the plan(s)

horrible- Stop playing video games and get a life! Not likely . . . or desireable.

bad - Spend my tax refund that we should be saving for a down payment on a house on an Xbox 360 (and risk my marriage in the process).

okay - Wait a couple years and focus on getting more cheap Ps2 games (there are lots of good ones left to try). Or I could buy a gamecube for 30-40 bucks to tide me over for a while. The problem is that while there are some great games, they aren't nearly as cheap as ps2 games.

good - Start a jar and put all my bakery tips in it until I have 450 dollars to spend on the console and an awesome game. This would take about a year.

better - Work out some agreement with the wife, whereby I allow her one thing in exchange for said purchase. (I.E. When she gets pregnant, or when we buy a house, or if she gets a big fancy fish tank- I can get my 360).

best - Risk sounding like a nerdy, tacky, and selfish ass, and ask my parents and in-laws to buy me gift cards to Best Buy or another electronics store for my birthday (September) and for Christmas instead of other lavish gifts. Voila! The prize will be mine in less than a year.

That's the break down at this time. Perhaps a better plan will hatch soon.

rest deprived

Lately I've been feeling exhausted. I've always been someone who likes to get a good solid 8 hours of sleep every night, and getting 6 to 7 hours instead may have something to do with that. I often get home from the bakery at 10:30 pm and get right back up at 5:30 am to get myself on the bus to school. Still, a lack of sleep is not the problem. I think what I'm really dealing with is a lack of rest. We all need rest, and by that I mean we all need to take time to do those things which rejuvenate us. That's my real problem. I've lamented my lack of progress on my latest video game projects since I started the second job. But lately, even sitting down to kill bad guys hasn't filled the tank like I thought it would. What I think I need is more time to be still, more time to pray and listen, more time to read my Bible and other good books, observe sabbath, and more quality time with my wife.

flirting with veganism

Yes it's true, I've been considering going vegan for a several weeks now. My small group at church has been going through a book called Living the Good Life on God's Good Earth. It's mostly about how to integrate our faith in areas of life like homes, neighborhoods, clothing, energy, work, etc. When we got to the chapter entitled The Food We Eat several weeks ago, we spent a good three or four weeks going through all sorts of food related issues. After doing a bit of my own research and reading about the problems with all sorts of animal products, I'm feeling more and more like this is something I should do. And yet, I can't seem to comprehend going all the way with this. I've been trying to eat less meat for a number of years now, and I'm currently pretty okay without it, but subtracting eggs and dairy especially would be difficult. I can easily see myself going vegan for a couple weeks at a time, but to never have a nice cheesy omelet again, or a greasy piece of cheese pizza is unimaginable.

So far here are my objections to becoming a strict vegan:

1- I don't have a problem with eating meat, eggs, or cheese as long as I know the animals were treated humanely (though that hardly ever happens).

2- I don't want to become an inconvenience to others, especially when I am a guest and am served food.

3- It's dang hard! There would be many situations in which I'm sure I'd just go hungry because there wouldn't be any vegan options. (I'm now working at a bakery that has delicious pizza's, pastries, etc. and that makes it even harder).

On the other hand, here are some striking facts that influenced me in the first place:

1- A vegan who drives a Hummer leaves a smaller carbon footprint than a meat eating bicycle rider. (some debate this point, but even if it's not quite true I'm sure its close).

2- Dairy cows are artificially inseminated, milked round the clock, and nearly all male offspring end up in veal crates. This is true even of organic dairy, and smaller scale dairy farms.

3- Industry standard in the meat and egg industry is appalling. I'd never want to go anywhere near one of these places, so how can I in good conscience eat these products? For that matter, if I couldn't kill a chicken myself, should I eat one?

More to come on this mess that is my life and conscience.

new job

Yesterday I started a new job. Don't worry I haven't quit my teaching job; and don't get your hopes up; I haven't got a full time teaching job. The past couple months I've been scrounging around for work in a mile radius of our home at local Coffee Shops and Cafe's. Finally last week we went to a local bakery down the street from us. I'd never really been there before, but it seemed like a pretty cool environment and I asked if they had any openings. About a week later I had the job. This place is kind of a coffee shop/bakery/pizzeria/deli/everything! It's pretty cool, but of course pays minimum wage. I'll mostly be running the register, making hot and cold caffeinated drinks, making sandwiches or the occasional pizza, and generally keeping things tidy. I'll probably be working two or three shifts a week, which will be great, and won't conflict with my school schedule at all. I don't know what it is about minimum wage jobs at really cool places, but I've already been told by three people (including my wife), "that's awesome! I'm so jealous". I guess all professional types harbor a secret desire to work in a cooler place than they currently work, and get paid way less. Makes sense to me. So yeah, be jealous!