It was very snowy again today. I was thankful that we made it to work safely and back home safely. We just watched the news and they said there were about 130 accidents today. I never had to worry about this last year when I was working from home.
It was a snowy day today. Mike drove my car home and Rachel picked me up from work. We had dinner with my Mom & Harvey and family at Tres Hombres. It was fun and the kids were well behaved. I love the food there but tonight I would have to say their salsa was too hot! I couldn’t stop sweating after eating it. I think this may be a new tradition – getting together after Christmas with my mom & Harvey. Everyone is a little less busy during this time. Traveling was slow with all the snow, but I’m grateful we did so safely.
I went back to work today. It was sort of weird to be back. It was like I hadn’t missed much at all – yet Christmas was over. As far as health I felt okay most of the day. I did have a coughing attack. Once I used my asthma inhaler I felt much better. I’m thankful for that thing. I only wished I had it in high school during basketball season 
Starting in January I’m going to be working 4 10-hour days. I’m excited for that. Whereas it takes me 45 minutes each way to commute that should save me an hour and a half each week. Plus, carpooling with CTO I find I’m often there more than 8 hours anyway. It’s a good thing I love my job. I will either have Monday or Friday off. It doesn’t really matter to me. Rachel would prefer Mondays because Gehrig doesn’t have school on Monday and it would allow me to spend more time with him. Also, I think this new schedule will allow me to start putting a little more time into my business (Inzolo).
It has been a while since I have written! We had a fun time and a terrible time at Disneyland. It was fun because it was a vacation and it was Disneyland. It was terrible because we were all very sick. By the time we got home each night and got the kids to sleep I had no enery to write. I have been so sick since then that situation was the same.
Saturday I sent a text message to Toby. I explained that I had been to the doctor on Tuesday. I had a strep culture and it was negative so the doc told me to just keep taking ibuprofen and sudafed. I have been taking as much as safely possible and I continued to get worse each day. I asked him if I should go back to the doctor and get another strep culture. He said no and just called in a prescription for antibiotics. He said if I don’t start to feel better within 48 hours to give him a call as it could be something else such as mono. Last night as I went to bed I started to feel like I was getting better for the first time all week.
Today I felt better but not 100%. I stayed home from church with the kids. I felt well enough to clean the house. I’m planning on going back to work in the morning. It’s been a while… like 11 or 12 days! I wonder if they will remember me.
Today was a fun day. I have to admit, it was a long night yesterday. I was miserable in our hotel. The place was a rat hole! The A/C didn’t work. It was so hot and humid. reception was very poor on cheap 13″ TV. I went to the front desk and asked for an extra pillow and blanket, they said they would bring me one but they never did. Our tub drain was clogged. Our closet door broke… I’m sure I could go on. I slept on the floor. It was just a long uncomfortable night.
I spend a lot of time on the Internet (which I had to pay $10 per night for) looking around the area for a better hotel. Generally what I found seemed to be twice as expensive. At this point though I was ready to pay the extra price. I finally decided on the Fairfield Marriot. The problem was it is a weekend and I needed an open room immediately. I couldn’t wait until the standard check-in time. We wanted to get all our stuff moved so we could get into Disneyland. As I was walking towards the hotel I had chosen, I got a prompting to walk into the Park Place Inn (Best Western). So I stopped and went in. Their rate was $160 per night. I was about to leave because that was about $40 per night more than the one I had chosen. She then asked if I had AAA or Costco memberships. I did have Costco. I was able to get a rate for $130 per night – only $10 more per night. They had a room available immediately so I said yes. I felt very good about the decision.
I went back to our other hotel and Rachel had all the bags packed and the kids ready. I wheeled all our luggage down the street to our new room. Now I don’t know if we could be any closer to Disneyland! Our room is so much nicer. We have an extra bed (hid-a-bed), and a bigger, cleaner room with A/C. It also comes with a complimentary breakfast. I’m sure if we paid for that we could spend $30-$40. And it has free high-speed internet. Everyone is sleeping now and I’m am still so pleased with how fun the day was and with our nicer hotel. I’m just very grateful right now.
With all the snow we got here yesterday I was really worried about the commute. Once we got out of Alpine though I was surprised that there was virtually no snow in the salt lake valley. It was really a smooth commute both ways.
We got a lot of snow dumped on us last night and throughout the day. I left at 6:00 AM. I couldn’t get my car out of our driveway so I took the Navigator. I was going the route I generally go and I got a propting from the spirit to turn around and go another way rather than driving down a steep hill. So I did. I don’t know what might have happened, but I am thankful for that prompting. I was still able to make it to the meeting on time.
For sacrament meeting we had a favorite hymns meeting. I guess it is a tradition here. They open the meeting up for anyone to come up and share what their favorite hymn is and why and the the congregation sings a verse or two. I thought it was unusual but I really enjoyed it.
Tonight was donut day. Every Christmas we make donuts with Rachel’s family. We generally have it the Saturday before Christmas, but we moved it this year to accommodate our vacation. We have also made it a tradition to play bingo and open gifts. Tonight was my night. I was the first to win bingo and I also won a game we played called the game of things. It was a fun evening.
This morning we had our annual Davis/McKee family Christmas party. It was our turn to host it. We used the relief society room in the chapel. It turned out really well and we all had a fun time. After we ate the kids did a nativity program that Rachel put together. After that we had a Santa outfit that my dad was going to wear, but he couldn’t get the the pants to fit around his legs, so Matt played Santa. He stuffed my dad’s coat up his belly for the full effect. It was pretty funny.
After the party I had a relaxing evening as I pretty much napped on the floor as Nolan napped in his bed and Gracie & Gehrig watched Christmas cartoons.
At 5:30 we had our ward Christmas party. It was nice. We had dinner at the Rasmussen’s house with a few other couples. We were supposed to go to the chapel afterwards for dessert and a Christmas program. We didn’t go to that part. Although it the dinner was nice and I’m sure the Christmas program and dessert would be nice as well, I just don’t agree with an adults only ward Christmas party. It seems selfish to me. Christmas should be about family. Why exclude kids? I think this type of activity would be better suited for Valentines day. Or make it neighborhood activity. In my mind, Ward Christmas parties should involve the whole ward – that includes kids.
I got a nice card today from my friend Tyler. I havent seen him in a few years since he moved to Washington. He was always a great friend – the type of guy I would trust withy life. Im thankful for friends like that.
Last night Mike asked that I pick him up at 8:00 so I thought it would be a good oportunity to go to the temple in the morning. It has been a while. It was nice to be back. I love living so close to so many temples. I actually pass 3 of them on my daily commute!
