Arbor Lane

San Francisco

2011-04-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

I’m in the Bay Area this week for work (my day job, that is). San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world. Not that I’ve seen a lot of world cities, but, well, you know what I mean: It’s interesting, lively, architecturally pleasing, and romantic. Aside from its charming, yet impossibly difficult roads, it’s perhaps a perfect city. Well, except for one other thing – San

Photographs

2011-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at the “About Me” section of this blog. I started thinking about modifications and additions to the photography section and realized it was enough info to justify a post of its own. The son of amateur artists, I fancy myself in a similar category. Mom is crafty and creative, a decorator down to the core, an extrovert who loves to sing out loud and wear a lot of bling. Dad

Chopsticks

2011-04-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

When I was four years old, Mom, Jake and I lived in a little main floor apartment in a long line of big apartment buildings in Las Vegas. We only lived there a short time so I have just four memories of the place: my dad helping us move there, the Mickey Mouse Show, Playdough, and Chinese food. The latter happened one evening, sitting around the little kitchen table as my mom tried to teach

Last Firsts

2011-04-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we gave our last first haircut. I held the baby on my lap and Nancy went at his amazing blond curls with the scissors. It was awful. I kept asking if she was sure she wanted to do that now. “I love his hair,” I moaned. “It’s not too long. Does this really need to happen today? I’m not ready. Can’t you wait just one more week?” With children, firsts are generally a great

Perfectionism

2011-04-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, I couldn’t find just the right photo) (originally titled, Writers Block, but that just wasn’t right) What's the deal with writers block? I mean, what's the point? I've got stuff to write about, I've got time to write, but I just am not doing it. Maybe writers block isn't the right term. Perhaps lazy or unmotivated, or overwhelmed, or maybe even frustrated are better descriptions. A

Busy, Busy

2011-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Life is busy these days. Mostly work. Lots and lots of work. Long hours traveling as well as time at the office. It’s good to be busy and it’s really good to have a job. Time has to be reorganized and reallocated. Finances also need to be recalculated, new budgets figured and expenses cut where possible. It’s been a long time since I had to work two jobs. In fact, as I think about

Waiting

2010-12-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

Some people hate the TSA. I personally think they do a pretty good job and have only one complaint, Why? Why do I have to get to the airport so dang early? TSA suggests you be at the airport 2 hours prior to your flight. This is so if everything goes wrong and you get stopped or delayed at every possible checkpoint, you can still make your flight. But what about the 5 out of 6 times when

First Class

2010-12-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

Last week I flew to Chicago in style; Non-stop and first class all the way, baby. I was living large with the heavy hitters on the front of the plane; Full meal service, hot towel to clean my soiled hands, and, best of all, leg room, ah, leg room. This week I’m riding in the cargo hold with the rest of humanity. I haven’t flown with this particular airline since Nancy and I were just

For Hire!

2010-10-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

It's over. I found out about two weeks ago that my time at Fieldstone Homes was at an end. 12 years of sweat, of tears, and yes, blood too, gone. They gave me a week to clean things up and pass of the critical information. My department has now been completely eliminated. I'm okay though. It's been a great run and I'm thankful for the 12 good years I had. Now I'm excited for new

I Remember

2010-09-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

In September of 2007, I took a few days off of work. I was going to stay home with my three younger children while my wife, Nancy and our oldest daughter went out of town together. The three days happened to be the 10th, 11th and 12th. On the morning of September 11, 2007, still in my pajamas, I went out to the garage to pull out the flag. I slowly unrolled it from around the pole and put

The Chickens Have a Home

2010-09-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

Except for the roof and some of the wire, almost all the materials were reclaimed. The nesting box door is an old one I have been storing for 10 years or more. The trim was wood from old pallets. Our oldest daughter came home one day early this summer with three baby chickens. No warning, no permission, just, here they are. Okay, now what? Fortunately there are lots of people out there

Grandpa Kyle

2010-09-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm still occasionally migrating posts from my blog that is no more. This one was first posted June 25, 2009. Today I happened to drive past the cemetery where my grandfather is buried. I haven’t been there since the funeral, now almost 18 months ago. I’ve thought a lot about him lately, nothing in particular, just random memories and stories. I decided to pull in and spend a minute. For

