Day 374

I woke up this morning convinced it was Friday.  It wasn't until about 7:30am that I realized the error of my ways.  Disappointed doesn't quite describe my feelings accurately.  But that's ok, we're almost there.  I try not to be a "live for the weekend" type of person.  It's just taking me some time to acclimate to being gone from 6:45 til 5:45 everyday.  So it's nice to have the weekend to catch up additional nonsense.  Like not getting up at 5:30 and folding laundry.  Maybe even sell some books on ebay.  Look out, world.


First thing this morning I had a meeting with Jeff to finish up some orientation things.  We would have finished that a while ago, but he was on vacation last week and getting last minute things put in order the week before.  So here we are!  We met for a couple hours, just wrapping some things up.  He went through a hand out that gave a basic explanation of how their pricing works.


After break I worked with Lee on some more price adjustment things.  Then after lunch I did some work for Tina, updating some sheets that have not been updated for quite some time.  They're basically cover sheets that have summary information.


After work Lee and I talked for a bit about the exam process (a favorite topic) and some of the differences between the CAS and the SOA.  In the CAS there are 10 exams and 2 online courses, along with some other professional development things.  In the SOA there are 7 exams and 5 online courses, along with some other professional development things.  But I guess it all just depends on who offers me a job!  There are pros and cons to both fields.  I guess I'll just wait and see!


When I got home we ate dinner.  I talked with mom and dad for a while, then did some dishes with mom.  We discussed grammar, how odd it can be, and the trials of using proper grammar.  Some people have come to believe that I'm a bit snobbish because I purposefully do not end my sentences with prepositions. This makes some things sound significantly different.  For instance, many people use say "who do you want to talk to?"  However, the correct way of saying this is "with whom would you like to speak?" or some derivative.  Now, I realize my speech is not perfect.  I have yet to meet anyone who has perfect grammar and syntax.  The important thing is that we're all trying to do better and not being negative to those who are trying.


I do not have much else to report.  Except that I'm going to bed now.  So good night, friends!

Day 373

*Insert obligatory palindrome comment regarding 373*


Today was a fine day.  For some reason the drive seemed especially long.  I'm still listening to the Zig Ziglar CDs, which is nice.  But there is only so much of his audible mannerisms that I can take.  Most of my time at work was spent working with Lee.  We had to change some numbers to adjust for things that management wanted different.  So we spent some time trying to make numbers balance.  Sometimes using math, sometimes using our best judgement.


I had a salad for lunch.  It was good.  After eating I made up some of my Flex time by doing some data checking for Tina.  I'll probably finish that up tomorrow... hopefully.


After the lunch break I worked with Lee some more.  Doing some of the same thing.  I took about an hour or so to update some of the data we needed to use while Lee worked on something else.  We were able to get more done this way.


On the way home I had to stop to get something to put into my quite empty stomach.  I was pretty hungry... and the bathroom at the rest area smelled like a skunk and 2 week old beached whale got in a tussle.  It was gross.


I also had to just stop listening to anything for the last half of the trip.  My brain just gets too overwhelmed with input and I need to take a break.


I had hot dogs for dinner.  Then I did some cleaning and contacting various people I've needed to for the past week.  Then mom and I talked for a little bit.  She went to go do some gardening and I went to go play a game.  Except that I couldn't stay connected to the internet for more than about 5 minutes... so after trying for almost half an hour I gave up and read a comic book.  You know, other mentally simulating activities :)


Before too long it was that magical time when we make lunches.  And now it's bed time.  Good night, all!

Day 372

Back to work today!  But not before I had a visit with the eye doctor.  He gave me a new type of contact and cleaner solution.  We'll see how well it works!  I'm going to call him on Monday to tell him if it's worth switching to the new lenses (they're a little more expensive) or if the old ones are good enough.


I worked on a quarterly project with Vivian today.  Originally I was going to be working with Lee, but he had something come up last minute, so he took today off.  But Vivian and I made some good progress.  We're continuing to update notes as we go to ensure that they are complete and look nice.  I had some time to kill before lunch, so I took a look at a report that contains much of the data we've been using.  It includes a lot of first quarter data that we've been referencing, so today I just about 30 minutes and tried to sift through it, trying to figure out what it all meant.  I'm starting to get a better feel for it, or at least the type of data that is getting represented.  On Thursday I'll be meeting with Jeff to finish up some orientation things.  I've been curious how all of this data gets used, so if it comes up I think I'll ask.  Since, you know, he's kind of my boss and most of this data gets used by him.  So he would know that type of thing.


After lunch I started on a project for Tina, doing so error checking to make sure that the data she received was, in fact, accurate.  Then I did some more work with Vivian on some new reports.  I had a good day overall.


I've been taking a decent number of notes in the notebook that I carry around.  Some of them are to-do things, others are thoughts that I have.  I need to write them up soon... they're starting to build up.


We had chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner.  It was good.  Over dinner we discussed some conspiracy with trying to (very) posthumously declare Thomas Jefferson as having an illegitimate child, then on to Canada's recent riots over sudden increase in tuition that is seen by the rioters as the beginning of undesired change brought on by the soon-to-retire working class.  After that we discussed (briefly) Greece... then somehow ended up at unions.  It was a pretty good discussion.  Basically it came down to us trying to use logic on issues that are being emotionally charged.  People are silly...


After dinner we went about our separate activities.  Mom and dad worked outside, I started laundry, then played a game with Miles.  Then it was suddenly time to make lunch!  So we did.

And now it's time for bed.  Night! 

Day 371

Time to write things now!


This morning I woke up at 6, but I demanded of myself that I sleep some more.  So I did.  I woke up again at 7, then again at 8.  The last time I decided I should actually get up... I had a full day ahead of me.  After some breakfast and other dinking around, I woke Kimmy up.  We were meeting with Dave for our next session of pre-marital counseling and still had some things to go through before our session.


So we went through our packed of info, then went to meet with Dave.  We had some really good talks (I thought).  It's nice that since I was in Dave's youth group, he has a pretty good understanding of my upbringing and some of the roots of my beliefs.  A lot of the packet (Dave did not make it) feels like we're just giving the "church answers" to the listed questions.  So when we meet with Dave, we can actually talk about how we feel.


After that we came back home and got lunch.  Kimmy took a nap and I played a game, then started on some wedding stuff.  After Kimmy woke up we continued to work on wedding things for the rest of the afternoon.


Around 4:30 we went over to hang out with Becky and Miles.  It was fun.  We got Chinese for diner, then played Dominion when we got back.  James also came to join us!  After our game we went outside and made a fire.  There was one branch in particular (I should have gotten a picture) that was too big for the fire pit, so we all took turns cutting it apart with the hatchet.  We also kicked around a bit plastic ball.  We are silly.


When we got back I helped Kimmy pack her car some.  Then we made lunch!  I took some Benadryl because I might have some allergies or something... so I'm getting pretty sleepy.  That's probably it for tonight.  Night!

