Westmoreland Asays

Megan married Jared today (12/30/2008). I'm writing this six months late, so I don't remember anything. Watch the video and enjoy.

The video is when my nieces and nephew from Corvallis came over on Christmas eve to open presents. Christmas was fun. We stayed at our house then traveled north to the snowy regions of Sherwood on Christmas afternoon. We got stuck trying to climb the Booren's driveway, but fortunately we had some help towing us up the hill and safely into a nicely dug-out spot to park.

The middle-to-end of December was crappy weather.That's all I remember. Watch the video and call it good.

After work on Friday, I joined Finishshots.com on a photo-shooting journey to the other side of the mountains and the Columbia River. Most of our journey there transpired in the dark, but fortunately our lone setback was having to put on chains on the 2WD SUV while going through what is essentially a mountain pass in the Columbia Gorge. Since I felt none of the stress of driving through treacherous conditions, I was able to gaze at the trees that the snow had frosted like Christmas cookies. It took about 5.75 hours to get there, which felt like a long time, but which made sleep at the Pasco Motel 6 all that more rewarding. Saturday morning was clear and sunny and about 4 degrees outside. I wore three layers of my best lightweight, heat-retaining clothes, which kept me plenty warm. We were shooting the Cable Bridge Race, a road run that starts on the Kennewick side of the Columbia River, crossess the Cable Bridge to the Pasco side of the Columbia, and finishes at a huge warehouse at th...

Meg's appointment is confirmed for mid-afternoon today, so check back here around 3:30/4:00 p.m. for the unveiling of the sex of our new baby. Shock and impress your friends and family by telling them that you heard it first from Michael (not Meg). Breaking Update : It's a . . . . . . . . 'nother boy. Surprise!

This afternoon Meg will undergo an emergency ultrasound to appease her appetite for knowing the sex of the baby that is growing vigorously inside of her. While in Salt Lake/Park City last week, she was tempted (by her friends, of course) to pay for a vanity ultrasound at a boutique in a mall (apparently this is a popular and trendy thing to do)--she even called to tell me that she had gone through with it (she is very good at telling stories that persuade me to believe in something untrue), knowing she could get a good laugh at my expense. Meg has gone back-and-forth with her personal feeling of what the baby's sex is, but lately she has settled on it being a girl. I've been in the boy camp for most of the pregnancy, mainly because that's what I know, but I think I have crossed the lake to the girl's camp now. Regardless, we'll find out this afternoon. If you are reading before I publish the results, check back again soon for the breaking-news-update. Breaking-Updat...

I needed to fill up the G20's gas tank so I don't strand us on I-5 tomorrow when we pick up Meg, so to ensure the boys would come with me without complaint, I offered to buy donuts on the way home. We hit the local Safeway and found a few ducks donuts in the tray; this surprised me since the Beavers are the team making all the noise right now--but maybe those were sold out already . . .

I don't recall when Meg suggested I take the boys camping while she was taking an extended weekend in Salt Lake, but at first I thought that was a silly idea--experiencing the rainy season out-of-doors with two young boys didn't seem like much fun. But when you go camping in a yurt, who cares what the weather is like outside? Meg picked me up at the office after I worked half a day, and we all drove to PDX, dropping off Meg and Susan, who had driven down from Redmond, Washington, the night before. We then turned around and drove back the same way we came until arriving in Astoria--all in the rain. I've driven through Astoria a couple of times, but I've never stopped for long--it's a nice little town. We drove to the highest point in the city to the Astoria Column , hoping to climb to the top for an even better view, but it is closed while they build an entirely new staircase. But the panorama views of the city, the mountains, the river, and the ocean were amazing. W...

My title is somewhat random but mostly a weak and vain effort to rate high on google searches. If you have landed here hoping to find new insight into the book whose title I have stolen for this post, sorry--but take solace in knowing that I own the book and enjoyed reading it very much. My sole purpose for writing today is to speculate why I received a call from a member of my church ward's bishopric yesterday. They usually only call for one reason: to strip you of your current church assignment (I teach sunday school 40 minutes every week to a group of high school juniors and seniors) and give you another duty (or possibly ask you to take on another assignment at the same time). I've only been teaching this class for about 14 months, and I enjoy it very much. I'd love to continue in this responsibility for another five years or more, as it would help me develop my weak teaching skills. But it appears that I am just a rough stone that will continue rolling from one church ...

