Less Than Five Days

I don't know how much it has set in yet that my world is completely changing in less than five days. I started trickling my things over to Am's condo a few days ago. Hopefully it won't take too long before it feels like OUR place. It'll be SO nice to cut the small commute out of our schedules. And to settle into a married schedule. While dating and including the engagement we've tried to spend as much time together as we could, and our sleep habits have gotten wonky. It'll be nice to be together AND get a good night's rest. But there are so many other adjustments to be made and discussions to have. But I am ready to get into it. I don't think I'll miss being single too much.

School is going well. My classes are fun and challenging, and are definitely learning experiences. I am seeing that my time at S-H was good preparation for UVU, but I still have a lot to learn.

We've decided to go down to Cedar City instead of the Oregon Coast. Less driving, more resting, less cold, more warmth. Oregon will come at some point for us, I still think it will be fun, but we don't need to have a second vacation to recuperate from the first.

Football Season is Here!

OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH!

Kickoff is just over 48 hours away! At least for my favorite team it is, but opening games start tonight! It has been a long dry sports drought for me here at Risin' & Shoutin'. Last season I was working out in New York and very often missed watching any football, let alone BYU football. I did arrange to see the Las Vegas Bowl on my way home from the Big Apple, but I missed a lot of the other games. I did go to several BYU basketball games last winter, but by and large, my sports consumption has been particularly low over the last 12 months. Since moving back home, I've missed getting up on Saturdays and vegging out for hours of football on ESPN. We don't have cable or satellite here, we only watch DVDs around these parts. Any sports watching I've done is at other people's homes. I missed most of the Olympics, especially Michael Phelps amazing tour de force.

Vegging out watching football is not in the gameplan this season, but I will be better at least at seeing the Cougars of BYU. There are BYU fans in my ward here, and I got season tickets this year for the home games! I welcome my good friend Javich home from his mission in Arizona! I am glad that he was finally able to get the medical procedures done to allow him to serve, I know how important it was for him to go. But I am glad that he is back! We watched the games together during those dark years of '02-'04, and saw the first glimmers of redemption together in '05. But with everyone parting ways over the last couple of years, I didn't have anyone to share the success of the last two years with. But, at least for this season, it'll be the best of both worlds! Good friends to watch the games with, and a good team to watch.

GoooooooOOOOOO COUGARS!

A Bit of a Scare

We had a bit of a scare tonight. My mom's husband is an adjunct professor at the recently rebranded Utah Valley University. He teaches evening classes twice a week. As he was getting ready to go, our little dog Joe wanted to follow him. I fully expected Robert* to turn Joe away as he left, but was surprised when he asked, "Joe, do you want to come to school with me?" Of course, Joe wanted to go, not knowing what Robert was talking about. It was good that it was a cool day, because I'm sure he had to leave Joe in the car while teaching the class. My mom and I had been talking the whole time they were gone, when she got a call on her cellphone. It was Robert, and he needed her to call the vet, something had happened to Joe. So we scrambled to find the vet's number, but no answer and no voicemail. In the meantime, Robert showed up with Joe in the passenger seat. He looked asleep and was breathing heavily. So we called around, and the closest office we could get a hold of was up in Sandy, another 20-30 minutes away. SInce that was the only option, we had to take it, and Robert headed that direction. Mom and I were discussing what could be wrong with the dog, apparently he had jumped out the window and hurt himself. We worried that he may have broken his little neck. Then we heard Robert pull into the driveway, and we thought that he must have passed away before they got to Sandy. Fortunately, Joe was awake in Robert's arms, though subdued. He didn't think that any bones were broken, but wasn't sure of any internal injuries, so he's not out of the woods yet. I think we'll take him in tomorrow to have him checked out. Hopefully, we won't lose the little guy.

This whole episode brings up my concerns about Robert. Notice I don't call him my stepfather. I don't really want anything to do with him. He's showed many lapses in judgement just in the last eight months that I've lived at home. He was the main reason that my brother decided to move out. (That should have happened a long time ago, but he is so much of a homebody that nothing else really motivated him to go before.) My mom is fully aware and concerned about Robert's issues, and I listen to her, but I don't voice my concerns. I don't think it is my place to talk about her husband, whether she would agree with me or not. So I just stew with my thoughts about the situation.

Robert surprised us when he brought Joe home with him one day. They had discussed having a small dog, but they weren't in a financial position to be having another animal. And a pure breed Maltese no less! $400 up front, and then all the vet bills and food and other things. $400 was a deal for a dog like that, but still a lot of money they didn't really have. Naturally though, we've all fallen in love with our little Joe, in spite of his tendency for mischief. It would be sad to lose him now, he's only seven months old. I call him "The Puppy," much like one "The Maxwell." Anyways, I'm kind of stuck here at home for now. I'm in school and haven't worked since December, and my money is almost gone. Even when I get a job, it'll still be awhile before I can afford to move out. Until then, I'll have to put up with Robert and his lapses in judgement. There are so many more, but I'd rather not go into detail. It's not that I don't like Robert, it's that I have a hard time respecting him. A man of his age and apparent intelligence should not display such a lack of common sense.

*-Robert's name has been changed for the purposes of anonymity.

Snakes and Snails...

Last week my step-father bought a pure bred Maltese puppy. He's going to be a stud. I mean that quite literally. He is going to be used for breeding. We call him Joe, which is short for a Portuguese phrase that means, Hound of Gold. Go figure. Anyways, he is a cute little sucker, and usually fun to have around. He gets under foot easily as he is not much bigger than that. The thing is he is displacing the cat. She went wherever she liked, until the day Joe showed up. There is no reason for her to be skittish around the puppy, she is 3 times his size, and when he is done growing, she'll still be twice his size. But she is skittish, and rarely leaves the basement. I think she is feeling somewhat neglected as she will now get on my bed and want me to pet her. This would be alright I guess if it weren't for her fur. It's long and fine, and hard to see individually. But you can definitely tell when it is in your mouth, blech!

And now for something completely different:

I'm in my third month of classes at Stevens-Henager, and the two classes I'm in could not be more different. They have me in English 101, which is a grammar class. I haven't had grammar since the fifth grade. I guess they didn't realize I had to write several research papers every semester I was at BYU, and that I might actually have grammar down by now. My other class is Management 330: Advertising. Does that seem strange to anyone else? Advertising is definitely a possible career for a graphic artist, but why am I in this class so early in my studies? Wouldn't it be more useful to take the class near the end of my program? Why number it 330 if it is not meant to be taken later on? Anyways, the classes started last week, and I completed everything for the English class yesterday. I took all my quizzes, submitted all my assignments, and took the final. The only thing I have to do for the class is to log in everyday for the next 2 and a half weeks. My advertising class on the other hand is more involved than that, I can only work ahead so far. I can't wait for more design classes next month.

There is a chance I will have to move and find a job sooner than expected. My step-father has applied for a couple of positions at SUU in Cedar City. If he gets one, then he and my mother will be getting an apartment down there. He feels confident about his qualifications, and it would be great for them financially. While the housing market is quite favorable at this time in most of Utah, their neighborhood is full of houses that are standing empty. For the time being they would not want to try to sell the house. But they would still need to make the house payments on it. No job that would fit with my classes would allow me to make the payments myself. And I doubt I could talk anybody into moving out here to help. One, it is so far away from everything, and two, there is not enough parking space for four individuals with personal cars. I enrolled at the Murray campus to force me to move north when the time came, I just didn't think it might be so soon. If anyone knows any good deals on rent in south Salt Lake County, let me know.