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Occupy Me!

With all the talk of “Occupy Wallstreet” and “1 percenters” and iPhones, I thought I would take some time to talk about what occupies me.

In a typical day, I’ll wear clothes from Banana Republic or Target or maybe some other random store I’ve shopped at. Some times I wear shorts and a t-shirt, sometimes I wear jeans and a nice shirt. I drink coffee from Starbucks or maybe Folgers that I brewed at home. On Friday’s I go with my family to a gas station to get what we call “Zombie Biscuits” from an old lady who is there 6 days a week serving food to truckers, teachers, and business people. I drive my GMC Terrain into the city and get approximately 19.5 miles to the gallon. I pass a dozen or so people who are homeless as well as people in suits. I listen to Spotify on my iPhone 3Gs today, but tomorrow it’ll be on my iPhone 4s.

While at work I use the computer my company provided. This is the same computer that my wife also uses at home for doing her grad school work. Sometimes for lunch I have leftovers from the night before, some times I go to Subway and Eat Fresh, other times I let the company pay for my over priced kobe beef hamburger at a local steak house. In a typical 9 hour day, I cram in about 7 hours of work. The other 2 hours I’m eating lunch, peeing, or just chatting with co-workers who are sharing the same typical day as me. Some days I work late, and other days I head out early to beat the traffic, but I always hop on line later to check in. I work when I get home, when I’m on the road, on the weekends, and while on vacation. But I also think about my family 24/7, regardless of work.

After work I go to the gym, or go to my son’s ball game/practice, or maybe I go get dinner at La Parilla, or Olive Garden, or some other chain restaurant. Most of the time I have dinner that my wife cooked using the groceries we bought the weekend before. After dinner, we watch the shows that are on the DVR and skip all the commercials. Some times I play World of Warcraft, some times I play the Wii or PS3 with our son. Regardless of what we do, we are together.

The next day, I repeat my routine… or maybe I switch it up a bit. Maybe I work from home.

In the end, I am mainly concerned about the wellbeing of my family. They occupy me. I don’t really care about Wallstreet or big corporations or anything beyond the scope of my day. I know there are families in other countries, states, cities, houses, that are struggling, but I refuse to give up that which provides for my family. I wish the best for all the others in the world. I want the best for everyone, but I also want the best for me. I will continue to work and push upwards get the things I need and want.

So that’s that. My family occupies me. I occupy me.

I need a hobby

Everyone has things they enjoy doing. Whether it’s snow boarding, bear wrangling, knitting, or deep sea fishing, people generally just like being active. For me the things that I enjoy doing are going to the gym (or exercise in general), cooking, and/or doing something with my hands. I really like the process of taking nothing or raw materials and creating a finished product. I don’t claim to be the best cook or most prolific builder, but I give it my all when I get into it. Over the past few months work has started to creep into my life more and more, thus taking away time to do other things I enjoy.

This post was started a few months ago, and I never got around to publishing it. Some might say that I found a hobby. Lately my life has been full of the things I enjoy doing. Certainly work has come into play, but now I find myself doing more a more of the things I love to do, cooking, building things, spending time with my family, etc.

With the baby on the way, there is always something to be done. Whether it’s building a bookcase, or painting, or baby-proofing the house, there is no shortage of stuff to do. This week in fact we’ve put together the crib, and got it all set up. We hung a vinyl decal on the wall, and today I finished a bookcase that I built. Not something I simply put together, but I built it. I love getting things ready for the baby’s room. Jess is doing all the hard work with growing the little fella, so the least I can do is paint and build things to make it more cozy for the pair of them when he arrives. Chase has also been a huge help! He was out there with me, cutting wood, sanding, and painting. It was great to get to work with him in the garage, and I know he enjoyed it a lot too.

So that’s that. I’ve been busy around the house with yard sales, cooking (made my favorite Brisket Chili w/ Butternut Squash last night), building, and just enjoying life. Fall is my favorite season, and this one especially has got me loving life more than I could have ever imagined.

SnoJam 2k11

Every hundred millennia (or few years depending on your measurement of time) a storm comes along that just brings everything to a standstill. This was last seen during the documentary The Day After Tomorrow. Prior to that, there was the blizzard of 93. I remember the Bo93 well and would gladly have another one. Despite the loss of power, bitter cold, and cabin fever, it was amazing. I am a fan of the snow and ice and that was right up my alley. This year marks the return of the ice/snow storm to Atlanta! Granted it wasn’t as brutal as 93, it was still just as fun.
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It’s begining to look a lot like Christmas

