Christmas time again...

Well, Christmas time is here once again, and I for one am surprised at how fast it came. Seems like only yesterday I was coming back from my honeymoon in October, and now it's Christmas!

Once again I find myself working, and Abigail is not. (pouts) However, we have had Christmasy things the past few days, including this morning, so it's not too bad this time around. Maybe I'll get New Years off, in which case you're all invited to come over for what I've done several New Years in a row now. Kayce, this means you.

Needless to say, Christmas has been a little different this year. I'm forced to be a lot simpler in my gift purchasing than in recent years since I'm now paying for rent and all. It makes me appreciate my parents more. Additionally, I'm buying presents for/celebrating with two families now (actually I did last year too), and that's a switch.

It's not at all bad, and it looks like Abigail's parents have to get used to including me in Christmas just as I am getting used to them. Abigail has to get used to my parents as well; my mom gives socks and underwear to everyone, and you have to show the packages off!

I got to see Matt and Travis, which was nice. I'm house-sitting until the 2nd, with a beautiful house close to my parents, including a widescreen plasma HD TV. Really spiffy. I am sorry I didn't get to see most of you, but hopefully that will change (Kayce!). So, a very merry happy to all of you, and to all a good night!

Happy-ish Thanksgiving

Well, it's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is without a doubt my 2nd favorite holiday, the obvious first being Christmas, and for good reason. I love cooking and food, and most of all family, and usually they all come together. With the exception of this year.

For the second year in a row I am working Thanksgiving, albeit a different shift at a different job. Last year I worked day shift at the Movie Gallery in AJ. This year I work the night (or evening) shift at the Marriott. So I miss the big family dinner. (pouts)

Of course that doesn't mean it's a total loss. I work with a lot of cool people and the ones here with me tonight (yes, I'm typing this at work) are most likely going to try to make this a good day regardless. Of course, most of them got to see their families already. Nonetheless, some serious Monopoly playing will ensue if I get the opportunity to sneak off to get my board.

At any rate, a happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Hope all is well and that you don't get indigestion too bad. Remember: fish are friends, not food, but TURKEY is fair game!

Are you getting excited?

Well, the time is rapidly approaching. October is actually a pretty busy month for me, especially this year. This Sunday, October 1st, is my birthday. October 18th is Matt B's birthday. October 21st I get married, and then of course I have the honeymoon, finally Halloween. Anyone who knows me can probably guess why I love Halloween.


So yeah, people are endlessly asking me if I am excited about the whole getting married thing. You know, in three weeks from tomorrow. So, for the record, yes. I'm excited. Very much so. And yes, I am really nervous. Both are because of just how BIG this decision is. I've already picked the person I will be spending the rest of my hopefully long and happy life with. That's not in any way a small thing.


I am definitely pretty psyched though. Seriously. Just don't ask me about children yet, or I might faint. (shivers run down spine) Yes, I want kids. Just not now. Or next year. Maybe not even the year after. But when it happens, it happens, I guess. Conversely, I don't want to be using a walker to play catch with my sons, so it's sort of a not now, but not too much later situation.


Seriously though, all is well in my little world at the moment, and I really can't complain. Still don't get to see Abigail enough, but hopefully that will change pretty soon. :) Shout out to my homies, if I haven't been seeing you, then rest assured that you are missed.


In closing, certain male people in my wedding had better go get fitted tomorrow or else. Um...I don't know what exactly will happen to you if you don't, but be forewarned that it will not be good for you. Oh yes. Very much so...er, not so...good. Not so good. (nods)

Once again I am gainfully employed

In the span of three days I had three interviews with the Marriott hotel in downtown Mesa. Skylonians will know it,it; it's next to where we had Prom. It took a few days to track down all of my references for some reason, so I didn't actually get the job until last Tuesday.

I did two days of watching 5 hours of DVD's on how to be a good employee. And yes, they were as cheesy as you can imagine.I got my first paycheck yesterday for those two days of work last week. I basically made more in those two days than in a week at Movie Gallery, so yeah. I win.

It's the first job I've ever had that had benefits, as well, and that includes the bank. What's nifty is that I will have my benefits in approximately three months, which was when I was hoping to be ready to move out anyway. That would be sweet.

Yes, I am still alive

I am, as you have guessed, not yet dead. However, I have been extraordinarily busy. Well, extraordinarily for me...lately. Um yeah, so I've been busy. Extraordinarily.

