Did you think I was lost?

Greetings, blog people!

I'm not even sure when the last time I wrote was. I'm sure I could minimize this and check, but where's the fun in that? The important thing to all of you, my loyal readers, is that once again you get to partake in another installment of my blog. So get comfy, put your feet up (or not, it doesn't really matter on this end), and enjoy.

I literally just took my final for math, which means it is all over for this semester. YAY!!! I passed the class too, so that means that I am all done with math for my degree (BA in Psychology). Math has always been my weak area simply because I never really had the patience for it. I once got tested for cognitive awareness/ability as a "Balanced with right brain tendency" type of person. The right brain-among other things-is the creative side of your brain, so basically that test said I don't lean heavily toward cognitive or creative dominance, but may find that certain things come more naturally in the latter area than others. My preference for writing and music (for example) as opposed to math would be a great example of this.

So now I get to register (like I should have already) for classes next semester that will in theory be much more pleasant for me to take. The downside is that I can't take any more at MCC, so I have to actually take the remaining classes I have at ASU, where they are much more expensive. Hurrah. If anyone is heading up a foundation or has an eccentric uncle with thousands of dollars they want to put to good use, please feel free to send some goodwill my way.

Let's see, in other news...it's really been a while so let's sum up. Holidays: Halloween- missed it b/c I was doing math, Thanksgiving- awesome; we had our family (Abigail's and mine) over here and good times were had by all, Hanukah- not Jewish. So that's all the holidays I can think of up to this point.

Holidays to come will be action-packed. I'm solo Christmas Eve since the wife's working, so I'm likely going to church somewhere and then who knows? I may paint the town red and green, drink a little egg nog...actually I'm probably going to my parents house and reading for a while. But I'll stay up til midnight!

New Years we'll continue our tradition (I think this will be year 3) of going to our friends Matt & Angela's house and playing games all night with them. I am looking forward to this, as we're already planning the menu...ribs cooked in Matt's smoker. Well also for the fun and good times-no seriously it's the food.

I can't really think of anything else at the moment, so I'll sign off for now. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, or whatever miscellaneous holiday message applies to you.

I'm back and stuff!

So very, very quickly: I went on a cruise, and now I'm back! Yay! I just got finished editing some of the photos, so hopefully those will be up on Picasa by this weekend. In the meantime, I have just put up the ones from my 24th birthday so check them out. You can find the Picasa page in My Links below.

Hopefully let you know this weekend in detail how it was, but in a word, "fantastic."

TTYL,
Scott

24

I love video games. Let's just get that out of the way right now in case you're reading this blog for the first time and you don't know me personally. I am an avid gamer and have been since my brother Phil first introduced me to the NES in the really early 90's. At least those are my first gaming memories; the first games I remember are sports games (Tecmo Bowl and Mike Tyson's Punch Out!), which is a little funny since I don't play those sort of games too much now.

Video games are fun, of course, and that is the main reason I play them in my adult life, but there are other reasons. They are diverting, which is nice when I am stressed and need to think about something other than work or interpersonal drama for a while. In the game world, if I lose a battle I have the opportunity to play it over again as many times as I need to until I progress, but of course in the real world I have to be able to have the right answer and response to every situation right away. Although I am frustrated by having to do something over while I am absorbed in the game, sometimes the repetition is good to take my mind off of things.

My favorite type of game would have to be the Role Playing Game (RPG) genre, like Final Fantasy. The typical formula has the protagonist gradually learn of their part in a larger destiny and they usually lead the fight against a great threat or evil against the world/universe. At the beginning of many of these games a lot of these protagonists are lost, like they are waiting for something. I think a lot of us feel like that sometimes; I know I do.

I turned 24 last Thursday, which in itself is not particularly impressive, I know. However, I have really had the chance to think about my life thus far and tried to ask myself if I would have done anything differently. One of my favorite exercises as a writer in coming up with plot points is looking at alternate universes from my own life and following them, like if I'd never been born or if I'd moved to Oregon instead of Mesa.

