the freeway. Thankfully, we made it home OK.

Though it was 7:30 PM when we got home, I saw a lot of cars in the church parking lot. I couldn't believe they would still be there for Codys' Eagle Court of Honor. I ran a few errands, and still saw cars there at about 8:30 (I found out later that this thing did last over 2 1/2 hours).

I am tired, so I have to go to bed.

Still more odds and ends

There isn't a whole lot going on. That's why I haven't written here for a bit. Once again, I find myself going back. The work problems have remained, and I have had to rewrite some code to get it to work properly. I think I finally got that all fixed today. Tomorrow morning, I should know for sure.

Tuesday evening, I went outside to find out about a letter that has gone around to some of the neighbors. We didn't get this letter, but it seems that somebody is upset because they have put up a fence and new neighbors that have moved in haven't offered to help pay for that fence. I feel that it is a personal choice, and don't know that I would offer to help pay for a fence if it was already there when I moved in. It has the neighborhood talking (not a good thing). People are curious who wrote it, and a couple of people have accused others.

Anyway, Lenny (my backyard neighbor) was getting dirt off of his grass that was done because his other neighbor is finishing his yard. I had gone out to talk with them so had a glass of crystal light in my hand. In the long run, I got some tools and helped him with his work. As we finished, he thanked me and told me that the next time he sees me in my yard weeding that he'll be right there. He said, "I'll get a glass of lemonade and watch". Ok, I thought it was funny.

Wednesday evening we had a stake thing going on to teach us not to get lost as we go up on these scout camps. I was asked if my son wanted to go on the scout camp with me since he has chosen not to go on the scout camp with the Venture Scouts. We needed to get the money in by the next day (today) if he wanted to go and to get the discounted price. He waffled a bit, but has decided that he wants to go. Now, it's going to cost me $130 dollars I wasn't planning on. I think he'll have fun.

Well, that's about all that has gone on. How boring is my life?

Odds and Ends

Going back to last Tuesday (if I can remember stuff). There were some problems from Mondays changes that went into Tuesday (and the rest of the week). I had to have some data dictionaries updated, and make sure to get various meta data in line. This did not fix my problems though all week. I am at a complete loss as to how to get a set of my jobs working properly now. I will have to retool everything in the process.

Nothing much to report for Tuesday evening (well at least that I can remember)

Wednesday evening I went to a combined activity with Young Men/Young Women. It was called scripture pizza or somesuch name. The kids had to answer some questions from scripture and then go up with the number of question they had answered and get that part of their dinner, and eat it in front of the leadership before they got their next question. This all ended, and they had the leaders see how many pizzas (they were about 3 inches in diameter) we could eat in 60 seconds. I came in second with only 4 of those. When I told my wife about it she told me not to do that again because you never know when something will get caught in my throat again.

Thursday evening, we had a nice evening listening to my sons music (and his music teachers last concert as a teacher). They did a wonderful job, and there was a great tribute to Mr. Cook done as well. He has been teaching for 35 years, and because the Jordan district is changing retirement rules, was practically forced into retirement. We were hoping that he would be able to teach my daughter as well, but that is not going to happen now.

I was home from work on Friday. I got the kids to school, and then my wife and I went to the mall to get our mothers some chocolate covered strawberries for mothers day. Since they are fresh we decided to go and give these to them on that day. We went to my moms first because we found that my sister-in-law was there for a bit from North Carolina. We had a pretty good visit and then went to my mother-in-laws home. All that went well. We barely got back home in time to pick up the kids. Nothing much else to report for Friday.

Saturday was just a day to take care of things at home. I mowed the lawn and took care of some weeds. I also took care of a little bit of laundry and some cleaning up of the house. Funny that this seems to take the whole day up. Our power went out when we were vegging in front of the TV. My son grabbed the Mousetrap game and we played that together and then decided on a walk. I guess the power outage was Gods way of getting us up off our butts and spend some quality time together as a family.

This morning, I got up in time to get my kids to make some breakfast for their mother (and my wife). We made her Egg, Cheese, and Canadian Bacon Muffins. They were even edible. She also got some kind of pop-tart (strawberry and cream cheese or something like that). For gifts the kids gave her a bracelet and a CD that has some talks about motherhood on it. I gave her a recipe holder (in a three ring binder that holds 3x5 cards). She seemed to like these.

I barely got to the church in time to help set up chairs for the primary, Elders quorum etc. In Deacons quorum we talked about the Word of Wisdom. Sacrament meeting was all about mothers (what else did you expect). There were no mothers day gifts given out in Sacrament meeting. It seems that anybody who had a primary child got a gift from them, but those of us who didn't have any children in primary got nothing. I know a couple of women felt slighted because of this tradition that is not being followed here.

We went home, where I barbecued up some pork chops and hot dogs for dinner. We then vegged for awhile until we had to get up and get over to mothers houses. We went to my wifes mom first. We just visited for a little while there. We then went to my moms house where we spent the rest of the time. My sister told us that we need to write to her husband in prison (we are the only ones that haven't) and then told us of some of his experiences there, and that he is not doing too badly considering the circumstances. He is learning to ask what an inmate expects in return for something so he gets no surprises when they expect something from him. He has also been reading a lot, and is taking some courses. It costs $25 for each credit hour that he takes in the way of education. He is also working as a clerk for the chaplain and making a whopping $5.35 a month.

