Christmas in a Nut Shell

And I didn't even get any nuts for Christmas. Some how it just isn't Christmas without nuts so this is my nut.

It has been a great season so far. The snow has been fun except for I hate driving in it.

So Christmas Eve I did have to work but they were letting us go early. Unfortunatly I got stuck with a dumb job someone else failed to complete. Welcome to my world. Something at work doesn't get done and suddenly it becomes my job. I don't know. So I had to stay an hour or two longer than everyone else. I still got home 3 hours early and got to play in the snow with my little girl. We (I) made a snowman. My daughter really wanted to make one and I failed to make it with her. I tried to get her to help me push the bottom ball around but the snow wouldn't stick so I ended up just making it like I would a snowball. She didn't like that and tried to make her own. She couldn't so I convinced her one was enough. That night we went to my parents' for a great German dinner with my family and did the Nativity Story. My son made a great sheep but it didn't last long enough to get a picture. Everyone else was great too.

Christmas morning I got up and went running. I was a little later than expected but still started by 6:00am. I was planning on a 30 minute run is all since I haven't been out in over a month. Well at about 18 min out when I was getting ready to turn back I looked up and saw the Timpanogas Temple so close and thought what could be better than running to the House of the Lord on the day we celebrate Christ's birth. So I made it all the way up 1300 W. to 700 N. and over to the temple. It was so wonderful to just stand there outside the fence and look up at the wonderful light with the snow falling all around me and just enjoy the silence of Christmas morning. After that I headed back and just like always at 40 min my knee began to hurt. It happens every time I try and do a 5-6 miler without being in shape. It wasn't bad and I finished the 5 miles in under an hour. I know it was really slow but I wasn't going for speed I was going for the emotion. The picture is of me in my basement office just as I returned from the run. Head lamp still on and all.

Every time I run I wish I had someone to run with. Mostly so I can just talk their ear off. Running means so much to me and I always wish I could share that with someone. Especially when I go on runs for feeling not for fitness.

Christmas morning was magical of course. It was so nice to watch the kids with their gifts even if they started out really timid to dig in as shown in the picture here. After we went to my parents' again to for a great American Christmas lunch. That night we went to the In-laws' for dinner. It was good.

Yesterday we went out to dinner with the other side of my in-laws. After I took the kids out for some fun in the snow. They did a really good job and even my son made it out. He is not as big a fan of snow as my daughter. I pulled them around the sidewalks and streets a little on a sled. They mostly enjoyed that except my son falling over and my daughter getting snow down her boot. Sometimes fun is rough.

And then today: Cleaning!

The half good news: I half way reached my first before 30 goal. I got to 185 lbs. Except it was all fat not muscle. That means I have gained 15 lbs this holiday season. I have never done that before. I guess that is what happens when you get close to 30 years old, stop exercising, and eat nothing but sugar, chocolate, and soda. Oh and my blood pressure went up an average of 30 points and my resting heart rate up about 10 to 20 beats per min. I hate it but it I am just too lazy to look past that blistering cold and make a difference in my health. Maybe I will look into a gym for the new year, at least until it warms up.

Que Frio!!! 很冷!!!

I can't believe it, It was 6 crazy degrees Fahrenheit this morning when I went to my car at 6:30am to go to work. It's Christmas Eve for goodness sake. That was just Utah county though because when I got to work in Draper it was 25 degrees, but a little more wind.

So every Christmas morning at 5:00am or so I wake up and go running outside. (This is the primary reason for my cold complaining. I am not looking forward to the temp tomorrow.) I started this in high school my sophomore year when I was trying to be a hard core runner. It was such an amazing experience I have had to continue it ever since, even if I haven't been running much lately. I used to enjoy running in the cold as long as it was not timed. (It was usually more of a job.)

Anyway that first Christmas morning run it had just lightly snowed the night before so it wasn't too cold and there was no one anywhere on the streets. My across the street neighbor had gone to work since he worked at the airport but I think those were the only tire tracks I could see in our neighborhood. I ran about 4 miles up to Bangerter Highway and around some neighborhoods and back home. I know 7000 South was not as busy as it is these days but it was completely empty and I ran down the middle of the road for most of it. It was so quiet and pleasant. Then while I was in a neighborhood I happened to look over into a lighted window and there was this old lady sitting down with her husband with two big cups of a hot drink (I will assume it was hot cocoa since this is Utah.) It was just so sweet and perfect.

Completely different subject: How do people stay motivated posting on their blog. I mean I see all these people that are so faithful at posting and telling the world their lives but I just can't without the thought that maybe someone, somewhere will read it. And maybe that is what everyone uses as their motivation. I have one person who has subscribed to, "follows," my blog (and that is my wife), and I don't even know if she reads it. Every time I do post I really do hope that there might be some person out there that just might skim past my blog and just think that is cool that that is what he is up to these days. I am not complaining because I am really bad at saying hi to people's blogs and facebooks and stuff because my self-esteem suffers so I always think they will just think "Why is this creep commenting or talking to me?" but still I check out and read everything I can on old friends wondering if they would still talk to me.

So now that I have run off on a completely weird tangent that was probable info that no one cared about:

Merry Christmas!!!

and if I don't post before then or you don't check back

Happy New Year!!!

