Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Everyone!!

Yeah, I stole it from Homer Simpson (the title) but whatever. It's been quite a hiatus for me. My main distraction (at least for the past two weeks) has been LOST. I told myself I wasn't going to watch this show because I would get addicted. Well, I was right about the last half of that statement. I watched one episode with my in-laws and that was all it took. I turned around, signed up for an online movie rental service (instead of spending $5 for each of the seven discs) and am nearly done with the first season. This is absolutely the BEST show on television.

Things are crazy around here now with a brother-in-law, and a sister-in-law (and her boyfriend/fiance) returning home for Christmas. It's fun to have lots of family here but naturally it's harder to find a moment alone.

I'm so ready to go to Ohio later this week. I'm excited to see my parents and my little brother, Justin, and his family. It took me a while to realize how much I miss living close to him. We're like best friends. At least we can talk on the phone. His kids are a blast too. It will be fun to see how Chantrea interacts with them now that she's a bit older.

Justin mentioned to me the other day when we were talking on the phone that he would like to move to Houston and teach after he graduates next year. He was trying to get me to move down there too. I was kind of like, whatever but I mentioned it to Kristen figuring she would be like no way. Of course, she says, "I could move to Houston." Now she's done all this research about housing in Houston and other things. I think she's just nervous about going to Thailand. I really wouldn't mind moving back to Houston. I enjoyed it while I was there but I want to go to Thailand first. So, as always, we're still up in the air. I think that we've decided that we will be out of here by mid-March -- whether that be Thailand or somewhere else.

Tonight Kristen found some research study for acid reflux on Craig's List. The study would require that I go up to New Jersey for six days on three different occasions but pays over $5,000. That's like working for two and a half months!! I don't know if my condition is severe enough for the study but it's definitely worth looking into. That would be awesome if it worked out.

Kristen and I haven't been to a movie in ages. There are so many movies in the theaters that I want to see right now. I just wish I had the time and cash to see all of them.

I'd been gone so long, I'm surprised the link to my blog wasn't removed from the blogs of some of my friends. People do really love me. Either that or their just too lazy. Anyway, I'm back for the time being.

The saga continues

I've got a lot of random, unrelated things to post about so I imagine this blog will kind of be all over the place. First let me begin with the saga at work. Our meeting last week was indeed about the time sheet. Basically "the boss man" said that we need to be at our desks all day ready to work when the work comes in. He acknowledged that it is a crappy situation sitting around all day and said that if it doesn't work for us we should look for another assignment with the temp co. I thought that was pretty fair -- considering that they're still paying us to do nothing 50% of the time. Then, things went pretty much back to normal. People hang around more (instead of going to their cars) but still come in at 9:30 and put down 8:30; leave at 3:50 and write down 4:30. One girl is a real estate agent on the side -- she comes in most days about 9:30, leaves from 11 to 2, and comes back in from 2 to 4:30 and puts down that she was in from 8:30 to 4:30.
Well, I had had enough and went and talked to "the boss man" (Kevin) this morning at 8:25 when nobody was in and just explained the situation to him. He said he would try to keep on top of it. About halfway through the day I thought nothing would be done but he talked to some other temps (I think those that wrote down 8:30 but came in after) and now the time sheet is on his desk. Hopefully, it will stay there and the problem will be solved. However things end up, I feel good because I've done what I could.

Last Friday was Chantrea's birthday. She's now 1. We celebrated on Sunday. Here are a few pictures -- before, during, and after.
It's amazing how fast a kid can go from having no idea what cake is to attacking it. It was so much fun watching her make such a mess.

As I'm sure you can see I'm having trouble getting these pictures to line up and I'm frustrated so I'm saying screw it and they're staying how they are.

And the after:



I feel like a dork for admitting this but with all this spare time at work (and at home for that matter) lately I've been trying to learn new things -- to challenge myself. I've been doing some reading but I'm not a big reader so the geography bug in me has come alive. I'm going to brag for a second here. I can name all 43 US presidents in order. Also, I can name the capitals to all 192 countries in the world. I can place most of them (the countries)on the map (everything except the small islands). I can name all 50 state capitals. I'm working on the state nicknames. I'd like to start learning the flags for each of the states and countries. I don't know why but I find it really fun.

Kristen went and applied for a job with Red Lobster today because her job at Bill Bateman's Bistro sucks. Get this: the other day she had a table leave without paying. Can you believe that? Well, there are a lot of reasons that it sucks but she got an offer from Red Lobster and will most likely take it and I'm happy about that because I want her to be happy.

So, I'm anxiously awaiting what Shawn has to say about the whole TO situation but I just want to put in my two cents and say that I'm glad that they finally woke up and canned his sorry @$$. My take is that they somehow thought that things would be different for him in Philly. Maybe they just thought that it was a losing team that made him what he was or maybe they just thought he needed a little more discipline. I look at it like a woman who marries a man knowing what he's like but thinking that he'll somehow change for her. Never happens. TO will always be the same old cocky, self-centered, loud-mouthed punk. He's the Dennis Rodman of the NFL and I think that he'll end up like Dennis Rodman. Undoubtedly, he'll get picked up next season (some other team thinking like the Eagles did that he'll change) but he won't be around too much longer because people will (like they did with Rodman) decide he's too much hassle.

Can you believe that we had weather in the 70's over the weekend? It's still pretty dang warm. Saturday we were raking leaves in short sleaves and I was sweating like crazy. Hello, it's NOVEMBER!!

Seems like there was something else I wanted to say but can't think of it now so I'll leave this ugly mess as it stands.

And without further ado . . .

