13Nov2011 - first day at church

Today was interesting for us all. My mother always said that you must have a foundation in order to build on it, and faith is one of those. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not some blind follower of any faith, but living in Utah you have to come to realize that you really cannot escape Mormons. Therefore, we are taking the boys to church and Sunday school 3 weeks out of 4. 1 Week a month we will visit other faiths and then hold discussions to answer any questions the boys may have. The idea here is to have a point of reference and then learn about all of the different religions and philosophies of the world. Let's face it, if you believe in a supreme being, you cannot exclude your fellow human beings, and in order to understand your fellow being, you must understand the culture that they come from, and this includes religion. Therefore, we took Juan and Jesus to the Salt Lake South Jordan Stake house for services. Colleen stayed with them throughout Sunday School but I left after sacrament as I was making dinner and a homemade stew takes a bit of time to properly prepare. During sacrament the boys did very well, considering their age. Of course, having the books and paper that Colleen brought along sure helped. Juan was able to finish his book and write his book report for school. While they were doing this, I and Colleen were able to follow along with what was being said during sacrament. Colleen was also able to make contact with a women who coordinates the local Weeblos (sort of middle school for scouting). We want Juan to become active with the scouts as it will get him out with his peers so that he can develop. Since Rob has opted to act as proxy parent for me, Juan will be able to be active in the scouts even if I am out on the road.

After church we had dinner and then Juan completed his homework (one hour of reading)while Jesus played video games. All in all it was rather quiet. After Juan was finished with his homework, he and Jesus went out to play with their friends until it was time to come in and get ready for bed. It was a rather nice day as I was able to get the kitchen all cleaned up and the laundry done, as well as do some playing and research of my own.

Milestone for Juan

Guess what everyone, Juan brought home his grades and he had 41 - 100% papers from this recent trimester. Makes a Dad proud and Mom was surprised as Juan was originally offered 1 piece of candy for each 100% paper. You should have seen Juan's eyes when he realized he would get 41 pieces of candy, it was priceless. Of course, it just being Halloween, we had a lot of dum dum suckers left, which Juan enjoyed 41 of. He was nice enough to share with others, namely Jesus and his friend Brandt. Now, if we can just get Juan to not hide his homework, he may have more 100% papers next trimester. Here's to hoping... :)

Beginning of a New Journey

On Thursday, Jesus and I went to Roadmasters Trucking School to get information for getting my CDL. The gentleman there was very helpful and even had some toys for Jesus to play with while we talked. The information I received from them indicates that trucking is a good paying profession and is recession proof, at least to a degree. There has been a shortage of qualified truckers, so finding work won't be an issue. The best part about Roadmasters is that they provide more hands on training with the trucks than the other schools that I have investigated. Also, they have put their training and education materials online where I can review them, even after I graduate.

After this meeting, I took Jesus over to the local truck stop and we had a cinnamon roll and drinks, he had hot chocolate and I had coffee. Jesus enjoyed himself and this was reminiscent of when I was a kid and my dad would take me out to share a cinnamon roll and drinks. In hindsight, it is nice to see an old family tradition continuing. Those times were fond for me and I hope they will be for Jesus too.

We then went over to the Department of Workforce Services, to see if they would pay for this training, and I have a follow up meeting with them on 21Nov2011. If they don't want to pay for it, that is ok, as Werner Enterprises (a company that I am looking at) will reimburse me for the training and Roadmasters will finance the training if needed. This will be an adventure, and the possible rewards are very promising, specifically a significant increase in pay, benefits and options where I can move into management or become an owner operator and hire truckers under me. I will keep you all posted on how things go. The best part is that Werner Enterprises allows riders and pets, so I am hoping to be able to take the boys on the road with me for short trips so that they can see what I do and also experience the open road. Of course, they will still need to do their homework, but we will have fun with that as well.

Last night I invited my mother, Jennifer, and Rob over for dinner. I wanted to break the news to them about my choice as well as to ask them for their assistance, as Colleen and the boys will need extra support while I am on the road. Rob has volunteered to be a proxy-father for the boys if I am on the road. Also, all three will keep in touch with Colleen and the boys while I am away. This makes me happy as we will have three boys and having the extra support will be great. The nice thing about today is that the technology exists where I can stay in touch with my family over the internet via video conferencing. This didn't exist when by biological father or brother were truckers, so this is one way to stay in touch with my family and be a part of their lives. The best part is, I can also use Live Meeting or GoTo Meeting to help my boys with their homework as these tools allow me to share their screen and do whiteboards where I can demonstrate how to do things, like math or assist them with their homework. I will also be taking a book on the road where I can read sections from it and post it here on the blog so that they can follow along with me at home.

Wreaths Across America

View this video, it is an excellent video about truckers and their wreaths across America program, which supports our veterans. As a veteran and a trucker, this was touch, at least to me. Hope you enjoy.

Help save our domestic family farms in America

Learn more about saving our domestic family farms here in America.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2715/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8383

New Blog Thoughts about What Can We Do to Save our Earth - The issues affecting our planet may seem insurmountable, ... http://ow.ly/1fvUjc

Just updated the layout of this blog so that we can use it to share our family activities and where family can stay abreast of what is happening in our family.  Suggestions for improvement is always appreciated.