Had a Birthday

Yeah, I had a birthday, whoop-de-doo. I spent the week in San Marcos, my pre-birthday dinner was held in CS for those that were able to come. My birthday party was held in our clients' office in San Marcos, I had cake and everything. Very hospitable people! Dinner was in Austin with my two Aggie friends, Lindsay and Clayton. I ate at Hula Hut and then had Amy's Ice Cream for the first time. For Free! It was a good birthday, unfortunately someone tried to ruin it right off the bat by stealing my morning paper from the hotel. The bad birthday streak is finally broken!

Lubbock Life

I made it safely. Flew in the little plane, wandered the Medical Science Center on tech's campus, drove North 45 minutes to a land that still had snow on it, and most notably hit my 2nd tumbleweed in the rental car (PT Cruiser).

And now the pay off, I'm sitting in my hotel room eating the Fatty Cakes Special. That's right, a combination of Taco Bueno and Krispy Kreme. Can life get better? I submit that it can.... If I was planted firmly in College Station.

Headed West

As I sit in IAH waiting for a flight to Lubbock, allow me to share
another story from DC. One afternoon we ate at the Metro Station.
There was fast food as far as the eye could see. As I walked past the
endless line of shops, one woman reached out and forced a sample upon
me. It was some sort of chinese chicken (chickety china...), terriaki
perhaps. I tried it, looked up at the sign that read 'Cajun Food,'
shrugged and continued on. As I made my way back down the line, she
offered me another sample. I stopped her and said, 'This sign says
cajun food...but there's no cajun food,' pointing at the fried rice
and eggrolls she had on display. 'Yes it is,' she said in an Asian
accent, 'we have spicy chicken.' I shrugged again and continued onto
'Bland Burritos,' the place I ate at and renamed to suit it better. I
saw no Mexican food in my time there and the cajun food was oddly
chinese looking. Food outside of Texas just isn't the same.

So, I am at the very end of the airport waiting for a bus to pull up
to my gate to take me to my teeny, tiny airplane. This will be
exciting. Almost as exciting as getting up at 6am this morning. Last
night's game against LSU was a tough one to watch. While I don't
often blame officiating for a loss, last night's refs certainly didn't
help. With Jones getting bogus fouls within the first 2 minutes, we
were severely handicapped the rest of the night. And the nonsensical
calls didn't stop there. Did Big Baby have a halo around him I don't
know about...?

There is spanish coming out of the ceiling above me right now.
'Quince y dose milion!' 'Que?' 'Dose milion!' The loud speaker has
drowned them out now reminding me not to make jokes about the security
or else I'll be arrested. Such a pleasant voice for such a harsh
threat...

15 minutes till I board now. What am I doing in Lubbock you may ask.
Well, I am taking some clients to lunch and then going 45 minutes
north to Plainview to pick up some of our equipment. I was also
notified yesterday that I'll be doing some unexpected training for an
employee there that was hired out of the blue.

There is a punk looking kid behid me. Black shirt, black hoodie,
black pen in hand drawing on his arm. When I came in he was staring
at a small knit blanket that had some sort of Germanish words
embroidered on it. Security threat? He wishes....

Come Back To Texas

Well, I'm headed back to Conreezy now. Quite the opposite of the
flight we had coming into DC. This flight is packed, no open seats. No elbow room.

I just got back from the airplane bathroom. Now that's a small
bathroom. And I've now retaken my window seat next to Brad and Baird.
I'm done reading my Sports Illustrated and Baird has my book 'The
Tipping Point' so now I'm just sitting here, glancing up every once in
a while to see what scene Angela is on as she watches Dumb and Dumber.
I'm not quite sure where we are as I cannot see any state lines from
where I am... I'm ready to get home, not because I miss my own bed
(Ive been sleeping better in hotels), but because I miss setting my
own sleeping hours. These people have worn me out. I also miss CST.

Overall, the trip was better than expected. I really did enjoy
hanging out with the coworkers and their significant others. DC was
surprisingly multi-dimensional. Seeing the government and historical
stuff was cool. Whenever I watch CSpan now (I like watching the
people in the background fall asleep) I can say 'That's congress!
I've been in there!' We also went to the other attractions;
washington monument, the big abe lincoln, changing of the guard at the
tomb of the unknown soldier, etc. There are also many Smithsonians.
The others went to the air and space one while I visited the museum of
the American Indian. It was well done and was very artistic, but with
an hour to spend there, I had to rush through. There were also great
restraunts and we dined well.there was shopping in Georgetown and many
universities. And then of course the city stuff. Multi-dimensional.

The traffic there was amazing. Everyone was in a hurry and rude. If
you weren't easing into the intersection by the time the light was
green, you would get an instant honk. Blinkers and speed limits
weren't necessary and neither were manners. The drivers there were
the worst I've ever witnessed, but what was impressive is the fact
that their cursing could be heard over blaring horns. And if you
couldn't hear them, well, they also knew sign language.

The subway was my favorite part of the trip. The mass transit in DC
is a breeze. The subway was so efficient and easy to use. The only
part that was troublesome were the homeless peole outside that would
yell at you. Friday night we came across a crazy man in a rage,
yelling and threatening passerbys. The next night another man begin
yelling at us about 'Hoyas' and while everyone became uneasy, I was
able to make him happy by yelling 'Beat Duke, Go Hoyas.' Of course
the Hoyas lost to Duke later that night and therefore we did our best
to avoid that man on the way home in fear he was in a rage...

We seem to be over some small green rural town now with a few rivers
flowing through them. So we could be anywhere between DC and Houston.
I'm ready to get home, eat some Lenny's, watch some ESPN News, and
pack for Wednesday...

Just to reassure all of you, this was typed on my phone while it's in
'Airplane Mode' so we weren't in any danger. I'll be posting this
upon landing.

In Flight

Once again, it's time for my not-so-often check in. Go, go, go. That's all I seem to do. So much so that this blog will be posted from my cell phone. As I type this, I am sitting on a plane headed for DC. A little secret... I've never flown before. Of course this actually isn't too big of a secret to anyone other then my coworkers. Right about now Kristie and Keaton are napping, Baird and Angela are reading the paper, Brad is flipping through the catalog of worthless items that came from the back of the seat in front of him, and of course the guy behind me is extending his feet well out of his space and touching the back of me feet. I've already read this month's edition of Texas Aggie magazine as well as flipped through an art.com catalog I receive at my apartment.

As a first time flyer, I don't see what the big deal is. I don't see any reason to have jitters or be afraid to fly. How often do planes crash? Not very. Heck, I'm comfortable enough to talk about it while sitting in an airborne plane. I drive down hwy 6 at least twice a week. I think that is much more dangerous.

Take off was a lot of fun. I grabbed a window seat of course. This wasn't hard to do as there are very few passengers on the plane. I have 3 seats to myself. Watching us ascend or rather watching the ground seemingly descend was pretty cool. Looking over the city you live in from the sky is something I always think is neat. We've obviously traveled much higher now so all I see is a white plane of clouds which is pretty cool too. As I looked out the window upon typing that, I also noticed a jet in the distance flying a bit lower then us leaving a stream behind him.

This has bee a fun pain free experience, I only worry about next week when I have to fly alone and don't have someone to print my boarding pass for me and someone to follow around to mimic their checkin routine. Yes, 2 roundtrip flights in a week. That reflects my busy schedule. My weeks ahead look like this: DC, Conroe, Lubbock, Conroe, CS, San Marcos, Conroe, CS, San Marcos, Conroe, CS, Corpus. Before the month is up, I'm hoping to have stayed in my new apt for a total of 7 days...

These past weeks have been busy too. Thanksgiving was good, its always good to go see th family. It's even better when the family comes back with you to clean your oldapt and help you set up your new one. My mom was terrified I was going to be living out of boxes for the next few months. Which honestly would have happened. I greatly appreciated all they did. I was in Decatur all this week which wasn't bad. Long trip, but decent city. I always enjoy dining at the local places.

Huge props to my Texas A&M Athletics. That goes to my elite 8 ladies, the tsip beating football team and both top 10 basketball teams. Word to you Bill Byrne.

We're below cloud cover now and I see a city coming into view. Hopefully its Baltimore. Is that a coast that isn't the Gulf? Never seen that before. When we get landed, I'll be able to post this. Theres Mr Capitan confirming my suspicions. We're landing. I'll be in DC till Sunday. See yall soon, sorry I'm missing your visit Clinton...

Represent that SW Conroe

Hey y'all, I'm still here. Thought I'd drop in with an update on things out this way. So the roommate search didn't go well. Most of the roommates I tried contacting did not check their account after I sent the messages. Other then Rent.com, the rest of the roommate finder websites are terrible and want you to pay them to read messages in their poorly designed websites. Oh well. I got me a new place about 15 minutes Southeast of here. I'll be living in South West Conroe. Since moving here, that has probably been my favorite part of the city. It's not a densely populated as the rest of Conroe and trees abound. There are a couple of parks nearby, which is important, one park includes skate ramps, which I won't use, but I thought was cool. It's closer to work and about 10 minutes from The Woodlands. It's further from Aggieland, so the drive back will be a little over an hour now. Also, my grocery shopping will have to move from the nice Lake Conroe Wal-Mart to the ghetto Conroe one...

Now I'm just sitting here on the couch with ESPN News playing. A familiar occurance. I always have high expectations for my days after I leave work. I'm gonna work out, write a novel and free Tibet. I make plans in my head of things that I need to do or want to do and keep these in mind till the end of the day. There is some place on HW 105, halfway between work and my apartment where everyday I realize I don't want to follow through with anything I wanted to do earlier and just look forward to sitting until it's bedtime. Hopefully with the move, I won't have to travel over that stretch of road where this realization occurs and will accomplish much more.