Sniper Christmas Tree 2010

Well, Thanksgiving has already come and past. We loaded our bewldys with all manner of foodstuffs. SJ rocked our faces off with a stellar turkey and we had a great time with family and friends. With turkey day, comes black Friday. Knowing we had to get a few things for lil’ Snipes, we headed out for some midnight sales. To our surprise the stores weren’t all that bad when we got there. There were some lines here and there, but for the most part it wasn’t as cray cray as we thought it would be. However, as the night went on and it drew closer to midnight, the crowds increased in size and insanity. The doors opened finally, we rushed in, got all we were looking for and were out of there in under an hour! We certainly had our game faces on and got some really good deals. That adventure was totally worthwhile.
The rest of Friday was spent laying around the house catching up on some much needed sleep and trying to fend off the desire to eat all the leftovers in one sitting. I made my way back into the masses and found a few more good deals, but for the most part it was a very low key kinda day. The next day however…

We knew we wanted a real tree, so we headed out to our local tree farm and after a little looking around, Chase picked out the perfect one. Since this was like a straight up field of trees, we got to actually cut the thing down. I would love to have had some sort of electric device for the actual cutting, but it all worked out. In a short while, we had the thing down, bagged, and on the car. Our next stop was the Home Depot for some last minute decoration additions. Since it is impossible to enter a Home Depot and leave w/o spending less than $100, we chose our decorations carefully…even though we eventually went back and loaded up on even more.

So back to the crib we got the tree up and let it air out while we set our sights on the exterior of the house. We knew what all we wanted to do, and from a distance, it didn’t look that bad. Our plan was to hang lights on the windows and around the roof of the house. We were both all kinds of gutsy and ready to just jump on the roof and knock that out, yeah… that didn’t happen. After about an hour or so of trying to figure out if a) it was possible using the ladder I had and b) mustering the nerve to actually climb up on this K2-esque steep ass roof, I got myself up there (thanks to a roll of duct tape, a 100ft rope, and Jess holding the other end for dear life). It was a daunting task to get all the hooks around the edge of the roof and then hoist the lights up w/o breaking them. Due to the steepness of the roof, I couldn’t really get all the way down each side, so I had to shimmy around. After an hour or so I was DONE with being up there. Luckily, once I got up on the roof, we had the smart idea of nailing some temporary steps so that I could get back down. In the end, the house looked great and it was totally worth it.

Back inside, we got clean and fed and then went to town on the Christmas tree. It had time to settle and all the branches and limbs were ripe for the decorate-a-thon that was about to happen. It was pretty straight forward, lights, then ornaments, then more ornaments, then clean-up, then delirium. This year, I decided to to a time lapse of the whole process. In reality it took about two or so hours to get everything done, but you can watch it all happen in about three minutes!

So that was that. In one fell swoop we managed to get the inside and outside all decorated up. Jess’ Thanksgiving break was coming to a close, but we had gotten so much done. I’m sure she had a lot more she would have liked to do, but there’s only so much you can get done in a week. Over the next few weeks I’m sure we’ll be adding more decorations to the house, plus we gotta do some more shopping and wrapping and all manner of things. This time of the year tends to fly by. Before we know it, we’ll be walking down the aisle. As much as I can’t wait for that day to be here, I don’t want to miss any of the days between now and then, either.

The Pics:
[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157625375829121″]

Catching Up…

Halloween Happened…Trunk or Treat, giving out candy, eating lots of candy, and loving the weather.

I went to restore some sanity with HBean. There’s lots to say about this weekend, but what stands out the most is the how much we laughed. It was an awesome rally to be a part of, and a great weekend.

We’ve gotten settled into the house, finally. The garage needs a weekend devoted to it, but doesn’t everyone’s? We’ve gone on dates, made chili, and SB built a doghouse that may deserve it’s only post. In wedding news, we got our save the dates, and found our counselor/officiant for the ceremony. I also found someone to make my dress! Knowing I will be fitted for it soon has motivated me to join Gold’s Gym down the road and finally see what all this “zumba” fuss is about. The jury’s still out on that one…

What’s next though: holidays! This time of year always flies by but it’s my favorite! Hopefully we can get our blog moving a bit quicker and post more often. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Not even sure where to begin

A lot has happened since the last post. Over a month has past and many, many, many things have taken place in the world of the Sniper’s. Rather than have a hum-drum long post going into great detail, I figured I’d give a quick recap. So here goes (in no particular order)…
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What’s now.

I was driving down the interstate to get a massage in the city this morning when I heard that familiar noise.  The same one that always gives my insides a little jolt when I hear it. No matter what I’m doing, it always makes me stop for a second and remember, and ache a bit, and smile.

To the left of me in the HOV lane there were two bikes. A guy on one, a woman on the other. It’s a beautiful almost Fall weekend and between the weather and the comforting sound that the bikes make I let myself for a moment pretend that the couple on the Harley’s was one I knew not too long ago (or so it seems…). A couple that was spending the weekend riding in the mountains or on their way to a bike show or heading up to Helen. A couple that had a dysfunctional balance in life and lived it to the fullest. They were loud and large and crazy and happy. I let them be that couple again, even if it was just for a minute and I soaked in every bit of peace it gave me. I promised myself to save some of that peace in a reserve tank for later use.

