Musings on Life and Living

Several years ago, Number Two (aka my brother Aaron) introduced me, and several of my other brothers, to the wonderful sport of Disc Golf. Also known as Frisbee Golf or Frolf. It basically consists of throwing PDGA-approved "Frisbees" (not the actual trademarked Frisbees that you know, though) around a course, trying to get them to land in baskets. Rules of golf apply (each "hole" has a certain "par" assigned to it, etc.) Anyway, I played this game pre-mission, and then didn't think much of it until after my mission, except fleetingly, until my friend Noah mentioned to me that he had played it on his mission. So I went out, bought some discs, and... didn't do much with them. Until Noah and I decided to go on a double-date and chose Disc Golf as the outing. It was fun, and Noah and I were quite confident we'd make this sport a regular activity. Forward 18 months later. Or so. Probably longer. Noah and Cherry were up in the Chicago area visiting ...

A friend of mine introduced me to the concept of a JIC. No, this is not related to the pseudo-Mormonistic acronym, BIC. A JIC is a person who keeps things "Just In Case". I admit to suffering from this ailment, which I have decided to name jicicitis (ji-keh-ci-tis). But I am trying to find a cure. My mum suffers from this ailment, as well. In fact, it is most likely an inherited disease, which would explain much. Anyway, my sister Amanda has unwittingly given me the best idea for treatment yet. She has used it many times when treating my mum, and has enlisted me in the process often. The first step is to banish the sufferer from the premises. The second step is to acquire several heavy-duty, 50-gallon trash bags or cardboard boxes. The third step is to start throwing things away. It works remarkably well. Unless you are the individual suffering from jicicitis. In which case, self-treatment is nearly impossible. But it can be done! As this is mostly a psychological problem, it...

I decided when I was about ten years old that I would become a grade school teacher. I held to this aim, and taught myself the things I needed to know to become a great teacher. I went to U of I to pursue my education in education. And in May 2008, I graduated with my B.S. in Elementary Education. A year and a month later, I am now the owner of Simply Spotless, Inc. My current title is officially "President/Treasurer" although I prefer "CEO". Gretch is now the official Vice President/Secretary, although, really, she does the work of the Treasurer, as well, which means I think she should use the title of CFO. Regardless of what titles we ultimately decide to give our things, the awesome thing is that I am now committed to the path in my life. Not to say that I am not planning on still entering the education profession. I am. But I am also a business owner, as well.

Yes, yes, I am one of the many who love XKCD. If you haven't read it, shame on you. If you have read it, congratulations. If you read and understand it some of the time, you are like me. If you read it and understand it 100% of the time, then you are far smarter than me. And sometimes I read it and think, "Wow, this is so meant for Gretch!"

So Gretch and I had her parents and siblings over for a Memorial Day steak-fest and viewing of the classic film, Renaissance Man . Before the family arrived, I decided that no Memorial Day feast is complete without deviled eggs, so I ran to County Market to get some eggs. While there, I saw this display: Something about the juxtaposition of the grocery store's slogan (WE value FAMILY) and home explosives (TNT) just made me chuckle. The only thing that would have made it better would have been some humorously misplaced quotation marks .

So it has been a busy two weeks full of travel, travel, and more travel! But the trips have been most excellent! A couple of weeks ago, Gretch and I decided to go to Washington (Illinois) to visit my family (or, more specifically, my two sisters, Amanda and Ariana). We spent the afternoon/evening with them, but then we had to head back so that Gretch could get sleep before working on Thursday. The following Sunday, we drove to Washington again, this time to see all (well, most of) my family. Tom and Tabitha were visiting for a week with their children (seven of them). Aaron and Megan live in Washington, also, so we got to see a bunch of the family. We stayed overnight this time, but then came back again on Monday because Gretch had work on Tuesday. While in Washington, I noticed that Megan was reading a Jodi Picoult book, and I was heaps excited, as, previously, I had just one friend who read her books (Laurie is actually the one who introduced me to the author's book, "My Sis...

On Monday morning, I started my work day at about 7:30 am. I taught a mostly wonderful class of third graders at Robeson and had a fun time doing it.  First thing in the morning, we got to go see Mrs. Reger's class put on a few of their plays related to various social studies units. That was interesting, to say the least. Then Mr. Bost, who is the third grade teacher next to Mrs. Okruch (for whom I was subbing) decided that he and I should "team teach" a huge chunk of the science curriculum they currently have. (The unit is supposed to be finished on Friday, and they hadn't even started). Of course, when I say "team teach" I really mean "I teach and he manages the students". But it was fun, because I love teaching science (even when the curriculum unit is boring as!) I just hope that Mrs. Okruch isn't upset with me for kinda sorta almost completely ignoring her plans for the day... Immediately after finishing at Robeson, I went to a couple of b...