I move November 18th-19th. I would apprciate any volunteers to help me. Otherwise it's just me and Anna Belle. And Anna refuses to move furniture... When should I start packing? Maybe tomorrow. Today I just want to sit.

Monsoon Season!

It was bright and shiny leaving work from Conroe today, by the time I made it to Montgomery, I was caught in a Monsoon! It's from Canada I hear! Cool weather for an afternoon game, I'll take it!

I found a park on the south side of town that I like, it'll hopefully be a usual stop on the way home so I can get some excercise. To solve my housing woes, I think I've settled on an option. Stay right where I am, don't change my address and continue paying what I have been. The perfect solution? Yeah, now I have to find a roommate. There are a couple I found on the internet (this is worse than internet dating) and Brad said he had someone looking for a place to live in no other than, Montgomery. Who looks specifically to live in Montgomery anyway? Oh well, he's the clear leader right now. Second place goes to this guy:

I'm 20. Currently living at home with mom and dad. My older brother moved out two weeks ago and it had me thinking that it's about time I moved out also. I have no trouble paying rent seeing as how i have been working since i was 15 and have held my current job for almost three years now. I'm really easy going and easy to get along with. And I love penguins ^_^

Nyck...yeah, with a y. I've lived with a Nick before, but this whole Nyck thing would be new. We'll see. Penny automattically eliminated the 18 year old girl looking for a roomie. I automatically eliminated this 59 Year Old Man: "I will need a roommate by Dec 1.I'm not looking for a bed mate.My dog is a short but long black Dashund"

I'll let you know how this turns out. For now, it's me, Anna Belle and Hokie football.

All By Myself

Well, the first reason I need to update this thing is to clear out the comments so that Clinton has a clean space to work with. Next, I just need to. It's been forever.

I'm going to Corpus this week for a pretty awesome wedding, it's going to be good. Congrats Emily and Zach.

Kevin just left, he's on spot team. He'll be gone for 4 weeks at a time, coming back for 1. Meaning, the next time he'll be here, it'll be to clean his stuff out of the apartment as I perpare to move again...

I'll be coming off my probationary period in November, my coworkers like me and have decided to keep me.

So I'm rockin it by myself once again. He left a lot of food though, so I've gotta work hard to clear that out for him. Come visit y'all. Hwy 105, you know.

My Cat Misses Me

Over the past few weeks, the only night I've consequtively stayed at my apartment has been Thursday night. It's pretty sad that I've spent more time sleeping at Nick's apartment than my own over the past 2 weeks. It's even sadder that I've spent more time in Austin than in Montgomery during the same 2 weeks...

Anywho, it's been good. I really have enjoyed it despite being away from my apartment almost constantly. This next week I'll get a slight break. I'll be out of town Thursday and Friday. The only night I'll be away is Thursday night. I'll be spending the night in Sugar Land and unfortunately missing Penny's Ring Day which I was really wanting to make it to. I hope she can forgive me.

These past couple of weeks, I've really taken a step up in my job. I've kind of been let out on my own and was in charge when I was in Austin. In Sugar Land, I'll be alone to run the seminar and dine our clients. Hopefully this responsibility will help me feel more competent than I currently feel. I'm working on it.

The Ags convincingly won their football game and despite it being a game against ULaLa, they looked Very impressive. This game boosts my spirits much more than the Citadel game did. Soccer however suffered 2 losses this week against 2 top 10 schools. Regroup Ags, we'll get em Friday.

Just a quick post because Clinton's Aliases are harassing me and because I actually have a couple of minutes to type before bed.

And now before I close out, let me add one thing I just witnessed. My cat, in the bathroom, slid off the back of the toilet, caught the handle and flushed it as she fell in the shower. Thanks Anna Belle!

A couple more cities

Well, another week, some more travel. I'm Austin, just arrived from Kileen. Kileen was a good visit, a very confusing city, but pretty cool people. Definately likable and they have more stories than I do... Well, I'm about to head for dinner and whatever else comes our way tonight. Tomorrow morning, there's a big meeting that we're attending to meet, greet, and learn a little bit more about some state recommendations that have been made for County Health Care. That's what we're here for. I'll be back next week for fun and then business. But first comes the weekend that I have been waiting for. Two top notch soccer games and kickoff weekend for Football. Whoop! Now is you wit me?

Aggie Sports

Fall sports are back! In the most amazing soccer game I have ever witnessed, we beat Soccer Powerhouse North Carolina in double OT. Along the way, we also Shattered the all-time regular season NCAA attendence record. This ladies soccer team is a special team and I'm looking forward to bringing a National Championship home. It wont be easy thought as we play the #1 and #2 teams along with 2 more top 10 teams in the next couple of weeks. I love Aggieland.

And since volleyball posted 2 wins at their tournament, right now the Aggies are undefeated in sports so far this season.

Keepin It Real In Kerrville

Why does Housekeeping in these hotels always leave the curtains wide open for you when you return to your room? Don't they know the first thing I want to do is take off my pants? Well now it gets kicked down to 2nd... Right behind Close The Curtains...

Multi-tasking

I'm watching the TV for Reggie to come out in his Bengal uniform, keeping track of what's going on over on TexAgs, updating McLennan County for work while I wait for my pizza to cook. I thought I might as well check in on my blog. Once again, I'm going to reitterate the reason for my sudden abscence. I work on my computer most of the day on a typical workday. When I come home, staring at the screen literally makes me want to vomit...

I'm doing very well here in Montgomery, enjoying everything. Very excited about football season of course. And definately looking forward to the Soccer game next week (even if it is an exhibitiion). Other than that, I'm keeping it real, lived it up in SA last week. I like that town more everytime I go. Which is good, because I'll be back like 4 times in the next couple of months....

Lastly, this just occured to me. I don't really like Olive Garden commercials. Super cheesey. Have any of you seen a family like that at Olive Garden? Anyway, I think TexAgs crashed and I'm going to go check on my pizza.

Alright, check in is over, now I'm checkin back out.

Quick Notes

Yeah, I've been busy. Driving all around North East Texas yesterday left me little room for anything else. Tomorrow I'll be in La Grange. Not much else happening. Oh yes, good news. I got the product management position that I'd interviewed for Months ago. I never heard back from them until today, it was a job I was quite interested in. Oh well, I told them I already have a job and I'm right where I want to be.

It's bedtime now. So I bid you a good night.

Round Trip

Well, a round trip to Kileen and back wasn't what I was expecting today. Spending the majority of my time in the car makes me feel like the day was wasted. Some IT problems up there barred us from doing what we traveled all that way to do. On the way back to Conroe, I was almost scheduled to take a trip to Larado tomorrow. Luckily, I missed out on that one. Who wants to drive even more tomorrow?

Waco Wisdom

As I get ready to depart for Belton tomorrow, let me share with you a few more tidbits of knowledge I acquired from the Waco trip.

First, an important thing to remember if you're exploring the Baylor campus unguided, is that Memorial Hall does not house classrooms, faculty offices, or a student center. It is a girl's dorm and I'm not supposed to be in there. Especially on a week when it's full of mothers and daughters attending an orientation.

The business school in Waco isn't as good as Mays Business School at A&M, but the influence of A&M is felt there. The first conversation I heard on campus was in Baylor's business school. It was a little after 7PM and some students were walking up the stairs from some territory I had not explored. One of them hogged the conversation as they passed me, "And A&M...please..they're even worse! This is their schedule! The first two weeks they play Army and The Citadel (incorrect). Then they play Louisiana-Lafayette and some other pansy cupcake team. A&M is pathetic..." Before I could correct him on his schedule errors, they'd progressed to a classroom.

The most important lesson I learned in Waco was college is important, it holds the key to your dreams. This became apparent during dinner at Taco Bueno. As I walked up to the counter to order, the cashier took notice of my Freebirds shirt.
The cashier put his fists in the air and exclaimed "Freebird!"
I looked at him, nodded and said "Yeah!"
"Now is that the band Freebird?" He asked?
Well to be honest with you, bro, Freebird is a song, not a band. I simply answered, "No, it's a burrito place."
"Oh, is it as good as Taco Bueno?" He asked, beaming with pride for his employer.
"No way dude, Taco Bueno is awesome."
"Yeah!" He exclaimed. "Where is this Freebird place?"
"Well, there are 4 in College Station. There are also some in Houston and Austin and stuff," I responded.
"I bet you went to school in College Station, didn't you?" He asked.
"Yep, just graduated in May, I'm up here for my job." I told him, giving him more information than he asked for.
He returned the favor by providing me excess information, "I was gonna go to college once." He paused. "But they told me I couldn't drink beer. So me and my brother decided we didn't want to go to college."
As he spoke, I glanced at him with a confused look on my face.
"Yeah," he continued, "Looking back, I probably could have gone to college and drank beer."
"Probably," I told him, trying to hide the amusement I was getting from his reflection.
"College..." He said, "If I would have gone, I would have done robotics. I'd be rich right now." He went on in an Uncle Rico-esque manner, "I would have built something, I don't know, like....like uhh... A Robotic Taco Maker!"
I chuckled, he didn't. I proceeded to give him my order and told him to have a nice day. Sadly, I'm afraid barring a taco maker invention, the story depressed him for the rest of the day.

