Skip to main content

The Devil Wears a Khaki Shirt

Note:  A selection of photos from Day 3 are posted in my Picasa public gallery.

As a missionary I learned to warn people that as soon as they began to feel God's spirit more fully in their life, they could also be sure that temptation and trial were just around the corner.  One follows the other.  Light and dark.  Good and evil.  Chocolate and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

So, I should have figured that something would come along and try to spoil my fun now that I'm a full three days into this vacation.  It happened tonight.  I saw hell.  It looks like a rainforest, the food is overpriced and the waiters are dressed in khaki.  Thankfully, I managed to buy my escape for $65 plus tip.

The Rainforest Cafe may seem like a nice place to eat, but I've said the same thing about KFC on occasion.  That doesn't make it right.  The food was OK.  I had a mild paella with muscles, calamari, shrimp and andouille sausage.  Unfortunately, I was sitting across from a pair of animatronic elephants that had the uncanny habit of trumpeting every time the waiter talked to me.  Do you have any idea the level of auditory distortion that creates?

"Welcome to the Rainforest Cafe.  Have you been here before?"

"Diet Coke."

Besides, it's impossible to enjoy your meal when a robotic elephant keeps giving you the evil eye.

Thankfully, Providence doesn't dish out opposition in equal measure.  By and large, today was another fabulous day.  Disneyland on your birthday with your family at your side and a pocket full of fast pass tickets for bypassing the lines.  What's not to love.

I only wish I had picked up a present or card or cake (or anything) for Thelma to celebrate her birthday.  (Yes, we share a birthday.)  Gifts are one of her love languages.  She'll tell you that this trip is present enough and we agreed not to give gifts, but I should have known better.  She would have liked a little something.  She's asleep now along with everyone else.  I just returned from Albertson's where I purchased lunch items for tomorrow.  I picked up a small container of roasted red pepper humus and pita chips with her in mind.  Nothing quite says "I love you" and "I should have been more thoughtful" than a small tub of humus.  

(Ladies, please let me know if you'd like me to share some of my romance tips with your husbands.  The advice is free.)

As for me, what else could I possibly want for my birthday?  I'm more wildly in love with Thelma than ever.  I have three wonderful children.  I come home to a house full of passion, art, learning and laughter.  I'm a blessed man.  It's enough for me.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Wonders

I know the tradition began earlier, but I associate it with the Carmen Red Oldsmobile station wagon. There was also the Toyota van, but the Oldsmobile days were the magic ones. Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we would literally go. (Also through the valley, past the waterfalls, over the hill, and along the lake.) Neilan family Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The house where my mom was raised, where aunts, uncles, and cousins were just a few houses or blocks away. The two story house where on any ordinary day you entered directly into the kitchen, sat at the kitchen table, and just listened to my mom and her parents talk as an assortment of her brothers would inevitably call or stop by. But on Christmas Eve, the house was already packed to the brim with family, presents, food, and laughter. So much laughter. It was a wonderland as a child to be surrounded by people who loved you and were excited to see you. The house was warm and the large w...
2 comments
Read more

Moving to Graduate School

I have been thinking a lot about my father this week. On Monday I helped Braeden and Anna move all of their belongings out of Deleward and into a moving truck bound for Woodland, CA where Braeden starts graduate school at nearby UC Davis next month. As I walked from the truck parked on 400 East across the lawn and up the stairs, my mind flashed back to 24 years earlier when I was moving out of the same apartment building, walking across the same grass, and loading up my own moving truck with the help of my dad.  Braeden was just eight months old at the time. I can still see him sitting in the grass with my dad, Thelma, and cheap-enough-that-we-could-afford-it pizza and bread sticks from Sounds Easy. It meant everything to have my dad there with me. Looking back on it I realize that Thelma was the real star. I was working right up to the very end. As with all of our moves, she did the bulk of the packing and planning. I was just the muscle. I was nervous about moving from Provo, Uta...
3 comments
Read more

Sons and Daughters unto God

Lately, I find myself reciting in my mind portions of The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles . I memorized it years ago when our family was studying it at Easter. It has been a constant source of strength and perspective in my life. For all the scripture and sermon that exists about Jesus Christ, I’m not sure there is a more succinct and beautiful treatment of who he is and why it matters. There is one passage that repeats D&C 76. Referring to Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote, “We saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” ( D&C 76: 23-24 ) I find in these truths evidence of Jesus Christ’s sweeping love and grace. Because of the universal atonement of Jesus Christ, he brings every inhabitant of every world he has ever created back into t...
Post a Comment
Read more