Sinking In

I meant to sit down here yesterday (rather, Sunday) to update this thing, but got busy doing other stuff; then I didn't actually have time earlier today (rather, yesterday now), so here I am, and this technically counts as Sunday's post ^_^

And the thing that I meant to post on Friday (though it should have technically been Thursday) is just-finished and below, but not vitally important (sez you :P).

I'm going to go ahead and consider that last couple of weeks to be my official freak-out period. Not only was work stressful, which is expected this time of year, but I think some things concerning my imminent future kind of sunk in, and started to feel overwhelming. I've been going from being unable to sleep to sleeping too much and not wanting to get out of bed. The latter happened on Friday, so I ended up sleeping straight through Black Friday. Honestly, I think it was probably a good thing that I didn't have to go through the stress of that work-day, but I'm afraid I've created a perception of unreliability with the bosses, which is funny, because I've always been a go-to guy at Target. With only a month left, I don't want them to think that I've adopted an "I'm invincible" attitude, though I could if I was a lesser person. I know they need me there, and I know they won't fire in my last four weeks, so maybe I sub-consciously have taken that attitude, but it's for sure not deliberate. Nobody said anything about it today, though, so it's all cool.

Did I mention that I have to work six days in a row this week? >_<

On the Air Force front, a bit of an issue came up last week that got me conflicted and bothered, but it ended up working itself out, so I'm back to being much less freaked out about the whole thing. In fact, I feel pretty darn good about it; I even slept well today for the first time in a while.

I quit Farmville, because I was tired of my life being controlled by and scheduled around stupid fake raspberry crops =P I joke about it, but it really does free up a lot of time, and has helped with the lowering of the stress meter.

After work today (er...yesterday), I went over to visit with my friend Bryan, who was in town for Thanksgiving, and who I hadn't seen for a good long while. It's always nice to just sit and chat about everything and nothing, especially with someone you don't get to see often. I've realized that the next time he's in town, I won't be (unless, perhaps, we both come back here during the same holiday time or something), so that's just one more thing that makes this whole military ordeal that much harder.

I sometimes can't believe I VOLUNTEERED for this ^__^

Anyway, like I said, I feel like I've gotten through a massive stress-out period, and feel mostly good about everything right now. I just need to slow things down a bit and enjoy my last month-and-a-half before basic.

Oh, and since it's now the first of December, I must mention that today is my father's birthday! Usually, for birthdays, I like to make silly comments or post cute pictures (see the post below), but for this one, I'll forgo all that and just use my man-voice to simply say Happy Birthday, Pop!

Oh No...

Shame on me. In this past weekend's excitement, I forgot to mention that Thursday was Erena Ono's birthday. I don't mention every AKB48 member's b-day, because there are so many of them (42) and I only know a few, but Ono's one of the stand-out members, so HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY!!!

Just ignore this; I posted it for a friend to see, and all he had to say was, "Meh, it's alright." I say 'tis gorgeous ^__^

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes, I know I'm posting this at 10:00 PM, and that Thanksgiving is nearly over and everything, but I really haven't had a chance to sit down at my computer today. I had to work from 4:00 to 10:00 this morning in order to get the store prepped for tomorrow's oh-so-exciting rush, then I went to bed after turkey-time because I had been up for about 27 hours.

I still love Thanksgiving. It still feels "right" to me; a day set aside where one can truly relax and reflect on everything that one has to be thankful for. I've actually grown to despise the month of December and all that Christmas has become. It seems impossible to have a quiet and reflective Christmas any more; the true meaning becomes buried deeper and deeper every year in all the high-value productions and greedy shopping sprees. Thanksgiving is the calm before the storm; all hell's about to break loose tomorrow (I'm really not looking forward to my 5:00 to 2:30 shift), and it really saddens me to see the "happiest season of all" be what it has become.

There's a lot to be thankful for this year. I feel better about my personal life-situation than I've ever felt, and am thankful for the support from my family and friends in my decision to enlist. The thing that I am most thankful for, and the thing that I will always be most thankful for, is the fortune of being born into a Christian home and being raised by parents who instilled in me a high sense of morality and values. I came to know my Savior at an early age, and without Him I am nothing. Christ is the one constant in my life; the only part of me that can never be taken away. He is the reason I have a future; He is the reason that the future need not be feared. I know that as long as I listen to and obey the Spirit's leading, I will always be where I'm meant to be. And that's a comforting thought, and a great truth for which to give thanks. The fact that I was born into a situation whereby I am able to live this life of freedom is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Insomnolence

^I changed my picture up there back to Konno because I'm still upset at Maimi for chopping her hair off :P

I'm hoping to get a couple hours of sleep tonight before I have to go to work, but right now I seem to be rather wide awake. It may have something to do with the fact that I totally lost track of the time, as I tend to get overly chatty when the sister is around. She appeared this evening, by the way; home for Thanksgiving and all. So that's cool.