U2 Vertigo Tour: Pittsburgh, PA: October 22, 2005

Some things in life improve with age and I would submit that a U2 concert is one of them. With over two decades under their belt and an average age of over 40 years U2 still knows how to bring down the house -- perhaps better now than ever before. Mind you, this is not a band putting on a "greatest hits" or "reunion" tour but a band that is putting out new material that they (and their fans) believe in. U2 has asserted that they believe this is some of their best material. Granted, what band wouldn't say something like this but U2 does more than just saying it -- the play it like they mean it.

The October 22 Pittsburgh concert was over two hours in length and the band played an extensive 23 song setlist including seven (of the 11) songs from their latest release, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." They played many well-known favorites along with some older, lesser-known fan-favorites (the kind of songs that only hard-core fans can sing along with). It was a perfect mix for seasoned fans and new-comers alike.

The show opened with an electrifying performance of City of Blinding Lights followed by Vertigo. The band continued relentlessly through Elevation, I Will Follow, and The Electric Co. before letting up (slightly) with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. After Beautiful Day they slowed things up a bit with Miracle Drug and Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own -- a beautifully emotional performance dedicated to Bono's deceased father, Bob Hewson, for whom, and about whom, the song was written. He prefaced the song by talking about his father -- the working class Dublin man who loved the opera and would sit and listen to the opera on the radio in the living room and conduct with the knitting needles. At the close of the song Bono broke into a few opera refrains while waving his arms in the air (conducting motions). It was quite touching.
The band returned with three political heavy hitters -- Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and Bullet the Blue Sky. Of course, what is a U2 concert without some politics? Bono talked about the One campaign to help eliminate disease and poverty in developing nations. Also, during what I call the "political segment" Bono talked about how we (the religions of the world) need to learn to co-exist. He wore a headband with the logo below -- the crescent moon of Islam, the star of David, and the cross of Christianity.

Bono is a performer in the truest sense of the word. One does not go to a U2 concer to see him sing. One goes to see him perform. He has a special way (don't ask me how) of connecting with an audience. It's what makes seeing U2 live so special: It's not a concert, it's an experience. Somehow the band can take a crowd of 50,000 and make it feel like 2,000. In the earlier years he was more active on the stage with raw energy but I tend to think that his energy today is equally potent, just more focused. I honestly don't know these guys can get up and play for nearly two solid hours night in and night out. I was exhausted by the end of the show and I was just in the crowd for one show!!

Another of the evening's highlights was Miss Sarajevo, a song which (recorded) features Luciano Pavarotti singing two solos in Italian. At the concert Bono announced that unfortunately Pavarotti wasn't able to attend but was celebrating his (Pavarotti's) birthday. Bono sang the opera parts himself (in Italian) quite beautifully. It was amazing, especially considering that he sounded a bit hoarse during the first few numbers but by this point seemed to be singing with ease.

A couple of interesting moments of the performance: 1. While out on the end of the ellipse (the b-stage) doing an acoustic number with The Edge Bono received a request from a fan to sign an autograph. He said, "I think this is a U2 first -- signing an autograph during a concert." He smiled, signed the pad, and then handed it over to a smiling Edge who signed it and returned it. 2. During the second encore Bono invited a fan up to play with the band. Apparently he had been holding up a sign that indicated he wanted to play Party Girl with the band. As the individual was making his way up Bono turned to the band and said, "We've got live one Edge." The man from the crowd, Alan, didn't seem nervous at all and really started to jam. It was certainly a night he'll never forget.

I was pleasantly surprised by a few songs in the setlist. For example, I was afraid that a song like Elevation might end up being relegated to the Elevation tour never again to see the light of day in a concert. It was wonderful to hear it again. It is one of those songs that brings down the house at a U2 concert. Miss Sarajevo was a surprise. The Electric Co. was amazing. It's a song that a lot of people who don't know old school U2 stuff aren't familiar with. It sounded great.

The band closed with another older hit, 40 -- based on the fortieth Psalm (first three verses). I was ecstatic! This was a song that closed so many of their earlier concerts but I never figured I would hear it live. The song ends with a repeated chorus maintained by the audience. The band continued to play as they left one at a time -- Bono, Adam, The Edge, and finally Larry (after a small drum solo). A perfect end to a perfect evening. Thanks again guys.

How long to sing this song . . .

The complete setlist:

City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
I Will Follow
The Electric Co.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

The First Time
Stuck in a Moment
Party Girl
With or Without You

All Because of You
Yahweh
40

It's coming

For those of you wondering about the concert review: it is coming. I actually started it tonight and then saved it as a draft and now I can't find it on blogger and am too lazy to start again. Hopefully it just takes a while to show up and I can finish it later.

In the mean time I have an ethical question for anyone willing to answer. I am wondering not what I should do but what you would do were you in my situation. Now, let me give you the situation: At my current job (see previous posts) there are five other temps who started at the same time that I did. We are VERY loosely managed by supervisors from the company. Anyway, some of the other temps aren't coming in for a full day but are putting a full day on their time cards (surprisingly nobody seems to notice). On the one hand, I know that the company is losing a lot of money by paying these people for a full day when they're only working for a couple of hours (not that I have work to do all day but at least I'm there) but I also realize that if I say anything that all of the temps will know that it was I who said something since I'm the only one not taking advantage of this -- not so great with co-worker relations. On the other hand, it's kind of annoying to get up every morning and try hard to be on time, be the first one in, the last to leave, and doing a lot more work but getting paid the same that everyone else is. I realize that I could "join 'em" but I'm not going to. Anyway, what would you do? If you don't mind my asking.

Yeah well, what can I say

All right I'm back in the groove (ie - I'm making a post). That's about as extensive as a groove gets for me. Well, I've noticed that people find my life boring. Hello people - it's clearly stated at the top of my blog that my life is boring. I must admit that those comments got me a little bummed about blogging but hey, what do I care, I'm not blogging for anyone but my five (maybe fewer) loyal readers who happen to be friends and family.

