Countdown to 2009

Okay, friends. What I have here is my list of goals for 2009. A lot of people make resolutions, but I prefer goals. And I have a lot of them. Just to be realistic, however, you should know that I have no aspirations of actually completing ALL of these, especially as some of them are counter-productive to completing others (such as #4 and #23). Other goals are simply ridiculous in their scope (such as #8) or so unbelievably unrealistic as to be virtually unobtainable (such as #5). Still, as long as I "shoot for the moon and land among the stars," I'll be happy with the results. So, for the year 2009 (drum roll, please...), I present my goals:

1. Read the Bible
2. (completed) Secure a well-paying job
3. Pay off debt to Mom
4. Pay off credit card debt
5. Learn to speed read 120 pages an hour
6. Finish first draft of my novel
7. Learn Spanish
8. Learn electrical engineering
9. A+ certification (computer technician)
10. Network + certification (network technician)
11. Learn Calculus
12. Learn webpage design
13. World of Warcraft character to level 80
14. Run a 5k race
15. Buy a house
16. Adopt a schnauzer puppy
17. (completed) Join a Bible study home group
18. Learn to draw
19. Start a small business
20. Read all the books I own
21. Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist certification
22. Learn C++ programming
23. Take a vacation to Sandals Royal Bahamian
24. Build my own desktop computer
25. Go to my first Fantasy / Science Fiction convention
26. Visit family in Michigan
27. Visit family in Minnesota
28. Visit friends in Virginia
29. Shoot 45 on a round of golf
30. (completed) Learn to change a tire on my car (added 01/13/09)
31. Learn to change the oil on my car (added 01/13/09)

I should add that this is not an exhaustive list, and I will be adding to it as I think of new things (ooh, I just thought of one now. #29, golf...). And on a final note, I should add that most of these goals have some sort of emotional string tied to them, and in the next few weeks I will probably try to explain why a few from this eclectic bunch made it on my list.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

-Sailor Matt

Delicious and Nutritious

I took an adventurous path today and decided to make myself a home-cooked lunch. I pulled a recipe for sweet & sour chicken off the Internet, ran out to the store to pick up the ingredients, and set to work crafting a home-cooked meal. Even preparing the rice was an experience, as I literally pulled the rice steamer out from its unopened box for the first time today (we've owned it for like six months). Well, the meal was completed without incident, except for one hectic moment when the smoke alarm went off and I didn't have a hand to spare for fear of burning my chicken (except that the alarm going off was a tell-tale sign that perhaps I'd already burned the chicken). With assistance from the wife, I was able to silence the alarm and finish cooking, and ended up with a very delectable dish:


Mmm mmm good!

-Sailor Matt

Getting Back Into the Groove

The last few weeks have been just crazy. Not crazy in a busy way, but crazy in a I-don't-have-a-routine-and-my-world's-completely-upside-down sort of way. Our furniture arrived without complication, and was actually a day early. It was a long week trying to find a spot for everything, and there's still a few things laying out, but our place is probably now more organized than our old apartment was. One major setback is the fact that my wife HATES the living room setup. Here's what we're looking at:

To set the scene: I'm standing in the dining area as I take this picture, and there's a narrow path on the right between the couch and the wall to get to a small foyer and the front door. The couch is as close to the fireplace as we dare get it, and the kitchen is on the left. The door you see leads to the back patio.

Anyway, my wife says that the fireplace ruins the room. Ideally, the couch would go on that wall, and the TV would go up against the kitchen wall on the left. We can't put the couch against the kitchen wall facing the TV and fireplace for fear of something spilling on the kitchen counter and pouring onto the couch. The way we have our couch now kind of makes the room smaller (by way of the little path we have to leave to the foyer).

My solution was to buy a giant plasma TV to mount over the fireplace. It wouldn't help the room arrangement any, but we'd be happy we had a plasma TV. My wife reminded me that I don't yet have a job, and suggested I think more economically.

On the plus side of things, my wife's making upwards of $50 a week selling crocheted baby booties on the internet, so technically we DO have some money coming in. Maybe I should learn how to crochet.

-Sailor Matt

Just an update before the holidays...

Heya folks,

It's official: I'm a civilian. Friday was my last day in the Navy. Over the weekend, the wife and I plotted course across the United States, embarking on a 19-hour drive from Virginia to Texas. We've got an apartment all set up, but the movers won't arrive with our stuff until Dec. 2nd, so we're staying at my mother-in-law's house for the week. I had a big job interview yesterday, so keep your fingers crossed, because at the moment I'm a jobless bum. My mummy would be so disappointed.

Well, that's all I got, folks. I don't even have a relevant picture to share with you, so I'll leave you with this:



For some reason, my wife thinks this picture is amusing. I fail to see the humor.

