November 26, 2002 - Updates of various kinds

Updated format: Since I've been actually putting some thoughts on here, I thought I'd better make it a little easier to use. The color is supposed to be a nice gold color, but I noticed on Susie's computer that it looks kinda... well, kinda puke-colored to be honest. If you're interested, you could make a shortcut to this page, and then I will let you know whenever I update the calendar or add some new pictures.

Updated phone number: I've got a new phone number. There's no way I'm posting my phone number on the internet, but if you want to e-mail me at blake@episodeii.com, I'll give the number out to most people.

Update on school: Well I would definitely say that I've hit that spot where I usually fall apart and stop going to school. I missed a few classes, and a few assignments, and even screwed up a test. Fortunately, I've been doing well enough, and the teachers all seem to like me, so I think I'm going to be able to make up for all my problems. I'm not sure if I've dumped myself out of any A's, but I figure a B or two is okay considering my history. The biggest thing for me is that I'm still going even though I hit that point. I didn't just convince myself that it was too late, and it's going to be fine.

Other issues: The girls have been off-track for 3 weeks now. It's been interesting running them back and forth between Dad's and Heidi's and school and my place to get them taken care of while Heidi and I were at school or work. But it's worked out, and next week it's over. *whew*

Heidi's brought up moving to California, and it sounds like Grandma is finally asking for rent, so there may be a big update on that front before too long. I honestly kinda doubt anything big will happen, but you never know. Heidi seems to think I'm pushing to take the girls to Oregon, but all I've ever said is that if we move anywhere, Oregon would be the best place. That's still true. Taking into account the rent, school costs, climate, social activities, opportunities for children, and job market, Portland creams Austin (where Heidi originally wanted to take the girls), and beats Denver and Anaheim, too. I need to do some specific research on Anaheim and that area, but from everything I've heard, Portland is still a better move. My choice is to stay right here. I love Colorado. The job market is tough right now, rent is fairly high, and school is way more expensive than those other places... .... Hmmm... but it's much prettier here, the people are friendly, and this is where our family and friends live. I don't see any reason to move.

My step-father, Terry, passed away a few weeks ago. He was having heart surgery for what the doctors thought was a fairly standard clogged-artery problem. They said the operation was a complete success, and he came through it fine, but there was apparently some further complications they weren't aware of. Within a couple of days of the surgery, he had passed away. We will all miss his laugh, his great sense of humor, his amazing knowledge of everything you can imagine, and the way he got along with the kids. Kyra especially remembers that he always read books to her.

Angel thought she wouldn't be able to handle the emotional services, but Kyra really needed to go, so Kyra and I flew out there for the services. He was cremated, and there was a simple service where people told some stories about Terry and his life. Most of them were funny, and that's the way he would have wanted it.

It seems like Ericka is doing well. She's one of the favorites at work, and she has a lot of support from her parents, so I don't think she has the crises that she used to have. She's been on a diet for a while, and seems to be doing great at that. She (as always) is pretty much done with her Christmas shopping, which I have (as always) not even started. We've been talking pretty much only through e-mails since my phone has been off for a while here. That's really annoying, and I miss her voice terribly, but I guess a break from each other once in a while is probably good for a relationship anyway.

I was looking into taking Arabic as a foreign language to meet the requirement for my Associate of Arts degree, but it's hard to find a class in Arabic. I called the only school I know of, the Islamic Education Center, and they said they only offer classes for children, but that someone would probably be willing to tutor me. I haven't taken them up on that offer yet, but I found a "Listen and Learn" kit at the library for Arabic, and it's been very interesting so far. This is the first language I've ever really tried to learn, so it's completely new, but it's fun. Now I have to figure out how to get credit for learning the language. I need to speak with the head of the foreign language department about that. Ve shall zee.

Talk to you later!