Aaron and Edward both enjoy playing the many Zelda video games we have, and they have even more fun acting out their own Zelda-themed stories. And now they want to share them with you. Aaron recently voiced his desire to make a movie. He thought to just borrow my flip video camera and make something with no planning. But I told him to write a story first, and then we could shoot some footage. I don't think he realized how much work goes into making what he wanted: writing the story, shooting the footage, creating the soundtrack and narration, and then putting it all together. But he faithfully sat by my side and consulted with me on most decisions. Meg usually shakes her head at the boys when they go into Zelda mode, but she fully supported their efforts, hoping that they "get it out of their system" now, so they don't grow up to be like these goobers .

My brother-in-law returned home from his mission to Ghana late tonight, where he spent the last two years proselyting and serving the people there--all on his own dime. Meg joined much of her family in welcoming him home at PDX (read her take here ), while we-three-boys spent most of the weekend on our own in Capital City.

Click To Play There seems to be a tradition forming: I made my third annual trip to Autzen to watch a Ducks' football game. I took my oldest son, Aaron, with tickets (reserved seating) that I purchased from someone on craigslist for only $25/ticket; we could follow the action of the game just fine, but we were about as high as the stadium goes. The Ducks happened to be playing Utah State (one of my alma maters), so that was an added bonus. Both Aaron and I had a great time cheering and watching the Ducks destroy the Aggies. But I think Aaron's most joyful moment came after the game when he got to run around on the actual football field with thousands of other fans.

I recently implemented a gadget that shows me how visitors are finding my blog; most are from people I know and expect, but every week or so someone reads my blog after searching Google. In other words, if you search Google by any of these key word groupings below, my blog scores high on the list, and these persons actually took the time to visit the Bizan Bandit. So here is the list: (I'll keep this updated as I find new entries) #1 : " HT Biking " Hmm, no comment. The visitor was someone in Austria. #2 : " children hurt playing football " Sandwiched between two popular medical web sites--I've got more credentials than Doogie Howser. #1 : " how easy is it to get hurt in football " Better than Wikipedia, more relevant than the NFL. #2 : " People Playing Football " I'm slowly becoming the expert on all things football . . . #1 : " how people get hurt from football " This is funny because people will learn how NOT to get hurt ...

Only Aaron and I ended up running at Trophy Night. Meg's pregnancy has made her feel sick almost every day of late, and Edward had no real interest in running. Aaron ran a good race; I clocked him at 2:39 for the 500 meters, which was almost 20 seconds faster than he ran last year. I thought he had finished in sixth place--one shy of winning a trophy. He was quite disappointed upon learning his predicament--and the awards ceremony confirmed Aaron's fate; however, after my race Meg learned that Aaron truly had placed fifth in his age group, so he was all smiles again after receiving his medal for the night. I started my race slow and relaxed, although I still passed many people who scampered out of the starting line like a rabbit being hotly pursued. At times during the race, I thought to myself: "Why am I still doing this? I can't run very fast anymore, and it doesn't feel very good." But I ran hard through the finish line in 19:40 for the 5000 meters race (I ...

I was a race official this weekend at the Hood-to-Coast relay (and I have the t-shirt to prove it). I've run this relay twice before , but since I had the opportunity to participate in the event from a different perspective, I took the opportunity. My friend Brian (I've known him since at least middle school; we also worked together at Schreiner's, ran Cross Country together, walked together at high school graduation, etc. etc.) owns/runs/manages the company that acts as the official race photographer , and he needed some extra help this year. At slow times when there were several minutes between runners, I took a few short video clips of my adventure. While my documentary is pretty lame, it acted more like a notepad because it would have taken too long to write anything down. I ran into the real documentary team a few times; they even stopped where I was taking pictures, took some video at the same spot and complimented me on my choice location (not that I decided the spo...

Our garden is starting to put out the later summer crops: corn, tomatoes, zucchini, soy beans (almost). And Meg, in her directorial debut, captured this fine interview with one of Capital City's most outspoken and snobbish farmers. After watching this clip, you can find the answer to the question in this video (the quote is at the 5:30 mark, but it's better to watch the whole clip to appreciate the reference).

