August 12

Around 60 people were crowded into the tiny Presbyterian church in smalltown Idaho. Kevin's smiling face stared back from the program detailing his memorial service. It was a "Celebration of Life" and held tears and laughter for everyone.

I always knew that Kevin showed the same amount of enthusiasm for all aspects of his life, be it work or play. But I no idea that his background was so church-centered, that his young years were similar to those my own son is now experiencing. When Kevin was an Eagle Scout, it was his determination and eagerness that spearheaded the building of a new base for his church's historical bell.

I'm grateful and deeply honored that Hart and I were able to toll that bell in his name this afternoon.

August 11

When I got home from fair duty tonight, I could hear live bongo drums and guitar coming from the neighbor's chicken coop. The band they hired had come in a night early to setup and check their balance. I'm grateful for that wonderful surprise of live sound.

August 10

Every year, members and friends of First Presbyterian man a booth at the County Fair. We serve county-wide-famous BBQ beef sandwiches and hotdogs, and top it off with scrumptious homemade pies and Casco bars. I've volunteered for this duty the past three years, and each year I get to know my fellow FPC-ers better and better. I'm grateful tonight for this wonderful crew of people.

August 9

I'm grateful Hart offered to peel the 12 bags of chiles I needed to make a chile relleno casserole to take to an after-work BBQ this evening. We tried something new with this batch and sprinkled pine nuts over the top five minutes before it was done. It was a total hit!

August 8

I'm grateful I can still count myself among the employed.

This morning I found myself putting together graphics for a presentation at the last minute and suddenly, Pop! My entire monitor turned purple. After cursing my luck that of all days, it had to be today this would happen, I headed out to quickly buy a replacement. We brought it back to the office, I hooked it up (I cannot BELIEVE how light the thing is) and my monitor was no longer purple. Instead, it was a beautiful, incredibly clear shade of blue.

So, great troubleshooter that I am, I decided that it must be the video card. After raiding some old computers lying around in my office and discovering they didn't work with my motherboard (hey, I'd already spent $400 on a new monitor I didn't really need, I was trying to save the business some money!), I finally went to the computer store and bought the only AGP video card they had in stock, which happened to be twice as good as my old one. I brought it back to the office, installed it, and yup, my monitor was still blue.

Admitting your faults is the first step, so I cried uncle, called the computer store and they took me through the proper troubleshooting steps. By the second step, we found that my monitor cable was bad. Golly gee. A free fix. And I spent $450 to get there. But oh, what a great monitor it is!

August 7

You know what it's like to be going along, minding your own business, expecting nothing out of the ordinary and suddenly you look up and there's a surprise in a tree? It feels like a gift just fell into your lap and you are suddenly the luckiest person in the world.

That's what it felt like this morning when I opened my Inbox and found a sweet email from Mary in Michigan, telling me that this little blog had touched her heart. I was pretty blown away and incredibly grateful that she started my week off in such a lovely way. Thank you, Mary!

August 6

Naps are a good thing. I'm not sure why I thought only dogs and babies take them.

I'm grateful that I had a time on this Sunday afternoon for a nice little nap. Pat and Kellie's party was great, but boy, oh boy, now that I'm an old fogey, I can't sleep through noise and have found I require a lot more downtime than just a couple of hours.