2010 Resolutions

I have two New Years resolutions for 2010: to be more frugal (i.e. to save more) and to eat healthier.

10 Years Ago

10 years ago it was December 31, 1999. I was a senior in high school. I went to Faith Heritage School in Syracuse, New York. It was a Christian school. I wanted to be a pastor. I was attending Second Baptist Church in Auburn, New York. I was living with my parents in Camillus, New York. I did not have my driver's license despite being 18. My 16-year-old brother would often drive me to school. On days when he had after school activities I would take the bus. My best friend at the time was Garrett, but we drifted apart when I went to Bible college. I was involved in the drama club in high school and I was also on the drama team in my church youth group.

Dinner and a Movie

I had dinner at Bugaboo Creek Steak House with a fellow blogger. This is the second time I've met him. The first time was in September, also on a Wednesday night. We went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. We started off the meal with grilled shrimp. The shrimp were our appetizers. They were delicious. I love shrimp. I had two glasses of Pepsi, but it was okay because the refills were free. My entree was a 12 oz. NY strip steak cooked medium rare with a side of mashed potatoes. I also got a Caesar salad. I finished 90 percent of my steak, but I was too full. We looked at the dessert menu, but all of the desserts were too rich and we needed to catch our movie at nine o'clock. We had coffee before we went to the movie. The movie was Sherlock Holmes. It was okay. It was so cold outside. We parked our cars in the restaurant's parking lot and walked across the plaza to the theater. I was shivering by the time I reached the theater. I had a great night.

Tuesday Night Updates

Yesterday I went out with Sherman to look for the 60th anniversary edition of Scrabble. We did this after the car's battery was revived. We checked a toy store and then a few shops at the mall. With my gift cards I bought some white t-shirts and a blue sweater at JC Penney's. I got a good deal on the sweater. It was originally priced at $41 but I bought it for $11. I had dinner at Bertucci's with Sherman and I got the spaghetti and meatballs, but it wasn't that great. I should have got the cheese pizza because pizza is their specialty. It was really icy when we were leaving the mall, but fortunately we didn't have any mishaps.

This morning we went to Target and found Scrabble. I also got bottled water for my Keurig, dishwasher detergent for the house, and the newest Harry Potter film. It turns out Sharon bought HP 6 today as well so now we have two copies. I'll keep my copy because eventually I'll move out and I'll want to watch it again.

I think Sherman is going to play Scrabble with his family and because it's a four-person game I'm going to exclude myself from the activities to catch up on my blog roll.

Chinese for dinner. Sesame chicken for the win!

My Christmas Presents

I got some great presents for Christmas from my family and friends. In no particular order they are two books: The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose and If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn, a Keurig single cup coffee maker from my brother and sister-in-law, seasons one of the television shows 7th Heaven and MacGyver, the DVD Angels and Demons, and some gift cards.

Thank you so much. I love them all!

Past Christmases

I spend every Christmas with my family. When my brother and I were kids every other year we used to travel up to the New York-Canadian border where my aunt and uncle lived to spend Christmas Eve with them. We'd come home on Christmas morning and there would be presents under the tree. I used to think it was Santa Claus delivering those presents to my house.

The Car Is Okay

God answers prayer. The car's battery was dead. The man from AAA stopped by and revived it. Sherman was very worried that it could be something worse, but I prayed and after I prayed I felt more calm. I'm glad the vehicle is back to normal.

Car Trouble

I have very bad news. Sherman's car will not start at all. The entire system is unresponsive. He called his friend and asked if he could try to start it by hooking up jumper cables to the battery. He came over and tried that but it didn't work. Fortunately Sherman has AAA and they are going to replace the battery. Hopefully that is the solution. Sherman is understandably very upset because this is his independence at stake. Right now we're waiting for a rep from AAA to come by. I prayed and I will continue to pray. I'll update more as the situation progresses.

Travel and Prayer

I'm back in Massachusetts. The trip home was stress-free. Before I left for home I attended the 9:45 AM church service at the Syracuse Vineyard. Pastor John's wife spoke about healing. I prayed for Sherman. I hope that God will take away his disease.

