My Brother, The Fisherman

Make sure when you read the title to this post that you put a long "e" sound on "the".  My brother passed away in July.  I miss him more than I can say, Just to give you an idea of the kind of guy he was,  here are some memories I have of him. 

The Ice Fisherman
By Bonnie

Ted was many things to many people. To one ,he was Husband and Eternal Companion. To five, he was Dad. To others, he was Father-in-Law, Papa, Son, Uncle, Cousin, Nephew and Brother. To many, he was Photographer, Storyteller, Scout Leader, Fishing Buddy and Friend. To my husband, he was Fellow BSU Fan, Example, Ask-a-Mechanic and Off Road Guide. To my kids, he was Uncle, Prankster and Huckleberry Thief. To me, he was Brother, Bearer of Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Counselor and Ice Fishing Guide.

As his baby sister, I was entitled to the tiniest bit of whining to get my way. Finally, one Spring, he apparently felt I had patiently plead long enough. He extended an invitation for me and my kids to join him and his kids for a day of ice fishing on Mountain View Reservoir. Dark and early the next morning we loaded up. Stopping only for Egg McMuffins, we proceeded to caravan across the desert deep into Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Ted's tales of previous escapades at our target destination had our spirits afloat. Reports of the hundreds, or rather thousands of fish offered up by that blessed body of water on Ted's past visits filled our dreams and expectations with visions of an abundant haul. Excitement mounted as the two vehicles laden with eager fishermen neared our destination on the day that would go down in history as the day the Worthingtons out-fished the Nelsons.........the day I out-fished my big brother. As we finally pulled up to the lake on that clear Spring day, the reservoir shown bright as the sun glinted off the WATER!?! “Hey, Ted,” I exclaimed, “you forgot to bring the ice!” There wasn't so much as an ice cube in the entire lake! Dripping with sweat, we shed our layers of winter clothing best we could and perched ourselves on the jagged rocks of the bank. Meanwhile, our guide equipped for ice fishing, made do with the gear he had and outfitted us with poles, baited our hooks and set us to fishing from the bank. And yes, I out-fished him that day. To protect his ego I presume, he claimed that he didn't get to fish long enough. I don't know what he was complaining about. We let him fish all he wanted as long as he kept our poles baited and in good catching condition. We returned home with two fish(both caught by Worthingtons), sunburns and a woodtick. That's right, Ted didn't get totally skunked that day. He came home with a tick. It may have been the one and only tick to ever have been acquired by any fisherman while “ice” fishing.

The next time he took me ice fishing was a different story. There was ice alright and it was bitterly cold. Ted had a way of knowing what would be good medicine for people. When my daughter, Sarah was diagnosed with Leukemia, he was the first person I called with the news. His calm reassuring voice was good medicine for me. As soon as Ted and Marilyn got the news of Sarah's diagnosis, they and their kids set to work helping our family through our difficult ordeal. It became important to Ted to keep Sarah's spirits up. When she reached a point in her treatment that we could wrangle permission from her doctor to take her on an outing, Ted took Sarah and I ice fishing on little Paigey's birthday. With Sarah's condition being delicate, he went to great lengths to keep her comfortable and took us for the first non-hospital related outing that we had been on in months. The bitter cold and wind proved to be surprisingly rejuvenating. Sarah returned with a fine perch that day. She and I both returned with brightened spirits and reassurance of how much Ted and his family loved us. He had a knack for making time for family while creating unforgettable memories. He brought our extended families closer together and helped forge enduring bonds. I will be ever grateful for the example he set and the many acts of kindness and fond memories he brought into my life. I'll miss him dearly, but it won't be forever. To me, he will always be Brother.

So Ted, I'll be seeing you. And could you have a pole ready for me when I get there? Oh, and don't forget to bring the ice this time. ;)

Taken on the famous "ice" fishing trip.

 

I painted this picture of him for his family

SOLD!!!!!!!

Sold(and mailed.......finally) to the cute little blonde lady in Twin Falls.

Thanks, RW and RW!  You're the best!

