Alone

It’s funny how appealing some alone time looks until you have it. I love my family immensely, but the extra time to do leisure activities (aka endless videogame marathon) is incredibly empty and unrewarding.

Jamie and Leah are in Appleton visiting Jamie’s mom and I am stuck here at camp since there are people here all week. Even with a slew of new games to distract me, the simple joy of conversation with my wife or wrestling and snuggling with my daughter can never really be substituted.

It’s amazing how quickly the struggle to stay busy becomes almost a chore. Without Leah running up to me and grabbing my hand to go do something or simply attacking me with hugs and kisses. Instead, here doing my best to get Mario to jump where I want him to. Not exactly the same personal connection.

I never thought I would say this on a day off, but I’m actually excited to go back to work tomorrow.

Welcome Back Cotter

Anytime I get work in a Welcome Back Cotter reference, I know it is going to be a good post. Especially when it is the title AND the picture.

After another summer here at camp, life is finally slowing down. I am still only getting one day off a week, but at least the stress levels are down. We had a great summer with extremely high numbers in July. So the work life is good.

The family life is pretty good too. Jamie is continuing to show the signs of pregnancy and the child is growing nicely. It has been great to here the heartbeat and see the ultrasound images. In a level of needed prayer, the ultrasound did show the baby had kidneys that are developing too quickly which may result in emergency surgery at the time of birth. Hopefully the rest of the baby’s body catches up to those kidneys.

We also continue to work through the process of Jamie’s mom’s failing health. It is amazing to me how a strong belief in God can change the outlook of so many in regards to this stage of life. The trust in the hereafter is worth so much right now. Knowing that we will all be rejoined one day gives my heart some comfort. I am eager for a big family dinner in heaven.

In less heavy news, I have found a new favorite internet service. Goozex is a videogame trading site that matches used videogame owners to make trades for only $1 per trade and postal fees. A pretty good deal. I’ve traded literally about 15 games at this point. Saving me a ton of money. If you want to sign up, use me as a referral and we both get some free points/trades! (Click here if you are interested.)

Other than that, not much going on. Hopefully this is the start of more consistently blogging from me again!

Today’s Forecast: Gray

This weather is killing me. It was actually snowing here today. After 80 degrees on the weekend, we get snow today? And this is why I hate spring. Fall is similar, but at least then I have had the heat of summer and I’m ready for a break. Right now I’m just sick of cold and wet.

It also makes me incredibly sleepy. Yesterday I had a day off and just sat around and did literally nothing. I played a lot of videogames, but I actually topped out and thought, “Nope, I’m done. I don’t want to play anymore.” And if you really know me you know that is bad.

At this point I am so eager for summer. I know that means I will be incredibly busy, but I’d rather that than my current situation. I just want to enjoy the environment I’m in.

The longest two days…

As much as I love and appreciate “time-off,” this has been the absolute longest 2 days ever. It’s not that my typical time off is this boring. Unfortunately the rest of my family is gone though, so I’m stuck here in the woods trying to basically kill time. It’s a horrible thing. So here is a brief list of things I’ve done.

1. Watched 4 bowl games. The Fiesta Bowl is officially the greatest game I have ever seen in my life.

2. The new show Knights of Prosperity is pretty hilarious in a My Name is Earl/Office kind of way.

3. I beat Psychonauts. I got this game for Christmas. Like, a week ago. Great game, but sad I beat it already.

4. I killed two mice by reinventing the conventional mouse trap. Put peanut butter under the bait bail with a toothpick and snap off the toothpick to make it difficult for the mouse to clean off the trap without it’s neck being snapped. I know, I’m pathetic and inhumane.

5. I have watched the Packers/Bear game twice. I can’t get enough of that game. Just priceless.

6. I have done countless loads of laundry and dishes in hopes that my wife will have little to nothing to do when she gets home.

