Well, just a quick post before I leave for the weekend. Have what I need out, but now need to pack it before I hit the road. Seems my laundry got started much later then I intended last night because Carol called. It was absolutely wonderful talking to her. We hadn't really talked since I was in SR for Grpop's service. Just meant my laundry wasn't done until almost 11, and since I was needing that stuff to pack....

Then at 3:45 I was awakened by someone's car alarm. And it just kept going and going.... They probably didn't even know it because I was sleeping with my window open to cool the apartment down without electricity (saves me lots of money.) But it was after four before I got back to sleep.

One last thing to leave you with. The soundtrack for Jonah, a Veggie Tales Movie is now available. I bought it last night and am enjoying it. Although I'm curious how a certain songs fit in. Hope the movie lives up to my expectations. Anyway, the "Closing Credits" song is worth the price of admission alone. "Here's the song that plays under the closing credits. These are the credits, so this is where it goes. It has nothing to do with the movie you just saw, so we'll just say Hey!" Or something like that. I was laughing out loud listening to it coming home from buying it last night.

Enjoy a nice long weekend, everyone.

Now what do I do?

So, there is some discussion between the board and those who actually spend every day on campus if they need to hire Marcus or not. Naturally, that means they haven't hired him yet. Which means I have no one moving in in the near future. And since I told TJ he could move in if Marcus didn't work out.... TJ of course doesn't need a place until the end of September. I really can't persue anything else because of what I told TJ. So here I still wait. I just wish they'd make up their minds already!!!!

Plus this has been the week for message board fights. There was one over at Jix and then I "started" one on CMCentral. Unfortunately that second one all I did was make people mad at me when I thought I had a valid point of view that I expressed rationally and calmly. Now I'm frustrated.

And the good news/bad news situation about my weekend. The good news - I'm going to spend Friday night at Donald's. The bad news? It'll be on the way to my parents for the rest of the weekend.

I really could use a nothing happening weekend right about now. But my parents are really, really, really pushing me to come up before they turn Grpop's estate over for the estate sale. (I never did blog about that, but I was pretty livid a couple weeks back.) Is it possible to be mad at someone for trying to help you? Basically, they originally planned to turn things over by the 15th, and asked me four times in a week if I'd be able to come up before then, even though I told them four times in a week that there was no way I could because of the audit. Then you wonder why it is I didn't want to move an hour and a half away. I'd spend every weekend in Santa Rosa. Now, they want me to come up and see if there's anything I really want to take. That's wonderful. But I don't see why we couldn't do it over the phone. Some of the stuff Mom was talking about was nice, but there's no way I'm going to take it because I have no room for it. And it's not like I haven't been up there this year. This will make trip number 4. All told, I'll be in Santa Rosa six times this year. Yet they've been asking me since I left Memorial Day if they'd see me before we met in Yosemite. Yes, there's the part of me that's honored because of them wanting to see me. And it was more my uncle and aunt. But I can't drop everything and come when they tell me to. They used to understand that.

I do realize part of the problem is emotional. This has been a hard year on them, and going through the house hasn't helped. That's going to make it hard, too. Things get turned over Tuesday. Fortunately, I'll be out of there Monday morning to fight the Labor Day traffic because there's no way I'd want to be there the last day in the house.

Ok, I promise, rant over. Guess you didn't get to miss hearing it after all.

Good morning Thursday Threesome readers. This week's is brought to you by the candy counter and The Back Porch.

Onesome. Double. If you could have a clone of yourself, what thing would you most want that clone to do so you don't have to?
That's easy. I'd have him work and clean the apartment so I could spend all my time reading and watching TV without feeling guilty.

Twosome. Bubble. Anyone you know live life in a bubble? Who? And do you wish they'd snap back to reality?
I think to a certain extent, I do. And when the bubble pops, it's not very pleasant at all. I've known others like that, and most of the time it's refreshing. Only occasionally do I find it upsetting.

Threesome. Bubblegum. Willy Wonka talks about chewing gum to be a nasty habit. What's your worst habit? Do you wish you could give it up?
Putting off things I know I should do for things I want to do. And I'd love to give it up. Also, the inability to make decisions easily.

Definately be back with more news later.