On our way home from Beverly Beach, Edward just started spouting off random stuff. We think he's funny, but you be the judge.

Meg took the Aaron and Edward to Sherwood to visit with her friend (who has since moved to Utah) who was visiting. They were supposed to go to Enchanted Forest together (with six kids in tow), but circumstances caused them to just hang out in Sherwood. But if you ask me, Meg's friend's house was probably more fun anyway.

Here is a very old video from when we lived in Beaverton. Expect to see more vlog entries in the future . . .

My home teaching companion and I rode his bike to our appointment this afternoon with a family that lives about five miles from our neighborhood. I hadn't ridden on a motorcycle in about 20 years, and those were wimpy dirt bikes on off-road tracks. Greg's Kawasaki was much more powerful (1000cc), and it was quite a rush when he accelerated to the speed limit without shifting gears (he can redline in first gear at a little over 70mph). I was scared when we went around corners (it's a lot different than riding my own bicycle at 20 mph), but I made it home safe and without incident. I don't think I'll be buying my own bike anytime soon (probably never, and if I did it would be a weeny bike without much power), so don't expect to see many stories like this again (although I will ride with Greg again, if the weather is nice).

The best thing about living in Salem during August is the chance to race for fun (and cheaply) at Bush Park every Thursday night . Not sure you're up to the challenge? Well here are the top 10 reasons to just do it: 10. You get to be yelled at by your old high school coach to run faster and catch up with the guy 10 meters ahead of you. 09. You can run shirtless (and not feel ashamed) and work on your upper body tan. 08. You might be able to beat an old washed-up runner struggling to place in the top ten in the 30-something age group (although, is it fair to call a guy washed-up when he never did anything spectacular to begin with?). 07. You need to lose 5-10 pounds for that swimsuit you thought you could fit into back in May but haven't ever worn because you never got into shape. 06. You get to see future star athletes compete (up-close and in-person) before they become famous, namely Eddie and Aaron. 05. You get to cheer on a wonderful woman who wants to finish the first...

For the first time in nearly six years, we don't have to buy, change, or throw away diapers for our children. I guess when Edward decides to do something (he is very strong-willed), he does it. For the longest time, he showed no interest at all in using the toilet , and it didn't matter how much we encouraged/coerced--he just wouldn't do it. But in a matter of a few weeks, he appears to be finally trained--and I mean completely trained, both night and day and on the road away from home. I guess preschool at Sprague or South is now a possibility. So please extend a hand of congratulations to the Word the next time you see him (and perhaps offer to help him back into his underwear and pants, which don't seem to know how to re-attach themselves after he does his business).

Aaron received an invitation to give a talk in his Primary meeting at church last week. To prepare for this, Aaron wrote his own talk (Meg typed it for him), practiced delivering it, and even decorated the printout with some of his stickers. He was excited to give his talk. Come Sunday morning Aaron didn't wake up. I had to rouse him at 8:45 (15 minutes before church starts) and get him dressed quickly (Meg was already at the church on other business). He complained that his head and stomach hurt, which was strange because he was happy and full of energy the night before. We went to church anyway, although Aaron just wanted to sleep in the pew. Near the end of the meeting, Meg had to leave with a friend's baby that she was tending to, and I had to take Edward to the bathroom; so I left Aaron alone and asleep on the pew. As I was helping Ed wash his hands in the bathroom, Aaron come staggering in and spilled his guts all over the bathroom floor. Meg took the boys home immediatel...

A friend at work owns a house in Waldport and had mentioned that she welcomes guests any time she and her husband are down there. I thought she was joking until I asked her if we could come down on a specific weekend--but she agreed very enthusiastically. So Meg and I dropped Ed and A-Ron off at J-Mel's house in Dallas (partial payback for housing their five kids for like three weeks ) and then continued on a scenic, quiet drive along the Kings Valley and Alsea highways, arriving in Waldport just before sunrise. Shirley's house sits up on a ridge that overlooks the ocean (it was about a seven minute walk to the beach). We played the longest game of Phase 10 together, learning that Kent (Shirley's husband) is quite the gamer. After sleeping in the next morning (I was up for nearly 24 hours straight), Meg and I drove about 10 miles south to Yachats to eat at the The Drift In , which has a long and colorful history. The fish (halibut) and chips was some of the best I've ev...

