KodyMyers.NET

[Editor’s note: For purposes of contextual coherence, it may be useful to know that this post originally appeared on the discontinued Myers Family Journal before being folded into this blog. -KM]

Well it seems that the year is off to a wonderful start so far.

For starters, my job at Briggs & Stratton is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Admittedly, it is work, but I’ve gotten quite used to it and I could certainly think of worse jobs. The best thing about it is that I only work Saturday and Sunday, freeing up my weeknights to concentrate on my studies at Murray State. There are times when I sure do miss having my weekends free, though.

Since I don’t think I’ve announced it on here, I’ll just mention that we’re pregnant again! Tabitha had her first set of ultrasounds earlier this month and the baby is growing nicely. The due date is estimated sometime around October 4th. Sorry, it’s still too early to tell if it’s a boy or girl yet!

Easter was quite exciting for us this year. Kristopher seems to have more fun each year as he grows to understand more and more how much fun holidays can be. We attended services at Westside Baptist Church, since I managed to have it off work for the holiday, and we all really enjoyed it. Kristopher got to meet several other little boys and girls his age and had a great time doing activities. As we were getting ready to attend services earlier this evening, he was really excited to be going back to church, which is really awesome!

The most interesting part of Easter, though, was the flash flood that caused the water in the creeks around our house to rise to levels I had never seen before. It was quite a surreal experience as we sat and ate chocolate bunnies while watching entire trees float through our backyard.

Classes at Murray State have been going really well this semester. I don’t know if it’s due to my new work schedule, my reduced course load, a different attitude toward my studies, or a combination of several factors, but as long as I’m able to maintain this pace, I’ll make the dean’s list for sure.

And of course I can’t finish this post without something that any geek/gamer father should be proud of: a little gamer in the making.

[Editor’s note: For purposes of contextual coherence, it may be useful to know that this post originally appeared on the discontinued Myers Family Journal before being folded into this blog. -KM]

I haven’t posted for a few months, so I guess it’s time for me to get everyone back up to date on what’s going on.

First of all I suppose I should start with the most significant news – our relocation to Pottertown! As of December 1st we’ve been living about seven miles east of Murray in the home that I grew up in. Though we can’t get pizza delivered all the way out here and shopping trips require an actual drive, the overall monthly savings we enjoy in regards to expenses are well worth it. We’ll most likely be living here until I finish school and can land a job that pays well enough that we can get our own house.

Speaking of jobs, it’s looking like my time at Captain D’s is once again coming to an end. I’ll hopefully be entering at Briggs & Stratton though the student program at Murray State by the middle of the month. I’m really looking forward to once again keeping a work schedule with consistent hours. Having a set routine helps me maintain stability in my life, which is something I can always use more of.

I suppose I should also mention how my first semester back at Murray State went. I regretfully failed out of every class I attempted, mainly because I stopped going after getting discouraged with how I was progressing. Maybe I took too many hours or maybe I just wasn’t as ready to be back as I thought I was. Either way, I’ll be at it again this Spring semester, but this time there’s no way I’m going to load 17 hours on myself again while trying to hold down a full-time job.

Since my last post we’ve celebrated several holidays and amassed many photographs. However, due to the recent server migration, our photographs are temporarily unavailable, but should return shortly with all the new additions.

I wish you all a prosperous new year. I know I could use a better one than 2004.

Wow, things got really crazy really quickly! This post has actually been a long time coming, however it was delayed since I made the decision a couple of weeks ago to switch our main computer from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. After fighting XP for a week and a half, Tabitha and I realized it just wasn’t working out for us. Kunshin is now back on Win2k and running reliably again, with the exception of a nasty problem with the modem, which causes the system to freeze two minutes after being disconnected from the internet. The only way to recover from it is to restart the machine, which is becoming a big pain, to say the least. I hope I can correct this problem soon without being forced to purchase new hardware.

June 1st was the first day of my summer Humanities class. All I know to say is, “Wow, this is going to be a ride.” That’s not meant to be negative, either. The professor who is teaching the class is thoroughly engrossed in philosophy — the science that focuses not on finding the answers, but asking the questions. Instead of standing in front and “spoon feeding” the knowledge to his students, he facilitates in-class discussion by having us all arrange our desks in a circle and discover our own interpretations of selected literary works. This has led to some very interesting class discussions and in my opinion provides much more insight into the human condition than what I’ve gained from my previous Humanities classes.

Speaking of matters related to Murray State, I received my financial aid award letter in the mail a few days ago. I qualified for the Pell Grant and the Cap Grant, which together will pay for my next two semesters of classes with a generous amount left over to help cover books and other expenses incurred during my time in school. I don’t know why I was so afraid that I wouldn’t receive aid, but knowing that I will have my tuition fully paid for has certainly brightened my spirits this week.

Tabitha’s dad and aunt came down for a visit last weekend and brought with them a new (to us) dresser for Kristopher’s room. Kristopher’s dresser situation has actually been an arduous saga over the past year. Up until last week, we had been using a pressboard dresser that Tabitha bought for herself when she was still living in the dormitory at Murray State. She gave it up for use in Kristopher’s room where it remained until he became mobile, and started making a game of opening all the drawers he could reach and pulling out all the folded clothes within. After a few nights of refolding clothes and an unsuccessful attempt at implementing some sort of locking mechanism, we decided we’d had enough and relocated his dresser into his closet. Since closet space in our home is a valuable commodity, we knew this solution wouldn’t fly for long. Fortunately Tabitha’s dad decided to give us two twin-size beds (one of which Kristopher sleeps in, detailed in the previous post) and the matching dresser. The new dresser is made of much heavier wood, so the drawers require more effort to open. This is a good thing, because it discourages mischievous little hands from getting into places they shouldn’t be.