There are advantages to being a well-known customer. I walked into the Disney Store last night to pre-order Monsters, Inc. and Beauty and the Beast, and an employee who recognized me as a regular movie buyer warned me to buy them somewhere else. Seems Disney is testing selling the movies without lithographs, and they picked their top 5 stores to try this in, mine being one of those top 5. So, if I wait and do this when I'm at my parent's this weekend, I'll pay the same amount for the same DVD's plus get the lithographs. Is this making any sense to anyone else? Naturally, I'm waiting.

But things didn't go as planned last night. I got home, sat down and turned on the TV, and stayed there. Didn't do laundry, didn't read. But it was what I needed.

Phil's out of the hospital, but won't be in the rest of the week. Guess I didn't blog about that yesterday. They decided he had a mild stroke and had him in the hospital over the weekend for tests. Scariest part is, he's younger then my parents. Of course, they are in better shape.

And, now, I've got some articles to link to from Breakpoint. This one discusses how we are already misteaching the events of September 11th to students. Makes me want to become a history teacher. I just can't believe it. And this one is closely related. And be sure to read the linked article. At least some students recognize what's happened. Frankly, these articles are making me stop and think about my own thinking.

And then the final one on a different subject. With everything else going on in my life right now, this really convicted me. The great philosopher Calvin strikes again. "Everyone has a price." (What, did you think I meant someone other then Calvin and Hobbes?)

Hopefully, the Deacan board will finally decide something about Marcus when they meet tonight. Having most my eggs in one basket for a roommate is not my idea of fun.

I went ahead and got up for ultimate Saturday morning. Actually had fun, although we only had half the field due to some stupid young soccer players. I was so sorry to see they were being lead down the wrong path considering ultimate is the only true sport.

I'd heard a rumor about Trixie Belden books available at a used bookstore in Long Beach. Only supposed to be an hour away, so I thought I'd give it a try. An hour later, I was only half way there because of traffic. So I took a couple different freeways and headed up to Crime Time. Linda had already started her going out of business sale, so I bought some of the stuff I hadn't planned to getting until Sept. 21st. And I made a list of the books I'd like to read before she closes so I know if I should buy any more in the series. There are only 13 titles on the list. I really need to get busy!

Sunday, I just stayed around the apartment. Dozed while watching TV and reading. Very nice to relax like that.

Jeff popped into the office this morning looking for my help. Seems his car died yesterday, and he needed a ride to meet the tow truck. So my lunch time changed from reading to driving. And I stopped for Carl's Jr. while we were out. I really need to stop ordering more then the burgers. That's the only part I really enjoy.

Tonight, laundry, Who Killed Whats-Her-Name?, and Dog Eat Dog. Except for the laundry, sounds perfect. :)

So, where did we leave off in the grand drama? Ah yes, Wednesday. The inmates made things up as we went along for Bible Study Wednesday night. And things seemed to go well. Played whiffle ball longer then we should have, but that was fine. Talked to the other Seth for awhile afterwards. This Seth just graduated from high school, is going to COC (local community college. College of the Canyons), and has joined jr. high staff as well. So right now, all the jr. high staff attends the church year round. Anyway, good to get to know him a little better.

But I've got to share this story about Wednesday night. We're playing whiffle ball on the front lawn. A man I don't recognize pulls up, stops, and walks over to me. "Do you know you're on school property?" (BTW, have I mentioned that we run a Christian school on the church grounds during the year?) I look at him like he's crazy. While I'm trying to come up with the best response, one of the other staff (Think it was Matt, but could have been his wife Kylene) says, "Yes, but it's youth group from the church." He then decides that we're ok, "Even though they're very picky about the grass." I don't know if he meant to be this way, but he came across as totally rude. Couldn't believe it. If I'd had my wits about me, I would have responded with, "No, we're on church property," in the same tone of voice. Not the most Christian attitude, so probably best I didn't think of it in time. And, while the grass is looking nice right now, trust me, it often doesn't. But we didn't let him spoil our fun.

Yesterday I ran into several student friends after work. Matt and Jeremiah are looking forward to coming over for another season of Enterprise on Wednesday nights. Possibly a little Bablyon 5 thrown in as well. Tim (my barber for the last 10 months) in engaged and living in my complex again. Very nice to see them.

