Happy Halloween

Well, we made it again to my favorite holiday. And where am I? Work :(

But that's okay. When we started down this path of putting Emily through nursing school and getting out of debt, I knew it would be tough. I work five nights a week, including Saturday and Sunday. I miss most holidays, but it's worth the payoff. Within three years we'll be completely out of debt and able to choose our paths in life. We will start the traveling nurse program in 2010 and I can start taking online classes. By the time we settle two years after that I'll have the time and money to finish school and become a teacher. That will give me weekends, nights, and holidays off. I'll be able to spend time with my friends and family and I'll be able to devote more time to writing.

On the writing front, I'm over 10,000 words into my novel. Things are going well and I think I'm getting better at character development. The thing about being a "cyborg" writer is that, though I know where the story starts and ends, I end up coming up with a lot of neat side developments, too.

It seems our toilet is leaking from the water valve, not the drain. So that means the water leaking is just fresh water, and not toilet water. This may not seem like a big deal, but the quality of water dripping on you can make a big difference in the ick department. I went to Home Depot and actually was helped by someone intelligent. He said I should replace the one line going into the tank first before trying to replace the copper lines. If the water line higher up is leaking, it'll make everything else look wet too. And since we have water in the bathroom, maybe he's right. It wouldn't seem likely that several valves started leaking all at once. But we'll see. If it turns out that the copper lines are leaking I'll have to get help because I'm not smart enough to fix that.

Okay everyone, have fun this Halloween. Eat lots of candy and don't worry about the consequences because Halloween only comes one time of year. You have four weeks until Thanksgiving to work off the calories ;)

You're smarter than people think

Election day is only six days for now. If you live in a swing state (like me) then you may have noticed that most commercials are for some sort of campaign. Ooh, boy. It seems that there are still a whole bunch of people who are undecided in this election. This seems funny to me because you have two very different candidates with two very different world views. But, unlike everyone else, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for.

I've seen celebrities out there trying to tell you that you should vote for their guy. I guess they think they're smarter than you and you should believe them.

There are commercials I've seen out there where candidates slam each other and one local election where the candidate is outright lying about her opponent.

One candidate will be on TV tonight spending half an hour telling you why you should vote for him.

You know what? These ads don't really matter. You basically have two kinds. The first is the "Look how great I am, vote for me", the other is the "Look at what a scumbag my opponent is, vote for me".

If you really want to know how the candidates stand, you need to do your own research. And you can probably do it pretty easily. In fact, I'm going to help you out.

Johnmccain.com is John McCain's official website.
Barackobama.com is Barack Obama's official website.
Factcheck.org is a site you can check what the candidates say compared to their record.
USAtoday.com has a neat game that asks you questions on issues and will match you to either Obama or McCain.

So if you're still debating who to vote for, you have six days to decide. Don't let people tell you they're smarter and you should do what they say. It's your vote and you have the right to exercise it.

The sun just came out

I've had a bit of a rough week. Starting Thursday things started going wrong and a lot of stressors built up. I haven't been really happy. When I haven't been angry I've been depressed and vice versa. The good news is rather than be at each other's throats, Emily and I have gone through this together.

And after my doubt and fear, the sun has come out for us. Emily was offered a job at her old hospital and any fears we had over the weekend have been alleviated. Now all she has to do is focus on her last three months, pass her boards and the nursing exam.

Now all we have to do is try to remember that God does have a plan for us and that we should trust him.

Repentance

It seems that religions are as widespread in their doctrines as political ideas. There are so many philosophies and theories out there. Take, for instance, repentance. There are those on one side, lets call them the Republichristians, that believe repentance should be hard, that there should be real punishment, and that the sin should follow you forever. Then there are the Demochristians who believe all you have to do is say one prayer and that you never have to worry about what you do ever again.