Thursday, July 3 Disclaimer: I should have written more while I was there, because apparently my muse for this trip got left behind in Utah . . . It was difficult to stay focussed at the office knowing that I would be leaving that afternoon for my getaway to the Salt Lake desert to visit with my family for a few days. But I was very excited to leave--mainly because I got to ride the bus and light rail again (like the old days--just kidding). Fortunately there were now fights, smelly drunks, or screaming babies--I did have to stand for most of the ride, but it's nice after having to sit in my office chair all day. I fortunately didn't have to sit next to the chatty lady in front of me, so I relaxed to the random tunes on my mp3 player and read about various running stories and profiles of athletes in a special edition of Runner's World that focussed on the Olympic Trials being held right now in Eugene. It was nasty hot in SLC when I touched down. But everything was nic...

Meg recently wrote that she would love to host more huge parties at our house (although she didn't say that the weather was nice and much of the activity flowed outside--our house isn't that big inside). Contrast that to what I'd rather do .

Saturday at Schreiner's Edward spent much of early Friday morning throwing up (which was sad because he ate so much food at dinner) every few hours. His stomach eventually calmed down but he was pretty lethargic for much of the day. By Saturday he seemed just fine, so we told the boys we would take them to Red Robin if they would first go to the iris gardens with us (they get coupons for free meals every time they visit the dentist)--it's no Applebees (quoth the Aaron), but they like eating out and could not resist. The cold and rainy weather has caused the iris to bloom late this year, so even our end-of-May visit was a tad early for peak bloom. I spent much of the time visiting with Steve Schreiner (who remembers what we discussed as digging partners as far back as 1989) and met the largest grower of iris in the UK. Steve still knows how to spin off the most obscure, obscene, and original metaphors I've ever known; his off-base humor is one of my fondest memories of the p...

I enjoyed being in election limelight for the week--a good thing, because we Oregonians probably won't see this for another 40 years or so. I found it interesting that Obama won the urban areas so easily--except Salem, where it was neck-in-neck--so my vote was in a sense even more important (at least in my mind). During this last week, I received probably 10 phone calls from the Democrats asking for whom I was voting (and one in-person visit); most were from the Obama camp, but one representative from the other group insulted my intelligence and tried to shame me for my choice--I could totally feel the love. I really hope Obama doesn't pick her as his running mate . . . I see no way that WarMonger II wins Oregon in November (save all Portlanders die in an apocalyptic firestorm)--he'll probably lose by double digits--so this was probably the last attention we'll get. But it was a fun ride while the fervor lasted.

At least, that's what the boys would say--hey, it's one of the few scriptures I've memorized, so I like to quote it whenever I can. My friend Brent (and his boy, a friend and peer of Aaron) picked up WeThreeBoys after work on Friday, and we drove to Fishermens Bend, about 30 miles east of Salem, for a father-and-son campout. Even though temperatures were hovering in the 90's for most of the day, it felt refreshing to spend so much time in the open air (although it was noticeably cooler away from the valley, especially near the Santiam River). The boys showed off their personalities like I would have expected: Aaron immediately found friends to play with and was literally running around playing games until about 11:00 p.m. At one point he found me at the tent and told me he was having trouble breathing, but he was fine after taking his asthma medication. Most of the kids were strangers to him and probably a few years older, but that has never stopped Aaron from socializi...

With the mistress still out of town, I wanted to have some long-overdue fun with the boys--especially after having to dump them off at a friend's house three full days this week so I could work. We dumped the kids off at someone's house last Saturday so we could go to the temple, and that family was going to take Aaron to one of their son's baseball games. Because of some problems, he wasn't able to go--and it really disappointed him. So I thought to make it up to him with an even better brand of baseball: Saxon (who are first in league and top 10 in state). I picked up the boys at their friends' house around 4:00 p.m. (where they were both reported to be rather sad for much of the day; even though they haven't mentioned their mother at any point during her absence--not even a "When's Mom coming home?"--I think they long for her return). We were all so hungry, we ate at Arby's (well, we got take out anyway). The baseball game had just started w...

