5 Days Until Daddy

This morning Abby and I went with our friends Carric and Jenny to just have fun in IKEA. We did not go to spend money--just thought it would be a really fun place for her to run and play. She ran around, climbed into various wardrobes and cupboards, bounced on beds and even stole Carric's soft serve ice cream!
Here are Carric and Abby having a little "tea" time!

Abby trying out the "big girl" beds.

Abby stealing Carric's ice cream.

A fun trip to IKEA.

After Abby took a brief nap after IKEA we went to Mesa to teach one of my piano students, Hannah. Her whole family welcome us with open arms whenever we come and we will miss them so much when we leave.

Only 5 more days Daddy! We better finish packing.

6 Days Until Daddy

Our morning began at the Pueblo Grande Museum with Natalie. We got free tickets through the Tempe Library and thought we would check it out. There wasn't a whole lot there, but we did see some pretty neat excavation of a Hohokam Village. Abby enjoyed playing with the baskets and sticks and running through the dirt.

Actual excavation of the village.

I played the piano for a vocal studio class today so Abby went and played with her friend Indi. When I came back to get her they were up in Indi's room dancing.

This evening Abby and I drove to the Chandler Mall to ride the choo-choo train that goes around the bottom floor of the mall. She loved it. We also played in the play area and got some rice and noodles at Panda Express.

Here is a quick video of Abby dancing with Indi and playing at the play area.

Direct Buy

So I was looking for furniture stores in Bakersfield (we need to buy a couple couches and a mattress) when I stumbled upon DirectBuy. I thought the premise of their online sales pitch made sense. Essentially they buy from manufacturers and sell to members without the mark up. They make their money off the membership fees. So, I figured, it must be like Costco.

Yesterday I filled out the online info request but midway through it required I select a time to visit. I wanted Jen to accompany me so I did not complete the form, but I thought it odd that they so quickly tried to bind me to some time slot when all I wanted was a little information. Today a cheerful friendly salesman called to ask if he could send me materials and get me out to the warehouse to see what great deals they can offer. He testified that I could save 25-50% off items bought through DirectBuy. I agreed to let him send me materials. I also asked about the membership price; however, the salesman explained that he was not permitted to share it over the phone. Suspicious, I thought. It reminded me of the time share pitches I've attended in the past where they refuse to give you a price until they've sufficiently wowed you with their product. It is a sales tactic I don't care for, but I do understand it.

So, I did a google search on this company to see what the price would be and if people liked their service. Holy Bedposts Batman! I routinely google search for reviews on anybody and anything I encounter just to see what the world thinks of them, and I've never seen such universally hateful comments about a company.

To begin, the membership price (shhh... dont tell anybody, its a secret) is $5,000. For this, they tell you, the company will save you bundles of money on every purchase. They hope that you wont do the math and realize that it would require tens of thousands of dollars worth of purchases before you made back the loss on the membership fee. But this is only the beginning. They have terrible customer service (routinely do not answer or return calls) and won't let you return or exchange anything you bought. Most disturbing, they employ a over the top high pressure sales approach, according to the reviews I read. Apparently, they get you to visit the warehouse, show you furniture and other products without prices, except for a couple selected items with big savings. If you ask to see the catalog, with prices, they refuse. There they subject you to a 2-3 hour sales pitch, and then tell you that you must decide right then. They explain, if you leave the store you will never be permitted to join--its now or never. One review I read said that the would-be members had to open their cell phone and begin calling the police before the sales crew would let them leave the building. About half of the reviews I read said it was a rip off and the other half said RUN (in capital letters) away from this scam.

So the moral of the story is, don't join DirectBuy.

And on a final note I should point out that the entry on Wikipedia even states that DirectBuy's attorney has filed cease and desist actions against blogs that spoke ill of the company, so don't be surprise if this posting disappears later because I don't want to pay for an attorney to defend my first amendment right to freedom of speech. If all that is true, this company really is evil.

