KRUG

the first one is my new niece!!!  her name is emily kathleen elder and she was born on january 11th.

i made the trip out to houston for the coming of my sister’s newest baby this past weekend.  it was really a very well planned event.  her due date was the 11th and all of the important family was going to be there that weekend.  because of the grandparents being there, my sister wanted to have the baby dedication on that sunday.  so they planned it the previous week so that if she didn’t have the baby naturally by wednesday, she would be induced at 5AM on thursday.  this would give her a little bit of time to recover and be able to have the baby in church on sunday.

so it went as scheduled.  my dad and i got there friday evening after taking care of the second big thing (to be covered later in this post).  we pretty much went straight to the hospital where my sister and emily were.  she is so beautiful.  i wish i had some pictures to post here but there are none yet to post.  i don’t have a digital camera myself and kim and kurtiss haven’t put anything up on snapfish yet.  but i digress.

i got to hold her for a little bit at the hospital and she was sweet as could be.  i think i heard her cry twice the entire time i was there.  and she has the biggest eyes!  those are going to break some hearts later in life.

the dedication was held on sunday morning by rich glass and his dad.  it was meaningful and the things that were said carried a lot of weight.  i know it meant a lot for my sister to have her parents there during the ceremony.  immediately after church i flew home.  but home was about to change for me.

so the second big thing.  i moved into clayton place this past week.  the actual moving was done the day after i got back from houston but the fiasco started the previous week.  my dad and i have been talking about me moving out of my previous residence for a couple of months now and when i went out to washington for christmas, we started discussing it a little more heavily.  to the point that i started paying application fees and sending paperwork to clayton place.

when i got back to georgia from seattle, i had to go to clayton place and sign all of the paperwork.  which i did.  the problem arose when i wanted to change my mind and not move there.

i went to the appointment as planned and mia took me on a tour of the room i had reserved.  it was thick with smoke and there were bacardi rum bottles everywhere.  without exageration, i think there were about 80-90 in the kitchen alone.  i was in complete shock.  but since my dad had already paid the $250 for registration, i felt like i was stuck with it.  so i went and signed the contract.

then i got to thinking about just how bad it was going to be.  to shorten the story a bit, my dad flew in the next day on his way to houston for the baby thing, and we went to clayton place and got them to let me stay in another room.  the one i ended up in is bigger than the first and my room mates are a lot like me: kinda quiet and reserved.

i have been there for about 3 days now and i am liking it well enough.  i haven’t gotten everything moved over quite yet.  i still am having food issues and i have to finish packing up some stuff at the old house and clean it.  but i am moved for the most part.  i don’t like being this far away from my best friend but i do like the location as far as work and school are concerned.

which is big thing number three.  school.  this semester is my push at a good one.  i plan to go to every single class and do every single assignment..on time.  and so far i am succeeding.  i am ahead in my work, i feel together in class, and i am enjoying the environment much more.  i think the change in mindset at the beginning of the semester is what is facilitating the transformation.  i have a strong will and i just needed to focus it in the right direction.  i am sure that this is going to be a pivotal point in my life when i get old and look back.  this will be the time that i turned my life around from always being the guy who as tons of potential but never applies himself to the guy that always gets the job done…above and beyond that which is required.

i’m excited! 

i went to washington state for christmas.  more accurately, i went to olympia to visit my parents and grandparents.  getting out there was a mess.  i was flying standby which can sometimes be an adventure.  the flight that i picked to fly out on looked great until i actually got to the airport.  the problem was that there was a massive storm in denver and it had completely shut down the airport there.  this backed up air traffic all over the country.  i had planned on flying out on thursday morning and didn’t actually get out there until sunday night.

once i got there though i had a great time.  i seemed to get the role of mr. computer fix it man while i was there.  not that i minded because i actually enjoyed it.  i had to get the church computer working for dual screens with an extended desktop so that it would display powerpoints and stuff, i helped my dad get my mom’s computer to stop shutting off from overheating, and i was given editing control of the church website.

i also sat in front of the fire for hours.  after everyone went to bed i would go get a book and sit in front of the fire and read until there was no more wood in the house.  a couple of times i actually went outside barefoot in the rain and dark to grab a single log so i could finish the book i was reading.

i think the best part was the three solid meals a day that i got while i was there.  i generally don’t eat a whole lot right now (a fact i didn’t agree with until this past week).  it’s not because i feel like i’m fat or anything of the sort, i just usually don’t get around to eating meals.  if i’m busy and hungry, i’ll find something small and quick to quell the hunger pains but not enough to actually feed myself.  while i was in washington though i ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as snacks in between.  i actually gained four pounds.  lol  don’t worry though.  it will all go away for the previously mentioned reasons.

so i am home now and waiting for school to start up again.  i am looking forward to a fresh semester.