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I have had trouble coming up with a title for this post, and ultimately decided titles aren't always important in a personal blog that is visited by only a handful of people who are predominantly members of my family so instead of spending time on the title, I am spending time writing out this lengthy explanation of why my title is lacking.

Many years ago, after having moved to AZ and while early on in my Career, I met a wonderful Woman.  We dated a bit and developed a good friendship but the relationship didn't progress beyond the date stage and ultimately we went our separate ways.  I bring her up now because she shared with me once a bit about myself that is probably not much of a surprise to anyone who knows me but at the time made me think.  She was talking about "languages of love", ways that different people will communicate their feelings of love and affection.  Not everyone writes poems, not everyone remembers to send cards on each and every special event.  Truth be told I am probably very bad at most of the languages of love she mentioned, but one in particular has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and that is the giving of gifts. 

I have always found a joy in giving to others.  I don't need gifts myself, often times I would rather not receive them.  But I give them and enjoy giving them.  I will sacrifice my own needs so that I can give gifts to others.  For me it has never been about status, or trying to be "better" than someone else.  It is simply one of the ways I express my love for others.  So it was that, while attending the funeral for my Grandfather Loveridge I had an idea pop into my head of a way I could quietly express my love for my grieving Grandmother even though I live far away.  A couple phone calls, some sharing of information and instructions, and my plan was put into place and the first of my weekly gifts arrived.  It was my intention for this to remain anonymous, I didn't want anyone to know what I was doing as some acts of Love don't need to be publicized and so on each card accompanying my small gifts was the signature A Nony Mouse (play on anonymous and mouse given Grandpa's love of Disney World). 

Week after week my gifts would arrive, and each week my Grandma would ask who was sending them but the delivery company followed my instructions and politely declined sharing this information.  I even lied to my Mom when she asked me if I was the one sending them (I did discuss my dishonesty with my Bishop already and have since repented of it).  My subterfuge came to an end a few weeks ago when a new delivery person failed to keep my information secret and suddenly I got a phone call from my Grandma expressing her gratitude for what I had been doing and insisting I don't (and shouldn't) need to keep doing it.

I have since had the thought pop into my head that others may want to share in my gift giving.  I may be wrong in this, after all I know of several other acts of love that have been regularly carried out by different members of my great family, but if anyone would like to take over a week from me from time to time I will not be upset or offended or anything like that.  I have a standing order with Haw's Floral in Lehi, Utah.  You can call them at (801) 768-8306, let them know you want to pay for the delivery in place of me (Daniel Loveridge) for that particular week and make any changes to the order you want.  Just be sure she knows who sent them, apparently my a nony mouse signature had her a little worried about who it might be. 

And what better way to end a post than with a picture.

Thanks Mom for sending this beautiful picture to me

Quick Catch Up

So the last several weeks have gone by very quickly for me and while my life is generally rather dull and uneventful as I take a brief moment to think back on it there was a bit that did happen outside of my normal wake up, go to work, go home and to bed routine.  So... here is a quick recap of the last 3 weeks... or was it 4 or 5, I am not quite sure... you see I turned 40 on August 24th and ever since then things have been crazy busy!

In the past 4 weeks I have had my boss visit my hotel 3 different times.  I have had a visit from the President of the company purchasing my hotel.  I have had a visit from the current owner's of my hotel.  I have had a visit from a Senior VP over focused service sales as well.  During all of these visits I have been scrambling to prepare my hotel for a Quality Assurance inspection (Q.A. for short) that will happen any day now, I have also switched leased labor companies (not the employees, just the company, boss said to do it so I said OK).  I have survived yet another head cold, survived my first 2 cub scout meetings, a pack meeting, and a roundtable meeting.  I have taught 2 times in Primary (love that calling!) and even survived my own cooking!

I have also had visits from 2 friends:  Eve, my friend who currently lives in Texas stopped by and did a bit of decorating in my apartment.  I even left some of what she did alone (some of it got rearranged the day she flew out).  Jason Libberton, a friend from my Elementary School days stopped by for a week with one of his daughters to visit the Chicago area.  I was busy with work so didn't get to spend a ton of time with them, but it was nice to have someone to talk to at night and play the occasional game with. 

This week the craziness continued with another visit from my boss (I seriously thought he was joking when he said he was coming back out).  After the craziness of the previous visits he decided this time we should do something fun and so we all went to a Cubs game on Wednesday night.  I even took some pictures! They aren't of the highest quality, but since my posts so rarely have pictures I will post them anyway.  And that will wrap up my catch up.

