June 14th through June 20th - 186 through 192 Days

This week was pretty relaxing.  It was my anniversary on Thursday so we planned some good stuff!  First, I went on a 30 mile bike ride, then I went to work until about 2:30.   I then went up to Cedar to watch my son's soccer game.  We then came home, went shopping at Costco, and then to Walmart.  For our anniversary present we bought a bird feeder.  Is that an exciting annivesary or what!   On Friday we went to another soccer game, on our way home, I was trying to find a ringtone for my wife and it said, "Free Ringtones", so I clicked, but didn't download any of the ringtones.  It then told me I had to pay $9.99 for 15 ringtones!  I thought, "What, I didn't download any ringtones."  I immediately cancelled, but the company texted me and wrote, "Your subscription is now cancelled, you will not be further charged."  Further charged!  I was not happy, but I was driving, so I told Nicole to call the company and make sure they didn't bill me.  When she got a live person, from India, of course, she asked them if they had actually billed my AT&T account.  When he said that he had, and that he wouldn't and couldn't reverse the charges, she told him that she needed to talk to his supervisor.  He said, "My supervisors are not here."  At this point, Nicole calmly told him to get the supervisors or she was going to chew him up like a piranha and spit him out like garbage.   The boys and I were laughing hysterically.  However, he still refused to cancel the charges, so what did I do?  I called AT & T and had them cancel the charges.    So right back at ya Motime ringtones!  I looked it up on the internet and Motime is known for fradulent charging people like that, so I wish somebody would put their owners in jail. 

On Saturday, we went through the temple with Nick Weaver and it was really nice.  That night we went to dinner for Mike Anderson's birthday at Red Robin resturant.  We had a great time. 

Sunday was Father's Day and my family made me an omelet and sang "Happy Father's Day" to me.  Nicole got me a bluetooth headset, and the kids bought me some Obsession cologne, so now I can smell good and look cool talking on my new bluetooth!   Then, I didn't have meetings so I came home and slept for 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon!  When does that happen?  Never!  Well, I guess on Christmas and Father's Day.  At church, Bishop brought in about 25 pies, cakes, cheese cakes, etc, and we all feasted.  It was quite tasty, to say the least. 

On Monday I rode a very hard ride with my brother and we set a new record for our 21 miles course!  21 miles in under an hour, and a total average speed of 21.2!   Hint:  Make sure to shower at you race for 21 miles.  Even Obsession cologne does not cover up 21 miles of sweat!

June 1st through June 13th, 2011 - 172-185 Days

The blog is not forgotten!  I just have led a really boring life lately, and I didn't want to put anyone to sleep.  June's been nice, but uneventful.   Nicole got sick a week before the Trek, and we didn't get to be parents.   She went into the doctor and he told her she had bronchitis, so the Blakes had to go in our stead.  I was a little bummed, as it sounded like fun.  My boys went, and had a blast.  The first thing Hunter said when I asked him  if he had fun was, "Yeah!  Brinley Bracken was in my group and the food was good"  So, I guess Brinley is cute, so Hunter was pleased with his family.  Logan's response was similiar.  So, I guess all it takes for the boys to enjoy the Trek is to be in a group with cute girls and have good food.  It didn't matter that they had to sleep on rocky ground, and they had to travel 11 miles the first day.   I was proud of them, however, because I heard they did great. 

On another note, I think I've been able to be nice to people, but I'm really trying to not have my first thoughts be negative when I hear someone complaining about something I know they have probably brought on themselves.  This is a bit hard.  My first reaction is always, "Buck up, and quit blaming everyone else."  The other day someone wrote on Facebook, complaining about our church ward, etc,  and my first reaction was, "WHAT!"  Then I realized that if they are feeling that way, I'm not one to judge, and that I should give them room to express their feelings.  Kind of difficult., however.

This last weekend Kaylee was in the Miss Washington County Pagent.  She did really well, in fact, I was confident she'd win.  However, she didn't, she got 2nd Attendant, which was kind of hard, because she was 1st attendant last year, and the girl who was 2nd Attendant last year was 1st this year.   Kaylee was kind of devastated, but I really couldn't have been more proud of her.  The girl that won wore a dress with a slit clear up to her crotch.    Last year, she lost a close race when the girl who won wore a VERY tiny bikini.  I'm not sure if that is what helped them to win, but I told Kaylee I was proud of her for not compromising her standards.   I'm  pretty sure she's never going to enter another beauty pagent, however.

Oh, the other night I had a funny dream!  Not sure what it's saying about me, but I found myself belonging to a "Degenerate" club.   The leader of the club said, "You're all here because none of you has ever accomplished anything in life".  I said, "Wait, I've accomplished a lot in my life."   He said, "Shut up, you're a degenerate."   After we were in the club a while, they gave out awards and at the awards ceremony the leader said, "The award for most inspirational goes to Ben...etc"  At the end of the ceremony, he had a packet of gatorade bottles for an award and he points to me and says, "This award goes to What's his name".   I said, "I'm in a degenerate club and you don't even know my name!"   Anyway, I woke up kind of mad, but quickly got over it.   Not sure what a dream like that means, maybe I'm having an inferiority complex or I'm having an issue with my mother.   Ha.  Anyway, life is good.