Don't Look at Me Like That!

First off, thanks for birthday wishes and such... yes it's been that long since I've put anything in here. My goodness things have been crazy.

For starters, I'm going to mention my B-day. Em surprised me with a camping trip. It was wonderful. Tinfoil dinners, and orange cupcakes (made in an orange in tinfoil.) Campfires, tents and walks with flashlights. Noah's sharp eye for the moon. Perfect, just perfect. And I wasn't planning on doing anything for my 30th.

Big thanks to all those in SoCal who helped us in one way or another on our trip out there. Thanks for not taking our kidneys.

Speaking of, Disneyland was great, even without going on any of the blue ticket rides. Noah's shear delight thoughout It's a Small World and the Dumbo ride, paid for the tickets. Despite a broken toe, it was amazing. Also, Double Double Animal-style with a straberry shake. /drool

School is busy, and I'm enjoying it. I think one of my research reports is going to revolve around Albert Camus (nope, not an existentialist.) The other, I'm not sure yet. I'm heading up to UW-Madison next Monday, let's hope I don't make a total fool of myself.

Lastly, I must say I'm a rather lucky guy. I've got a great wife and son, wonderful family, great in-laws, and fantastic friends. Let's see how long it takes to write another one of these...

Assessment

Well, I missed August.

I'm in the midst of 4 straight days at work, which might not sound like much, but I've been knee deep in poo for these first few days. Not a fan of poo.

I turn 30 on Wednesday, what an oddly appropriate day to turn 30. I feel a bit like I'm reaching what looks like a plateau, only to be faced with more climbing. I can't say I'm where I want to be. But that's not saying much seeing how I've spent a good portion of my life in a sort of limbo as to the direction of my life. In so many ways, being laid-back is good, but I seem to lack that needed self-kick-in-the-pants that more "successful" people have.

Treading water in the middle of a calm lake is the image that just came to my head. I've been staying afloat just fine, but I need to get to shore soon because I'm tired and it looks like clouds are forming.

I suppose this isn't the normal stuff I would share here, despite being serious from time to time. It is, after all 330 in the morning, and I'm tired. There's a clarity that comes from being tired I think.

Thanks for not taking my kidneys...

An optional title for this post could also be... "Mother Nature: Sex Maniac."

Well, it had to happen eventually, I'm back at work and it's 2:30 in the morning (as opposed to 1 but really, who's keeping track.) The trip was fantastic, despite minor hiccups here and there. As it always seems to be the case, there just wasn't enough time to see everyone as much as we wanted, ultimately short changing people that I would've liked to have chilled with much longer.
I could linger on that, but there's always next year, when we'll probably be out there again, or you could come visit us, which I won't blame you to much if that doesn't happen.

But I digress a bit (digress from what, you may be thinking.) The title actually has a purpose. You see, along with the visit to Max and Stephanie a couple months back, we stayed with Ben and Melanie in Springville during the second leg of our trip. Why would they try and steal my kidneys, you ask? Because Emily met Steph and Mel or the internet, and people you meet there usually end up on the news, like Nancy Grace (who, oddly enough, looks like Eddie Izzard.) (I'm sure using lots of parentheses in this post.)

However, I have survived these experiences with kidneys and life intact. Soon comes the real test when they come out here at the end of the month. It's just common curtesy not to take people's kidneys while you're a guest in their home, and I might as well return the favor by not taking theirs.

Also, (and this is not an after thought) here's a quick shout to Erin, a.k.a. SixShotSally who did Em's nails while we were out there. Not only does she and her husband pew pew with me in WoW, they rock IRL too. If you're near Provo, and need a good nails person, I'd send you her way.

Well, that's it for now. Except for this link.

A quick GRE question...

For those who have taken it, if I started studying this month, would 3 months be enough time to take the GRE at the end of August? Also, can you recommend a good test prep book?

Some much needed nonsense

I took Noah to the zoo today between sleeping and going to work, and for the most part it was rather routine: Noah doing fine in the stroller, Noah wanting out of the stroller, Noah eating snacks in the stroller, Noah screaming with delight on the train... you know, the usual. However, while leaving they had a band playing in front of the cafeteria, which, in itself, is not bizzare... but the drunk girl dancing on the stage was.