Most people make New Years' resolutions, but I decided I would make a few birthday resolutions. I want to do a few things better at 24 that I was dissatisfied with at 23.
1) I want to be a lot better about staying in touch with people.
2) I need to do more writing (including this blog).
3) I should work harder on my schoolwork. It will only get more intense soon and
I know that I can't afford to waste any time.
4) I have to take better care of myself by going to the gym and eating better.
5) I want to start learning the guitar again.
These are the things that nag at me and I'm always thinking "I need to work on that." I want to be better in all my relationships and be generally happier. I want to learn some new things, and eventually (I know it won't happen in the next year) get my degree. It doesn't necessarily matter that I don't yet know what specifically I want it for; I have a good feeling that I will find out along the way.

I do know that I am happy right now (although I am definitely in need of the vacation we're about to take), and Abigail and I have made a great life together in the past three years. I want to improve some things in myself just as Abigail and I want to change things in our life together (having a baby, for instance). One of the things I have thought about is that it's okay to be unsatisfied and still happy; they're not mutually exclusive. Constantly wanting to improve your life and going after something more is a very good thing, but only if you are able to be happy with what you have.

Abigail is in the habit of putting thematic songs in her blogs, so I will put one here that's been on my mind. We won a CD while we were at Family Camp, Third Day's "Revelation," and the very first track is called "This Is Who I Am."

I'm a son of a good man
I'm the child of an angel
I'm the brother of a wild one
And I'm looking for direction
I'm the lover of a beauty
I'm the father of blessings
I'm a singer of a love song
But is that all I'm good for

Chorus
This is who I am
This is who I am
So take me and make me something so much more
This is who I am
This is who I am
So change me and make me someone better than before

I'm a saint and a sinner
I'm a lover and a fighter
I'm a true believer, with great desire
I'm a preacher of grace, prophet of love, teacher of truth
I've fallen down so many times
But here I stand in front of you

Chorus

Take me as I am
But please don't leave me that way
'Cause I know that you can make me better than I am today

Chorus

I believe God has a plan for me, and if it's to be a great, famous writer or psychologist then that's awesome. If I'm just supposed to be a good man, and somehow that helps someone, then I'm okay with that too. That will be hard enough for anyone to do anyway. :-)

Waiting for something...

If you haven't read my lovely wife's most recent blog entries, go down to my friend's list and read "An RN is Born" right now before you read the rest of this. It will tell you quite a bit of what has been going on with us lately.

I don't know how most men react to miscarriages. There are a plethora of online support groups and books for women who experience loss (as there should be), but for the men who are going through it with them...nada. We are just expected to know what to do and say as the one we love is going to pieces right in front of us. It's not fun.

I never had a life inside me; all I had were expectations. Thus when we lost the first baby in February it was only a short amount of time, and I was still getting used to the idea of even possibly being a father. It still hurt to lose the baby, but we hadn't moved into our new house yet and I hadn't had time to do much dreaming about the future. By the time we got pregnant again in June, I had had more time, and I was able to be excited instead of apprehensive!

We were in our new house by then and we coincidentally have a blue room and a pink room, so we were getting excited about different ways to tell our parents and planning different ways to arrange furniture.

We had settled on a fun way to tell our parents (involving a dinner with a menu where everything is related to babies), but that day Abigail started bleeding and feeling really bad. We decided to go through with it anyway in case the worst happened so we wouldn't be alone. We got to tell them the good news (and also told them the bad news from Feb.) and had a nice dinner, and had a couple more days mixed with happiness and tension...and then we actually lost the baby.

We stored the baby in order to take it in to be tested, and to keep it safe I put it in the mini fridge in my office. A few days later we went to our originally scheduled appointment with Abigail's doctor. She drove, and I held the baby in the bag (usually against my soda to keep it cool). I have not cried once during the entire miscarriage experience, but right after our appointment, when we had handed our baby over and I realized I would never see it again, it was close for a moment.