Goodbye Ol Chap

This morning I sit in an empty looking downstairs apartment on Balcones. Boxes cover the couch in this living room, a bag of mine lays on the floor. This is one of the few rooms that still has furniture in it. My room sits down the hall, having been vacant for a few months now. The newest vacancy is the next room over. The last time this room was vacant, it was a joyous occasion. It meant the opening of our study room/dance room/rec room. But that's because we knew soon we would have another roommate. Early this morning, Clinton hit the road to Midland to set up his new home. I don't like the way things are changing, it feels weird. As time progressed, the distance seperating two friends has changed from 15 feet to 45 miles and now over 450 miles. This house, my first real home away from Corpus is going to be completely empty in little over a month. It will become a foreign place to me, where I will no longer be welcome. Strangers will be living and making memories in what in our minds is Our Home. The past 3 years have gone by fast, but it seems that we've lived here for a much longer time. I know it's nothing to complain about, it's just a different feeling than I've experienced. The fact that all of our lives are changing is something that's hard to grasp until the change actually occurs. The saddest reminder of the change is the foam letters that Nick and Clinton would always message each other with in the shower. They know spell out "Goodbye Ol Chap" on the bathroom wall.

Well good, the siamese cat from down the hall has jumped in my lap to console me. The only problem though is that she's changed too. For some unexplicable reason, she smells like skunk...

Feeling Old

I just returned from my adventure on the Campus of Baylor University. I think I have more stories from this trip to Waco than any other recent trip. Also, I came to a life-changing realization. I'm old.

That's it, plain and simple. In this 22nd year of my life, it hit me for the first time. The feeling of growing up, the understanding that I'm not young anymore. Now, before any of you skip down to the bottom and comment on this, let me explain how this happened. I take you back to last night. I'm in Waco, I'd been invited by Chelsea's brother to play a little Ultimate Frisbee. Now, I've played Ultimate like one time since high school, so I'm a little rusty. I agree to play anyway. When I show up, the game is already going on. I'm assigned to the shirts team and we end up winning (an amazing comeback really, but that's a different story). After the game, we gather as a group and they begin chatting. I stand silent mainly, as I don't really know anybody here. Then a girl addresses me. Gathering from my shirt that I'm an Aggie, she says, "So, do you, like, go to A&M?" Feeling a little uncomfortable being the oldest guy out there, I tell her, "Yep...I Go to A&M."
"Cool! That's where I'm going next year!" She exclaims. "So, whatcha doin in Waco?"
I glance around uneasily as all ears are turned my way.
"Actually, I graduated from college. I'm here for my job..."
"Oh.." She trails off. All of her excitement quickly fades. All eyes still on me as I grow uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I'm a college graduate, an adult. Playing with a bunch of high schoolers," would have been an appropriate reply and those words definately crossed my mind.
The discomfort was eased by the dude next to me telling me that he was a sophomore at ACU. The truth of the matter was I was surrounded by recent high school graduates and first or second year college students. The trend was towards the younger side of things however. The actual situation wasn't as bad as it seemed in my mind, but after I announced I was a college graduate, no one addressed me other than the ACU kid.

Afterwards I thought about it. Did I ever hang out with collge graduates when I graduated from high school? No... Especially not ones I didn't know. That's just weird. Why? Because they were old!

A Couple of Links

I'm busy here in Waco. But I will share with you a couple of links that I stumbled upon today.

First, this is probably my favorite news story:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5766288?FSO1&ATT=HMA

And secondly, this website was brought to my attention by Clinton. It's a website where people can go submit their secrets for all to read. Get it off your chest, feel better, blah blah. It's a marketing campaign for Secret Deodorant. BUT, look at the secret I found on there!

http://www.secret.com/share/secrets.asp?id=3186

Technology

Last night I went to Lakeside Bible church, got to meet several people my age. College students of course. I'm not old enough to feel comfortable sitting at a table with a man and his wife and kids as I began the night doing. The college crowd was much more comfortable. As I said, this is a small church, so the college group was about 7 people. All of them were totally cool, people I could hang out with. We went to IHOP after church, apparently the place to hang out in Lake Conroe. Not as cool as Sonic or Whataburger, but a decent hangout nonetheless. I'm sad because I'll be gone for the next couple of Wednesdays and Sundays, so I'll be absent from this church.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired of technology. Working at my company, all of my time is spent near a computer or at least talking about them. When I come home, the thought of sitting in front of another one kid of makes me nausiated, so this is all I'm typing. I will now sit on the couch and shoot nerf darts for my cat to chase.

"Blow North Korea Off The Map" Party!

And all 191 of you countires are invited! Come on China! Frane, you can join us. Australia, you're always welcome! And what the heck, Principality of Sealand, we'll see you there! Yeah, World Party!

What is that crazy little North Korean man going to do next?

Happy 4th of July!

When I showed up to work this morning, I found out that we only had to be there till noon. So it's 3:00PM now and I'm already in College Station blogging. And this is after a nap! I love half days.

Other than that, have a great 4th of July and I know it's very cliche, but do remember how lucky you are to have the freedoms that we have here in the United States. People have a lot of complaints with the country and the government, but shut your mouth for a second and realize what a blessing it is to live free in a country as great as ours.

One Year and Counting

And so today marks mine and Penny's one year anniversary. Funny how one year's time can seem so short and yet it seems like I've known her forever.

One year and I love her more than ever.

Home again

I made it back home. 7 Hour drive from Falfurrias. Why? Because we hit Houston traffic at 5PM on a Friday...of a holiday weekend. Probably the number one worst time to come through H-town. I don't know how Anna is going to like me going to Waco in a couple of weeks. She's mad at me as it is. She's always mad at me, but especially since I left her her for the past 3 days. Kevin visited her briefly to check on her, but about 99% of the time was spent alone. And she got locked in the bathroom. She wasn't happy about being cooped up. Poor thing.

I wish she spoke English. I could tell her what is going on. And to stop getting in my bathtub...

On to Corpus Christi

First off, typically I won't be traveling this much forever. Right now is the busy time for us. Couple the fact that this is the time in which we do upgrades with the fact that there are a lot of conventions and such that we need to be at during the summer and the result is a busy traveling schedule for the company. Now add in the fact that I am new and they want me to be exposed to all of this, so they send me along on most travel oppurtunities that arise. And that my friends is why I'm in a different city every week. My stay in Montgomery was short. I came back from the Plano and Kerrville trip Thursday night plenty tired and ready for sleep, so I unpacked quickly, dumped my dirty clothes in the hamper, threw my clean clothes in the closet and went to sleep as soon as I could. Friday I left work early and after a short nap, I made my way to CS for the weekend. It was a great weekend. We celebrated Penny's birthday Sunday night, so I got to see and hang out with everyone, just like the old days (6 weeks ago). After work on Monday, I once again drove to College Station for the night to spend the evening with Penny on her birthday. I thouroughly enjoyed the time I spent with her, as always. Once I got home late Monday night, it was sleep time. After work on Tuesday, Kevin and I went and ate at the Magnolia Diner which had just opened right next door to my apartment. I'd been anticipating the opening ever since I moved in. The atmosphere was nice, the food was decent, but I was a bit disappointed. After going to Wal-Mart with Kevin it was already nearing after 10PM. So I quickly washed some clothes, which then caused a shift of dirty clothes to the closet floor and clean clothes in the hamper. Make-shift organization often causes a mess. After packing, I slept. I woke up this morning at 5:15, got ready and headed to Corpus with my coworker. I'll be here till Friday evening, which means I will arrive home late Friday night to a mess I still surely won't want to deal with. And in closing, that is why I haven't blogged...

Somewhere in the whirlwind of activity, I also changed cell phone providers. My motorola...ahem my third Motorola in a row gave out on me. Perfect time for me to compare phone companies. T-Mobile came out on top for me. I knew what phone I wanted, all the companies provided a similar one. And my research put T-Mobile over Cingular most notably on price and service rating.

My family just left, we went to eat at Fridays. I'm sorry I won't have anymore time to spend with them this week. I don't get down here as often as I'd like.

Alright... I am tired. But it's only 8:30, so I'm going to go to Barnes and Noble and hang out till I'm ready to come back and go to bed. They're open till 11, I won't be utilizing those hours to the fullest, I promise.

Holdin It Down In Plano

Yeah, I'm in Plano. This internet cost me...well the company $10. The stinkin' Marriott doesn't give free internet. Bums... Anyway, I'm put up in this Marriott in Legacy Park. Plano's got it goin on. I haven't got to get out too much. I've walked around here, eaten at a few of the restaraunts around the block. I was at the Fox Sports Grill tonight since I was on my own. Its good to see that there are some hockey fans here in Texas. All the diners were rooting for Carolina in tonight's Stanley Cup Game 7. Most lilkely because they want America to beat Canada in this Carolina Vs. Ottawa championship. It looks to me that it will have that outcome. It's currently 2-1 Carolina's favor in the 3rd. Anyway I'll be leaving here at noon tomorrow to go to Kerrville. I think I'll be sharing a room with the boss man, so I doubt I'll get too much internet access. It's been a busy day, met some comissioners and judges, including the guy responsible for getting those protestors off Bush's ranch. An interesting mix of liberals and ultra conservatives. Lunch was Mi Cocina. No, not the one in CS, a different chain that actually serves decent Mexican food. Especially if you like live bees in your tacos. Yeah, our food got comped because there was a bumble bee walking around my plate when they brought it out. Oh well, it's not like we pay for the meals anyway. Ottawa's got a powerplay now. Better get back to the game.

Kitten's Greatest Hits

Alright, I'm about to head out of town. But before I do, I decided to put up another video. This has been up for about a week and 112 people viewed it. I've made Kitten a star! The video of course is the classic, "Flying Kitten." Enjoy.