Well, for those of you who didn't hear I was getting paid to do nothing for nearly two weeks straight. Now I actually have to work to get money. Actually the last two days have been four hours of work followed by four hours of nothing. The company that hired me and the other temps wasn't ready for us when we arrived so we were just sitting doing nothing for hours on end. After the second day we all starting bringing books, cards, etc. to occupy our time. Now I'm actually doing work in the mornings but we usually finish by 12:30 or 1 and just sit around until 4:30. Hey, if only there were people giving away money like this everyone I moved!

Kristen started working this week. She's working at a restaurant called Bill Bateman's Bistro. I think the names supposed to be catchy with the alliteration. I think it's just plain dumb (the name that is). Anyway, she's working tonight and I got Chantrea to sleep so I found the time to get on here and post. It's going to be weird with both of us working because I don't really get to see her on days like this.

I don't know what it is but people in Maryland don't know how to drive. Kristen thought Utah drivers were bad -- holy cow, that's nothing compared to this. In Utah the norm was 10 over the speed limit; here it's like 15-20. Also, Marylanders (I don't know what they call themselves) don't know how to merge. On my commute to and from work I've been listening to the classical music station and I think it's the only thing that keeps me from killing people. Somehow things roll off my back better with classical music in the background.

Two days from now I will be at a U2 concert and I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me. It's different than my other times though, I think mostly because in the past I've gone to see them when the album was still really new and I had only heard it like a million times instead of like five million. I'm sure it will really start to sink in and I'll get pumped soon enough. In fact I'm getting psyched just writing about it.

BTW - I've been working on my family's web site quite a bit over the past few months and now I have just a small page of my own (http://www.artjefferyfamily.com/John.html). Check it out if you get a chance. Nothing terribly fancy but I think it's cool

Anyway, I really don't have a whole lot to say other than, "If I didn't give you a personal invitation to read my blog stay the hell out -- and don't make stupid comments"

Wow - Life is Grand!

Ah Maryland. We arrived here one week ago this tonight. I can't believe that it's already been a week. Our stop in State College was -- as all of our stops to visit people were -- wonderful. Visiting Joel & Amelia was like visiting Dylan & Kristy and Shawn & Jessica -- like we had just seen each other a few months ago even though it's been quite a bit longer. It was different because they don't have a child of their own so all of their time was spent watching ours and wondering if they ever really want one of those things. J/K They loved Chantrea and she liked them -- especially Joel. It was like he was her long lost best friend. She warmed up to him instantly. Amelia says all kids just like him. Pretty cool if you ask me.

I realized about two weeks ago that I have gained nearly 20 pounds in the last six months or so. It sucks. I think I gained almost 10 on the cross country trip (sitting all day and eating crap will do that to you) and I think most of the other 10 came during our last six weeks or so before the move. Anyway, so now I have to do the diet thing. Well, I'm not really dieting yet. I'm just trying to exercise regularly to burn calories and watch my portions (mostly trying to drink water instead of juice/soda/etc.) and smaller dinner portions. I'm not really avoiding any particular foods. The good news is that I think I've already lost a pound in just a week of doing that!!! I'm sure it's not going to be this easy all the way down but . . . at least it's a start.

Also, in just one week I have a job and a church calling. I registered with a temp company on Friday and they got in touch with me yesterday about a contract that was for two months (40 hrs./wk) and paid $11/hr. Hey, I was on that like (fill in whatever phrase you want here). I think it will be good. It's in Columbia, MD which is about 30 min. away but I'm cool with that. Also, on Sunday Kristen and I got pulled into the Bishop's office during Sunday School and he asks me if I will be the Gospel Doctrine teacher. That's right -- GOSPEL DOCTRINE TEACHER! Of course, I say yes. I'm kind of excited but at the same time a bit overwhelmed. It's not like I'm replacing somebody who wasn't very good. The sister who was teaching on Sunday was really good (she also had a stake calling that required her elsewhere -- for those of you who are wondering why she was released). That just puts even more pressure on me. I'm cool though. I think the calling must be the right thing because I don't normally feel good about things like this (things that put me out of my comfort zone) -- unless they're right. I'm feeling pretty the job as well. Overall, things are going mighty well right now.

Trea is really starting to pick up walking. I think she gets excited about it watching her cousin, Lonna (18 mos.) walk all over the place. She's gotten quite used to meeting new people and now I figure she could meet anyone and warm up to them in about five minutes. We figure she'll adjust much easier than we will in Thailand.

Just Taking it Easy

Yeah, well I've been out of the loop for quite a while now. I'll blame it on the move and the stress of it all. We've been away from home for over a week now. We visited my grandmother in Delta, UT the weekend of the 28th and then headed off on our cross-country trip on the morning of the 29th. The first few days were pretty uneventful -- which is the way we wanted it -- no car trouble, Trea was pretty good, etc.

Nauvoo was a nice break. We both really enjoyed it -- Kristen for the first time and me again. The temple is beautiful! We weren't able to go inside (Trea) but just the outside -- WOW! At first Kristen was wondering if we would have enough to do in our day and a half there. Turns out we would have loved to stay for a couple more days. On our way out of Nauvoo we stopped at Carthage. It too was very nice. Of course everyone was listening to the audio and trying to have a spiritual experience and our daughter is alternating between laughter and being fussy. Luckily mormons are generally used to kids.

We had a GREAT time in Kokomo, Indiana. I'm so glad we were able to work out our schedule to visit Shawn and Dylan. You know how you can visit some people and it's like you just talked to them yesterday even though it's been a while . . . well, that's how it was with them. I seriously had so much fun just hanging out and playing with them. It's kind of weird to see all my good friends growing up and being adults (at least when we're not together). Both Shawn and Dylan have starter homes and kids and secure jobs -- well, I've got a kid. I think it would be so cool to live close to all my college buddies.

