Cold weather

 Oh hi Elder,

It’s that time of the week for the letter. This week hasn’t been super eventful, in a good way.

Tuesday ben and I went to the Utes basketball game. It had been snowing for two days so it was a slick drive up. There were not very many fans in attendance, and I can’t even remember who they played, some team from San Antonio if I recall. The Utes got ahead early, then went flat late in the second half. But they had a strong second half and looked pretty good in size, fundamentals, defense, and even toughness. They won by a comfortable margin. Sadly, they lost convincingly to byu in Provo yesterday. Also sadly, byu beat smu in the New Mexico bowl by one point. I watched part of the second quarter and it was bad football. At one point I’m counting the missed tackles on every play, on both sides, and it was getting pretty ridiculous..

Work is slowing down too. During other times of the year that makes me insecure, but I think it’s just slow because of the end of the year and because everyone is sorta waiting to see what the new boss wants to do. We did have a last minute Christmas party, which was predictably awkward.

Wednesday for young mens was a combined activity, caroling. I could neither bring myself to go or encourage your little brother to go. Apparently there was some drama on the girls side so it didn’t last too long and we didn’t miss too much. Is it unrighteous to be glad that there are no activities for the next two weeks?

I sent you that talk by elder bednar on YouTube. I’m pretty sure you couldn’t access it, but it was worth it just in case. I sent it to the groupme priest’s group and actually had some responses. It must of had more reach than I anticipated because in bishop’s wife’s sacrament meeting talk she led with it. Today was the last week for the Old Testament, which I’m okay with.

Hobby wise I’ve been fairly productive. I’ve been working on two projects mainly. The first is the robot ED-209 from the movie Robocop. That was a shockingly violent movie from the late 80s that I just loved. It a awhile to assemble but now I’m into the fun part, painting. After all of these years I’m finally feeling some mastery with my airbrush. Things like paint consistency, cleaning frequency, air pressure, etc. are all finally starting to make sense to me. It’s mostly painted and next is weathering. In my opinion that is where the craft becomes art. It’s really fun. I’m also working on an RC replica of my dads old Toyota FJ55 land cruiser. It’s a more challenging build, but I’m excited to see how it turns out. I wonder if it will be done by the time you get home.

Yesterday I got up early to go to McDonald’s with Joe before work. It was really cold, like 10° outside, but such a pretty, crisp day. After I did a little shopping for mom, but now that’s become a bigger challenge because she gave one of her gifts to grandma, a foot massager. I think I’ll have to buy her an outfit or something. Speaking of gifts, mom bought a pretty cool keyboard for Joey at Sam’s club. It’s not a pro model or anything, but it was endorsed by Ben. I thought that may be just as much a gift for you as Joey, since it will be newish when you get home. Also, the drums are now in your room, just so you know. Mom and I are encouraging your brothers to convert the game room into a giant music room, including bringing the piano downstairs, it could be cool.

Grandpa has been falling down on the new floor Mark put in. I have unkind thoughts about mark when I think of it. He did it just so grandma would pay him. I know he’s having a hard time without a job, but that bugs me too. Jacob, some advice. Be deliberate about deciding your future when you get home. Whether it’s college, trade school, training or whatever, don’t get distracted. Don’t take nine years to get a bachelors degree, don’t skip semesters. That probably seems pretty stressful, but you’ll know what to do. Believe in yourself and do it. Be deliberate. Anyway, mom thought if we put a rug in there it would be less slippery. So we went and got one which was stressful for grandma. We got it tucked in under his chair, fridge and desk and taped down the other edges. Hopefully it will help.

I guess that’s all I have for tonight Jacob Max. I love you tons.

Pops