After arriving home again, we went outside and talked with our back door neighbors a bit. We had some good converstaion, and then went inside. Nothing else is really going on. We came close to turning our air conditioning on, but decided to suffer the heat, at least for tonight.

Birthdays and such

It's been almost a week since I wrote here. I will have to go back from the best of my memory.

Wednesday was young men, I was told an hour before it started that I would have to take the reigns, and go with it. I was the only adult leader to show up for the deacons. Thank goodness the teachers group invited us to go with them to learn about guns and gun safety. It saved my butt.

There really isn't anything I can say about Thursday or Friday because either they were uneventful, or my age is preventing me from remembering anything.

Saturday, was a day for cleaning up around the house. I was outside most of the morning taking care of lawn and weeds. I couldn't throw the weeds into the garbage because we had forgotten to put the garbage out on Friday (so much for jokes about people getting taken out as much as the garbage). Anyway, I wore myself out pretty much.

At around 3:15 we headed out for PF Changs Chinese cuisine to have a dinner for my wifes birthday. Pam was there as well as Brandon and Ashley, and my wifes parents. Of course, my wife and I and my son and my daughter were also there. We had an excellent meal and then headed over to the Gateway (an outside mall in Salt Lake). As we wandered through there, my wife went into bath and body works, and I went in to stop her from buying something in there as she was getting something from there from me. She figured it out, so I ended up giving it to her that evening instead of Sunday on her birthday. We went to look at the fountain and a few of us climbed the climbing wall in Dicks sports. I became a little bit stiff from my climbing that wall. I had to climb fast because it kept me from thinking how high I was. When I paused for a minute, I had to come down as my fear of heights overcame me.

My wife and I ended up taking home her parents and Brandon and Ashley. Pam took our kids home with her as a gift to my wife for Sunday.

Sunday morning, I got up in time to get to the church and set up chairs in the various rooms for services. There are so many children, that we are split into two primaries, and the primary room is full with chairs. Also, the cultural hall always needs chairs set up so that we can meet for Sacrament meeting, as well as setting up chairs for the High Priest group and Elders. I went to Deacons quorum then headed home.

My wife and I decided to go to the Olive Garden for her birthday lunch with me after I had given her my other gift which was a gift certificate for a day spa, a romantic getaway, or a shopping spree at some craft store (her choice - including any combination of these things). The only hope is that if she chooses the romantic getaway, I will be included ;-). We then spent the rest of the day just enjoying being together and long walks.

Today, there were all kinds of problems at work. I had to fix some problems that happened on Saturday. That took a bit of working on to get it all done. It was good to finally have a working solution to the problems. Of course, Paul, Jana, and Mogie told us of their great trip going on a cruise out of Florida. They had a lot of fun. Not too much more to say about the day today.

Bees

Monday, I was busy working with Gallagher Bassett trying to get information from them for the data warehouse. It wasn't coming fast. My jobs had kicked off around 1:00 AM, and are usually to me within 1/2 hour after that. After receiving the files I need to run processes to get it all in the data warehouse and then that is used from various people to know what has happened. I didn't get the files until around 2:00 PM. Obviously, the data warehouse was late as far as those claims go. It was disturbing to me, but something that I recognize that is going to happen.

On the plus side, I was able to get tickets to the Bees baseball game against Las Vegas. My wife and I discussed what kind of name the bees is for baseball. Not a very good name. I had 6 tickets to the game along with a parking pass. We didn't have anybody else to invite so just went and wasted two of the tickets. One of my sons friends was also at the game (his dad got some tickets from work as well). The only difference in our tickets is that they had a suite. We were right behind home plate.

The game was enjoyed by us, but we left at the beginning of the 9th inning. The Bees won, which makes it even more enjoyable. My kids were upset that we left early, but they had to get to bed so they could get up and go to school in the morning.

Today, work was kind of a pain. Everything in DB2 went down. I wasn't even able to start up any of my jobs until around 7:30 this morning. Of course this causes a few people to give me a phone call to see why things aren't there. All of that ended around noon, and now we need to look into why things went down. It could be because I had a job scheduled at 11:00 PM last night and I had a conflict with the backups that were going on. Hopefully, somebody at work will give me an answer to that so we can figure out what to do to correct it. I also got pulled into a meeting with the Advantage group and asked to change what I am putting into their files a little bit. I fixed the jobs that pull from the current tables and put it in their tables, but need to work on what is brought in daily.

Tonight, I decided to take my kids to the library so they could have some pizza from "The Pie", and discuss some books. I was under the impression that there was some kind of reading. Instead, they broke the kids into two groups. One group was discussing books that they have read since they met last week, and the other group had strips of paper that were what if situations, to try to produce dialogue. When I went back to the room to see what was going on, I saw three groups. My kids were in the third group (we want pizza but find this to be boring). Actually, they don't want to go again (but the pizza was good). I guess that was a failed experiment. I picked up "The Da Vinci Code" while I was at the library, and started to read it tonight.