So. . .How's it going?

Ok, so today I learned/re-learned that it actually helps to work on your problems. See, I've been practicing the "run and hide" technique of dealing with problems. This hasn't worked out so well. In fact, I'm starting to think that it has actually made things worse. Crazy, huh? But now I sort of came to realize that not only does facing and dealing with your problems help to overcome them, but it can also make you feel better as well. I mean, the problems are still there, and I still worry and freak-out about them, but for some reason it doesn't seem as bad as before.

Emily and I were at Target tonight looking for a sweatshirt (hoodies if you must know). Oddly enough, there weren't that many there. There were like 3, and they were on the clearance rack. Since when did the sweatshirt season end? I mean spring is just starting here, and it still gets damn cold at night here. Hell, it almost always gets cold at night here in Minnesota. We used to go to Jacobsen's here in town (before they closed) and they always had sweatshirts available. I guess we were spoiled.

For those curious, work is going good (at Agriliance, the order-taking-for-farmers job). I seem to be impressing my supervisor, like every day. I guess they just don't know what a great catch they have. And the funny thing is, I can tell I'm becoming more responsible at work. I know that may seem hard to believe, but I used to just want to goof off all the time at work. Now, not so much. I still joke around with my colleagues and don't take it too seriously, but I actually attempt to get my work done as well. We got this new guy (Kevin) at work who was supposed to be taking over my area, but on Tuesday Kegan (a cool co-worker of mine) lost his voice and couldn't come into work, so I had to take over his area as well as mine (Kevin was just starting his training). I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. After that they decided to have Kevin take over Kegan's area and to let me continuing handling my area. I think this is great. I didn't want to give up my area anyways. I'm just started getting the hang of the area and I've built some report with managers I order for. Between you and me, part of me hopes the new guy doesn't do so well and they just hire me on full-time. Actually, I just hope they hire me on full-time regardless of who remains. I mean, I'm awesome, why wouldn't they want to hire me?

Ruminations

I figured out at work today that I’ve been alive for 9,037 days already. I’ve been alive for close to a quarter of my life already. That’s a scary concept. It’s crazy how the time flies. The days can go by so slowly but the years fly by so fast. If you want to do something, or make something, or be something, you really have to start now. Those are 9,037 days I won’t ever get back. I’ll never get a chance to redo them. What’s done is done. Wow.

It’s weird because part of me feels, “Be young, this is the only chance you’ll get.” But another part of me is all, “Get to work. It’ll all be over before you know and it’s better to start early then try to catch up.” What a conflicting mindset. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to satisfy both sides. It’s not like they’re directly opposing viewpoints.

Oh, so in case any of you were wondering, we got the cats some de-worming medicine and we were able to get it down their gullets. It seems to be helping. They’re all getting a little fatter, especially Tricksy. They’re even behaving a little better, in fact, the other day I saw Tricksy finish her food and just sit and wait for the other cats to finish, instead of smacking them out of the way. I was so proud; I gave her a little extra bit of food. So I’m very happy about that. Although, I did catch Oscar trying to go into the cabinets to get at some cookies the other day. Oh well, I guess we take our victories where we can.

Calling all guests

Many of you know that Emily and I are getting married (if not, well, now you do). We don't exactly have the best address book, in fact it's kind of old and pieced together. So if you would like to get an invitation to our wedding in the summer, or know someone who might, please send me your/their name and address. Now, this isn't a guarantee that an invite will be sent, but if we have your address on record it certainly makes it easier for us to send one. If nothing else, I'll add you to the Christmas/holiday card list. Thanks.

Ewwww, Gross

One of our cats has tapeworms. We’re not sure which, but we think it’s Tricksie, since always desperate for food. We know one of our cats has tapeworms because one of them puked a tapeworm up on the windowsill in the office. We just saw it laying there yesterday. And yes, we’re sure it’s a tapeworm, Emily did extensive research into the problem. Here’s the thing though, after doing such extensive research, Emily’s hypochondria is kicking in and she’s freaking out that she might have worms as well. I really doubt that she does, but she told me that she had worms once before when she was a kid, so she has more real-life experience to draw upon than I do. Unfortunately, she’s got me a little paranoid now too. My stomach grumbles and I think “Is that because I have worms?” even though I know it’s like 20 minutes before lunch. Hopefully when the cats are cured they won’t be so desperate for food. That’d be nice.