Now we are staying at my parents home for almost two weeks. We got here late Sunday night and have just been relaxing and taking it easy since then. My parents go to work and we just hang out and then play games and talk with them in the evenings. Tomorrow Kristen, Chantrea, and I are going to a storytelling workshop with my mom. She's going for work because she's a children's librarian and does story time and stuff like that. Should be pretty fun to hear professional storytellers.

Well, I hope to post a few more times before we head out to Pennsylvania and on to Maryland. Cross your fingers.

Sorry

I'm just gonna straight up apologize for being such a slacker. I can't believe that it's been so long. Things have just been so crazy around here. We had a successful yard sale on the 6th. We got rid of a whole lot of our stuff. Although I look around and we still have so much. Knowing we're moving and have like a million things to do in just a few weeks makes it hard for me to concentrate on anything. This past weekend we drove up to Idaho to visit Kristen's uncle and family. We sure know how to pick weekends. Her uncle had stepped on a nail about 10 days prior to our arrival and had a staff infection. We arrived Friday night and his whole calf was bright red. Saturday morning he decided he should go to the hospital (an hour drive away). Turns out they're keeping him until Wed. He's getting medication through an IV. Sunday morning as we (his kids and Kristen and I) are all getting ready for church they have a sewer drainage line back up and the washing machine and downstairs toilet start leaking water all over the place! I think we are the bringers of bad luck. Look out guys (Shawn, Dylan, and Joel) because we're headed your way next. Oh, and to top everything off we got a flat tire on the drive home. Nothing I can't handle but sheesh . . .
Something else that has taken me away from blogging is working on a webiste for my family. It's up now but still kind of sucks (there's not a whole lot there). It will gradually get better though. Part of the problem is that I need help from family members (pictures, etc.) to really get it looking nice so in the mean time it will just have to do. It's mostly geared to my family but if you want to check out "my skills of an [website] artist" feel free to stop on by www.artjefferyfamily.com

Random:
You know at my place of employment there is a store downstairs and throughout the day they are calling courtesy clerks (baggers) to get carts from the parking lot. I was sitting there and thought, there ought to be monkeys to do that kind of thing. I think monkeys should be trained to do manual labor that requires no real thought. I'm sure if anyone from PETA read this I'd get some nasty emails but I know they don't so who cares?

I know I had a lot more to say but I can't think of it now. Sorry this is kind of a crappy post but I say a crappy post is better than no post.

Good and Bad

I wrote this at work (during my break) and emailed it to myself to post later. I just remembered that I need to post it before going to bed so here it is.

Well the last few days have been some good and bad. Over the weekend I went camping and to visit my Grandma in southern Utah. Friday night we went camping with my younger brother, Justin and his family. We went to a camp site about a half hour away from my grandma's place. I had a really great time. We got rained on a little bit Saturday morning but it wasn't too bad. Also, up in that same canyon I finally found my first geocache, with Justin's help. It was really exciting. I left a few things and took a few, including a gift card to Walmart. I figured that it would have like 50 cents on it or maybe $5. I checked it Monday and it had $25!! How cool is that?! I gave half to Justin since he was the one who actually found it.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun visiting my Grandma. She is one of the coolest ladies I know. I could just sit and talk to her for hours. She's one of those people that never stops learning new things and is always curious. It's awesome. So we headed home Sunday night because I had to work Monday morning (even though half the rest of the state has Monday off for a state holiday). Monday we get to work and after some debating and unanswered calls from supervisors (to make a long story short) decide that we are supposed to be off. Our Ebay account said that the seller was away for a state holiday and wouldn't be back until the 26th. We took off after an hour and a half of work. Turns out we were supposed to have the day off but they FORGOT to tell us. I would have stayed longer at my Grandma's if they would have told us. Needless to say I was not happy -- none of us were.

Today we got donuts, chocolate milk, and OJ as penance for their forgetting to tell us. That was cool but just a few hours later I find out that I have to go back to my previous position TOMORROW (listing **** -- I mean books -- on Amazon.com) because August is a big textbook month. I was told that I probably won't be coming back here before I leave next month. I'm so ticked. I don't want to go back to standing all day and waking up at 5:00. Not to mention the drama over there -- someone's always upset with someone else, etc. etc.

I gotta give a big shout out to my good friend Joel and his wife Amelia for making our lives much easier on our trip back to Maryland. Amelia works for Marriott and helped us get some discounted rooms booked (with requests for cribs even). Hey Amelia, sorry if your phone starts ringing off the hook for requests.

This coming weekend we have a three day family reunion. Kristen's SO excited to go camping for three days (that's heavy sarcasm for the few of you who don't know that she's not a big camper) . We've never been out for more than one night since we've been married.

PS -- Joel I was flipping and ran across that R. Kelly opera on VH1 last night -- they were showing the whole thing. I could only watch the first act. I just couldn't take any more. It is pretty dang funny (in a not-meant-to-be sort of way).

And On We Go

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted. I feel like I've been putting off a research paper or something. The "I need to blog" in the back of my mind all the time. Things have been kind of crazy lately and I've finally found a moment to sit down and write. Of course, everything I was planning to blog about has left my mind but I figure I can ramble on and on and then maybe some of it will come back.

Well, I missed Xbox Live night with the guys last week because we had family in town. Kristen's youngest sister, Ashley (I guess she goes by her middle name now -- Kay), got married on Friday. Her husband is a really nice guy. It was a great wedding but when you're part of the family, those are LONG days -- with the ceremony, the luncheon, helping with the reception, cleaning up, etc. It was a lot of fun but I was exhausted when I got home.

