Curse you Nicholas Sparks!

It took me 3 hours to clean my room, and within three days it was already a maze again. I know exactly what my problem is, too; clothes. I don’t take the time to hang up my work shirts, or fold my jeans and put them away. Instead, everything ends up draped over chair backs and from my bunk bed. When I come back with a basket of freshly laundered clothes, they end up sitting in the basket and I just dig through it to find my attire for the day. My shoes pile up because I don’t want to take the time to go into the closet to put them away, sorted nicely into running and dress shoes, strictly casual and multi purpose. Everything I wear ends up piling up, and then I don’t want to deal with it once it gets there, but I think it isn’t a problem before it piles up. In other words, and in a much shorter version, I am not overly organized.

A less stressful mess would be the papers and books that lay strewn around my room. I have old workouts, letters, brainstormed ideas for books or short stories, doodles, random notes I took about animal populations in 11^th century Scandinavia, a motley assortment of novels and series of books that I have yet to finish ranging from Jane Austin to Bernard Cornwell to Rahl Dahl, and then the ever present emails that I found to funny to get rid of. I just need to sort all this crap; the clothes and the papers. I need a system that works for me. As long as it works, I should be okay with it. It needs to be simple, straight forward, effective, and lazy. Or maybe I should just use my hangers and trash can more.

I am also doing a very dangerous thing for a 23 year old single male; I am reading Nicholas Sparks. Now before you point and laugh too hard, know that I am already dying of embarrassment as it is a little bit. But what makes it bad (instead of simply red face flushing humility) is that the characters seem to be so perfect for each other… and then I want that… and it just isn’t realistic! For a guy to expect a woman who is strong, yet caring and vulnerable, or a woman to hope beyond hope to find that sensitive yet manly individual is most likely setting them up for disappointment. I know it does happen, but most of the time it doesn’t. Now, since I is a Sparks novel someone is obviously going to die, and I haven’t gotten to that part quite yet, but I am sure I will bawl my eyes out when it does happen, and that I am not looking forward to. And regarding expectations, it not only sets unreasonably high requirements that I may hold for my future partner, but dang do I feel bad about myself. So far in this book, the guy has a perfectly trained dog (I can hardly get mine to sit), he walked across the country (I have only ever gone about 25 miles in one day), he served in the Marine Corps (pretty dang manly, if I do say so myself), fixed the brakes on a car (I know how to fill up the gas tank), plays EVERY FRIGGIN INSTRUMENT OUT THERE (can’t even read bloody music), and is caring, sweet, attentive, sensitive, loving, passionate, knowledgeable, and all around friggin awesome. It’s like being constantly up against Mr. Darcy, but without the character flaws or pride, or prejudice (haha, see what I did there?) that causes him to be a grumpy cat in the sight of others. I think I would rather be standing next to Homecoming and Prom King, the captain of the soccer team (we didn’t have a successful football team, so I left them out of this), and those two foreign exchange students that everyone thinks are, like, oh so dreamy. At least they are all fallible people and not these perfectly emotionally stable creatures that have bodies described as ‘a waist of nothing but muscle and skin,’ too… balls. And look at that, my self-esteem just called. It’s at the airport and wants to know if I want a post card from Sicily.

On a bright note, I was able to get a couple days of sun, mostly due to football practice, and my skin is maintaining that slightly reddish brown tint that I like so much. I keep thinking I am ahead of schedule with getting a good base for summer, but then two things come to mind. First, I work indoors all the time, and will only rarely get out, so having a tan is nowhere near important for me, in all reality. Second, it is June this weekend. I am not ahead of schedule, but it has been rainy and dreary so much I continue to think it is only April. Well, so much for ending on a good note.

Ender Excitement

The biggest portion of my life right now is class selection. That is right. I am going through the near arduous task of picking what subjects to suffer through after not being a student for more than two years. I have also added a Major to my course load, but really it is simply upping my History minor to a major.  If everything goes as planned, I will be able to finish up everything in a normal two semesters.