Went home to an empty apartment. :( Watched TV until I fell asleep on the couch. Then I went upstairs, where I couldn't fall asleep for 30 minutes. Make any sense? Not to me either.

Tonight, I've got some errends I have to run and then I'm off to Career group Bible Studay at Placerita Baptist.

Have a good weekend.

Guess what. It's time for the Thursday Threesome, brought you this week by Office Depot and The Back Porch.

Onesome. Small. Is it a small world? In how many miles of space do you live your life?
Well, my commute to work is about 2 miles. (And I love it!!!!) My church is on the other side of town, say 10-15 miles away. That's the majority of my driving. I do go to Passadena to Crime Time books (not for too much longer, I'm afraid.), which is about 30 miles away. And my parents are about 360 miles away. That's the farthest I go on a regular basis at all.

Twosome. Spiral. Ever felt as if you were on a downward spiral? How did you pull out of it?
How about this summer? In case you didn't notice, reread most of my July entries. What did I do? Finally made my self start working hard at my job.

Threesome. Notebook. Notebooks and pens and crayons and glue...when you think about school supplies, what do you most remember?
Binder paper in the back of binders just waiting for me to scribble all over.

I survived! I'm back from Ventura (the beach) redder, but in one piece. Didn't apply the sun screen yesterday, and I'm paying for it in the one place that wasn't covered up.

Yes, that's right. It was that cold. The sun only partially broke through the clouds both days. All I did was stick my feet in the water, but the cold didn't stop the kids. Most of them got in both days at the beach, and seemed to have a great time. Monday afternoon, I just sat in my wonderful folding chair ($5.88 at Wal-Mart last year ago and worth every penny) and read One for the Money. Yes, that's right, I'm finally starting the Stephanie Plumb series. And I read half the book on the trip. :) Finished it yesterday morning. No, it's not on the must read before Linda closes list, but I finally found it in a library, so I snagged it and read it. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to Two for the Dough.

Marcus (potential new roommate) finally met with a committee from church Monday night. But that still didn't solve anything!!! Now we have to wait for the deacon meeting Tuesday night for them to officially decide to hire him and what the terms will be. But since this is his only iron in the fire right now, he's pretty set to take it. So I'm holding on for one more week to see if I have a roommate or not.

Speaking of which, Jeff starts moving out today. (Sniff.)

My computer got upgraded while I was gone. I now have Windows XP. (Which I think means I don't need an FTP program to start posting on my web page, right? Misty?) But now I'm having to figure everything out again. Like the programs I use to send payroll tax information. Oy, what a headache!

Need to hit the road. Youth group is, once again, being run by the inmates. At least this time we know about it in advance. I've got a master key to church. (Hee, hee.) So we'll at least have access to a room. The Durons are still at the beach, this time with the Senior high beach retreat.

Survived the tourney today. But am I ever going to be sore tomorrow. We won the first and third games, but lost the second and fourth. Puts us clearly in 6th for the season. Had my usual end of season frustrations. Played the best I've played the entire time. I NEED to find a place to play ultimate during the year other then Master's.

I also wanted to let all you wanna be Alias fans out there know that tomorrow night (the 18th) on ABC will be a good episode to start. It recaps all the major storylines of the first season to that point in the show. So, you've heard me rave about it. Now tune in and see that it's as good as I say it is.

Well, I got more sleep last night, but I'm still tired. And the weather has cooled down. Unseasonably cool for August. Which will be nice tomorrow in Pomona for playing ultimate. But not nice Sunday through Tuesday at Ventura on the jr. high beach retreat.

New students show up for WOW (Week of Welcome) tomorrow. Where did the summer go? Can't believe another school year is starting already.

Well, you have my schedule for the next few days. I may or may not stop by tomorrow when I get back from the tourney, but we'll just have to see. Right now, however, I need to go buy some boxes of juice to freeze in my ice chest. Then go home and have Jeff give me a Mohawk before tomorrow as well. I need to do something after I shaved Navy into my head for last year's team. Somehow, I just don't think Baby Blue will work as well. :) (And I'm not mentioning that the first two years, I did nothing.)

Good morning (I guess.) Time once again for the Thursday Threesome, brought to you this week by various places and The Back Porch. (Can you tell I'm tired this morning?)

