Westmoreland Asays

About 13 months ago, I started going to night school at Chemeketa to learn more about computer networking, with the goal of passing the CCNA exam ( see history for why I did this). Once class finished in June, I was theoretically prepared to pass the exam. But I was scared to take it, and then Cisco changed which testing centers could administer the exam and Salem lost its only site, and we went on vacation, and summer was great, etc., etc. But when I saw that Cisco was retiring the current version of the CCNA the first week of November, that was the final kick-in-the-pants I needed. So I just picked a date that would give me a chance to take it twice if I failed the first time. But I ended up only needing the first attempt. I had been studying off-and-on since I finished class, but I stepped it up to a higher gear the last two weeks before the test, reading exam prep books and taking practice tests. I never did very well on the practice tests, so I had a right to be scared. But...

A couple of days ago, Aaron noticed that one of his lower front teeth was loose. It seemed a little early for the boy to start losing his primary teeth, but whatever. I was studying upstairs this morning when I heard Aaron downstairs state that he had lost his tooth. So I grabbed my dinosaur camera (Canon is fixing our point-and-hope digital)--a great camera, but I would prefer a digital SLR--and documented the scene. Sure enough, there was a little tooth lying on the ground next to his computer and a little gap in his mouth. I just hope another tooth is growing upward to take its place, and that the tooth fairy is paying attention and does his/her work. Aaron also mentioned tonight that he wanted to learn more about Elder Uchtdorf. He said that Sister Scott said that he was her favorite apostle (and thus he is Aaron's favorite now, too--Sister Scott is family, by the way--like my seventh cousin), and even though he had a funny name that she laughs at, she never laughs at the...

It's been a slow news month. Utah Roadtrip 2007--Update One thing I neglected to document was that when we were walking around Temple Square, he would point to the SLC Temple and say, "Castle! Castle!" And I finally uploaded the final pics. Bush Park Runs Update: Bush Park Cross Country Runs Here is the official times for Aaron's race (and mine, too--but you have to scroll down a mile). Aaron ran the 500m in 2:57, while I finished the 5000m in 20:07. I was also wrong that he was passing older kids down the final stretch; he actually passed the second place kid just before the finish line. Aaron also had commented that he ran faster than me; he still didn't get it after I explained that I ran over 10 times as fast as he did--it's all about place, in his mind. Asay Sings in the Conference Center My mom sang in the choir that performed at the General Relief Society conference in September. Watch the video (warning: super large file) to catch a glimpse of ...