Politics

So how about that presidential race? What a selection--a young inexperienced charmer relying upon affirmative action sympathizers vs. a pessimistic grumpy old man who, quite frankly, terrifies me. I don't know what do to. I sure don't trust either one of them. I've got lots of conflicting allegiances:

I'm Mormon = morally conservative (+1 republicans);
I'm an academic (+1 democrats);
I'm fiscally liberal (+1 democrats);
I support the War in Iraq (+1 republicans);
I can't rationalize war expenditures when I see extreme domestic poverty (+1 democrats);
Health care is my greatest concern (+1 democrats);

What to do?

I think it comes down to two basic philosophies. (1) Do you fear change and advocate for the status quo (conservativism/republicans), or (2) do you believe we should risk making blunders and try to change things (democrats)? I guess it really comes down to this--are you a pessimist or an optimist?

I choose to be an optimist. Sure, democrats have plenty of odd fixations and dumb blunders, but I choose to try and make things better. How about you?

School Resumed

We're back in school and things are moving smoothly. I am teaching HST 109 - the first half of US history. I've got about 170 students (two classes), and I'm getting sick of all the stupid emails. "Professor Garrett, the bookstore is out of books" No, they are not. "Professor Garrett, what are the assigned readings for tomorrow." Read the Syllabus. "Professor Garrett, will there be a quiz on Wednesday?" Good Grief kiddies! Its like I'm teaching 8th grade again!

Jen is also teaching. She is the director for Womens Chorus, and is leading a community choir (Arizona Deseret Choir), the church choir, and Sunday she was asked to organize a major musical production. She is also wrapping up two courses so she is pretty busy.

Abby is Abby. She laughs a lot and loves to be part of the action. She can play by herself for a few minutes, but then needs to be moved someplace else. She rolls pretty frequently, and is starting to pull up on her hands and knees (but does not yet go anywhere). She's getting over another cold but seems pretty good. She still is tiny--only about 12.5 lbs. She is still off the chart for wieght (below 3%) and height for her age, but she is developmentally fine. She is a happy healthy little girl.

All the family visiting last week is gone now, except Jen's mom. She is helping with Abby and doing little projects and reading. Jen and I have scheduling conflicts so we're glad Karen is here to help.

Fight For Kisses

I found this awesome commercial and had to post it.

Sealing at the Temple

Today we took Abby to the temple where she was sealed to us for time and eternity.

Many of our friends and family came out to support us.

Abby's First Feeding

Property Taxes

My advice for the week: Pay attention to your mortgage payment. Ours just jumped up $85/month (which is a lot for a couple of poor students) and I spent the last few weeks discussing it, repeatedly, with our mortgage company (Wells Fargo), my title company, Maricopa county treasurer's office, the Maricopa land parcel office (or something like that), and my neighbor. Long story short, I just made (or, really, earned back) $2400! Whoo-hoo. Basically, when we bought the house somehow we were billed for the past year of property taxes and on top of that our mortgage company paid additional taxes on some other property (from our account). The county didn't care, as long as they got paid, and the bank blindly passed out checks from my escrow account whenever anybody wanted some. It took a lot of work, but finally we're getting our money back and our payments are dropping back down. Whoo-hoo. So the moral of the story is to closely manage your cash because if you don't others will.

Its Final!

Today our lawyer met the judge in Utah and finalized our adoption of Abigail. She is now ours, legally, for life. Next week we'll take her to the temple and seal her to us for eternity. We're so excited!

Saturday in the Yard and at the Park

Okay, this first pic isnt from Saturday, but I wanted to include it. Here our friend Caryn visits from Texas. She had a layover on her way to Salt Lake for a workshop, and so she stretched it out to 12 hours so she could spend the night with us.

On Saturday morning I got up and worked on the pavers, which are mostly level now, and then I began trimming the tree. It was entangling our power wires so I had to take drastic measures.

Jen took Abby to a baby shower for our friend Tiffany, and my girls wore matching outfits.

Abby also found a packager for her in the mail. Her birth mom's step mom sent a quilt she stitched. It is HUGE, and Abby will surely use it for a long long time.

Jen and Abby also went to the park.

Young Men, Young Laborers

So, I finally pulled out my sprinklers and laid down pavers in our side/back yard. I recruited the young men from our church. The Kendall boys are good hard workers, Dabid and Charlie (below) were decent reluctant workers, and Milo proved himself as a big whiner (you'll notice he's not in any of the photos of people working). Much thanks to them all--Logan, David, and others who helped too. Maybe I'll post a final photo when I finish the job. All the pavers are down now, but they need to be individually removed, leveled, and then reinserted.

Below is the only photo of my trip to Coronado. Its not too flatering, but it shows the gang.

Comments

Due to popular demand, I have enabled comments, I think. So feel free to submit comments from now on.

Coronado National Forest

I'm spending the weekend in Coronado National Forest with colleagues as we prepare for our doctoral exams later this month. One of our proctors had the great idea to invite us to his amazing cabin down south for a couple days to discuss exam content and enjoy the scenery.