Being Catholic, The Beauty and Challenge Of: Hearing the Faithful

While driving back home I listened to a very interesting podcast entitled "Being Catholic, The Beauty and Challenge Of: Hearing the Faithful." It's from American Public Media's Speaking of Faith series. In this hour long program several former and active Catholics discuss what it means to be Catholic and how they feel about the Roman Catholic church. I really enjoyed this program. Additional information and where you can download the program or listen to the streaming version is here http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/being_catholic/

Turned Down

While driving back to Massachusetts this afternoon a guy I once hooked up with texted me. He wanted to know when I was going to be back in Syracuse so that we could get together again, but I hadn't contacted him while home these past few days. I'll be honest, I wanted to see him again, but I made a vow to abstain from sex until I am married to a woman (if I get married, which is highly unlikely). I debated how I would reply back to him but I decided to be honest. I told him that I had made a vow with God. He texted back "LOL." I'm glad he didn't say F#%! you!

I'm trying to be very honest with my new blog, so I hope I don't offend you but this is my life. Take it or leave it.


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Boxing Day

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I hope your Christmas was nice. I'm spending it at home with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. I go back to Massachusetts tomorrow, but I don't have to work until a week from Monday. Yesterday I felt sick because of my allergies. I had a really rough night. I had a bad headache and I threw up about three or four times in the night. In the morning I felt a little bit better but I didn't eat the bacon on my breakfast plate. I went to IHOP for breakfast with the family. I will post what I got for Christmas in another blog. I'm at the mall right now. I bought a journal and some books and a drying rack. I have to go now since Mom is making lasagna and I need to be home by 6:30. It's 5:53 now. I decided not to go to the 5 PM church service. I'll go to the Sunday morning one.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Carousel Center,Syracuse,United States

The Wiper Fluid Problem

Sherman’s wiper fluid is working again. We went to a gas station and the employee opened the hood and began pouring some in, but it was already full so we think it was frozen at the top, and that is what prevented it from being propelled onto the windshield.

12/22 Updates

It's been a very long time since I posted a REAL blog, and I'm afraid it will have to be delayed some more because I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow (Wednesday 12/23) I drive back to Syracuse. I'm going to work until my shift ends at 3 and then I'm going to drive straight to Syracuse. My bags are packed. I didn't pack too many clothes because I'll probably get some for Christmas. I'm so excited about Christmas. I tend to focus on the presents and the accumulating debt as a result of buying the presents, but the real reason I love Christmas is because it's a special time to celebrate God's gift to humanity: his son Jesus. Without Jesus my life would be total chaos. He's changed me and continues to change me in ways I can't even comprehend. His grace is amazing. Perhaps someday soon I'll talk about my struggles and adversity that I've gone through.

In other news I exchanged gifts with Sharon and Sherman. I got Sherman the Pixar movie Up because that's what he wanted and I found a really nice bottle of extra virgin olive oil made in Italy for Sharon, as well as a gourmet dark chocolate bar. I was so happy that she really liked my gifts. Sherman got me the DVD Angels and Demons, because that was on my list, and Sharon got me a $50 Amazon gift card and a $10 Starbucks gift card. Both gift cards were right up my alley because I love coffee and books.

Well that's all for now. I will be updating what is happening with my life while in Syracuse with my family via Twitter so be sure to follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/silentscholar

Merry Christmas,

Mark

My Evil Sink

This is the upstairs sink. I hate it. The water becomes scalding hot in less than 10 seconds and you can't regulate it with the cold water nozzle. It's an antique.

Blogs Versus Vlogs

I prefer to read blogs compared to watching vlogs (video blogs). I watch vlogs, but it's more convenient to read blogs because reading is a silent activity and I can read blogs on my phone, wherever I happen to be. I can watch vlogs on my phone but it's usually not as convenient to do so. I also like reading blogs because the information tends to be more cohesive and structured, whereas with a vlog it's more about the visual effects and the speaker's ability to tell a story and/or present information. It's also quicker and easier to publish a written entry, than it is to upload a video, although a greater number of people tend to watch vlogs compared to reading a blog.