Wrigley Stadium on our way to the game

Great Seats, and better yet... they didn't cost me anything!



Chicago Dog, had to have one while there. They are messy, but soooo tasty!  I still prefer Fenway Franks though.

 

 

 

Callings

I have been in the Chicago area now for just over a month and a half now, not counting the 3 months of Task Force work I did here before the official move.  I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise when the Bishop called me to see if he could meet with me last Thursday.  He had already visited me once to welcome me to the ward so I figured there could only be one reason he would be stopping by... to extend a calling. 

I have had lots of callings throughout my near 40 years, but since moving out of Utah I have discovered most wards tend to hold off extending one to me.  It took over 2 years in Pickwick before I was extended a calling, over a year in Branson too.  I kind of expected this ward to be the same, after all they have lots more members than my previous two wards.  I was wrong (not the first time).  We couldn't meet on Thursday (Bishop's schedules can be difficult) so we met this morning instead.  That gave me three whole days to contemplate all the potential callings that I could be asked to fill.  For some reason I had the ominous feeling it had to do with Scouts.  I don't have anything against Scouting... I earned my Eagle in my youth and remember the camping trips and events as being fun.  But I must admit... I don't particularly want to go camping now that I am older and find beds to be so comfortable.  Especially when you realize I can get a nice hotel room for really cheap just about anywhere in this country.  So for three days I dreaded meeting with the Bishop.  Silly, I know, worrying about what calling I was going to be asked to fill, but when you are single you do silly things because there isn't anyone around to remind you of how silly you are being.

So this morning I went in fully prepared to hear the bad news.  The Bishop and I talked for about 30 minutes before he asked me to be a Primary Teacher.  All that worry for naught right?...  wrong.  Five seconds after I accepted this calling he then said "and that's not all..."  the primary class I will be teaching is the 11 year olds and he thought it would be a perfect fit for me to also be the Webelos leader.  And so after some more talking, and a fair amount of prodding from the Bishop (and some poking from the Holy Ghost) I accepted this additional calling as well.  I don't know why I have an aversion to Scouting now, after all my family has been so heavily involved with it you would think I would be excited to get back in.  Perhaps it has to do with the time involved... I know how quickly Scouting can overwhelm your "free time".  I guess, ultimately, I am just a little bit selfish.  But in the end, as I always do, I said yes and as is usually the case with the callings I have had over the decades I will get over the bad thoughts/fears/whatever and do my best in that calling. 

At least I get to help teach Primary again, my all time favorite calling without a doubt.  One I didn't expect to get again seeing as how I am single and male and therefore a menace to society.  My co-teacher also works in the hotel industry and, if I am told correctly, may even be part of the same management company (although with the full service division) so we will have something in common at the start.

Of Fireworks, Man, and God

Not sure if my title makes much sense... but perhaps by the end of my post it will.

2 days ago this nation celebrated the 4th of July, our Independence Day.  I haven't celebrated this holiday in many years as I have been living too far away from friends and family and have opted to work since lighting off fireworks by yourself is sort of... well.. lonely.  This year, having just moved to Chicago, my plans were to continue unpacking initially but then my Cousin who lives an hour away invited me to join his family as they celebrated with some of his work/church friends.  Hard decision... I know... keep unpacking or go enjoy some good food and company followed by a fireworks show.  I readily agreed and pushed off the final unpacking for later (I will get to it... one of these days... honest I will). 

So, off I went and the celebration was a fun, relaxing, and family oriented event.  We met with the Christiansen (sp?) family around 3:30, watched the kids run around while we mostly sat and talked.  I being the new guy did a lot of listening and a very small amount of talking, not that I would have done much different if I wasn't the new guy.  Partway through the afternoon Seth showed off all the fireworks he had obtained.  It was quite the hall and I admit to feeling some excitement akin to what I felt as a child.  There were plenty of smoke bombs, snakes, and snappers for the kids to play with.  Some sparklers and firecrackers as well.  But the excitement for me came from the big "mortars".  These are the fireworks that shoot up in the air and explode in beautiful displays of color.  There were several of them with the grand finale being a mortar that would shoot off 19 different blasts in short order.  Yep, this was going to be a night to remember and yes, there is some foreshadowing intended.