Now come the questions though; I need to know which natural science course to take (yeah, I still haven’t taken my GS4) as well as an Upper level Biennium 1. None of the upper religion classes seem exceptionally appealing to me, and only a few are even moderately appealing. Can people just start throwing me some suggestions on which courses are easy, profs to avoid, simple labs, inexpensive text books, etc. I don’t want to head back to school with an overly strict ‘be exactly obedient you simple students’ teacher. I know it is college, but I can still go through it relaxed and a bit laid back. It got me this far.

Some other news includes the graduation of my cousin Andrew. He finished up his senior year at Notre Dame academy in GB and looks forward to spending some time in Sheboygan this summer. I will be excited to have him around. I have some fun workouts that I want him to be a part of. We will be testing him out this next weekend when he joins our Saturday morning group. Last week for the Satruday workout, as I mentioned in my fitness blog, Mark and I started the workout alone, so we figured we would throw ourselves into the 300 workout. Mark made it to the end of the ab routine, took a minute break, then heaved up whatever he had put down so far that morning behind the barn. By the time he tossed, my legs were already shaking fairly uncontrollably. Most everything was tough to do, but I found that a static hold of the weight was particularly troublesome; it is something I never train at, so I am going to tray and lock out my arms for a couple team exercises this weekend, and see how tough and challenging that is. Also, the plain old deadlift. I have not done a great deal of dead lift recently for a few reasons, but between the floor wipers and deadlift, my back and abs, my whole friggin core, is still rather sore. But I completed the workout in 18:29 on my first try.

I am also reading Ender’s Game again. I found someone who would read it this summer, and I am hoping they like it so that they will go see the movie with me come November, but I decided I wanted to read it before I lend my book out, so I am trying to sneak reading time in wherever I can, and I’m doing a pretty good job of it, as long as I stay awake. I love this book so much.

this is last weeks. this weeks is coming soon!

What do you do when a Special Agent calls you? When he wants to set up a meeting? When he wants to go through a background check? Well, I got three Calls from a Special Agent this week asking me if I would be willing to meet him and go through a background check. Ummmmm, excuse me? I have thoughts fleeting through my mind that I am Keanu Reeves from Matrix, or James McAvoy in Wanted. I’m not even a pencil pusher in my office. I stand at my teller window and smile at everyone that walks past, cordially handling people’s transactions as they walk up or call in. A well trained monkey might very well be able to do my job. But a well trained monkey doesn’t get a call from Special Agents. What if I am being recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D.? Do I have super powers?!?! Oh, my gosh, I’M CHRIS EVANS!!! (looks down at slightly sagging belly and catch a glimpse of slender arms and frizzy, flyaway hair in the mirror) Nope, not Chris Evans. Green Lantern, maybe? No aliens means that is a no go. Maybe I got bit by a Spider! (reassess stomach) I’m no Peter Parker. I guess I’m just some guy Special Agent (name goes here) feels needs to be interviewed. Instead, I am simply a wannabe.

And since I am such a wannabe, I will have the world know; I wannabe a SPARTAN!!! So I freakin’ love history as it pertains to the human confrontation that shaped the world we live in. I appreciate stories of political intrigue, and really enjoy the economic concepts that drove so many of the changes, how religion impacted the immigration of masses influencing boundaries, changing world powers. But the lives of the warriors really has a draw for me. How did Viking berserkers live day-to-day, and train for the pressures of battle? What was the upbringing of Mongolian horseman under Ghengis Khan? Were Spartans of Immortals or Samurai simply cold and calculating men so ingrained in the duties and responsibilities of their calling that there was room for naught else? I am currently reading Gates of Fire, a novel about the Battle of Thermopylae, and I am loving it. It is the story of a single boy, a Greek whose home was destroyed by a false ally. As he departs his razed city, a man, delirious with fear and maddened by grief, screams out to  him that the city would have been saved by but a score of Spartan, by a single Spartan. After living as a cityless free born for two years, ravaging the farms he could, at one point being caught and nailed by his hands to a board, he eventually travels to Sparta, believing that in them he will gain the courage, bravery, and training he needs to avenge the loss of his family when he was 10. I am coming near the climax of the story, and it is engaging and informative. It is like The Saxons Tales was for Norse warriors, or Birth of an Empire was for Mongols. Or Ender’s Ga- oh wait, sorry, that one is futuristic fiction. Sorry. But I am currently on my Spartan draw, and I, at this time, want to be the elite warrior of the Greek city states of old.

