5th Annual Heater War:

Some Facts about the 5th Annual Heather War.

This year it ended on November 12th.
Last year it ended on October 31st.

November Bill just came in the mail and shows:

This year we used 37 Therms or 1.2 per day.
Last year we used 43 Therms or 1.3 per day.

This year our bill was $41.78
Last year our bill was $54.03

We had a net savings of $12.25 over last year.
PG&E says that we had a savings of $6 because of lower gas rates from last year.

The Best Explanation for Hillsong United I-Heart Film

We attended the Hillsong United Iheart Film. It was 2 hours, a lot of good themes and stories but we left trying to put the pieces together. I came accross a web-site that did a review and gave the best explanation in helping to put the pieces together. This is for those that went with us and also those that missed a long but great film.

www.dennarr.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/hillsong_movie/

Wait and See

End of the Year...

The baby will be here soon. I think I'm getting more excited by the day as the anticipation of what we are going to have is building. Most people want us to have a boy and I can honestly say I'll be really happy with whatever we have. 58% of me hopes for a girl because I think it'll be easier for the long-term. We already have girl clothes, girl rooms and understand the girl responsibilities around here. If we have a boy, it might be like having the 1st one all over again and just leave us really confused.

The baby pushed us to meet our end of the year goals faster for Farmers. I think we have 90% of the job done to qualify for Championship. Last year at this point, we were probably about 65% of the way done. So I think we are ahead of schedule with some stuff to clean house with next week as we put a finish to the year. The baby has probably helped those goals.

The new baby has done lots of things for our family. It also means a long break from the worship team. I'm honestly not really excited about a long-term break and feel we had a lot of energy and momentum. For the family, this will probably be a good thing. This is my chance to sit back and let others lead and see what God will do. Wait and See...

I think work has caused a lot of stress for me between September and October. I took on some new policies with 2 other agents retiring and always go through the period of trying to salvage everything we can and still wondering what will be left in the end. The service work is challenging as I really expect 110% perfection and when I get stressed, I know staff does as well. With all the changes with work, the new baby, the end of the year goals, and another big challenge that we have been dealing with since April and hoping for closure... I'd say this was the most difficult 60 days I went through since my time in the Army. Things should really calm down in the work-place assuming that we don't have any huge problems as we close out the year. We have made it through the trials... I'm at a wait and see approach to see if the calm to the storm happens.

We've been attending The Stirring for the past 2 weeks for church in the evening. I've always wanted to check it out and get a fresh look at music and watch the how other worship teams lead others. I wanted to see the culture of other congregations. How does technology work at a church in driving people to connect with God. My fear is that I can get in a routine of being stagnent and used to routine. I feel refreshed and learned so much in the past few weeks about our marriage by the teachings. It has been great for the kids as they get 2 solid hours of Kids Church in the evening while Mom and Dad get a chance to connect with God. We used to attend evening services growing up, maybe we have found something spiritually that can help us get away from routine as we are searching for God.

I'm not really sure what the future holds for us, but I feel I'm at a place as I feel relaxed as we close out the year. I have the wait and see approach as 2010 is still the unknown as I'm not sure what it looks like yet. It is a 5,000 piece puzzle that is still being put together... but soon we might see the picture soon.

Maybe some things are "wait and see" but other things.... we have started to see.

Bring It On!

Bring It On Smith's! This year is the 5th annual heater war... you already mentally lost because you are so protective of your son that you have to keep him warm. Let me remind you that when you lost last year, it was because you went out trick or treating on Halloween in the cold rain... you went home and couldn't stand it any longer. Let me remind you that the score is 2-2... we have been dreaming of this for an entire year of how we will be one ahead of you for an entire year. Bring It Smiths's... but you can't!

Bring It On end of the year goals! We have you already beat. We know how we will finish this year as we qualify for Championship for our 4th year in a row for Farmers Insurance. We will sneak up on you from behind and come to you as the biggest suprise. You will say, "didn't see that". So Bring It Goals! We will conquer you!