It got me to wondering whether she was a part of the band, a la Mighty Mighty Bosstones' weird dancing guy, or if she was in fact just some random girl, drunk on stage... at a zoo. At 5 in the evening. Now, don't get me wrong, the zoo is awesome. It's a good size, has lots of animals, lots of shade and most importantly (and surprisingly, too) free. But, I'm not entirely sure why someone would chose to go get drunk there.

Just a thought.

Also, this joke has been stuck in my head:

A guy came home from choir practice one day with a black eye. Surprised, his wife asked him what happened.
"Well," he responded, "I was sitting there minding my own business when one of the soloist's got up to do her part, and she had a huge wedgie. Not wanting her to be embarrassed, I pulled it out for her. So she punched me."
The wife told him that it wasn't a smart thing to do and he promised not to do it again. The next day though, he came home again with yet another black eye. His wife rolled his eyes and asked what happened.
"Well, the same soloist got up to do her part," he replied, "but when she stood up, she straightened her dress and popped her wedgie out. So, knowing that she didn't like that, I stuck it back in!"

This joke was hilarious in 6th grade, and also right now in my head.

Stop!!

I've been thinking of the bungy tower back in Vegas recently (btw, yes I know the rest of the world spells it bungEE but as AJ would say, that's the ugly way to spell it, and if Mr. Bungy spells it with a "Y" then, dang it, burn the dictionary!) Mainly, I've been feeling like I've been standing on the edge recently. I can still vividly imagine Las Vegas from the edge. "Keep you eyes forward, look at the mountains and when I say "one," jump." Jumping is a deeply personal thing which is why we never pushed. No matter how many times I did it, I still got a knot in my stomach. When I'd get to the point of no return, the world would stop turning, everything would get quiet, and I'd stop breathing. I miss it.

I can hear the jump master in my ear again, telling me to keep my eyes forward.

I can sense that my toes are ever so slightly over the edge already, anticipating the wild ride that is mere centimeters away.

All I need now is my countdown and to lean forward.

This is a rather big summer for me, as most of you are aware. My last final was last Wednesday and my finals grades were an A and a B. The B disappoints me, but at the same time, it gives me the drive to never get one again. Like I said in my last post, I no longer have that feeling of being okay with mediocrity.

Saturday will be my last "day-off" before I start getting serious about contacting schools. For the moment the list is (eventhough they don't know it yet): WashU, Purdue, Illinois, Mizzou, Wisconsin and Utah. I'm hoping to visit them all this summer, and with any luck one of them will be a good fit for both of us.

As of the last post, I felt like I was at the bottom of the cliffs of insanity looking up, but recently I've realized that I'm at the top of the tower looking down. No less of an achievement, but one that I can relate to a seize upon.

I'm looking forward to crossing that point of no return and contacting those schools, because for a brief moment my world will once again stop.

Aiming High

A couple posts back (or heck maybe even the last one, I didn't check), I talked about being average. That's been bothering me a bit, because I've come to realize that it's important not to be average. Sure, we can't become super heros and what not, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't aim high. I've been thinking about this lately because I've been looking around at grad schools.

Now, I can rather safely say that my life has been spent aiming for the middle. In high school, I was happy with my 2.7ish GPA because, well, I was just going to go to UNLV. And I think that that has been my mind set for the better part of my life, probably because I've never really known what I wanted to do. Nursing seemed like a good idea because it has "job security" and "room for growth." Sure, the pay is OK especially if continue your eduaction, but having worked in a hospital for the last few years, it helps to enjoy the job. And I don't. I don't like what I see when I see the nurses around me and see myself in their place. I don't want this to be seen as a knock on nursing, because it isn't. It takes a selfless person to be a good nurse, and the more I'm in the hospital, the more I see that isn't me, or at least to the degree that it should be.

So, what was I talking about before I ranted about nursing? Oh yeah, aiming for the middle. The problem with doing that up until now is that I now know what I want and I'm standing at the base of the cliffs of insanity.

Aiming high is something new to me, and it's requiring that I change my whole attitude towards things. So yeah, that's what's on my mind.

Here's a few more random things:

Big thanks the Max and Stefanie for letting us crash at their place up in Milwaukee. I was good fun hanging with them and Ben and Melanie. "It's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land." "

Looking forward to going to the Tetons and Salt Lake next month.

Everytime the Cubs lose an angel gets their wings.