I would also like to talk about SNC graduation. It was held this past Sunday (Mother’s Day), and I was able to make it up for a few parties, and I got to see some people I hadn’t seen since I left, and some I hadn’t seen since my freshman year (Kaleigh!). I got to hug my school mom, visit with my Zumba instructor, hang out with my old staff, re-visit with my old forensics competition, watch Harry Potter with future graduate mates, and spend some quality time with my family line. I definitely did not get to see everyone, but there is next year for that. I will be back, my friends, on the beautiful campus beside the (probably toxic and mutated) Fox River.

For Mother’s Day, my mommy got up too early for me to make her breakfast, so I simply poured her a bowl of cereal, and, in quoting a Gaelic Storm song, asked if she could get a spaceship in her cereal bowl. I laughed at her telling her I could not do that for her, but when she turned her back I grabbed the nearest bottle of carbonated flavored water and began to cut out fins and wings from a cereal box (I don’t think I have ever typed cereal this many times in my life!), and taped them all together and made a fun little spaceship for my mum. She loved it. The only problem was that the cap was the nose, so it would only be able to go backwards. Oh well! It is still sitting in the fridge, cardboard and all. Well, at Festival today, a man was checking out and dropped a bottle of Fanta. It landed on its tip. It exploded and shot across the floor, straight into our teller counter. Bloody orange spaceships…

Inspire me, my friends!!!

For the same reason that my workout blog was postponed, my regular blog was put on pause. I have not found that I have been very productive or proactive in any way. I have attempted to be rather lackadaisical. I started watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Amazon Instant Video. I have been going to bed rather early (previous to 10 3 or 4 times in the last 2 weeks). I am even lacking the drive to get up and eat some days because I have convinced myself that the couch is simply too comfy.

I believe this might have stemmed from finishing season 6 of Doctor Who. As with most any series that I obtain an appreciation for, I find myself wanting. When My mom and I finished Chuck, we simply looked at each other and physically connected “let’s just start over and pretend we never finished.” After I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, I looked at all the books I had arrayed on my shelves, and gave in to my refusal to admit the end. I re read the whole series. I am constantly watching movies again, re-reading books, going back through my favorite TV series, because I miss the stories, the excitement, the characters, their struggles. I want to be Neal Caffrey, or Charles Bartowski, sit through a Charms class with Professor Flitwick, or patrol Ahnk-Morpork with Carrot Ironfundersson, or, or, or, or.

I guess what this means is that I find my life too boring. FAAAAAARRRR too boring. So I ask the people who read this to give me ideas or inspiration for their favorite activity or best lifestyle choice, or whatever it is that brings the most joy and excitement into their daily life, cause work and exercise with food and sleep sprinkled in just isn’t doing it for me anymore.

i need to be regular!

Work has been rather taxing as of late. Usually, it was Tuesdays that I would get off. I would work open to close Monday and Thursday, and shorter shifts Wednesday and Friday. Saturday I would either work open to close or a 10-3 shift, depending on who else was working. Now, considering our staffing issues, I have a very sporadic schedule. I had Monday off two weeks, ago, Wednesday last week, Thursday this week, Tuesday next week, then Wednesday the following week, and I the nights that I close now include Tuesdays on a regular basis, meaning that I am unable to attend rugby practice 3 of the next 5 weeks. I can't get into any patterns. I wake up every day unsure of what is going on. It kinda sucks.

