You know I hear they are making these neat things called "debit cards" now...

So we have this paper due next week in Psychology. We are supposed to say whether we consider ourselves adults and why. I apparently have not reached the level of responsibility required for adulthood.

I had two tests today, Psychology and Micro lab. I spent Monday and Tuesday studying for Psychology, because it has a higher weight than my Micro lab test. Last night Kristi's friends came over, so I socialized, and then went to study for my lab test when they left at 10:45. It was then that I realized I had left my lab book in lab. This posed quite a few problems...well actually one big one, which was that I had no conceivable way of studying anything. Not only was my book there, but my review sheet was in my book, which contained a list of what I needed to know.

I decided that I would just have to wake up really early, go to Tech, and find someone to let me in the lab. I tried not to stress too much, as the lab test is only 7.5% of my final grade, and I got in bed. It was then that I realized I was supposed to go to a "Career Talk" earlier that evening. I have to go to one before I apply to nursing school, and they only have them sparingly. I had asked Joe if I could leave early and everything a couple weeks ago, but I probably hadn't thought about it for 4 days, hence I completely forgot to go. The next one is in the afternoon during Jingle Jazz week, which isn't ideal, but I guess I have to go. Joe was nice about it, which was a big relief. Not that he's ever mean, but I pretty much just screwed up by forgetting. So I think in my paper I will put that I do not consider myself an adult, because I apparently cannot remember extremely important things that I need to do.

Anyways, I woke up at 6:15, took a quick shower, and left to take Lucy to my parents' house. They had no idea I would be there so early, because I didn't want to wake them up by calling either last night or this morning. They were a little surprised, but I think it was OK. I knew dad would be waking up for work anyways. I left quickly and got to the Nursing building around 7:30. None of the teachers on the second floor were in their office, so I asked a janitor if she could let me in. As I suspected, they are not allowed to let students into labs...what with infectious organisms and all. I read through all the posted office hours of teachers on the wall, and none were going to be there until at least 8:30, so I went downstairs to an office that I had seen open. Inside was a nursing instructor who was extremely nice. I'm not sure that she was technically allowed to let me in either, but she told me if I went straight in and got the book that she would do it. I tried to express my appreciation adequately, but I think I might slip a thank you note under her door later this week.

All in all I got into my car at about 7:45 and was able to study all the way up until 9:00, when I went in to get ready for my Psychology test. Both tests went really well, and it was a big relief. After all the stress I decided I needed a break, so I came home to hang out with Oliver before going to work. I ate lunch while I was home, and then decided to go to Best Buy on my way in.

At Best Buy I picked up the new Lovedrug CD. I absolutely loved their first album, but their second seemed really disjointed. It had some really good stand alone songs on it, but as a whole it just didn't feel right. I think there were alot of band transitions at the time, like members changing, which may have added to the issue. This album is called "The Sucker Punch Show," and while it definitely is more cohesive, I am not really sure I like it. I feel like they strayed a good bit from the qualities that made their first album so good, and overall it's just kind of weird. It may be one of those things where the creativity grows on my after a while, but I know there are some things about the production I definitely don't like. For instance, on number 7 the snare has a weird sound. I'm not sure if it was on purpose, but even if it was it just ended up sounding really crappy. I will keep giving it a chance though, and may comment more on it later.

Funny story...at Best Buy I was third in line waiting to check out. The guy checking out was taking forever because he was using a personal check, and they were having to go through the whole special process. I never ever see people pay by check, and was contemplating how odd it was that Best Buy even takes checks when it was time for the guy in front of me to pay. He steps up and no joke...pulls out his check book. I tried to savor the moment...it's not every day you see two people using checks to pay. If you still pay by check, I hope I didn't offend you...checks are cool, seriously...

Work was a little monotonous today, because we completely re-worked the stage setup. I actually didn't think it looked as good as usual yesterday, but setting it back up a different way is such a pain. Joe told me to have a good attitude, so I did my best. He helped me, which made it not so bad.

We went to eat a quick dinner at Hunan K after finishing, and it was delicious. The only thing I don't like is that there are no free refills, but I guess that's better for them. They probably do alot of takeout anyways. I could eat fried rice every day of the week. Kristi called me to tell me she got a speeding ticket while we were eating. She was kind of upset, but I didn't really think it was a big deal. She just lost track of how fast she was going, I'm guessing it'll probably happen again to one of us sometime in the future. I don't think it was even enough to make our insurance go up, so it's just kind of a minor bump in the road (no pun intended...or was it).

