awake and alive

I’m definitely getting excited about the possibility of having a real job (and money).

I knew that ice cream trucks couldn’t be a totally legit way to make money.

In other news, I will be sending my resume to TechSmith Corporation on Monday, so I may be stepping into the world of regular people and regular jobs (and probably health insurance!).

Brad and Sandy came over last night.  We had a great time with dinner, and then we rented Stranger than Fiction.  I seriously love that movie.  I’m not exactly sure what it is about it that I love.  I’ve seen it like 4 times since it came out on video, and every time I’ve enjoyed it.  Watch it if you haven’t yet.

I sure wish I had cool stuff to blog about. I’m busy enough, I’ve got lots of things to do, and I don’t have a lot of time. I have time to blog, but what about? It feels like my life is boring on paper right now. I’m enjoying it, but there’s not much to write about. Does that make me boring? Probably.

I’m working on the site redesign for LCS right now, and it seems like it has quite a bit left to go, but not a lot of time left to do it in.

My basement was previously filled with a “fun” amount of water, and I need to wet vac the rest of the puddles left in the uneven floor.

The cruiser needs a new belt (flat rubber rope, as I called it, not remembering the word “belt”) for the alternator.

Lots to do…..

So, this is my thirteenth post since I started my blog again. Not as much posting as I would hope since I started 7 weeks ago. I suppose that I haven’t mastered the art of blogging yet.

It was cool to see Kyle again this Saturday, although Noel stole him for quite a while during the party at the Price’s.

I’ve been really tired lately, sleeping in till 10 or so everyday.  This really sucks since I want to get a lot of stuff done for work and around the house.  I haven’t been feeling well lately either (which is one of the reasons I’m sleeping in), hopefully I’ll be getting better soon so my tasks don’t pile up.

(What an eclectic post)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a Christian.  For a few months now, Brett and I have been having breakfast with some high school guys.  There are a lot of purposes to our hanging out with the guys, but one of them is to model and communicate for them what it means to be a Christian in this world (as opposed to another world?).  Also, Brett and I have had a few [short] discussions about how so many people are consumer Christians, and won’t commit to or serve much.  So, is there idea of what it means to be a Christian askew?  Or are they just too busy?  Whatever their problem is, I decided that I want to write a paper on what it means to be a Christian as far as I can find in the bible.  I don’t know how long it will take me to write it, and I’m sure others have written something like this before, but I am determined to eventually write it.

It’s not that I don’t want to post, and not that I don’t have time to post. It’s more that I’m not sure what I should post. I’ve thought about alot of things, but haven’t really found anything that I like that much. Oh well.

For the most part, I finished the Riverview website last week. I pulled my first (I think) all nighter since high school finishing the website before I left for Kentucky. This is not really a accurate depiction of my devotion to deadlines, but rather and ode to my tendency to procrastinate. I’m very happy with how the site has turned out so far. I was very afraid that I was going to get bored with the design very quickly after working with it for a long time. Praise be to the wife on her excellent design; I have yet to get bored/displeased with the design. The only thing I am getting slightly irritated with is my implementation of the design on the individual pages. I still have alot of things left to complete on the website, so look forward to cool new features!

Kentucky was amazing. The weather was absolutely fantastic; not too hot and not too cold. It seemed like there was less drinking going on despite the fact that we bought a keg. It was a super fantastic time of hanging out, climbing, rappelling, eating, boozing, talking, and campfires in an old grill. For pictures check out Brett’s amazing photo album.

I mowed my own lawn for the first time ever yesterday, despite having owned my own home for over 8 months. I have mowed lawns at houses I’ve lived in since I moved out of my parents house, but I haven’t had a mower (thanks to KT for letting me borrow hers) or the time since the purchase. It makes me realize just how much a house takes of your time.

Well, I suppose that is enough for now, I should probably work on the RiverBrew site now.

Well, it isn’t Saturday night anymore, or even Sunday for that matter, but why not talk about it?