Kilts; they are so wonderfully comfortable. They allow for near complete range of motion. They are semi-stylish in that odd ‘that doesn’t go with anything, so it casually clashes with everything’ type way. A kilt is also great attire for a formal occasion. All you have to do is know which family tartan it is, research their history a little bit, and wear a bow tie and some flashy sneakers with it. I did just that this weekend. It was once again time for the annual Roncalli High School Auction. I was once again auctioned off as a server for ‘The Best Seat in the House.’ It is located in the middle back of the room and allows an unimpeded view of the entire room from a comfortable set of lawn chairs and a table. I hustled around through the entire event for a few hours at the beck and call of Chris and Rick, a wonderfully fun and generous couple who invited most anyone who was walking past to have a drink with them. They had a great deal of fun bidding on more oral auction items and eventually invited me to have a seat at the table with them as the oral auction drew to a close. We discussed other fund raisers they have helped organize, their personal business ventures, and they were kindly interested in my goals and plans for the future. It was a very fun evening, and I look forward to next year when I can do it all again.

I also had football practice this weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I took the majority of snaps at h-back, a combination of running back and receiver. I had a few simply bad drops in warm ups, but performed better in game simulation drills. I found I really need to work on my jumping skills. I have a pathetic vertical and got over thrown on at least 3 occasions, but another 3 inches would have given me enough height to reach it, though probably still not enough body control to bring in the catch. I find that I am now rambling slightly, but being able to spend three hours on a sunny afternoon practicing football was a ton of fun. I now have a perfect farmers tan, compliments of the compression shirt I wore. My arm goes from white to red on a perfect line of my upper arm. I am bruised, sore, and scabbed. My legs were shaking and my busted foot was screaming with pain, but I had a great deal of fun, learned a lot, and met some guys that I had not been introduced to before. I am very excited for the upcoming season.

And then there is the spring thaw. I drove up to Green Bay two weeks ago and there were still bodies of water covered in ice. Then, 10 days later, I was running without a shirt… at night. The swing in temperature, and the lack of rain, the last few days has resulted in a fabulous change of mood (and the aforementioned sun burn). The sun is currently shining, but it is now cloudy… now sun- no, wait, clouds. Oh, whatever. It is partly sunny.

I also filled my car up last week, and I am getting about 29mph. Not bad for a car old enough to drive itself. It gets a little 'jumpy' when it rains, though, and given that it has been rainy 80% of the time I drive it since I bought the car, it has been jumpy quite often. I don't like that. It makes it look like I can't drive stick. And I can drive stick.
The best news I have heard in a few weeks is that my dear friend Elder Berg might be able to come home earlier than expected (though not in the same way I cam home early). Because he left at the beginning of January, he might be sent home previous to Christmas! I would love to see him as early as possible, cause I really miss him, but I am so proud of him and wish him the best. He is doing a fantastic thing by serving his mission. It is enriching his life so much, and I can tell that from every letter I get from him. It is so wonderful to see those changes in his life, and see the improvements, and yet he remains himself in most every facet. I felt the changes of a mission, and I believe in the positive influence of the people you serve, as well as those you serve with. I know that the Spirit change bring about a change of heart, and the inner desires of your very core can change through the influence of the Gospel. I love the Church, the Gospel, the Atonement, and our Lord and Savior. I am so glad that I know what I need to do to be happy, to feel secure, and to fulfill my greatest dreams.
My mom recently taught a Sunday School lesson where she asked a room full of 13-18 year olds what their five year plans were. The answers varied rather widely, but they each had a rough idea of what they wanted to accomplish. She then asked what things could occur in their lives to throw their plans out of synch. The answers cam again, and there were plenty of them. She then asked "What is your eternal plan?" Essentially, where do you want to be for time and all eternity? The answers were very similar. The followup question was what can change these plans? The conclusion the class came to was that a lot can happen in the world to change your short and even long term plans, but if you set your eternal goal, outside forces are irrelevant. The choices you make to achieve eternal joy is a lifestyle, the small and simple decisions made every single hour of every day. They are not things that can be forced upon you or seized from you. Nothing can prevent you from living your life and making your choices.
Unless you get drugged or brainwashed, of course, but I don't think that counts as you making choices, then.

