New Calling in Need of New Ideas

Three weeks ago, i got the dreaded call…
“Brother Johnson, would you and your wife be available to meet with the first counselor on Sunday?”
Well  I was raised to never decline a calling, and this was going to be a calling, so I said, no. I mean that wasn’t strictly a calling yet was it?
Now before you start getting too upset, what I really said was that Nancy wasn’t available as she was going to be working that day, so I was on my own.
I quickly steeled myself up for the wonderful calling to come.
Nursery would be okay I guess.
Primary? Well i have done it before but never solo so that might be a challenge.
Sunday School? I had done it all there so that might be perfect.
Librarian? Cool, loved that calling and it eventually got me to the building librarian which was even cooler somehow.
Elders Quorum? Very unlikely but okay…
Did you see what I missed there? Yeah, me neither until I heard those words come out of his mouth.
“Brother Johnson, we would like to ask you to be… our new ward choir director.”
I am agog, I am a ghast. (If you don’t get that lyric, listen to Broadway’s version of Les Miserables”)
My answer was… I never pass on calling but… I asked for time to consider it.
Cut to the Chase, last Sunday, they announced me as the new choir director.
Go ahead,  I will wait while you finish laughing.

Still waiting.

Okay, done yet?

Well I am tired of waiting so you join when you are ready.

This is where I need your help. I don’t know of a budget so I want to start finding free choir resources now. Come one come all.
Please let me hear them all. Don’t worry if you think I have heard it before… I may not have. Feel free to pass this along to musically blessed people too. If you don’t want to post them here, don’t hesitate to email them to me… nitemare 409 at gmail dot com without the spaces.

Someday you may see your name in lights… or at least in the lights of this blog.

Thanks in advance, and thanks for reading this blog.

This Is That Post

So yesterday I did make a post saying it wasn’t the post to explain this years goals. This is that post. I won’t spend tons of time on this post but I will just say the following are my goals for now (I have a couple of other ones which I am keeping private for now.
Goals for 2013:

  1. Update this more regularly.
  2. Get health more in line
  3. Increase the time that I spend with the family
  4. Document life more in photos
  5. Increase activity in Church callings

Continue reading ‘This Is That Post’ »

Starting Over Again

No, this isn’t THAT post.

It isn’t a promise of the coming posts.

It isn’t a promise to let you know that there are 2,400 different species of frogs from every continent except Antarctica.
This post might explain that when ants find food they lay down a chemical trail called a pheromone, so that other ants can find their way from the nest to the food source.

I will pass along this little tidbit too… The world record frog jump is 33 feet 5.5 inches in three consecutive leaps. It happened in May of 1977 y a South African sharp-nosed frog called Santje.

Okay so really all that data came from my oatmeal package this morning. And I still have another package to relay to you.

But I also want to point out another story.

Now, if you don’t already know, I am a large comic book fan. My favorite character is actually the only prime-time comic book hero to have a show. Green Arrow is his name and he is a property of DC Comics, but today, Marvel is in my spotlight. I found out about this story of late. Read the story at the following link, and then let me know what you think:

A New Hero Emerges at Marvel

Oh and a chameleon is well equipped to catch it’s prey as it’s tongue is twice the size of it’s body.

Good in Everyone

‘Young man, remember all the days of your life that you can find good in everyone if you will but look for it.’”

That is a quote from President George A. Smith which was quoted from his deathbed. It is funny that I should find such a quote today as I have felt some real animosity for a fellow member of our church. I felt that he got a promotion that he wasn’t deserving of, something that I didn’t feel he had the right toolset for. I harbored that anger for him even though the choice was not his, nor was it something that I was ready for either.

Tomorrow it looks as though I may have to go and eat a little crow on this on. Anyone know of any good recipes for that?

Oh well, at least football started tonight, right?

Face Off

Of late there has been a lot of television which has really entertained me. Leverage, Major Crimes, Perception, White Collar, Covert Affairs, Hells Kitchen, MasterChef, and one of the most creative shows for me is Face Off. This SyFy show is a show for makeup artists to create designs from just a small gem of a suggestion.

These aren’t all my favorites but to be honest, i am trying to get more into the habit, and tonight I have a small migraine and so i shall simply leave you with this: life is a highway, and I’m gonna ride it all night long… In my dreams.

New Journal

So Nancy found her Junior High Journal and is reading all of the entries. I thought that it would be a great idea to journal more in this blog, so with that we will start almost a new. It does seem that the blogs that I continue to go to are the journal blogs. I love character stories that I find there. Wile my life is al that exciting I hope that dome aspect of what I go through may some day help some one in some small way.

Not that there is much to today, but in light of the Holiday, Labor Day, let me describe the labors that i have been working on of late. I have been employed by the same company for the last three years this next month. I have been promoted twice and within a few months I hope for a third time.

In church I have had many callings but at this time I am Elder’s Quorum Secretary but also a Stake Auditor. I am also in my ward choir, and my stake conference choir. All of these callings and activities give me great joy and fulfillment.

The girls are doing well. K is growing into a very difficult time as a young adult. I really hope that she has learned enough to avoid the issues that I have previously had. She just recently turned fourteen. If things go well for her, she may reach fifteen.

S is growing as well. She is learning many of K’s best manipulation techniques and is improving on them as well. For the first time in school she has a teacher which is not 100% in love with her from the start. Now the question is of we move her from this class or if we let her learn from her current teacher, lessons which are not on the lesson plan.

Nancy continues to do well at her current work. Se is still in a call center environment which while is varying and therefore interesting, it can make for a very frustrating time when she may not understand all the questions or solutions.

Melissa is still with us and has recently gone back to a previous employer which we hope will be less stressful for her and allow her to go at her own pace. She has recently had S move into her room to allow K to have more privacy.

And yes, I have buried the lead on this one, but I wanted to save the best for last for me. A few months ago I applied for a choir here in Salt Lake City. I heard a couple of weeks ago that I was accepted. The name of the choir is the Sterling Singers and they are a world renowned choir. This year should no different as we will have concert on Temple Square on November 24th. We started rehearsing last night and I can only tell you that I love the pieces we are working on already.