Day 370

I only have 30 minutes until my laptop battery dies, so we'll see what I can fit in here.


Yesterday morning I went to church with Jessie and Richard.  Pastor Craig talked about John the Baptist and King Herod, focusing on King Herod's morality and John's execution.  It was good.


After church we came back and got ready to go over to the grandparents' place. I had a good time.  We had a little cookout on their George Foreman grill.  The food was pretty fantastic.  After lunch some of us played a game of canasta.  It was pretty intense, but eventually the good guys won!  And by that I mean I won.  Oh, and poppy thinks that I should keep wearing my argyle socks.  Meaning that dad is fully of silliness for not liking them.


Then Kimmy and I came back home.  Jessie and Richard had to go back to Muncie, Mom and Dad went to go watch the Avengers.  After we got ready, Kimmy and I went to Steak and Shake for dinner.  We both really like it.  As per custom, we had some good conversation.  The other day we had been talking about art and she said that to truly appreciate some types of art, you need an advanced degree in it (not her exact words, but the general idea).  I was kind of confused.  But yesterday it finally hit me: that's how every field of study is.  There is only so much that you can appreciate and understand without having an advanced degree in that area.  The big difference that I see with art is that in my experience, artists are more likely to hold this over you than other disciplines.  I've not once seen a history major try to convince you that you just don't understand something.  They'll just go about explaining it to you.  And if you are still adamant that you are correct... first off you're being silly.  And second, I'd bet that most historians would gladly take the time to explain their entire train of thought.  I have to keep relating this whole are thing to math so that I don't perceive artists as arrogant or stupid. Because in math... we are constantly accused (by non-mathematicians) that we're making things up.  Artists are accused of that as well.  So if I keep relating art to math, it helps me keep things in perspective.


After dinner we went to go see the Avengers.  We actually got there early.  I haven't done that for quite some time (unless it was a midnight showing of a movie).  Kimmy hadn't seen it, but now she has!  And she liked it.


Ok, my battery is about dead.  So I guess this is it!  The end.

Day 369

We went to my cousin Harley's graduation today down in Dayton.  The ceremony was at 2, but we left around 10 so that we could have lunch with my Aunt Janet beforehand.  Kimmy slept on the way down.  I talked with mom and dad some, then caught up on my games of Drawsomething.  Before getting to Aunt Janet's house we stopped by the store to get some lunch meat and things to make sandwiches.


Upon arrival we met a: Harley's dog and b: Harley's grandma.  She was very nice and really personable.  I forgot how much I love high schoolers in small quantities.  High school students are about 95% developed but haven't yet been completed tainted by the real world.  Every student has, to some degree, experienced "more than they should have for that age," but for the most part they're still just raw human being that hasn't completely succumbed to societies demands.  It's fantastic.  As you get older you begin to adopt social norms and lose pieces of your individuality.  To an extent this is a very good thing.  We all have bad parts of us that are best forgotten.  But most high school students haven't gotten to that stage of life yet... they've just finished developing and have yet to get a chance to conform.  Absolutely amazing.  In the small and rare instances where I interact with high school students, that is.


Anyhow, the ceremony was fairly standard.  It was just a thing.  Then we went to dinner with everyone at this Italian restaurant.  That was quite tasty.  Kimmy and I split some spaghetti carbonara, which is Kimmy's favorite meal.  And I had a bowl of soup.  We think it was Italian Wedding soup, but I couldn't really tell.  And I didn't ask... I just ordered a bowl of soup.  So we stayed there for a couple hours, just talking with everyone that we don't get to see very often.  Harley had a pretty bad migraine (she'd had a very long day), so she left early.  Hopefully she's feeling better now.


So then we came home.  I slept on the way back.  When we got back we all just sat and talked and things.  That's always fun.  And now it's time for bed.  Night!

Day 368

Well, I've officially completed week 3 of my internship, so I'm already one quarter of the way done.  Which means my wedding is coming fast.  So many things to get done!


Work was good today.  I mainly worked with Vivian, doing some preparation for next Friday, which will be pretty busy.  On Thursday there are some pretty big things that will be completed for the month, so on Friday we have to finish all of those things to prepare for the new month.  I've heard a few times that it can get pretty hectic.


My brain was pretty fried after work.  I listened to the Zig Ziglar CD for the first 20 minutes, but I was having a terrible time concentrating on what he was saying.  So I just listened to music.  While I was at work I wrote some things that I'm going to share at some point... but not tonight. 


When I got home we had pizza that mom made!  It was quite tasty.  Then Kimmy and I went for a little trip to the booming town of Delphos.  One of my friends from Mount Vernon, Derrick, works in Cleveland.  His sister is graduating from high school this weekend, so he was back on this side of Ohio.  We all went to get ice cream at The Creamery in Delphos. It was good.  Quite like The Dairy near Mount Vernon.  We had a good time and talked about many many things.  Kimmy and I told him some of our plans for our wedding and he got pretty excited.  Our goal is to have our wedding be fun!  There are many nice weddings out there... but we want people to leave and remember how much fun they had with us.


Jessie and Richard were here when we got back.  They came up for the weekend.  So we talked for a bit.  Jessie had a rough couple days at work (one of her patients died shortly after she'd worked with him), so she told us about all of that.  My bad days at work... do not involve death.  For this I am quite grateful.  And grateful that other people will have those jobs so that I don't have to.


Ok.  Time for bed... I have a bit of a day ahead of me.  Good night!

Day 367

I think I might just skip how my mornings start... I'm getting kind of bored writing about them and they don't really change.  So I made it through my morning!


I listened to the Zig Ziglar CDs some more.  It's certainly a better use of my time than listening to music.  There will still be some music days, but I'm enjoying the talks.


Today at work I did some more reports with Vivian.  It was fun.  It never occurred to me just how much paper there is... but even in a small-ish company like Central must have literally millions of reams of paper on the premises.  And that's after they've done a lot of things to reduce the amount of paper they use.  Bigger companies (like Microsoft) must have billions or reams of paper fluttering around!  Most of the things kept on paper record are mandated by the Department of Insurance, so there's nothing that can be done about that.  But as one who has grown up using computers, I always think about how things could be done completely electronically.  And as much as I wish it could be done... the world isn't there yet.  Someday we'll be there, but not yet.  Tablet computers are bridging the gap between computers and paper... but it's not quite there.  External touch screen displays are getting there... but that's not quite it yet.  It certainly is very nice to have breaks where you can get up and walk around.  Having everything electronic would definition decrease the time used for walking around.  I guess I just never realized how much paper gets used on a daily basis... it just never clicked.  We always joked about it in the education department, as we would each get about a ream of paper each semester from some classes.  But things add (or actually, multiply) up very quickly.  But on the other hand, additional computer usage increases energy consumption.  So there's always a trade-off.


During lunch I made a list of things I needed to do when I got home.  I also made use of my scheduled-text feature on my phone, as I'd never used it before.  I wanted to set it to text a couple people when I got home so that I didn't forget to do it and so that I could actually respond (since I would be at home, not at work or driving).  But I need to start making more lists and taking notes over lunch.  Usually be the time I get home my brain is very tired and I can't always recall the things I've been thinking about over the course of the day.