Onesome: Here-When you are in, where do you hang out? Not your favorite room necessarily, but where you always seem to end up.
Either on the couch in the living room or on my bed. Usually it's bed for reading and couch for tv watching, but not necessarily.

Twosome: There--When you go out somewhere to relax, where do you head off to?
While I find the beach relaxing (most of the time) and find doing something I enjoy relaxing, most of the time I relax at home with a good book or tv show. Of course, growing up, nothing could get me to relax like Hendy Woods State Park or Far Horizons 49er Trailer Village. Man, I miss camping.

Threesome: Everywhere--If you could chose, where would you like to be able to go for a week to relax?
I'm going to have to say Hendy or 49er. If I went someplace like Hawaii, I'd feel the need to sight see and wouldn't necessarily relax. But someplace I've been many times before that I love would be perfect. Maybe I should just head out now. :)

It's 10:10 and I'm finally feeling awake. I just haven't been sleeping this week. Even thought the light's been off, I've been awake until after 1 and waking up again by 6. What I'd give for a good night's sleep! And I can't even figure out for sure what the problem is, unless it's the fact that Jeff moves out next Wednesday and I still don't know if Marcus is moving in or not. But I'm beginning to get into a grumpy mood where things will set me off that normally wouldn't. Not what I need when I've got an all day in the hot sun ultimate frisbee tournament coming up Saturday followed by three days at the beach with jr. highers starting Sunday. For those things, I need to be well rested.

And a warning, I may be back with two or three rants later today. We'll just see how I'm feeling later. :)

Well, I've watched three episodes of Alias in the last 24 hours. It amazes me the things you pick up on the second time around. There was one scene I was watching that seemed to say one thing, but really said another. If you've only watched it once, you've only seen half the show.

Last night's ultimate was both good and bad. The other team only had 5 people show up (a team is 7) so we won by forfit. We won, but a bit of a disappointing way to go about it. But then we sent a couple people over to their side, and we scrimaged for the time we would have normally played. I had so much fun doing that. Played more then I've played all season, and did better then I'd done, as well. Actually scored a point, even. Almost five. Of course, part of the fun was the fact that the pressure was off. Tournament is all day Saturday in Pomona. 'Twill be hot, tiring, and loads of fun.

With the new school year starting up again (new students arrive Friday here, returning Wednesday. Can't believe it!), Breakpoint has been rerunning some of their college themed programs. (If you're interested, check out the archives for last week.) This week's are new, however, and I found this one from yesterday especially interesting. And they say I'm trying to stiffle freedom of expression. :)

Bible study tonight, then the final two episodes of Alias with Jeff. Finally, we can discuss the show in its (first season) entirity. It's been hard to keep some things under my hat.

Just a quick post. Trying to get home and get through two Alias episodes before my ultimate game tonight.

Sure was smogy today. (Just don't let my parents know I actually admitted to that.) I had smogy days.

Went to my allergist for my semi-annual recheck. Also got shot. (Allergy that is.) Nothing really new to report.

But I bet you're waiting to hear about Spy Kids 2. It's a movie. I enjoyed it. Didn't feel it was quite as good as the first one, but still fun and I'm glad I went. It takes itself just seriously enough, but also manages to make fun of it's genre at times. (Best line: It's big, weird looking, and in the middle of the room.) And it was great to hang out with Matt for a little while. Haven't seen him since June.

And here we are not posting since Thursday again. I really did intend to come by yesterday, but I couldn't get into the internet at work at all. And I came over twice. Anyway, what have I been up to? I'm go glad you asked.

Work wise, I've been trying to reconcil bank statements for July. Our new format isn't much fun at all. And it doesn't help that Elizabeth has been making some new person mistakes (completely understandable), and Phil hasn't told me about some things to watch for. I've got through the 26th done, except for $50 that Phil thinks he knows what is. Which I found out Phil might know after looking everywhere for the better part of the afternoon for it.

Saturday, Jeff and I went to Zuma beach for Santa Clarita Baptist's family beach day and hung out for a few hours. Then I got to spend some time with Debbie while she passed through town. Enjoyed seeing her, didn't enjoy the dump on Mark part of it. Yes, they're teasing, but when everything out of their mouths is dump on Mark, it gets old in a BIG hurry.

