YEAR 2007
DEC 2007
Celebrated Christmas with the family, rang in the New Year's at home as well. Didn't work at all, so that was kind of depressing, but things slow down as people leave for the holidays. Fenced occasionally, but no tournaments probably until the D & Under here in Fort Wayne. Pretty low-key, hopefully 2008 will pick up and be a bit better overall!
OCT-NOV 2007
The family celebrated my dad's birthday on Oct 16, so it was nice that we could all get together and honor him. I got him a couple CDs he had been wanting and he said later that he enjoyed listening to them, so I'm glad they turned out OK! In November, my poor old 1991 Lumina finally crumbled -- the power steering went out in Oct, then the muffler ceased to function in Nov. Suffice to say it sounded like a jet engine was landing on our driveway! It would cost more to maintain than to purchase another one, and coincidentally, my mechanic had a 1999 Lumina on hand that he was working on and getting ready to sell. So, we ended up making a deal with him and I now have reliable transportation again! My parents gave me a loan and are going to designate part of the cost as a birthday present, so that's cool. I also received the board game Taboo and The Offspring's "Greatest Hits" on CD, plus Brian got me a gift certficate to Borders, so it was a very nice birthday. A day later, Donna & Don came over to celebrate Thanksgiving with us -- good food, good friends, good times!
The Summit City Fencing Club hosted the Storm the Fort Open on Nov 10, which went pretty well. As Vice-President, I was in charge of the event and had to deal with a few snags, like not having the gym available as originally planned. We did set up shop in the Academy Hall, though, and had a lot of fun! I refereed epee, but fenced both sabre and foil, so I had a pretty busy day.
Holy Cross hosted a "celebratory dinner" to end the Bible Study series Renewing Our Partnership, which turned out to be a pretty good time. We Lutherans can really get down! I have met a lot of cool people throughout the course of the study, it's especially nice to be able to interact with more of my peers. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep the fellowship going!
JUNE-SEPT 2007
Been relatively boring, overall. Sent out a bunch of job apps, had a couple interviews, but it hasn't happened yet. Went to see a new doctor the first week of Sept, trying some new medications and new approaches, so I am optimistic about that. Been able to visit with family and friends a bit, which is great. Sarah Mae visited from California in June, went to Lisa's party in August, seen a couple friends around town, and interacted with people at fencing. My Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ron were in town at the end of August and start of Sept, plus Brian came over to celebrate his b-day a few days later, so it's always cool to hang out with family. Also got to go to the Purdue Open on Sept 22, which was a lot of fun even if I didn't do too spectacularly. Oh, well. Nothing too exciting, but I feel like I'm making some forward progress nonetheless!
MAY 2007
Still in the midst of the job hunt, for better or worse. While my focus has been on libraries, I am now turning my attention to finding a local gig to support me in the meantime. I want to go someplace with the opportunity to move up, so that if things with finding a full-time library position don't work out by August, I can devote myself to something worthwhile here in town. In the meantime, I've been able to do some fun social stuff. My friend Julie and I got back in touch via MySpace a while ago, and she got interested in fencing again after seeing some of my photos! So, she signed up for the beginners class along with another old high school chum, Matt. Hadn't seen either of them in years, so we finally got together for dinner after a recent Beginners class and had a very nice time!
I went down to Indy on May 5 to attend Matt & Michaela's game night, which was a lot of fun. Along the way, I picked up Andrew in Muncie so he could take part as well. It was great to hang out with everybody, especially my old fencing buddies Carrie & "Cletus." Good times were had by all, plus I spent that night in Muncie and got to play some "Civ 4" with Andrew on Sunday afternoon. Whee!
APRIL 2007
I am getting some hours at Parkview and started volunteering at the Ivy Tech library, so I've been trying to keep busy. Otherwise, just sending out resumes and finally joining some professional associations: ILF, ACRL, MLA, and ATLA. Excellent, right? In fun news, I went down to Muncie on April 15 to belatedly celebrate Andrew's birthday (actually on 4/10). We went to lunch at La Hacienda first, then played pool in the BSU Student Center -- I won two games to one! We then headed over to the Liberty Bowl to meet up with Holly and Samantha, where we got in a couple games. I won the first one pretty handily, then lost the second one by only 7 points when I bowled the first half the game with my left hand! Ha, ha, ha! I was surprised I could get it down the lane pretty well. Everyone was pretty tired after that, so we went our separate ways. I'm glad I got to see my friends and celebrate my buddy's b-day week in person!
The fencing club had an "open house" on April 14, we had fun cooking up hot dogs and watching a little video reel that Peggy put together. We also hosted the Spring Fling E & Under on April 21, which went well. I directed all day and was pretty tired by the end of it, but it was nice to be able to take part!
MARCH 2007
I rather unexpectedly had to leave the library at the University of Saint Francis, so I am back on the job market. In good news, Julie (my former supervisor at Parkview) was pleased to hear I am available and offered me some hours over in the health science library. So, trying to stay optimistic and get some things done that I've been putting off for a while (like updating the website). I am interested in getting a regular exercise regimen going, I think it will help with my lingering lethargy problems. I am seeing the doctor again on March 26, so hopefully we can make some good strides forward in the near future. In the meantime, still trying to have some fun and keep busy. Andrew was finally able to come up for a visit on March 10, we hadn't seen each other since November. In fact, one of the first things we did was exchange Christmas presents! We went to church on Saturday evening, played video games, slept in on Sunday, went to see The Ultimate Gift at the movie theatre that afternoon (which we both enjoyed), then had dinner at Uno Chicago Grill. Yummy. It was especially nice because my folks had two vouchers for $5 off and gave them to us to use, so we even saved some money! Always a good thing, right? Andrew took off shortly after we ate, we promised to try to hang out again in less than three and a half months! On March 29, I saw my friend Andrea for the first time since she gave birth, so I got to meet her daughter Tabitha and hang out a little. Yay!
Been keeping busy with fencing, too. Tim, Lauren, Greg, and I did a demonstration at the First Brethren Church on March 21. Fun was had by all; they were talking about the "Armor of the Spirit" during their Family Night, then we razzle-dazzled them with our swordplay. We let the kids whack on our masks for a while, then got some delicious Mexican food afterward to top off the evening. Good times! I also participated in the Rose-Hulman Tournament of Thorns on March 31 with Greg and Jim, we had a nice time. We got into Terre Haute on Friday evening and had dinner at Applebee's with my friend Amy, then woke up early for the event on Saturday. I earned my "E" rating in epee after coming in first place, then got a little tired later on and just tied for third in foil. We went out to Pizza Hut afterward to celebrate, then headed home after a long day. Overall, it was a fun experience!
JAN-FEB 2007
The new year got off to a pretty good start. The new semester at USF seemed to start on a good note, I feel like the Christmas Break allowed me to step back and start the new semester on a fresh note. Went to the doctor a couple times to get checked out, I finally got my first "annual physical" in about five years. So far, I think things are on the right track, but I've been pretty stressed about my health and staying on top of things at work. At least I've been able to have a little fun, I went to the Purdue Open on Feb 17 and did quite well -- 2nd place in foil, tied for 3rd in sabre! Plus, I finally renewed my "D" rating in foil, so that's cool. Hopefully, I can do some more social things in the coming weeks and do some more things outside of fencing or work.