I'm more of a Moderachristian. I believe sin is real and wrong. But I also believe in repentance. When you've acknowledged your sins, felt real guilt, apologized to God (and anyone you may have wronged), asked for forgiveness, and tried to eliminate the incorrect behavior in your life, then that should be it. These things shouldn't come back to haunt you. If it's good enough for God, it should be good enough for everyone.

This is especially poignant in politics. When you try to run for a political office, your opponents will dig into your past as far as they can to find something that you may have done years ago to derail you. It doesn't matter how much you've done to overcome your wrong, that "sin" will stick.

Sometimes you see this even among the religious. Someone sins, they repent, but those around them can never forgive them for real or imagined wrongs. Didn't God tell us that it is required for us to forgive? Be careful of your judgements because with that same judgement you'll be judged?

I know that actions and words can't be taken back, but people change. And people make mistakes. And when we're looking to criticize, we should be looking at ourselves and asking if we've ever made a mistake. Like they say, those who live in glass houses should change in the basement. Or something.

Okay, that's all I've got. Except that I need to remind people that when they're saying a prayer in an English speaking congregation, they should do it in English. I'm sure it was a nice prayer, but I couldn't understand it. I still love you, but talk to me in English :)

Bother and Damn

It seems every time one thing gets fixed in this house, another thing pops up. My step-dad came over and fixed the section of roof that was leaking into our bathroom. We got two inches of rain yesterday and not one drip into the bathroom.

So I go downstairs today to throw in some laundry and what do I see? A pool of water sitting on our washing machine. Where did this water come from? Well, considering the pipe that goes from the toilet and out of the house is wet, the floorboard the toilet is sitting on is soaked and turning green. So it looks like my toilet is leaking whenever we flush. Ew!

Yet another problem in the house that I'm not manly enough to fix (without making it much, much worse.)

Emily, can you call Dale and see if he'll look at it?

And we're out of body wash.

Things I've learned about making cookies

I'm making cookies tonight, and as they're the one thing I cook well, I thought I'd share some tips:

• Pull the cookies out when they're not quite done and let them cool on a wire rack. This will make them softer and gooier.
• If you run out of eggs, you need to go get more. Just because corn syrup looks kind of like a raw egg, doesn't mean it will work the same. Trust me.
• Always add at least four times the recommended quantity of chocolate chips.
• Never touch Crisco with your bare hands. Unless you want water to bead on your hands when you wash.

That's what I've come up with. Feel free to share any others.

(And as a side note, I always use Kathryn's recipe)

Something I'm very passionate about

In the charged climate our nation finds itself in, there are issues that place brother against sister, husband against wife, children against parent.

There are those that say we should just deal with it.

There are those who advocate compromise.

Some say it will save the world.

Others would sell their soul because of it.

Me? I say it's all a load of crap. What am I talking about? Exactly that. Crap.


Or, to be more specific, toilet paper. So, I was at church today, and I noticed that the toilet paper had an odd quality, one that I'm not very used to and one that I don't appreciate. What quality was this? Rigidity. I'm not entirely convinced that's a word, but spell check isn't underlining it, so it must be okay.

You see, a lot of public places stock sub-par products in their restrooms. The church is no exception. In fact, I think the church's toilet paper is some of the worst. Now, being the industrious little bees they are, they probably make their own toilet paper. They probably make it from wood grown in a forest they own. It's probably made from oak, one of the hardest and heaviest woods out there.

It reminds me of when I was growing up. My mother always bought the Scott Tissue. Scott Tissue is the cheapest store-bought paper out there. And it's almost as stiff as church paper. I remember wishing that we could get the softer variety, I remember seeing that Charmin was only ten cents more expensive for a four-pack. Why oh why did my mother insist on the sandpaper?

But I complain too much, for I am a man, and man must only use toilet paper once or twice a day. Women have to use it much more. Every. Single. Time.

So, my hat is off to women who endure so much with so little complaint. And I urge any men within the sound of this blog to buy the more expensive toilet paper. You'll have a happier wife.

