Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Approaching the Finish

Leading men's weight: James in Pink with minus 31 pounds
2nd men's weight: Kevin with minus 18 pounds

Leading women's weight: Jana Brookes with minus 35 pounds
2nd in women's weight: Nicea with minus 22 pounds

Leading Men's points: Kevin with 559 (three weeks ago)

Leading Women's points: Princess Consuela with 767
2nd Women's points: Jaime Escalante with 743
3rd Women's points: Jana Brookes with 732

Updated 5/28/09 at 6:37 p.m. mountain time

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Remembering for Dad

I know why they call his The Greatest Generation. Because I grew up in his household and saw him be that, firsthand.




He is probably the most principled man I've ever known.

To him, hard things are challenges to be conquered, not succumbed to.

He always does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it. You can count on him. You can trust him. You know he will take care of you.

You know he will always be true to your mom.

He has always talked straight, never skirted or dodged the truth, and expects no less of his children.

I've never seen him waver in his faith nor in his living of it. I've never even heard a swear word cross his lips! Rackalfratz is about as bad as it gets. Remarkable, considering the ugliness of a war he once fought in.

He loves this nation. His family. Things that grow in gardens and orchards. He understands the need to care for and protect them. He knows it's his job, not the government's or the neighbors'.

He doesn't need much to make him happy. The accumulation of things for the sake of having them isn't in his nature. He never needs the latest car or the biggest house. Just because something is more expensive doesn't make it better.

Frugality is his middle name: Clyde Frugality Stimpson. Turn the water off while you brush your teeth. Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Eat everything on your plate, or don't put it there in the first place. Learn to make repairs yourself. Take good care of your belongings. Make do with what you have.

He believes in never making anyone do anything he wouldn't do himself: like mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, getting a college education, or finishing the job.

He believes in helping people and in giving back what's been given to you. And then some.

He believes that when duty calls, you answer. Willingly. With a smile on your face.

He pushes people toward excellence but when they falter, he grabs them by the arm and pulls them in the right direction until they can get their bearings and continue on their own. His children included.

He's an equal opportunity dad: you screw up, you pay the consequences.

He believes in being a good neighbor. And in obeying the law.

Sadly, this Memorial Day, Dad won't be remembering many, if any, of these things. Alzheimer's has clouded his brain and stolen much of what he once held dear. He doesn't always remember Mom. He forgets that he has to brush his teeth, take a shower.

Yet, he sometimes remembers in vivid detail his landing on the beach in Normandy on D-Day, the first wave of half-tracks that sank to the ocean floor. Severed limbs and broken heads. That whole fight against a tyrant. He remembers repairing radios. Playing Taps and Reveille on the bugle. How much he dislikes ham.

So, he's not the man we once called Daddy, nor the one his friends playfully slapped on the back or the one who loved to dance at parties. But I know he will be again, someday. And I want to get to know him then, as a friend, as the man Mom married, the one who could be the life of the party one minute and the dispenser of wisdom the next.

He's not likely to be with us much longer. A year? Five? A few months? No one knows. But I do know he needs us, now and always, to remember for him. And for his contemporaries, including Mom, who were and are The Greatest Generation.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Call Your Bookie

A dark horse has emerged








and the points race just got more interesting!

Men's points:
Kevin, 553 (last week)
B. Hammock, 2 (Can you say glue factory?)

Men's weight:
James in Pink, -29 (by 11 lengths)
Kevin, -18 (last week)

Women's points:
Princess Consuela, 630 - Whoa, Nelly!!!
Jana Brookes, 618 (Prior omission was track manager error--lo siento, JanaB.)
Jaime Escalante, 580 (last week)

Women's weight:
Jana Brookes, -30 (by a furlong)
Nicea, -16 (still in the saddle)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Thanks Dukes, Boo, Suz, Professor and Jamie, Duncan and Liz!

These gorgeous flowers arrived Saturday via courier.
(Photo by Shawn)

I was surprised.

Why? Well, because the Professor was on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic.

Dukes is across the country setting up for conducting court.

Boo is in Buffalo.

And Suz.....well, she's in the vicinity and even came for dinner with a sweet gift, a funny card and her cute friend Mandy. She had even conspired with the bishopric in a surprise tribute to all the mommy primary teachers! All this while attending to business in her own BYU ward.

I was happily surprised, that's all. With my immediate family scattered to [mostly] the north and easterly winds, I didn't expect anything at all.

However, it was far from a lonely Mother's Day. Shawn, Jamie, Duncan (and Liz) were under this very roof. Jamie, Duncan and Liz shopped for food and cooked us a super nice roast with mashed potatoes and a yummy Caesar salad + dessert: strawberry shortcake. It was heavenly. AND, they did all the dishes afterward. That was heavenly, too.

The professor emailed to say he'd been bumped up to first class and had had a lovely flight to Milan.

Dukes called from Sidley's War Room. Boo in Buffalo called. And the Suz came to keep me company.

I talked to my very own mother who continues to amaze and inspire me in all ways.

Then went for an invigorating walk with the dinner cookers and Shawn on a lovely spring evening in O-Town. 'Twas a lovely day indeed.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Even a Cream Puff Couldn't Stop Her!

Nor could a broken treadmill and a Mexican dinner at Joe Vera's!

Ms. Jana Brookes still holds the women's lead in weight loss with an amazing -29 pounds lost so far!

Nicea's at -14 pounds, after attending the same cream puffy bridal shower as Jana Brookes. Yes, she ate one, too. A cream puff, not a bridal shower.

James in Pink was up against much the same odds last week (broken treadmill but minus the cream puff because he didn't attend the offending bridal shower) and managed to decline to a -27 pounds in total.

Our man Kevin managed to whittle his pounds down another notch for an 18-lb. loss overall and leads the men's point pack with a big 559.

Contending in women's points are Jaime Escalante with 580, Jana Brookes with 561, and Annie with 478.

Way to go losers!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

April showers bring May showers

So, I'm wondering how Liz's family and Duncan are doing outside in the rain this morning. It's flower planting day. It's also raining cats and dogs.

How do the wonderful people in Portland get the job done when it rains so often there? Maybe they're a tougher breed than I am. They just go out do it.

art by Alexander Volkov