In the past few weeks things have gotten gradually better in a peaks and valleys sort of way. There have frequently been days where I see something or someone that reminds me of it and it makes me sad. Even if we are going through the worst time of our life, bills still have to be paid and we still have to eat, so we still have to go to work. I don't mean that to be bleak or anything, and our family and friends that have known about it have been great.

We are going to try some new things. We have spent a lot of time in prayer, and appreciate your prayers as well. We are taking better care of ourselves as far as diet and exercise and going to a gym now. Mostly we're just moving forward and trying to be hopeful that God will give our dreams to us soon.

That's just wrong...

I finally registered for my Fall semester at ASU today. Just one class right now, Finite Math. That should be enough as it is, as Math is my archnemesis and I will still be working full time.

We were thinking about foregoing the student loan and just paying for the one class out of our savings because seriously, how bad could it be? I brought up the financial page...over $1700! Curse you, ASU! This had better be all worth it some day!

Whoa now, slow down there horsey!

I think one of the reasons people get so stressed is because of the deadlines we set for ourselves, whether consciously or unconsciously. We set timetables and routines on our lives to give us structures and meanings. These help us get out of bed every day and get us places on time; they give us the persona of a reliable human being.

The problem is that in a very short time all of us can become locked into and even dependent on these deadlines and structures we put on our lives. Example: getting up at exactly the same time every day to shower, shave, eat something quick, get in the car and take the exact same route to work listening to the same radio station. Then going to work where you most likely do essentially the same thing each day to end at approximately the same time to go back home the same way (still listening to the same station). In this scenario, you might change from your work clothes (or at least change the shirt), but then you go right to your computer. If it's a laptop, you bring it near the TV and you blog/Facebook before eating dinner; married or not. You probably eat, then you check the Internet stuff again before going to bed. You do it all again the same day.

In this scenario, I don't say you necessarily meaning "you" the reader, but it definitely doesn't apply to me. If you look at my posting dates you can tell I rarely go on here, although I really should do it a tad more than I have been. My wife is an avid internet poster, on the other hand, and you can always tell what's going on with us through her. Her habits are pretty standard, but I start to get stuck in a rut if everything gets to be routine like that.

I compulsively change my habits to avoid that sort of rut. I randomly change the time on my alarm (although I make sure I still get to work on time), and sometimes hit snooze. Sometimes I shower at night, sometimes in the morning. Although I usually go the same way to work in the morning (it works, and getting there on time is important), I generally have about 4-5 different routes home to choose from. I usually listen to sports talk radio, but sometimes I don't. Sometimes I drive in silence; or I listen to something else. There are a few things I do in the same order each day at work, but I usually do things differently each day. I don't like my job very much, so if I can at least mix things up it makes it a little more bearable.

It sounds weird and crazy, but consider how much control you really have over your life. Wouldn't it be nice to break out of the routine you've put yourself in and just find a new way to do what you're already doing? It may not even be the most efficient way, but it gives you the opportunity to be creative in a way you are not often able. Something to think about.

So anyway, all that just gushed out of me; the title of this is more related to another thought altogether. A lot is happening this year, and it's almost July already! Sheesh! In this half of the year, Abigail's already finished nursing school and taken her boards, both Matt & Angela and Abigail and I have bought houses, my mom is choosing another career, my dad has changed to another department, two of my brothers got laid off, my older sister bought and sold a house (moved to another part of CO), my little sis is now a senior in high school, Travis is leaving next month for the Army, my dog moved in with us, and I traded in the PSP!

That is the first six months in a very small nutshell, but it's been an interesting ride. I just want a breather week...can I just take a week off to play the X box and not have anything interesting happen? I really miss my X box, and the halcyon days of youth.

Behold, the shiny newness!

You have all waited patiently, although some more than others, and now I have unveiled my new creation: the newest incarnation of the Scott Blog! In all seriousness, this has actually taken me a few days to put together, so I hope you like it. Part of the delay was all of the archived postings from my old MySpace blog, which my subscribers may have noticed already. If not, check the Blog Archive on the right side and you will notice 17 "new" posts in addition to this one.

