Bored at the Office

I'm really, really bored, so in an attempt to be introspective, I'm going to write 25 things about me that people may or may not know.

1. I was born in Mississippi, but I consider Texas to be my home for sure.
2. I have extreme road rage at times. Ask my close friends.
3. I'm a mama's boy.
4. I have very few gay friends; the vast majority of my friends are straight males.
5. Even though I despise it at times, I know I will miss working in restaurants.
6. When it comes to drinking, most of the time, I prefer beer over anything else.
7. I pretend to be much nicer than I really am.
8. I very, very rarely cry; not my thing. It's easier to just be angry.
9. I'd rather eat at a local place than a chain any day.
10. I don't like coffee; I'm weird; I know. Please stop gasping when I say it.
11. I'm a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, largest social fraternity in the world.
12. People abusing animals makes my blood boil.
13. I want to have a library in my house.
14. I also want to have a wine cellar/bar in the house.
15. I want to live in a city, but I'll always have a soft spot for the country.
16. I love my friends, but I hate weddings. If I go, it's for the open bar.
17. I do not use any form of racist/prejudiced/bigoted language. It's foul.
18. My favorite cookies are oatmeal chocolate chip.
19. I love hearing history; I hate learning it.
20. I suck at being by myself; I'm a very social being. One person's company is enough.
21. I'd rather buy an excellent photograph than a painting.
22. I love to cook, but hate doing dishes more than I love cooking, so I eat out a ton.
23. I play up my southern accent for people up north because it makes me more intriguing.
24. I have two dogs, and they are like my children.
25. I need to know things. I don't like secrets.

Yeah, I'm that bored.

Bittersweet

As much as I talk about getting out of East Texas, I do realize that it will be bittersweet.

I'm pretty comfortable here. On campus, I know who I need to talk to to get what I want and need, and people know me well enough that it doesn't take a lot of effort to get it. When I go out to eat, I only have a few places that I go, and they know me, some know my name, and they know what I like to drink and some of my favorite food items.

I went in to a promotions company today to see if I could get a gift for someone, and I've done a large amount of business with them over the years. They got the gift for me even though you're technically supposed to order at least 25. They told me I was such a great customer that they didn't mind and would make it work.

It's hard for me to go out without seeing a number of people that I know where ever I am, and it's gotten to be very normal for me. I don't know what it will be like when I have to start over again. It will be exciting in some ways, and I got a taste of it this past summer, but it'll be a building process all over again.

Ready for Spring Break! ATX, here I come!!

Also, 298 days til I graduate.

Maturity

I can feel it, and I notice it all the time. I'm getting more mature. I've always been pretty grown up, a little ahead of people my age, but lately I've started to actually feel like an adult.

Part of it is my self control. I've been in some really stressful situations in the past couple of months, and instead of panicking, I've been just handling it. I've realized that panicking doesn't do anything but make things worse. I choose not to stress, and I deal with the problem at hand.

Other self control things have been that I used to be a great procrastinator, and even though I still push things off sometimes, it now resembles prioritization. I deal with the most important things at hand, and then I take care of other things down my list. Even if it's something that I don't want to do, I just do it. It has to get done, and I might as well get it over with.

A lot of the changes have been subconscious, but other things have been intentional decisions. I've begun budgeting. I pay much more attention to the things that I spend my money on, and I consider the payments that I need to be making. I'm almost out of the small amount of debt I had accumulated, and I'm catching up on some other things as well.

Clothing was another choice; Before I buy, I think, "Would a professional wear this?" Not that I dress for the office all the time, but my purchases look less and less young all the time. At work, at both jobs, my professionalism has increased. I take care of things in a timely and polite manner, and my presence in meetings is more mature than ever.

Don't get me wrong: I'm still the same fun guy. I know how to have a good time, but time and place is something that I've learned to adapt to. I like it.

Btw, I didn't really get "arrested." I had an outstanding speeding ticket, and the City Marshall took me to the court to pay it. No booking or anything crazy, but it was an interesting morning for sure.

Also, I just made plans for Spring Break. Just going to Austin to see some friends. Should be a good time. Not going til the second half of the week (the 10th of March) so hit me up about plans before that.

Long time, no blog!

So… yeah, I'll skip the apologies and head straight into what's going on.

It's 313 days until I graduate from UT Tyler, and that's exciting. You know what else is exciting? SAINTS WON THE SUPERBOWL! FINALLY!

Anyway, I'm only taking 15 hours this semester, and it's still pretty brutal. Work in Career Services has picked up immensely. I had to take the laptop home and work over the weekend. This was in between working at Outback in Longview, which is also getting busier, which means the money is improving. I'm excited about that, too.

I do feel a little stagnant because I feel like my classes are very, very repetitive, and I'm still not meeting my full potential because all I can do is part-time jobs. 313 days. I just keep telling myself that. Then I'll be gone for good. This is not to say that I'm not happy; I'm quite happy, but I'm ready to go out and make my mark on society. I'm ready to live in a more open-minded region.

Someone gave me the greatest compliment the other day; he told me that I seemed like I was from the city. What a nice guy.

That's just a quick catch-up. I'll try to stay on top of things, and if you're good then I'll post about getting arrested a couple of weeks ago.