It's (Almost) the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Fall and the weather getting crisp and baseball playoffs and football and Halloween and candy and candy, and, oh, candy. I love the color changes in the mountains, and we will be up there soon for family pictures. You know, every year we seem to get warm about this time of the year and then all the sudden the bottom drops out and it's freezing. Oh well.
The other day I bought Percy Faith's 1966 (the year I was born!) Christmas album from iTunes. It's a classic. On Sunday I was doing some indexing and started listening to it when Chelsea, who was laying on the couch, stands up and exclaims, "Dad, I can't do it! Not yet!" and stormed out of the living room. Oh well.
Mary at work and I were both talking about how we love this season; October (or as we call it Rocktober, you know, to sound like we're cool stoners) is the doorway to the Holiday season. Think about it, during the next 3 months you don't need an excuse to eat fudge, it's just there. The smells, the decorations, the memories, more time with family and friends, etc. I even bake gingersnaps every year with the girls. I love reminiscing about all the holidays back when we were in elementary school. I might go visit my daughter just to get the feeling.
I just think it's classic that within a short period we go from celebrating the Devil to celebrating Jesus. Pretty interesting.

In the Stands

It seems that I have been in the stands for a while now- watching the softball team play and at the Mountain View High football games (we are obviously pretty hard up for Friday Night activities, but as Putty on Seinfeld says, "You gotta support the team!"). Plus, Chelsea is in the Pep Band, so it gives us a wee excuse.
It hurts to be watching the softball team and not be out there on the field. It is fun to root for the dudes, but I prefer having the Frandsten's yelling for me! Oh well. Jayton and Grover had a pretty good collision in the outfield last night. Jayton even said he felt like me this morning when he was trying to move around (he took a knee to the upper thigh). I just remember when he smashed into me and drove me into the gravel that is the warning track. I was picking gravel out of my skin for a week. Too bad we lost.
It is fun to be around my brother Carl's family. Carl is affectionately known as C-Train. He lumbers down the base path at break-neck speed. That's a joke.
And it is fun to be by the Hatch's at the football games as Teri screams for JC. I would prefer to be watching football in the rain/snow/cold; it brings the football ambiance. Here's a picture of my street that I grew up on in football weather.
I thought about how excited we were to go to football games back at Cupertino High School so many years ago. We started sneaking into games back when we were in elementary school. Back then the band would perform at half time then there would always be fireworks! We would be so excited during the summer to hear the band practicing. We would ride our bike way out to the school to watch. We actually had a HUGE awesome marching band, they were impressive. The funny thing about attending the games were I don't remember any of the high schoolers actually watching the game- we would just roam back and forth in front of the bleachers (between the bleachers and the fence) and that space was always jam packed with kids to the point where you barely moved, but that's what was so fun about going to the games. And the hope that somehow you would end up meeting girls!
I rode Chantel's cruiser bike to the church to pick up some paperwork. Pretty scary, but you have to get back on the horse. My shoulder is starting to feel pretty good. Yesterday at physical therapy they hooked my back up to the electo-things. So I had them going on my shoulder and back, and I fell asleep on the table! I was dreaming away. Classic.
I can't wait to get running again. I only have 10 months to prepare to beat Wakefield in the 10K!!!

Frankenstein, That's Me!

So I've been in physical therapy for my shoulder and knee. I love the electric stimulator things and watching my muscles twitch up a storm. Ultrasound just leads to gooeyness, but I guess it works. My lower back/upper bum area still is rather sore, especially if I sit for any length of time. And I still have the numb strip, but as one one of the doctors said, "It could be in a worse spot". Yeah, let's just hope I forever have control of my bowels.
The youth in our ward did a 'Bishop's Night' on Wednesday. It was pretty funny. My counselors, daughter and wife told stories about me, they gave me a bell for my bike, a clock and chocolate kisses and we had a cupcake walk. They also gave me a scrapbook with their pictures and testimonies in it. It was pretty cool. Then Erin Grover produced a chocolate cake that is one of the most delightful things I have ever eaten!!! Holy cow, I would love to sit there with a fork and gallon of milk and go to town, but that is probably not in the low-cholesterol diet plan. Crap.
Work is being very patient with me for which I am very grateful. Hopefully I will be able to sit longer and concentrate more.
I visited the surgeon today who said my laceration is healing up nicely. He said there is a bit of fluid in it but should be OK. He told me to get stretching and start getting active, not to over do it, but start doing things. I am happy to hear that.
Teresa says I look like Frankenstein, so I thought I would attach a picture of how things are looking. Teresa is always worried when I show my scar that I will show my crack. Only if you're lucky!