Tonight I ran sound, and it was actually alot of fun. This week is very unique, in that there is not really a band. Instead there are 7 violins, a double bass, piano, keys, and acoustic guitar. For the violins I miced each individually, and then set up 2 Shure LDC's left and right to capture the overall sound with some ambience. I'm using the little tiny Audix SDC on the double bass, and then normal stuff on everything else. The bass dude wasn't here tonight, but it still sounded really great. I had to fight feedback with all the condensers for a while, especially the KSM LDC's...but with some gates, less compression, and some work on the monitors everything seems to be feedback free and fairly stable. Feedback during a service is one of my biggest fears, because there is just nothing more distracting. One thing I did to the sound this week that I think made a big difference is made a small cut around 4.5kHz on the center and stereo outs (the main fader controls left and right, and the center cluster is fed off of a bus). I always find myself fighting harshness when I run sound, and I think it is mostly in the 5kHz area. Since I am always cutting there with most things that occupy that range, I figured why not just take it out of the mains. I only cut about 2dB with a pretty wide Q, but I think it really made a difference. It's a little hard to tell because the band isn't playing, but I'm going to try something similar next time I run with the full band. I'm thinking about setting my digital camera up on the mixer and hitting record just so I can get an ambient recording to post on here Sunday. It's gonna be good!

I got home around 9:30 and played with the pets some. Oliver and Lucy are getting along better and better. Lucy doesn't get nearly as excited, and Oliver doesn't seem scared of her. If she gets too out of hand he just slaps her in the nose a few times and she backs off. I got into bed a little after 10 and have been watching live performances on Youtube and looking for new music ever since. I found this one band called Darkroom. I haven't been able to listen in depth yet, but that first song on the page seems pretty cool. I also have been listening to my senior project and thinking of things I would do differently if I had more studio time. Live and learn.

Tomorrow is going to be great, because I don't have to get up at 6:15. I think I am eating lunch with my dad, and of course I always have Oliver and Lucy to take care of. I just hope Oliver remembers where his litter box is!

I found it amusing that when filling out the address for an application to adopt a kitten, our house was on "Garfield Lane."

As anxious as I am about owning my first cat, I think Lucy is doubly anxious. Last night Lucy woke me up every 3 hours to go out. After she got down she would proceed to sit in front of the laundry room door where we are keeping the kitten. We would go out and then go back to sleep, only for me to be awoken again 3 hours later with Lucy standing on top of me with the kitten crying in the background. Hopefully this will get better with time.

I woke up a little after 9 and said good morning to the kitten. I don't really know how to treat kittens, but I think he likes me because he pretty much purrs the entire time I pet him. I got ready and then took Lucy on her first walk of the day. I assume I'll be taking her for a ridiculous amount of walks for the next few weeks so that she remains as calm as possible around the kitten. When we got back I checked on the kitten again and then left for school.

Lab was fine today. We are working on our last project of the semester, which is identifying two unknown bateria (gram positive and negative). The instructions are pretty well laid out, so it's kind of more like just following a series of steps which lead to a specific bacteria. I'm sure if it was Clemson we would just be given a broth culture and given no instruction. Ah the joys of Greenville Tech.

I debated going to lecture for a long time, but decided to come home. I am glad I did, because Lucy was wreaking havoc on the sun room when I got home. Usually she just sleeps while I'm gone, but I think the kitten was probably driving her crazy with it's meowing. Her food and water bowls were overturned, and she had started to chew apart the baby gate. I think I'll be leaving her in her crate until she gets a little more used to having a cat in the house.

I ate some lunch and then I took Lucy for her second walk. When we got back she was pretty calm, so I decided to let the two pets interact some. Things went pretty well. The kitten for the most part doesn't mind Lucy, just is a little intimidated by her. Lucy on the other hand just gets extremely excited about having another living animal around. She typically just sniffs the kitten like crazy, pokes him with her nose, and yips every now and then. If the kitten hides too much Lucy starts to get angry, but can be snapped out of it with some correction. So far it doesn't seem like Lucy wants to act on her hunting small animals instinct, so that is encouraging.

