"Graduation"

I didn't write at my normal time. I have been rushing around so much it got away from me, not to mention that I am currently 6 time zones away from DC and just crashed on Sunday night instead of writing.
Last week I completed my training, "graduated", from my most recent round of training. I was pretty excited that I even got 100% on my last couple of tests! I also completed 4 on-line courses during the last month.

I packed up all of my things, gave away food and household supplies on Wednesday night. Then right after work on Thursday a friend and member of my church who is also in the foreign service gave me a ride to the airport. I made it there in plenty of time, which was good since after he left I realized that I had left a bag in his car! Luckily I got a hold of him and he came back after a few minutes. I met up with my family in Salt Lake City the next day and then we went on together to Honolulu, where I am now. We went to the Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Cultural Center and went to church meetings and saw the temple and BYU-Hawaii campus and I also made final arrangements for the real reason we were able to come here, for work. I came for consultations, (meetings with just me and I ask questions), with DHS. It's been kind of a whirlwind, but I feel blessed to be able to do my job and come here, and I'm glad that we have made it this far already. So, I guess I'm done with the training phase of my job for now and on to the work phase. Hopefully my training has prepared me because I'm ready to start.

Boxes

Tuesday everything, except what I can put in my suitcase or work materials I can send in a separate box, was put into boxes to send off to our new home. Some is going by air and some by sea. I'm not really sure when they send it as well as what we have had in storage for the last 11 months, but it will arrive sometime after we do for sure. I was so glad Amy was here for the packing because with her help we were able to do quite a bit before the movers came and she was able to be here while they packed everything since I had to be at work in training when they were coming to do it. Two men came and it only took them about 4 hours.
Then after they left I took Amy to the airport in the boxy car I had rented. Sad to see her go, but good that I'll see her soon enough.
I have spent the rest of the week checking boxes on my huge list of things to do. Thankfully I only have a couple of things left. I sometimes let things pile up at the end and my wife keeps reminding me that I need to spread them out. I probably can't change some addresses, pack, get a haircut, do laundry, and tie up any other loose ends and still get some sleep in one night. Yeah, good point. It's not that I think I can do everything at once, I just always feel like I have more time, or nights, or something. So, we'll see how the week goes.
On Saturday I helped out at a ward service activity. I painted fresh lines for the box and key and all other parts of the outdoor basketball court. I also helped dig out old ground covering under the playground and put new ground covering in. It was a lot of work but also rewarding.
I got a phone call late Friday night and was asked to fill in for someone who couldn't make it and speak in Sacrament meeting today. I hadn't spoken in our ward before today so I guess that I got to check that box, too.
Soon enough the last big box to check will be actually getting on the airplane. So many boxes, so little time.

Details, details

I think I have a strange relationship with details. I notice some details but not others.
I like it when everything is just right down to the smallest detail, but I really want to know the big picture and how whatever it is fits into the larger scheme of things. I notice little inconsistencies in patterns but regularly leave something behind that I needed. I think maybe I notice so many details sometimes but have a hard time remembering them all.
Some examples from the week:

• I took an exam in which I had to know how to look up fine details of the law and how it would apply to a specific case in order to answer the questions correctly, and got 100%, but couldn't remember the name of the medication I take for allergies every day when I called up my insurance company!
• I gave myself plenty of time to pick up my wife from the airport after renting a car, made sure I had everything lined up for picking her up and then going somewhere together, then remembered that I forgot the GPS at home. I still had time, so I drove back home, picked it up and started to the airport. Well, I missed the turn because I wasn't paying attention until I needed to get over and there was a car there. So I pulled out the GPS and then got lost for 40 minutes while trying to figure out it's directions, (it was mostly "re-calculating" since I kept missing the turn off's or turning too early). I finally made it to pick up my wife 1/2 hour late, (the airport is only a 15-20 minute drive from my house). *note: I am very glad she is here, however. It's awesome.
• I was going to the main office in DC to pick some things up so I thought it would be a good idea to take care of some other things I needed to do there at the same time. I made sure I had what information I needed to bring, printed off the right forms, etc. Then I took off and realized, after I arrived, that I had left the forms I had printed on the computer in the training facility, in Virginia.
• Whenever I read a book, I notice any typos or errors in it, but don't ask me to describe what anyone was wearing at a reception!

Anyway, maybe that's enough of the examples for now. Sometimes I think I need to start tying string to my fingers like Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life," or writing little letters on my hand like one of my former church colleagues, G. Packer. (Except I could never figure out how he could tell what they were for. I would ask him to do something and he would start writing a little letter or something on his hand between his thumb and pointer finger as he was saying okay.)

But, it's great to have my wife with me for the weekend to help out getting everything taken care of and to just spend some time with her. She is awesome. She sees the details where I don't and I see it where she doesn't and together we somehow, (hopefully), get it all done. We did get to visit Annapolis together yesterday and since it was just the two of us it was almost like an anniversary or something!
It seems like there are some things, like international moves, in which big details spawn a million little details and it takes concerted attention to sort them all out.

Pioneers and airplanes

It took the pioneers months and months to get to the Salt Lake Valley. It took me 6 hours, all inclusive.
I went home to Utah this weekend for a quick trip. It was short, but worth it. It was worth it to see my wife and children again after a couple weeks apart.
We had some fun together. At my parent's ward party we square danced, had 3 legged races, spit seeds, ate, and got sun-burned. We also ate at Cafe Rio and went to the Days-of-47 Rodeo.
It was a good time after a week of intense training and aching to see my family. I feel much better now that I've seen them again. The time is going so fast, though, since there are so many hundreds of little things to do. I hope it goes slow enough that I can get them done and fast enough that it isn't long until I see my family again.

