Beware of Sharks

Pete and I drove to AZ to surprise my mom now that she’s home from her surgery. She spent a week in the hospital and then another 3 weeks at the rehab hospital. Recovery is going fine and Toni made sure our visit was a surprise. My mom was so happy when we walked in, I knew it was worth the drive. She’s getting around so well we need to put flames on her walker. Of the seven kids in my family I’m the black sheep. My mom was never happy about the fact that I didn’t get into a traditional type career but I always knew she still loved me in spite of it all. As we sat and talked I was reminded just how much like her I am. My mom was never one to let life pass her by, she was involved with all sorts of community and school activities. No moss would ever think of growing under Mom’s feet, even now. My mom always tells me, “you were always the smart one.” That’s my mom’s way of telling me I was the one who saw a star and I did’t stop until I had reached that star and held it in my hand. She would have preferred that  I would have been a bit more of a homebody but that was never a part of my DNA. Fortunately or unfortunately all three of my sons are like me in different degrees but still all are just as driven.

This week we had to use software that was developed my people who’s brain had been eaten by sharks after they were bitten by something that poisonous.  I’m sure that’s why it was called BrainShark. It was the most user unfriendly software, one I would not use in a class. It required a cell phone or microphone hooked to your computer. You had to use the number pad to move through the process, it sucked. The requirement said we could’d read our script, she just wanted us to talk to the slides, easier said than done because the operation of the software was so distracting. I have a difficult time doing briefs without my 3x5 cards with notes written on them. I could have cheated but if I was catholic I’d have to go to confession and confess my sin. Instead I’m Mormon so I’d have to confess my sin to God and then tell the person I sinned against to tell that person what I had done. I didn't want to have to do that. I don’t  know how many times I recorded and re- recorded until finally with only 15 minutes left until midnight I made the command decision to cut my loss on this assignment. I wasn’t willing to feel guilty about reading a script so the plan was to  gather my supplies and move onto the next battle, let my wounds heal and push forward. The only saving grace was Emily said she suffered the same fait I did. Her and I make a great team and I’ve been blessed to have her as a teammate.

While we were in AZ Pete and I visited the Painted Desert as we stared heading east. We stood there watching the mounts change color as the sun set into the west, it was beautiful.