They also took us to dinner at the locally renown Patti’s restaurant. Since they had never been there before, and neither Tabitha nor I had been there with the exception of two Captain D’s Christmas gatherings, it was a new experience for us all, which turned out to be quite pleasant. It’s much different without the frigid weather.

On a more solemn note, my grandmother passed away around 11:45am on June 3rd, 2004 due to complications arisen from kidney failure. She had just celebrated her 86th birthday last month. She lived a long, full, Christian life that touched all those who knew her. She raised six children and was heavily involved in raising most of her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

Now that she’s no longer with us, I regret not spending more time with my grandmother these last few years. I know it’s cliché to say so, but the passing of a loved one certainly helps bring into focus the fact that our time on this earth is limited, and that we should value every second of it. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life that we forget about the things that really matter, and take for granted all the blessings and miracles that are bestowed upon us daily.

I’ve made it my personal goal to better appreciate the things I have. It’s been a struggle thus far — I’ve never been any good at it. But I’m trying, nonetheless. Now more than ever I know that nothing in this world should ever be taken for granted.

With all this beautiful summer weather over the past few weeks, we’ve been putting many miles on our new car. I drove it to Paducah and back four times a couple weekends ago to help out in the Captain D’s there. Tabitha and Kristopher also took a Mother’s Day trip to Marion, Illinois, where Kristopher got to ride a horse for his second time. We also drove to East St. Louis on Saturday to attend a birthday party at the Cornwell home. Kristopher had a great time playing with his friend Sarah, who just turned two years old, and several other kids near his age.

Tabitha and I were also able to get a day off together to take the family to Hematite Lake a couple weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Hematite Lake is located in the Land Between the Lakes area about an hour drive from here in Murray. It has a well-maintained two-mile hiking/biking trail that leads around its perimeter, so it’s long enough to be fun and eventful, but short enough to do in a day without killing yourself. There’s a picnic area there as well so you can bring your lunch with you or cook it while you’re there. We usually bring Subway sandwiches with us. ;)

Kristopher has been sleeping in a “big boy” bed since Grandpa Turner sent it down last week. We disassembled his crib over the weekend and bought a bed rail for him so that he doesn’t roll off the bed onto the floor. He’s been pretty good about staying in bed after we tuck him in, but sometimes he sneaks out and starts playing with toys. The next morning we always find him sleeping in the bed, so we figure a little extra late-night playtime won’t hurt him.

[Editor’s note: For purposes of contextual coherence, it may be useful to know that this post originally appeared on the self-coded, PHP-based version of the synthetik.org homepage before being folded into this blog. -KM]

There is only one word for an occasion such as this: W00T!

I am officially scheduled for classes at Murray State! I spoke to my academic advisor Thursday morning, threw together a schedule during a break at work, and was registered for classes by noon. After the debacle that ensued in January, I’m substantially relieved that there weren’t any snags this time around. I’m tremendously eager to get back into the swing of things, and I’ve taken on a whole new attitude toward college. If only I had felt this way when I was still eighteen years old. I think I just had some more growing up to do.

Anyway, I know you’re all just dying to know what classes I’ll be taking. Trust me, they aren’t all that exciting. To tell the truth, I’ve already taken most of them at least once before, with less than favorable results. I have my EverQuest addiction to blame for that. I am comforted, however, by the prospect that I will be mostly done taking “general studies” classes by the end of this year.

I decided to get things rolling as soon as possible by signing up for HUM 212 (Humanities in the Modern World: Diversity) this summer. Starting June 1st, I’ll be diving in to my third attempt at Humanities. Perhaps since it will only be a six-week class, I’ll be able to maintain interest long enough to ace it this time around.

For the fall I’ve slated five classes totaling 17 credit hours:

• CSC 301 (Foundations of Computer Science I) – The next step in the path toward my major. I’m really looking forward to this one.
• MAT 250 (Calculus I) – This will be my third attempt, since mathematics has never been a strong subject for me.
• JPN 105 (Introduction to Japanese Culture) – I came out with a D the first time I took this and I know I can do better. I really enjoyed this class despite not doing so well in it. It probably would have helped if I had turned in all the assignments.
• PSY 180 (General Psychology) – This is a university studies elective that I’ve taken twice. The first time, I withdrew from the class before I could fail it. The second time, I took home a D. Once again, I know I can do better.
• CSC 199 (Introduction to Information Technology) – I took the CLEP test for this class when I was a Junior in High School and passed with 97%. Fortunately, I never actually turned in my test for credit at MSU, though I still technically could (I think?). CLEPing out of it wouldn’t raise my GPA or my total credit hours, and since I need the GPA boost, I’ve decided to take the actual class. I’m hoping it won’t be too difficult, given that I should already possess most of the knowledge needed to pass it. In reality, I’ve most likely forgotten a great deal more than I would wish to admit.

The Computer Science program has changed significantly even in my three year absence. Most of the general math classes have been ripped out and replaced with math classes that a computer scientist would actually use.

Another interesting addition to the program is the “thread of emphasis.” From what I remember from my advisor’s explanation, CSC majors can now choose to focus their studies on certain aspects of computer science such as application development, net-centric technology, graphical (game) development, or database development.

I find myself unable to pick any one thread at this point in time. My desire leans toward game development. My talent leans toward net-centric technology. My practicality leans toward application development. It looks like I really need to search my heart to find my calling, and hopefully through taking more classes, I’ll be able to make a confident decision.