New Year. New Goals To Forget About In 6 Months.

I know that everyone makes crazy new year resolutions, most of which will never be attained but hey, it's nice to have aspirations and goals. I am no different. I have goals. Shocking, I know.

I have had a lot of thoughts crossing through my mind as to what I would like to accomplish and I figured that if I never write them down they will never be official and then I'm really screwed. So, I thought I would write down a few of my goals...I promise that although I may need to shed a few of those "my wife was pregnant so I gained sympathy weight" pounds, not one of my goals will be about weight loss.

1. Write a blog post every day for the year... we'll see how this ends up.

2. Be more honest... I tend to exaggerate a bit. I tell people yes when I feel like shouting no. I will say what I think will make someone happy even if I don't know if that's entirely true. I lie. I don't want to though.

3. Make time for the important things. I like to be lazy and not do what I know I should... much to the chagrin of my spouse. I watch youtube videos when I should be doing homework. I lay in bed when I should be getting ready for work. I write blog posts when I should be in bed... it's a work in progress.

4. Find a new way to show my wife that she is appreciated... she deserves it and the old adage "Of course I love you. I told you once" tends to apply to me. I forget that people need reassurance of your feelings for them; saying something one time does not mean that that person will feel that indefinitely.

5. Write letters to Madison... oh yeah, that's the name of the young lady who owns my heart... I hope my wife is okay sharing my heart with another woman...well, a baby. Anyway, I digress.... Write letters to Madison; any little thing: words of advice, jokes, wisdom, funny stories, help with everyday situations that I may suck at accomplishing, y'know, random stuff.

That's five for now but you better believe that I have more goals than just those. I have spiritual, physical, mental, familial, educational, jobtional (please credit all uses of the word jobtional to C. Michael Thomas, Esq.), etc.

Finally, a full length blog post... *fireworks*

-Caleb

I wanted to write a post on procrastination but I put it off and now I'm struggling at 11:50 to try to keep up with my new year resolutions of writing a post every day...that wasn't actually my true intent for this post but I'll run with it.

Recently a couple of good friends broke up. They were in love as all get out (and still) but broke up due to religious differences. I don't take a side with either of them but I just thought how strange it is for anyone to really stand their ground when it come to what they do or not believe. I love both if them dearly for their beliefs and I'm grateful for their honesty. In a world that thrives on "you do whatever you want, whether it's right or wrong" it's rare for someone to say "I do what's right whether it makes me happy or not."

Random thought, I know...

Shaking Off the Dust

Hello? Is anybody here? It's dark in here! I guess it's time to dust off this napkin and start writing again!

I originally started this blog at the beginning of 2012 as a New Years resolution to write a blog entry every day. Like most goals I set, I made it for a little bit and then fizzled out...in my defense I did get married, start a new job and have a baby...I got a little sidetracked. It is, once again, my goal to write again and just write my thoughts on any variety of topics. My wife just expressed her doubt in my ability to keep it up for very long...luckily, I am very stubborn and that may have been exactly what I needed to keep going! Nobody doubts me and gets away with it! Muahaha!

A lot of time has passed since my last post, so I must be way wiser and tons smarter, right? That remains to be seen...I'm excited to see if I am...I certainly haven't stopped using ellipses inappropriately as you might have gathered! ;)

I'm hoping this revival turns out to be like an old 80s movie where the protagonist pulls off the dirty, dusty car cover to find a beaten up old car with the potential to win the big race and the heart of the heroine...except you can keep the heroine, I'm married...happily too! ...Anyway! My future posts will be more interesting and hopefully more funny! Please comment with any thoughts, well wishes, hate mail, encouragement, etc!

-Caleb

Scavenger Hunt Assignment For School

Letters, Words and Sentences

Subject Matter: English

Grade Level: Sixth Grade

Lesson Objective: Learners will demonstrate writing fluency and comprehension by identifying and using the past perfect, present perfect and future perfect verb tenses

Subject Matter Content Standard: 
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/elacontentstnds.pdf

1.0  Written and Oral English Language Conventions

Grammar 
1.2  Identify and properly use indefinite pronouns and present perfect, past perfect, and 
future perfect verb tenses; ensure that verbs agree with compound subjects. 

Background: We will examine the uses and proper conjugations of the perfect verb tenses.  We will examine the conjugations and ensure that they agree with subject, time and place.

Use the following websites to help you answer questions in your scavenger hunt.

• The Purdue Online Writing Lab: Perfects- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/
• Capital Community College: Sequencing Verbs- http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sequence.htm
• The English Page: Present Perfect-  http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html

Essential Question:

Why are the perfect tenses so essential and when are they to be used? 

Questions:

1. How does the present perfect tense relate to a specificity of time?
2. How does one correctly use the verb "have" to differentiate past perfect from present perfect?
3. What is the difference between simple future statements and future perfect statements?
4. When does the root verb change when using the perfect tense?
5. Why can't the future perfect tense be used with sentences beginning with expressions of time (e.g.: I am going to see a movie when I will have finished my homework)?
6. 
   

Distance= Cancer And Other Simple Math Facts

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day! First random thought: I have been rather interested to find out why people are so pessimistic. We have so many reasons to believe that things will just work out. Yeah, there are things that don't turn out the way we want them to but we learn, grow, adjust and make the best of what we are given. This has been a sentiment on my mind quite often since I started dating a girl from another state. When I tell people that I'm in a long distance relationship it's almost like I'm saying “I have end stage cancer with 0 percent chance that I will live.” People look at me and say “Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm here for you if you need anything!” Okay, maybe not like that but I can't express how many times people have said “Good luck with that!” Even though they are not really wishing us any luck but actually expressing their feeling of inevitable doom for our relationship. I wouldn't necessarily tell everyone to have a long distance relationship because it is hard and it takes the right people with the right attitudes but they can work...and not to get too cocky but I'm pretty positive that this one is going to work since I plan on marrying this chick. SOOOO, just for kicks and giggles I googled "What percentage of long distance relationships work out?" The yahoo answer came back: 

“0%
One, if not both parties get lonely and get tired of waiting. So they find the closest available, so they're not lonely anymore. The best thing, the other party won't know about it. The perfect scam. Eventually, they are caught, and it's over.”

