These Days

I was thinking the other day about how all I ever blog about anymore is student teaching. This could lead one to get the impression that I don't have a life outside of student teaching. That impression would be correct.

I have done a LITTLE bit outside of student teaching in the last month and a half. Let's see how much I can remember:

I went on a trip to St. George and Las Vegas with my family in January. My brother-in-law, Mike, and my nephew, Braden, were running in the St. George half-marathon, so we went to support them. Then we went down to Sin City for a couple days. Everybody seemed to get along pretty well, and I bought some cool new hats (my family seems to think that the best part of vacation is shopping), and lots of new "teacher" clothes. I'm getting a sweater vest collection that would cause Chandler Bing to be jealous.

I had a birthday (in St. George, actually). I feel really old. I got some great presents, though. And my sister's family broke into our hotel room (okay, so maybe they got a key from the front desk, no questions asked - CREEPY) and decorated it all out in birthday balloons and streamers.

Chess came and went, and it was incredible. We got a LOT of positive feedback, and some nasty feedback as well. I can't remember being more proud of a show, and I went as much as I could. I'm having major withdrawals now. Dave Tinney told me to call my sponsor and get them to help me through it, and recommended repeating "Chess is not stronger than I am." It's hard, though! I loved that show.

I've been playing the acting role of a lifetime. Not really, but it's kind of fun. In December, part of my stake presidency approached me and asked me to help with ward conferences this year. They're going around to each ward and giving a presentation on Alma 30 to each group of young men/women. They wanted someone to act as Korihor and someone to act as Alma to reenact the classic battle of words. It's kind of creepy when a member of your stake presidency tells you that you'd "make a good Korihor." Being the slave of duty that I am, I agreed to do it. I helped them with the concept (they originally wanted period costumes, among other weird ideas) and I helped pick the Alma. I've been going to the different wards, and it goes something like this:

• Member of stake presidency starts talking about Church-related things
• I start laughing in the back of the room
• People start getting uncomfortable, unsure of who I am
• SP member asks if I have a problem
• I say I do, stand up, and take the floor from him
• I totally attack the Church and many beliefs of the Church, comparing Korihor's arguments to modern-day issues
  
• Kids are caught off-guard, but gradually catch on
• Some of the adults FLIP and are about ready to leap out of their chairs and give me a piece of their collective mind
• Alma argues with me
• I demand a sign that God exists
• SP member steps up and saves me before it gets TOO heated

Fun, eh? Apparently, I'm not doing to bad. Some of the people have really freaked out. One girl said that I "scared the crap out of" her. One lady had to hold down her friend, because the friend freaked out and was ready to claw my eyes out. Playing an anti-Christ is fun! (Mostly.)

I've also been doing a lot of relaxing lately. By the time I've taught school 5 days in a row, with piano lessons or youth theatre afterward every day, I'm spent. My Saturdays are full of working and teaching piano, too. Fridays and Saturdays I've been too exhausted to even leave the house very much. This is good, though. I'm getting to bed earlier than usual some nights, and I'm catching up on my Blu-Ray collection.

Another "relaxing" thing I've started doing is watching Lost from the beginning. It's been 3 years since I've seen the first 2 seasons, and now that it's giving out answers and recalling previous information all the time, I thought it was a good idea. So, I introduced my sister, Emily, my niece, Kaylee, and my nephews Braden and Jason to the show. They're hooked already. We're going a weekly Lost night, and if people don't keep up due to silly things like Academy Awards, they have to catch up on their own time with the Internet. I forgot how amazing Lost was right from the get-go. However, it's a little frustrating to patiently wait for certain storylines and characters to come into the picture. Not gonna lie- I miss my Juliet.

I'm now harboring not one, but TWO internet crushes. Ugh. It's a disgusting double-standard. I'm totally opposed to meeting people over the Internet and hooking up with them in reality, but if you've met a girl in person, it's TOTALLY okay to secretly pine after her by reading her blog and/or Facebook page. It's also okay to have conversations with her online on a regular basis. Just not if you don't know her in person. Judge me all you want, but at least I know these two girls aren't really hairy, middle-aged men who have a thing for artsy, nerdy guys in their 20s. Now if I could just find time (without cutting into my relaxing or Lost time) to actually ask them out in person... *sigh* It will happen, though. The next time I see one, I'm totally going for it.

That's about it. I guess I really haven't been doing THAT much other than student teaching. At least teaching hasn't TOTALLY consumed my life yet, though.

Oh, one more thing - this blog post's namesake. This Thursday, Teri and I are going to Rascal Flatts. Some people have questioned if Teri is dragging me there. However, it's time for me to come clean. I freaking love Rascal Flatts. In fact, I'M dragging Teri there. Our seats aren't the best, but I don't care. I haven't been to a good concert in a while (Hello, Fray! Time to stop touring Australasia and get your butts back here), and concerts are always best when you're surrounded by drunk cowboys.