After the 8 at Riverview, a bunch of people headed over to the Price’s house to hangout and eat tasty treats. Even though this happens on a semi-regular basis, this Saturday was different. Ton’s of people came, and I didn’t really know a lot of them at all. It was so great. I really like to meet new people and usually I don’t have the opportunity or the courage to do so. Again, this Saturday was different. I was actually able to initiate conversation with people that I had never met before. Yes, it was on my own turf, but it happened nonetheless. In fact I think I even remember their names (Lisa, Briannon, Jason, Ethan, Katie, and Randi-Kay).

One of the main reasons that we make all the food and invite so many people is that we want to encourage real community. We want to take people and bring them into the circle. It seemed to me like that was actually happening this time.

So, I was reading an article I found on Digg just a little bit ago on stem cell research. It seems like the whole issue is really difficult. I mean the research could help so many people live better lives, and who knows what kind of uses stem cells could actually serve. The one thing it comes down to is whether or not the blastocysts they pull the stem cells from are human or not. They writer of this article doesn’t seem to take a side on the issue, but does make some interesting points.

So my question is, how do we decide when the cells are human life and shouldn’t be interfered with? I don’t think many would argue that sperm or eggs are humans yet, otherwise no one would use birth control, and everyone would mourn that special time of the month as the death of a possible person. From what I’ve heard, many seem to say that the life begins as soon as an egg is fertilized. In some ways, that makes sense. What other point could you draw the line? When the cells begin to differentiate? When you can see the babies eyes? Even more confusing, the writer of the article points out that many blastocysts created in fertility clinics are discarded once they are no longer needed (impregnation occurs). So, many that are so psyched to have children even though they have fertility issues are killing off many unborn possible babies?

I cannot decide if this should be an issue of conscience or of morality. The bible would definitely say that murder is a sin, but does the bible say when a person becomes a person?

Any thoughts on this issue would be appreciated.

No, I’m not dying.  Last night at the Price’s house, JR asked a group of us sitting at the kitchen table what one thing we wanted to do before we died.  Most of us said something about traveling somewhere.  I said that I wanted to take a eating tour of Italy.

Granted, I would still love to take an eating tour of Italy, but I just don’t think that I can take all the things I want to do before I die and narrow it down to just one.  There are so many things that are equal to me that I want to do before I die.  Thus I am making a list.  As I think of more things I will post more, but this is my base list (not in any particular order):

• Hold my newborn baby in my arms

My own flesh and blood, a piece of me, and the life of my families (Henry and Earnhardt) continued on.  All these things are wrapped up in this tiny package of a human life that will grow into many unknown things.  I can’t express how I feel about it even now, and I haven’t even done it yet.

• Go skydiving

The exhilaration of jumping from thousands of feet in the air, the closest thing to actually flying like superman.

• Take an eating tour of Italy

Like every other type of food in the United States, Italian food is not nearly like it is in Italy.  The culture, the sights, the authentic food.  I would love to be able to actually eat with some Italian families who have lived in Italy their whole life.

•  Visit the west coast (LA, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco)

I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve always wanted to go to California.  Maybe because one of my best friends from childhood used to visit there all the time.   Whatever the reason, I just want to do it.

Since I have started this blog, a whole two long days ago, I have been consistently thinking of what I want to post. It seems as though anything is a potential candidate for posting, and yet I can’t decide what is good enough to actually become a post. Even better, I am positive that no one even knows that I am blogging again since I haven’t made any attempt to proclaim my existence.

Regardless of my audience, the blog must go on, for my sake.

Yesterday night I received a large load of limestone for the parking area behind my house. I was hoping the truck could spread it out so I wouldn’t have to. I was not so lucky. I spent the next hour or more shoveling gravel around my backyard while it rained. I bettered my efforts by purchasing a wheelbarrow, but by the time I returned from the store and put it together it was too dark to continue. So I resumed my labor at 9 am with the hope of reinforcements. Again, I was not so lucky. I worked for an hour and a half and decided to call it quits so I could be ready in time for my 11:30 meeting. Needless to say, there is still a giant pile of rocks in my backyard that needs to be pushed around. I will be continuing my struggle again tomorrow evening after working time (5 pm) possibly with the aid of Nato.