I emailed Kristi to tell her about the day with the kitten, and also to ask what she was going to name him. I was getting extremely tired of calling him "Kitty." Kristi had thought about the name Oscar, but decided that he wasn't scruffy enough for that name, and has settled on Oliver. Welcome to the fam, Oliver:

For the rest of the afternoon I got a few things done and tried to keep Lucy calm. When the kitten is in the laundry room Lucy is a nervous wreck, constantly pacing and barking. It's really driving me crazy, but it's only the second day. I checked my auction on ebay and saw that my head sold for just under 200, pretty good if you ask me. Right now I am leaning towards getting a snare, just because I have a really hard time passing up musical equipment. I've decided I would really like a 6.5 x 14, just because I always seem to like the sound of snare drums that are a little deeper. I also don't really mind my junk Yamaha 5.5 x 14, so the different size would give me some variety. Although, I may still go with another 5.5 if it's a good enough deal. Just for fun I made a ridiculously low offer on a 7 x 14 Yamaha Maple Custom drum in one of those "best offer" auctions on ebay. I figure times are tough, maybe the music shop really wants to get rid of some stuff. Can't hurt to ask, right? Plus, it's sparkly white, which is my favorite.

Kristi got home a little after 5 and played with Oliver some. I was going stir crazy from being in a house with an insane dog, so we went out to eat at La Fogata. It's our favorite mexican restaurant...good food and pretty cheap. I ended up just getting cheese quesadillas tonight, which is a little boring. Afterwards we stopped at Target so Kristi could pick something up and then headed home. The evening was spent watching football, studying for psychology, and watching Lucy and Oliver interact. Things are still going pretty well. Oliver swatted at Lucy once, but really I wish he would do it more so that Lucy would gain a little more respect. He seems to be a really easy going cat though, so generally he lets Lucy bother him as much as she wants. We all got into bed around 10:30. Lucy laid down between my legs and was snoring withing 30 seconds. I think the new family member is wearing her out.

Tomorrow I am going to plant the 4 remaining plants in the back yard and try to study a little more before going to work. I will have 2 tests on Wednesday, so I'd like to get as much done as possible since I will only get home from work around 9. Maybe Oliver can keep Lucy occupied for most of the morning so that I can get things done. Somehow I doubt that's going to be how it works out.

In closing I'll leave you with some pictures of the yard progress...sorry it took so long to get them up! You can look at this post to see what the mulch beds were like before (there were no mulch on the sides or in the back before).

Still no pictures...I really need to take some tomorrow...

I feel like my life is moving non-stop lately, and today definitely added to the feeling. I got up early and got to church around 7:15. I wasn't sure what I was doing because Joe didn't have me written down for anything, which usually means I will do the job of whoever decides not to show up. Sure enough, one of the camera guys had let Joe know last minute that he wouldn't be there, so I got to run a camera. I didn't have to do anything too complicated, so I think it went fine.

After church Kristi and I went to lunch with her family, and then left and went to Linens and Things to get a Christmas gift for my grandmother. They are going out of business, so we were looking for some deals. There were alot of people, but really the prices weren't that great. Almost everything was only 20% off, and they weren't accepting coupons. Kristi had a 20% off coupon, so really we weren't saving any more money than usual. Oh well, we got what we needed.

We stopped at Ross after that and then decided to go to Petsmart. Kristi has been looking for an 8 week old orange and white kitten ever since we have been married pretty much. We actually got Lucy only because we found her before we found a kitten. Well, at Petsmart on Sundays they have KAT, a local cat no kill foster program. As luck would have it, they had an orange and white kitten, 8 weeks old, that Kristi loved. That's right, I Andrew Stoeber am a cat owner for the first time in my life.

I really don't mind having a cat at all. I don't love them like I do dogs, but I think they are nice animals. We got all the paraphernalia that you need for a cat and came home. We devised a good plan for the introduction to Lucy. She is half Jack Russell, and Jack Russells have a very strong hunt and kill instinct when it comes to small animals...it's what they were bred for. Lucy however has done fine in other houses with cats, and she generally likes all animals, so we feel pretty sure that she will get used to the cat. Anyways, our plan was that I would take her for a walk while Kristi got the kitten situated and then we would try some introducing when we got back.

