4:15am, 4 days a week

Interesting...

I have gotten up at 4:15am 2 days in a row now. Thank you, thank you *bows*. The most interesting thing about it, is that it hit me yesterday how much I enjoy getting up that early. I can get TONS done before anyone even shows up to work. It of course doesn't make any sense, since I have slept in my entire life. But so far I have found that it is more enjoyable to have those extra hours than it is to sleep them away.

Of course, I am talking here with only 2 days experience in the matter. Heaven only knows that in one weeks time, I may blog about how much I hate the early mornings. But at least now I have documented that there was a time in my life when I enjoyed waking up before the rest of the world.

The other nice thing, is I now only have to work Monday - Thursday, and I get the rest of the weekend off. How nice is that? Its awesome!

I feel like my standard of living went way up in the last few days. I get up early, go the bed early, have a nice house, get amazing work hours, and live in a wonderful place.

The 1 hour commute to work hasnt been near as bad as I thought it would be. I get to ride with Eddie, and it turns out he has LOTS of interesting things to say about life and the Army. Its amazing what a person can learn if they just shutup and listen to the people talking. My dad doesnt talk near as much as Eddie does, but if you hit the right subject, he would really let loose on what he thinks about things, and it was fun to listen to him "run at the mouth" too while carpooling to work. My dad is actually very opinionated, but he is very reserved about actually sharing any of it cause most people are swine. Mathew 7:6. So if my dad ever shares an opinion with you, you can be rest assured he considers you above the swine of the earth. Of course, this is all my own observance, my dad has never said any of this to me.

Woh, went from commute to all that, I better quite writing before I say something I shouldnt.

Chow

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

So Im reading Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which is, I think, the funniest philisophical book I have ever read. The author has a HUGE imagination. There is a whole chapter on correct grammar when talking about things while time travelling. Because when your time travelling, nothing is really in the past nor future, except only from your point of view. Or what happens when you return from the future, which is now your past, but also still in the future. So there is a whole chapter about the proper grammar depending on where you are in time and where in time you are talking about, like haven beenen and toen goen eatling outer. It is hilarious!!! Then there is a whole chapter about this race of marketing people who land on a planet and attempt to setup a form of government, which is absolutely hilarious!!! They wont even invent fire till it is researched who would use it and for what etc, same as the wheel. I am loving this book! It is very British humor, but I laugh my head off, and the adventures of the crew are so outrageous, it makes it really hard to put the book down. But it is actually a 5 book series, and to buy all 5 books in one single bind is only like $1 more than just buying the first book. So just get all 5 in one big volume instead of buying them seperately.

The author starts his book out like this, and I wish we would ALL start any of our stories out like this, and it would save us alot of time later on.

"The history of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is now so complicated that every time I tell it I contradict myself, and whenever I do get it right I'm misquoted. So the publication of this omnibus edition seemed like a good opportunity to set the record straight - or at least firmly crooked. Anything that is put down wrong here is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good."

See, now wouldn't that put alot of arguments to rest when people question us about changing our stories?

Anyway, hilarious, deep, philisophical, and outrageously adventurous book, I think it will be the only book in my life that I will read more than once.

Our New House

Holy Carp!

Its about freakin time we moved into our house. It is a VERY nice house. The furnace works, the water softener works, the washer/dryer work, the fireplace works, the disposal works, the water pressure is right, the fridge works, the dishwasher works, the microwave works. Everything seems to be working like it should, so that is nice. I took a bath in our Garden Tub the first night we were there. Man it was soooo nice. But then the next night I took a shower, WOH, those shower heads they installed are awesome!!! Will I ever take a bath again? Good question.

We moved just about EVERYTHING to the basement. So the upstairs just had the basics, couch, chairs, tables, fridge. The rooms had beds and clothes. Other than that, most everything went to the basement, so it made moving in real easy. No boxes scattered everywhere, nothing. It was really nice. We sold our Hot Tub to Eddie and Sadie, and the word got around at church last Sunday, so now their house has become Stockton Party Central. They are the only ones in Stockton with a Hot Tub. I told them they could pay us anytime, just as long as they paid before we wanted it back. Now if I can just get someone to buy my motorcycle.

Its funny how fast news travels in Stockton. I had Bill Hogan come over to have me sign a contract for my water since they own all the water out here. I mentioned that I seem to have low water pressure, and he got Matt Hogan to come look at it, and he adjusted our regulator (which fixed it). Later than night, Jeff Hogan, how lives a couple houses from ours came over with some cookies and asked about the water pressure. Then Sunday, Russell Beard who also moved in asked if I got my water pressure problem figured out. I was like MAN, news travels fast!