After lunch I worked with Vivian some more, doing some note editing and updated of checklists.  It's nice to use checklists so that you always know what to do next.


When I got back we had dinner.  Mom made meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Good, as always.  After dinner Kimmy and I helped clean up, then baked cookies that we'd made yesterday.  Then we did some wedding planning things.  We did a little research into our honeymoon plans... and it looks like we won't be able to take the train.  It's about an extra $200-$250 if we take the train, and we both feel like that money could be better used elsewhere.  We'll have a lot of expenses coming our way when we first start off, so we want to make sure we have the money.


Of course I ended my night with some good old lunch-making.  Then I talked with mom for a little bit.  She's scanning some old pictures into the computer, so we talked about that, as well as sharing some stories from when I was a kid.  I'll have to write about some of those sometime.

But for now I'm going to bed.  Good night, world.

Day 366

Well.  I have officially been keeping my blog for one year.


A lot has happened.  I graduated from Mount Vernon, went on a fantastic trip to Yellowstone, helped my grandparents move into their new place, started grad school at Ball State, met some fantastic people there, got engaged, passed two actuarial exams, finished my first year of grad school... and so many more things.  It's remarkable.


I would love to take some time to just reflect on everything that I've done and gone through... but honestly I have to wake up in 7 hours and need to get some sleep.  So instead, I will briefly talk about one thing that I've learned from this: journal-ing is fantastic.  It really is.  It doesn't matter if people read it or not.  Journal-ing is awesome because it does two things (for me at least): it gives you closure and a sense of completion at the end of the day (each day thereby feels significant), and it also gives you a time to reflect and vent a little bit (thereby giving you a chance to not carry that burden to the next day).  There are plenty of ideas that I don't write about here... it would be a poor choice.  But being able to write about 90% of the things that go on in my day is helpful.  Even if you aren't a writer, it's good to at least take some time each day to remember what happened.  It's a horrible feeling when I get to the end of a day and don't remember anything from it.... like it didn't even make a difference.  That only rarely happens now, which is wonderful.


Anyhow, on with my day.  Today was actually pretty awesome.  I thought it was going to be bad because I stuck my thumb in my oatmeal this morning, but it turned around pretty quickly.  God's cool like that.  On my way to work I started listening to a CD that mom and dad are letting me borrow.  It's by a motivational speaker "Zig Ziglar."  His main focus is on how every thing that happens to us (basically) is a decision that we make.  We might not actively create all of our situations, but it's our choice how we react.  He's very good.


When I got to work I was pretty excited because I got to actually do things!  When I first got there I did some more error checking with Vivian.  Then I went to a meeting with Lee with some executive.  We talked about some of the things that Lee and I have been working on.  It was good to see how all of this work will be used, instead of just seeing it all as arbitrary data.


After lunch Vivian and I worked on re-writing some notes and finalizing a few reports.  She would like my input on the notes because they want to make sure that steps are clear and not getting missed... which is hard to do well if you've been running the same report every month for 20 years.  So I'm doing my best to make comments and (when necessary) improve the notes.  So it was a good day.  I had fun.

Also: I have awesome socks.

When I got home I talked with mom for a bit about my day.  Then Kimmy and I had dinner.  After dinner went to the store to get things to make cookies!  But I always forget that the cookies we made have to chill in the refrigerator... so we'll make them tomorrow.


Mom and Kimmy and I picked some lettuce from the garden.  And then we made lunch!  Now I'm going to bed.  Good night everyone!

Day 365

Today was sort of rough.


The drive is starting to get to me... it's not as long as it could be, but it's still hard.  And expensive.  I'm trying my best to just be grateful for having a job and an internship, but it's just difficult to have 12 hours of my day devoted to work.  I get up around 5:30 am and get home around 5:30 pm.  It's just getting old.


I was able to do some work today.  That was exciting.  I worked with Lee in the morning, running a few different reports.  He showed me where they get a lot of the data and why changes get made.  Basically we're always making changes because we're always getting new data.  Maybe we got in some information about the amount of money that was spent last year reimbursing people for car wrecks in a certain county and age group.  So depending on some other numbers (and what the executives want us to do) we have to make changes.


After lunch I went for a walk.  I really wanted to get some fresh air and enjoy the sun for a bit.  It was warm in the building and even warmer outside, but that was ok.  I might start doing that more regularly on days when I eat by myself.


I worked with Tina for a while after lunch.  We did some updating of files... actual paper files, not just computer files!  It was crazy!  She said that this is the sort of thing that hopefully I can start doing on my own.  She understands that it's hard to always just watch people work.  I really just want to do something useful.  I think that once I can actually do more work on my own I'm going to really like this.  Even the things that they've described as "gruesome" or "tedious" I haven't minded at all.  It's been difficult because there is such a focus on accuracy... which I honestly am not used to.  I'm used to doing something and then passing around files with 5 other people to see if we got the same answers and used similar methods.  But at work things have to be correct.  The end.  But I'm getting better.


I decided to try getting a cup of coffee at work to (hopefully) make the afternoons easier.  It worked.  I got a cup during the afternoon break and I'll probably start doing that on days when I begin to drag.  It's much cheaper than buying energy drinks on the way home ($.50 for coffee versus $2.30 for an energy drink).


Mom was very gracious and listened to me vent when I got home.  I was ok while I was actually at work, but driving home everything just started to pile up.  Thankfully mom was there to pick up the pieces of Joel.  Dad grilled hot dogs for dinner and mom made beans and other tasty goodies (like coleslaw and cut up vegetables).


After we helped clean up dinner Kimmy and I went to drop her car off at the car fixing place.  We knew that they were closed but thought that there might be a place to drop off the keys.  There was not.  So we left her car and mom is going to drop the keys off tomorrow.


When we got back we did some wedding planning.  Mostly discussing music and timing of things.  Then... it was time to make lunches.  So we did.


And now I am quite tired, so I shall be going to bed.  Good night, friends.

Day 364

Here we go for another day...


The subject of today's post: my eyes hate me.  After graduation I'm seriously going to be looking into getting LASIK eye surgery.  If it works I would be so very happy.


Anyhow, I got up and went about my business to get ready for work.  I was about 30 minutes away when I realized that I'd forgotten my collar stays... I only have one pair so sometimes I forget them.  Oh well!


Work was pretty rough today.  My left eye was giving me a really hard time all day... and I didn't get to do much actual work.  Of my 7.5 hours of being there I actually got to do something for about an hour.  And it's really difficult to just watch someone do things in Excel for over 6 hours.  I tried to engage as much as possible without slowing Lee down too much, but most of it was really just a matter of editing or fixing data.  At the very beginning of my internship they told me that I would see both sides of being an actuary: the fun parts and the tedious parts.  It will be interesting to compare this with my friends' internships.