Bring It On Biggest Loser! We are taking you down. Hard work has not been enough. 12 weeks of work doesn't finish the job. So now I work at this with other people surrounding me to help! I have you this time as I'm working hard to eat and live right. You are going down because I'm going down! So Bring It Biggest Loser, cause I'm throwing everything back at you harder!

Bring It SF Giants! No really... Bring It! Maybe it wasn't this year... but next year... Bring It! You are going to shine next year. Next Year Bring It... I'm already excited for you!

My New Garmin

My friend Tim Mapes purchased a Garmin watch for his wife last week. It is a GPS watch that tracks time, distance, calories burned, elevation.... just tons of stuff. It got me thinking as I was looking at a Nike Shoe option that connects to an IPod for GPS. But that would have required me to purchase the shoe and gadgets and an IPod and switch phone service.

The Garmin 305 was regular priced for $299 at Best Buy and on sale for $150. I had about $70 in credits to use at Best Buy, so we drove to Chico to pick it up as the Redding store didn't have it. Totall Excited!

So far I've taken it out to the McConnell Foundation Trail and ran the advertised largest trail at 2.25 miles. The Garmin on 3 occassions has mapped it out to 2.16 miles. The smaller trail advertised at .75 miles comes in at .70 miles.

I did the Clover Trail as well with no official distance but rumored to be 1.50 miles. The Garmin watch suggests 1.44 miles.

It has been interesting uploading all the runs to the computer using the Garmin software. I can see all the elevation changes with the average pace times. I can see my pace times flucuating through climbs. McConnell Foundation has elevation difference of over 50 feet from the highest points to the lowest points.

I'm hoping to get out to the River Trail advertised at 5.7 miles and track that out with distance and elevations and then go to a 1/4 mile track to test out the accuracy. I can't see it being wrong as it tracks my movements with each foot.

What a cool toy to have... a great tool to help with training and getting back in fit. I would have never run streets before as I didn't know the distance... but now the Garmin watch can help me run anywhere.

StrengthsQuest.com Personality Test Results

I took an almost 200 question test... maybe the best I've ever done as I felt the questions were so detailed. So this is who I am in 5 words below. I think I want to have all my staff at the office do this test as well.

Strategic:

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.


Competition

Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don’t compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems unlikely.


Maximizer

Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else’s, fascinate you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored excellence, rapid learning, a skill mastered without recourse to steps—all these are clues that a strength may be in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. Likewise, you are attracted to others who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. You don’t want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather, you want to capitalize on the gifts with which you are blessed. It’s more fun. It’s more productive. And, counterintuitively, it is more demanding.


Adaptability

You live in the moment. You don’t see the future as a fixed destination. Instead, you see it as a place that you create out of the choices that you make right now. And so you discover your future one choice at a time. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have plans. You probably do. But this theme of Adaptability does enable you to respond willingly to the demands of the moment even if they pull you away from your plans. Unlike some, you don’t resent sudden requests or unforeseen detours. You expect them. They are inevitable. Indeed, on some level you actually look forward to them. You are, at heart, a very flexible person who can stay productive when the demands of work are pulling you in many different directions at once.


Significance

You want to be very significant in the eyes of other people. In the truest sense of the word you want to be recognized. You want to be heard. You want to stand out. You want to be known. In particular, you want to be known and appreciated for the unique strengths you bring. You feel a need to be admired as credible, professional, and successful. Likewise, you want to associate with others who are credible, professional, and successful. And if they aren’t, you will push them to achieve until they are. Or you will move on. An independent spirit, you want your work to be a way of life rather than a job, and in that work you want to be given free rein, the leeway to do things your way. Your yearnings feel intense to you, and you honor those yearnings. And so your life is filled with goals, achievements, or qualifications that you crave. Whatever your focus—and each person is distinct—your Significance theme will keep pulling you upward, away from the mediocre toward the exceptional. It is the theme that keeps you reaching.

The Story...