So anyway, that is all that has happened. We need to get some pictures put up and stuff so it feels more like home instead of a hotel. Right now, it isnt very homey, and Amy and I are both homesick for Fruit Heights. Plus we all miss grandma/grandpa and the nice warm meals and endless supply of free food. But we will find a way to survive.

Chain of Events

I just thought this was funny. This morning I came in with my bro Ed. He has to be to work by 6am, meaning we have to leave Stockton by 5am, meaning I have to get up at 4:15am to get ready to leave. But the thing is, I was locked out of my office because I didnt bring the office key so I was unable to get in till 7:30am when Brett arrived.

But here is the funny chain of events.

Because Melissa (Rusty's wife) is pregnant, she wanted Ice Cream last Saturday while Brett and Carrie were over. This made Carrie feel cold, so she scooted next to Brett. This made Brett uncomfortable because his cell phone was in his pocket, so he took it out. He forgot it when he left, and so Rusty turned the phone to SILENT so he didnt have to listen to it ring. Brett came and got it but was unaware that it was silent. So when I discovered I didnt have my key, I called Brett 5 times to get his key but he didnt hear his phone because it was still on silent.

SO IN OTHER WORDS
I was stuck outside from 6am to 7:30am this morning all because Melissa wanted some Ice Cream last Saturday!

Screaming Computer

I decided it was time to buy a nice computer for the house and Amy. I have always had a good laptop, cause Lyman Brothers has always provided me one, but there has never been a really good one at home. I have always bought a mediocre computer for the home since Amy never really did anything besides print and surf the net, but her computer use is escalating.

So I found a SWEET deal! A P4 2.4GHz, 1GB DDR RAM, GEForce FX 5200 with 128MB DDR RAM, Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, Wireless 802.11g, and Wireless Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse. This is a SCREAMING machine!!! And the price? $780 with shipping. How awesome is that? This machine should last us a long time, and it will fly! This will improve her gaming experience immensly!

If anyone wants one, they better let me know now before this offer runs out, and I can order one for them.

The final final walk-through

We did our final walkthrough finally. We did it yesterday. We talked about all the things that need to be fixed. They listed them all on a sheet of paper and then both parties signed and agreed to it, so it is all on a contract. I really think Wasatch Homes has done a god job overall of building our house. The only real problem we had was the length of time it took, but it seems talking to others, this is not unusual for any builder. They all seem to have the same problem.

We put like 12 things on the list that we wanted fixed. They said it was one of the smallest lists they have had. They said most have 2 pages of stuff. So we should be moving in a week from today. It will be soooo nice!!! We sign the papers on Wednesday next week for the loan and title. The Certificate of Occupancy should done wednesday, then it should all be recorded either Thursday or Friday and we can move in. Oh how nice that will be!

Then they walked us around the house and showed us all the manuals, warranties, where all the pipes come in and go out, where all the turn off valves are for water, power, propane, etc. Where the phone and tv come in. They even stubbed out a water line to the side of the house for a future sprinkler system. They showed us even how to drain it at the end of every year. They showed us how to change the furnace filter, how to light the water heater pilot light, the fireplace, how to run the thermostat, the garage door opener, the lights, the washer/dryer hookups, the fridge water hookup. EVERYTHING.

Then we went through a checklist of things to check, like the windows, tile, floor, paint, ceilings, trim, deck, molding, mirrors, cabinets, bathtubs, toilets, sinks. Checking for marks, cracks, whatever. We didnt hardly find anything. We found a tiny chip in our master bathroom bath. so they marked it on the list to fix before we move in. Its was really fun. They turned on the heater to while we were there, it warmed up really quick.

Another thing, we didnt order a fan for the bedroom, but they put one in anyway. We told them about it, and they wanted to sell it to us since they didnt want to take it out. I was pretty hesitant. I made them drop $50 from the price of the fan, and they agreed. So that was nice. So now we have a ceiling fan in the living room and in our bedroom.

We are super dooper excited!!!

SO KEEP YOUR CALENDAR OPEN FOR NEXT WEEKEND! AND PLAN ON WORKING FOR FREE!

Raise your hand if you're sure

Not sure what to blog about, just feel like blogging.

I called our builder today to make sure we are having the walk-through tomorrow, and we aren't. It has been rescheduled to the 13th. So that kinda stinks, but kinda not since that will push our first mortgage payment an extra month.