Kudos should go to me as I am at the same job. I haven't yet managed to get the manager to do my 90-day review, but since she spends most of her time in court with her son (don't ask, because I don't know), it's not exactly possible. I would be shocked if I got anything less than favorable since, after all, I still work there.

Abigail ran into said manager in Target the other day when we were doing our registry. (So for those of you who are reading this, we are registered at Target. Buy me stuff. And if you don't like what we picked out, give me-ahem- us a gift card. You know, for us. Not just me. ) That was, incidentally, great fun and amusement, mostly for me. I got to use the scanning gun for most of the time, but after a while she couldn't take it anymore and I had to give it up. Really, Meg, you should know by now: give a guy something to play with, and he will play. That's what we do. No guy reading this wouldn't have used the opportunity to shoot lazer beams at others. And random packages. And in your eye to see what happens. I think I've made my point.

Abigail and I also picked out a new apartment that I will move into in about a month. I will throw a moving party (read: help me move stuff) at that time. I will get to live there alone for about three months. Needless to say, I am psyched. Granted, less than three months of independent bachelorhood isn't that glamarous, but it is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

I haven't seen much of anyone lately, and for those of you I should be seeing, I apologize. Most of you have my new number, and if you don't and you would like it, let me know. Until next time, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

I hate surprises...except today

I found someone on Classmates.com (yes, I was really, really bored) that I haven't talked to in like 12 years, but she was one of my dearest friends back then. Yes, I said she. I liked girls early. Anyway, that was pretty cool. She goes to MIT now, making me feel intimidated E-mailing her. I know what you're thinking. Scott, you do go to Mesa Community College. Isn't that on par with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? Well, I suppose it is. Go me. Same education, 1/3 of the money. Plus less cold. That's what I'm telling myself in order to sleep tonight, anyway.

Additionally, I have two job interviews this week as well as like eight more apps out waiting to be scanned so that more potential employers can observe my greatness via resume. Of course, I may have taken a little creative license, but if you don't tell them I wasn't really Vice President of Movie Gallery, neither will I. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear myself screaming for change. I need to move, I need to have a job. I need to lose weight, and I need to learn to swing dance. Um...well, maybe not that last one, but I would love to learn to play the guitar. That would be most excellent. Mostly I just want to have a life I can be proud of. I am extremely tired of telling people I still live with my parents, although statistically speaking I'm still pretty normal. That's what I'm telling myself.

One last thing and then I'm going to bed. Have you ever noticed that Sam's Club/Costco is really evil? They are, and yet so beautiful at the same time. I will walk in there intending to get a hot dog (they have really good hot dogs), and I will inevitably walk out with that 3 pound box of Cheez-It's, or the ridiculously massive case of IBC root beer. I am helpless against its power. I mean, they give out free samples of stuff. I could walk around the store two or three times and have a complete meal!

So, yeah. That’s it for tonight. Have yourself a pleasant existence, and as always, don't eat the yellow snow. Unless it's a lemon snow cone. That's okay.

I suck at life

I went to the mall with my sister today and saw "Pride and Prejudice," which incidentally was very good. Much better than I thought it would be. Anyway, I had a good time, but that's not necessarily a good thing. You see, when the movie first came out Abigail wanted me to go see it with her, but I didn't want to. I later said I would, but she was going to see it with her mom by then. Curiously, she didn't like it.

It occurred to me as we were coming out of the movie that I would have enjoyed seeing it more with Abigail. I love spending time with Susan, and I am glad she likes my company, but there are differences. I am confronted with the fact that I am not nearly as good at being there for her as I'd like. I mean, I am confident that I have come a long way since my previous relationships, if nothing else for the fact that this one has lasted so long. Nonetheless, I realize now that I am not as infallible as I would lead myself to believe.

Amusement

I have been amused lately by several things. One of them (or two) is the Dane Cook media I bought. I say "media" because it had both CD's and DVD's, so yeah. Much happiness has generated from them. Additionally, I finally got Josh's PS2 working. W00t! Granted, it doesn't compare in some ways to the awesome yet evil XBOX 360 (also in my room, but mostly not owned by me), yet has its own appeal. One of these appealing features is that, to my knowledge, Sony's executives still have souls. Bill Gates...not so much. That doesn't make me enjoy Halo any less, though, so I'm not sure who is the bigger sellout is; him or me.