Life seems to get in the way of living...

It is another two for one this week as I didn't post at all last week even though I wrote it. So, here goes!

April 12th

Someone came into the bank today. They were rather hysterical. They were cussing quite a bit. No less than 3 f-bombs crossed their lips in the first sentence they spoke. It turns out they knew someone, and this person had what authorizes considered an intimate connection with someone who, let’s say, was wanted… by the authorities… and by authorities I mean government agencies that are charged with apprehending people.

It turns out that the police and other law enforcement agencies had drawn a connection between this vulgar mouthed individual and their wanted criminal. Because of their suspicions that the criminal would attempt to flee to and hide at the home of the potty mouth, they had actually been staking the home out for quite some time. Not only that, they had asked a third person who was relatively close to our manic individual if they would be willing to wear a wire and strike up a conversation regarding the criminal at large. I couldn’t believe it; the authorities really do wire people and send them in! When they could not find evidence of the fugitive staying in the home and having gotten no information through the wire, they decided a more forward and effective approach would be to surround this frazzle person with cop cars… in the Festival Foods parking lot, no less. Well, hands in the air and shaking like mad, they told the police in as straight forward a way as they could that there was no love lost betwixt them and the wanted person, and if they did have information, it would have been shared with the po-po long before.

What a great Friday!

Now, to business. The great conundrum of my life occurs most every night; Dr. Who or Top Gear? The more I look up the episode list for Top Gear, the more I want to watch it. But there is a whole slew of characters in Dr. Who that I am anxiously waiting to meet. Jeremy, Hammond, and James are hilarious in their own ways, but the erratic qualities of a David Tennant driven Doctor are ‘fantastic’, to quote the previous Doctor. What to do?

We have also been going through quite an upheaval at work. Another employee is no longer here, so we are back to working the branch with 4 people. This branch is designated to operate with about 275 man hours a week, and we are trying to cover it all  with 175 hours. Its overtime for everyone! But it is rather tiring and difficult to find time for rugby or football practice, or even simply karaoke. I have not done karaoke since the first Thursday in March. It has been far too long and I miss it very much, but there just isn’t time. Then there is school. I am having to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get everything in place to return to school. It really is not that much fun at all. It is rather obnoxious, but I do really want to complete my degree, and even just getting back to school will be a ton of fun! I am very much looking forward to it, but this whole tax forms crap is pretty dang annoying.

Speaking of St. Norbert, I had lunch at Acuity Insurance yesterday, and I felt like I was back in the caf. I saw 6 SNC grads in a matter of 3 minutes. It was pretty cool to see them and talk with a couple of them, even if one of them did think I was my older brother. I may want to work there after school.

April 20th

It has been a rather long week for me. My Manager told me he wanted me to have less overtime, so he said I could go home early on Friday. I stayed an hour later. Because of this, they told me to come in late this morning. I came in early. Oh, and stayed a half hour later. 49 hours of pay this week. And a 48.75 coming in May, and that is what is already scheduled, which I may very well work more than! We need bankers! SO APPLY!!!