Let's get it started in here

So, the other day I got a George hit from Williston, ND, which happens to be where a service center that I order for is located. How crazy is that?

Speaking of work, I finally got a badge along with email and log-ins for all the programs I need. I guess they figured, “He’s shown up for the past few weeks, I guess he’s going to stick around for the season.”

I’ve been reading a few books lately, and have gotten into a goal-setting craze as of late. It’s actually kinda cool. Even now, in the little time that I’ve spent setting and planning, I’ve already seen a major difference. I’ve become more motivated, more responsible; heck, I’ve even started to see some small progress being made towards my goals. Man, this stuff is cool. It helps keep me going with my hectic schedule of a full-time job, a part-time job, and going to school. In fact, lately I’ve become restless when watching TV, especially when I haven’t done anything. Another thing helping me out with all this are the Primerica CDs I’ve been listening to in the car during the commute.

Oh, I don’t think I’ve mentioned it, but Emily and I have started planning a wedding. It’s going to be fairly modest, and we would appreciate any donations to help fund it. We’ve set a loose date for the summer, probably July or August. We’re going to set the actual date once we’ve figured out where we’re going to have it, which we will have done by the end of this month. So keep an eye out for that.

Ah, also, I got a new email address. It’s through gmail, the new email server through google. It’s pretty cool. It tracks emails as conversations for the massive replying back and forth conversations that occur, it lets you google search your emails, and the best part, it gives you like a gig of storage. It’s not open directly to the public yet, but if you look hard enough you can find an invite.

Well, Let's See Here. . .

So the other day the cats figured out how to open the fridge. How crazy is that? They opened the door on their own. They opened the freezer later as well. So now I've resorted to tying the doors together with an old towel. I mean really, what more can I do? I just don't understand why they act like this. I know they get fed enough. They're healthy, overly active, heck I've even increased the amount of food I give them since we started their diet. They're just so frustrating. I think part of it has to do with the fact that we're tackling the dishes now and there aren't any dirty dishes around for them to lick.

Now it seems we actually need a new fridge. Before we just wanted a new one because the one we have is small and cramp and we end stuffing food into the back where it's forgotten until it turns moldy. Really there's just no good way of arrange things in that space. Also, we really like the idea of the freezer being on the bottom, since we don't use it all that much and it'd be easier on Emily's back if she didn't always have to bend down to reach food.

Speaking of which, Emily's back pain flared up again this week. The past week she's been bed-ridden because of it. For a while she would take it easy and heal for a day then feel better and go out and be active, then be in so much pain the next day she couldn't move again. She followed this process for almost week. Now she's decided to not try to rush it and take it much slower. So she's been confined to the couch the past couple of days, surrounded by cats and pillows. I wish there was something I could do to help her, but there really isn't. We don't have any medical insurance and even if we did, we have no money.

I mean dead broke, paycheck is all used up to pay at least a few of our overdue bills. Don't get me wrong, I do have a job, which makes the situation tons better. And there are a few prospective jobs in Northfield for Emily (provide her back will allow her to work), so we could be worse. I'm just so tired of living like this. It's so stressful and disconcerting. At least it's helped me get over my shopping-to-feel-better complex, even if it is only by the fact that I have no way of buying things.

Actually, that's one of the reasons Emily thinks I should get counseling/therapy. Most of the time I agree with her, but then it just brings up the money problem again. Where could I go to get free therapy? So it's just another thing sent to "once we're doing better financially" land.

Oh, the other day I cut my toe. (Technically the connecting part between my pinkie toe and the next toe). We're guessing I stepped on a piece of glass that wasn't cleaned up from when one of the cats knocked one of our glasses of a table. This morning I stabbed my finger while putting some receipts on our receipt spike. What a doofus, huh?