I manipulated the post dates (and times) so they would come out as if they were posted on the day I had posted the original entry on MySpace. You're impressed, I know. The reason for that is I have finally done what I've been saying I'd do all along and deleted my MySpace account. Didn't see any use for it any more so I cut off the dead weight, so to speak. Now all I have is this and Facebook. Some day I may get a Twitter account, but that's not a huge priority right now.

Hopefully someone else appreciates the new game on here as much as I do...it has penguins!!! I didn't get rid of Hangman; it's just on the bottom now. I may put it back on the top but under Conquer Antarctica...any thoughts? I'm really pleased with how this has turned out and I hope you are too. Please be sure to let me know what you think as I've worked hard the last few days.

Lastly, I did run a spell check on the old entries but aside from that they are there just as I wrote them then, so feel free to comment on them. It was a fun treat to go back and look at some of my thoughts during the past couple of years. Unfortunately due to formatting errors with Word I actually lost the very first two or three I made, but oh well; I got most of them.

I sense a new dawn approaching...

The tides fade in and out, my friends, as the planet spins on its axis and continues on its orbit. One might think it is all indifferent to our little lives, but a pulse resounds in the night that says differently.

From the highest mountains of Kilimanjaro and Fuji, to the Mariana Trench where no man has ventured, it resonates. All across the continents, Antarctic and Arctic alike, polar bears and penguins alike both hear it and wonder, and are connected for that brief instant.

You can hear its beat from Red Square in Moscow to St. Stephen's Tower in London, to the Parthenon of Greece. Even in the darkest jungles of Africa, you can hear this pulse. It resounds across America, from east coast to west coast.

It tells us something big is about to happen. Are you ready? Your life as you know it may change tomorrow.

Micro post

Okay, this is totally weird. I found a little application for my Windows sidebar that lets me post on Blogger without even opening up my browser...interesting. I may be posting more often. Who knows? I'll probably forget I have this app, but it's neat to have. :-)

Anyway, I should probably go to bed. I'm sure my wife is already asleep, but I do have work tomorrow. (sigh)

Can you feel the electricity in the air?

Something is coming...you can feel it in the currents as they rush toward you on the morning breeze. A very special blog update will be coming soon that will overshadow all my other blog updates, and make you feel all warm and tingly inside when you see it. In the meantime, take a few minutes and enjoy the first part of a few hours of my time; the updated Picasa albums! Go down this page and you will see my links on the right side; you can access the public page from there.

The aforementioned update should be on here by Saturday night. I know you're breathless with anticipation, but please stop flooding me with all of the E-mails and comments you've been sending me up to this point, okay? It's embarrassing. :-) (I'm pretty sure no one reads this...)

PS- The new profile picture is from Prom 2004. Yes, I know, very James Bond; that really is a Walther I'm holding.

Treasure trove

One of the nice things about moving is how many things one finds that they have not seen in a long time. Among the more curious things I have discovered was within the past hour, though. I have a room set apart in my house for my own use as an office/study, and so I have been using my desktop computer again. Part of the reason it stopped being used before is that the system files are corrputed and I will eventually have to buy a new Windows disk.

Anyway, I have at least gotten it to work again and will be able to use it as a backup computer for writing, among other things. I also found a bunch of old pictures and documents that I haven't seen since before I got married, so that was kind of fun. They were all old pictures of Abigail and I together and a few of my friends and I (I have a few of you, Andrew), and it made me smile. I am not necessarily nostalgic for my high school days, but there were some good times that I had forgotten, and I also remember having more hair then. :-)

I know it's been a really long time since a proper update, and sadly this will not be it, but I have at least given you something to let you know I'm not dead. I have a project underway to make it all worth it to the four of you who supposedly follow this silly little blog, and maybe I'll even start writing regularly. Who knows anything?