Three of the longest years of our lives

Today is our three year anniversary and I wonder how many people who knew both myself and Emily thought we'd actually make it together for this long. Given that we both have strong personalities, we do butt heads, but so far we've made it. And it's funny, because when we met, we didn't like each other.

Emily had lived in Kansas City while I was on my mission. Before I got back she had moved to Omaha to take care of her dad. She would come back from time to time to visit her friend Kathryn, who also became my friend. I remember the first time I met Emily. We didn't like each other. We were both in not-so-great times of our lives and weren't particularly endearing to each other. I remember Emily yelled at me and my friend Donald for being too loud after she had gone to bed. She was probably right. Donald and I aren't known for our subtlety.

A while after that Kathryn said she was going up to Omaha for Emily's birthday. She didn't want to have to drive up and back all in the same day so I agreed to go with her to share the driving. When I got there Emily gave me a kiss on the cheek and that was the first time I thought "Hey...maybe." She says she was giving everyone a kiss on the cheek, but I think I was the only one for whom she actually meant it ;)

Well, I nursed a small crush that ended up going away again. The months went by and we ended up in February of 2005. Kathryn had planned this big trip with all her friends to go to Nauvoo. I had just decided that the girl I liked at the time and had been hanging out with was never going to be the one for me and I started to look for someone else. Kathryn had mentioned that Emily was coming with us to Nauvoo and I started to get excited to see her again.

During this time I wasn't able to go to the temple and I almost backed out on the trip. I had committed to drive, though, and didn't want to leave my friends without a big car right before their trip. So we went to Nauvoo and before their temple session we were all in the LDS bookstore. Emily had mentioned she used to have this sort of spinner CTR ring (one piece of metal sits on a larger piece and you can spin the top piece around, kind of cool) that she had lost. I casually asked her what size her finger was (which she didn't pick up on) and while she was at the temple I bought that ring. I gave it to her that night and she was thrilled.

The next morning we had the Define The Relationship talk, mostly because we lived three hours from each other and that really is a long distance relationship. I told her that we'd just make it work. This was February 27, 2005.

Then, in April, we got tickets to go to Aida at the Kansas City Music Hall. We'd already bought the engagement/wedding ring and Emily was about to go on vacation to Kentucky to visit her family. She wanted to show off the ring so, after the show, in Kathryn's driveway, I proposed. I had all these other romantic plans, but none of them seemed to work out. In a way, since Kathryn was the one who got us together, I think it was appropriate to use her driveway.

Now, after three years, we're still together. We still fight, a lot. We yell, we curse, we say hurtful things, but somehow we get over it, like most couples. And though I don't believe in "the one" as in "the one person you're supposed to be with and if you miss them you're screwed for life"; I am glad it was Emily I ended up with. The kind of nerdiness we both have work for us. I don't have to try to be cooler. I can still enjoy the things I always have and so can she. I support her in her educational endeavers and she has encouraged my creativity.

These three years have been tough because we always seem to work opposite schedules. This works so we can take care of Will, but it's difficult because we don't get a lot of time together. I'm really looking forward to when we travel together so we can have all those experiences with each other. And so we can learn new definitions of ticking each other off ;)

Recession anyone?

I know everyone is freaking out about the recession we seem to be going into, but it doesn't really bother me. I didn't have any money in the stock market, so I haven't lost anything. My home loan is fixed, so my payments won't go up. We have two cars, so we don't need new loans. My hospital has been responsible enough to be in a situation where they won't need to make cuts, so I won't lose my job or have my pay cut. Gas prices are down ($2.55 in Independence) which means I save money at the pump. Lower gas prices also means food prices may start to come down.

So it's possible the country is going into a recession, but I'm not too worried. It's part of the business cycle and very natural. By the time I'm ready to sell my house and start investing, it'll be up again. I don't have any less cash in my pocket.

