Being alone never felt so good

Don't worry, this is not another 'dating woes' blog. Being Alone was the name of my company in my most recent session of EFY.
Ironic?...
Well, I'm not going to do a day-by-day thing for this one, even though it was so very different from the first week. First and foremost, I had 16-18 year olds (12 0f them), and they were all studs. Secondly, the session director was female, and it was her first time at EFY. She's the only person I know that is more accident-prone than the Martin boys, and she blows us out of the water (she's been struck by lightning, and that was a light case for her). Anyways, the session was much smaller too, but I didn't feel that that made too much of a difference.
So this is what happened: a bit of awkwardness, an out-of-control hamster dance, a whole lot of aviators, guitars during firesides, a whiff of reefer, late-night parties and serenades, fun with throwing counselors in the air, grilled cheese sandwhiches and mission stories, an all-inclusive testimony meeting, my birthday on Friday, a date within EFY, a song for Janis, dances with beautiful counselors, T-9 texting, unabated laughter, and unprecedented spiritual intensity. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we sighed... and nobody died. My boys were incredible, and each really had wonderful experiences at EFY, as they would have had anyone been their counselor. In all seriousness, this has already been the most rewarding summer of my life excluding the mission. And it's not even close to being over...
Here's to my boys, they made it beyond great! Here's to my pants, for being spilled on only once!

Here's to my Lord, who has been altogether too good to me.

To the brethren on Being Alone, love ya'll!
The righteous never have to say good-bye for the last time.

A Fixed NBA?

Ok, it's a hot topic right now. For what it's worth, this is my point of view.
Ok, Tim Donaghy is evidence that it actually HAS happened, and there is definitely a possibility that it has happened elsewhere. There always has been and there is always will be speculation. As a loyal Houston fan, I've always wondered how the backseat Rockets could be less favored by league officials. After all, who wants to see Yao Ming go to the finals? And again, the 2005 playoffs versus the Mavericks was pretty shifty if you know what I mean. But I don't want to believe it. And if so, it could not have affected Houston that much. If any game was fixed, it was game 6 of the 2002 Lakers vs. Kings, and they may have made it so obvious that they decided not to pull another marketing stunt like that for years. Then again, it could have been just really poor officiating that Donaghy chose to target to try to throw some dirt on the league for fining him $1 million. Who knows?
Well this is a right can of worms to open, eh? My pants are dirty, I need to go do laundry. Go Celtics!

Paint Chips for Breakfast

Of these last two weeks, I decided the painting career wasn't my thang this summer. Each job has a fixed pay for completion, so your hourly wage depends on how quickly you work. I probably averaged under 6 bucks an hour, because when I did something well, it was too slow, and when I did something fast, it was not good enough and I'd have to go back and do it again. Experienced painters can establish that certain balance, but do I really have the time this summer to become an experienced painter? Apart from the minimum wage, I earned a ruined sweatshirt and pair of shorts and tee-shirt, a gasoline-scented car, and a few interesting stories. Earlier this week, we were working in Heber, and it started to snow. Check the date again... ya, it's June. What is the matter with this stupid state? Do you know how fun it is to scrape paint off a fence in under 35 degree weather? On the same day as the snow, I had another unfortunate experience, and I'll have to use lots of euphemisms here for those who gross out easily. My bowels have not been functioning properly for the last two weeks or so, and let's just say that paint wasn't the only stain on my pants that day. Not having any Imodium on me at the time, I just had to deal with it. Yesterday was my last day, and I just power-washed a number of decks and houses. One was a raised deck that is otherwise inaccessible unless through the house. Since the owners weren't home, I had to use my Spider-man instincts and stack tables and climb on the roof. Unfortunately, I am not Spider-man, so I slipped and fell, effectively breaking my collar bone. Ok, not really, but if I did, the first thought that would have come to me would have been simply, "figures". I did climb a house and some golfers may have seen and reported me to Park City police, but if they did I'm not aware of it. The thing is, I'm happy this paint stuff kept me busy these past two weeks, but it was pretty miserable. I keep getting e-mails for more male counselors needed in EFY, and I figure I'll just get a job in August after my last session that will carry over into the school year.
Until then, next week is another week of Everyone Flirts with You. Wait, that would be EFWY... Eternally Frozen Yogurt?... Any ideas?