Now that that is out of the way, I have been working out with Mark and Liam again this week, including this morning. It was a long and arduous workout, but nearly worth. I think I could have done better, but my diet this week has been atrocious. I have been living off of Kwik Trip Glazers and Little Debbie fudge rounds and Pringles for lunch. I'm serious. 5 days this week, I ate nothing but processed sweets! I feel like death. I don't want to move. My body aches. I'm always tired. This is no way to live! I hate it. I want sandwiches and pasta, pizza and salads, gyros and pork chops, ham and chicken. I love that stuff! It tastes good, it's healthy, and I do actually prefer it. There are no fantastic glazers or magnificent fudge rounds. They all taste the same. But a well seasoned and prepared lamb chop that melts and soaks your mouth with tasty, bloody goodness (sorry to all the vegetarians out there) or a salad with fine and zesty parm and exploding with taste cherry tomatoes (sorry carnivores) is far beyond that manufactured taste. But I am lazy.

I am also rather broken. I have been limping all week, and my injury knowledgeable Bank Manager tells me I may have a fractured heel in my right foot. Right then! On to the Doctor you say? NO! Too expensive and time consuming. Also, I prefer The Doctor (as is Who) to the MDs of the world (except my Brother). I have watched two seasons this past week. If I am not at work, sleeping, or working out, I am watching the Doctor. So I will be heading back to that now. 

Allon-sy!

Save the date!!!

I has a car… I bought me a car… it’s a nice car… I like my car…

So, in case you didn’t notice, I have been car shopping quite a bit recently, and I finally succumbed and bought a ’97 Saturn. It is a 5 speed manual transmission with 100 horsepower on the nose. It is somewhat lacking in zip from the starting line, but my little car seems serviceable enough for my intentions and gets me where I need to go faster than running does. I spent a large portion of my first day with it, attempting to determine what gender my car is. I do think it is a girl. It has a feminine feeling about it. Any name suggestions?

Two more things that I take to be of import; I have need of two dates (now the term 'date' is simply in reference here to 'one who is willing to set aside the time to attend said function with me' and does not connotate a romantic connection betwixt us. This invitation is also gender neutral). 

First date; I will be working at the annual Roncalli Riverside Auction and I have two tickets, so I need someone to come with me. It is a fantastic time, a night of window shopping, with tons of Silent Auction items and a large selection of Oral Auction items. They will need to be a somewhat self-sufficient date, as I will be working for a great portion of the oral auction, and they will therefore be with out me. Anyone who wants to attend but does not want to be my date, feel free to talk to me and I can get you tickets for $5 apiece. Must be 21 to attend, as alcohol is available for purchase.

The second date I am looking for involves more of a commitment; it requires reading a book and then going to a movie. The book and movie are both titled Ender’s Game. The book is a family favorite, and I found the movie poster last week and freaked out audibly at work. I involves child prodigies molded into military leaders, invading aliens hordes, and inter personal and familial struggles that could determine the fate of the human race. Fan freakin’ tastic book!

Then there was Easter. I am growing to love Easter more each year, and trying to focus my thoughts on the Atonement and Resurrection more. Our service on Sunday was wonderful and full of the Spirit. I learned a number of things that I had not thought about before. I gained further testimony of the truth of my faith and the love of my Savior. I love this Gospel and the light and hope it gives me.

For Easter Dinner, my family went to my grandmother’s house, and we had a fantastic meal. I devoured a huge serving of her candied sweet potatoes and ate about half the ham. My mom had a triple decker triple chocolate torte, and even the salad was magnificent. I ate too much, but loved it!

Additionally, I have started a new blog to go in line with this one. It is called Skills, Technique, and Coordination. I named the blog in honor of the venerable Elder Adam James Berg. He is 15 months into his mission now and will be home in another 9 months and a week. I very much look forward to his return. The title is derived from his spectacular ability to couch potatoes for months at a time, and then dominate a game of pick up soccer or ultimate Frisbee. Any time he would pull off an acrobatic catch, of a spectacular dive, he would shake it off and just say he was gifted with “skills, technique and coordination,” abbreviated as simply “skills.” The new blog is rather narcissistic, being entirely about my workouts, diet, weight, and measurables, but I like the prospect of having a centralized place to track my progress in all things physical. So if you will follow it, enjoy!