Today was my day off from work. And I can proudly say I didn't go in. Not once. I wanted to. Badly. Part of me kept saying, "Go in... you can get some things done..." but, I think the key to me feeling rested up and ready to go each week is some time away from work. I'm a slowly recovering workaholic.

So, to catch you up from my last post (which was very long... I will not apologize for that, I enjoyed writing it). I left my apartment yesterday around 4:45 and headed back to Southside Fellowship. I was asked to show up at Group Connect and film some of the event to use in a future Group Connect video that I'll probably be making. Group Connect is the event that Southside hosts periodically to help people who are not in a community group to find out what they're all about, meet the group leaders, and sign up for a group that fits them the best.

I sat in my office for a bit at the church and then got out the HD camera and tripod and set it up as people were coming in. I had to go upstairs really quick to the Vapor Main room because the on-call facilities manager, Rick, told me that the projectors had been left on up there since Sunday morning and he couldn't figure out how to turn them off. I turned both of the projectors off, made sure the lights were all off in the room, and went back downstairs to continue shooting video.

I also took a lot of pictures of the event, mainly because it was a way for me to avoid social interaction with people I don't know, but also because they might be useful in the future. Here are a few.





I left the church around 7:30pm and came home. Tim ordered pizza for dinner which got delivered right after I came home. We ate some pizza and then I pretty much went straight to bed. I fell asleep around 9:30. I was so tired after basically having been up for 2 days... again. I woke up around midnight when I got a phone call, but then slept all night until about 10AM.

My first tendency this morning was to sit around for a while, and then go in to the church this afternoon. I thought of a million things I could get done while everyone expected me to be gone (when they think I'm not there, no one stops by to talk... not that I don't love talking, but it does pull my focus away from working sometimes). In fact, at one point, I got dressed and almost walked out the door. But I didn't.

I watched tv for a while, and then thought it might be a good idea to clean out my closet and get ready to pack things for when I move into the house. I'm pretty much a minimalist though, and I don't really keep lots of junk. I get rid of clothes if I don't wear them. I don't have a lot of sentimental keepsakes... but that may be because no one has ever given me anything like that before. Friends.

I sat around for the rest of the day and just rested. I thought about writing in my other blog (you don't know about it... yet) but didn't really feel like it. Tim came home around 2:45pm. He said he was tired and was going to bed. I don't really think he sleeps that well at night. Probably because he leaves his tv on all of the time.. but that's just my opinion.

Around 5:15pm, Tim and I left the apartment to go to dinner. I made plans with my friend Bill Knox, to go to dinner and catch up on life because it's been a while since we had last talked. Bill had suggested we go to "Adams Bistro", which was nearby. One of my many restaurants. Not really. Did you know that I can trace my lineage back to John Quincy Adams? Ok, not really on that either. I just like to make things up.


Tim and I got to the restaurant a little early so we sat outside. Tim put on his gloves and his hat. I didn't think it was that cold, but then again, I'm a generally warm person (emotionally and physically) so I was comfortable. Bill showed up right at 5:30pm and we went inside. We talked for a while about a lot of things--mainly what he's been up to lately, what church he was at, etc. I talked about some projects I had been working on lately. For the most part with people, my life is pretty stable so even if I go for long lengths of time without seeing them, it's hard for me to really know what to talk about. I guess in a short way, you could say that my life is boring. I don't know. I would think consistency and stability would be attractive features though. So, you decide, ladies.

Bill paid for dinner so that was nice. He told me up front too, which was nicer, because I ordered a steak. And it was great. Well, it was ok. It was kind of a fattier cut of meat, but steak is steak. It's still good. After dinner, I offered to buy us all ice cream at Bruster's which was next door to Adams Bistro. I think eating ice cream out in the cold might have been a mistake, but it was really good. We talked outside Bruster's for a while and then Tim and I went home.


When we got home, I sat around for a while, checked some emails, sent some instant messages, and then left around 8pm to go to Brian Schlarb's house. He invited me over to play some Rock Band. They are opening the Vapor high school youth group time tomorrow night with Brian, Dallas, Tommy, and I playing a Rock Band song as the 5-minute countdown. I'll be singing, which will be funny because most people think I can't or don't. They'll be surprised.

I left my apartment and realized about halfway to Brian's house that I forgot the Rock Band 2 disc, so I had to turn around and get it. I got to Brian's around 8:20pm. Nate, Dallas, and Tommy were all there and we played until about 11pm. I sang a lot and we also switched around in a rotation for every song. I sang "Hungry like the Wolf" by Duran Duran and played the lead guitar on Expert and got a 92% on the vocals and 98% on the guitar. Pretty impressive, considering I didn't know the song and was reading the words on the screen while also reading the notes to play on the guitar at the same time. I guess "real" musicians do that all of the time, but hey, don't judge me. I don't not look at your performance and think it's not impressive. So, yeah.





I left around 11:15pm to go home. And there you have it. Some people have been talking about my off-schedule blog posting lately. Sometimes, I write my entire blog in an outline form, and either write the real entry later, or I write it right after I make the outline, but I post it later. I re-read the entries later, and that helps me edit out where I may have said something tied to a negative emotion that I didn't want to necessary publish. It's one of my barriers and I do it on some of my most stressful days. So, don't be hatin', is all I'm saying.

Later,

Joe