Timbo passed his exam today.  And he has an interview for an internship this summer... hopefully that goes well for him!


When I got back I hurriedly took my contacts out... the last 20 minutes of my drive home were absolute torture.  I'm going to be wearing my glasses tomorrow.


Dad had soccer practice to go to and mom had bible study, so mom ate a quick dinner with Kimmy and me then she had to leave.  After dinner Kimmy and I had some ice cream, then we went to go hang out with Becky and Miles.


We didn't get to stay long, but we did play a game of Dominion.  It was fun, even if Miles beat us all pretty soundly.


I wish that there was a good way for me to remember all the things that I think about on my drive to and back from work.  I have a voice-recording app on my phone... but I don't really like talking to myself.  And it's hard to remember everything.  So if someone would like to ride the Findlay-Van Wert route with me every today, it's a lot of fun!


Ok.  Time for bed.  Night!

Day 363

I slept in today again! It was pretty neat.  I got up around...8, I think?  So much awesomeness.  I could get used to this.


After I got up I did my standard morning nonsense.  I didn't eat breakfast because we were meeting Kimmy's parents for brunch.  So I just went about my normal business.


We all (including my parents) met at Pilgrim's Pancakes a little after 10.  It's right behind our house, so we walked.  It was a good walk.  Except for the part where they don't accept credit card... so dad had to go run back home to get cash.  Old restaurants are silly.


When we got back we did some rearranging of furniture in the basement.  I think that I'm going to take at least one trip to Muncie this summer to take a load of nonsense.  Like chairs and things.  It would be a lot to take all at once.  Then Kimmy and I did some designing of the invitation cards.  I really like them... they're going to be pretty awesome.  Then Kimmy took a nap and I talked with mom for a bit.

Kimmy and here cookie cake!

Mom and dad went to a soccer game.  Kimmy and I stayed and talked about wedding stuff.  It was good.  I made a list of the things I need to do, so I'm going to get on that soon.


Um, we had dinner.  Leftovers from something mom made yesterday... a type of chicken casserole.  It was quite good.


Kimmy and I had another one of our wonderful art discussions.  I really wish I wasn't so tired, or I would get the basic ideas down.  Some other time.


Meh.  Some other things happened.  I made lunch.  Actually... after our talk about art I went directly upstairs and made lunch.  So I guess other things didn't happen.  Anyhow, it's way past my bed time.  So here I go.  Good night.

Day 362

Yesterday was pretty busy.  I slept in!  I didn't get up until 7am.  I wasn't really amused because I wanted to sleep longer... but I guess my body was ready to get up.  Yarg.


After I got up I showered, packed up my stuff, and went to go get some breakfast.  Since I needed to write my blog I figured I'd head over to McDonald's, as I know that they have free Wi-fi.  I had  McGriddle for breakfast.  I don't know that I'd ever had one before... but it was pretty good.  It's like most breakfast sandwiches, but instead of using a biscuit or bagel for the containing bread, it uses a pancakes.  I liked it.  I ran into (figuratively) a couple friends while there, so we talked for a little.


Commencement was fine.  The speaker was actually really good.  And there was a photographer who looked like Elvis.

After commencement we got a couple pictures, then went to lunch at Hunan.  I'm going to miss Hunan....


Then... packing.  Kimmy and I packed for quite some time.  It was kind of hot out.  Mostly just sunny... but still a pretty toasty.  I saw a few different people that I knew and talked with them for a little bit.  It's always sad to think about how I probably won't see most of these people ever again.  Like one of my friends with whom I used to play Axis and Allies.  He's moving to New Orleans on tomorrow.  Bleh.  Keeping in contact is great... but it's not the same as actually being there.


So we packed up and left... probably around 5:30.  Kimmy and I stopped to get food on the way out of town, then came back to Findlay.  The drive was a mix between talking and Kimmy sleeping.  Which is pretty normal for us.


When we got back I took a shower, then talked with mom and dad.  Kimmy's parents came by when they got into town, so we all just sat around and talked for a while.


Then eventually it was bed time.  The end.

Day 361

So.  Yesterday was quite the day.


I woke up, showered, ate, and then finished packing for my trip to Mount Vernon.  The plan was to leave right after work.


That was the plan....


Five minutes into my trip I realized that I'd forgotten Kimmy's dress.  Yarg.  So I had to go back to Findlay after work to get it.  Anyhow, work went a little differently than originally expected.  I was supposed to work with Lee on some new project, but he got an email right before he left yesterday saying that there was this new thing that had to get done before he left for the weekend.  So I watched him do that.  All day.  Mainly doing more work with allocating insurance territories.  They switched their model, so they have to change some of the territory boundaries.  And then pricing for each region.


After lunch... we did some more of the same thing. I did a little work, but mostly just watching Lee update the thing.  Oh!  I almost forgot.  When I got to work I had a note from Jeff (my boss).  He left town Thursday night, so he left a note for me with my special task. It was written on a scroll type of thing, and I could only look at the next part of the note after the first was read and the task was completed.  So first I had to go to his lunch fridge and get out a surprise.  It was some gooey, amazing dessert.  Then I was to present it to the group, and read off personal notes he wrote for everyone.  But I had a hard time reading his writing... I thought that "amazing" was "annoying."  Whoops!


So after work I went home and got Kimmy's dress.  Since I had some extra time, I also did some check book balancing.  Then it was off to Mount Vernon.


When I got there I ran into some friends, so I talked with them.  Then I went to go find Kimmy.  After she changed we left to go pick up Jared and Kanissa... then off to Dave and Buster's!  That was a lot of fun.  First we ate, then played arcade games.  Kimmy and I played DDR.  Oh man, so much fun.  Neither of us had played in forever.  They give you a card to put points on (instead of using tokens like traditional arcades).  And apparently 3 swipes of the card on the DDR machine gives you like 11 games.  We made it through... 3 games.  We were exhausted.  But it was fun.  Then we played a pirate game!  At the end we were all able to play a 4-player Pac-man game.  That was a lot of fun.  You had to avoid the ghosts and each other... but if you got the power up, you could attack the other Pac-men.  It was a lot of fun!


Then... we went back and I went to bed.  The end!

Day 360

This morning was actually pretty nice.  I woke up and didn't feel like I had to rush.  So I just took my time, showered, made breakfast, and got ready to go.

Then this nonsense happened.  I don't recall giving my clippers permission to break.  It seems that my toenails are quite strong...


The drive to work was pretty normal.  Nothing too exciting.  There is an exit about 5 miles before Van Wert called "Middle Point."  And I always think it says "Missile Point," but it doesn't.  Which is silly, as that would make it way more exciting.


Work went well.  I had lunch with Lee and Tina.  I told them some about my wedding.  Tina and I had to educate Lee in the ways of weddings outside of his hometown.  Most people don't have fried chicken at weddings.  And it is not common at all to choose and prepare the chickens as part of the rehearsal dinner events.  No.  Gross.


