It is official.  I retire July 5, 2024

 Thanksgiving 2023 

I had a nice long week end with Elaine G Urban.  We shared a "Friendsgiving" with several friend: Prices, Petersons and others.   I cooked a turkey and mashed potatoes.  We bought Pecan and Pumpkin pie from Sam's club.  My weight remained about the same:  202.2 on Wed, Nov 22 and 201.8 this morning, Monday, Nov 27.  Last Wednesday, we went to the BYU Womens Volleyball at WVU.  It was a whim.  We drove down, bought tickets and sat on the front row behind the bench.  It was a nice experience.  It was a good week for BYU sports.  

Womens soccer: Stanford on Friday, December 1, in Cary, North Carolina. Final 4.  They came back on a snowy field from down 3 to 0 and won 3 to 4.  

Womens volleyball: No. 4-seed BYU women’s volleyball will remain in Provo and host in-state foe Weber State at the Smith Fieldhouse in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament on Friday night. I went to the game against WVU. BYU had many fans there. One of the players is from West Virgina and she had two rows of followers.

Womens BYU Women's Basketball has a big week. Weber State, Utah

Mens BYU Basketball BYU men’s basketball is back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since December 6, 2021 as the Cougars are ranked 19th following their 6-0 start to the season and Vegas Showdown championship.

BYU Football Oops!  lost to Oklahoma State after being up 24 to 6 at half time.  Lost in 2 OT.  fumble!

Elder Samuel Urban - 1 week in Mexico MTC

I liked my experience in the MTC.  I had a nice schedule to follow.  I traded some freedom for order  with which I kept my focus toward learning the lessons and learning the language.  My companion was Elder Schindler from Canada; he was a different kind of person.  I had two languages to learn, 6 weeks of French, then 6 weeks of Tahitian.  Just when I started to feel comfortable with French, we switched to learning Tahitian.  My district supported me when learning the language was frustrating.  I built a strong bond with those elders in that district that lasted through the mission and after the mission.  

Hola - Hello

Hello is a made up word in English in 1877 related to hola and started with the invention of the telephone.  According to a New York times articles, Thomas Edison invented the word to use to start a conversation on the telephone.  

Solomon's birthday

Solomon turned 1 year old yesterday.  I am thankful for Google hang-outs so I could see him crawl and play with one of his birthday gifts.

OK, I missed a day.  I forgot to post on Friday evening.  I posted on Saturday morning, thinking I might catch up and post again on Saturday evening.  I did not.  Now, I am posting again.  At least, I am posting, I can feel thankful for that and that people may forgive me for missing a day.

I am thankful for feet.  Sam had a blister on his foot that popped. Now, he is hobbled a few days.

Mary's Birthday

I am thankful for Mary Ann Urban Clark.  She is my firstborn child. While being her parent, I made lots of parenting mistakes and for the most part Mary forgave me for most of those mistakes.  She has made a lot of right choices in her life.  One of the highlights I remember about her life was her first date when she was 16 years old.  The planner that she is, she had planned that night very well.  Sometimes things don't go as planned.  I told this joke about her.  One time when Mary was three years old, we sat as a family in sacrament meeting.  Mary was making noises as a three-year old does.  I was embarrassed, so I said to her, "You better settle down, or I will take you to the foyer."  Mary replied, "But daddy, I can't go to the four year, I am only three year."  

I am thankful for order.  As a group, we cleaned up our sample storage area.  We discarded old samples that we no longer needed.  This gave us lots more room in our sample storage area.  Sam visited my office.  A few months ago, Sam was a great help to clean up my office.  Upon seeing my office, he offered his help again to clean my office.  As I was somewhat busy, I did not take his offer.  I can live with some disorder and appreciate order when I see it.  

I am thankful for color-changing spoon to eat frozen yogurt.The Sweet Frog, where we bought some frozen yogurt, has these nice spoons that change color based on the spoon's temperature.  

4th Day

I must not be very thankful today. I have a block.  I had a good day today although nothing much significant comes to mind.  I am thankful that we can have meetings over the internet.  I had two meeting today that worked through the internet. Some members were in Washington, PA; others, in Kentucky, others, Detroit; one in Tennessee and one in Mexico.  We had good communication about the status of our projects today.

I am grateful for good Dentists.  Our Dentist worked on Elaine's molar today in preparation to do a root-canal procedure.  I have had a few root canals.  The nice part about a root canal is that after the pain, the tooth stays.

I am thankful that with this blog, I can decide to complete the article I am writing whenever I want; and so, I shall.