Also found out things are looking good for Dave's friend Marcus to be my next roommate. Hopefully, I'll find out more by the end of the week. Biggest downside? He's not a techno geek. I'll actually be the computer expert. Scary, isn't it?

Sunday was a great day of relaxing. Finally got to watch "Get a Clue," which I'd recorded off the Disney Channel back in June. Fun, but predictable.

Think that wraps up my weekend. Need to get this posted because Matt's coming by my apartment at 5:30. We're heading out to see Spy Kids 2 tonight. Looking forward to it!

Just enough time today for the Thursday Threesome, brought to us this week by K-Mart and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Blue - what is it that bums you out and makes you feel blue?
More then anything, when I hit a major disappointment. Something I've been looking forward to doesn't happen. Or if I'm feeling left out of things. Haven't been hanging out with friends recently. I need human interaction.

Twosome: Light - what is the light at the end of your tunnel?
A train! Just kidding. God sending someone my way to show me they care and I matter to them.

Threesome: Special - who is that special someone who has seen your bluest of blues and your light of the tunnel?
Dave Duron, Pete Riggs, and Donald Smith are all friends who have been there for me through anything and everything I've put them through. Even Jeff's put up with a lot this summer. Friends like that are definately the light at the end of the tunnel.

Our game last night was not what it was supposed to be. We went back and forth with the other team. Then in the second half, we pulled ahead and got a 16-12 lead. Now remember games are to 17 or until lights out, win by 2. They came back, and got to 16-16. Then we traded points again, until they hit the hard cap we'd put on. Final score? 18-19 them! And as soon as we were done, the lights went out. About 30 to 45 minutes later then they would have at our regular park. You know, back when we were ahead. Meanwhile, the other team was calling bogus travels while traveling all over the place themselves. Yes, I'm a little frustrated.

So, when I got home at 12, did I go straight to bed? Of course not! I had to know who the Mole was, so I watched. I'd like to remind you I correctly listed Bill as one of my suspects weeks ago. Of course, someone else had to mention it to me, but they had spotted one of the hidden clues. Still, I'm rather happy with myself over being on to him and naming him when they got down to three.

Finished my book at lunch time. Enjoyed it for the most part, but there were a few things that could have definately been cut out and I still would have been happy.

And I've discovered more problems with our stupid new bank. The statements I download sometimes have two entries on one line. Took me all afternoon to figure this out, but I finally got the second week in July done. (It's ok that I'm behind. I always reconcil July the begining of August in case we need to change anything for June when closing out the year.) Hopefully tomorrow will get easier in that reguard.

Sunday night was alot of fun. Seth and Keirsten decided they wanted to watch Emperor's New Groove. I just love that movie. Jeff was in and out since he'd gotten back to town later then he thought he would. Something about the airline loosing his luggage.... Still, a good time was had by all.

Then I was over at their house last night to get ready for Wednesday night. Tonight is my next to last regular ultimate frisbee summer league game. And I've got to remember to go to the new field. They double booked our fields for the next couple of weeks, so we got bumped. Last time that happened, the other field was really bad. Hopefully that's not the case tonight.

I finally asked Phil and officially got the time off for the jr. high beach retreat and our family trip to Yosemite, so that's good. I haven't talked to him about the possibility of going home this weekend. I sure hope I don't have to go. I really need a nice quiet weekend.

Well, I'd like to go review the second Constible Evans book now. And then head home so I can finish This Pen for Hire. I'm not keeping my reviewing up with my reading, which is unusual.

No, I haven't abandoned this place. (And poor Shana. Some blogsitter I turned out to be.) Just been too busy the last couple days. Let's see if I can recap.

Friday and Saturday, we worked to get things ready for the audit. We aren't quite to where we'd like to be or where we were last year, but Phil is happy with where we are. Which is a good thing because the audit starts tomorrow whether we're ready or not. I'd just like to point out that I'm not the only one whose fault this is. Jason took two weeks off this month. There are some things that you can only really do in July and taking two weeks off during this time is crazy.

Saturday morning early, a transformer right outside my apartment's downstairs windown blew. It was about 3:30 AM. Woke me and the entire complex up. We were without power for most of the day, I guess. I was here working. :) Anyway, power was back by the time I got home at 3:30 PM.