Had the daydream been real, and had that couple really been my parents…would I have appreciated it as much as I longed for it today? I got mad at myself once I realized the answer. Mad that I wait until my present becomes my past before I absorb it’s potential and appreciate what I have. I got disappointed that even if that daydream was today, I would still find frustrations with that couple and criticize the choices they made….and now here I am wishing that daydream was real so desperately. The couple on the Harley’s today helped me remember that I don’t want to wait until a year from now to appreciate what today gives me. To stop asking “what’s next?” and start focusing on what’s now.

What’s now is that we’re packing. Ben and Chase are up to 25 boxes (and I helped a tiny bit). Two weeks from today we’ll be in a house starting a new chapter. I’m so excited about it! What’s now is that I have a healthy, ever-growing relationship with a man who I love and respect. I have a beautiful son who has me in awe daily. What’s now is I have great friends, a best friend who at days is like oxygen to me, and family who will always be a work in progress. What’s now is I’m loved. I’m safe. I’m happy.  🙂

J-Dog in the house!

Jan Turner
Jan Turner - Day 1

This post has been a long time in the making. Well, more like a month in the making. The story goes a little something like this.

Jess and Chase had been wanting a puppy for ages, however we were extremely reluctant due to the fact that we live in an apartment. There are extra fees, the clean up, the 2 flights of steps, the noise, etc. All that adds to to a very problematic situation. Couple that with the fact that our schedules didn’t really give us a lot of time at home and we just were destined to not get a new addition to our family any time soon.

Well, as soon as Jess started back to school it became apparent that the overall mood and stress of our current living arrangements was not conducive to a happy life. So after much deliberation and and a rash decision to “just go SEE the puppies at the pound” we headed to the Atlanta Human Society.
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the best laid plans…

It’s funny to look back on my last post. It was not that long ago and since my “balance and peace” post I have been in quite a little rut. I haven’t been able to pinpoint that exact reason why I’ve been in said rut…it’s just been a long month. I do contribute a huge part of it to my 2+ hour a day commute. Despite my efforts I didn’t get a job closer to home, so we’re in the process of finding a home closer to the job. We did some house hunting this weekend and found a really awesome area and I’ve got my fingers crossed that something comes through for us. Apartment living is fun, but we’re ready for the next step. A house with a yard and neighbors and a bit more privacy is definitely a step in the right direction.

Besides the drive, I feel like I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with the weight of life. My immediate family is, I’ve decided, going to be forever a work in progress. It feels a bit like a roller coaster with them where I feel close and healthy one day, then it’s all fallen apart and drama and tears ensue by bedtime. I’m trying to just take a deep breath and do my best with them. I’m staying at my mom’s house a few nights a week and it seems to help a bit. At least until that next hill. Additionally, HBK’s dad is an idiot. And that’s putting it nicely. I try to maintain some semblance of peace with him, for my son’s sake…but the fact is he is a moron and a bigot. It’s a biweekly reminder of how much harder I want to work with Chase to be a loving, healthy, accepting person.

Thankfully, I do have a much needed 2 week break from grad school. Work is starting to level out and I have a great group of 4th graders this year. I miss last year a lot. I shared stories and laughed more and looked forward to different things when I walked into work. Life changes and babies and grade level changes have made this year much more “work” and much less “fun”. I do love having HBK with me and observing a bit of his life in elementary school. He has a “friend” he has become very fond of. His shyness about her is very sweet. 🙂 Oh..and did I mention the weather? I swear this Georgia heat/humidity has added to my crabbiness. This weekend we finally got a break from it and I even felt a breeze. I didn’t sweat the second I stepped outside and maybe it’s dumb, but I know it’s helped me “cool off” some of my grumpies.

And then there were the Snipers. We had such a wonderful summer of sleeping in and road trips and vacations and relaxation. Now…we have house hunting, moving, work, and a wedding on our plate. Yikes! Oh..and did I mention the new addition? We rescued a retriever/lab mix from the Atlanta Humane Society. Her name is Jan and she gets a post of her own soon. She is an adorably sweet self made princess and she’s a LOT of work. (I know…did we really need a dog? I whined and pouted though…so he gave in). There’s been lots of talk about moving and the wedding…but tiny baby steps towards each. This is what I love about our relationship. We talk. When I’m pissy and moody and snappy about things (yea, those who know me nod in agreement) I’m just not a fun person to be around. SB is patient…and we always talk about it. I’m figuring out where these moods stem from and taking care of them on sarcastic phrase at a time.

I’m cautious about the move…and cautious about the wedding plans…and these are both a very good thing. I’m SO not good at baby steps. I like big ol’ giant leaps a lot better. But I want this next year…this life of ours…to be built with thought and analyzed with a purpose, not just thrown together. I want peace and love and seren….ah shit…did Jan just piss in the floor again? BEN!!!!!

😉