I've been sleeping rather erratically lately, and I feel like I should be tired, but I'm just not. Thinking about my looming future isn't helping matters. People ask me if I'm nervous about the whole thing, and I'm quite honestly not. The idea of basic training really doesn't intimidate me or make me anxious. It is, however, rather overwhelming at times, which leads to a bit of stress-out, freak-out, break-down moments. And lack of sleep. Not to a point where I'm tossing and turning and thinking, "Oh man, what have I gotten myself into - I can't do this!" but it does keep me up at night (or during the day, or whenever I end up sleeping). Part of me wants to stop time and further delay my enlistment, while another part wants to walk out the door tomorrow and get it over with. I'm torn. And I'm wide awake. But I'm not all out of faith. And I'm definitely not lying naked on the floor.

I'd better clarify that I'm referencing song lyrics there, lest anyone thinks I've lost my ever-loving mind ^___^

I spent a good portion of today just sitting back and taking a bit of a break from everything, and listening to some music that I've had but haven't gotten around to really listening to. A friend lent me a CD of Itzhak Perlman playing some amazing "Fiddler On the Roof"-ish Israeli music. The man's a flippin' genius. Of course, if I had his 1714 Soil Stradivarius, I could play just as well. Heh. Yeah, right. I also finally really sat down and paid attention to the Hangry & Angry album. (Yes, folks, I just went from Perlman to Hangry & Angry - a Japanese goth/punk/chick-rock duo - I have eclectic taste; what can I say?) Pretty darn good overall. One song, "Doubt," seemed like it was ready to break into total epicness, but ended up being four minutes of unrealized potential. Really nice song, though, and one that will be getting tons of play-time during the course of my work-day.

Being not in front of the computer ought to improve my sleep chances, so off I go.

Not So Bad

It is about 5:20 in the AM and I am not late for work (I usually go in at 4:00). The boss told me yesterday that I can go ahead and come in at whatever time I want this morning ^__^ I chose 6:00. I'm actually beginning to think that work is not going to be so bad this holiday season. The only day that I dread is Black Friday, which is now only a few days away (!), but once that's done, I think I might actually enjoy my job for the last month. It seems like they're letting me kind of float around between teams and tasks wherever they need me the most at any given moment, which is completely cool. Plus, it looks like Planogram is getting back together a lot earlier this year (the week before Christmas, if rumors are true), so I get to finish my final days on the team I love. It's always nice when things work out in my favor ^_^

J-pop news item of the day (because I can't seem to go a day without mentioning something even though I have an entire other blog dedicated to this stuff): S/mileage is graduating from Egg status to become a major group early next year! I've been rooting for this to happen, so I'm really proud of them.

Gotta get ready and get outta here.

Excuses and Fruit

Hmm...

Hold on a minute while I search for an excuse as to why I haven't posted since Tuesday.

Nope. No excuse. Honestly, I just didn't feel like it. The past week wasn't necessarily a bad week, per se, but it was kind of one of those weeks where nothing happened. Nothing. And when nothing happens, there's nothing to talk about. Plus, I personally have felt a bit blegh lately. Not in the sense that I'm getting sick again, but I've just been in one of those moods where I really don't feel like doing anything. Even the sorts of things that I can usually guarantee to positively alter my mood haven't been working as they should. One of the reasons I started this blog was so I could sit down every day and write about things like this; I find that it's rather therapeutic. I had to force myself to get on here this evening and write something, and it turns out that as soon as I started writing, I started feeling a bit better. Go figure. So, yeah: no excuse.

Quick updates:

Work sucks and I wish I was back on my old team.

Ohio State beat Michigan on Saturday!!!

And...you know, like I said, pretty much nothing else has happened since last I wrote.

