Dear Void,

Why is it so painfully hard to keep up with the people we once cared about? Such as high school friends?

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2008. I just took Bingley out for his morning ritual and greeted an absolutely beautiful Colorado day. Blue skies, snow on the ground, crisp air, and the sound of geese flying overhead. I wonder how many of my neighbors are awake yet to greet the new year on such a pretty day.

A brief summary of 2007 in review, in no particular order:

I took undergraduate classes in philosophy, literature (primarily literary theory), and composition while working. KB took graduate courses about modern Chinese history, Late Antiquity, British Imperialism, modern British social and political history while teaching. We had quite a bit of work and involvement at church. We also read a number of books separately and out loud for work and pleasure. We took trips to Texas, the outer banks of North Carolina, and the Vail Valley. Our beautiful new niece, Jade, was born in December. All in all, a wonderful year.

Now let’s take a look at 2008:

I’m planning on taking a semester off school, pending further applications to nursing programs. During this time I plan to work 40 hours per week, read as many books as possible, catalog our library on Library Thing, start a new blog which will serve as my reading journal, enhance my domestic abilities, and who knows what else. KB will be taking a Readings in Modern History course which will have an emphasis on French history. He continues to teach at a local public school and heads a historic gaming club. Beyond this coming semester, we are waiting to see what will happen with my applications and are tentatively investigating a move further south to be closer to KB’s work. As for trips, we are looking to visit New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas so far. Further details and timing to be determined.

Again, welcome to the new year. KB and I are both feeling very excited for all that God has in store for us.

Current Obsession: Puzzles

1. Sudoku puzzles. I bring my little book of puzzles everywhere just in case I might have a moment to work on one or five of them. My book has easy, medium, and hard puzzles. I am getting very proficient at the mediums, and look forward to the day when I complete my first hard puzzle.

2. Crossword puzzles. This obsession belongs to KB. He pulls out his crossword puzzle book whenever he has a spare minute. Half an hour ago, he informed me that he was going to spend some time reading one of his grad school books. When I just looked over at him, this really meant that he had his grad book closed on his lap as a hard surface for a crossword puzzle.

Combined, this means that we currently spend a decent amount of our free time watching movies we’ve seen before while each working on our own puzzles. Dorky, but so fun.

JB

Quote of the Day

“G is for Grand!”

A fun declaration of the little hobbit children in The Lord of the Rings.

My Thoughts After 2:00am

One of my ideas for this blog is to record my random thoughts when I feel myself unable to sleep for whatever reason.

This morning, at around 1:48am, Mr. Bingley (our toy poodle) felt it necessary to go outside. Although KB did the great service of taking him out, I am still awake 50+ minutes later. Well, what is keeping me awake this early morning?

1. Work. How can I make our self-pay systems and billing issues better? What can be done about delinquent accounts? Do I need to make a new form? And even more distressing – why does my brain need to think about this right now?

2. Poetry. I have the following two lines of poetry knocking around in my mind. They are from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot.

I grow old . . . I grow old . . .

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

I’m not sure what these lines are doing in my brain right now. I do not feel that I am growing old – these are not personal sentiments.

3. The lyrics to Gary Jules’ song “Mad World,” which, until this afternoon, I thought was performed by R.E.M.

That’s it for now . . . . thanks for listening dear internet void.

JB

The Fruits of Procrastination

My desire to contribute to internet insanity and my desire to procrastinate on writing an essay have joined forces. This blog is the fruit of that procrastination.

Let’s hope that from this small beginning we can go somewhere a little more productive.

JB