I became a Democrat today--at least in the eyes of the state of Oregon--breaking a string of 15 years of faux loyalty to the other team. At heart, I consider myself an independent and vote as such. I hate party politics and honestly strive to pick the best man or woman for the job. Because Oregon will (for once) help determine who runs for President, I decided to re-register so I could help decide the second part of the equation in this year's election smackdown. I've yet to decide for whom I will cast my vote, because it depends on whom WarMonger II's opponent will be (and, to some extent, whomever WarMonger II picks as a running mate). My boss is doing the same thing, only he's doing it to vote against a certain woman (meaning he doesn't like any of the candidates, but he definitely doesn't want her in there).

Aaron brought home a sheet of paper with an eight-question interview that he gave to one of his "buddies" at Sprague pre-school today. I'm not trying to make fun of his understanding at all; I just found it interesting to experience the world from his eyes. Where does the sun go at night? The other side of the earth, because the earth turns . [He learned that from watching Blue's Clues, Meg tells me] Why do we have snow? So that we can build a snowman and to let us know that it is winter . Why do birds sing? To let people know it's day time. How do flies walk on the ceiling? Their feet are sticky [Sounds right. Not sure how he came to that conclusion.] Why do you have a bellybutton? I would have a hole there without a bellybutton. [I found this one laugh-out-loud funny--it's like it was screwed onto him in a soda bottling company.] Why are you ticklish? Because other people tickle me. Why do the stars shine? So there can be light. And the moon too. Where do ...

My mother kindly flew to Oregon from Salt Lake City to stay with us for the week. It's been nearly two years since she and pa fled Western Eden for the hills and desert of Zion, although it doesn't seem that that much time has passed. So Meg and I took advantage and took a short roadtrip to Southern Oregon. Wednesday We left my mom with the boys in the morning; they knew and understood that we were leaving for a few days, but they didn't seem to mind. Our destination for the day was Ashland, with stops in Grants Pass for lunch (and where Meg discovered that she had left her wallet--and thus driver's license and temple recommend--at home) and Medford to kill time until we could check in at our hotel. Big flakes of snow were falling in the mountain passes, but fortunately they didn't interfere with our driving. We stayed in a room on the seventh floor at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel in the heart of Ashland. It's by far the tallest building in the city, and ...

Lately Edward has been declaring that he is going to college (although he is not sharing his list of potential schools). He puts on a little dudes backpack (which Aaron occasionally brings home from pre-school) and walks around speaking of his intentions. I think this act stems from an episode of Blue's Clues we own. We've previously caught him studying books on how to build wealth through real estate, but I guess his plans haven't panned out with the recent market slump. Kudos to you Edward for creating a back-up plan. In other random news, Aaron has developed a deep interest in the original Legend of Zelda game for the NES. He often calls me at the office to ask questions about how to find stuff and beat enemies, although his questions have died off since I bookmarked some sites on the Internet that provide screen-by-screen maps. He still calls but his conversations have changed to him spouting off everything he's learned, then he says good-bye and hangs up--without...

As I pulled into the garage on the evening of Valentine's day, I saw a giant grill sitting in the garage--my early birthday present from Meg and her fam. I guess she gave up on my countless failures at using my charcoal grill. We put the boys to bed early (they were asleep by 7:15 p.m.) and watched The Princess Bride from the comfort of our living room couches. On Friday the 15th Meg was hosting a tri-ward adult dance for the three wards that meet at our building. The boys were still somewhat ill for a babysitter, so I had to stay home and take care of them. As you might guess, I'm not a fan of dancing (at least in front of other people in a formal setting--for the record, we were at Northern Lights Theatre Pub a few weeks ago with some friends, and at the end of the film, The Real Life of Dan, the stars were dancing at their wedding; Meg wished out loud how much she wanted to dance right now, so I pulled her up and started dancing in the aisle--much to her embarrassment); but ...

As I was walking to the vanpool pickup stop yesterday afternoon, I looked from a distance at the bike parking area underneath the building to see if my bike was still there. I keep a bike at the office for the occasional errand I run at lunch time (doctor's appointments, shopping for gifts for the family). I had just ridden it last week at lunch to pick up flowers and Moonstruck chocolates for Meg, so I remember where I had parked it last. But I didn't see it. The van had just arrived, so I couldn't stop and investigate further. So this morning when I arrived at the office, I took a closer look at the crime scene. Sure enough, my bike--and my lock--were gone. I thought this might happen someday, given the open and unsecured setting of the bike storage area. I'm almost glad that somebody stole it, because it is now their problem. It was truly a made-in-China-Department-store-heavy-piece-of-junk; the brake cables were giving out, and the gears had a tendency to slip, maki...