Business Trip

Hey kids, it's Friday, whoop! I haven't gotten to whoop too much since getting here, I just realized that. Anyway, I doubt I'll be able to blog too much either this next week. I will be in Dallas all week for work, so I can't promise any posts between now and then. Just a heads up for y'all. Hope summer school is going well for all you kiddos, I plan on being in College Station next weekend. And those of you that aren't in school, it's pretty awesome not having any homework, isn't it? Alright, keep it real and just roll it back like Wal-Mart.

Creativity

It's been a long week here in Montgomery county. Not that I've done all that much other then go to work. Maybe that's the problem. My cat is no longer in heat, which means I'm not nearly as irritated with her. Kevin recieved a rather nice BBQ pit from his dad, he brought it up here Monday and we assembled it last night. It's pretty nice, but when we were done, it was much past dinner time, so we had to settle for an IHOP dinner.

Now let me tell you a few of the people's names that I've encountered recently. First, there is Arizona Jean. If her last name was Company, it still wouldn't be cool... Secondly, of course, is Mary Christmas. And finally, the woman with the first name Queen and the last name Elizabeth. Ok, let me remind you that creativity is important, but people, please, you do not get points for creativity when you're naming your children.

Anyway, mainly I just wanted to post to avoid another lengthy abscence. So, I'm around. If you see a blue Civic driving down the roads of Montgomery, breifcase in the passenger seat, Beastie Boys in the CD player, that's me keepin it real.

"Life At The Ranch"

Sorry I didn't update last week, it was a hectic day with me driving 3-4 hours everyday. This next week won't be quite that bad. And by bad, I don't mean unenjoyable, I mean hectic. I'm still enjoying it.

Anyway, as some of you know, a couple of weeks ago I finished the editing of the documentary that we filmed before I moved out. This weekend brought the Screening and the World Premiere of the DVD, "Life At The Ranch." It was given good reviews and commanded applause from the first audience. Now, here it is for all the world to see. It's cut up into 3 parts due to YouTube's time restrictions. It's about 23 minutes total and the end seems to be everyone's favorite (including mine). So, enjoy and let us know what you think. If you wanna watch the DVD, which obviously is much better quality then you'll see here, other showings may be on the way.


Life At The Ranch: Part 1




Life At The Ranch: Part 2




Life At The Ranch: Part 3

The Scottish Uprising Will Not Be Televised

I went to a church this morning that is approximately 1.5 minutes from my apartment. I enjoyed it. An Aggie sat next to me, she was class of '02. After the service she (and her husband, and 3 other people) wanted to make sure I met the college pastor. They were all fully aware that I had graduated, but they thought that I should fellowship with people my own age. I'm not an old guy yet, there are plenty of '06ers that are still in school (and 'o5ers!). So I was invited to the college bible study tonight. In addition, he invited me to his Sunday School class next week. Now this is a small church, so his Sunday school class is not just college students. It a wide variety that streches from 7th Grade - College. A little too weird for me honestly... But I got my small loaf of bread and a cassette tape and came home.

At home, Kevin was getting some cable out of his Directv van. Apparently since he has that van in the parking lot and the complex uses Directv, the other tenants think that he works for the complex. Anyway, he had an easy job for a woman that approached him this morning, so he was readying a cable to take over there to her. As he was doing so, our Scottish neighbor walked over. He was ready to rant about Directv to Kevin. We'd talked earlier about how inconvenient it is that our apartment complex will only allow us to go through a specific provider for internet and phone and through Directv for cable. The fact that their company only offers slow internet irked me. Them not allowing an international call package irritated ol' Scotty who makes a lot of international calls. And the both of us agreed that the cable service they offer has its negetives. I like the channels we get, College Sports TV rocks my face. However, the fact that there is no guide on the screen and since we have a hodgepodge of stations, there's no guide online or in print that will help us out, we never know what is on any given station. Also, there's no box on our tv, so DVR is out of the question. Now those were the complaints that Scotty was ready to file with Kevin. As little tv as I watch, it hasn't been as huge of an ordeal for me. However, my Scottish friend exclaimed that the World Cup is coming up and since it's in Germany, the live broadcasts will be coming on early in the morning. Since Kevin could not help him, we suggested talking to the front office about it and I gave him a channel guide.
"If I am going to miss the World Cup, there will be a Scottish uprising over there," he said in his thick Scottish accent as he pointed to his apartment. "If you hear curse words being yelled in Scottish, you'll know where it's coming from."

So, while Germany has been taking extra precautions this year to help protect against hooliganism, they've forgot to secure Montgomery Trace apartments. Let's hope this is corrected by June 9th...

Confetti!

Chris' Tip of the Day:
The easiest way to make confetti? Leave a pamplet in the back pocket of your jeans when you wash them. When the spin cycle is done, it's like a little party in your washing machine. And stuck all over your clothes and towels... It's the easiest way, but realize that it is also the most inconvenient method...

Gettin Krunk

Just came in from playing ball in my parking lot. Not as easy as it has been. The parking lot down near my apartment is getting pretty crowded... My normal ball-playing spot was pretty convenient and quite accomadating, but now it's over.

Penny came and visited me this weekend, which I loved. We spent some time in The Woodlands and then in Conroe at the outlet mall. What do you do with a girl? Take her shopping is usually a pretty easy answer... Honestly, I needed some new clothes. Grownup clothes. And I got plenty. For dinner tonight, we ate at a nice little place here in Montgomery, the Heritage House Restraunt. It's the oldest restraunt in this historic city. It had good food, good service, and huge portions. I've learned that Montgomery is not short on good places to eat. My favorite part of the dining experience was the fact that our elderly waitress left the tea and water pitcher on our table so that she could easily fill people's glasses sitting near us. I opted to fill my own whenever I needed to. Penny's gone now, always the worst part of the visit... Kevin's coming up here tonight to bring a second load of stuff as he's finally moving in.

A little story from tonight. Penny's gone, I'm doing laundry, so I have some basketball shorts and a wife beater on, my music pumped up so I can dance around my house and get straight krunk. I push the load in the washing machine and head out to my car to get some shoes out of the back seat. As I walk out and close my door, I can still hear the beat bumpin inside my apartment. Just then, some people in the apartment across from me leave. It's my new neighbor's parents. I didn't know anyone was in there, I didn't expect to see anyone out there, I've been the only tenant in my entire building for the past 2 weeks, so seeing actual people was a surprise. The father looked at me with a slight scowl and said nothing. The mother faked a smile.
"Hi," I said, "Are y'all moving in there?"
"No," the woman replied. "Our daughter is moving in. Her friend will also be living there." The conversation abruptly ended.
Uncomfortable and overly aware of my appearance, I quickly said "I don't normally dress like this.." a little louder than I meant to. "I've been the only person here for two weeks so I didn't think anyone would be out here."
The woman nodded, flashed a quick smile and added, "That's the nice part about being by yourself." The man remained silent as he walked to his car and got in. The woman walked to the passenger's side. I shrugged, went to my car and then returned to my house for the rest of my dance party.

I asked for neighbors and now I got 'em. So far however, they've been a real inconvenience and apparently, they don't approve of the way I dress. They probably think I'm a young punk kid. I have a job! With a briefcase! And clients! Bah...so much for the first impression.

Mmm...Cheesecake

So, yeah it's 10PM and I'm just now getting home. It was a long day (which isn't necessarily bad). I got to hang out with the clients all day, learn some more stuff. It was all good. I got off work a little before 5, we had dinner in The Woodlands at 7, so there was no sense in me coming home between then, so I ran some errands and hung out at The Woodlands Mall. All kinds of interesting people in there. Somehow a group of 4 punks tried to have a quasi-thug look, but retaining their upper class preppiness all the while. They irritated me as they hung out between Banana Republic and Abercrombie, so I moved across the mall to another bench. Anyway, 7 rolled around and I got an abundance of good food, courtesy of my company at The Cheesecake Factory. We had so many appetizers, I filled up on that by the time my food came. And then was dessert. Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake is probably the best thing ever. It's even better than mashed potatoes. Anyway, as I was saying, a long day isn't necessarily bad. So far, all things have been good in Montgomery. I have been blessed with a job that I am liking and a nice little town to come home to. Of course I miss the comfort and friends College Station provides and the family in Corpus, but for now I can call Montgomery "home."

I bought the Lecrae album today in The Woodlands, I've listened to a couple of songs off of it, I was on the phone most of my driving time tonight. But as we already know, it was straight krunk.

Another thing that I think is awesome is a new CD of lullabies. These lullabies are put out by some company (Rock-A-Bye Records Maybe?) to soothe your child, you know typical lullaby stuff. The awesome part: they do it by toning down rock artists. Right now, they've released their first 5 (or so) records, including Metallica of course. Maybe that's something even I could fall asleep to.

And lastly, it's June 1st, which of course is the first day of Hurricane Season. Always an exciting time as we coastal people know. Happy Hunting.

Scotty

First off, a happy birthday to Kevin. He arrived at my door today, accompanied by Jason. They just stopped by to say hello. It was nice to see some faces I hadn't seen in a while. Especially here in Montgomery where familiarity is rare.

I did meet a Scottish man tonight, helped him move a few things in his apartment, which is across the parking lot. Tomorrow at work, a lot of clients will be in for a workshop. This will be a good opportunity for me to learn some things, meet some clients, and eat at the Cheesecake Factory tomorrow night. So I look forward to it.

In other news, I got a wireless router for my apartment since no one around me has wireless for me to steal. Well actually...no one lives around me... Anyway, I encrypted it so that people can't freeload off of me like I was accustomed to doing in Fox Meadows.