So, have your recession if you feel you need to. I'm truly sorry if your retirement package has suffered, but ride it out and it'll be okay. If you planned to retire this year, that probably sucks. If you have a few years to go, you're probably okay.

I'm a cyborg

I've heard several writers discuss the difference between organic and mechanical writing. Some people write in the mechanical way, which is to come up with a firm outline, draw out each chapter, know every plot point from beginning to end of story.

Then there's organic. You have a lose idea for what you want to have happen in your story and then you just write and see what happens.

My style, I've decided, is cyborg. I usually start off with the genre I want, then create the character I want to tell the story through. After that I start to piece together what I want to happen in the story, where I want to begin, and basically how I want to end. I create an outline once I get enough pieced together on scratch paper (I've gotten out of bed in the middle of the night when I've gotten a good idea) then start to fill it in as I can. Eventually I just start writing, letting the story and the characters fill in as I go.

So, the outline is the mechanical skeleton of the story, and the organic writing is the flesh. That makes me a cyborg. We'll see if it actually works.

Stupid things I do

I've decided to start using my alarm clock again. I know you people out there who depend on the screeching, red-eyed, box of death will hate me for not having to use it everyday. My work schedule is that I go to work at 4:30 pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and at 2:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday. This means that the only day I have to use it is on Sunday so I get to church on time (12:30 pm). I started to use the clock because if I don't have to get up before noon, I won't. I really feels that wastes my day. So, I try to set the clock for about nine hours after I go to bed (so, in bed at 2 am means up by 11). I feel I can get more housework and writing done if I do that. And I feel better about the day.

I've been wearing my sleep mask for about five months and have gotten to the point where I keep it on most of the night. I've really noticed the difference. I have to admit that when I first got it, I'd wake so refreshed that I'd run a marathon everyday. Not so much. The difference between when I keep it on all night and when I take it off is this: when it doesn't stay on, I feel run down, weary, and exhausted all day. It's like I've already been up twelve hours. When it does stay on, I feel almost normal, or what normal should feel like. I feel happy and rested and able to do basic tasks, like walk around the house or make lunch.

Our Kansas City temple will be in the Shoal Creek area. For those who don't know, that's north of the Missouri (across from Jackson County) just west of Liberty. It's a nice little northland community right off the state highway. If I had to pick a good place for a temple that wouldn't freak out the Utah-Mormons, that's where I'd put it.

I watched the debate last night and thought it was interesting. I also thought it was silly that people are saying that John McCain lost. I felt that his answers were more heart felt and conversational, and that he spoke with passion. I felt Obama was stuttering and trying to come up with the right answer, not what he believed. The Experts Who Know said McCain lost because nothing happened to make Obama lok really bad, even though McCain was better on substance and style. The first debate was awarded to Obama too. The actual decision by the Experts Who Know was that it was a tie, but because Obama isn't as good on foreign policy, he won. What? If he's not as good on foreign policy, maybe he should lose by default. That's like saying two football teams play each other and end the game with a tie. Then the officials decide that one team wasn't as good, so they win because they weren't expected to do as well. That's not the way it works. But it's good we actually get to vote, and the Experts Who Know (who predicted both Al Gore and John Kerry to win) will have to eat their words.

We went to Half-Price Books last night before celebrating our anniversary at Cinzetti's and bought six new books. Yeah, we're addicted. But at least it's a healthy addiction.

Recant

On one of Alison's blog posts a while back, I made this comment:

I'm telling you, if I had a temple close, I'd be there. It's one of the reasons
we're thinking about moving from Kansas City. It'll be the last metro area to
get a temple because if you put one anywhere near Independence people would
freak out.

Well, if you saw any of conference today, you'll notice that the KC, Mo metro area will be getting a temple. I don't know exactly where, as the KC metro area covers about the same geographical space (and number of random cities) as the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I know a lot of people will hear rumors that it will be at this place or that place, but the truth is there are probably few people who actually know, and the ones who do know, probably aren't talking (no offense D).