Our place was the hangout for Kristen's family because nobody here has a place of their own (roommates) except us. It was cool hanging out with her family. Getting a little Xbox time in with the brothers-in-law was especially nice.

Work is work. I let my supervisor know that I was quitting next month. This on the same day that he found out that another good coworker, Liz, is quitting in two weeks. He's happy for me but knows that he's losing a good employee.

Fortunately, we have a lot of our big furniture and stuff already sold to family, friends, classmates (Kristen's), etc. It's so great not to have to worry about all of it!!

There are so many things that I'm interesting in learning and getting into. Brad (my supervisor) started getting me excited about geocaching. I've tried it twice with no luck. I'm really looking forward to trying again but am having a hard time finding the time and energy. If you don't know what geocaching is visit www.geocaching.com. Another thing I've tried a little of and would like to learn a lot more about is html coding. I haven't checked a book out of the library or anything but during my breaks at work I've gotten on a website that has a tutorial that starts with the basics (www.w3schools.com/html/ - if you're interested). It's surprisingly a lot of fun. I've found that I like learning new things -- I think most people do.

Haven't gotten the new Harry Potter book yet but people at work keep talking about it and driving me crazy. We decided that we're going to get the CDs and listen to the book together on our trip out to Maryland. It should be a lot of fun.

Finally saw Black Hawk Down the other day on TV. I thought it was really good -- very intense. I was pleased that the director chose not to focus too much on the politics of the whole situation. Although some people may the politics of the situation interesting (I have no idea why) to the soldiers that were there it was "We're here and we have a job to do. Our buddies are in trouble and we're going to help them." Just a comment about an old movie that most of you have already seen.

Ghetto-licious

I just had to share some quirky pictures from work. The first one is my office desk caddy -- handmade by yours truly. Entirely made of cardboard (post consumer use) and tape (unfortunately this had to be new). It's ghetto-licious (that's a word we use frequently at my work -- because everything about the place is). I have a water bottle holder, two razor blade holders, a pencil holder, and a couple of bins for random items. I know you're all jealous. The second picture: NO it's not an evening gown (Kristen asked). We got some real chainmail in and I had to try it on. Pretty heavy stuff -- weighs 25 pounds and feels like your wearing a bunch of bricks. Easy to get on and a pain in the @$$ to get off. I already know that a gay comment is coming -- I'M NOT GAY. I think I'm going to have to buy the chainmail so I can dress up and go play swords with those cool guys in the park. -- I shall smite thee! I hope the sarcasm came through.
READ THE POST BELOW -- IT'S NEW TOO.

Update

All right, all right. I get the hint -- not so subtle. We had a pretty laid back three-day weekend. Some would call it boring but I think it was just right. Saturday we just took it easy and hung out around the house. We took Trea swimming (her second time). I think she likes it. I ended up watching an old John Candy movie called "Summer Rental" because there was nothing on and Trea and Kristen were napping. Just a random observation -- did every movie in the eighties have the same soundtrack? Sure seems like it -- they all sound the same. This from someone who actually likes a lot of eighties music.

Sunday we had my little brother Justin and his family over for dinner. It was a lot of fun because I hadn't seen him in a while and his kids (Joseph and Jacob) are getting big. Joseph talks all the time now and is hilarious. Every time he falls he stands up and says "tada" as if he had just performed a magic trick or something. Falling is pretty spectacular. He calls me "Non" -- that's my name. And he can't say "Trea" so she's "Tia" We had a great visit with all of them.

Monday was another home day. We started soritng all of our stuff into piles and boxes. 1. Stuff to keep (store somewhere) 2. Stuff to sell 3. Stuff to take with us to Maryland and Thailand 4. Stuff to return to people and 5. Stuff to throw away. It was actually a lot of fun. The kind of thing that you feel really good about when you're done. Trea's room has been a mess (storage) forever and now it actually looks decent. We are planning to have a yard sale at my sister's house the first two Saturdays in August. We are selling almost everything. It's weird to be getting rid of everything. I can't believe that we're so close to moving. I'm really excited.

Chantrea is into EVERYTHING. She can pull herself up fairly easily now and she wants to see everything. Just the other day she crawled into the bathroom and started opening the cabinets below the sink. I don't even think she's ever seen us open them. How does she even know that they're there? She's really starting to become aware of everything. She loves older kids and I just found out today got quite a kick out of my sister's little dog.

News?

Just a couple of opinion articles that I found interesting. You may have read them, I don't know. You may agree or not but they make you think.

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-05-15-1.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160555,00.html

Camping

We finally made it camping! We had a lot of fun. We just went for one night (Friday night) and we stayed fairly close to home -- just went to Timpanogas campground on the Alpine Loop. I figured, if you're camping with an eight month old, you're not going to do a whole lot of hiking, etc. so why drive four hours to camp? We just hung out, cooked hot dogs and smores over the fire. That was awesome because I had been craving smores for like a month. It was nice just to get away from everything. That's what camping is all about. Kristen's still not a camper but . . . She has fun it's just not on the top of her list of things to do. Oh well.

We watched Ladder 49 this evening. It was pretty good. Of course, we had heard that it was sad so I figured that the main character dies in the end (Sorry for those who haven't seen it but seriously you can see it coming a mile away anyway). I thought the acting was pretty good and there were plenty of intense moments but I'm just not a big fan movies that are all just a bunch of flashbacks.

Last week at work was kind of interesting with most of the people above me out. Aimee, who's been in the department for about five months or so more than me got to answer all the phone calls. She was a stress case but she's kind of got that personality type anyway. I can't criticize though, because if I had to take all the calls of ticked off customers I would be a stress case too.

I just got all the ticked off emails -- much easier than phone calls. Don't worry I didn't call anyone a "clown-faced moron" even though I wanted to. What is the deal with people from NY state? They are so pissy (for lack of a better word). I had some emails from customers in NY and they were just all whiny and ticked off and . . . I'll just stop there.