I was thinking today about a bit of a pet peeve of mine. It irritates me to no end to see deep and meaningful thoughts and ideas become so free-and-easy due to familiarity. Specifically, I was thinking of how we tend to, even in adulthood, view certain Biblical passages as sort of "children's stories," because we learned them in Sunday School as youngsters (and it doesn't help that there are associated silly little songs and such to go with these stories). More specifically, and the thing that prompted this thought in the first place, is not so much a story, but it is one of those Sunday School things that we get drilled into our heads as kids, and that, I feel, for that reason, we tend to not take as seriously as adults: the "fruits of the Spirit." Pastor Bob has been preaching on these for the last few months, and I'm glad for that. That passage in Galatians is good to look at as an indicator as to how spiritually healthy one is. It's more than a list of happy qualities to recite. As a Christian, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control all become inherent traits, but we don't always bear them as we should. These are the not-so-obvious but ever-present (almost sub-conscious) things that the world sees in Christians and knows that we are set apart. Take some time to really think about what each of these attributes really means, and ask yourself if you are exhibiting each of them to the fullest. And stay away from the "anti fruits of the Spirit" that Paul mentions in Galatians 5:19-21 (but that's rather obvious, yes?) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

And on a much less serious note, and because I would be remiss without doing it, I have to mention that today is Captain's birthday ^__^

Then and Now

My second physical fitness evaluation was held today with my recruiter and my fellow recruits, and I must say I rather surprised myself with the results. Compared to my initial tests, it's amazing how much I've improved overall. I increased my total push-ups and greatly improved my running ability. And, unlike then, there's no residual pain this time (I could hardly move for days last time). Oddly enough, though, my sit-ups fell drastically from the first time. Dunno why. But it was still good enough, so I can't really complain.

Sometimes I'll start thinking about this whole situation a little too much and the thought will creep into my brain that I'm not going to be ready. I try to strike a good balance between always working myself toward basic while not dwelling on it, but sometimes I can't help but dwell. But it's nice to be able to meet with the guys and gals who are going through the same process and build each other up. After this afternoon, I'm 100% reassured that I'm going to be more than ready. It's funny; if I had attempted a minute's worth of push-ups today by myself in the comfort of my own home, I would not have done close to as many as I managed at the recruiter's office. When a fellow recruit is kneeling beside you speaking words of (wisdom; let it be?) encouragement, it really becomes a matter of will over strength. There's a tendency to let oneself go farther than one thinks oneself can go. This comraderie will, I imagine, be vital in basic training.

Now I need to go strike that balance and watch some AKB48 concert DVDs to escape from reality a bit ^__^

Backroom

It looks like I'll be spending my remaining time at Target doing the job that I did for my first three years there, and that I worked so hard to get away from :P

My planogram team is now officially disbanded. Kinda sad. I really enjoyed and took pride in being a member of that team. We did some hard work, but we always did good work. We had a pretty laid-back work environment with a supervisor who allowed us to be us as long as we got the job done. It was the type of work that could be frustrating and stressful, but at the end of the day, it was always nice to take a step back and say, "I did that. Yay me." ^__^ As an added bonus, my fellow team members are pretty good friends, even outside of work. And now it's done and I will never ever have to set another planogram.

However...

While my friends all get to go work together for the next couple of months on the flow team, I am stuck in the backroom for the duration of the holidays. It's only fitting, I suppose, that I'm back where I started, but I really can't stand doing it any more. But apparently I'm just too darn good at it. Oh well.

In other news, Ohio State is going to the Rose Bowl. I can't believe they haven't been since the famous Arizona State game in 1997. That's a crazy long time ago.

I managed to throw my sleep schedule way out of wack again. I tried to stay up today, but didn't even come close to making it. I almost fell asleep while sitting on my bed with a bowl of soup while reading X-Factor. That could have been a messy disaster. I may try to grab a couple hours tonight, but I'll have to see how much I manage to get done with some other projects.

I'm finally catching up with my comic book reading. Allow me to nerd-out for a moment and mention the utter brilliance that was Matt Fraction's year-long Iron Man story that just wrapped up, entitled "World's Most Wanted." It was (I say redundantly) utterly brilliant. Tony's journey across the world and across the whole history of the Iron Man saga was awe-inspiring. To see this man's last-ditch heroic effort to save not only his own skin, but the skins of pretty much every super hero in the world was, at times, painful, but I've never felt a greater sense of respect for Mr. Stark. I won't say where it all leads (I don't know where it all leads), but Tony Stark and the whole Iron Man idea will never be the same. The supporting cast was also astounding, especially Pepper Potts, who is now officially awesome. And Norman Osborn's reign of tyranny is almost up. I can feel it. So, again, thank you Matt Fraction for the outstanding story-telling. I can't wait to see what's next.