Media Joke

You know, the media always claims they aren't bias; that they are objective to all candidates, blah, blah. The Charles Gibson interview of Sarah Palin and what happened to McCain on The View are great examples of what the media is all about. Stupid Gibson, he wasn't asking questions, he was interrogating Palin and trying to get her to slip up. She's the VP nominee, for the love of Pete! Where are the media to ask Obama these questions?! Good heavens. The media claims not to be liberal, but a research page found that over 80% (which I think is way too low) vote Democrat. And it is obvious. Glenn Beck has a segment each day regarding the national media headlines for Obama compared to McCain. It's laughable.
I have a couple thoughts: McCain's choice of Palin has excited Republicans because conservatives, which I am, now have a reason to vote FOR McCain, rather than voting AGAINST Obama. Second: How dare the Republicans have a strong, smart, articulate, qualified woman on the ticket?!?! The media all have their undies in a bunch over this.
Obama's choice of Biden is coming around to look bad. Even Biden said that maybe Hillary should have been the VP choice. Wow, there's confidence in the Democratic ticket.

Some Happenings

Well, I thought I would give some updates on life-
I have had to go to the surgeon's office twice to have fluid drained out of my back. It's no fun. In fact today after he pulled the needle out I got all hot and sweaty and started seeing all the spots in my periphery! I also visited the orthopedist who said as of right now I need to get to physical therapy and do that for a while, so I am hoping for improvement there. Sleeping is getting a bit easier.
Chantel is at the BYU (you'll notice if you speak with anyone who is older that it's "THE" BYU) and has had the realization that she is going to spend her whole life reading for her classes. I tried to warn her, but I'm just the dad; what do I know. But, on Monday she was eating at the Cannon Center by herself when a big dude sat next to her and chatted up a storm with her. He plays on the defensive line for the football team (Brock Richardson). So 2 days later she's eating there again all alone when she hears some people talking and hears her name. Turns out it's Brock again and this time he has Fui Vakapuna and Solomone Kafu with him. So she ate with them and marveled that they could snap her like a dried twig! You need to know Chantel had a 100 lb. party when she finally reached the century mark in weight, which was a month ago! Brock is 6'2" and 260 lbs. Pretty classic. Hey, get us some tickets, girlie!
Chelsea is dancing up a storm in ballroom and loves it. She is also doing well in Jazz Band. We are going to trade in her sax for a new one. She is also going to Home Coming so she gets to wear her pretty dress. Should be fun!
Teresa got her hair cut and colored. She looks so cute that I can't stop kissing her. I think she's sick of me. Which is another reason I went back to work this week. It has been pretty crappy and hurts a lot to be there, but I have given Teresa some well needed respite.
Our good buddy Rob Clegg won tickets to the BYU vs UCLA game today by singing the National Anthem on 1280 the Zone! Go Rob! I always knew you had the pipes.
I guess lastly I want to say that I think it is freaky how an event like 9-11 has turned into a Bush-Bashing and how people actually think that our government really did it. C'mon, what are you, psycho?! The government could never pull anything like that off no matter how hard they tried. All kidding aside, people and nations hate the USA and will try always to do what they can to destroy us.
But we have Michael Phelps, so we're fine.

Totally Tubular

Today I went to the doctor to have my drainage tube and staples removed. I had heard from a couple people that having the tube yanked was going to be pretty painful. It hurt when they cut all the stitches that were around the opening and that were holding it in place, but the tube slipped out without any pain at all. The staples on the other hand were pretty painful. They had become attached to scabs, so just about everyone stunk getting popped out.
My butt is numb still where the slice is and into my bum cleavage (I guess there is no other way to say it). The doctors have told me it may be a long while to get the feeling back, or it may not come back at all! That would stink. Oh well, I am lucky that I can walk and move after this incident, so I'll take a numb-bum any day to the alternative! I hope the shoulder can heal up, too.
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and concern. It means a lot to me.
I will get a new picture of my back on soon.

Birthday Girl

Madalyn had her 9th birthday on September 1st, you know, that cold, wet Labor Day (blast this global warming!). Madalyn rocks. She loves riding her bike & longboard, she likes playing board games, Transformers, playing with her friends, listening to music, playing the piano. She enjoys going on walks with her dad and is happy to hold his hand when they do. She wanted "Army Men" for her birthday, which we couldn't find, probably because they aren't politically correct anymore. Or maybe I need to hit the Dollar Store to look. Madalyn is a lot of fun and is a beautiful 9 year old!

On my front, well, tomorrow I hopefully get my drain taken out of my back as well as having the staples removed, too. How do they do that? Do they have a staple remover like the one you have on your desk? Oooh, that will hurt. My shoulder really hurts and I have another week before going to the Orthopedist to have him look at it. I have this pretty cool bruise, though, that is like a flame coming out of my armpit! I apologize for my disgusting whiteness!