And finally, I've discovered that Lecrae has some skills that few can match. He's a rapper that gives all his glory to God. So yeah, he's a Christian rapper. If you think that's whack, give this guy a listen. Hard beats, smart rhymes while spittin the Truth through his lyrics the whole time. I'm kind of upset that I missed this guy when he came to College Station this past semester. I heard he was coming, but at the time had no idea who he was. Here's a portion of his testimony, hip hop style: Take Me As I Am. His crew, Clique 116 (for Romans 1:16) has several other members also commited to spreading the gospel through hip hop. Anyway, check em out. Reach Records.

That's it, I'm out. Keep on rockin and make sure you got clean underwear...

Liquor and Lillies

I'm easing in. It hasn't been too bad. 3 days of work the first week and now, this week will have only 4 thanks to Memorial Day. I had fun yesterday. It was good returning to the farm finally. It's been forever!

In other news, I found yet another notable store in Willis. It's a Liquor store that also sells flowers. I imagine they're trying to give men an excuse to stop there on the way home.

Wife: You didn't stop by the liquor store did you?
Man: No way honey! I stopped by the *hic* florist. I got you a 12 pack...err dozen roses!

Why is it in cartoons, hiccups are a dead giveaway that someone's been drinking. I think that's a much simpler sobriety test.

Anyway, not much else going on. I went to Wells Fargo and Philly Connection during my lunch break today. I'm branching out, trying new food places and learning the city some...well the Northwest side anyway. Tonight I'll be cooking some Sausage and Egg taquitos on my new electric griddle. Thanks Penny!

I got mail today! For the first time since living here, my mail box wasn't empty. And just when I thought I'd been giving out the wrong address. It wasn't much, just one piece of mail. But it was a check from IHS. Which marks not only my first piece of mail here in Montgomery, but also my first paycheck from a big person job. What a day! And now to celebrate, how about those taquitos?

My First Day and Other Lessons From Conroe

Well that was it. My first day is over. It wasn't bad. I don't feel like I accomplished all that much and I have no idea what tomorrow has in store for me (other than lunch with a client). I do know that over the next couple of months, I'll be traveling quite a bit around Texas.

Other than work, I've been doing some other learning. I've learned that people in Conroe are terrible drivers. On my first 4 days here, I daily saw at least one person blatently run a red light (it happened twice yesterday). That doesn't mean it turned red as they were driving under it. It means that it was red long before they got to the white line that you're supposed to stop at and sped through anyway. We don't do that where I come from! Welcome to Houston traffic, I'm very glad I live in Montgomery away from that. All I have to deal with is the speedsters.

Secondly, I learned that the people here sure love having shops that combine random products and services. For instance, on my way to work, I pass by a "Psychic." They have signs offering palm reading, tarot cards, all that nonsense. Surrounding this small building are numerous boats. And a sign sits below the sign reading "Psychic" that says "We Buy Boats!" That's got to be a good sign for the used boating industry. If a psycic is getting into the business, good things are sure to be coming... Right... Also, in Willis yesterday I passed a small shop that had two products. Liquor and Doughnuts. That's all. I can't imagine any reason that someone would decide to open Frank's (I don't remember the name) Liquor and Donuts. Well, maybe they want to provide for the morning commute and the after-work commute... Or maybe, heck, people like holes in their pastries? How about some holes in your liver as well?

The End Of Summer As We Know It

Well, today is my last day of summer. Ever. I guess tomorrow I will be thrown into adulthood. It's been a fun 22 years. Now I'm going to try something else. I'm a little nervous about the job, starting a real, meanigful careeer. I think I like all the people I'm going to be working with and the job. It's just different once you're actually in there everyday. I hope I'm a right fit mainly. It's exactly 15 minutes from here to work. I made the drive this morning at 7:30 to test it out. Then I came home and had a nap. Something everyone should do on the last day of summer. Those naps are going to become nearly extinct.

I'm mainly excited because my Penny is coming up to see me this evening! Apparently she misses me enough to drive the 45 minutes after work. I've missed her too. Well, it's time to do something... I haven't quite decided what yet. But here's what you can do. Read this comic.












The story of my life...

All Moved In

After a few days of moving in, I'm just about settled. I now have internet in my apartment, so I'm not completely disconnected from the world. So far I'm enjoying the town, quaint little place. Too small for me to know anyone yet. A little different than College Station where anywhere I'd go, I would see someone I knew. Plus there I had friends and roommates to do things with. As of now, the person I know the best here is the dude that came out to fix my internet. My roommates did come out here for dinner last night. It was good stuff, I'm glad they came out so we could explore downtown Montgomery together. Well, just wanted to update y'all and let you know that Montgomery is a short 45 minute drive from College Station. That's perfectly doable for those of you that want to come see me. Anna wants to see you too. And now I'll leave you with a historic fact. The birthplace of the Texas flag is Montgomery, Texas. How bout that.

Last Day In College Station

So, it's my last full day in CS. I move tomorrow morning. So now, I sit in my empty room. I need to shower and get on with my day. I've just been packing all morning, but I need to get clean and go eat with Penny now. 4 years is not long enough to have been a resident of College Station, I'm leaving far before my time. But I'll be back, I'll miss College Station and it will definately miss me. Until then, I'll get acquainted with Montgomery. And now, on with my day.

More Packing

So, my old laptop? What am I to do with it? That was a question that came up today. It's sat in the closet for the past several months. Discarded, as it should be with its crashed hard drive and bad RAM. I decided to try and turn it on yesterday, what the heck. The nerds said that it would cost thousands of dollars to salvage the hard drive. Why believe them, right? I can do it for free by just sitting it in the closet and a couple of months later push the power button. No such luck... I returned it to its resting place in the closet. When I came across it today, however, it was time to take action. Most everything in my closet had been boxed up, ready to be shipped out to Montgomery tomorrow. I picked it up again, took it down the hall trying to decide what to do with it. I decided to sit it on the ground, plug it in and try once more. Amazingly, Windows booted up. And there it was! My desktop! I hadn't seen it in so long. Despite it's unstable nature, all the errors and text boxes that kept popping up reminding me that the drive was corrupt, I was amazed that it worked. All the stuff that I was upset about losing was at my fingertips, now if only it'll stay up long enough to allow me to burn it to CD. 8 CDs later, I rescued everything that I had been missing. Most notably, the last CD contained the hundreds of away messages I had created in college. As you may have seen, I've been displaying random selections from the Chris' Comments series. I was so excited. What good fortune! And it provided a nice break from packing all day. That is not a fun thing to do.

I had a short conversation with my across the parking lot neighbor (hippie) on my way to the dumpster. He admitted he liked moving. I don't know if it's something he naturally likes or if he grew to like it. He'd previously told me that he moved 17 times in his life so far. He's not even to his 20's yet. That's a heck of a lot of moving. After our short conversation, he returned to packing himself up for his short move to Bryan. I returned to my boxes, I've had enough of moving already. Nonetheless, I plan on taking another trip to Montgomery tomorrow if anyone cares to join me. It will probably be in the afternoon, 2PM or so. I have some more stuff that needs to get up there to make life easier on Friday.

Well, it's nearing 2AM now. I'm getting old, I'm supposed to be getting on a regular sleep schedule, I guess that didn't happen tonight. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...as long as it's squared away by Wednesday morning, I imagine I'll be ok. I'm hoping we can all do something Friday night in CS too, one last horrah if you will... More details later. I'll see y'all later and I think it's too late to come up with a random made-up saying to insert here. So I'll pass. Good night.

What Now?

Well I'm graduated. It's been a long road. I guess all of my schooling since Pre-K has gone towards this. So how does it feel? (A question nearly everyone has asked me) Well, honestly, not all that different. When I sit and think about it. Not having to sit through another class, something that has become commonplace in the past 18 years. Having to move away to my own place, do my own thing, get a job and actually start a life. Yeah, so when I think about it, it's pretty surreal. It's insane. But just going about life, not really stopping to think about why I'm packing, why I'm signing a lease in a different city and why I've been telling friends goodbye, that's when it gets lost on me. I don't really think about it, I just do it. So to sum up: I don't feel that different yet. I guess it hasn't sunk in and I don't think it will for another week. When I'm thrown into a new life (that in a while will become commonplace as well), that's when I'll feel different. Grown up? Nah, I doubt it. But different. Uncomfortable no doubt.

With all of this graduation talk, I haven't been able to share all the stories I gain from my adventures. Here's a few

Clinton, Jason, and I were going to the park down the road a couple of weeks ago to play some wiffleball. Along the way, we picked up a kid that wanted to play with us. And then another. So we begin trying to play a friendly game. That's when all of the neighborhood kids converged on our park. They came running, they rode their bikes, discarding them in the grass and sprinting over. Some kids even came carrying others. So, within minutes we had over a dozen of kids surrounding us. This was enough to disrupt the game and make us start a couple of alternate games of catch. This also prompted a boy to yell to me (after a perfectly thrown ball no less) "Watching you throw is like watching Michael Jackson getting executed." This was followed by, "That was like watching Forrest Gump 3 times in a row," among other insults that I don't quite understand. He also guessed that I didn't have a driver's license. "I bet you have the knowledge to drive, but you ain't got a license." When he was told that I did he insisted that I "drive one of those old ugly cars." Soon after, he ended up running off with one of the wiffle balls. With a 1-2 Punch of the ice cream truck coming by and the children's mothers calling them home for dinner, we were free to go. We only lost 2 balls in the ordeal. One to Mr. Insults and the other to my new little friend (that one was given to him).

Today I was in Montgomery and it seems that Bob launched an attack on the local schools. All of the area school's marquees were changed to say "Bob Was Here." Interesting little town I'll be moving to. I went to the Wal-Mart about half a mile from my new apartment today and everyone there was pretty friendly. And old. I guess that's to be expected though. I'm not living in a college town anymore.