Another Birthday(s)

As expected, today was a very short and simple day at work, and I am off until Monday.

Also, I have my car back and it seems to be okay now, so I'm very happy to have one less thing to worry about.

Of course, today is Veterans Day, and I really don't think I have to explain how meaningful that is to me. I mean, I went out and enlisted, for crying out loud ^__^

Appropriately, I spent a few hours today playing some team multiplayer in Call of Duty with my buds. I am insanely better at Call of Duty than I am at Halo, and I know it's only been out for a day, but I'm really starting to feel that Call of Duty's multiplayer is a better overall experience than Halo's. More fun, more balanced, a better ranking system, cool perks, great customization, spectacular graphics...

Sorry, Halo. I still love you, though.

Today was also (or would have been) my dog Winston's birthday. There's some carrot cake in the fridge that I'll eat a bit later in his honor. That guy loved carrots. The old "man's best friend" saying was never more appropriate. Greatest dog and greatest friend anyone could ask for. Happy Bithday, Buddy!!!


There's another much less important birthday today, and I'm about to head over to Hello!Online to gush about it, but I always like to mention these birthdays here too. Morning Musume's Reina Tanaka is twenty. Hooray! Ah, what the heck...here's a picture:


I'm looking forward to the five day weekend; hoping to get a lot of this and that done. I've managed to fall behind once again on my DVD burning, so I really ought to catch up on that. Plus, I still have a four-inch stack of comic books that I'm behind on. Hopefully the lack of work will help to take care of those.

Modern Warfare 2

The new Call of Duty came out today. It's spectacular, of course, but I went through a mission in it that left me completely emotionally drained. I honestly don't feel like going into the details of it, but it was absolutely one of the most horrific and disturbing things I have ever experienced. Not just in a video game. Period. I was literally in tears and actually felt a bit nauseous. But it provided a no-bull look at the sort of terror that our military is fighting against, and caused my inner-pride to well up, knowing that I am soon to be a proud part of that military. But...yeesh...that was one of the most awful things ever.

I've only been running for a week now, and it's amazing how far I've come in such a short time. Tonight was a particularly good run (possibly because I needed a bit of release after Call of Duty) and I'm no longer getting that pain in my legs and ankles. Of course, now the pain has decided to move up into my abdomen, which has been cramping up pretty badly the last couple of nights. I suppose that'll pass, too. I look at how much progress I've made in a mere week, and I realize that I ought to be in pretty good shape come time for basic. My stress meter is lowering.

I took my vehicle in today and the dude said I have to have my whole door sensor thingy replaced. I should have my car back tomorrow, plus I'm getting reimbursed for what I had to pay last month when he failed to fix the problem. So that situation is soon to result in a huge drop on the stress meter.

Looks like I can get back to worrying about frivolous things instead ^__^

I hope tomorrow is the last day of work this week. I can't imagine there's too much left to be done now that Christmas is all set. Today we all got stuck resetting bras. Generally, we're supposed to ask guests, "Can I help you find something?" but whilst working in that department, I refrain from doing so, as that could be construed as a bit...inappropriate ^__^ Plus, we have to put up with our fellow co-workers and their "hilarious" comments. Such a mature group of people <_<

*Yawn*

Sleep time.

Happy 20th!!!

Today is my sister's 20th birthday. I only know this because my mother informed me of it a few minutes ago. What is that girl's name? Catherine? Yeah, that's it.

Happy Birthday, Catherine!!! I guess I kind of liked something about you at some point a long time ago.

Goodness, I'm just a big fat chump aren't I?

Re-do:

Happy Twentieth Birthday, CAITLIN!!! Wow, we're both in our twenties now; how bizarre is that? I got you a Wild Wump, but changed my mind and decided to write you a stupid song instead ^__^

The parents and I (and the pup) went to Baylor U yesterday to visit the sister and had barbecue chicken and carrot cake for her birthday, so that was cool. She'll have to wait until she's up here for Thanksgiving, though, to receive her from-me gift, as I tend to be absent-minded when it comes to such things. It's not that I forget, it's that I simply fail to remember at the appropriate times.

In other news, the old "Parker luck" hit me full-force this morning; I hate having real problems. Life is so much simpler when the only thing I'm stressing over is what the J-pop girls are doing with their hairstyles ^__^

I have to take my car in tomorrow morning to hopefully have it fixed for real this time. 'Tis dead again. Plus, I fell asleep outside at around 4:30 this morning after having locked my keys inside. This, of course, was after I lost my cool a bit after finding my car in its incapped condition and decided to take my frustration out on the house. One guess who won the battle between my fist and a brick wall <_<

Once I got to work, the day got better. Looks like it might be a short week too, which is fine by me.

