So, Master Doodle ran into the bedroom (a sure sign he intends to poop in his underwear, as he’s in the midst of potty training), and when Mrs. Smith went to open the door, it was locked.  Uh-oh.  Doodle must have heard the handle jingle because he yelled out “Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!”  Mrs. Smith then played along with the Three Little Pigs child who refused to open the door to the Wolf…  in other words, he refused to allow Mrs. Smith into the room until he’d done his nefarious deed.  Ick.

At least there was some humor in the situation to diffuse the otherwise unpleasant and messy experience.

Today I was in the Orange Glen Ward of the Escondido Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In the High Priests quorum meeting (ick – I’m artificially aged!) the lesson was from the December Ensign, specifically the talk from Elder Neal A. Maxwell about consecration and the Atonement.  The teacher mentioned the passage wherein the Savior cried out, in the anguish of Gethsemane, “Would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink; nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” (that’s from memory and may not be the exact wording).  Normally when brought up, the conversastion includes commentary about how the Atonement was such an excruciatingly painful ordeal that the Lord cried out, and asked “Abba” (Daddy) to take the pain away – but, nevertheless, not the Son’s will, but the Father’s be done.  Today I thought of the passage differently than ever before.

“Would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink; nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done” (emphasis added).  Perhaps the purpose of the exclamation to His Father wasn’t due to the pain he endured per se — after all, apart from the later declaration on the cruel cross that “[He] thirst[ed],” when do we ever see the Savior express personal regard as opposed to intimate concern for others? — perhaps instead what He feared in those moments in Gethsemane and Calvary when the burdens of sin, sorrow, and pain were nailed upon His sinless soul is that He, as obedient, powerful, humble, strong, and good as He was, that even He would be insufficient to the herculean task at hand; that He, the very Son of God, would shrink during the final hours, that He would fail and that, by so doing, His failure would literally damn all of God’s children forever.

Perhaps His concern wasn’t that it hurt so much — and it must have been terrible beyond comprehension! — but rather His thoughts at that moment were on you, and me, that if He failed we’d be resigned to eternal misery and woe, to become angels to the devil (as Nephi describes in the Book of Mormon).  His fear and plea wasn’t that the awful pain be removed, but that He prove capable to the task given so that we have the chance to return to live with God.  His plea further stands as His declaration of faith in His Father’s plan, that it would be possible to succeed, that His Father’s will be done.

I suspect this doesn’t read as well as it came to me during class today, but hopefully it provides opportunity for the Spirit to teach us about the Atonement, myself included.  🙂

We’re in San Diego where we’ll be for the next week or so.

We left Friday night around 10pm MST and drove through the night.  We arrived at our first stop, my brother’s house, at ~7:30am PST.  You do the math – my brain still hasn’t woken up, I think, from the all-night drive.  Mrs. Smith was awake for the first couple of hours, then she was out with the kids.  In fact, she slept more than the kids did, as they awoke periodically during the trip.  And Doodle is in the midst of potty training, so he was specifically taken to the restroom each time we stopped for gas, and would then be awake for some time once back on the road.  The good news is that we’ve left him without a diaper now for three nights running – and he’s been dry come morning for three nights running.  Wahoo!

In true Smith fashion, we don’t have anything planned for the week, apart from Wednesday morning when I have my CA Real Estate Broker exam scheduled.  I think we’re going to hit the pool(s)/beach tomorrow, we’ll see.  As for the other days, it’s fair game.  Sea World, WIld Animal Park, Disneyland, SD Temple, In-N-Out, etc… only time will tell.

We’re staying in Oceanside, technically, at the WorldMark (by Wyndham) timeshare resort.  We love our WorldMark ownership.  If anyone is looking for a great timeshare opportunity, one that provides maximum flexibility with useful vacation opportunities, let me know.  I’m not looking to sell anything, but I’m willing to provide information and personal experience, fwiw.

No pictures of the trip to view, though, for a couple of reasons: (1) I’m not much for taking pictures, and (2) My wife is, so I encourage the interested reader to peruse her blog.