Amy bought a king size wooden bed frame for our bed. It will be really nice. It was only $275 with free shipping. It was on sale at some place online. It will sure be nice and it will match the theme of the house.

I guess they got 18" of snow 2 nights ago in Stockton. I might even get snowed in some days. Depends on how early they plow the road out to our subdivision.

We decided to do church in Stockton from now on. With the new year, Crystal was going to start her first Primary class, and we figured we might as well just start her in the Stockton one instead of FH and then moving her to Stockton with new kids and new teacher. It went really well last Sunday. It is ALOT nicer when the ward has Sacrement Meeting first.

I finally got an almost real office at work. After having been in what is called "the cave" for like 3 years, I got moved upstairs to a new office with new carpet, and some windows!!! It is sooooo much nicer, and lots quieter, and its amazing the difference the brown in the carpet makes. It makes it ALOT more comfortable.

My manager Rodger got some free passes to the Southtowne Fitness Center and so he gave me one. So a bunch of us from the office went to one of the fitness classes today at 11:30. It was SO FREAKING HARD!!! They made us do all these squats, lots of free wieght stuff, jumping jacks, running, crunches, etc. IT STUNK ROYALLY! I hated it. Im sure it is all good for me and crap, but I dont think it worth the pain. Afterwords I jumped in one of their showers that has 3 shower heads. OH MY HECK THAT WAS SOOOOO NICE!!! I loved that part, I shoulda spent the whole 1.5 hours just in the shower and called it good. Anyway, Im not going back. There must be an easier way to get in shape, and if there isnt, screw it!

Tonight is the company party. It is a buffet at Famous Daves BBQ. It will be really nice I think. I didnt have a lunch today so I could save my appetite for the dinner. I ate a good Fruit Loops breakfast so I would have energy to work out though. But I am really hungery and dinner tonight is sure gonna taste good.

So it is official now, Amy and I are fully addicted to the game World of Warcraft. There is no denying it anymore. We got my bro Ben addicted, and Amy's bro Jonathon plays, and now her sister Stef is into it. Also my friend Rusty bought it and me and him run around together and do quests and stuff. It is really fun. It might sound childish and a waste of time, but I never have gotten into the sports thing, the hunting thing, the golf thing, the car thing, the collecting stuff thing, scrapbooking, garage sales, shopping in general, TV, whatever. You guys can waste all the time you want doing all that junk. My thing is computers and I am going to spend my extra time on this game for now.

Crystal is getting to smart. She told me where to park last night at Target. Rooker is the biggest TV bumb in the world. He puts the vids in himself and just veg's the day away. If we catch him we turn it off and he gets upset for awhile, but kids dont ever stay with anything to long, so he just goes and finds something else to play with. Bailey should be crawling any day now. Right now she just uses her little arms and scoots herself around the room. Sometimes she gets up on all 4s and bounces back and forth. They sure grow up fast.

I think that is all to report for now.

Happy New year

I had a wonderful New Year. I had friday off from work so we woke up that morning and drove to Stockton. They have the kitchen all put in, countertops, cabinets, etc. They havent done any of the plumbing yet. It was really nice. They put all the lights in as well. They did the same to all the bathrooms too.

Then we drove out to Oak City from there to spend the New Years weekend. About 6pmish we went to Uncle Jeffs house for the New Years party. There was lots to eat and lots to talk about. Rooker got tired about 8:30, so Amy and I took him back and put him to bed with Bailey. Amy and started playing our computer games for a bit (which is really fun) and then about 10pm I went back to Uncle Jeffs to see how Crystal was doing and to hang out a little more. About 11:30pm we all got tired and headed back home. Basically everyone was asleep by midnight, so there wasnt much of a celebration per se.

Saturday morning a bunch of adults went shopping in Delta. None of us younguns did cause we all just slept in. Then when the parents got back, my dad went to the Hall and setup a Pickle Ball court. Its a fun game that retired ppl play all the time. He taught us all how to play and we had a little tournament. I suggest you look up Pickle Ball on the internet and start your own tournament, because it is really really fun!

Sunday morning (today) my family got up and left about 8am to go to Stockton for church. We didn't even go out to the house. It was nice at church. Ed and Sade werent even there, we just toughed it out. Lots of ppl told Amy how they couldn't wait for us to move in. Guys never say anything to each other, so I got a couple handshakes and thats about it.

Now we are back here at my parents just taking it easy till the rest of Mom and Dads fam get here.

I think Crystal and Rooker and me and my parents really missed Maddey. She is really fun to have around!

Happy New Year!