Hope all is well,
~Scott

Shoobadie Doop Doop Dow...yeah! (jazz hands)

My title has absolutely nothing to do with anything related to my post, but sometimes one is at a loss when coming up with a title. If nothing else, you will try to pronounce it and have issues, I know you will.

I have had a rough day, that's for sure, and so I'm vegging on the couch for a minute while Abigail studies to my right. Tomorrow I am taking a vacation day to embark on a quest of excitement: to go to Tucson to retrieve items for Matt's new house! Yay...ish! My dad ended up being able to go with Travis, Matt, and I so that should make things a little smoother.

I'm sure there are more interesting things out there to use my precious vacation time for (it is ridiculous how little we get, and don't even get me started on sick time), but that's how I roll. I know there will be at least one more day available for when I move myself, and I shouldn't need any more than that. If so, well, I guess I'm doing it for free then aren't I?

Anyway just this afternoon we finally got our written approval on our own house, which is great. We'll be closing 30 days from now, which puts us at about April 24. This assumes the next ten days goes okay and it inspects well, of course. It was gorgeous when we looked it over but we'll see. The inspection, speaking of which, will be happening Saturday while I'm helping Matt move which is awesome. It is nice not to have that hanging over our heads for a change, and while we're not 100% in the clear yet, yay for moving forward!

Anyway that's about it. Hopefully Sunday there will be more, but the next two days will be rather full. Be good to yourselves, and each other.

A milestone has been reached!

For those of you who have ever noticed the caption on the top, it USED to read, "Will his (meaning my) Gamerscore ever surpass 10,000? Only time will tell..." Well, time has told, my friends, and the results are in! You may notice if you look left of this entry a plug in (which has been there for a while) for my Gamertag, and it shows (as of this entry) that my score is up to 10035! Yay me!

In other news, I am not dead, I have a job, I am still married, all is well. More later today, but I was excited when I finally got to turn on my X box for the first time in like a week and a half and thought I would at least post something.

Peace!

Love letter blogging

February 21st is a very special day for Abigail and I because it marks the day we began our courtship. We actually met in 2003 but it wasn't until she was about to leave for Turkey and I realized I might never see her again that I realized I had already had feelings for her and didn't want her to go all the way around the world without telling her. So we were at this party and I snuck into another room, wrote her a poem, gave it to her, and left...yeah. The sequence of events afterward is a little fuzzy but somehow we ended up chatting online while she was away so my scheme worked. I did the proper thing and actually asked her dad's permission to write her, though (yep, that's how they roll).

Naturally when she got back I also had to get her dad's permission to date her and the week of Valentine's day 2004 he actually said "no." Her parents wanted me to read two books that they felt would explain their perspective on what Christian courtship is, so I read them as promised and on February 21st Abigail and I began our relationship with our first date... a Civil War Re-Enactment Ball! Here is a picture of us below, isn't she cute and such?
I was very much outnumbered as a Rebel, BTW...

Anyway, obviously our relationship and our love has continued on and grown since then. We got the opportunity to go to some classes together at MCC which was fun, and then our paths diverged as she started on her way to being a nurse type person.

Our anniversary in 2006 was especially special, as that was the night I proposed. We took the Dolly Steamboat cruise out (well worth it just for the view let alone the food, by the way) and I proposed right there at the table. No, I didn't get down on one knee; we were on a boat and neither of us wanted the attention. The only downside is Abigail was totally expecting it, but on the other hand it was a lot of fun!

Since we got married, February 21 has been more of our inside joke and our alternative to Valentine's Day, which neither of us really believes too much in. I am thankful that Abigail's parents showed her by example to believe that romance should be all year and should not be mandated by a greeting card company. We have a new anniversary to celebrate (October 21) now, and the past two years we have done it in style. Still, I am the nostalgic type and don't wish to give up on a special day.

Unfortunately this year it fell on a day where my poor wife was exhausted and was ready to go to bed as soon as she came home from school. I had friends over for the evening and was so wrapped up in that that I forgot the day. It's possible she did too; as I said it's not a huge day for us anymore and we didn't have anything scheduled. Still I feel bad for not at least acknowledging it, and thus I am writing this blog entry. I know Abigail reads this as does Andrew...and that's about it, but I hope someone does. :-)

So, here is the titular love letter, and I don't care who else reads it!

