Failure

Just in case anyone was wondering how I did on my test.... I didn't do so well. I was pretty disappointed at first but I had some really lofty hopes to pass it with just 4 days of study. Some guys that already do green building as a profession study for months or even a year. I came pretty close but no cigar on this one. It was one of those tests where you get 4-6 choices and you have to choose 2-4 of the choices. If you miss any of the choices on a particular question, there's no partial credit. So, it's like 4 or 5 questions all wrapped into one. I'll take it again later this summer and I think I should be ok. No big deal, but I figured the blog shouldn't be all sugar and spice. Sometimes life is like the demotivational poster: "Failure. When your best just isn't good enough". :)

Missing Daddy

We miss you Chris!

Good luck on your test!

An Abomination?

Isn't that word fun to say? Abomination. I don't even really know what it means besides something "not good."


So, my Grandpa Bunker has said before that he feels that dishwashers are an abomination. I myself feel that they are heaven sent and love the presence of the working dishwasher in my kitchen. But, today while I was washing all the dishes by hand because the so called "abomination" was broken, I was thinking that maybe he has a point. Maybe there is some good that we don't often get to experience that comes from going without this convenience. Washing dishes by hand is work that is conducive to visiting with those around you in the kitchen, visiting with whoever is kind enough to help you, or just giving you time to think. You are forced to stay in one spot focused on one thing that really doesn't require that much focus. Today, I was able to appreciate this work especially because it gave me time to think. I don't really take that time or even make that time very often it seems. I will say that doing dishes in front of a large window with a view of a beautiful flowering yard on a cool comfortable Spring day does make it a much more enjoyable experience. And for some reason, washing someone elses dishes at someone elses house never seems nearly as horrible as washing your own. So in conclusion, I would say that I am very grateful for my functioning dishwasher and I could never call it an abomination, but I can be grateful for sporadic (emphasis on sporadic) times of having to wash the dishes by hand and recognize the good that can come from that.

Ben Folds

For those unacquainted with my musical tastes, Ben Folds has been my favorite artist for years running. Although his appearances in Utah are very rare, I was able to get tickets to a show he did yesterday. Jen and I traveled all the way out to Magna, UT to see it. Although everything leading up to his entrance was very unpleasant (they opened the doors an hour later than planned, and had 4 artists play before him, and I'm just not a big fan of standing in one place for a long time with people crowding me from all sides) his performance was great! I went to a concert of his about 8 years ago and it was just as incredible as I remember it being then. His lyrics are clever, simple, and funny. His piano playing blows my mind, and all-in-all his songs are just really catchy. If I've convinced you to check out his music, don't go to Itunes so quickly. I wouldn't recommend him to the soft and innocent ears. He's pretty crude, and in some of his songs he just swears like a sailor. I'm reminded of the "mormonad" that has the ice cream with a cockroach in it. Except for (fill in the blank) it was great! That's probably a good description of the show. We loved it! He even sang our song "the luckiest" just before we left. It was incredible! (except for those parts we'd like him to cut out)