I took my RE school test yesterday. Wow. I felt like my spirit had been broken into 200 tiny pieces after I was done. It was 200 questions and took me 3 hours. At least 40 minutes of that was doodling or staring into space...it was hard! I needed a 75, and l got a 53. That's pretty close, though, or at least closer than a 52. I realize that that's not amusing, but I hope it will be when I look back on it years from now.

It's funny to me how suddenly things have changed with my friends with the presence of the 360. I barely see Bock, but he comes over all the time now with the others. It's pretty cool, but amusing nonetheless.

Finally, my friend Micah got jumped last night. Yes, I know, this shouldn't be amusing, but if you knew the story, and especially if you know Micah, you would understand. In all fairness to me, though, I asked him if he was okay, and started laughing only after determining that he is. So points for me.

Lastly, I just have to give a shout out to Greg. Despite the overwhelming pressure of his existential dilemma regarding the rapidly-widening black hole in the pit of his broken heart, he still maintains a sense of humor. Hang in there, buddy.

Update...

I know, somewhere out there, there is a job for me. A job where no one is doing something illegal, or where I'm not going to get fired for no reason. A job where I get paid a decent wage for doing something I can manage to tolerate. I know it's out there. I mean, Peter Gibbons found a good job, didn't he? Oh yes.

You see, for about three weeks I worked for a real estate company. No point in telling you which one, since most of you won't be buying RE anytime soon anyway. ;) Still, I digress. To make a long story short, not only was I not getting paid (100% commission with no customers is kind of...crappy), the broker was, well, breaking the law. Yeah, in several places. For example, a broker is not allowed to instruct or directly influence anyone to go to a specific lender. Period. They can hand out business cards, but there must be at least three. This broker gave no option, just sent them to the in-house guy. Who sucks, by the way, he's never approved a loan for Native Americans or Hispanics. Anyone looked at the demographics in Arizona lately?

The point is that I know I can do better. I'm not sure at what yet, but I'd rather sit on my butt with a clear conscience than work for someone who is less than trustworthy. Plus I have more time to be on MySpace. Yay! Peace and love. Holla!

I just had an apostrophe...

I partake in a small group study every Wednesday night with some of the guys from Trinity Baptist's college group. Four of them are good friends anyway, so I'm pretty comfortable with it. Anyway, tonight was the first time I hosted it at my home, so Greg was there. We are studying the life of David, and tonight we talked about David and Goliath.

The question came up of what characteristic would we like to see in our life to be more like David. Mine was "initiative." It's just what popped out of my mouth. I realized, though, that it is true. Travis and I were talking about it yesterday (or actually Monday, my bad) and we agree that we are getting lazier as a result of still living with the 'rents.

My problem is that I have little idea of what direction I want to go in life. I have ideas, and I know I could be good at a lot of things, but so far I have been unable to come up with anything specific. I still want to be a writer. I am thinking of the FBI. The problem is that I have not seriously acted on anything. I feel lost...

random stuff

Much has been going on in the world of Scott. Okay, not too much, but some interesting and cool stuff. I bid on stuff on EBay for the first time, and I won a movie for Greg, a PSP game, and an X-Box game. I must...fight...the sickness...

I found an old friend from junior high. That's pretty cool. It was just on a lark that I got to talk to him, and I'm kind of surprised he remembers me. Ah, good times. Best part so far is I found out he works @ Krispy Kreme. W00t! I have connections!

I bought an item today that may possibly change my life forever. That's right, I got a new T-Shirt. Oh yeah, that's totally what I'm talking about. For sure. Um...and I have a camel. No wait, a llama. Yes, that's right. A llama...well, maybe not, but that would be cool! Seriously, how many people do you know who have a llama? Not many, I'd say.

Master of my own Destiny...once

I remember once I was sure I was in control of my life, more or less, anyway. I think, for the most part, I enjoyed that. After all, I could make my own decisions and not answer to anyone. That was pretty darn nifty. The problem is, now I have a girlfriend. Granted, I have for some time, but I am only now truly beginning to comprehend the truth: somewhere along the way in the past two years I got owned. And I don't mean in a sports-related way, either.

This occurred to me when she bought me a PSP. Now most of you are probably saying, "and this is a problem?" Most of the girls reading it (and Josh) will see the truth behind it. That wonderfully mystical device that I have many a time drooled over in the stores is now a rope tied behind around my neck, and it can either lead me or kill me.

Thus I come back to the point of my realization that I am no longer the master of my own Destiny. I realize now that in order to be with her-and I do want to be with her-I have to pretty much say goodbye to the life I have led thus far. Then again, I suppose there are perks to this. :-)