Bummer Summer

Thank goodness for EFY. Otherwise I might feel like a loser. And I have that song playing in my head as I write this... I think it's called 'Creep'.
Well, funds are running dry and I never performed up to par for this College Works business so pay will be significantly less (it's complicated). Not that I'm a bad painter, I was just too slow this week. And it rained a lot, so we wasted a lot of time (and gas). So here I am at Cinnamon Tree by myself again. I got no money, no girlfriends... at least my pets heads aren't falling off.
Wait a minute, am I on another pity party? Truthfully, I never have a reason to be. If this is the worst that's happening in life, then it's pretty dang good. Man, those poor girls have no idea what they're missing. Ok, I better put some pants on and go over to Lindsey and Jake's. Love ya and later ON!

Hey there Delilah, here's to you

So I got a job for in between EFY sessions... I know, wierd right? Today I spent ten hours painting a house in every way you can imagine, except with fingers and hands. Tomorrow I will do the same. Perhaps this summer will fly by in a flurry of hard work and family reunions and flirtatious teenagers! (Not that the last item mentioned makes the summer go any faster or anything...)
Too bad I won't have time anymore for the Social Pants club... I mean Dance Club...

Friends

Caution: Reading this blog may give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. If you are in a bad mood and don't want to feel better, I recommend you refrain from reading this blog and go pick on little children instead.

When I first got back to Utah, I had some fun catching up with old mission buddies, and it keeps paying off. Here are a few to name:

Richie Uminski: This is the guy that got me into EFY basically. He was my district and zone leader in the mission in Carmichael. He speaks sign language and can be a bit eccentric at times, but he is always fun to be around. People like me aspire to have 12 kids in their family, people like Richie aspire to have a down-syndrome child in their family for the special spirit they bring. I think Richie is the most likely to get translated of my acquaintances (outside the family).

Justin Krogue: Who can have a roommate for 6 plus months and find no fault with them? I have yet to with Justin, it's never been easier to live with anyone else. I spent a long time catching up with my friend from freshman year at BYU and fellow Texan when I got back to BYU. He is the role model of progression, making good money, getting super good grades, and now he's engaged! He seems so complete... just like the Whipples...

Nathan Creer: My adopted "son" from the mission recently returned from Sacramento where he rocked the numbers with his fearless and somewhat unorthodox methods. I saw him for the first time as Nathan instead of Elder Creer the other day at the mall, and maybe I'll hang out with him some more. His face is always red, so he nicknamed himself "baboonaz"... don't dwell on that one too long.

George Bush: Yes, my trainer is here in Provo as well. I found him at Albertsons, and we joked with each other in a manner Jon and I often do. In fact, this guy is one of the only ones I've ever known to have an imagination to rival Jon's... and artistic ability. It's the most fun to play basketball with him though, because, well... he's more of an artist than an athlete. For more on him, just look up gbush13 on Youtube.

Matt Yancey: My new roomy! We could reminisce all day about the good times in the Tongan ward. On the mission, Matt told me about all these books he read, then at the end of the transfer, he admitted he made all the stories up. I was really impressed actually... As my other roommates sorted through the mail, "Bill, bill, bill, bill..." Matt goes, "I wish Bill wouldn't get all the mail." Haha!! Good times...

Shaun Hall: I actually haven't seen this guy for a while. He was going to Utah State last time I knew, but maybe he went back to Minnesota for the summer. He needs to call me back! I probably served around Shaun more than anyone else in the mission, from the MTC, to him being my roomy to my zone leader to my assistant, until we went home at the same time and
have stayed in contact ever since. If only Logan wasn't so crazy far away!

Nathan Kuhn: Ok, this guy is not from my mission, but he just hooked me up with a job to have in between EFY sessions, so I had to include him. I actually met him long ago in Pete's Friendswood ward, and then again freshman year at BYU, and up to the present day. Good times, from Axis and Allies to College Pants Works or whatever it is... Here's to Texas!

The rest of my friends are imaginary, so I won't write about them. Oh wait, there's one more:

Fang: He leaves presents in my room every time I come home, never talks bad about me behind my back, and never trumps my ace of spades. Have I beaten this one into the ground? "Yes Todd, it was cute back then, now it's straight up creepy" Shut up you, it's a sensitive subject!!

Now this is getting really weird, I better stop...