-Sailor Matt

One of us needs help, and it's not me...

So, we're moving, right? I get out of the Navy in three days, and we're moving to the Great State of Texas (I say that like I've ever lived there). In the midst of packing up our stuff, however, I have come to a very serious realization... My wife has too much yarn.

My wife, you see, is a crocheting maniac. She makes baby booties and hats and other such nonsense and sells them on eBay. She makes a decent amount of money, too. Our Jamaica trip last month was almost entirely funded by her compulsive crochet habit. But every habit comes with a price...

I've added some props to give the next photo a little perspective:

I think an audit of my wife's re-investment expenses might be in order. I damn near threw out my back trying to move that thing.

-Sailor Matt

Running For Livestock!

Heya folks, just wanted to drop a line and mention that I've embarked on a charity effort for Heifer International. Inspired by Patrick Rothfuss' charity challenge (here), I've created Running for Livestock, a shameless attempt at soliciting donations for this honorable cause. I've pledged to run a mile for every $10 I raise, so if yer lookin' to see me eat my words, head on over to my Donation Page and make a contribution. At the moment, I'm up to $80... I'd better start hittin' the pavement!

On the other hand, you could head over to Pat's Donation Page if you're interested in a raffle for sweet author swag. Either way, our global community wins, which makes you a hero in my book.

-Sailor Matt

Living the Life

An uninteresting sequence of events transpired this afternoon that ultimately resulted in me returning home from the barber shop with a healthy plate of Chinese food, to be eaten alone. As I sat in the quiet room, munching on my lunch, I came to realize how picturesque this sight must be. I'm seated at a card table with a beer at my left and a computer to my right, shoveling in mouthfuls of takeout Chinese. I think I even dribbled a little on my shirt. Few women (although there are some) would understand the awesomeness of this experience. My wife would say that I'm not taking care of myself. I argue that I am taking care of myself, and this bachelor-styled meal was exactly what I needed. Cathartic, even.

No one wants to eat fast food on a card table for every meal; my wife makes incredible pork chops and rice, and a mean chicken and wild rice soup that I wouldn't give up for the world. Still, the TV dinner will always have a place in the man's heart, right next to his appreciation for war movies and the secret desire to brew his own beer. This quiet afternoon was pure bliss.

And the fact that I blogged while eating my man-lunch makes it that much more awesome.

-Sailor Matt

Halloween Costume 2008!

Holy Toledo! I just realized that I haven't shared with ya'll this year's Halloween costume! The party was awesome and my Tribal Warrior costume rocked, but it was colder than a witch's tit outside (that means it was really cold). I wanted to add some warpaint, but ran out of time before the guests started showing up...

I hope the movers don't break my skull staff when they pack up our stuff in a few weeks. Its really a cool staff.

-Sailor Matt

Munchies!

I do a fair amount of exercise to maintain my girlish figure. In fact, I make a concerted effort to go running twice a week. A day's run is usually six miles, and after a healthy jaunt like that I tend to acquire an incredible craving for food. More specifically, sweet food. In fact, just the other day I consumed the following within 20 minutes of returning home from such a workout:

That's a 965 calorie sugar coma, folks. Seriously, I have to ask myself- what the hell's the point?

Coincidentally, this is also why my wife and I share a love/hate relationship. She says she gains weight just by thinking about food, and I lose weight if I don't eat enough of it. Together, we bring balance to the Universe.

-Sailor Matt

Two Alarm Fire on Halloween Night

Well, folks... I'm sorry to report that not everybody in my neighborhood was able to enjoy their evening on Halloween Night. A fire broke out in one of the buildings in my apartment complex around 8:00 on All Hallows' Eve. Fortunately, no one was injured, but a few dreams were shattered as some returned home from Halloween festivities to find that their homes were gone. 11 units in the 12-unit building were affected.

These photos were taken from my patio:

Taken from the news helicopter:

The aftermath:

An article about the fire can be found here.

It was a sad night in the neighborhood.

-Sailor Matt

Cheers

Had a great time in Jamaica. Got a lot of great pictures, too. My wife, in fact, took 3,268 pictures. No joke. I've highlighted a few of them here.

This is me having a drink by the pool.




This is me having a drink at Kimono's

This is me bringing drinks back to the pool.

This is me after being served a drink.



This is me serving my own drink.

I think that covers most of the finer moments of the trip. I'll cover some of the more minor highlights a bit later.

Cheers!

-Sailor Matt

Off to Uncharted Islands!