So the actuarial department participates in some friendly competitions when sporting events occur.  Mostly they're probability based events.  So right now is horse racing season.  And we were all given a list of our top 4 picks for the winning horses.  I chose Dog Teeth.  I purposely did not pick the horses with the best odds.  My theory is that they probably won recently, and since streaks are a somewhat rare occurrence, these horses are less likely to win.  But I guess we'll see. I just liked the name Dog Teeth...


I was surprised that no one was home when I got there.  So I made dinner and just did some stuff around the house.  I was pretty surprised because it seemed as if mom had left very suddenly: she had her purse out, the lettuce was partially cut, and it just looked like she'd been in the middle of something and abruptly left.  Mom and dad came home around 8:45... they'd been at a soccer party for one of the dad's teams.  I have no idea which.


Other than that... I packed for my trip tomorrow, made my lunch, took the seats out of the van... and now I'm heading to bed.  Night!

Day 359

I hope that someday (preferably soon) I come to like sleep.  But at this time I really do not like it.  There are so many more fun things to do... but sleep just takes up too much time.


This morning was far less than optimal.  I was probably just tired, but I was just not happy about being awake this morning.  And when I get unhappy, I tend to get more clumsy because I'm paying attention to what I'm doing less.  Which is magnified by the fact that I just woke up and my muscles are still getting used to being alive.  Additionally, I forgot that I really needed to shave, so that took extra time... so on top of being clumsy I was late.  Both of which make me very irritable.  So.......this morning was off to a great start.  Thankfully my normal remedy began to work a little bit down the highway: caffeine and an excessive bass-line.  I don't know if this is a normal side effect, but caffeine has a calming effect on me.  I'm a pretty big fan.


Work went well.  I was able to get in a little early and finish the part of the report that Vivian and I have been working on for the past few days.  I also helped Tina with some random data entry things... some of which seriously took longer to explain than to actually do.  But I did what I could.


I took a short lunch so that I could finish working the rest of the time I took off last Friday.  More copying, pasting, entering data, and making sure that everything is correct.  Vivian and I moved on to another part of the project and some of a different thing.  I'm kind of catching on to what everything is used for and such.  They told me a lot when I first started, but that's not at all how my brain works.  When I drive, I like to see a map and briefly scan the directions before hand.  Then I like to know two steps at a time: the one I'm on and the next one.  This is how I learn.  This is not how many people teach.


Oh well.


Mom made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and fried carrots for dinner.  It was really good.  After we ate I went back to TJ Max to exchange the pants.  I decided that yesterday I was just having a skinny day.  But I got it all taken care of.


When I got back we just sat in the living room and read and things.  I started reading a graphic novel that I borrowed from Miles.


My fingers are not working like they should, which is incredibly irritating.  So I think that means that I'm tired and need to go to bed.  So off I go.  Night.

Day 358

This morning seems like it was so very long ago...


I got up, showered, and made breakfast.  My oatmeal boiled over and I didn't notice that it made a mess.... sorry mom!  I left around 6:30ish.  I had to go in early to make up time from last Friday.  So I got to work at 7:30 and started doing the report that Vivian and I have been working on.  She arrived shortly after I did and came to help me.  Mainly she's been there to answer questions and make sure that I don't make mistakes.  So we worked on the for the rest of the morning


I ate lunch with Lee.  We talked about how much fun math is and how we got started with the company.  And about how weird it is that Fort Wayne is in a different state, but it's the closest city to Van Wert.  Because clearly something in Ohio should be closer!


I worked with Vivian the rest of the afternoon as well.  We just about finished the report we've been working on for the past few days.  So that's exciting. It's been a pretty hefty project.


I stopped to get gas and coffee on the way back.  The guy next to me smelled bad.  He was a trucker and clearly gave exactly zero concern about the people around him.  I'm not going to complain though.  I try to give truckers a lot of grace... they fill our stores with all the goodies that we purchase.  And bring us our packages right to our front doors.  They put up with a lot, so if a trucker wants to smell bad... I'm not going to complain.


Mom made me dinner when I got home.  Fish and potatoes and carrots.  It was good.  We talked about our days while I ate.  After dinner we went clothing shopping for me at TJ Max.  I got three pairs of pants.  I'm in a weird place because I'm in between sizes... so I don't really know which size fits me better.  The ones I got are a bit snug and I didn't think to have mom look at them.  So that's on the agenda for tomorrow (and yes, she does know that).  After shopping we went to the grandparents' so that I could fix poppy's iPad.  We recently had to upgrade the operating system and in the process he lost his apps.  So we needed to bring them back!


After we left there mom dropped me off at Tokyo Steakhouse to hang out with friends.  I just got something to drink because I didn't feel like buying sushi.  But Becky and Miles gave me the rest of theirs... they are nice to me.  Then they convinced me to stay out a tiny bit longer and enjoy a nice little fire at Becky's house.  And so I did.  James came as well.  So we talked for a bit and it was good.  Then Miles brought me home.


And now I am going to bed.  Good night, friends!

Day 357

I somewhat lost track of time... ick.  Bed time just comes too early!


I was a bit slow on getting up this morning.  But I eventually got up and went through my morning routine.  I left for work around 6:40.  A little bit later than I prefer, but I still got there early.  This week I need to make up some time that I took off on Friday, so I'm just putting in an extra 30 minutes each day until Friday.


This morning when I got there I did my obligatory checking of email then went to go work with Lee.  As people trickled in I told them good news about my exam.  Each time I tell a new person, it kind of hits me again that it's over and I don't have to worry about that exam anymore.  Sure I still have a lot more ahead of me... but that one is over.  Forever.  And I'm so very happy for that.


Let's see, I worked with Lee for the rest of the morning.  Just running reports and copying numbers over to the appropriate Excel sheet.  After we finished that it was lunch time.  Lee came to join me shortly after I got down there.  We discussed how much we miss pure mathematics and, on a related note, how frustrating it is that the exams we take are mostly theory.  The theory is great if you are creating models from the ground up... but 98% of actuaries are not doing that.  They are simply implementing the models.  Yarg.  Oh well.


After lunch I worked with Vivian on a different project.  We made some good headway, so I'm going to go in a little early tomorrow to get some more work done on it.  After work the actuarial department (sans Jeff) went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was actually the Cinco de Mayo celebration... but they were a tad late.  Some of them have been on diets and Lee was studying for his exam, so this timing just worked out better.  It was a lot of fun.  They're a really fun group of people.


When I got home I talked with mom for a bit. We talked about our days, then she had to go outside to do something.  So I went to my room and put some laundry away.  But then I got bored so I stopped.  It's really hard to concentrate after getting back so late.  I don't think it will be quite as hard when I'm studying because my brain will still be in "work mode," but once I start to come down from working I'm pretty much done.  So I just need to watch out for that.


Ok.  Time for bed.  Night, friends!

Day 356

You know why today was awesome?  Because I didn't have to study, that's why.  It was so very nice.