To my favorite wife,

I love you, and I am so proud of you and the person you are. You are a beautiful, wonderful woman who adds a great deal to the world around her. Some day you're going to be a fantastic mom, too, and I can't wait to be there to see it. It is inspiring to see someone who is so in touch with what she wants for her future, and I am honored to be able to support you in at least some way in your goals.

If you're ever feeling impatient (not that it ever happens, but should it), please remember that we had to have February 21st in order to get to October 21st. That's why I still like to remember it every year; it was a good day for me.

Tentatively we're doing something Saturday after she gets out of school; we'll see how she feels I guess. She's been really tired the past two times after school that I am reserving hope until, well, Saturday. Even then it wouldn't be able to be really late since she works Sunday morning and I have to do the sound booth for church at 8 AM. Yay... fun times.

I remember that seminar the college (for nursing school) had all the spouses or whomever go to right before Block 1 where they basically explained how they next two years will suck. As in a good chuck of the first two years of our marriage... yay! We've had some stress, some tension but only during tense times. These are tense times for everyone in our country and heck, our world right now, and I bet a lot of marriages are being tested, but ours is working.

Thus, in conclusion, I love my wife very much, and some day I hope to have lots of money to buy her a very large mansion or at least a nicer car to drive her by one. I would bet all of Andrew's money she feels similarly about me. ;-)

I love you Meg!

~Scott

Yay for President's Day!

Sooo, time flies when you're (mostly) having fun! Monday was great first and foremost because I got to sleep in for a change (first day since Saturday the 7th I'd gotten to do that for various reasons). Abigail and I had breakfast together, then my dad and Susan came to my place. At that point the girls went shopping and to a movie and my dad and I hung out for a while, eventually to be joined by Andrew, then Travis. We had originally planned on going to the driving range that day, but I was sore from sledding the day before and Andrew was tired from being up all morning waiting to get a seat to see President Obama speak on Wednesday (today).

So instead, we got Weinerschnitzel for lunch (one of my favorites!) and played Rock Band. We briefly played Halo, then played Ghost Recon for the remaining time until the girls returned, and my dad and Susan left soon after that. We then ordered Pizza Hut and Travis' wife Kim joined us while we played Rock band again.

I made the mistake at that point of confessing that I had started a new band at the beginning of the day to protect the score of my own band (which is pretty decently high since Rock Band 2 allows you to play through Tour mode by yourself). I think I half offended half amused everyone, but since I did have some amatuers with me (especially my dad) I felt justified. I didn't want to worry about my score; I just wanted to have fun! It turned out to be a good thing as I got at least three Achievements that day. Go me!

I had hoped to write on Monday but alas (or not), there was no time! This weekend was a great stress reliever and a whole lot of fun. Thanks go out to all of my friends who spent time with me as well as my parents, Abigail's parents, and of course Abigail herself. Special shout out to Susan for going to the movies with Abigail, she needed a break!

Snow Day

I actually have a decent amount to write about, but one quick entry is all I have the time or energy for at the moment. It's been a busy weekend so far, and thankfully I have Monday (President's Day) off! Yay!!!

Yesterday was fun. We went to the VNSA book sale (a big annual event) out in Phoenix where I spent a surprisingly reasonable amount of money on books; my forgotten neglected love. My parents, my friend Andrew, my sister Susan, and her friend all went (although we split up upon arrival for convenience) and much fun was had. That night my in laws came over and my father in law (Al) helped me with a few household projects (such as repairing the doorbell) before my mother in law (Dianna) arrived with their Christmas present to each other: a Wii.

We played it for some time. Video game connoisseur that I am it was the first time I had ever played one and I enjoyed it immensely. They decided to leave it with me for a while since they will be busy for at least a couple of days anyway, which I had no problem with at all.