Big Time

I'm tired so this will probably be short but I've been aching to blog today so I will do so briefly before hitting the sack. Today my supervisor started having me do his job because he's going to be gone pretty much the rest of the week and the girl that's just under him will be gone on Wed. and half of Friday so he figured it would be easier to have me answer all the emails for the rest of the week. It's pretty dumb stuff and time consuming if you ask me. I don't know how he does it everyday without going nuts. "Hey can you ship this to Switzerland?", "Can you ship this item to Canada?" Most of the questions that are asked have the answer in PLAIN English on the Ebay listing -- ie "We Don't Ship Outside the US', shipping calculator at the bottom, a picture of the item, etc., etc. It's kind of nice for a change of pace. It's also nice to know that my supervisor trusts me enough to have me do this while he's gone. He may change his mind when he gets back. Anyway, I was just excited about it and wanted to share before going to bed.

Trea and Luke Ennis enjoying a little playtime. More like Trea trying to take off Luke's socks. 

Just a great facial shot. She's got the brightest and most beautiful eyes. 

Trea's first time on grass 

Baby Pictures

I meant to post some more recent pictures of Chantrea on my last post but I couldn't find the USB cord for the video camera. I'm sorry the quality isn't the best. Also, our new blog, eight cents is up and running. You can read my enthralling review of an Xbox game or Joel's review of Thirty Days. Anyway, we're all excited that things are up and running.

Random Babbling

Well, I actually started a blog on Sunday and of course got distracted so here I am trying again. This week has just been one of those weird weeks -- not good but not bad. I've been off -- Tuesday felt like Wednesday and then the rest of the week felt off by a day. Let me tell you it sucks when Thursday feels like Friday but it isn't.

It's so funny, because I'm always thinking of these great things to blog about but when I actually sit down to write my mind goes blank. My brother-in-law just got back from study abroad in Bolivia. I guess there were riots going on while he was down there and they were confined to their residence for a while. Man, let me tell you few things are worse than that. I know because Kristen and I were in Thailand in Sept. of 2001 and right after 9/11 we were stuck in our apartment for almost a week!

Kristen's done with her Spanish 201 class (thank goodness) and has a short reprieve before summer term begins and she has another Spanish class. She's happy she's done but wishes she could find out what her grade is. We're working on our plans for the fall. I think everyone already knows but we're driving out to Maryland end of August to live with Kristen's parents for a few months to save up some money. In Jan. or Feb. we're going to move to Thailand for a while (6 months to a year). On our way out we plan on making some stops and visiting with friends and family. Should be a lot of fun.

Next weekend we're planning on going camping -- finally. I haven't been camping since last August. I love camping.

Recently I got one of those blank journals and have dubbed it my "Idea Journal." I get the most random ideas about random things. Anyway, I just like to keep track of them for no particular reason. I'm thinking about sharing some of them with the few readers that I have. Feel free to mock if you want because some of them are just plain crazy.

Idea Corner: They've come up with a Philly cheese steak pizza, a cheeseburger pizza (for those who crave both a cheeseburger and pizza at the same time), I've even seen taco pizzas. How about this for those nights when you're craving pizza AND Chinese food -- THE SWEET AND SOUR PIZZA. Personally I think it's a fabulous idea but I'm nuts. (For those who are wondering -- there would be no tomato sauce because you replace it with sweet and sour sauce. A little chicken or meatballs, pineapple, bell pepper, etc. MMMMM.


Random fact: It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs. -- Who knew?

Gotta Love the Three-Day Weekend

Well, it's already Memorial Day -- seems like this year just started about two months ago. Time flies. Even more so when you've got a kid. I don't know why that is but it sure seems to be the case for me. We decided to just stay home this holiday weekend. Kristen has a lot of schoolwork and work to catch up on and I didn't mind just taking it easy so we've just been kicking it here at the old apartment. It's pouring today. Feel bad for those who were planning to barbeque today. I was hoping that perhaps we could maybe go swimming now that the apartment pool is open. Saturday and yesterday were so hot and sunny so I was really looking forward to it. So much for that.

Things have pretty much been the same around here, except that last Sunday we had the pleasure of seeing Jessica Ennis and son Luke. That was a lot of fun to see friends that we haven't seen in a while. Luke is just two months younger than Chantrea but he's a featherweight. Trea looks even chunkier next to that little guy. As I said before it was good to see friends again but it made me miss my college buddies even more.

So, I'm getting to the point where I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my life -- with a little push from Kirsten (ie she wants to know where we're headed so she basically gets me to sit down and look at things that I don't even want to think about). It's so hard to make a decision on where you want your life to go. Well, right now I'm seriously considering three major career choices (not that it couldn't change at the drop of a hat). Here are the three: translator (probably Thai), speech pathologist, and development work (working with non-profits, probably abroad). Of course there are pros and cons to all three so I'm having a hard time picking which I would rather do.

Anyway, enough about my anxiety with what I want to do with my life. For now, we're just plugging along. I work and Kristen's trying to finish up her schoolwork. Trea started crawling this week. It's no longer rolling around to get to things. She's got this goofy crawl (kind of like a spastic inchworm). It's really funny to watch.

Well, I'm signing off for now.


-----------------------------------end transmission---------------------------------
(thought I'd bring it back for kicks)

Ebay Crazy -- Hoowah!

Don't even ask what the title means because I have no freakin' clue. You know, I'm really crappy at keeping up with this blogging thing. But who cares, really? Well, Cinco de Mayo was . . . let's just say . . . uneventful. But come on how many of you were really partying it up -- besides Joel.