7 Days Until Daddy

One week from tonight we will be reunited! It seems like it has been so long. We miss you Daddy! Fortunately Abby and I have been so busy that the time has passed very quickly. Today was a particularly fun and busy day. By 12:30 we had gone on a very long walk, played at the park, watched a 30 minutes Thomas video (while I got ready), went to playgroup at Tempe Marketplace and played in the fountains, ate yogurt with all of the kids, played in Barnes and Noble with the books and Thomas the Train set, and drove home! Abby actually took an earlier nap than usual. This is what comes of having a child that gets up so darn early everyday and just loves to be out! Later we drove over to Deseret Book in Mesa to buy her a new journal since I've almost filled up the latest one and I had a coupon that expired today. Then we looked at the Mesa Temple and went over to Pioneer Park for a picnic dinner. Little did I know that there was a huge train! Abby was so excited. There were so many toys to play on--she wasn't too interested in eating. There was also a little 2 year old boy that only spoke Spanish and he and Abby had so much fun together. When his Dad came to pick him up the little boy ran and gave him a hug. Then Abby did the same! I think she really misses Matt! Tonight we came home and she wanted to eat "Woody" pasta. It is macaroni and cheese in the shape of Toy Story characters. I made it and gave her the food and went to walk away and she folded her arms and said--"Pray?" I was so proud and excited. What an amazing girl she is.

Morning adventures at Jaycee Park in Tempe: Abby lear

ned to climb up the moving ramp. . .

And was quite pleased with herself declaring, "I did it!"

Playgroup at Tempe Marketplace (Abby, Savannah, Annie, Indi)
Abby running from the water--MoJo Yogurt is in the background.
Abby always has to see what else is around and was the first to play in the other water feature!
Happy kids and Mommies with yummy yogurt.

Abby and Mommy

Playing with Thomas the Train in Barnes & Noble.

Mesa Temple

Train at Pioneer Park

More climbing. . .

Same, "I did it!"

Here is a video of some of our adventures of the day.

8 Days Until Daddy

If you haven't been to Mill Avenue in Tempe, it is a fun place to walk. This morning Abby and I walked over to Mill and walked up and down much of it. Abby loved looking in the shops and watching the people. She ended up getting 3 powdered donut holes--she bites into one and then goes for the other. All in all she might have eaten one!

Since my calling as Ward Choir Director pretty much ended on Sunday I decided I should clean up the choir folders and organize the music. We spent a good hour and a half on it and Abby helped me throw away a lot of things. We will have to go back another day because the music still lacks organization and I do not want to turn it over to someone else that way.

I received good news today--no more packing my "owie!" Doctor Feldman said it will take a while longer to heal, but I can cover it with a good bandade now. Abby loves Doctor Feldman and played with his stethoscope. She even made him listen to his own heart which he promptly announced was not there!

Abby has a friend named Caely that moved to Tuscon. She came back for her uncle's cross country meeting tonight and so Abby went with Caely to the meet. They enjoyed swinging and playing in the grass.

Abby, Natalie and Caely

Abby on the slide--taken with a phone so it is small!
Only 8 more days Daddy and we will be united again!

This is a video of Abby at the end of our walk. You can hear her say, "Abby turn" which is her way of saying "I can do it myself." Her ABC's are getting better!

9 Days Until Daddy

Less than 10 days--wow! That is exciting. We are anxious to see Matt (Daddy) again. I'm also a little tired of being surrounded by boxes and bins. But Abby and I spend most of our days outside anyways, so it doesn't really matter! Today we began with another long walk that ended up at the park. The picture below shows you what I see most of the time at the park--Abby running everywhere!