Anyhow, I woke up around 8:00.  I love sleeping in!  It's so nice.  So I got up and made pancakes for breakfast.  Then I showered and all of that.  And then it was off to church!  I didn't see anyone that I knew, but that's ok.  There was a lady that sat next to me and she wore way too much perfume.  As in, I started smelling her when she was about 5 seats away.  Yeah, that was a good time.  But Jesus loves her just as much as he loves me, so it was ok!


When I got home I had some pizza for lunch.  After lunch I briefly reveled in the beauty of not studying... then started cleaning.  So much better than studying (for now, anyway).  I worked on cleaning some things out of my room and moving other things into my room.  I did have to make a big, adult decision today.  I had to get rid of my collection of Star Wars cans that I've had for about 12 years.

But I made sure to take one final picture before the went to recycling.  We spent a very...very long time collecting these as kids.  We each had our own collection of all 24 cans.  Those were the days...




Room cleaning actually went really well.  I was pleased with the progress I was able to make.  At this point I just need to start getting rid of things that I will not be taking with me in August, or boxing up things that I will be.


Dad grilled chicken for dinner.  It was really good.  Some day I'd like to get a grill so that I can actually become good at grilling.  I'm pretty bad at it currently.  Anyhow, we had chicken and rice for dinner.  Afterwards I helped mom clean up the kitchen a little bit.  I got my computer set up, so I played Team Fortress for a while.  I recently discovered that one of my students from last fall also plays, so he and I played for a while.  I gave him a hat!


Around 9 I participated in the nightly ritual of making lunch for the next day.  And now I'm off to bed.  Good night!

Day 355

I tell you what.  Yesterday was quite the day.


To ensure that I got enough sleep, I did not wake up to an alarm.  I had one set for 8:30, just in case I somehow didn't wake up before then, but I knew I would.  So 7:30 rolled around and I was awake.  I slept in!


Mom made pancakes for breakfast, so I had pancakes and eggs.  Then I talked with mom for a bit and helped her with dishes.  After I showered I did a little studying.


I left for Maumee around 10.  Hour long drives are starting to seem like they take much less time.  Which is good, I suppose... since I have many such trips ahead of me.  I got there right around 11, found the testing facility, then went to find someplace to study some more.  There was a Jimmy John's down the road, so I went there, got a sandwich, and studied for about an hour and a half.  At that point I just wanted to be done with it. So I went to the testing center to see if I could start early. I could.  So off I went.


Some of those questions were pretty tricky.  The passing mark was a 62%, so I needed to get 19 correct to pass.  After the first hour and a half I had ten left... and didn't know how to do them.  I was able to put somewhat reasonable guesses for three of them... but I completely guessed on the last seven.  But either I guessed really well or I got the other ones all right because I passed!  It took a while for that to sink in... at first I just felt dirty because I didn't feel like I deserved to pass, guessing on so many questions and all.  But oh well!  I passed and now I can move on. No more studying this summer!


When I got home I talked with mom and dad about it for a little bit.  Then we picked up the grandparents for dinner and went to Red Lobster.  It was pretty full because I guess yesterday was prom or some nonsense.  And today is Mother's day.  While we waited mama and I talked about math.  She was saying how one questions that her dad always had was why 2 + 2 = 4, and how no one was able to give him a good explanation for that.  So I said that math only works if we accepts a certain number of postulates.  By definition, a postulate cannot be proved or disproved.  We simply must accept it as truth.  The most fundamental is a postulate from logic: p cannot equal -p.  5 cannot equal negative 5.  From that statement, all other laws of logic can (and have been) derived.  But that fundamental statement cannot be proved. It seems so elementary, but there exists no proof for it.  In fact, it has been proved that a postulate cannot be proved.  Mama also wanted to know why we call the first number 1, then next 2, and so forth.  I said that's more of a question concerning linguistics than math.  But I, too, always wonder why we gave things certain names.


Dinner was fantastic.  I had some flounder, shrimp scampi, and mashed potatoes.  Oh it was good.  Service and everything was slow, but they were very busy.


After dinner we went to the grandparents' for the while.  They had some electronics issues that dad and I needed to fix.  So we did that.


Then I went to go hang out with friend Miles.  We had fun.  We lit some tiki torches, made some fire, and made an amazing pancakes!

It was one pancake (about 14 inches in diameter) with chocolate chips, crunchy peanut butter, maple syrup, and chocolate syrup.  Words cannot describe how amazing it was.  But yeah. We had lots of fun.  And then I came home and fell right to sleep.  The end!

Day 354

My brain just started to shut off for the night, so I'm not sure how this post will go...


I learned this morning that you can't make eggs without first starting the stove.  Apparently my brain didn't feel like starting the fire for the gas stove... just turning the gas on.  I was confused why after 5 minutes my eggs were still completely uncooked...  Mornings are hard.


The drive was the same as always.  South on 75, exit right, turn left, turn right, veer right, turn left, turn left.  That's it.  Maybe I'll count traffic lights next time.


Today was casual day, so most people wore jeans or shorts and t-shirts.  I got there early and studied for a little bit.  When I started working I began by trying to finish up what Lee and I had been working on yesterday.  He had a meeting at 8, so I tried to finish it up by myself.  Yeah... that didn't go so well.  We ended up having to redo it all later.  He made sure that I knew that it wasn't a big deal, so that's good.  In the department, there is a big push for accuracy over speed.  They would rather something took longer and was 100% correct.  I just need to get used to that, instead of doing something once and comparing it with another student's answers (who did the exact same thing).  


I had a short lunch again, then got a little studying in.  I know that all the material is in my head, but I want to refresh on everything before my test.  Unfortunately, there is just so much that I can't go through everything... so then I don't really know what to go over.  Yarg.


After lunch I worked with Lee some more, still working on running through test results and changing numbers in Excel.  He told me a bit about his program at Purdue and said that they were often required to go observe people defend their dissertations or theses.  He described how grueling of a process it was.  For 4 or 5 hours the peer reviewers would ask question on every tiny detail of your dissertation or thesis.  Scouring over every foot note, citation, test result, data point...everything.  I can't even imagine what that would be like. Not fun, that's for sure.


I left work at 2:30 so I could get some more study time in.  So I came home, talked with mom for a bit, then started studying.  I decided to just go through the end of chapter sections and do the "SOA" questions (ones that were published for use from the Society of Actuaries), since they're closer to the ones on the actual exam.  Mom made pizza for dinner... so we ate around 5.  Then I studied some more.  Dad went up to Toledo for a soccer game, mom had a dessert at Primrose.  I studied some more.  I took a break around 7:45 for about 30 minutes, then went back to studying.  And now I'm done.  So I'll get up in the morning, get some food, look over some things, and head up to Maumee for the exam.  So... we'll see how it goes!


But I'm going to bed now.  I shall let you all know how it goes on the morrow.  Good night, all.