So I am now officially hired -- finally. I found out Friday but I guess my hire date was technically Monday, which makes me happy. I'm now working over in the Ebay dept. for my company and it's WAY cooler than what I was doing before (listing books on Amazon for those of you who can't remember anything). I'm still in a warehouse which will royally suck come summer time but there are a lot of perks.
1. I can now sit. Listing books we had to stand ALL DAY. Now I'm at a desk with a nice soft chair.
2. Things are a lot more relaxed. My new boss doesn't keep track of how fast we are listing which is less stressful.
3. The schedule -- before I had to be to work AT 6:00 (yes, I know some of you do the same -- so you know that it SUCKS) and now I start at 7:30. That hour and a half makes a lot of difference. My body just doesn't like getting up at 5:00.
4. I haven't taken advantage of this yet but my supervisor can get me a set of headphones and I can listen to music and stuff -- he even has Harry Potter on CD if we want to listen to it.
5. I can surf the web on my lunch hour and break. They're pretty relaxed about internet use too. I don't know if I would have gotten in trouble at the old building but they seemed kind of pissy (for lack of a better word) about internet use.

Those are just a few of the many reasons that I like where I am now. I'm sure you're all snoring right now. Kristen loves being at home during the day now. I'm glad that things have worked out so that she can do so. She's kind of stressing out about her Spanish class. She has class twice a week -- Mon. and Wed. night. I don't blame her though. She hasn't studied Spanish since HS -- almost 8 years. Also, 40% of her grade is the final and that's their ONLY test -- now that sucks.

Chantrea is growing a lot. She's 95th percentile for height and 85th for weight. She doesn't crawl yet but is still EXTREMELY mobile. She rolls all over the place! Turn your head for a minute and she's rolled across the room and is pulling at the router or other cables. Her favorite thing though is to have at paper. I've decided I don't need to buy her any toys -- why buy toys when I can get a magazine subscription, read the magazine and keep her happy for like $20 for the whole year (most toys cost that much). Next Christmas -- boxes and wrapping paper, that's it!

I'm happy Spring is here. I'm looking forward to going camping although camping with a baby will be interesting to say the least.

I'm Tired

Well, I just got out of hyper-sleep. Man that gas really stinks. Everything smells like rotten eggs around here. I try to eat but just can't stomach anything.

Sorry I've been away for so long. I always mean to get around to the old blog but just never do. It's kind of like my letter writing on the mission or journal writing. Also, things have been kind of crazy around here lately. Kristen's last day of work was yesterday. She put in her two weeks so I had to start looking for a job with insurance because we're all on hers. Anyway, to make a long story short my boss didn't want to lose me and said that he could get me on the company payroll which includes good benefits (currently I'm technically contracting through a staffing company with crappy benefits). Well, those benefits don't kick in for 90 days and we've been stressing about it but finally found some short term insurance to cover that period. Anyway that's it in a nutshell.

Monday is my first day full time. I'm not really looking forward to it. I like staying home and taking care of Chantrea three days a week. I'll miss it. Kristen starts school on Wednesday evening -- Spanish 201. I don't know how live night's gonna work for me now.

Seemed like I had so much to write about but now I can't think of anything. Probably because I'm tired. I don't even know if I'm making any sense. Hopefully I do.

Anway, I just wanted to say that I AM alive. Now I'm going to sleep (just regular sleep this time).

Winter (I guess it's technically spring) Sucks

It's my birthday!! "I'm the birthday king!" Well that' s enough of that.

So, last night we got five inches of snow. I never watch the weather forecast so I had no idea we were going to get dumped on but man do I hate it! Hello, winter's over let's bring on the nice warm spring weather. Speaking of snow I saw something really funny the other day although it probably won't be as funny in the retelling. About a week ago I looked out the window into our parking lot. It had snowed just a little bit (about a half inch on the ground). Anyway there in the parking lot was a skid mark (not a tire skid mark) about eight feet long with duck tracks at the end leading to a duck about five feet away. I guess the duck was coming in for a landing and probably slid and crashed on the parking lot! I wish I could have seen the actual landing! I don't know why I think it's so funny picturing a duck sliding and biting it on wet pavement, but I do.

Monday night Trea had a fever of 102.6 so we had to take her in to Urgent Care and found out that she probably has a urinary infection. I figured "okay so we put her on some antibiotics and that's it right." Luckily that is about it but the doctor said that usually under six months they admit to the hospital for urinary infections (because it can easily transfer to the bloodstream). After she checked Chantrea out she said that we could take her home because she looked really good. That was a little bit of a scare. She seems to be doing great now. Just have to keep her on the meds. for another 10 days.

My job cracks me up because we can't keep any new people. We had another new employee get fired the other day. I felt kind of bad for her because of how she found out. I guess our HR director was supposed to call her but she didn't. So the lady comes in to work but security won't let her upstairs because she doesn't work there any more. She did deserve to get fired but that's a horrible way to find out.

I can't wait to get out of Utah. I don't know when that will be but I'm looking forward to it!
I mean I can't wait to get off this space ship.

-----------------------------------end transmission--------------------------

Pictures

I'm finally going to post again. All it took was Kristen's visiting teachers coming over to get me to sit down. I don't like to sit out and talk to them (nothing against them) so I'm stuck in our room with a sleeping baby on the bed. Life is pretty much the same as it has been. Although it should be getting a bit different pretty soon. Kristen wants to hurry up and finish her degree over the summer (I don't blame her) so I'm going to find another job (with benefits) so she can quit and find a part time job (or contract part time with her current employer) and focus on school. I think she has three classes left and a bunch of paperwork to get some of the classes that she's already finished on her record. I HATE looking for a job. Oh well, I figure it's the least I can do for her to be able to finish.

We finally went and got portraits of the three of us. That was our gift to my parents for Christmas. It's obviously a bit late. Better late than never. Anyway, they look so good. I was really surprised how well they turned out.

