Currently Playing Tonight and Forever By Sense Field Save Yourself see related

     Once again, here we are at the end of the school year.  Fair warning to anyone with Xanga Premium; the people at Xanga are sneaky buggers and if you don't cancel your premium subscription within 30 days of its end... THEY BILL YOU AGAIN!  That was $15 I didn't have and you took it!  I feel much better now that I got it off my chest in my journal though.

     The wrath also known as my parents will be unleashed on my person upon arrival in Houston when grades are revealed.  They aren't death defyingly horrible but by no means am I posting them here.  I'll describe in juicy detail how that turns out.

     As some of you remember from right around this time last year I made some summer goals.  I think I went 1 for 5 on them and well, I'm back at it again.  I've been doing some pondering and thought just maybe I shouldn't make my goals so dang hard.  This summer spans May 7th - August 21, giving me 107 days to work on.  Here's what I've cooked up so far:

1.) Eat 500 Flavor Ices - as if I didn't learn my lesson last summer I'm back at it again for the Flavor Ice 500.  My problem last summer was I kept running out and could never find time to get more.  Kroger's is open 24/7 so this shouldn't be a problem.

2.) Run 75 miles - last year I went for 100 miles and I tried to do too much at the beginning.  This gave my knee trouble, so I had to abandon this one.  This summer I'm aiming more for consistency.  5 miles a week with plenty of rest days should do it.

3.) Earn $5000 - I fell short of this goal last year by about $700 and when I look back at it there were plenty of opportunities to make it up.  This new job at the real estate appraisal place promises overtime like none other.  They even have a website...

4.) Tithe beyond 10% - This was the only goal I actually accomplished last summer to which I was quite satisfied with. Lets make it two summers in a row.

5.) Read two books - A month and a half for each book should be way more than enough time.  I get this feeling I'm missing out as much as I don't read for pleasure.

I might add a few more goals as they come to me.  More than anything I hope to strive to strengthen my walk with my Lord and savior.  The summer's as great a time as any. 

...Also I'm thinking the xanga action will pick up immensely once the summer starts and I find myself with nothing else to do.

Currently Playing Calendar Days By Rocket Summer see related

Summer time is upon us and unlike every other summer in the history of my life I have this strong urge not to waste the time I have.  A good way to combat the evil time burglar of idleness I figured it would be a good idea to make some goals for the summer.  I'm posting them here to be kept somewhat accountable as well as to give some of you a good laugh.  Here they are:

1.  Run 100 miles:  If there's one activity I like to do alot of its running after dinner.  I'm not really sure why and my knees really pay the price but it really gives me a workout as well as a time to sort of relax and reflect on the current.  At 2 or 3 miles a time I should be able to knock this one out by the end of summer.  I ran ~2 miles tonight already

2.  Consume 500 Fla-Vor-Ices:  Last summer after someone in the dorms gave me a neglected 220 count of these things you could say I went completely Fla-Vor-Ice crazy.  I was eating them like 20 to 25 a sitting and finished the box off with the help of my little brother in a week.  I figure all the running I'll be doing will more than offset the calories in these things, and its a good way to cool down.  I plan on writing an e-mail to the parent company Jel Sert (www.jelsert.com) for some words of encouragement.  I'll post my e-mail and hopefully their reply as they are available.  The only rule on this one is no Fla-Vor-Ice eating between the hours of midnight and 8am.  A man's got to get some sleep.  ...downed 5 just tonight.

3.  Attain a high score of 2500 on the beloved cell phone game "Snake II":  This one is much more than a summer goal... more like a lifetime goal you'll always remember with graduation and marriage and the birth of your kids.  My high score to date is 2174.  I don't know how I did it or how much sleep I lost in achieving it, but achieve it I most certainly did.  I've got the whole summer so we'll see how this one pans out.

4.  Earn $5000 lifeguarding:  As they say "How can you spend what you haven't earned"... ok so I just made that up but the last thing I want to have to worry about this school year is a tight budget.  Plus I've been handed the greatest opportunity to earn money in my life so why not put it to use.  As an addition to this goal a side goal is to tithe my 10% which if everything works out should be $500.  It looks like a challenge but lets see what God has in store.

5.  Create a fully functional and regularly updated .com website: I've seen friends do it and with a little time I think I could really put something cool together.  Time will be scarce but I guess that means I can practice my time management for the school year.  This should be interesting.

6.  Make this summer the best one to date and look back without regrets:  I think the past semester not at school has seriously changed my attitude and outlook on the way I look at the present and how I choose to spend it.  You ask well how does one go about making it the best summer to date?  I think it has alot to do with the time you spend with your friends balanced with the amount you accomplish you're honestly proud of.  I'm going to regret saying this but I guess this means doing some things I wouldn't normally do, taking some chances, and being aggressive (within reason of course).  If you're wondering how this is really a goal that you can succeed or fail to reach... I'll tell you how it worked out at the end of summer.

In other news, I got an e-mail today (or my mom did) from the mother of a childhood friend who’s currently serving in the army right outside of Baghdad in Iraq.  I knew he was there along with some other of my friends but the attached picture of him decked out in his full camo and one heck of a gun made it so much more real.  Talk about an experience.  Apparently he drives tanks now which is much to his mother's relief since he used to be apart of an armed Hummer unit.  I'd feel alot safer too when my armor was virtually impenetrable and I had a gun mounted on top the size of a boat.  Major props to those guys (and gals) over there.

Unpacking has been much more of a chore than I expected since I returned home from Waco.  I think my room got smaller and I know I'll be right back out in a couple months but its always good to know you have a place to call home that actually feels home like and not a "tornado disaster area" (my mom's description thus far).