I think it was a good idea, because Lucy was much calmer after her walk. We brought her in and left that cat in the carrier for her to discover (the kitten hides in their non-stop, it's a little timid). At first Lucy didn't care too much about it, but when she figured out what it was she got extremely excited. We got the cat out and Kristi held it while Lucy sniffed. She was way too excited and just barked her head off the entire time. The good news is that I think she just wanted to play, because she seemed very happy and curious...and also the kitten wasn't really phased by the commotion. There were a few small hisses here and there, but nothing major.

After the brief introduction we put the kitten in the laundry room with all of its necessities, and that is where it will stay for a while. Everything we read says to let both animals get used to each other's smell for a few days and then start letting them occupy the same space little by little. Hopefully things go well or we will be in a predicament.

I sat down to do some research on Jack Russells and cats, but I didn't really find anything I didn't already know. Some Jack Russells hate cats and kill them, and lots of others get along fine with them...not really helpful information at all. I did however find this story. I laughed alot when I read it, and then got really sad at the end. What a good story though. All you non-animal people probably think I'm weird, but to you I say: "whatever dude."

Around 7 Kristi left to show her parents the kitten and I left to go to a show at The Channel. I had several people tell me they would probably go, but no one ended up coming with me. I think my problem is that all my friends either don't like shows, are married, or have to be up really early for their full-time job. Just a sign that I'm getting old I guess. I had a good time, and thankfully my friend Daniel Bunn was also there by himself. The first band that played was Parachute Musical. Musically they were one of the best bands I've seen in a while. They were by far the tightest band tonight, and they were all amazing technically. Their music was kind of a rougher Maroon 5 type thing, and had alot of Jazz influences. I really enjoyed listening to them, but didn't really fall in love with any of their songs. I like bands who seem completely sold out to their songs, and not that there's weren't good, but they seemed more like amazing musicians who write and perform songs, not good musicians who are completely into the message and the music of what they write. I realize a big part of stage presence is theatrical, so I don't want to over analyze, but I can't help the vibes that I feel from bands. I don't know if that makes sense, but at least I know what I'm trying to say.

After that a band called Torches played. My good friend Ryan was filling in for them on guitar and they were alright. Only the singer and drummer were actually members of the band, and the other two had learned the songs earlier today. Needless to say, they weren't quite as cohesive as the other bands.

The last band was All Get Out, which was why I really wanted to go to the show. Their songs are good, but watching them play them live is pretty amazing. I don't feel like their Myspace represents them well at all, so if you get a chance you should go see them. They're fairly local, so they're around alot.

After the show I came home, checked on the kitten, and then got in bed. Tomorrow I'll probably skip Psychology so that I can sleep a little and take care of the pets. The whole kitten thing stresses me out a little because I am going to be so crazy busy with school and work the next 3-4 weeks. But cats do fine on their own right? We'll find out soon if ours does...

I know you were expecting pictures...try not to be too disappointed.

Today was one of those days where I felt like I rushed the entire day. I got alot done, but at the end of the day feel worn out. It's Saturdays like this one that make me glad I have Thursdays off.

I got up at 7:45 and left the house at 8:00. Yesterday I had switched cars with Steven Halbert. He has a little Nissan truck that he has had ever since we were in high school together, and I wanted to use it to pick up mulch. At the "Twin Chimneys Landfill," which is in Honea Path, they give away free mulch to anyone who can haul it away. It isn't the greatest quality because it consists of any yard waste brought there, including grass and leaves, but hey...it's free. On my way out I stopped to get some gas and then ran in Home Depot to get a pitchfork. If you are the person who does mulching with a shovel, you really need to get a pitchfork, it's tons easier.

I got to the landfill around 9 and found the mulch loading location. The lady that I asked was extremely grumpy and treated me like I was a bother. It's her job to sit there and tell people where to go and I was very cordial, so I don't know what her deal was. I try to keep in mind when people are grumpy that they could just be going through rough things in their life, and I should probably just have a little grace for them. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.

The whole loading process is cool. You back up to this enormous mulch pile, and then this guy in a massive front end loader picks up mulch and puts it in your truck...and I mean massive. One load of this stuff not only filled the truck up all the way to the top of the cab, it was on the hood and everywhere else also.