Okay folks, I'm off on vacation to the beautiful paradise of Jamaica. I've secured two seats on an out-bound cargo plane delivering chickens to the island, and I've arranged for lodging in an old storage shed. The whole trip has been pretty affordable so far, and the wife and I are looking forward to a relaxing experience beneath the tropical sun. Our travel agent says it's going to be great.

I'll check ya'll when I get back.

-Sailor Matt

P.S. I had a job interview today. Holy crap was that scary! Went well, though...

As Halloween Creeps Upon Us...

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. When I was a kid, the primary mission was to collect as much candy as possible on Halloween night. On days leading up to this junk food free-for-all, sloppy maps of the neighborhood would be drawn, and secret meetings would be held on the playground to mark out the best possible trick-or-treat course. On Halloween night, we would race frantically from house to house, sweating in our plastic masks and vinyl costumes, our organized plans gone out the window. A riot of fun was had by all.






As I've grown older, I've acquired a new appreciation for the magical atmosphere that creeps in around the days of Halloween. Additionally, I get overwhelmed with the desire to read Harry Potter, which is a phenomenon I can't quite explain. The best way to outlet my Halloween excitement, of course, is to throw a party. Last year we threw one of our very own, with the help of some friends, and I went through great lengths to prepare my costume: LT Dangle from Reno 911.


This year I am uberly excited, because my Halloween costume has gone in a much more creative direction. I just hope it doesn't get too cold this year, as my costume consists only of one article of clothing (spandex bicycle shorts) and a wig, with a few key accessories thrown in. It's going to be a blast.

-Sailor Matt

My Back-Woods is Your Big City

My mom and step-dad recently visited me in the mediocre state of Virginia, and after sharing with them my flashy Virginia Beach life (please note the sarcasm), I began to reflect back on my quaint, Mid-Michigan memories of yesteryear. The Wolverine State* was my whole world growing up; not until I joined the Navy did I gain a wider perspective of where "home" actually fit on the map. The small town I return to occasionally is the Big Town of my parents' lives, and my pace in the burbs of Virginia Beach is "hectic city life" for simple Michigan folk. Ironic, because I find my life in this place to be quite slow.

I don't mean to imply that Michigan is dull, or that my visits back home to Saginaw are in any way boring. Quite the contrary, I usually have a frolicking good time. For example, I chanced to cross paths with this creepy individual, who was attempting to lure kids away from their parents with candy at the time...

The next day, I came across a parade of the ugliest children I had ever seen. But they were cheerful enough, which lightened the mood...

Finally, my Michigan adventure ended with an encounter with this individual, which I can only guess is the product of some Upper Peninsula genetic cross-over...

To be honest, however, I must admit that some of my experiences may have been influenced by the ruby water of Michigan's most elite in Italian dining: Olive Garden. Their red sangria is to die for, and their clientele is very upper-crust.

In retrospect, I must say that I will always have a fondness for Michigan in my heart. They suffer six months of winter snow, and their economy is in the pooper, but it's not such a bad place, in all.

But I'm still moving to Dallas when I get out.

-Sailor Matt

*It has yet to be proven that wild wolverines live, or have ever lived, in Michigan.

Divine Chocolate

This, my friend, is a $2.50 piece of chocolate:

A truffle is an amazing experience. A delicious chocolate shell encasing a soft, creamy chocolate liquor center, flavored in mint, orange, raspberry, or a myriad of other delicious combinations. I love 'em so much, I could not buy just one...

To be entirely honest, I ate five of these bad boys. I only had the forethought to take a picture after the first three were gone. I also had a stick of marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in crushed oreo cookies. Incredible!

The outlets in Williamsburg have a fantastic chocolate shop, in which I spent a great deal of money and blatantly abused my military discount.

-Sailor Matt

A Sailor Out of Service

O’ Navy, farewell old friend. You have been dear to me, and have shared with me experiences unimaginable, but soon I shall leave your bosom. You held my hand when I was so young, guiding me across the mysterious waters of worldly travel, worldly women and worldly alcohol. I shall always remember the Blue Motorcycle you handed me in Palma. I shall never forget Iranian night at The Mix in Dubai, nor the time you locked me in the bathroom in Naples. O’ Navy, you have been my friend, my advocate, my lover.

I am a family man now, and pulling away from the pier has grown oh so bitter sweet. My heart breaks every time I must leave my wife and child ashore, and the pleasures of sailing have faded and dulled. The wenches are less fun, the grog is less groggy. The sea foam has lost its mystical glow. The time has come for me to part ways with my dearest of partners. Farewell, o’ Navy. I shall always bleed Navy Blue.

Anchors aweigh, my boys. Anchors aweigh. Farewell to foreign shores, we sail at the break of day. Through our last night ashore, drink to the foam. Until we meet once more, here’s wishing you a happy voyage home.

-Sailor Matt