As the sun began to inch its way toward the horizon the kids went out front to play with the more age appropriate fireworks and I kept relaxing, switching between listening to the conversations and watching the kids have fun.  It was truly a relaxing evening with good food and company.  I really enjoyed not having to think about work or unpacking and just being able to relax for a time.  As the evening moved on it became dark enough for the sparklers and soon the kids were all running around enjoying their beauty.  I always loved sparklers as a kid and enjoyed watching the little ones enjoying them.  I don't know if I can get these videos to work or not... and they fall short of showing the true dance skills of Seth's son, but maybe you can get a feel for how much excited energy he felt having the sparklers in his hands.  He was almost as entertaining to watch as the sparklers were!

Finally came the moments us big kids were waiting for.  Seth and I started lighting off the big fireworks and I admit it was exciting to light the fuse and here a dull thump followed by an explosion of colored sparks in the sky.  We lit off several of the smaller ones then let some of the teenaged kids light off some, I had moved back towards the families watching the fireworks to enjoy their beauty from a little farther distance and this is when things went wrong.  The way a mortar works is fairly straightforward and simple.  A group of tubes containing shells are all wrapped together and one by one the shells shoot off into the air where they explode.  This is assuming the mortar is pointing straight up as it is intended to be.  The problems began when one of the mortars knocked itself on its side after shooting off one or two of its shells and began shooting the shells all over the place, each shot changing its position.  The first one went down the street away from everyone and we all thought it was odd, then the shells began firing at us.  I mean directly at us, all of us sitting in front of the Garage were in its line of fire.  The moment of fun became, in an instant, a moment of panic.  Fireworks in the sky are pretty, fireworks right beside you are dangerous.  The next several seconds passed by both in slowly and quickly at the same time, I don't know how else to describe it.  In reality it only lasted maybe 10 seconds but felt like it was going on forever. 

The events that filled up the 10 seconds included lots of scrambling for cover, some kids screaming in fear, and some very close moments.  Seth's son was dancing away at the start and had one of the shells fly right between his legs and explode behind everyone.  I remember thinking I needed to protect everyone then having a shell impact my leg, I looked down and saw the shell right by me and I had a distinct impression to jump, which I did not a moment too soon as it exploded sideways shooting its sparks underneath me.  Seth was hit by a shell and had the hair on his leg burned away.  And... that was it.  Nobody suffered any serious injuries and after we all regained our composure we went back to shooting off the remaining mortars, albeit with a lot more respect for their true danger (we skipped one that was shaped like the one that fell over). 

It could have been worse.  It could have been much much worse.  The shell that hit me was heading right for where everyone was running to get away from the danger.  The shell that hit Seth was heading dangerously close to the remaining fireworks and could have started a chain reaction.  There were so many people standing around in the line of fire, the fact nobody got seriously injured is, in my mind, a true miracle and as I look back on the event I am convinced we were protected that night.  The shells that hit people did no harm, the shells that exploded by people did so in a way that did not spread fire to the house or onto anyone.  A dozen kids running around avoided all injury, Mothers and Fathers and 2 Grandparents came away shaken but intact.  By all logical reasoning there should have been at least one injury, statistically speaking it would have been the safe bet.  Yet there was none.  I am not one to find miracles in every single aspect of daily living... I tend to be a bit skeptical and view events as just being part of life, but there is no doubt in my mind this was an abnormal experience.  Why was I instructed to jump?  My normal reaction would be to move away, but instead I jumped and suffered no burns.  Shells seemed to magically miss people, diving between legs and arms to explode at a safe distance behind.  Everyone had a scare to be certain but when you realize what happened and how dangerous the situation truly was, the only possible explanation for me is that of a Loving Father in Heaven who was most definitely watching over us that night. 

The Move (with pictures)

So at long last the job offer was made and accepted and the time came for me to pack up and head North. Since I rarely remember to take pictures of anything I am doing I thought I should take some shots of my move.  Nothing super fancy or exciting, but hey... pictures!

My "ten foot" truck.  They didn't have a ten footer so I got a sixteen foot truck instead.  Lucky me... more space than I needed and worse on gas. But hey... they didn't charge me extra.  The hotel in the background is where I have spent the past 3 years working.  I will miss some of the people I worked with but I am glad to be leaving TN. 

Bridge over the river that separates Kentucky from Illinois.  I have crossed this bridge many times over the past 3 months.

The sign up ahead... that means I am now "home". 