But my recant comes in the form that I figured we'd get our own temple about never. Well, either too many metropolitan areas in the US (some smaller than us) have gotten temples and we couldn't be passed over any longer. Or maybe we're faithful enough. I don't know. My one guess is that the temple won't be in Jackson County (because Utah-Mormons would freak). That's okay, because the metro area encompasses five counties.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy. We're getting a temple. We still plan on traveling for a few years, and likely enough we'll end up somewhere other than KC. I like KC well enough, I just feel like there's something better for me somewhere. Maybe it's just the "grass is greener" mentality, but it's the way I feel right now. But it's nice to know that if I do end up back in KC I'll have a temple nearby.

And last, I look forward to being in a situation where I can attend all of conference again. It's been a while. A Saturday-Sunday shift will do that to you. In a couple years that shouldn't be a problem again. Until then...

What I've been up to lately

Just a general update on all things Matt.

I started writing a new novel a few weeks ago. I've written in spurts here and there and have gotten 5,000 words out. That's not bad, but a standard novel is 80-100,000 words. So I've got some time to go. It's interesting that when I work on one project, I start getting ideas for others. For example, I'm engrossed in this (to the point that I often am thinking about the characters as I'm trying to go to bed) but on the way to work I started thinking of the other book I wrote and ways to make it better. Hmm... At least I'll have something to do when I'm done with this project.

I've read a few books and can give comment.

I finished Flyte by Angie Sage last night. This is the second book in the Magyk series. The first book had the irritation of me feeling like I was being treated like an idiot by the author. This one I just felt the author was an idiot. She changes point of view several times in most scenes, she goes into detail about little tangent ideas that aren't vital to the plot, and she sometimes gets into the point of view of an animal or even an inanimate object. Her biggest offense is she just doesn't know how to write. She had a lot of different storylines building towards a climax, the climax hit, then she spent seventy pages building to a smaller climax. I'm sorry, but you need to climax then slide to the end. Another beef I have is that she commits the cardinal sin of fantasy writing, she has characters doing things just because That's the Way They're Done or when the Time is Right. And she is pretentious enough to capitzlize like that too. I really don't think I can read the other books in the series, even though I'm told they get better. Life's too short to read crappy books.

A much better book, perhaps the best book I've read this year, was Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. The idea is there was some sort of apocalypse after which humanity decided that all problems in the world involve people being different. To correct this, everyone, at the age of sixteen, has an operation to turn you into a Pretty. Before that you are considered an Ugly. Everyone believes the idea that being Pretty is superior, and that everyone who isn't a Pretty really is ugly. This is until the main character meets a girl who doesn't want to get the operation. She learns of an outcast society that lives outside the city and refuses to get the operation. The main character is forced to follow and learns the truth about the society and what becoming a Pretty really does to you. Uglies really reminded me of Stephenie Meyer's The Host, at least in tone. Uglies is the first book in a trilogy.

And last of all is The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The idea here is that the Greek gods are still around and living in NYC. Most of the children of these gods attend Camp Half-blood each summer, and some are powerful enough to attract the attention of a lot of monsters and are forced to remain at the camp all year. At the camp, each Greek god has their own cabin and you live with the other children that god has produced with mortals. The big three gods, Zeus, Hades, and Poseiden all made a pact not to have any more children because they all end up too powerful and end up causing world wars. Our hero, Percy Jackson, learns he's the son of Poseiden and then is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt. The Lightning Thief is a really good book that resembles Harry Potter in tone but very unique in plot.

And just a blog note, I may be changing my blog address. I set this blog up when I had hotmail. Now I've changed to gmail and blogger won't let me change to my gmail address. So when I comment on your blogs I do so with my gmail account so I can receive follow up comments on my gmail account. So, if I change addresses, I'll put up a post with the address.