And lastly, CIS finally got the new van in today. The one I'd been waiting for since January. We'd always joked that they'd get it in the day after I graduated. And lo and behold... Ah well, a little irony never killed anyone.

Alright people, I'll be moving Saturday, so if you want to help out, it'll be a blast. And also, my roommates abandoned me for the week (the last week I'll be here), so if you want to visit me, I've got an empty apartment (don't mind Kitten and Anna) and tons of cake. Seriously, come get a belly full. Until then, get some rest, you got a whole summer in front of you.

Closing Time

15 Minutes till I go home from CIS for the last time. It's actually kind of sad. I'm going to miss all of my co-workers and the friends I've made. I'm going to miss Robin who will no question be the best boss I'll ever have. No more pimpin the university van, which of course makes driving on sidewalks and parking anywhere I please off limits as well. I just finished a small booklet outlining job responsibilities and such for the future generation of student workers, including Ryan who I started training yesterday... It's coming to an end. Work today. Tomorrow graduation. Next week I'll be in Montgomery. Everything that's comfortable and familiar is slowly dissappearing. The next chapter will soon begin. But for now, I'm going to go tell a couple more people bye and collect a few more hugs...

The Ultimate On Campus Bathroom Guide!

When compiling this, I based the ratings on several things: comfort, privacy, reading material, and type of soap. So I bring you my top 7 favorite campus bathrooms in no particular order.

Bio/Bio 1st Floor: This bathroom is relatively private during class time, but between classes you get a variety of people. This was one of my favorite West Campus bathrooms and my most often used. The janitors keep it clean for you and every semester, they put up fun, new, colorful signs reminding you to keep it clean (something other bathrooms lack). For me it's a cozy little place and it makes me feel at home. In addition, someone has usually left a Batt folded on the floor. And additional clean reading material is provided on the wall of the stall, the far stall (roomy handicap stall) has a math equation scratched into the wall... And yes, I have solved it. And then I checked my answer.

Wehner Cox Wing 1st Floor: This bathroom is in the new wing of Wehner, just down from the trading center so you know it's nice. This bathroom is probably the cleanest of all of these listed. There's very little foot traffic through that bathroom during class, so it provides privacy. This bathroom also ranks the highest on reading material because it features on each stall and urinal behind a plastic cover "The Stall Street Journal." This provides short stories, jokes, school tips and inspiration. It's updated often, every week or 2 weeks. And of course, everything in the bathroom is automatic as is the business student standard. Pure Lavatory Luxery.

Sky Walk 2nd Floor MSC/Rudder: Adjacent to one of my top study places. This bathroom looks old, doesn't really have anything special to it. No reading material, no grafitti, no padded seats. But it also has no people. This is one of the most private, comfortable places you can be on campus. Perfect place for a study break...

Academic Building 2nd Floor: This one is Clinton's place. He promises that in the afternoons on the second floor you can enjoy the utmost privacy. These bathrooms also feature windows, so he recommends going in there, sitting back with an open stall and an open window and just relaxing.

Political Science Library: This bathroom is over at the Bush School. I've only been in it once, but it was nice. The bathroom looks nice and is pretty clean. It's a relatively private bathroom in a pretty fancy building.

8th Floor TTI: This is the building in which Pie Are Square is located. This bathroom, since it is on the 8th floor isn't too highly traveled. It's a newer looking bathroom that is pretty clean looking. The biggest strength this bathroom has though is the fact that you'll probably break your "Highest place I ever used the bathroom" record.

Sbisa Bathroom: These toilets see a lot of business no doubt, but surprisingly they stay clean. It's pretty impressive how clean they normally stay. If you don't mind a lack of privacy and having to use an outbound to get in, this bathroom will accomadate you and maybe you can strike up a conversation with the guy in the stall next to you. I've heard several reports of conversations in the Sbisa Bathrooms.

Left to explore: Although we wanted to do it, we have not yet explored the new Engineering building on northside. It's a rather large building and looks like it would have good facilities. Also, the new Rural Health Building is a fancy looking building that I'd be interested in seeing the bathroom of.

That being said, I present you with...
Bathrooms to Avoid:

SCC Bathroom: It has been said that these bathrooms are the stinkiest around. Not to mention they probably get the most foot traffic of anywhere, skip out on these.

Teague 1st Floor: The bathroom on my side of the building is quite unimpressive. First, it's a pretty busy bathroom for one that only accomadates two people at a time. One huge drawback is the lack of hot water at the sink. And also, then men's urinal has the tendancy to overflow, so there's normally a puddle of water on the floor.

Halbouty Bottom Floor: These small, stuffy bathrooms offer exactly what you'd expect in an old building. Plus they're most always cold.

Cain First Floor - A Wing: This bathroom is heavily traveled and just isn't all that clean. The sinks are the huge downfall here. In the men's side, only one of the three sinks actually works and that one promises to splash all over your pants. One more thing that bothers me is the handicap door opens up and gives the hall a full view of the restroom.

Entomology Building: This bathroom is about the size of the one that was in your 1st grade classroom. Not only is it small and stinky, trash finds its way all over the floor and results in a pretty nasty environment.

Commons Bathroom: I haven't been to this bathroom in a couple of semesters, but it hasn't changed I'm sure. This bathroom is incredibly busy and stays dirty. There is however, always some good graffiti on the wall thanks to the Corps boys.

Weird Concept

I remember freshman year reading away messages of those that were graduating. Now, here I am with an away message proclaiming that I am done with school forever. What a weird concept. It's something back then that I didn't even think of, but now it's a reality. I took my last final today, I don't know when the next time I return to Wehner will be. Over the past 4 years I've spent most of my class time sitting in Wehner and now I have no reason to be there. Weird. So the future is here, yes. It's in my face, on my away message, and now on my calendar. I'll be moving to Montgomery on the 20th, the 24th is the first day of my new job (and the rest of my life) in Conroe. All I have left to do here is graduate and then there's really nothing else for me. So I'll head wast. Well...about 50 miles east.

Cats and Classes

Alright Kidaroos, I don't know how much time I have left here. I graduate in 8 days, beyond that it's a question mark. I'll be going to Conroe tomorrow to discuss things with the company. But it seems now that I won't be alone in going to Conroe.

This little kitten has been living in the parking lot, down by the dumpster. When we met her, some girls that had been feeding her pizza crusts were out there with her. I ended up taking her into my house and putting up flyers for her. I doubt anyone will come forward and claim her, so I imagine she's my new kitten. Tentively called Little Cat, she doesn't have a real name yet. She's a sweet little thing though...as long as she's not sharpening her claws on my Mays Business School portfolio or waking me up at 5AM...

Anyway, onto my college tips. Let's begin with classes. Need 3 hours of electives? Not sure about your professor? Here's a handy guide to my favorite professors and easiest classes around. And if this doesn't help, umm...ask MB for my Pickaprof password which she is keeping alive for the next several years! Thanks MB!

With my only A's freshman year coming from MATH 141, 142 and Geology, I'll share a couple of hints. First, if Jen Whitfield is still around, she's no doubt the best Math professor to take. If Ruvane Marvitt is still around, he's no doubt the craziest one around. I'd strongly urge you to avoid him, the only way I even knew what was going on in class was from teaching myself from the book, not fun, but effective. Second, if you take Geology, just know that the lab is going to be the most boring hours of your life...

If you're going to take accounting, seek out Charley Clark. He teaches night classes because he's a CPA during the day. He's a great guy and the best ACCT prof I ever had.

The best class I ever had was the History of Rock Music. It was MUSC 200 that semester, which happened to be the first semester it was ever offered. I had H. Berger (the H did not stand for Ham unfortunately) and it counted as a Performing/Visual Arts credit. My final grade was something like a 98, it was interesting, and it's actually knowledge that I apply (in Trivial Pursuit mostly...). So if you need an arts credit, check into that, but make sure it's still acceptable as an arts credit, otherwise it's a great elective.

ECON is a tough subject for me, but for 203 I had Nelson (not Neilson) and he was one of the funniest, most effective professors I've ever had. With a dry sense of humor that I appreciate and a manner comparable to Will Ferrel, he was a professor I seeked out to take more classes from. If you have to take Econ, take it from this guy.

Elective Alert! If you need an elective and you're a U1 or U2, Intro to Business (MGMT 105) is for you. It's a class all the althetes take to boost their GPA first of all. And secondly, it's taught by the number one best professor at A&M, Ben Welch. I had him for 2 classes (MGMT 363 and 105) and aced both classes with very minimal effort. But he's a great guy, he's geniuine, caring, and he'll keep you laughing. If you ever get a chance to take a class from him, do it. Especially 363, because the alternative professor is tough, but Welch only teaches that one during the summer. 105 is taught strictly by Benny, but that class fills up quickly.

MGMT 211 may very well be the toughest class you take, be aware of that. Don't take it at the same time as any other reading intensive class. Swim's a good guy though. Strict, but a good guy, no matter what Nick says.

Sociology of Sport was a tougher elective than I was looking for, I got a B, but the class was somewhat interesting and did not require too much reading (very rare in SOCI classes).

Alright, now for my favorite MKTG professors:

Dr. Busch was my favorite professor. He's kind of zany, but he cares for his students, I probably had the best relationship with him than I did any other professor here, he offered me advice about when I talked to him about pursuing grad school (he's also a grad school prof). His classes are very interactive.

DeWald is a very good guy with a sense of humor. He teaches the intro class, so even non Business majors can get this guy as a prof, and I highly recommend it.

Lampo is a nice woman, I enjoyed her Retail class and did well in it. Her classes are very project intensive, but the projects are interesting. I enjoyed her as a prof, but her 347 class brought me my only B in MKTG...