Quick Update

So here's a quick rundown of my new goals.  First and foremost is my exercise goal.  I have set a goal of averaging 15 min. of exercise per day.  It's much more modest than last year's goal, but this one, I think, is more doable for me.  I'm going with the school of thought, "Set your goals so low that you are tempted to exceed them."  So far I have managed to do just that for three weeks.  That's not my own original thought.  I heard it from some exercise guru, but I can't seem to remember who it was.  My next goal is to set a new goal every two weeks.  So for the next two weeks, I plan to exercise for at least 15 minutes EVERY day.  Yes, even Sundays.  However, Sundays may just entail a nice leisurely stroll home from church.  Averaging 15 minutes per day is great, but I'm trying to form a habit here, so I think a daily routine might be more effective.  Besides, from past experience, I know that when I do exercise daily, my body comes to expect it and even actually, believe it or not, want it.
For my "Me Time" goal, I plan, over the next two weeks, to finish one of the paintings I've started.  Who knows?  I may even exceed that goal too.
Oh, and one more thing, starting today, I'm going to take a photo of myself everyday, for the coming year and at the end of the year I'll make a slide show.  I think this will be a great motivator as I want to be able to show progress.  Now don't worry,  although I know the I need this overhaul for cosmetic reasons,  that's not my main goal.  The goal is to get healthier and more fit and in my case, I can't improve in those areas very much without some weight loss. That should equal a cosmetic improvement as well.
So there you have it.  Those are my immediate plans.

:)

To view larger, click on the slideshow. 

Well, well, well......

Well, here it is a year and ten days later and my after picture is much the same as my before picture.  I fell far short of my goal.  Of the 365 hours that I had planned to log in "Me Time", I only logged 80.  And out of the 365 Exercise hours I'd planned, I only logged 91.  I feel certain that had I come through, I'd have a much different picture to show you today.  That's the bad news, but there is a bit of good news to report.  First of all, I learned something.  I learned that I need to set a more attainable goal  for myself.  I found that 2 hours a day were much harder to come by than I thought they were going to be.  I had myself rather overwhelmed by the end of the first week.  I think I'd have been better off had I set a goal of 1 hour of exercise 3 days a week, or of 15 minutes every day.   Had I been more consistant in my hour per day I'd be better off today.  For instance, had I not just exercised 1 hour every day for several days and then nothing for weeks, but rather spread it out evenly I'd be more fit today.  So what do I do now?  Throw in the towel and count myself beaten?  I think not!  I believe it's time to switch it up a bit.  The good news is that I did manage to exercise 91 hours which averages out to be 14.958 minutes per day.  Other good news......I'm participating in a "Biggest Loser" challenge with my sister, my brother-in-law and some of their friends.  And guess what.... I've been losing weight!  Look for more about that in a future post.  Also, Bountiful Baskets ( http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ ) is helping me to eat healthier.  More about BB in a future post as well.  And one more thing, we have been fortunate enough to aquire a plot in the neighborhood community garden.  That equals more exercise and healthy eats.  Watch for updates.

As for the "Me Time", there's good news there as well.  I have started painting again and I'm loving it.  I'm slowly working on starting an ETSY shop to sell some of my creations.  I'll let you know when I have it up and running.  I've also been attending the temple about twice a month which makes for some very rejuvinating me time.  And since my old camera had been dropped about a hundred too many times, Mark gave me a fun new camera for my birthday.  I'm having a blast with it, and it makes for some good bird watching as my little Lazuli Buntings have returned.  Oh, and I've been teaching Heather to sew.  Great mother daughter time!

Well, I must be about other business now.  There's a pile of work waiting for me in the lab.  You can expect a post in the very near future with my goals and plan of attack for the coming year.  I think I've made some good modifications which will lead to better results.  I'm out of time for now, but here are few pics taken with my new camera and I promise to post a current photo of myself with the next post.  I'd do it now, but I'm enjoying a frump day today.  Like I said before, I look much the same as I did a year ago.

See why I love these cute little birds?

Atop the Boise temple

A very strange bird at the feeder.  (Courtesy of Toby's camerajacking.)

Heather putting the finishing touches on her very cute skirt.

Mark turning the dirt with Sarah overseeing the work.

View from the garden. (photo courtesy of Sarah)

A Little Me Time

I decided to try my hand at painting with acrylics.  They have their good points, but my first love is still oils.  Here's what I came up with.  The colors didn't scan quite true. The blues are more purple,but they're close.

In January, I finished a painting of the newlyweds(more about them and the whole wedding business in a future post). I painted it with my beloved oils,

As soon as I get my nerve up, I'll be finishing another oil painting that for the moment is intimidating me.  When finished, it will hopefully hold a likeness of one of my favorite heros.

That's it for now.  I'm off to hit the eliptical. :) I believe it's a little lonely. :(

I'm Baaaaaack

Well, my birthday is just three months from today and obviously, I haven't come close to staying on track.  I've recorded just 80 hours of exercise for the past nine months.  I have neglected to record some hours, but I have still fallen far short of my goal.  I could vow to reach that 365 hour mark by my birthday, but I'm afraid that's just not realistic.  So my goal for now is to simply get back on track.  So that's my plan. TTFN