So I had my vasectomy on Wednesday... finally got it done. But let me tell you the story of what lead up to it as it was going to be a big suprise.

I made a decision that I was going to start the process to get it done. My idea was that I would go to the initial appointment and get the surgery done and not tell Jamie until it was completed and just walk inside the house to tell her the big suprise. The cool thing about this is that it would have shown that I did this on my own without Jamie telling me to do it. Everyone sort of thought I would have to be forced into it or maybe I would never get it done. Time to stand up and show everyone what I'm about.

July 27th - Health Application sent in with Blue Shield. Should take 2-3 days for approval. Had to delete e-mails from Blue Shield so Jamie wouldn't wonder why I was applying.

July 28th - Called doctor's office to schedule 1st appointment. Gave strict instructions for them to call me at work for appointment reminder. Appointment is August 5th at about 2:00 PM.

July 30th - Scheduled fake appointments in my calendar for next week around that time outside the office with customers. Jamie has access to my calendar at home as the computer at the office are networked at home.

August 3rd - Got the e-mail from Blue Shield that my application was approved. Had to delete that e-mail as well.

August 4th - The doctor's office called at HOME (1:00 PM) for appointment reminder and left a voice-mail. This could totally be a disastor to my plan as Jamie found out. I had to explain to her that I was looking into the surgery to strictly find out the cost of the procedure. I had to explain that "I was shocked there was an appointment as I was supposed to come in the office with my insurance information so they could tell me the cost." I was a little convinved that she bought the story. Either way, I didn't confess.

(5:30 PM) we are cooking dinner in kitchen and they call AGAIN and Jamie picks up the phone and they ask for me.... she hands me the phone. They remind me of the appointment again, but I played it off like they were finally calling me back with the estimated $$$ amount. I hung up the phone and said... "Wow, about $900! I guess we know now and maybe we'll have to plan for 2010." This was my cover-up plan so I could admit I went to the office to give them my insurance information, but to make her believe that there was really not an appointment. She totally bought the story as she is now talking about getting her tubes tied at delivery of the baby in November. Sweet!

August 5th - Went to my fake appointment with a customer.... but it was the presentation day at the doctor's office. It was pure education and I learned a lot. I'm not so sure the doctor really needed to touch himself in the "man area" so much. He gave strict instructions that a complete shave would be required before the procedure and that I had to have a driver. I know I can't let Jamie drive as that would ruin the suprise... so I decided that I'm tough enough to drive. Don't tell the Dr. I set the appointment for the procedure for August 12th and gave instructions for them to call me at work for the reminder. I found out that the reason they previously called us at home is because the "master phone number" was the home. I convinced the front desk person to change the master phone number to my office for the reminder. I still doubt this will solve the problem. My plan is to unplug the phone lines on Tuesday in case they call. Jamie would not know what the problem is... but I would assure her I'd fix the problem after work :)

August 11th - This is the day of the possible appointment reminder at the house. Jamie tells me how sick Ally is and she is going to take her to the ER to get her checked out. I find out around lunch time that she is going to be at the hospital for a while...1 to 3 days. This sort of messes up my appointment for tomorrow and I have to decide if I'm doing it. At this point... only 2 people knew about my procedure...Matt Kibler at the office as he was helping me strategize all this out. I had to tell my mom to explain some scheduling conflicts as to why it would be so difficult for us to come down and visit with my sister and her kids in town. So I had to tell Jamie's mom to see if Steve could continue to watch the kids so I could get this done. She gave 200% approval and was full of support. By the way... there was not an appointment reminder at the house or at the office... weird.

August 12th - Procedure is at 4:00 PM. With Jamie stuck at the hospital... Walking in the house after it was done was not going to be the suprise I wanted. So I told her what was going on around 10:30 AM. I think this was the biggest shock to her and the best suprise in the world. She said there was nothing better than this. She was glowing for about an hour.

That's the story... it didn't turn out the way I hoped... but still an awesome cover-up operation.