So, for those of you who care: we decided not to go to either U2 concert out here (Phoenix and Seattle) and instead bought tickets for Pittsburgh in October (with Joel and Amelia). That's right, I currently have two tickets to three different U2 concerts! There's a possibility that we may be out in MD in the fall and if we aren't we'll make a trip out of it. I'm going to try to sell the others on Ebay but I think I'm going to end up taking a loss which sucks. Oh well.

I'm happy because my birthday is a week from tomorrow. I don't have anything exciting planned but it's still my birthday!! I am such a dork.

-----------------End Transmission-------------------------------

Check this out

Well, I just wanted to post this really quickly. Of course I think it's awesome. You will probably find it interesting. Enjoy! Hopefully I'll write more again soon. http://www.sltrib.com/homeandfamily/ci_2607257

This Plane is Grounded

It's Friday and that means I'm home with Chantrea again. So far it's been a pretty normal day. She ate, was up for a few hours and is now napping. This week however was a bit more eventful. We went ahead and bought our treadmill (with tax return money) on Monday. Thankfully, my brother in law and some of his co-workers helped me carry it up the stairs (it weighs a ton!! -- my guess is 400-500 lbs.). Kristen and I have used it a few times each already. It's so nice. This morning in fact I ran while Chantrea watched a Baby Einstein DVD.

Tuesday I found out that the AF doesn't want me -- my eyes. Guess I can't sit in an office and do normal things with eyes like mine (like that makes any sense). Oh well. I was pretty bummed Tue. and Wed. but I'm feeling okay now. We're discussing our options now. I'm considering applying for the Army now but haven't made a firm decision.

Tonight we are going to the temple and then out to dinner. I don't think we've gone out (just the two of us) since Trea was born. I'm excited just to have some alone time with Kristen. Her sister is coming up from Provo to babysit.

So, I got on Xbox live Wed. evening and found that nobody was one. Hello? -- What's up with that? I'm just kidding. I got the emails that Joel and Shawn sent this morning (sorry Joel).

Peace out.

My life really IS boring

So here we are at another Friday. I've been so excited about this whole blogging thing that I've been wanting to post something else but I've really got nothing to post about. But I figure posting a nothing blog is acceptable if it's only once a week or less. Today I'm home with Trea and fortunately for me she's sleeping (otherwise I probably wouldn't be writing this right now).

So this week at work one of my co-workers got fired. She'd only been there a month but she was kind of lazy. Apparently she took an hour and a half lunch last week (on a day I wasn't there) which at our workplace is a no-no and I swear she was 15 minutes late almost everyday for that month. So, I wasn't terribly surprised to see her go. It's just been a while since I've seen someone get fired. Can you believe that it never happened at the MTC mailroom?

Trea's up now but she's watching ER reruns with me. So far so good (fingers crossed). She really is a lot of fun now. Smiles and laughs a lot. Especially just after she wakes up -- all smiles.

So, I think I've told some of you but we're going to see U2 (either in Seattle, Phoenix, or perhaps both). We have tickets to both but where we go is kind of depending on whether I get accepted into the AF. If I'm going into the AF and will be in training for the next year and a half (between Basic and Language Training) we will be willing to spend a little more money and time on a much needed vacation -- Seattle. If not it may be a quick trip to Phoenix.. The last scenario is if we get a signing bonus with the Air Force we could possibly go to both (I would LOVE that)!! Before I started talking with the AF I met with an Army recruiter. He told me about a kid who scored great on both the entrance exam and the language aptitude test and got a 20K signing bonus (spread out over a few years). The AF isn't as desparate so I don't know if I'll get anything from them but if I do . . . .

You know I really hate reality TV (nothing against those who like it) and I've never been able to put my finger on why. I read an article this week in the Parade magazine that kind of put into words why I hate it so much. You can read it here http://archive.parade.com/2005/0227/0227_shame.html (it won't be available until Monday)
Anyway, the article is about shame in our society (or lack thereof). Reality TV is shameless and that's why I hate it. Well, I think I'll come down from my soapbox now.

Well, that's it for now.

PS -- Fellow bloggers: how do I post a picture or graphic.?

Here goes nothing.

Well, well, well. Little Johnny's finally gonna give this blogging thing a try. I've been meaning to check in on some friends blogs for ages and finally did today. That got me thinking: hey, I can do this and TADA here is my first blog. I'm already realizing that I'm gonna be horrible at staying current -- journals and letters (similar to posting) have always been a weak point for me. Oh well. Anyway, life is pretty good right now. I'm only working two days a week and taking care of Chantrea the other three (MWF). It's fun but a lot of work. Who knew that taking care of an infant would take more out of you than work? I'm still playing the waiting game as far as the Air Force goes. My fingers are crossed. As I told some of you the other night -- if the AF doesn't work out I may try the Army (they're a lot more desparate and willing to hand out waivers for med. conditions). We'll see. Kristen and I both still have a good feeling about the AF but I'm not going to freak out or lose my testimony if it doesn't.

Kristen's staying busy. She works MWF in the office and T/Th from home (while I go to work). She's been doing this for about three weeks now and it seems like she has to work nights after Trea goes to bed and some on Saturdays as well. She finds it hard to get in eight hours during the day with taking care of the baby. I must say I can't blame her. I try to help out as much as I can but I still feel like I don't do enough.

Hey, we're looking into buying a treadmill. I need to get into shape for basic training (again, assuming I get in) and Kristen's always wanted one and would use it a lot. Even if I don't get in I need to get more in shape. We're excited about that.

Other than that things are pretty much the same as always. Life is pretty good I must say.

PS -- saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow the other day. I thought it was so stupid. Did you guys see it? If so, what did you think?