Day 353

I started today like every other, with some showering and breakfast.  I was going to shave, but then forgot.  I had strawberries in my oatmeal.  It was exceptionally tasty (probably about a 7).  It just tasted really good today.  I left just after 6:30 today.  Nothing super exciting happened on my way to work that I recall.  My body is starting to get used to waking up at 5:30... and it is doing so much quicker than I had anticipated.  Thankfully.


This morning I decided to go over some equations instead of working problems. I know all the usual equations, but there are a few that get used on a very rare occasion that I wanted to look over.  This is purely for my own benefit because I'll remember to do it if I write it down: I need to review the convolution method tomorrow.


I started the morning by working with Lee.  We began with some maps and comparing how Central and their data aggregate company define insured regions.  So we made notes of the different ways that the two entities made territories.  We also spent some time discussing whether "coverages" is a word.  As in, "we need to change 5 of the 12 coverages."  We basically did a proof by analogy (not a valid proof technique, by the way) to determine that it is a word.  Since "umbrella" has a plural and a coverage is essentially a metaphorical umbrella, then coverage must have a plural (because umbrella has a plural).  Yeah... that was a good 5 minutes.  We also talked about our math backgrounds.  Lee has a masters in applied math from Purdue.  We took some of the same classes during our bachelor's, so we compared our favorites and such.


Right before lunch I worked with Vivian for a little bit and finished updating some files we'd been working on yesterday.  Mainly that was to show me how to finish the process we'd started a couple days ago.


I had a quick lunch, then did some more studying. Someone came up to my and welcomed me to the company.  She didn't actually introduce herself, just said that she's seen my picture and some sort of "we have a new intern!" message on the company bulletin board, so she came over to say hi and talk for a couple minutes.  That was nice.  I've come to the conclusion that they last two exams in my study book are just dumb.  They just ask questions that will literally never be asked on the exam.  Or they use notation and don't explain what it is.  For instance, the average is generally referred with either the Greek letter mu (μ) or E[X].  The probability of an something is sometimes referred to as p.  But in this example (without warning), I was informed that m = 4, q = .5.  Now, often p + q = 1, so this wasn't an issue.  But I had no idea what m was.  Not once prior was m referred to as the mean.  Bleh.  That would never happen on an exam.  Oh well.  I'll just do my best!


After studying I went back to work with Lee.  He and I just worked on some things the rest of the day.  I enjoyed it after I actually got to do some of the work.  Unfortunately there is just a lot that they have to show me first.  They can't just sit me down and have me "do stuff" since I really don't know what to do.  It's just really hard to listen to people talk for 6 hours a day when you don't really have any idea what they're saying.  I need to actually do work myself before it will make any sense.  Soon enough...




I had to get gas on the way home today.  I did some quick math and realized that it costs me $7 to drive one way to work. Ugh.  But I get to add that ever-so important line onto my resume.  And I'm not losing money this summer.  I would be losing about $800 for rent at my Muncie apartment if I wasn't working.  So this is much better.


I had dinner with mom, then studied.  I did some problems, went over some formulae, did some more problems.  Yeah.  Just one more day of studying...


It's bed time.  I'm pretty tired.  Good night, all.

Day 352

I'm trying this whole "going to be early thing."  I can't say I'm a huge fan of it...


Anyhow, this morning I woke up and did all the normal things.  I left a bit early... around 6:30.  This allowed me to get to work about 30 minutes early and study.  This was really helpful because it got my brain going *and* I was able to keep my brain in "probability mode" throughout the day.  I'm going to try that again tomorrow.


In the morning I had a training session to use my phone.  There are a lot of features, including a software component.  I don't imagine I'll use my phone that much, but it was nice of them to show me.  For most of the rest of the morning, I worked with Vivian on updating some end-of-month reports.  We also went around to some different people's offices to deliver the reports.  


I ate a quick lunch, then got a little more studying in.  Even if I can only work 3 or 4 problems, I'll do it.  It just keeps everything fresh.  After lunch I had another training session, this time on how to talk on the phone!  Basically... be courteous and be ready to take notes.


After my training session I worked on the summary reports with Vivian some more.  During my afternoon break I talked with Phil about his exam taking experience.  He said that during his start as an actuary, companies didn't pay for study time (all companies do now).  So he had to study when he got home from work.  Now, most companies will give you 30 hours of study time for each hour of the exam.  So 120 hours for a 4 hour exam.  It's not nearly as much as you need to put into it, but it's very nice.  For context, most people study 100 or more hours for each hour of the exam.  I put in about 300 hours of studying for my first exam (a 3 hour exam).


When we got back from break Lee had returned from taking his exam. His was a 4 hour, 30 question essay exam.  He said that he was able to completely answer 29 questions and partially answer the last one before time ran out.  That's very good.  So we were all very happy for him.  He has about three weeks off before he starts studying for the next one... and he said that he's going to celebrate by simply wasting time.  And going to bed early.  That is precisely how I'm going to celebrate passing exam P!


Vivian and I got to a stopping point on our project and called it a day.  I ended up leaving about 4:35 and I was amazed at how that place just clears out.  At 4:30 that places just empties.  It's remarkable.


I figured out that every day I travel about 127 miles.  I I can make about 2.5 trips, so I'll probably end up filling up every other day in Beaverdam, since it generally has the lowest prices.


When I got home we had dinner.  Mom made chicken and vegetables in her Dutch oven.  It was good.  After dinner dad went to open field, I studied, and mom did some cleaning.  I took a break and talked with mom for a little bit, then did some more studying.  It went pretty well, I think.


It's time for bed now.  So... talk to you all tomorrow!  Night!

Day 351

Short update today.  I'm really tired and mentally exhausted.


I woke up this morning, showered, woke Nick up, and got some breakfast.  I made eggs, he had cereal.  I'm sure we talked about something, but quite frankly I don't have the slightest idea what.  I left around 6:40.


For most of the morning I worked with Tina, mainly getting acclimated to various programs that are used, along with getting a feel for the general layout of our floor (printers, supply room).  I also had someone come to my cubicle and do an ergonomics check.  It's interesting because 10 years ago, an intern like myself would have gotten some crummy little $15 chair and whatever rag-tag computer desk they could find.  But now there is a such a concern for long-term physical damage from sitting in an office that they take great care to ensure that the work environment is not harmful.  I was also given a few different hand outs and booklets that covered proper grammar usage, how to maintain an ergonomically friendly environment, and a workbook for getting used to the insurance world.  I'll start going through that next week.


I ate lunch with Lee and Tina.  They're both between the ages of 25 and 30, I believe, and are the only ones close to my age in the department.  Lee is taking exam C/5 tomorrow.  Over lunch he was saying how he took exams MLC and MFE (3 and 4, respectively) about 2 weeks apart...which was quite difficult.  Yes.  Yes, that would be insane.  I've heard of worse, but not often.  And definitely not recommended.  But we had a good lunch.


After lunch I had another training session, learning how to use Outlook.  It was useful.  They use the Outlook Calendar very extensively, so it was nice to learn all the standard functions.  Then I worked some more with Vivian on an "end of month" project.  Mostly changing numbers, running summaries, things of that nature.  She and I worked on that for the rest of the day... except when I got to watch a simply fantastic training video on how to send emails.  Apparently those training videos cost around $800 a piece.  It was only 20 minutes long.  That's a pretty good deal, I'd say.