One of our most wonderful friends, Carly, Paul, and Adelaide are also moving to California and they leave tomorrow. They will be greatly missed by everyone in Tempe. Carly is an excellent oboist and I've had the pleasure of working with her on a number of occasions. I will truly miss making music with her. As a going away gift I took a piece that we played together that was written for violin and piano and put it into my new Sibelius program (transposed it to a lower key) so that she will be able to use it again. It was an excellent exercise for me in learning how to use the program. I realized there is much I need to learn! We definitely want to keep in contact and hopefully hook up to go camping in California! (I do not know why the picture of the music below turned--I can't get it to rotate--sorry!)

Carly, Adelaide and Abby

We will miss you!

10 Days Until Daddy

10 days, wow. That is hardly anything! We will be reunited before we know it.

Abby and I had such a good day. Since I am not yet allowed to exercise as I normally do, Abby and I went for a long walk today. We went all over the ASU campus and took some pictures for memory's sake. She also got hungry, so we stopped at the Memorial Union (M.U.) and grabbed her a blueberry muffin which you can see below. It was a great walk.

The ASU Memorial Union

Abby's muffin.

After our walk we went to the Tempe Library--our usual Monday activity. We returned books, picked up a free pass to a museum, and checked out books. You can see her choice of books heavily leaned towards choo-choo trains!
When we came back Natalie stopped by and ended up making Abby what she calls a "cheese crisp." Basically, melted cheese on a torilla. Abby ate it as she does most things--from the middle. You can see how she eats it and the result below! I think it resembles a snowflake!

Abby also decided today that the big toilet was great fun. We ran and sat on the toilet a good 5 or 6 times, but it was always immediately after she had gone in the diaper. I am just happy she is interested now and we will go at it full force when we get to Bakersfield. In the meantime, we will keep doing what we are doing! She was so proud of herself sitting on the big toilet!
The funniest event of the day was Abby jumping around in the play area at the library and absolutely entertaining a little boy. In the video it almost sounds like the little boy is crying, but he was laughing. His Mom and little brother said they had never heard him laugh that hard before. He laughed at every little thing Abby did. It had gone on a while before I had the thought of getting out the camera. It was so cute.

A Thought. . . .

I already posted comments and pictures today, but before I go to bed I want to post a thought from a card Matt and I received today. Our friend wrote, "Through this adventure we call ife we meet many people. They all leave us with a little bit of themselves. Then sometimes there are those people who leave us having built a big bit of themselves right into our heart, our life, and most importantly, our souls." I feel that way about so many of our friends and it started to make me sad. Then I realized how lucky I am to feel that way about so many amazing people. The Lord truly blesses me and answers my prayers through wonderful friends.

11 Days Until Daddy

Music is amazing. . . . truly amazing. Today was the final time I directed the Tempe Ward Choir--and what a ward choir! I've had the privilege of conducting many ward choirs during my life and this one is definitely unforgettable. Today we sang two pieces during Sacramant meeting, "I Need Thee Every Hour" with an amazing oboe soloist (my friend Carly), and "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" with an amazing organist (my friend Carric). There were over 60 people singing! Okay, so I asked some members of the choir I directed for the last two years if they wanted to come sing with me one more time and they did! They added some depth and experience to an already amazing ward choir. The combination was astounding. Countless people approached me after with their comments of amazement. I must admit that I had a little bit of a difficult time controlling my emotions. During the speaker between the two songs I momentarily reflected on the last 4 years in Tempe and suddenly felt a wash of emotion. The last piece felt like letting go of so many things. When the organ began playing I was not sure if I could make it, but I got a hold of myself and I relished in their sound, commitment, and testimonies. I feel I left my testimony with the Tempe Ward. Here is a picture of the choir during rehearsal, we added a number of people when we actually sang.

I thought Matt might want to see what Abby looked like today before Church, so here is a picture.

After Church we had a linger longer where people stayed and talked and ate. I really enjoyed talking to everyone and Abby enjoyed running around. She still had a lot of energy so when we arrived home we decided to take a walk. We ended our walk at the dog park and playground. We normally don't play on the playground on Sunday, but she spent a few minutes on the toys and made two friends. They thought she was so cute and just followed Abby around.

