i've been avoiding the big catchup post since i got home. kept putting it off but i decided i should start writing again even though i'm home. i know there are people who used to read this that aren't regularilly involved in my life.

first, it sucks transitioning from life in colorado. obviously the lifestyle, the activities, and the people are all so terribly different. i was always on the go there and around many people who were spontaneous and fun. its an abnormal life that is disconnected from reality in many ways when you're at bible school. so now i'm home and it just feels like so many people are "stuck". i don't blame them, i was very much there before i left too. you get into routines and habits and complacency and only hang around with the same few people. its comprimising, really. I guess some people like the predictable nature of that life but they look stuck. i'm trying to fight it but i don't know how well i'm doing. i've been avidly job hunting for a month and am still unemplyed. and i mean, i do 4 or 5 resumes a week at least. near the beginning of me getting home i did many more than that. i MIGHT get called for a job at GUESS (a designer clothing store) in Windsor this week but i'm not sure. other than that i have no solid leads. being jobless is problematic for a number of reasons. first, i can't settle down someplace because i don't know if i'm going to be at home or in windsor or wherever. i'd like to join some sport leagues, maybe a gym, and find ways to get involved and network but i can't commit to anywhere yet without work. then of course i'm trying to be as social as possible but EVERYthing costs money, so i'm crippled in many ways for that too. not to mention, most women aren't into men with no money and no job. it just takes the wind out of your sails when you're not moving forward financially toward goals n stuff ya know? so thats the job situation.

most people know this, but i went to florida shortly after i got home. i got hired with my cousin by someone we know to fly down to florida, load up a 25 foot penske truck with furniture and drive back home. all expenses paid, plus some comp. we mostly just drove and lifted furniture but we got one full day to ourselves where we went to sea world's water park and then dinner theatre in the evening. we had fun. it was an interesting experience.


i've been pretty active on the sporting front since i got home. been golfing a few times (i'm plainly in love with that sport), found a new and avid interest in tennis, been skateboarding with the remaining 3 or 4 guys around here who still do it, starting volleyball league next week, and i've already been fishing once this year. probably the best activity so far though was today when i was over at steve's. after we skated we went down to the lake to swim and make a fire. we spotted these huge logs though and did competitive caber tossing for prolly a half hour with the three of us. it was awesome. i took down this weeks competition. actually since we're on the subject, let me tell you about a father-son day i had yesterday. its actually rather funny. its saturday morning and i've got no plans until jake wiebe's big poker tournament that evening, so my dad's like "lets go to the driving range" cause my mom told him to spend more money on enjoying himself. we go hit a big bucket of balls while i'm tryin to give him pointers...it went well. after that he's like "some old dude in the church flys these remote controlled jets as a hobby and i guess they're doin it this afternoon at the Leamington Airport". i'm thinking the same thing as you......you're kidding me right? first of all, the leamington airport seems entirely like a joke to me in and of itself, and second i don't really wanna go see some old dudes with money and nothing better to do, fly these little RC planes around. i had nowhere to be, so i conceded. let me say this: this little jets are legit. many are worth 10,000 dollars or more, and can go speeds of up to 200mph. they do rolls, loops, fly upside down, do smoke trails, everything a stunt jet would do. we were standing behind one (they are a little smaller than a small pool table if you could picture that. 4-10 foot wingspan.) as it went out onto the runway and you could feel the wind and heat from this remote controlled, turbine driven jet. it was awesome. i don't think i could really get into it, but i was definitely impressed. after that we went and played tennis.

i got second in the poker tournament i just mentioned. i think we only had 22 players or something for this particular tournament which was a 25$ buy in. 2 of the 3 previous tournies like this one some no-name dude i didn't know took down the money who wasn't even necassarilly good but was honestly just hitting cards. i placed third in the last one. this tournament though the final three people were Jake Wiebe, Willie Wiebe, and Me. three credible players with a lot of experience. so i mean, it was a good finish and we all got in the money. man i love poker.

I'm just ITCHING to get on P90X. some of you have heard me talking about it but it seems most people don't know what it is. let me summerize it. Its a 90 in-home bootcamp, essentially. there are 12 different workouts (ex. chest&shoulders, Plyometrics, kempo X, arms&back, Yoga X...some are resistance training while others are mostly cardio) done during the course of 12 weeks. you do one every for an hour (and 3 of those days you do an Ab Ripper after the workout on top of that). so its intense. the fitness guide that comes with it is 50 pages long, and the nutrition guide is 150 pages (including recipes). so basically they give you the roadmap to get absolutely ripped, its up to you how hard and closely you wanna follow the program to arrive there. its pretty amazing. i have everything i need software wise (worth $140), but the problem is i have to buy resistance bands, some supplements, and a couple other accessories before i get started. and i don't have money. but i wanna make sure that when i start that i can do it right. so i'll keep everyone posted. i really wanna start it ASAP and do it during the course of the summer. i'll do before and afters n stuff.

i love my parents but i'm becoming more and more eager to get out. i'm 22, so its no wonder but i simply don't have the means to take that step right now. i at LEAST need employment. they are very gracious and patient but some distance, like in any relationship, goes a long way to help things. i want to have a smooth and functioning relationship but there is still this conflict of interest at times where they have leverage partly cause i live at home, and partly cause i owe them a boatload of money from this past year. again, they're real good about it, but it is what it is. i just wanna mooooveeee forward.



i'll try n write some more.

til later.

this has been J.R.