It's been a while...

So, I haven't been on here for a few days. So much has happened, yet not much of real consequence.

Only one important thing to note: my new nephew may come home from the hospital today or tomorrow! All of the prayers have worked and he is recovering well.

As for me, I can't seem to make any progress at home or at work. I am just not interested in any of this. I want school to start so that I can see a clear purpose.

I need to get rid of some stress, so I'll probably play Magic Friday and Saturday...but then again maybe not. I'll figure it out sooner or later.

It's Monday...that says it all

Here we go...a new week begins.

The weekend had several ups and downs, so I am hoping for a lot of good things this week.

First, my new nephew was born on Friday. His name is Devin and he needs all of the prayers he can get. He was born with under-developed lungs and quickly developed pneumonia. He is now in OKC at Children's Hospital. I am hoping to hear some good news sometime today.

I played Magic the Gathering at Game Shoppe Friday night. We played with the new card set called Coldsnap. It was an absolute blast, but I didn't get home until almost 1:00 AM.

On Saturday, I took care of the plants, the regular chores and did some minor grocery shopping. Then, I finished reading Robert Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon". I have to admit, that story was hard to put down. It was completely outdated, but the author just hooks you from the start. It was written / published in 1949 and talks about the attempt to go to the moon. I definitely recommend it to any sci-fi fans.

On Sunday, I slept in and missed church. I was a bit upset with myself, but I needed the time to work on the house a bit more anyway. I did get my son's dresser up to his room after it has been in the garage for about 3 weeks (We had been painting it and I never got around to putting it back together).

I guess that's all....for today at least.

Ties on Friday???

Well, it is finally Friday. However it is not going to be the usual easy, casual day. We have the Japanese delegation here today conducting their exit meeting with us. This will be the day we finalize discussions about reopening Japan to American beef. This is a big deal. Unfortunately, it means I had to wear business attire not the casual day comfy stuff.

I guess I have gotten spoiled by the relaxed dress code for analysts since we just hide in the cube farm most of the time. Recently however, we have been front and center to present critical data to the Undersecretary, Congress, consumer groups....and now the Japanese government delegation.

Well, it is off to the cubes to hide as long as possible. I just hope we don't have to actually present anything...I think that I am the only one scheduled to work on Analyst Row today.

What am I reading now?

I've decided that it would be good for me to talk about what I happen to be reading. I think I'll do an update every week or so to track my progress and see if I'm getting anything out of what I read.

I am one of those odd adults that likes to be in the middle of two or three books at a time. Actually, I'm in the process of reading 4 books right now. It keeps the mind fresh and keeps boredem from seeping into the process. Since I don't get the amount of reading time that I used to, it sometimes takes quite a while to finish a book.

Here is my current reading list:

1. The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert Heinlein (1949)
- This book is surprisingly fun to read so far. Even though it was written over 50 years ago, it is not totally awful. It involves a wealthy entrepreneur in the "future" 1960's trying to get to the moon. It's really amazing to compare pre-Apollo fiction with present day sci-fi.

2. Star Trek: Traitor Winds by L. A. Graf (1997)
- I am a hopeless addict of the Star Trek and Star Wars books. This one takes place about 1 year after the end of the Enterprise's original 5-year mission. Chekov is at Security Academy in Annapolis, Sulu is an experimental test pilot and Uhura works at Starfleet Command in San Francisco. They all are jockeying for assignment to the refitted Enterprise. So far, I'm not far in the book. However, I do know that somehow Sulu and Chekov are going to get into some real trouble.

3. Prayer Works by Brother Andrew
- I started reading this book for my Bible study group. I have to admit, it is really good reading. I have learned more about having faith and persistence from this author than any self-help book I've ever picked up.

4. Star Trek Memories by William Shatner
- I have barely started this one. I borrowed it from a friend and keep reading it a couple pages at a time over lunch. It is interesting, but I just haven't gotten "into" it very well. So far, I have learned a little about Gene Roddenberry's childhood and something about the last days of filming for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Ok, gotta go. I'll keep this up on a semi-regular basis.

Another day....hmm what to do?

I am in the middle of a long 4 weeks without my family. Why? My wife's sister is having a baby, so they are all away to be with her. Me? I have to work.

A few years ago I would have jumped for joy at a month of solitude. Now, I just see household chores and the same old daily routines. Yes, I live a boring life. It comes from that awful reality called growing up. As a younger me, I would have found countless things (enjoyable things) to do with 4 weeks alone. Poker games, X-box marathons with friends, late nights at concerts...no longer. My time is spent doing laundry, watering gardens, feeding the cat, mowing the lawn, going to work, organizing my home office, making my meals, paying bills and countless other tasks. I get in about 30 minutes of reading time before bed and that is it. Yep, I'm getting old.

Ok, that is enough of my whining. Good things now.

I got my performance appraisal at work on Friday. I had an "Outstanding" rating, which means that all my performance categories exceeded the level of expectation. Woo Hoo....now show me some money!!! Not only that, but the Director of our Center has assured me that no matter what my supervisor has to say, he will make every effort to work my schedule around my Law classes. The Director was previously the Administrator of our entire agency, but he (like me) got fed up with Washington DC and moved to Nebraska. He got his PhD at Oklahoma University...my original home state. I think I may have an advocate in higher places.

Well, I've spent enough time ranting and raving. I have work to get back to.

What am I doing here? Oh...and my introduction

I was told that this is the best way to sort your thoughts and beat stress. So, I'm going to try this out for a while. Here's where it starts.

I'm 34 and I've been in my "good government job" for 10 years. I have an education in Psychology that, to be absolutely honest, is not all that interesting. So, this fall, I will be going back to school...Law School. I will be in the part-time program which begins with 8 credit hours each of the first 2 semesters. Unfortunately, I can't afford to go to part-time at work.

To make all of this work, I have to really adjust my work schedule and probably won't get home to my family until 6:30 or 7:00 at night. I am accustomed to getting off work at 4:30 and being home by 5:00 (although when I worked in Washington DC I never got home before 7:30.) This has been my schedule for the past 14 months, so the addition of law school and later nights will be very difficult.

I need to really buckle down and I will probably have to cut back on all of my hobbies. Well, whoever reads this, please wish me luck and drop me a line when you want to.