7. I cleaned up the garage. Even though it was already clean.

I’m sure there are more things that are pointless, but I can’t think of any right now. Oh yeah, I slept until 11 am yesterday too. Okay, I’m done. And pathetic.

The Christmas Haul

While I think we all know that Christmas is much more than a time to give and receive presents, my inner child is still enjoying the many new toys that appeared under the Christmas tree with my name on it. In addition to these, I also have my birthday gifts to enjoy as well. In other words, I am in gift overload.

It’s funny too. I actually told Jamie on the way to Appleton for Christmas that I wished I had put more “practical” items on my Amazon Wish List instead of just videogames and books. Fortunately my family cares too much about me to let me become a hermit and got me some great gifts to enjoy the outdoors too.

So without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the gifts I am enjoying. This list is in no particular order so please do not be offended if your gift came in “second place” according to this. It’s just a list. I love them all.

Dead Rising – Any game that allows the player to run over zombies with a lawnmower is okay in my book. I’ve heard the game can become annoying in some ways, but I love killing me some zombies.

Bully – I have always enjoyed movies that show the turmoil of the school years (Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc.), so this game is a great fit for my type of humor.

Snowshoes – While I am doubtful that it will actually snow anytime soon, I am enjoying the prospect of it. I think owning these also scores me some more points towards being a borderline lumberjack.

Garmin GPS – This is actual a return purchase after my dad bought Jamie and I a camcorder. Since we already had a camcorder, I picked up a GPS and got Jamie an iPod. I am excited to do some GeoCaching with this little guy soon. Again, borderline lumberjack.

Velvet Elvis – I have really wanted to read this book by Rob Bell for a while so I can’t wait to finish up the last of the Left Behind books to move on to something I actually want to read.

Again, this is just a fraction of the gifts received. I am so ridiculously blessed. Thank you much if you were one of the family members doing the gifting. Rest assured that your gift is helping me keep my sanity in my downtime here at camp.

Best…Thanksgiving…Ever.

Why do I love Thanksgiving? Well, besides the food, the football, the family, and the inevitable turkey coma I will slip into later this afternoon, it’s the sales.

I have had pretty good luck in the past getting decent deals. Nothing huge, but the typical free stack of cds or a big discount on a present for someone else. Never did I get a great deal for myself though. Until today.

The fine folks at Amazon were running a deal today at 1 pm to get a Xbox 360 core system for $100 instead of the typical $300. They only have 1,000 at this price, so I didn’t really think I had a chance.

But like a glutton for punishment, I clicked away at the refresh button in hopes of winning the lottery. At about 12:57, the Amazon site locked up and I knew it was over.

But wait…what is this? I got through! I couldn’t believe it. Sure, I still have to pay $100, but it’s a great deal. And best of all, it makes the decision of PS3 or Xbox 360 really easy.

Time to go update my Amazon Christmas list…

A bad case of the Wednesdays

It is really bizarre to now treat Wednesday as my new Monday. Heck, it was weird enough treating Tuesday as my “weekend.”

We did get a lot done around the house yesterday though. We hung most of the pictures we own which is really not that many. I ordered a couple videogames (Ratchet & Clank 3 and God of War) for amusement while Jamie and Leah are off in Ireland. I’m really going to miss them while they are gone. Hopefully I can just keep busy so the time goes fast.

I am also slowly adjusting to the dial-up nightmare for internet access. It is ridiculous that it takes me an hour to upload 1 photo to Flickr, but if I start it at 9 pm, watch some TV and come back, it’s usually done. I just need to pace myself so I don’t have a huge back log of photos. It also sounds like the plans to have satellite internet are moving along fast than planned. Probably by fall at the latest!

Not much else going on here at camp. It has rained the last few days which has made life kind of miserable. I’m hoping everything will dry out today so I can at least walk around and get my head straight. It always makes my job easier and more enjoyable when I walk around and realize how important this place is to so many ministries and how clearly God moves in this place.