From Work (Kinda Like a Written Cut-In)

Well, it has been an incredibly busy week. Between my work, Lisa's work and interpreting on Wednesday and Thursday, Lisa and I have spent very little time together. It has been incredibly tough. Lisa even made the comment to me that this is the reason that she doesn't want me working two jobs. Despite the loss of sleep and the missed time with my sweetheart, it will be nice to have the additional padding in the family coffers.

The interpreting was really fun. It was for a leadership training camp for UW-EC incoming freshman. They addressed a lot of the complex issues that are faced by new college students: engaging in difficult discussions with people whose opinions are different, communicating with others, appreciating other cultures and lifestyles, etc. Much of it was very positive. I appreciated the things that were taught and discussed. On the flip side, this is a college...and so I very strongly disagreed with a fair number of the things that were said. There was more than one mention of our economy being "in recession" and a number of other disparaging comments regarding the United States (despite the fact that everyone in the room was a US citizen). But, on the whole there were a lot of positive things that I observed while there. Thursday, they were sharing their life's mission statement and one of the girls who got up mentioned that one of her goals was to get married and have a family after having saved sex for marriage. That was such a refreshing and positive thing to hear especially in light of the number of people that I know that place no value on the principles of chastity and fidelity. Later, after having a rather lengthy group discussion on stereotypes, in a smaller group the discussion continued, but in the direction of religion. The girl that I was helping to interpret for mentioned that she had known and was friends with quite a few Mormons and that she felt as though they were misunderstood and descriminated against. This was also very pleasant to hear. It is good to know that there are some open minded people in the rising generation.

Well...I suppose that is really all I have for now. I don't know if I will get another one in prior to the 4th, so happy Independance Day, everyone!

A Rare Two-Post Day

Alright...so, I decided that I left out one of the more newsworthy things. I have had my first and, ideally, last crash on the H4. Last Wednesday, I had gone to escort Lisa home from work. So, she got in the car and I hopped on the scooter. We were headed through the neighborhood that we always go through when going to or from Target. With Lisa in the lead, we approached a right hand turn that we make to get through the neighborhood, across Hwy 93 to get to our neighborhood. Well, at this point I made a very dumb decision. I decided I would pass Lisa in the turn and go shooting past her on the neighborhood street. Lisa began her turn and I gunned it and went into a wider turn. Well, come to find out, with that tight a turn at that speed and with a little patch of gravel, physics works the same way it always has. After uttering a cry of frustration and fear, I landed hard on my right hip and elbow. The H4 skidded over into the lawn of the house on the corner. I skidded just to the side of the street. At this point, a terrified Lisa had parked the car by the side of the road and had exited the car to make sure that my stupidity hadn't cost me my life. I quickly got up and shook the dust off, went over to the scooter and pulled it back up onto the road. I gave Lisa a wave and a thumbs up to let her know I was okay. My elbow was scraped up pretty bad and I had some minor abrasions on each of my wrists. Miraculously, despite wearing shorts, I hadn't a single scrape on my legs. I don't know if I would ever be able to achieve such a thing were I to try that again. Needless to say, it isn't high on my "To Do" list. Almost a week and the wounds are just about healed. I am still very cautious on the H4 and intend to remain so. Well, there you have it. Two posts, one day. Amazing!

The Thrill of Victory Accompanied by the Agony of No Sleep

Well, the title pretty well sums up what this next week is going to be like. It was a fairly normal day today and will be a fairly normal day tomorrow. But, on Wednesday and Thursday, I will be going over to Eau Claire campus to do some sign language interpreting. I won't be done until 11:30 at night. Getting up even at 3:30 will be extremely hard. But, it means $400 in the Nigh family coffers. That will be extremely helpful in paying off some of our remaining debt on the scooter and working our way to paying off my school debt. Right now, we've been making bigger payments and it will be really nice to lay down some bigger dollars and pay everything off faster so we can get ready for a family.

But, I digress. This past weekend was extremely nice. Lisa got off work on Friday and Saturday. So, after I got home from work, Lisa and I scrambled to finish getting the apartment clean and the laundry at least laid out so it wouldn't wrinkle. Then we headed off to La Crosse to attend my cousin, Stephanie's wedding. It was a lovely little riverside ceremony. We ate our food, watched the newlyweds dance and took our trip back to Eau Claire with my parents in tow. After visiting for a short while, Lisa and I finished cleaning up the kitchen, making the bed and folding laundry then a very tired Dave got some much needed rest.

On Saturday, we got up about an hour earlier than was necessary but had ample time to get all four of us showered, dressed and fed in time to leave for Oakdale, MN for a lovely little trip to the temple. Mom, Dad and I each had a slight snooze during our time in the temple. I wasn't quite satisfied with mine and so, got what sleep I lacked on the ride home. After eating lunch and watching School of Rock (which Mom and Dad both surprisingly liked) we headed off to watch the local minor league baseball team, the Eau Claire Express, take on the Alexandria Beetles at Carson Park. I had obtained the tickets from work. It was really pleasant. We all got a laugh out of the mascot, Trax, who bears a strong resemblance to South Park's Mr. Hankey (the magical Christmas poo.) Hiiiiiidey ho! The Express won, despite some major fielding errors that cost them 4 runs in the top of the 2nd inning. All and all they played a pretty solid game.

