Brutal. Just brutal...

We are in the middle of the worst snowstorm of the winter - or so declares the various hysterical weatherpeople here in Chicagoland. Frankly, I think this time they are right. It started snowing at 10:00AM and it has gotten progressively harder. I left my office, just twenty miles from home, at 4:30PM. I got home at 7:15PM. That commute is normally 40 minutes at the most. Suffice to say it was heinous and it's supposed to snow until about 10:00AM tomorrow. And I have to be in the office for a 5:00AM meeting with my teams in London and Hong Kong. I'll have to get up at 3:00AM. Tomorrow is officially going to blow...

Thanks to the "Chicago Tribune" for capturing the easy part of the commute home tonight....yuck!

Wii've done it!

So Parker's quest that began on 26 December 2007 to get a Wii is now over. After 35 days of countless trips to every purveyor of Wii's in the surrounding area, Shari managed to find a brand-new Wii for Parker at GameStop. Let the praises begin! There's much joy in Mudville. Parker, suffice to say, is elated.

I played it for the very first time tonight. For someone whose idea of a challenging video game is PacMan and who really hasn't sat down in front of a TV video game since the days of Atari's beloved Pong, the Wii is intimidating at first. But I figured if retirement home administrators are buying these things more than Geritol for their "guests", I could give it a go. OK - it's a kick. I quickly managed to get the hang of bowling, so apparently I will fit right in when I hit the retirement home circuit. Tennis was a little more challenging. And then there is the full-body seizure that is boxing. Watching Shari and Sarah go a couple of rounds was a riot. I'm still not understanding why I have to face the TV instead of my opponent when I'm in the ring, but maybe I'll get it one day. Maybe.

For now, I know that Parker is elated and that we had a really good time as a family tonight breaking it in. And given that we are looking at a pretty hard snow storm the next few days, it might be good to have something for us to do as a family.

Bidding Farewell to a Beloved Servant of the Master

The gray and rainy skies that broke over Chicagoland this morning seemed appropriate after learning Sunday night of the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, a humble man of God whom we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, revered as a prophet of God. While it is a sad day for the members of the Church, it is truly a joyous one as he reunites with his wife and those others who have gone before him on the other side of the veil.

While he now will live on in legacy and in our memories, Pres. Hinckley's witness of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ will stand forever. Temples, which were such a focus of Pres. Hinckley's life, now literally dot the Earth and stand as witnesses of God's majesty and the power of prophetic vision. I truly stand all amazed tonight as I count my blessings and ponder on the life of this exemplar of living a Christ-like life.

I've sought a bit of solace this day in the music of the Church. Hymns like "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" have brought comfort. It's been touching to listen to the music that my girls have gotten from EFY as well. There is one rendition of "Praise to the Man" by Jenny Jordan Frogley that has brought tears to my eyes time and again tonight. It's from the "A More Excellent Way" CD. It's a powerful, stunning rendition - the arrangement is unbelievable- of that hymn that praised that prophet of old, Joseph, but it applies in many ways to the work of the Pres. Hinckley. Give it a listen - you can find it on iTunes.

There is so much that can and will be said and written about Pres. Hinckley and so much will stand for his legacy. I thought it appropriate to share an example of his sweet, simple, yet powerful teaching. Years ago, he taught the youth of the Church the "Be-Attitudes," six simple guidelines:

• Be Grateful
• Be Smart
• Be Clean
• Be True
• Be Humble
• Be Prayerful

Simple, perhaps. Incredibly powerful, absolutely. How different this world would be if we each chose to live these six principles each and every day in all that we do. It would be a different world.

I am grateful for the witness that I have that Christ lives and that He is my Redeemer and that He guides us through prophets even today. I know that shortly another chosen of God will soon take on the mantle of prophet. There is peace in knowing that God's plan continues to work. I'm grateful for that knowledge. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to know Pres. Hinckley and am eternally grateful for his life and example. Now, while we may shed a tear in his passing, we must honor his legacy by living the best lives that we can. We must live in such a way that we honor our older brother Jesus Christ in all that we do.

My 15 Year Old Drives! and some other thoughts...

In more evidence that I am growing older by the minute, I now have another child who can legally drive on the streets of Illinois. And today I got my first taste of driving with Courtney on the real roads. Two things - first, let me just say that for a young lady who has racked up a grand total of about an hour of driving time, she did really quite well. Second, I was so glad that we were coming home from Church. I figured that, first of all, we would be watched over since we had just gotten religion. Secondly, said helping of religion would prevent me from blurting out swear words should the need arise. I'm pleased to say that it seemed to work. It was a swear-free ride home from Church. We got through it without even a panicked scream - from me, Courtney, or Shari (who wisely selected a seat in the back of the mini-van). Sarah and Parker completely wussed out, refusing to take this maiden journey with their sister, and rode home with our neighbors. I should have made them walk home for not supporting her. It's in the high 20's today. They would have been fine.

Aside from the normal first time driver thing of staying as close to the shoulder as humanly possible and thinking that the only way to get the brakes to work is to slam on them with both feet (or at least that's what it felt like on several occasions), she did a really good job. Courtney is now driving! Illinois lets 'em start driving at 15 years old - can you stand that?! I'm still trying to figure that all out. Oh well...game on, as they say.

Good day at Church. Another great discussion in Sunday School about the role and power of the Book of Mormon. Also got the year planned out for Activities Committee. We'll roll the plans next week to the Ward Council. It could all go down in flames at that point. We'll see how it goes.

Looking forward to a quiet rest of the Sabbath. Now that "The Amazing Race" is off until the next season, I can watch "The Simpsons" live and tonight is a new episode. That will distract me from the ongoing political circus that rages. I've been reading several articles, both online and print, today about the Obama win (nice and strong!) in South Carolina on Saturday. Suffice to say, She Who Cannot Be Named got served. So much for the strategy of trotting out your philandering spouse as your attack dog. It will be interesting to see how the Wonder Twins (seriously, the "two for one" approach wasn't exactly a ringing success from 1992 to 2000 - do we really need to revisit it?) now retrench and go after the the Super Tuesday states. And then there's the Republican train wreck. How long before Giuliani bows out? Hopefully after the spanking he'll take in Florida, he will bow out and go back to pulling down six figures for each and every 40 minute speech he gives to loaded conventioneers dining on dry chicken. And then there's Mitt. I found a political cartoon drawn by Jimmy Marguiles of "The Record," a New Jersey paper, that pretty much nails what we''ll get with him should his stroll toward the White House prove successful:
It's not nasty, it's not slamming the religious faith that we share, it's just telling it like it is. All it needs is a little image of Flipper the Dolphin.