So today I went with my friends Travis and Kim and their little niece Riley so the littlest one could see snow for the first time. It was fun to do something totally random and fun for a change although I know it probably disappointed my dad that I wasn't in church today. Today is one year since my grandfather's death, but I did at least give him (my dad) the message I wouldn't be coming. I promised to say a special prayer that day, although I said it for my dad and not for my grandfather as I think my dad had meant. My dad's beliefs are definitely an amalgam of his Catholic upbringing and our current church, but I think the important thing is his heart is in the right place.

Anyway, we hit the road about 9:45 or so (after some delays not worth mentioning) and eventually stopped for the snow outside of the Pine-Strawberry area on the Pine trailhead, which was nice because it was safe. You can find the pictures on my Picasa page here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rainchaserknight. It's the new album called "Snow Day." We had a lot of fun overall and I am so glad Travis invited me. It made me realize I need to do more things like that; I used to have a lot more fun when I was random. As I've grown older I've gotten a lot more structured and afraid and that's made me a lot more unhappy. I think I need to work on that.

We stopped in Payson on the way back and saw Travis' grandparents. Considering what day it is for me that made me a little sad but I didn't say anything. I never had much of a relationship with my mom's father or any relationship with her mother (she died before my time), and my relationship with my father's parents (it being his dad in question) is similar, although I did know them better. His dad did at least get to come to my wedding before he died, which was very pleasing. When I can find a picture I will put one up under the family album on Picasa. Anyway, Abigail and Matt and Travis all still have living grand parents (Andrew too, actually) that they have a relationship with, and that's something I am jealous of. Barring something horrible my children will get to have that and I am very grateful, but sad because that's something I missed out on.

Wow, this turned out to be longer than I thought! Anyway, hope to have more time tomorrow; I have a bit more to write about. Friday was kind of interesting as well, and I've just had some things on my mind I'd like to get down here. Hope all is well with you, and that someone out there is reading this.

All the best,

-Scott

I have done something different today!

So last night after work a bunch of people came over (specifcally Travis, Kim, Matt, Angela, and Andrew) to play Rock Band which was naturally fun times. We also played a little golf as well after Matt and Angela left. Abigail was upstairs studying, sadly. However, when everyone had gone, Andrew invited me to go hiking/geocaching with him the next day (today). Although I was hesitant about the prospect of getting up early on a Saturday I accepted.

We journeyed up Usury Pass Mountain around 10 AM (after stopping at Bashas' and Dunkin Donuts). It was an epic quest from the beginning, and we knew we had quite a feat ahead of us. We took frequent breaks and paced ourselves, which made it rather pleasant...you know, except for the pain and the parts where I thought I was going to die. Like the time I almost fell off the mountain and Andrew had to grab me by my shirt (he was going for the belt, in his defense).

(slightly melodramatic narration begins)

Eventually we made it up to the Wind Caves (which seriously sounds like a destination from an RPG to me), which is nearly to the summit, and that is where we had lunch. Good times. We got to sit and enjoy the view from there and relax for about half an hour before continuing on. At this point I thought we had undergone an ordeal but no; the most arduous part of all was yet to come! For as we continued on our quest to reach the summit we passed a sign that read, "Dangerous Area: Proceed At Your Own Risk!" We were indeed forewarned by this sign and although we were but novice hikers we were convinced that our will, our spirits, and our courage would get us to the top (along with our legs, of course).

We proceeded on, and immediately the trail was much harder to read and much narrower. The cliff face seemed much nearer, and there were times my life flashed before my eyes. I felt like Dante making his epic journey in some way, with Andrew as my Vergil (although we were ascending, which was somewhat anachronistic). We continued onward for another hour, managing to lose our way off the trail twice.

Finally we managed to make our way up to the top (nearly 3200 feet up) and to the area where the geocache was! It was a moment of great celebration. We took a while to rest and took some photos (which will eventually find their way on here, I assure you) before finally heading back down. Naturally heading back down was much faster, and the total trek downward was only an hour or so in itself!