After I got my load I pulled over to the side and got out Steven's tarp. Apparently it's a law that you "tarp your load," or so I read online. I had a long piece of rope and a bungee, which I assumed would be enough. This was a big mistake...I'm such a newbie. I got the tarp tied down after a great deal of struggling to connect it to the hooks in the bed. Apparently digging through tons of mulch to get to the hooks is extremely difficult. Live and learn I guess. When I started driving away, it was obvious my tarp job was sub par. I was losing mulch everywhere, so I pulled over and tried to fix things. It wasn't much better, but I made back to 418 where there was a Dollar Tree where I was able to buy more rope and some scissors. This helped a great deal, and I got the tarp tied down much better. After that I took it easy and made it home by about 10:30 with most of the mulch intact. I was glad to be back as the entire ordeal with the tarp was incredibly stressful.I always tend to be judgemental about people in situations until God puts me in a similar situation. After that I tend to have alot of grace for people. Let me tell you...next time I am behind a slow moving pickup with mulch blowing off the back, I will feel sorry for them, especially if they are my age.

My mom had dropped by to say hi, so Kristi and I talked to her for a while and then got started on the mulching. The process went quickly and it showed me how much area of mulch bed my parents actually have. We used to literally get a tractor trailer full of mulch dumped in the cul-de-sac, and then it would take a long day of 6-10 people working to get it all spread around their yard. Thankfully our mulch beds aren't nearly as large. Really it's not even comparable.

I finished unloading the truck bed by 12:40 and took off for the landfill again. It looked like one more load would do it, and their next load time was 1-3 pm. I got there a little after 1 only to find out that the front end loader had broken, and I would have to wait until the guy came back with another one. I think God puts me in situations like this to help me be patient. I sat in the truck for about 30 minutes and tried to just enjoy the time listening to the radio. I'll admit, I was relieved when I saw another front end loader come over the hill. This time I had been very smart and tied the ropes to the hooks and hung them over the side before the load was put in. This made putting the tarp on much easier, and I was off quickly after being loaded up for the second time.

When I got home I ate a quick lunch and headed back outside. I unloaded mulch while Kristi spread it around, which was her job for the day. Lucy's job was apparently finding trash in the mulch and eating it, which is what she did the entire day. Hopefully she isn't going to be sick tomorrow morning, it is such a pain when she is. We finished around 4 and cleaned up Steven's truck. Kristi did a great job cleaning the inside, and then I washed the outside. It was filthy! After I washed it, much of the driveway was covered in dirt. I spent time washing it to the sides and then using the push broom to get the dirty water into the grass. I didn't want the driveway to get stained, which would create another chore of pressure washing for me. When I was done I went inside and took a shower. I know I promised pictures today, but it was getting dark when I went in. Everything looks really good, and I promise I will take some pictures tomorrow afternoon as long as it isn't raining.

Kristi and I went over to her cousin's house tonight for dinner. We had shrimp and grits, and it was so delicious. I'm not really a shrimp and grits person, but the shrimp part had sausage like low country boil and was really good. Even the grits were good. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We also watched the Clemson vs. FSU game. Most of the people there were FSU fans because they either went there or lived close to the school, so I tried to quietly cheer for Clemson. We didn't pull it out, but we did score 27 points. I see this season as lost, so as long as our offense continues to improve I feel better and better about next year. By the way, I knew Penn State was going to lose today. They haven't played anyone good all year, and I thought Iowa would be their downfall. I even told Kristi when Penn State was ahead that they were going to lose...you can ask her.

After dinner and dessert we drove Steven's truck back to him and then came home. Even Lucy was tired from all the activity today, because when we came home it seemed like she had slept the whole 4 hours we were gone.

Tomorrow should be a good day. I don't have too many responsibilities tomorrow morning, which will be a nice break. Tomorrow night I am going to go to a show at the Channel which I am really excited about. My good friend Ryan is opening with his band "Torches," and then "All Get Out" is headlining. I really liked them last time I saw them there, so I am excited to go see them again. This music talk reminds me, my Marshall has got a few bids on it, and I'm hoping it goes for over 150$. I was thinking about getting boots and bindings, but that snare is so tempting...