Went to Crime Time yesterday after working. Got the very bad news that Linda has decided to retire. :( The store will be closing by the end of September. I stayed much later then I intended to commiserating with a fellow mystery fan who spends way too much money there. Jan and I are trying to find a replacement, but it won't be easy. Linda was a very customer friendly place who also treated authors well. And the signings at her shop were wonderful. There was always time to chat with the author, which I completely enjoyed. And she's recommended many of my current favorite mystery authors to me, too. It's hard to believe it's only been two years since I started going in there. I will miss it greatly.

Well, Seth and Keirsten are coming over after church to hang out and watch a movie tonight. I've cleaned the downstairs, but I want to stop by the store and buy some rootbeer to have with the pizza if they want it. I'll shock them by offering something other then water. :) Should be a great time.

The beach was disappointingly cold yesterday. There was a bitter wind blowing, making it hard to get excited about going swimming. Did finally get in late in the day for half an hour or so. Singing went well. Of course, leading singing outside is completely different from inside. For one thing, you can't hear anyone else. Fortunately, I could tell from lips that I wasn't singing in a vacuum. There's nothing worse then trying to determine if what you're doing is what everyone else thinks you're doing.

Of course, came back today to find that Phil had found a problem account in the receivables. Guilt set in big time. Seems like things are falling into place. Hopefully won't be here all weekend working.

Joined a new group blog today. Snark!fest is a place to discuss TV. Does this mean that my TV ramblings will be any less here? Doubt it, but we'll just have to see. I'm not one for repeating myself too much. Not too much anyway.

Speaking of which, I was afraid they'd do something like this on the Mole. I'm going to have to wait another week to see the conclusion. I still say that Bill is the Mole. But we'll just have to wait a week to see, now won't we?

Finally got Shana's blog to update with out thoughts from the weekend. Wish blogger would get their act together.

And you think I could post today and not comment on the latest bombing in Jerusalem? This one hit close to home because I'm 90% certain that Hebrew University is where Seth was attending last fall while he and Keirsten were over there. It's definately some place they've talked about going. I don't remember if I posted or not about the guy I saw when I was on jury duty. He was outside the courthouse every day with big signs defending the Palestinians. BUT THE PALESTINIANS ARE TARGETING CIVILIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doesn't anyone get that? Ok, maybe they do have some valid points. I will confess I haven't studied every detail of the last 50 year's history. But the way they are going about fighting this war is wrong and doesn't make me sympathetic to them at all. Quite honestly, I don't think it's a big leap to say they will never be satisfied as long as Israel is give a square inch. That's much harder to prove, but I think the case could be made. Either way, what they're doing right now is dead wrong and the sooner we are willing to do something about it, the better. It'll be interesting to see what the response is since three Americans were killed in the bombing today.

Phil and Jason are leaving, so I think I'll post this, write a review of Kris Neri's first book at Amazon and work on cleaning the apartment. Seth and Keirsten aren't coming until Sunday night now, but I still need to get the place cleaned while I can.

Time for the Thursday Threesome, brought to you once again this week by The Wizard of Oz and The Back Porch. (Don't worry, it's not deja vu. We had this theme before already, but with different questions. Pretty creative if you ask me.)

Onesome: Lions. How late do you lie in, or are you an early bird? "fess up, no lying here.
Weekdays, my alarm goes off between 6:30 and 7 AM. I love my 5 minute commute. Saturdays during the school year I get up at * AM to play ultimate frisbee. When I can sleep in, I find I'm often awake by 8:30 for good. Sometimes I stay in bed and read for a little while, but that seems to be the latest I can ever sleep in.

Twosome: Tigers. What brings out the tiger in you? Interpret this how ever you want, just warn us if it is rated other than pg *grin*.
Frosted Flakes? Actually, no, since I don't eat them. Healthy competition gets me going. And this can be in sports or board games or anything. And I think you could also look at last week's answers about soap boxes to see what can get my blood pumping over issues.

Threesome: Bears. Bare it all for us. We always complain about the parts of our bodies we don't like. So here, tell us your favorite part of your body...
This is going to seem odd, but my fingers. I have fairly long fingers, which are useful for playing guitar. And with how much I love to play, that is a good thing.