Jelena Spanjol is not a name I thought I'd put on this list at the beginning of the semester. Early on she scared me (I think this was on purpose). I seriously wanted to switch to another professor, I was worried. But towards the middle of semester, we saw that she wasn't so tough. The class was tough, but she was a fair teacher who was concerned that her students learned. We built a good relationship with her and on the last day of class, we went and met her at Fitz's.

Mona Srivastava was hard to learn to spell, but she was a fun, energetic prof. I really enjoyed her as a professor and if you need to take Buyer Behavior, take it from her.

I guess that's all I have about that. A lot of rambling I know, I'm sure not many of you will get any use out of this at all, so luckily I am working on a suppliment for you entitled: The Ultimate On Campus Bathroom Guide!

No More Class

Fountain Hopping last night was superb. Probably the best round of hopping, we even hit all the fountains. Well, except for the one at the Bush Library, but that was just to avoid being shot at by secret service...

So, I would say it's a weird feeling never having classes again. I'm never going to sit in an college classroom again and learn. Almost as odd was having the professor of my exit level MKTG class take us out to Fitz's yesterday. It was actually a good time, but I'd never hung out with a professor outside of class before.

Alright, I had 4 minutes to type, so now I'm out. Talk to y'all later and just keep the toast poppin.

One Last Paper

I just finished the last paper I'll ever have to write for school! Now onto Lynn's for dinner. I just wanted to inform everyone and cry out in victory. Also, please note that the fountain hopping tomorrow has been moved 15 minutes to 8:45. So, meet at 8:30 at The Ranch or 8:45 at Cain. I'll see y'all there to rock it all over campus one last time.

Fountain Hopping World Tour!

Random Advice for the Masses

Well it seems that it's about time for things to start slowing down and begin falling in place. It appears that I have a job, my classes are just about done, so onto the next chapter... But more about that at a later time. With all the responses (and stories and 2AM phone calls) I got from my last post, it's time for some more advice.

So what else did I learn in college besides where to study? Well plenty, but I don't know if the rest can be organized easy enough to be put in a simple catagory, so here you go. Random advice in no particular order...

1. Sit next to people in class. I was afraid my freshman year to do so, but eventually you'll want to meet as many people as you can in your own major, so make some friends, whether it be INFO Heathers or ACCT Annas. It's good to know you're going to have some friends in your MKTG classes on the first day of the semester so you don't have to worry about sitting alone. And if you don't know anyone, don't sit alone. And also, don't forget the girl's name that you sit next to on the first day of school... It makes you feel like a jerk...

2. Use the Rec. Blah blah, yeah I know, I didn't use it to its fullest extent, but it's good advice. You pay for it, there's plenty there to do. You need to get some sort of excercise and there are plenty of options there including Rock Climbing, Basketball, Soccer, Swimming, and Dance Classes. Intermurals are fun, don't let the deadlines pass you by.

3. Write to the Mail Call. You got something to say? Put it in the Mail Call! Let your voice be heard. It gets your opinions out there, whether it's on funding for public education or the clothing the editorial cartoon characters wear. It entertains us and gives you something to post on your fridge if it gets printed. Plus, how else would you be able to claim, "You know those automatic doors at the SCC that have been broken for 6 months? I got them fixed."

4. Go Fountain Hopping. Tour the campus by taking a refreshing dip in the area fountains! There's plenty around to fill up a night, it's a great activity to look forward to at the end of the semester. Get your start next Monday, May 1 at 8:45PM. Mark your calendars, meet at Cain, and let's party.

5. Find something you love to do and do it. If you like to play basketball with your roommates, do it. Attend sporting events, make your friends quilts, cook, play wall ball! Doing something you love is a great stress reliever, it'll counter out school which is a great stress causer.

6. Avoid Texas Avenue.
7. Don't pull an all nighter.
8. Set aside time each week for a meal with a friend.
9. Cook sometimes instead of eating out.
10. Forgive.
11. Learn something new! It's college after all...
12. Meet people.
13. Don't hit the bikers.
14. Smile at the squirrels.
15. Know why you're in a relationship.
16. Don't put your neo address on online forms, unless you want plenty of spam. Also, mark your information private on MyRecord.tamu.edu to avoid receiving calls and junk mail from marketers (the bad kind).
17. Be goofy with your roommates. Sing a song, record a video, play hall ball.
18. Try and get to know your neighbors, it's safe, it's fun, and you might meet a great girl...
19. Go to church, spend time with the Lord and Pray. It's not a burden your parents put on you in High School, it's a privilage.
20. Don't waste your money at 4.0 & Go. Go to SIs, have a study group, get review sheets...
21. Don't take your friends for granted.
22. Laugh at yourself, it's ok.
23. Know the resources the university offers. Aside from computer repair, cheap software, libraries, there are other lesser known resources, such as Student Life, which offers Free legal services and notaries.
24. Visit an art gallary, there's like 3 in the MSC alone.
25. Know the history and traditions of A&M, that's what makes this place special. Go to Muster and Silvertaps. Start your own tradition! And say Howdy!

Above all, enjoy the experiences. Don't take them for granted. It'll be over before you know it and you'll look back and not know where the time went. This is most likely going to be the best time in your life. Don't miss out.

Also, if you have time. Perform a musical in your class. Musicals just don't make sense in real life. It's probably the coolest thing you could do...

That's all the time I have now, so hopefully I've given adequate advice. Heed it, I'm your elder. And perhaps next week I'll have time to give you the low down on my favorite on campus bathrooms...

And as always, keep your watch on time and make that grill shine.

Galveston

Yeah, so here I am. I made it to Galveston safely. Moody Gardens has got it going on. Big place it's quite a bit different than the hotels I'm used to where you park just outside your room... I think I prefer that to having to park in this garage and taking the elevator up to floor 6. Parking, getting out of your car, taking 10 steps and being in your room is a lot quicker of a process.
Oh well, it's a fancy place and if anyone wants to join me, I have an extra queen sized bed waiting for you. Anyway, so I'm just about grown up (check the haircut). Hopefully I'll like what I see tomorrow and so will they. So, let's blog a little so I can get back to staring out the window at the new Schlitterbahn park...

I don't have much to say, my head is pretty congested and my nose won't stop bothering me. Leaves little room for thought. So I'll just speak quickly about something I learned today (we'll get back to the student handbook when I return to CS). It seems that Phillips has developed the technology to do one of two things. 1. Allow a television viewer to completely cut out commercials (I'm not completely sure how this is done). Or 2. Allow an advertiser to lock the station when their commercial comes on so that the viewer has no choice but to watch it. Now this is an either, or thing. They're trying to get a patent on the technology and I imagine it will be sold to whoever they think they can get the most money from. I think the latter is quite unethical and seems a little Big Brotherish to me. I don't want a company dictating to me what I have to watch. As if consumers don't distrust advertisers enough already...

That's all. My nose is running and my stomach is growling, so I'm peacing out.

Location, Location, Location

Well, it's getting closer. I'll probably have a job before the week's out. It's exciting, but at the same time a little scary and sad. Time to move on with life I suppose. I'm feeling a little somber and nostalgic as I write this. It's probably due to the Breaking Point song that's playing in the background. Well, with the short time I have here at work, let's get down to business.

To begin, let me give you some tips I picked up throughout college on studying. And as a good Business student, let me first tell you, it's all about Location, Location, Location.

The location is important, pick a place where you aren't distracted. Don't sit anywhere near instant messanger, sitting at the kitchen table may work unless you have a roommate that asks you questions like, "Hey. What do you think I'd do if someone busted through that window behind you and yanked you out? I think I'd keep studying..." For me, the best places to study were places that enjoyed and actually felt in the "study zone." I tried places like Sbisa, Denny's, and even Taco Bell which were alright if you don't mind the noise, free refills are a nice bonus.

However, I had a couple of "secret places" that were most useful to me. So, since I'm graduating, I'll give the secrets out:

1. Walk the Sky - My number one favorite place to study was in the skywalk on the second floor between Rudder and the MSC. Very cozy place, comfortable chairs, easily accessable bathroom, and the hallway is a perfect place to race your roommate as a study break. The windows along the hall provide a nice view of Rudder Plaza and the fountain.
2. Roundtable Discussion - A rendition of this for study groups would be in the 2nd floor lobby of Rudder at night. It's unlocked and the large round desk accomadates study groups nicely.
3. Secret Classrooms - The MSC also provides the best atmosphere for a group to study. Find your way up to the 3rd floor of the MSC (the stairs up there are on the hotel side of the MSC). It's a small floor, there are a couple of classrooms up there that are Never used. Dead silent, big rooms and your own bathroom. Thanks to Clinton for showing me that one freshman year.

There are also a couple of little-known locations for studying or groups requiring computer access:

1. Read Up - Read Lab. Heard of it? Not many have. It's open till 8 and is rarely even a quarter full. Plenty of computers around. It's room 150 in the Read building (adjacent to G Rollie). Most confusing building on campus, I know. Worth the find though.
2. Teague Building - Yeah, it's where I work, so that's how I found this place... The front entrance (facing the Commons) houses 4 computers. This section of the building is open 24 hours and at night is completely dead, allowing perfect privacy, peace, and quiet.

I visited each of these locations at some point during the year, so if I disappeared studying, this is where I went. But now that y'all can't interupt my studying, enjoy.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm heading to Galveston Tuesday night with a company, they're putting me up in Moody Gardens, I'm excited to attend this convention they hold, hearing more about the company and actually getting to meet some customers and see how they interact with the company. But this of course means I miss my last soccer class... How sad. Only a few days of class left. That's insane.

Later on kids, keep it hot and serve the fries on the side.