My wife.  Yes, she is the “ubergeek” of books.  In preparation for our upcoming road trip to San Diego, we stopped by the library tonight to retrieve some held items.  I waited in the car with the kids while she went inside to get the goods.  A few minutes later she comes walking out carrying a mountain of books and CDs (audio books).  The clothes matched what she’d been wearing when she went in but everything from her torso upwards, her face included, was obscured.

“Wow, that’s a lot of books, dear.”  Her reply?

“I know – isn’t it great?”  This is said as she literally embraces the stack of books now safely esconced on her lap.  Yes folks, she’s actually snuggling with the books (I’m getting jealous while driving home!).  I’m surprised she didn’t strap them under the seat belt with her.  Cinderalla, sitting in the back, asks Mommy what she’s doing.

“Oh, nothing.  Mommy just loves books.”

Yes.  She does love books.  She is the book “ubergeek.”

I hate it when projects don’t communicate with needed personnel until it’s the 11th hour. Grrr.

The Bishop of our ward is out of town for the next few weeks so as his First Counselor the responsibility to preside falls into my lap (a most uncomfortable feeling).  Along those lines, I was also responsible to get speakers for Sacrament meeting.  I called a few people (who did a great job!) and during two of the persons’ comments they mentioned how the talks assigned, from the most recent General Conference, were clearly intended for them.  One individual even mentioned how, when she originally heard the talk given by Sister Allred, it was for her a “life-changing moment” (I think were the words).

I’m grateful that the Lord is able to take something simple (me) and turn it into something wonderful for this Sister and Brother and, hopefully, for those that heard them speak.  I certainly don’t have the spiritual sensitivity I’d like – it’s not like I go around and see beams of light from folks’ heads and just know they need to speak on xyz on Sunday – but nonetheless it’s neat to be a part of that process whereby others have personal spiritual experiences.

Moreover, I’m grateful for all those persons in my ward that have accepted callings, whatever the role.  Their willingness to serve is what enables the Ward to function, and nothing the Bishop (or his Counselors) do would work if not for the members’ faithfulness.  To them, I am indebted and grateful.

So, when Alisa came home with the kids tonight they were asleep so I dutifully trudged outside to carry them upstairs to bed – that’s what Daddy’s do, right?  Unbeknownst to me, little Doodle also thinks so too, apparently!  He woke up some and as we were walking up the path to our front porch he said, “You’re carrying me – you’re the best Daddy!” and gave me a bug squeeze around the neck.

Don’t know about yours, but it melted my heart.  Life is full of challenges but nestled within them (sometimes deep within) are the nuggets that matter.  Such was this precious moment to me.

So that’s my new title and I kinda like it: Great Squirrel Herder.

In conversation today with some co-workers it was mentioned that it sometimes feels like we’re herding sheep. However, we’re not shepherds because sheep willingly follow shepherds.  We’re more like sheep herders, behind the sheep with prods trying to keep them moving in a certain direction. Someone else brought up squirrels instead, implying that’s more accurate than sheep. I told him I was going to steal it, which I have.

Run free my minion squirrels – divide and conquer!

Since I returned home from my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in December of 2000, I’ve been employed in the technology sector (in fact, I was before my mission, too, but not for large enterprises).  And throughout that period of time I’ve been “oncall.”  For any that may be unfamiliar with the concept, there’s a rotation of x weeks (which depends on the number of others in the rotation) when any alerts, pages, problems, et cetera, land in your lap.  Some weeks there’s a little; some weeks there’s lots.  Always it’s blech.  And when you’re in technology management positions (as I’m not currently – yay!) it’s worse, because you’re essentially oncall 24/7/365.  True, the first set of alert(s) don’t always come to you, but you’ll be the escalation point.

So, I’m oncall this week…

I’m looking forward to a career, some day, when I’m not oncall – ever.  😀

Wahoo, let me tell you how excited I am that tonight is the last session of my Chemistry 1215 lab! Now if only my other classes would hurry and finish (Chem 1210 and two Calculus courses).