It's a Tag

Thank you for my tag, Marcyface. It goes very well with my working late to finish my dissertation and being in need of a break.

Ten years ago I was...
1. Serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
2. In Neubrandenburg, Germany
3. Training my golden (aka greenie aka brand spankin new missionary)
4. writing in my mission journal which just happens to be within arm's reach of me that in the week prior to today:
Elder Baker and I were just starting to figure out how we can teach together, but haven't yet figured out how to plan together;
I was learning about "nasal irrigation" because the doc wouldn't give me antibiotics;
I performed in two multifaith choirs (one Catholic, one Lutheran) in two different cities; and
I was hit by dove guano while singing Mozart's Mass in D.
5. Most importantly, ON THIS DAY ten years ago, my companion and I went forward full of faith, prayer, and fasting with a firm determination that one of our investigators was going to accept a commitment to be baptized ... only to have her ask us not to come back anymore before we stepped in the door. Despondent, we dragged ourselves around the downtown area, not knowing what to do or what went wrong. Suddenly, a man called out to the "young men in black suits," (mine was navy, his was charcoal gray). Herr Dennig ran up to us puffing and told us that he had a radio program he did and would we consent to be interviewed for it? He had heard many people wonder who "the young men in black suits and backpacks" were and thought it would be a good program. We got permission and the interview went amazingly well. In the prep for it, we taught him a first discussion. He came to General Conference (drunk) and during a talk on tithing asked our ward mission leader what a fellow had to do to get baptized around here. It was a day to remember.

Sorry if that answer was a touch long. It's a cool day to remember.

Today's To Do List:
1. Work all day and night on dissertation (check). Today I proved that c is orthogonal to x. That is big, important news because it means I'm DONE with that part and can get to writing again.
2. Exercise 1 hour (haven't started)
3. Do something to show Joy I love her (check)
4. Turn in the LDSSA forms (OOPS! Guess that gets to be first thing tomorrow)
5. Play with Hyrum (check)
0. Read scriptures (check)

Snacks - today or in general? I'll do in general.
1. celery & peanut butter (today) or banana & peanut butter (today) or apple & peanut butter or, best of all, choooocolate & peanut butter
2. Snickers
3. peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips
4. couple bites of ice cream
5. toast with cheese

If I were a millionaire... (I will assume that I have already paid tithing and made other charitable contributions with this money, and that I have a million left over after that. That is, this is a wealth question, not an income question.)
1. I hear tell mortgage-backed securities are a pretty cheap investment right now.... Hey, they can't go any further down, right? ;D
2. Worry less about when exactly my dissertation gets done or what job I get after the postdoc
3. Save/invest most of it. We'll worry about buying a larger home when we get where we're going. Children's college fund and our retirement fund would get a decent portion.
4. If I were a millionaire, I would have great leverage in reassuring Joy that getting a new computer every 3-5 years is not extravagance.
5. Get our dryer and plumbing fixed.

Places I've lived...
1. Santa Barbara, CA
2. Eisenhuttenstadt, Germany
3. 10 square miles surrounded by reality
4. the former Deseret Towers' Q, R, V, and W halls, including next door to the room my mom lived in 20 years earlier TWICE
5. I lived in Heaven a long time ago, it is true. Lived there and loved there with people I know. So did you. Then Heavenly Father presented a beautiful plan All about Earth and eternal salvation for man......

Jobs I've had...
1. Research Assistant in: developmental nutrition, labor economics, and high theory econometrics
2. Asst. Manager at Little Caesar's
3. LDS Temple worker (volunteer)
4. Gardiner for my parents and the family next door who were out of state trying to sell the place
5. Daycare
6. Son, brother, husband, friend, and father.

I tag...
1. Husbands whose wives write more than 90% of their family blog
2. Shari
3. Joy
4. Tami C. (who probably doesn't read this, but oh well)
5. Dad (maybe give you some more encouragement to write post #2)