The Links

2010-08-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

One of the last jobs I had while still in college was as a construction superintendent for a small semi-custom homebuilder. The company was run by three brothers and their dad. Each had very different skills and aptitudes that seamlessly harmonized with one another. This was a well-run business and I was fortunate to work there for a time. My job involved building houses in a small

Give Them Rocks

2010-07-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today and yesterday were spent with my son at Cub Country day camp. With us were some of his friends and another father/fellow Cub Scout leader from the neighborhood. The camp is located in a stunning, narrow, rugged, mountain canyon near my home. It’s one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The first thing we were told when we arrived at camp was that all rocks and sticks should

June 22nd

2010-06-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

Today is Kris’ birthday. He would have been 31. On the morning he was born, I was staying with my grandparents. My grandma had to wake Jake and me up to tell us we had a phone call. I held the phone up to my ear as the sun shined through the kitchen window. It was good news. I remember the moment as if it had happened this morning. We get together every year on his birthday for dinner.

Simple Ties

2010-06-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from my old blog that is no more. First posted 06-17-09 Last week we had the opportunity to tour the brand new Oquirrh Mountain Temple, prior to its dedication later this summer. As we walked through, I pointed out to my daughter how the base molding changed subtly as we went through from room to room. I have always been interested in the simple symbols used in

Letting Go

2010-06-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

It was dark when I came in the house from working in the yard. I was dirty and went immediately to the shower. We have an old tub with an afterthought shower setup. It includes a long chrome pipe, sticking out of the top of the tub faucet. Normally, on newer houses, this runs inside the wall. Ours is outside the wall, inside the shower. Near the bottom is a second shower head on a hose.

Welcome to Summer

2010-06-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from 06-04-09 Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids. After that, everyone will be chillin at home, going on bike rides, reading books, playing rock band, and sipping lemonade in the yard – all while I’m at work. Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather be employed than have the summer off without pay. No question about that. But, the first few days of summer are

Old, Red, Brick House

2010-05-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

About seven years ago my next door neighbor at the time told me they were moving. He wondered if I knew anyone who wanted to buy their house. I told them I could think of a few people and asked them to keep us posted. About a year later, they finally got around to actually moving. My neighbor asked if we wanted to take a tour of the house. We agreed, thinking we could tell our friends

Grampa Next Door

2010-05-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from my old blog, dated June 7, 2009. Today my dad took a couple of the youngest children for a walk. Not ten steps past our driveway, still in front of our house, the preschooler fell down. I was sitting in the kitchen nook when it happened, watching them head slowly up the street. An overgrown flower bed blocked my view so I didn’t actually see him hit the ground. My dad

The Tooth Fairy

2010-01-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Twice last month, the tooth fairy forgot about my kids. Twice! Once is bad enough, but twice? That’s ridiculous. Once is an oversight. The second time was unforgiveable. The first time happened about two weeks ago. I got the terrible news when my six year old came in, crying about how the tooth fairy had not come. I was livid. How cold! How uncaring can this individual be? I

Photo fo the Day - Tree in a Snowy Field and a Pair of Eagles

2010-01-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

I've been driving a lot for work lately. Today I had to stop for a minute and take a few photos of this tree. Today I'm also going to do a bonus photo. Not a great shot but definitely a great subject. A few minutes before I took the photo of the tree in the snowy field, I saw a Bald Eagle, with what I assumed was a juvenile Bald Eagle. Before this, I took a few photos of the adult as

Feel the Fear

2010-01-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

First I have to say this photo doesn't even remotely do this waterfall justice. My daughter is about 40 feet above the pool at the bottom of the fall and about 50 feet away. She's roughly at the same height as the big, red rock on the other side of the gorge. So the election thing didn’t work out quite like we had expected. To avoid sounding bitter or discouraged, that’s all I’m going

Election Day

2010-01-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

I don't have a ton of these reposts left, but I want to get them back on the internet. So thanks for your patience. This was first posted on May 29, 2009. Today is the big day at the elementary school. Who will be on the next Student Council? More specifically, will our daughter be among them? She has her speech all ready and she has practiced it plenty. She seems confident and has been

Rock Rock Chair

2010-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sleep-eating a carrot in the rock rock chair This was first posted May 30, 2009 on my other, now dearly departed blog. I slept most of the night in the baby's room, sitting awkwardly in the big rocking chair. The baby wasn’t feeling well, though we never did find out what was going on. He would cry every time we set him down in bed so it was just easier to hold him. We did try letting him