Where did all the trees go?? One of the things I loved about TN was the trees.  Everywhere you drove it was like driving down a tunnel of trees they were so thick on both sides.  I meant to take a picture of that but well... I tend to forget to take pictures in case you didn't know.

Home.  This is where I will be living for the next stage of my life.  The apartment complex has a town home feel to it, mine is on the 2nd floor far left, you can see the dining room window.

30814, that is mine. 

Empty

Full
Lots of work still to do before the boxes are all empty and the place becomes more like a home but I was blessed to have some members of the ward show up and help me get my super heavy furniture inside (that leather sofa is a nightmare to move but ohhhhh so comfy to sit on)

I love the layout of this apartment, it is a one bedroom with a den (my guest room/movie room), has a fireplace and a spacious bathroom that has an oversized tub and a shower head that is taller than I am!  The shower head at my last house was about a foot lower than I am and not fun to use. I don't like the lack of ceiling lights in the bedroom/den (will have to buy some floor lamps) and the parking is a bit of a challenge, but overall it is a true improvement over my previous residence.

 

So, for those that want to know, here is my new address:

 

 

30814 Village Green Boulevard

Warrenville, IL 60555

 

 

Now I must return to the task of unpacking all the boxes cluttering up my living room and finding out just what I still need to buy to make this place "home".  Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend. For as much as I dislike moving I sure seem to be doing it a lot lately.

 

 

 

 



Decision Made

When I headed up to Chicago almost 3 months ago to help with the Hampton Inn Naperville property I thought a decision would have been made by now.  I was on property for one week when I got a call and was told he was going to speed up the process and get me going even faster than originally thought, then the wheels fell off the wagon and the whole process went into slow motion.  Grandpa's death, a head cold, a baptism, and several weeks mixed in between and I still haven't received an offer.  Then the big bombshell conference call came last Friday, the ownership of my hotel (and the Chicago hotel as well) was in the process of selling off all of their hotels. 

This could result in new management company taking over, it could result in no job for me, it could result in no changes at all.  Lots of uncertainty regarding it and very little information to calm the concerns. 

Fun times.

Through it all I have had several verbal indications I would be offered the Naperville job, but still no actual offer letter with a start date and salary offering, something I have to have before accepting the position as the cost of living in Chicago is significantly higher than it is in Pickwick. 

And so I continue to wait and wait and wait.  And wait some more.

Well...  the waiting is officially over.  I just received the official offer letter for the GM position at the Chicago Naperville Hampton Inn.  It was more than I was asking for.  I have accepted the position and will now be working on moving up to Chicago.  My official start date is June 30th, I have already found a place I want to live (it is a bit pricey but a good community, close to my hotel, and it has a racquetball court!) and will be looking at it closely this weekend.  I may even get around to posting some pictures.  Maybe.  

Anyway, for everyone that has been including me in their prayers I want to say Thank You.  I am excited to be closer to Cousins and closer to an airport with direct flights to Utah.  As for the hotel sell off, well... time will tell what that brings. 

So Seth and Julie, look out, I am about to be in "close" proximity permanently.  Or as permanently as you can get in this day and age.

Update on Chicago

Since the question I am being asked the most by everyone has to do with my application to the Hampton Inn Naperville property I have decided to update the status here, even though there isn't much new to report.

I am still in a holding pattern on the job and will remain so for at least another 2 weeks.  This means I will remain as a Task Force GM in Naperville though the remainder of May and into June.  There are several reasons for this delay (AVP dealing with other property challenges, budget challenges, timing issues, etc etc etc) but the biggest reason occurred 2 Saturday's ago.  The GM of the Gurnee Hampton Inn (where I have stayed when visiting Seth and Julie next to 6 flags) suffered the loss of his wife.  This has a direct impact on my job situation as he has been staying in Gurnee for the past decade so as to be able to take care of his wife who was quite ill.  As he is now dealing with this loss we want to give him a chance to mourn before seeing if he wants to move.  If he does, given his history in the Chicago area, he would be a better candidate for the Naperville location and then I would be considered for the Gurnee location. 

So... no real new news, still working out of Naperville as a Task Force GM and waiting, but at least now there is a reason behind the waiting.  If I had to pick between the two properties I am not sure which I would prefer.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages.  In the end either location would be a move in the right direction for me so I will continue to wait and do what I can to help improve Naperville while I am there regardless of whether or not I end up at that location.