It's a Boy!

Little Boy Mueller
9 lbs, 8.3 oz
22 in.
12:58 pm

Yeah OK I thought it would be fun to post lots of updates all day but wow it is tiring even for me and I got the easy end of the day. The baby came fine. There was lots of dips in the heart rate and other miner problems but over all it was very quick and easy. I am sure Shandra will post about all the fun of things that just didn't go right but he is here and well.

We got to the hospital at 7:30 am and got admittted to the hospital really quickly. They started the patosin (sp), that worked well. Shandra was quickly put on Oxygen to help counter the boy's heart rate drop. I got Shandra's hospital lunch. I enjoyed that. After the heart rate dropping so much they really pushed to rush everything. That might have been OK but about that time the epidural quit on Shandra. They tried to rush a big dose but it still just didn't cut it completely. Shandra started pushing hard and the baby was coming but just not quick enough so they cut her to give the baby a little more room. It was enough and he came. He was really pale though with a low heart rate and the cord wrapped around his neck once. When the baby was out they checked the IV just to find it not working anymore, so Shandra got a shot. I played photogragher while Shandra got to feel the stiches get put in with the epidural still not working well.

So now Mom and Baby are doing well happily bonding.

Baby is Coming - Real Time Updates 1

Well we are on our way. We have been admitted to the hospital. Shandra is at a 3+ and contractions are coming. Shandra says she is completely comfortable and having fun playing on the palm while we wait. I get to work on homework. Yay for me. You can thank the hospital for their wireless network that makes this all possible. Please check back later for more.

Veterans Day

Finally a day off in what feels like forever. I got to go in and teach but I forgot my lesson plan. Luckily I had sent it out to many classmates and Carrie saved me by having a copy with her. The lesson was fun. The really weird part was getting to salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance now since I am a Veteran. Since I found out about the bill Pres. Bush signed last month I have been waiting until today to actually salute to lead into our lesson. I don't know why it was weird but it was. Then later at Costco a man commented on my tie (it was an Army tie) of how appropriate it was for Veterans Day. That made me feel really good. I also saw Carrie there. That was fun.

And at the end of the day I was able to cut my son's hair since he has been begging me to do cut it for days. He really had a hard time with the clippers so I don't know how much he will want it done next time. Oh well. It was a good day.

Also you can check out the video my teaching partner and I made for our lesson today on Who is a Veteran? It is at the bottom of my blog. Just scroll down.

Boo at the Zoo

On 25 Oct. 2008 we went to Boo at the Zoo at Utah's Hogle Zoo. We had a blast! I don't think I have ever seen it that crowded before though. We got there pretty early but still the front parking lot was already full. We got a spot in the back but that quickly filled up too. We were able to get some candy but we were almost better off just looking at animals. The favorites that we got to see were the Zebras, Bears, Elephants, Giraffes, Rhinos, and Monkeys. We also got to see Grandma (my mom) there showing all the people a Kookaburra. The Kookaburra used to be one of my favorite animals to show when I worked as a docent there. My mom made it a big deal that they couldn't touch it because it would bite them but that was one of the best things about holding it was its little beak biting me so I got my mom to let it bight me. I thought that was fun. So Cole was The Cowardly Lion, Kenz was Dorothy (They were so cute.), Shandra was The Wicked Witch, and I was supposed to be The Scarecrow but I am a slacker and didn't find time to put anything together. (Come to think of it I would have been fine if I just grabbed some hay in my shirt and the straw hat I have hung up in my room. Oh well. Watch for a Halloween post and hopefully I will have a costume then.) We met Koreena and Dan there so that my kids could hang out with Matty and Jocelyn. Matty was a Skunk and Jocelyn was a Pea Pod.

Well if that wasn't enough for a crazy day we then went to Taylorsville High School to watch Shandra's sister, Nikki, in Beauty and the Beast. They did a good job. Kenz enjoyed some of it but it was so loud that after intermission she wouldn't go back in. Shandra's other sister, Rissa, had shown up just to bring Nikki a costume piece she had forgotten so Rissa said she would sit in the foyer and play with the kids that way we could still enjoy the rest of the show.

After that we all went to Shandra's family's home to talk and play (and show off the new van). When everyone went shopping for dinner Cole and I stayed and played in the yard. That was so much fun. We swung on the swings, we played with and talked about nature, we low crawled through the grass, and we laid on our backs watching the airplanes fly over head. It was great to just hang out and try to play like a kid. We finally got home at about 9:00 at night. Two really late nights in a row with the kids. I feel like such a bad parent. But that was a great day!!!

Getting Started

Now that the layout is the way I think I want it I hope I will begin to post updates here. Today (well now it is past midnight so yesterday) I bought a new van, a Honda Odyssey. We got a brand new 2008 with just 60 miles on it. We did about 15 of those on our test drive. The only problem with it is that it is white. I gave into the "Mormon world" and not only bought a minivan but a white one. It is so weird. We are really excited though. Anyway I hope people find this blog and find it interesting. Oh and the calendar is for a daily update of activities. Mostly a log book of how many miles I run each day. If you have any comments please let me know.