Bronx Zoo

We actually did something spur-of-the-moment!  Kind of...  Dad & I have wanted to visit the Bronx zoo on a Wednesday for several months. (Wednesdays are free, sort of).   It has been hard for him to get a day off of work, or, the weather did not cooperate.
With his new boss, they now have daily meetings, and he has been leery of missing them.
Yesterday, he woke up, noticed a meeting had been cancelled, rearranged his whole schedule, and asked me to go to the zoo.
 Well, another hard thing about Wednesdays is that I set that day aside to work on my lesson.  This week was Jacob 5, and the class voted to delve into it deeply.  Yikes.  Hard stuff for me.  I always read that chapter with an attitude: too many who is grafting who in where questions for me.
Until this week. I studied and studied.  So, I thought I had it mostly down, and accepted the date.
We had so much fun!  It is not a kid-friendly zoo.  The animals are far apart. There is a lot of walking.
I thought I found directions to the best parking lot- fail on my part, so we had to walk even farther to most of the exhibits.
Although it was free, there are at least 6 separate exhibitions that cost additional money. I have never paid the extra $5. to see the gorillas there, and have always wanted to.  I find them fascinating, ever since I was a child.  We had a favorite gorilla in the Cleveland zoo we new by name, and he loved whenever my sister came in.
So dad decided to pay the money and get an all-included pass to everything, since the entrance was free.
Total - 15 parking, 15 more each for this pass=  45 for a free day at the zoo.  Classic.
The $3 butterfly house was a disappointment to dad. I had seen it before, but with the cool weather, there were only about 20 butterflies flying around, and only 3 species visible.  He was sad.
We took a ride on the Asian monorail, which was a lovely ride in the beautiful fall trees, with few and far between animals; mostly different kinds of deer, one elephant, and a huge bengal tiger.  We enjoyed it, but again, if we had little ones, they may have found it long and boring.  ($5 each a ride)
The gorillas were fun.  The baboons super active.  We enjoyed an overpriced sandwich and soda, and walked some more.
This zoo does an amazing job of scenery and showcasing the animals. There are just not many animals.
Neither of us had a favorite.  We really just loved being together, taking a day off, and walking along in the cool beauty of the fall here in NY.
The last time I went was with Kathy's grade school class. They stopped all city field trips since 9/11.
Side note: 2 of the paid exhibits are dinosaur themed.  What is that about?  They aren't real animals.
The zoo has a lot of space, but evidently not enough money for more animals. The one worker told us that the 22 yr old polar bear was going to die in the next year or two, and they would not replace him.  He claims they don't do well in zoos.
PS- my class stunk, I was lost and just did a terrible job, but, it was all worth it.

Fun day!  Thanks dad!

Because I'm just a tad bored tonight...

Wordless Wednesday!!!

You're welcome.

Google thinks I'm Indian

I have used Google for years and love the company.  How silly of me not to invest a few thousand dollars in it when it first went public, but c'est la vie.  I also find it funny how companies use data to try and figure out how best to advertise to you and share things with you that might interest you.

Recently Google Plus (G+) has been doing a better job at trying to figure out what I might be interested in in my "What's Hot?" feed.  It is about 85% on in terms of what it shows me.  It knows I like BYU.  It recognizes I like science.  It assumes I like Star Wars and Mortal Kombat and Android and Google and many other things.

But starting about 2 months ago or so I started to notice some peculiar things popping up.  I now get a lot of posts about Indian (the country) holidays, Indian food (which I do love!), Indian leaders.  Then I started getting more on Hindu proverbs or other religious things and Indian celebrities (as much as I love Bollywood, I admit I can't name one Bollywood star).

So my only guess is that Google thinks I am Indian.  I thought maybe it knows many of my friends are Indian, but that would be tough since honestly very few of them are in my circles.  So it must assume that based on searches and behavior online that I am Indian.  I find this fascinating as I wonder what 'attributes' lead it to that conclusion.  So if you ever want to know what holiday it is in India or any cool Hindu proverbs, I probably got you covered.

Even more interesting, in just the last two weeks I am now getting a bunch of Muslim posts.  Now, there are quite a few Muslims in India so it might be related to that.  So maybe based on my online behavior it assumes I am an Indian Muslim.  Which might not be too far of a stretch.  Obviously it probably assumes I don't drink or use "creative" language (I assume Google knows everything I type).  It probably knows I have a wife named Tevia (could be Indian, right?) and am monogamous (rare these days).  But the algorithm hasn't seemed to be able to close the gap that I am Mormon (it sends me BYU stuff, so this would be a simple assumption by Google).

I guess I am peculiar enough to not fit the standard profiles.  Which, I think, is probably a good thing.

Disney / Mexico 2013

As fall break quickly approached, along with cooler nights in Phoenix, we decided to take a couple of short vacations with the family.  The first was a couple of days in Disneyland with my brother and his family.  I hadn't been to Disneyland in a few years, so I was excited to see the new attractions (Cars land) and enjoy the time in the magic kingdom.

The drive to LA wasn't as bad as usual and our hotel was great.  We had gotten a suite together with Jake's family and it was a lot of fun.  We had dinner at some place near the hotel and watched my Rams get killed by the 49ers and then played some basketball with Enok.