My Time In Aggieland

Alright, interview went very well, I finished up with most of my graduation invitations, I reviewed my bible study for tonight, now what? Oh. I'll check the mail. Alright, I'm back empty handed... As I ventured to the mailbox, I noticed that the sky is rather dark and it just felt outside as though it was about to begin pouring. No worries though, the tatooed dude across the parking lot was sitting outside shirtless, clipping his toenails and talking to his roommate. A girl a couple of buildings down was cleaning out her car. And the "Liberate Fritz" fliers we posted on the mailbox were still there. I'm going to miss college. Where else do you have this type of atmosphere?

22 days until I graduate from college... Read that aloud, how crazy is that? I am about to graduate from Texas A&M University. Didn't I just get here? How many days ago was I that goofy freshman that didn't know his way around campus that obviously skipped out on fish camp due to his utter lack of knowledge about traditions and other things that pertained to A&M? Well, apparently it's been four years. It's been a long road, but it was traveled quickly. I got lost in Academic Plaza, I was scared to sit next to people in class, I was overtaken by this completely new experience. I learned to love it. Aggieland has brought the most amazing experiences to my life. I now, not only know all of the traditions and facts that make A&M the most wonderful place on earth, I preach them as well.

I've learned so much here; life lessons, school lessons, heck, I even learned where Buffalo, Texas is. So, now I think I'm going to share some of those with you all over the next couple of blogs. Maybe it will be practical help for current students or future students (I know I have at least one Class of 2015er reads this). So here you go, knowledge without the price of tuition. Enjoy.

One Question

Another day, another interview. What was life like without these things all the time? I don't quite remember.

A Late Night Blogging

It's nearing midnight and I have a bit of time to blog. Today was Clinton's birthday. Happy birthday old man! We all ate at Rudy's, but more importantly, we gathered around to finally watch In The Bag. It's quite an eye-opening cartoon. Thank you for bringing it into our lives. And thank you Humphry the Bear for showing us how to truly pick up the trash and put it in the bag...Bump Bump.

Tonight, I also found a group on Facebook called "I Won't Lie, Thanks To Wireless Internet I Now Use My Laptop In The Bathroom. I was somewhat surprised that I actually knew 2 of the 4 members... Well...more impressed than surprised, I'm not going to lie.

And lastly, another comic. Why not? This time it's from a strip called Brevity. It's no Pearls Before Swine, but this one made me laugh...

Hey Buckaroos

Yo dawgs, I don't really have anything to be talking about right now, but I do have some rare free time at work... Interview went well on Friday, I'm excited about returning to talk to them again. It's going to be a pretty hectic and crazy week as usual and I'm going home for Easter on Thursday, that will be good. I'm going out with Penny tonight, I look forward to that. Also, be on the look out for Robert Pagenkopf trading cards, they've hit the street and are looking pretty good. I picked up several around campus. I hope he'll autograph them. Alright, I'll be back later this week. In the meantime, keep it real and savor the flavor.

F Minus is my favorite...

I'm Most Likely Never Going To Sleep Again

1.5 hours of sleep last night, work this morning, an interview in Conroe, and I can't even nap? This is frustrating and quite inconvenient. I'm going to Sonic to get some food and a caffeinated beverage. I suppose caffeine will now take the place of sleep in my life. And I don't even know if I can spell it right...

My Parking Lot

A bird was hopping around the parking lot. He was dancing circles around the orange that had found its way into the center of the parking lot. The orange wasn't as round as it had been this morning. Since then, it had been smashed into the pavement by a passing car, leaving the orange peeled and partially squeezed much to the bird's delight. He was either afraid to commit to eating the tasty treat or else he was dancing a celebration jig. Whatever the case, it prompted me to encourage him, "Go eat that orange little bird!" Taking my focus off of the bird, I glanced up to see if my neighbor had fixed his car window and noticed a girl from a few buildings down staring at me with a concerned look. We put the blame on this girl for stealing Fritz, a lost dog that we saw on a flyer. The expression onher face didn't bother me much. Who is she to judge me anyway? So, I talk to birds. At least I don't steal pets...

My Book

I thought about it tonight. I decided that for my new job, I'll write books. I've already begun on my first. And by that I mean, I came up with a catchy title. So look on shelves soon for I Can Download A Song In 30 Seconds While Sitting On The Toilet And Other Reasons to Not Hate Technology.

I'll give a free copy to Clinton and Clay.

Kick in the Face

So here it is. The loss of power we're experiencing at work has the ability to slow everything down and give me a chance to blog. It actually had the power to stop time, according to the clock whose hands are hovering right on 2:43. This computer however is on the backup generator.

So, it's been that kind of semester. A long, tough semester with a lack of blogs. And as for this week, it's definately been that kind of week. A kick in the face by reality. The kind that gets your attention. As your future stands right before you waving its arms as if to say, "Hey how could you not have seen me," you begin to wonder yourself how you failed to recognize it. But it's been standing there, ready to dump its load of challenges on your back. Graduation, jobs, leaving. That's just the beginning. With my classes this semester giving me more problems than I've ever dealt with in school, my mind was already preoccupied. And now my grandmother, which could actually be read as "my second mother," is in the hospital undergoing a terribly rough megadose of Kemotherapy. It was something that I'd been expecting, something that was on the calendar in my mind. I knew it was going to be happening soon, but soon and now are so very different. The load of Worry is heaped on my back. And then, constantly finding rejection letters from companies in my email just added to it. A month till graduation and no idea where I'm going to be or what I'll be doing there. This was especially hard Monday, when I received an email from a company that I interviewed with. I thought the interview went very well and I'd followed up with them and everything. It was a place I thought I could fit and it would bring me back to Corpus. It would be so much easier to plan things if rejection letters aren't a reality. But there was the email, thanking me for my time and promising to keep my resume on file. It seems that many companies are going to keep my resume. I'd appreciate it if they gave it back to me instead so I wouldn't have to print anymore out. They're not going to use it. Thanks for the consolation gift... Bitterness and uncertainty add to the pile.

So with updates about Granna coming in from mom, yet another rejection letter sitting in my inbox waiting to be read, and the semester winding down, the future had presented itself and it wasn't something I was prepared to handle. The load is topped off with helplessness.

I went to bed Tuesday night, as I do most nights, with the aid of sleeping pills. I awoke well beofre my alarm went off on my one day to sleep in. Which merely means sleeping until 8:45. But, as I turned my head to look at my clock, my neck let out a pop, which is never a good thing to hear. It was at this point that a sharp pain that extended from my neck to below my shoulder blade began. The muscles that were already tight stiffened and refused to let me turn my head to the right and made it quite a task to rotate my right shoulder. I described it to the chiropractor later that morning and told him about the sharp pain in my upper back and the dull pain throughout the rest of my body. He felt around and told me that he was quite impressed how extremely tight the right side of my back was. He ended up doing his procedure which included adjusting me and massaging my muscles. He told me that I had a knot in my back about the size of a golf ball which was 3 layers of muscles deep. He asked, "Have you been under any stress?"

Stress can take form in many strange ways. Whether it's sending out your resume to companies in New Jersey because you're freaked out or it's your body that gives beneath the weight of the load you've been trying to carry. Well I get the point.

What happened? I usually don't get down or stressed by these things. They happen, normally I deal. I guess this feeling of helplessness overcame me. It's a tough thing to face, the future isn't in your hands. Uncertainty is not a comfortable place to be. So it's now that I need to remember that the future has never been in my hands and honestly it doesn't belong there. These circumstances, this future of mine standing in my path, mocking me had distracted me from where I should fix my eyes. Let me tell you that I'm a big fan of the book of James. One verse that I try to keep near to me is James 1:4. "Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and have everything you need." I mean it's on my facebook profile, it must be important to me, right? Dang, I wish. That mindset obviously was overtaken by my selfish nature. The Lord has been with me through everything, he's there as my source of strength. And when I don't bank on that, but instead turn and try to do things myself, I crumble beneath the load. Patience is key. It's something I thought that I had, but it's a battle to remain patient. Patience means reliance on God. It's tough. It shouldn't be, but with my simple, forgetful and just plain ignorant mind, it's something that I stray from. It's always been in His hands, I basically need to get over myself (which shouldn't be hard if you compare sinful me to my awesome, holy, and loving God) and just trust Him. A big part of this reliance comes from turning over everything to the Lord, including this huge load I'd been forcing myself to carry. And with reliance on God, comes patience. And with patience, comes no worries because I will be satisfied in Him. And with my burdens and my worries cast on His strength I will be happy, I'll be complete, I'll have everything I need. He will replace this load of worry and grief with bountiful satisfaction. What good is worrying, why do I need to be able to plan out everything right now? I don't. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus said that. Matthew wrote it down: Matthew 6:33-34. It's something I needed to write down as well. This is all something I needed to work through to understand how stupid I've been. I mean I know that God has a plan for my life and everything will work for His good. I believe that. But how closely do I hold that truth? Well, over the past couple of weeks, my grasp on that has been severely loosened. So now as I strive to regain that grip, I typed this. And it's an amazing truth that can save me so much strife. With all of this needless stress, what could be better than refocusing my eyes and seeing that this big, bad future that was staring me in the face has been resting in God's hands all along. As I said, it was mainly for my benefit, but I know some of you are carrying a much bigger load than I am, so hopefully you'll get something out of this too...

I know some people have said that since they never get to see me anymore, they'd have to find out things through my blog. And I haven't even been updating that. Well here you go, this is what's been going on. And for those of you that I miss a lot, but make myself so busy that I never get a chance to see you, I'm sorry. I want to make time for my friends, I no doubt will be ranting in future posts about graduation and all that, but I'd much rather discuss it with you in person. Face-to-face communication most definately was a better invention than the blog.