I really love Sundays. I love the peace I feel and the discussions of the gospel. Plus it is so wonderful to be surrounded by wonderful members of the Church. We are truly blessed to be members of this Church. I cannot imagine my life without it.

12 Days Until Daddy

An outline of our day:

We began at Purcell's to get an oil change. They found a nail in one of our tires, so I am very glad we took the car in when we did. It would have been difficult to have a flat tire with Abby somewhere! Abby ran around the entire time we were there and the man repeatedly commented on how she was constantly on the move. She kept trying to go behind the counter and fortunately he did not care!

Next we went and taught piano lessons in Mesa to one of my students, Hannah. Abby loves to go there and play with Lynn, Hannah's Mom. There was a bonus today because Lynn's grandson, Tray was there and we got some cute pics of the two kids.

We came home and watched Toy Story II which she loves. For the rest of the day she has talked mainly about "Woody." We then painted our toe nails green to match our Sunday clothes tomorrow!

Abby finally took a nap and I got my scripture study in, worked on the article I want to get published, and began putting an oboe/piano duet I did with a friend into Sibelius. She needed it to be in a different key and I am trying to give her a nice copy that she can take with her as she is moving this next week. There are always so many projects to do! Then we went to the store to buy a bag for a blanket I crocheted for one of the people I visit teach. She is due any time with a boy so we wanted to give it to her right away.
Tomorrow is a "Church day" as Abby calls it and it the final time I will direct my Tempe Ward Choir. I am expecting 50 people to sing! It will be amazing and sad at the same time. I love directing ward choirs--especially this one!

Life in Bakersfield

Jen has dutifully posted pictures on comments every day for the last little bit and I thought some of you might be interested in the occurrences here in Bakersfield.

I finished my first week and it went great. I had a good time and remembered how much I enjoy teaching. The students are a little less prepared for college than I am accustomed, or than I expected, but it is still a lot of fun.

This morning I got up to go run errands, shop for a couch and whatever else, but found that the front tire was flat on my grandmothers car (which I've been borrowing for the past two weeks). I called some local church members who I hardly knew and with good fortune my first call was to a man that is more service oriented than everyone I ever met. Dave came by my house with Jacob, his "indentured servant," Jacob (a 17-year old young man of no family relation who follows him around and helps with his projects). Jacob grabbed my tires on and tossed them on the truck and then Dave drove us to a warehouse of parts and toys on the other side of town. Among the tools was a hydrologic tire machine that stripped the tire from the rim. Dave determined the hole in my tire was too severe to patch, so he tossed on a tire that was sitting around the warehouse and said I could pay the owner later.

Dave inquired about my plans for the backyard, and I told him I hoped to get somebody to pour concrete on the side and then described my other plans. He offered to pour the concrete for no fee, other than the cost of the cement. I explained that I first needed to dig drainage and sprinkler systems that would (in part) be under the cement. Dave and Jacob figured they could help with that task too, and then offered another machine Dave owns that digs trenches. Dave then offered to bring his bobcat into my backyard to dig up the coy pond and whatever else was needed back there. When I questioned the likelihood of fitting the bobcat through the side gate he replied that it was no problem because he also owned a crane and could just lift the bobcat up and over my back wall.

Wow.

To top it off, later in the day I drove to Dave's house where he used some high pressure hoses to add an ounce of oil into my granny's struggling AC system, in an effort to raise the pressure and improve the operation of the failing device. It did not work, but he did it for free as well. He was just happy to try to help. Dave gave me some tasty fruit and they even sent me off with a bag of grapes that Jacob picked up someplace. Jacob said, "I'm Mexican, so I know people who pick produce."

So I am almost in shock. I can't believe how generous Dave and Jacob were with their time today, and that they would offer to do so much more. They are wonderful guys and we are so very fortunate to land here in Bakersfield among so many great people. I'm quite happy that we'll be living here and are already making such wonderful friends.