The next morning we set off for adventure.

We spent a couple of days at the park.  I really enjoyed the new Cars ride and area and the color/water show they have in California adventure.  I did my best to eat as poorly as I could knowing that Tevia and I were going to be good after our trips, so I enjoyed ice cream, the pineapple whips, a churro, a corn dog and even a yummy monte cristo sandwich near Pirates (love that dish!).

Our favorite ride was Star Tours (hard to believe, I know).  Jarek actually went on it 5 times while the rest of us did 4 rides and got quite a bit of the variations.  That was fun.  The weather was ideal with warm days and not-too-cool nights.  It was a great trip and a lot of fun.  

We came back for a few days and then headed off to Rocky Point in Mexico with Tevia's parents.  This is our annual trip we love to take to visit the beach, eat some awesome Mexican food and just chill.  The drive down was quick and the first night we headed to Pollo Lucas for our favorite chicken.  It was as good as always and a great start to the trip.

The next day we spent at the beach.  It was pretty empty and a little windy, but the temperature was awesome.  We spent the whole day on the beach, bought some great burros on the beach, and headed to our fav taco place for dinner.  It was even better than last year.  

We spent one morning in the Cholla Bay looking for clams and the low tide this year was super low.  The last day at the beach there were no waves, which was weird for an ocean.  But it made for some awesome snorkeling along the reef.  Enok got his first taste of snorkeling with me and Jarek spent a lot of the afternoon doing it, too.  

The sunsets were gorgeous as usual.  We even finally ate in Rocky Point on the wharf watching the sun set.  They even made me an awesome scallop dish that wasn't on the menu that had the greatest garlic sauce I've ever had (just ask Tevia!).  It was the perfect fall break trip to wind down and get ready to go back to work and school.  We just spent hours on the beach, bringing our lunches and snacks, reading, sleeping, buying local things, and enjoying the sand.  Nobody even got burned.  It was hard to come back and we can't wait to head back again soon.  Next time we'll try to bring a few more people as we did miss having more company.  

Start of our bucket list

Start of our bucket list, October 15, 2013

• ·         Love train rides
• ·         Manti temple
• ·         See a whale
• ·         Grand Canyon
• ·         Live near grandchildren
• ·         Me- spend time with sister
• ·         Me- have grandchildren visit NY individually
• ·         Dad- climb Mt McKinly
• ·         Dad- run a marathon
• ·         A cruise
• ·         Maybe Rome temple and Italy

Not in any particular order.  That’s it so far.  

Mixed Feelings

Monday morning,  I woke up nervous.
I was heading to the radiology dept. to get a 3rd look at 3 spots on my right breast.  This would be the second ultrasound, and although I really didn't think I had cancer, I still had anxiety.  We had a prayer that the doctor would do his best to find out if I needed a biopsy or not.
Conference talks the two days  before left me happy and joyful, full of renewed strength and direction. I still had much to do in this life.
Getting perspective- 
The phone rang. It was my good friend, Kathy Lombardo. Her daughter-in-law, Dan's wife, was expecting, and the ultrasound had showed several problems with the unborn baby:  some heart defects, and only one kidney.  This past Saturday, she went into labor and delivered James. He was 5 1/2 months old, 12 " long, and breathing on his own.
The family went in on Saturday evening and celebrated.  No one spoke of any disabilities.
At midnight, the doctors put James on a breathing tube.  At 2 am, they told the parents they would probably have to make the decision to take him off.  He was in pain, and probably not going to make it.  At 4 am, the Lord in His tender mercies, saved them from making the decision.  He moved on.
Kathy called me in tears on Monday morning, her heart broken for Dan and Jenifer. They had tried so long to have a second child.
The sadness I felt was surreal, yet, after I let her cry for a bit, her testimony of how the Lord is in charge came shining through. She knows it was best, and that He blessed them.  Dan had also left the Catholic church, and did not believe in infant baptism anymore.  They did not baptize their first child.  Dan called his mom early Monday morning and said, "mom, we baptized him right before he passed away."  Now, she doesn't know if Dan did it himself, or a chaplain from the hospital came, but her joy was great that Dan, after all he has said to them, believes in a God. So touching.
Juxtapose
I am helping at a funeral today of a lady I never knew. She has been inactive for many years.  She had throat cancer.  Suzanne and several RS sisters had been going to the hospital to visit her the last 2 weeks. The doctor had given her 6 months to live.  She couldn't talk, but in the end, wanted the visits and love of the Sisters.  I was supposed to go this week with Diane.  She is in her 70's, and very alone.  Again, the Lord was tender, and took her earlier than they thought. She too was in much pain.

Death is intriguing.  I have no fear of dying whatsoever.  My children all are happy and live righteous lives.  We are sealed together, and when my turn comes, I will go willingly.
My news was good, 2 spots have not grown at all, and they could not find the third.  They said it is probably nothing, and to just come in next year for my regular mammogram.
In one hour on an early Monday morning, feelings and emotions were mixed as I felt people grieving and yet understanding the basic plan of God.   He is all-knowing, and all-loving.  and I love Him deeply. And, although I can get hit by a car today or tomorrow, I feel a renewed license to go forth and serve, and build His kingdom, and spread His joy.