Talk about pessimism. Holy cow! The whole relationship thing is not the only reason I worry about people's pessimism, in fact it's almost none of the reason. I just worry about people who automatically think that the worst will inevitably happen. Maybe optimism is a product of seeing stuff work out but I think that you “see stuff work out” through your perspective. It's seeing something not work out but then considering the other possibilities. There is a song called “Unanswered Prayers” by Garth Brooks. It's good ole Garth telling the story of running into his ex-girlfriend with his wife at a football game. Instead of explaining it maybe I'll just put the lyrics up. Just remember that with each failure there is usually something else up the Lord's proverbial sleeve.

Just the other night at a hometown football game
My wife and I ran into my old high school flame
And as I introduced them the past came back to me
And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times
And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine
And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then
I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams

And I could tell that time had changed me
In her eyes too it seemed
We tried to talk about the old days
There wasn't much we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away and I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

What TO And NOT To Do When Your Underwear Melts

February 1, 2012

So, the other day I was sitting in a Sunday school class at church and one of the people in the class said “If you woke up today with only the things you expressed gratitude in prayer for yesterday, what would you have?” Even if that comment was not a “Sunday school patron” original, I thought that the sentiment was rather poignant. It made me think “Oh man, what did I express gratitude for yesterday?” It made me realize that I would only have my family, girlfriend, the gospel and my wonderful sense of style but that I would be starving, homeless, car-less, jobless, completely unhealthy and to add insult to injury, I would be naked. I think most people would consider that a bad day... I put that into perspective and devised a horrible scenario...and it follows:

Whilst I was aslumber the heater that I run at night to keep myself toasty warm shot a spark forward and ignited my hair gel (which I recently found out is made with butane, the same fluid used in cigarette lighters). The slow burning fire started on my bookshelf, instantly igniting my Twilight collection (even Eclipse!). By this point my bookshelf is completely ablaze and I'm still asleep; I can sleep through anything, which as my parents noted, when I was six years old I slept through a 6.1 earthquake, even when my dresser fell and knocked a lamp onto me. I digress. The fire then lights my entire wardrobe on fire in my closet; igniting my shirts, shoes, pants and, gasp, my skivvies! The fire wraps around my room and sets my guitars and amplifiers ablaze...I'll admit that when I was young this very thing was a dream of mine but I was hoping it to be on stage in front of thousands of fans. Yet again, I digress. The fire then climbs the bottom of my bed and sets my mattress mostly ablaze. By the point that the fire catches my pants on fire I begin to stir, still asleep though. My phone is the first to explode from the heat... I'm awake by this point, my phone could wake me from a dead sleep, we're of one flesh... yet again, digression. I jump out of bed and notice that my clothes are on fire, I quickly strip from my clothes and hop out my window. By some freak accident I see that the fire has spread through the rest of the house and reaches my car, the fire hits the gasline, sparks the gas tank and my car explodes in a fourth of July worthy spectacle. Here I am standing outside in the buff...but I'm warm! The house and car that are smouldering off ample heat. I then realize that I have to go to work, I've never missed a day of work if I could prevent it so I begin walking to work. As I walk in to the office I am immediately fired for showing up nude... a fire-worthy offense if you ask me. I then sit outside chutisimo (as they would say in Spanish) and wish that I had been grateful!

I guess that's scenario is okay if you're A) a nudist, B) a pyromaniac, C) a masochist or D) all of the above but it made me seriously consider what I am grateful for! I consider myself a rather optimistic person and I know that all of the things which I did not have were things that could be replaced and the only thing that really matters to me is the people in my life. However, I haven't just been blessed with wonderful people in my life, I have been given so many things above and beyond wonderful company. I should remember that. I lived in the poorest country in South America for a couple years. I saw poverty, I saw people who were starving to death, people who had lost all of their family to famine and people who lived without electricity much less hot water, hot food or nice clothes. I noticed one thing though that made me feel shameful, they gave thanks for every grain of rice they had. A popular thing for Bolivians to say in their prayers was “Gracias por el pan de cada dia” or “Thank you for the bread of every day.” This was a humble expression of gratitude for even having a loaf of bread to eat every day, that the Lord had provided at least that much. Even if it was more than some bread they were grateful. It makes me really wish that more Americans could see life in a third world country and put into perspective how amazing their lives are. It's sad to me that after only three years of not being there I had forgotten about true gratitude. Anyway, that's my rant on gratitude.

A Good Excuse To Pee Your Pants

January 28, 2012

Okay, so this may seem super random but I think that pregnant women need to stop explaining how far along they are in weeks. You better believe that when you say that you are 27 weeks along that I am going to first attempt to divide that by four, fail, get angry at math and then instinctively become livid at your baby. I don't mean to be but it just happens! Why can't you just tell me “I'm almost 7 months pregnant” or I am 6 months and three weeks pregnant... I know you know how many months that is! You have a human being living inside of you! It tenderizes your kidneys, keeps you awake at night, makes you puke, sits on your bladder and makes you pee yourself when you sneeze, etc. so, I know you're aware of EXACTLY how long it has been in you and when it will be leaving you. Don't try to sound sophisticated by explaining to those of us who aren't deathly afraid of sneezing how far along you are. Thank you and I am sorry (not really) for any inconvenience this may have caused you.