We spent most of Saturday in Oregon's Emerald City. We met Meg's sister Melissa (and her five kids) and Jared/Charlotte (and their two boys) at the Science Factory, across the street from Autzen Stadium . I think the boys had a good time, although they approached us first about leaving (instead of us dragging them out kicking and screaming). We then drove to Jared's house in outer-Springfield to wait until the game started. Meg's brother Jared had tickets to the Oregon/USC men's basketball game at night, and he invited me to attend with him for the last time (he is taking a new job, so no more free tickets to Ducks football/basketball games). The Ducks played poorly throughout much of the game. A lot of people began leaving with about three minutes left and the Ducks trailing by a dozen, and it looked hopeless when they were down by 10 with less than 90 seconds left. But they finally hit some 3's, earned some foul shots, and USC missed free throws to let them ba...

We attended a baptismal service for the child of a friend tonight. I've taken Aaron to a baptism before, but this was Edward's first experience. When the curtain to the baptismal font was opened and the children were invited to witness the baptism up-close, Edward walked up with the rest of the kids. But he didn't just sit down behind the other kids; he maneuvered to the front and leaned over the foot-tall plastic barrier, getting as close a look as possible. I was standing nearby and encouraged him repeatedly to sit down. But he kept firing back at me, "Dad, go swimming? Dad, go swimming?" I honestly thought he was going to fall head-over-heels into the font, breaking our family-held tradition of not swimming on the sabbath . But he eventually planted his rear on the floor and escaped the service without incident.

Our church ball season kicked off last week, and we drilled the Salem 4th Ward's team; one of their team members, Cary Takara , actually spent about four months with me in the Okayama Mission Home (they were his last, while I was somewhere in the middle) (his oldest son is also in Aaron's pre-school class at Sprague, but they will both attend South). He wasn't my assigned companion, but in our Mission Home we switched companions all the time, so we worked together often. I'll never forget the time he and I (and two others) drove north to Tottori to help the Elders there move into their new house (the previous companions had burned their apartment to the ground). I was driving our Toyota van through some of the mountains between Tottori and Okayama, when I accidentally strayed from the main road. I ended up on--I exaggerate not--a road through some rice paddies that wasn't much wider than our van. Everyone was sleeping in the back, but Takara woke up at this point a...

Aaron and I were watching one of the non-important bowl games (i.e., anything but the Duck's awe-inspiring victory in the Sun Bowl), and he noticed that one of the players wasn't getting up after the play. Aaron : "Dad, why isn't that guy moving?" Michael : "He probably got hurt on the play" Aaron : "Oh, people get hurt in football games?" Michael : "You bet." Aaron : "I think I want to play basketball instead. I don't want to get hurt" Both A-Ron and The Word love playing football over any other game/sport, so I was surprised to hear Aaron say this. But it also makes sense, as Aaron is more timid to do new or potentially dangerous activities (and he's never been hurt much in our backyard gridiron brawls). Edward (again yin to Aaron's yang) has always had the mentality to jump first (and blindly trust that Mom or Dad is looking to catch him as he flies through the air or down a flight of stairs) and pick fights w...

WeThreeBoyz got a portable basketball hoop for Christmas. Unfortunately, it came in a big, heavy box unassembled; but we have Meg the Builder for a wife/mother, so no worries. New Year's Day proved to be rain-free, although quite chilly, so after taking down the Christmas tree and sundry decorations (and putting away everything in the attic, thanks to my awesome new ladder), I started the build process by dragging the box out of the garage and into the driveway. I organized some of the parts and completed some of the simple steps until Meg took over and finished the remaining 98% of the job. It took several hours and numerous numb body parts, but we had it up and working before bedtime. Aaron and I tested it out for a few minutes before retreating from the cold night air. The hoop can adjust anywhere from 7.5 to 10 feet, and it was great that Aaron could make baskets at the lowest level. Some men might feel intimidated that their wives are more mechanically-inclined than themselve...