Some things on my mind

It's been a while since I've taken the time to write a post, I'm not sure that anyone cares but I do find it a little therapeutic to write something that doesn't include some kind of appraisal jargon. Things have been pretty busy for me over the past couple of months. In a nutshell its like this: 60 hours of my week goes to my job, about 15 hours goes to the project house and the rest is peppered with my church calling, sleeping and spending some time with the fam. I struggle a lot with finding some kind of balance in my life, but that conversation is for another day. There are a few things that I want to get off my chest today. I'll start with the debauchery that is now commonly referred to as country music. I love country music. I think I love it even more now that I find myself among real life cowboys all the time (Wyoming is the "cowboy state"). Somehow the suits in nashville have decided that I should like Jessica Simpson, Jewel, some australian turd, Darius Rutgers (as in Hootie, yes, Hootie and the Blowfish Hootie...yes he really has gone country), Rascal Crapps, and Kid Rock as the preferred country and western artists. I guess I am just out of touch and living in the nations least populated state has finally caught me, but near as I can reckon these folks have no business singin country. I think if you were to take a poll of the guys out there who have ridden a horse or grown up in rural America they would be completely offended. Honestly I don't know why I'm surprised, it's like a microcosm of our country's current political climate. You have a handful of arrogant idiots crappin it up for the rest of us.

I think I'm getting old. Here's how I know: I tend to prefer music that already exists to new music (don't get the wrong idea...I still take a lot of pride in knowing who sings what across all genres...and I would bet that I could hold my own against anyone in a music jeopardy game)

I prefer staying in to going out.

I'm tired a lot... and you know what, it's alright to go to bed before 10 sometimes.

I, Eric Aanerud actually called the police on some kids that were throwing firecrackers in my backyard. For those who may not know, on any given 4th you can find me with a couple hundred dollars worth of explosives in the truck and in my lifetime I have burnt, blown up or killed countless things living and non that would populate a list too lengthy to report here. Probably about the same as any male reading this.

Every once in a while I will do something that stops me cold because it reminds me so much of my dad. Not a bad thing cause I love my dad, just eerie.

The list could go on, but instead I'll tell a completely unrelated story.

I was sitting in the middle of Elders Quorum the other day. It was a pretty successful EQ sunday cause we had about 10 guys there. It was in the middle of the JS lesson on finding consolation in death (or something close to that) and the teacher was sharing an incredibly personal story about how he had lost a young child several years before. In the back of the room there is this gentleman who easily weighs 4 bills, maybe 5, enough to where he only wears sweat pants. But he's just a big guy, probably about 6'5". He often nods off during lessons and snores like a kodiak bear. His voice is quite booming too. I imagine its like a cave and deep in the abyss of his chest where his vocal chords begin a noise starts that bounces around so much inside that by the time it gets to his mouth its amplified 5 times louder than it would otherwise be. So this guy is sleeping, a very spiritual and personal moment is being shared and all of the sudden some kind of techno, euro-trash ring tone sounds. Wouldn't you know that it's our friend in the back who jolts (too big to jump) so hard that he wakes himself up and is I would have thought a little embarrassed...not so...how do I know? Keep reading. His massive hand plunges deep in to his sweat pants pockets that are ironically quite small for something belonging to a piece of fabric that could easily shield the northern hemisphere from the sun. He pulls it out and I think to myself, finally he's gonna turn the stupid thing off, but no, he answers it carries on a 3 minute conversation right there in the middle of the room, middle of the lesson with that big booming voice. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. I am a firm believer that every person should be given 12 grenades when they are born for there lifetime that they can use as they please. I would have gone through 3 of them right there.