Oh, and Tampa Bay won yesterday. Finally. There's magic in those creamsicle uniforms.

Again, Happy Happy Birthday...dang it, I forgot her name...Caitlin!

I love you, I'm proud of you, yadda yadda ^_^...HUZZAH!!!

Four Shut-Outs

Go Buckeyes!!!

Congratulations on your fourth shut-out of the season!

What's that? You say Penn State scored a touchdown?

I'm sorry, but that 4th-and-goal "touchdown" from the one-foot-line never crossed the plane and I simply refuse to acknowledge the points. Ohio State stuffed 'em, then proceeded to embarrass them for the duration of the game. Finally, an Ohio State game to feel 100% good about.

Iowa next week at home. Cake.

Then _ichigan. Cupcake.

^__^

Happy Birthday!

Generally, when I make a happy birthday post, it is in reference to a cute Japanese girl. Such is not the case today.

Today's is much more important, as it is my wonderful mother's birthday! I believe it's her 40th, but I might be mistaken ^_^

With my bizarre work schedule this week, I kind of failed to remember to get a gift, but it will be forthcoming.

Though the fact that I'm finally leaving the house (and a vacant room) soon should be gift enough ^___^

Anyhoo, Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you!

^_^

Remember, remember...

...the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Work-week is done.

Ankle is better-ish.

I need to figure out how to get back on a normal sleep schedule.

I held Modern Earfare 2 today; can't wait until Tuesday.

I just realized that I typed "Earfare," when I obviously meant "Warfare."

Dual-layer DVDRs are expensive. I can get 50 normal ones for $20, but 25 dual-layers cost $35. Not cool.

The paperwork for one section of my planogram today was so confusing that it took four of us and way too much time to decipher it.

I never knew that the word "guy," referring to any random man, actually derived from Guy Fawkes. Interesting.

Stupid Ankle

I didn't go running last night because I needed to give my poor ankle a bit of a rest. It felt much better at work today, so I was glad that I was going to be able to get back out tonight. That is, until my "friend" decided to run over my Achilles with a flat, which hurts really really bad. There's no way I was going to be able to run on it tonight.

I'm just glad I'm going through this pain and these problems now, rather than at basic. I feel bad for (though I really can't be sympathetic towards) anybody who shows up physically unprepared for basic training.

As good a day as Sunday into Monday at work was, the last two nights have been...not as much fun. I guess last night into this morning was okay, but Monday to Tuesday was awful. It was one of those days that was only eight hours long, but seemed twice that. But the major Christmas set is set, and tonight we get to get out of Christmas for a bit and do some other piddly stuff that needs to be caught up on. Then next week, we're back on the normal schedule to do the "mini" seasonal set. Don't be fooled by the "mini" - it's going to be way more irritating than the major set. Tedious.

In happy news, I found a set of Elixir lights today that I didn't know I had. I don't want to use them now, because I believe my current set of guitar strings are relatively new. Maybe I'll "accidentally" break one so I have an excuse...

And I'm not going to comment on Maimi Yajima's newly and drastically shortened hair.

;_;

Basic Training Training

Forget "Gonna Fly Now" or "Eye of the Tiger."

THIS is my training montage music:


The fact that it's November means that I have gotten serious about training for basic training. That means running every day, doing push-ups and sit-ups, gaining a bit of weight, and all that good stuff. The above song actually has been my workout music for the last few days. It may be the fact that the video is military-themed, but it seems to motivate me for some reason.

By the way, if the Japanese army looked like that in WWII, I, for one, would have just let them win. ^_^

I measured out a two mile route through the neighborhood for running purposes, and my ankles hate me for it. It shouldn't take too long to get running-acclimated, but until then I fear I shall be in pain. The fact that I am constantly on my feet at work doesn't help.

I love working overnights. I went in at 10:00 last night and got off at 9:00 this morning. It was a long day but we got a lot done. I always love when people get to work with us that don't normally get to see what it is we do; it seems they are always blown away by how much we are able to accomplish within a given time. Am I bragging? Yes. Yes, I am. But I'm part of a good team, so I'm allowed to brag a bit. ^__^

I need to go take a shower and get ready to go back at 11:00.

Ow, my feet...