(slightly melodramatic narration ends)

Along the way Andrew found a second geocache that we had passed on the way up (which I think turned out to be a good thing considering how much foot traffic there was during the earlier time). Apparently you're not supposed to let them get discovered by people who aren't part of the game for risk of them getting destroyed, so that could have been bad if we'd found it before.

We got back to the car at about 4 PM, which made our total outing about 6 hours long. Thus our epic quest was completed! We stopped at a Bashas' on the way back to my house for extra water as while we had brought quite a lot, we went through it all in 6 hours and were quite thirsty by that point.

Speaking of which, I am going to go as it's now after midnight and I'm rather tired and sore. Next time I see you, Andrew, you're in SO much trouble for suggesting that! More later, hopefully with pics.

Picking up where I left odd...

No, that wasn't a typo in the title, it was a well-designed pun. I'm so clever, sometimes I only SEEM dumb. Then I do a brain ninja like thing on you and you only realize it later. Example: earlier I said our really old industrial shredder (which stands about 3.5' tall) wasn't actually a shredder, but had a miniature Viking inside that we fed paper. "Vikings," I said," are actually more eco-friendly people than we give them credit for. That's why they created Greenland." Think about it.

So, some things are the same since I last wrote, I think. I'm trying out a gluten-free diet to the best of my ability and am trying my best to diet overall. It must be working; yesterday I weighed in at 238! That's 16 pounds less than 9/29 without trying very hard for most of that period (and I know it went up during that time). And no... I'm not trying to become a model or anything. I just want to fit into my Halo 2 t-shirt.

My friend Travis and his wife Kim are here to stay, having moved from New Hampshire for Christmas! Yay!!! It was all a big conspiracy; they sprung it on their family after they got here and on us the day after Christmas (when we were all assembled together). Sadly, when their stuff finally arrived here a month later (SUPER late, as I understand it), much was broken. Hope it all works out, guys!

What else... we still haven't gotten a house yet. If I haven't posted about that before, by the way we're trying to buy a house (I assume you read my wife's blog anyway if you read mine). We've been trying for some time now; I imagine our poor realtor will be very happy to be rid of us! We got close one time but the bank was playing hardball with us and something about the area didn't sit right so we decided not to go with it. Otherwise we've had a lot of near misses. Our friends Matt and Angela got one the first weekend they went out...but it does have termites. That sucks.

Sorry for the absence, by the way, my computer has been down for most of this period and I haven't been motivated enough to wrest my wife's away from her when I have the time to do an entry. She has claws... Anyway, I have Dynasty Warriors, Rock Band, and other things ( mostly like looking for houses and work) to keep me busy lately. My brother was finally able to bring me back Star Wars TFU, so I played it again...and promptly deleted my saved game and uber leveled up character. Scott was unhappy. I did discover downloadable content with a new level that looks interesting, so hopefully I get to play it this weekend.

Finally got to have dinner/coffee with my friend Katrina, who had moved here...um...a few months ago. Yeah, it's not easy to get together with me. Ask Andrew, he'll tell ya. After that I got to go on a diaper-purchasing adventure. Lesson learned: the boxes for wipies and diapers look similar. Probably should take one's time a bit on that aisle. Speaking of Andrew, I also got to have dinner with him, and once a month is not enough, mein freund. We shall do this again, sir, and there shall be much rejoicing in the land.

Got to see the Cardinals win the championship game to be eligible for the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, which was exciting. I'm not really into football, as you know, but it was fun watching it with my dad and my friends. I'm expected at Travis' parents' house for the Super Bowl as his mom is an ardent Steeler's fan and his dad is a Cards fan so it will be advantageous not to sit in the middle. :-)

Other than that I can't think of anything more. Hopefully once the house thing gets done stress levels will be reduced a bit in our household and we can move on to something else. I'd like to get started again on school before too long here, of course, and I'm bemused to actually find myself missing it. I guess after so many years of being a student it just gets under your skin; I don't know.

Next post will not be so delayed, I hope!