I had to stop to get gas on the way home.  I drive through Beaverdam, which (apparently) has famously low gas prices.  So that's nice.  When I got home I did a little studying before dinner.  I'm working through the last exam in the manual.  Kathryn warned me that this one is pretty tough.  She wasn't joking.  Especially after working all day... my brain is just tired.  I'm getting pretty nervous and today's studying did not help. I just need to get into a schedule. During exam time I just get very... edgy.  And there isn't a whole that I can do about it, except get through it.  So hopefully I can.  I had to go to Best Buy to get another calculator.  It's exactly like the one I have, but I wanted another one just in case something happened on the exam.  That would be awful.


Ok.  It's time for bed.  Hopefully the next few days can provide better study time.  I'm going to ask Jeff (my boss) if I can take a couple hours off on Friday to study more.  We'll see.  But now it's bed time.  Good night.

Day 350

Well, this was my first day at my internship!


I got up around 5:45, showered, made some oatmeal for breakfast, and finished getting my lunch together.  I left right around 6:50.  It was such an exciting drive!  (it wasn't)


So I got to work and had some orientation things.  Filling out forms, listening to things about the company.  There was another intern with me (for a different department).  Uhh.... Eventually I went to go talk with the chief actuary and he gave me a synopsis of my internship.  Per company policy, I can't really get into details about of the things we talked about that isn't on one of the hand outs I received.  Just to be safe, since I don't really know what is or is not sensitive data.  So that was the morning.  I also had someone walk me through how to use my computer in my cubicle.  That wasn't very long.  I'm pretty decent with computers...


The actuarial department went to Bob Evans for dinner.  There are 6 employees (and me!) and they all get along really well.  I think I'm going to like working here.  They all seem hard working and a lot of fun.  Apparently they all have a friendly competition for various sporting events.  Most recently there was a big horse race... and the winner gets a "My Little Pony" trophy.  It was pretty awesome.  I had a really good time at lunch.  I was put in charge of picking dessert... I never have dessert after lunch.  And they didn't mention this until after I'd ordered my food.  So I was quite full after lunch.


When we got back I watched someone work on a project for the rest of the afternoon.  And her project involved data re-entry.  So I get to do that at some point.... She also took some time get to know more about me. She was more than happy to tell me about her kids and grandkids and show me pictures :)  It was fun.


Then I left around 4:30 and came home.  Also uneventful, except that I initially started going south on I75 instead of north.  I had a long day of trying to take in information...


When I got back cousin Nick was already here.  He's staying the night here on his way home from school.  So we had dinner with mom and talked about school.  And about my first day of work.  Mom had to go oversee dad's open field (he's on a business trip), so Nick and I cleaned up and just talked... about movies and things going on in our lives and class....and more class... Lots of school talk.  We talked about family and really anything that we could think of, we did.  It was good.


And now I'm going to bed.  Good night, friends!

Day 349

Off to a new adventure tomorrow!


This morning started as usual.  I had cereal for breakfast.  It was some sort of raisin bran crunch thing... It's one of my favorites.  After breakfast I got ready and went to church.  I think I saw some people I know, but it was pretty full so I just sat by myself.  Pastor Ben talked about the reality of spiritual warfare and how important it is for us to prepare.  It's easy to forget important things like this, when we get caught up in our daily lives and are so busy that we forget to focus on the important things... like protecting ourselves (more accurately, asking God to protect us) from evil.


I had fish and rice for lunch.  Then I spent some time setting up Kimmy and my email address that we're using for wedding things.  After that... I studied.  I took a break for about an hour and cleaned my room a bit.  Cleaning out my closet, putting clothes away, things like that.  My goal is to start cleaning my room out and preparing for moving to Muncie.  I don't want my parents to have to worry about doing something with everything that I left behind.

I found Amber's hat whilst cleaning

Dad made hamburgers for dinner.  We had all sorts of tasty things... mom made salad, baked beans, and some fruit stuff.  It was really good.  After dinner we watched a documentary on some American soccer player who played over in Europe. It was very good.


After the documentary, mom gave me a haircut.  So now my hair isn't gross for work tomorrow.  After my haircut I made my lunch and tried to get a feel for how things go here in the mornings.  I've been my parent's child for nearly 23 years and I have no idea how things work around here at 5:30 in the morning.  I was either already at work... or still asleep.  So this will be a new adventure.


Ok.  I need to go to bed.  I'm getting up around 5:30 tomorrow... it's my first day at my internship and I have to leave here around 6:45.  Should be fun!  Tomorrow will be quite the update, I'm sure.  Night!

Day 348

It's probably safe to assume that many Friday and Saturday posts will be written the following morning this summer.  Becky and Miles are silly and like to stay up late...


Yesterday morning I woke up and went about my normal routine.  Mom made waffle mix so I had some waffles for breakfast.  Then we got ready to go to a couple soccer games.


First up was dad's U-10 team.  They... are still learning soccer.  The other team won by a considerable amount.  Mainly because they had a strong offense and we did not have a strong defense.  Our mid-field and forwards were fine, but most of the time if the other team started attacking it was 3 of their players against our one person playing defense... so that didn't really go so well.  After the game we took one of dad's player to her home then went off to go watch another game.  This team had a couple of dad's high school girls on it.  I don't really remember who won or lost.  This was just a recreational team and they are not allowed to have more than 5 players from 1 varsity team.  It was fairly evident which ones were varsity players and which ones were not...


After the games mom and I came home, dad went off to go watch another one.  I studied, mom did some gardening.  Then mom and I had leftover pizza for dinner.  We talked about food.  We both really like food.  I told her that most of the food that I eat is equally enjoyable... right around a 6 (out of 10).  Probably 98% of the food I eat is in the category.  Occasionally I'll have something that I really like (ribs, good seafood) that is around an 8.  But since most things are going to be around a 6, it's hard for me to get fancy.


After dinner I worked on some wedding things with Kimmy via telephone.  Then after I hung up I kept working on things for a while longer.  After that it was study time.  Mom and dad went to something for one of dad's soccer players (not a game...some "prom walk" or such nonsense) and we just sat and talked for a bit after they got back.  I told them about some pictures Amber took and we (mainly mom and me) discussed how long she'd take pictures.  Mom told me about how she'd tried to keep a journal when we (her kids) started growing up.  I told her that I'd started blogging for similar reasons... that I wanted to keep some sort of journal by which I could remember things.  It's not perfect, but I like doing this.  I also mentioned this video, which is a time-lapse a guy made of his daughter over the course of 12 years.  He would take a video of her once a week for 12 years.  It's pretty cool.


Then I went to go hang out with my silly friends.  I didn't get to finish the movie because I was really tired.... But I still had fun with them.  Now it's time to get ready for church.  By friends!