Since I didn't get home until midnight last night, today's 5:00 a.m. alarm came awfully early.
It's pretty interesting to me that flights can be so different to and from the same places. I've been on the direct flight from DC to SLC a few times now and each plane seems to be different. This one had video units in the back of each seat, except the section I was sitting in happened not to be working. On the flight back, there was nothing, not even overhead video. Hmmm...  Oh well, at least they still give me something to drink, (if I'm not asleep).

Service

The thing that kept me busy this week was service, as in church service.
Last week I was asked to teach the lesson in High Priest Group for today on Priesthood Organization. A great subject for me, but how to teach it to this group is a little more challenging. I thought about it and prepared for it all week. I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary. But maybe that's just ordinary for me. Anyway, for part of the lesson I asked them to describe the organization of the priesthood by drawing it on a piece of paper, instead of describing it with words or in writing. Then I had a couple of them tell about theirs and I told about mine. It was interesting to have to think about it in a different way and I think it was effective.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday after work, my home teaching companion and I went to the hospital to give a blessing to someone we home teach who just had a baby. We stayed for a while and I got to hold the baby. I think this was one of the first times in my life that I have given a blessing without being dressed in my white shirt and tie. I try to always do that because I think it is important to respect the priesthood and its ordinances. But, unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to do it this time since my companion was picking me up from work and I do not have transportation of my own. Anyway, it was good to be of service in this way and did I mention that I got to hold the baby?
Then on Saturday morning, yesterday, I had the opportunity of helping to deep clean the Washington DC temple while it's closed for maintenance for two weeks. I got a ride with another member of our High Priest Group who picked me up at 7:00 am. We were the first volunteers there, on time, at 7:45. We worked for 4 hours cleaning. Most of the time I cleaned/dusted the recessed lighting that is at the top of the wall near the ceiling and some lights in the ceiling of various offices and hallways. I also replaced some burned out bulbs along the way. A lot of climbing up and down and reaching up. I think it is always a special experience to clean the temple like this for several reasons. One reason is that it makes me feel a closer connection to that temple. I know it a little more intimately and so I feel more of a connection to it. This may be true of anything you have to care for carefully. Also, I think it is special to be doing deep cleaning and remodeling with a group of temple-worthy members while remembering that it is still a dedicated temple and keeping our conversations appropriate to a house of the Lord and quiet and dignified even while we work.
In other notes on the week, I also went back to the zoo. I also worked a fair amount with more language, other training and on-line training. It's not too taxing, but I leave home at 6:45 am and get back home at about 6:00 pm, (and it's not that far). But the positive is that I did well on an exam I took this week at work. Hopefully that means I'm learning something.
Service.

Apart

When I returned for training after the 4th of July my family stayed back with family. I have learned that I feel it the most when I come home after work and it is totally silent in the house all evening long and in the morning until I leave for work. Actually I like quiet, but this is different. It's not good when the only talking you hear is what is going on my head. Every once in a while I realize that I haven't even used my voice for hours and when I do it seems strange to hear it. I love my wife and children and I really love being able to make comments to them when I feel like it and to see their reactions and I love to hear what they have to say. I miss that. I know, we have telephone and Email and chat and Skype now, but for some reason those things are just not the same. But they will have to do for now.

I am starting to get into a routine of all of the little things that need to be done since I am the only one to do them with only a couple of hours to do them each evening. The dishes, the laundry, the clean-up, the lunches, the mail, the shopping, and all of the things that still need to be done to prepare to move.

My training is pretty interesting and I do have time to study. That's a good thing since I have extra on-line classes to do and I also started back in a one-hour a day language course just to keep it somewhat fresh. I started that today. I have forgotten some things, but some things come back surprisingly fast, too.

And finally, after the excruciating heat of last week, we have had a little rain to cool it down slightly. So I guess that after a painful week apart, things are looking just a little better or cooler or whatever.

Spinning

What a week!

I have tried to post every week, and with maybe one other exception I have been able to do it. This week I had to delay my post a couple of days because I didn't have a moment to do it.

A week ago I had my last couple of days of language training. I took my language assessment and got the score I needed despite a performance that was not my best and a room that was too hot because it lacked air conditioning. It feels good and strange to be done with my language training and to start other functional training. It's a burden lifted because you can't ever escape the weight of language proficiency weighing over you every minute of every day until you get the score you need. But since I would still like to speak it when I need it, I did the crazy but sensible thing and have already arranged for an hour or so of language training every day for about a month before I head out.

I like my new training and have signed up for some additional courses that will help me. I'm probably a little crazy to sign up for even more training, but I want to learn as much as I can, whatever might help, and I need to fill up my time since my family will be away with relatives for a while.

I love being with my family and it kills me inside to have even a few days away from them. Luckily, I was able to spend the 4th of July weekend with my family and my wife's family for a reunion. I even got to see some of my own siblings and their families and my parents. I really love being around them too and being apart from them is definitely the hardest part of my job.

I almost didn't get my family out when they were supposed to go. We had some problems with the travel arrangements and tickets (long story) and there was one early morning false start, hours of phone calls during breaks at work, and a nail-biting finish. Prayers were answered and we're very grateful for people who were there to help at critical points.

We had a fun holiday spending time with family. We saw fireworks, did sparklers, went on water slides, ran a 5K, (and beat the time I wanted to beat), and had a good time in Utah.

The week went so fast and had so many stressful and crazy elements and late nights and early mornings and changes that my head is still spinning.