On yet another pleasant note, on Sunday, after the first hour of church, Lisa and I were asked to tend the nursery. Of course, it is necessary for kids that are the age of the kids we were watching to have snack time. The order of the day? Goldfish crackers! One of my staples of life. Well, one of the boys that I was sitting next to started feeding me his goldfish. Another one of the boys saw this and decided to join in. It was awesome! I have decided that this is something that Lisa and I will have to train our children to do. "Go get Daddy some food. Good, keep it coming." It was actually pretty cute.

At any rate...life goes on. Lisa and I will hardly see each other this week other than in passing. Mom and Dad bought me a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper so that I have some caffinated substance to boost my energy level on Wednesday, Thursday and my morning shift on Friday. I may not need it on Wednesday...but, Thursday and Friday will be killer. Until next time, Nighspace fans!

The Weekly Dose of Dave

Well, I guess it has been over a week since the last post. But, it is, nevertheless, a post within the calendar week. It is about as good as anyone can expect now that Lisa is working ridiculous hours at Target.

Work continues to go splendidly. I have benefits now. Isn't that nice. I don't know how anxious I am to use them. The coverage is only catastrophic...in other words, it would really only be good for something more along the lines of emergencies where it was one trip to the hospital and walking out in a cast or something. Not necessarily for regular visits. Of course, both Lisa and I are young and healthy enough that we aren't on myriad medications and constantly making trips to the doctor.

This next week will be a pretty full one. Mom and Dad are coming up on Friday to attend my cousin, Stephanie's, wedding in La Crosse. They will then just come up to Eau Claire and spend the night at our place. It will be really nice. We have an honest to goodness guest room with a full sized bed, so Mom and Dad won't have to shell out money to stay at a hotel. It will be nice to not have to wait for them to travel from their hotel to start the day with us. The plan is to head up to the temple on Saturday. We've already booked some time there so the whole thing is wired.

I'm in the beginning stages of writing a book. I'm going to write on the various things within the church that seem to be very commonly misunderstood, which I know I misunderstood for a long time, because of the Mormon "culture" which teaches various perspectives that aren't always completely accurate and in harmony with the actual doctrine. It will be a rather lengthy project. I don't anticipate finishing it any time within the next year. I think what I may end up doing is just sitting down and chipping away at it when I'm at home and have some time. Lisa and I are planning on expanding the family in the not terribly distant future, so...time is quickly becoming a precious commodity.

I've been called by a lady in the Eau Claire area to assist in interpreting. I have a job next week from Wednesday to Friday in the afternoon/evening. She said I can expect $400-475. I'm not certain exactly what it is I will be interpreting for...but, shoot, with a price tag like that...who cares. The hours are long, though. I will be going there straight after work at the station and interpreting untill 11:30. I am going to be one tired boy. I told Lisa we need to bring her up to speed so that she can interpret, too. $800 would be an awfully nice chunk of change. Not that she will be ready to interpret by the 25th, but...in the future, such pay would be something, indeed. That would even be something that she could even do while she is pregnant. I think...as long as she wasn't on her feet much.

Well...I don't know that there is much more to say. It is going to be a rather lonely evening. Lisa works until 10. The plan is to visit her when she takes her 1/2 hour break at around 6. But, other than that, I am on my own. I'm going to find a movie while I am here at the library so that I can avoid watching the same old movies that I've already seen 10 times each.

Anyway...as I am finishing...can people who read this make a comment please...I was looking at the archives and seeing that there are relatively few comments on the various entries. So, I'm not sure who reads these. I know Mom reads them with a fair amount of regularity...but, I don't know if she is the only one. And if Mom is the only one who reads this...I can just e-mail her. Anyhow, not to be a stick in the mud, but there it is.

Bye everyone. Or bye, mom, I guess.

Scooter Gang

So...the more I have driven around town with the H4, the more I have noticed other people riding scooters. Every time I do, I give a thumbs up or wave. I can't help but laugh...it seems as though everyone that rides a scooter likes everyone else that rides one too...either that or they are just glad that they aren't the only one who is out there looking goofy tooting along at 25 MPH with a full helmet and a heavy jacket on. Either way...it is really funny that I have become a part of the brotherhood of scooterists.

Aside from becoming increasingly fed up with Lisa's job at Target...life is splendid! We recently bought a brand new mattress and have finally been getting the sleep we never knew we were missing out on. It's fabulous! It has unfortunately opened the door on an ever growing wish list. Certainly things that may be feasible within the next year or so...but, I don't know. In case anyone's interest is piqued, the list is as follows: a Wii, new sheets for the bed, an office chair and a storage footer for our guest room. It may be some time before we get most of those. I feel like I really stretched buying a mattress.

I don't know that there is too much more to report, really. I have begun teaching as a quasi-permanent sub for the 14/15 year old class at church. It is nice...the kids are pretty...active. Trying to get through the lesson and having them take something from it is about like trying to carry on a conversation with a 5 year old in the middle of the New York Stock Exchange. Yet, I have hope. This past Sunday, we only had a few minutes left and I had become fed up with these kids all yakking and goofing around while I was trying to involve them in the lesson that I just stopped and said, "You guys don't care to learn this stuff and you should. This stuff applies to you even though you think it's a drag. I know the people that wrote this did so over a thousand years ago and you think that has nothing to do with you, but it does. These people understood you. They understood your pain, your problems, your fears. Believe it or not, you could learn something from them." Perhaps not a verbatim quote...but, that was the message, more or less. It was pretty quiet for the remainder of the time. I challenged them to take a bit of time and just read the scriptures. We shall see if that has happened when I follow up this Sunday.

Anyway...not much more to be said. Really. I am done now.