The House You Grew Up In

Last post I mentioned that I drive past my old Church everyday on the way to the bus stop. Well the corner that I get the bus is basically the same street I grew up on.

I used to drive down that road every single day.

It's weird the stuff that you feel and think when put in the situation.

After my parents divorced and then remarried my mom sold the house that I grew up in. I don't blame her, it was a 4 bedroom house with way too much space for one person. And I don't blame her new husband cause my dad built that house (literally from the ground up) and it would have to be weird to live there.

But it still sucks that she had to move. Many people get to return to the house they grew up in forever. My mom still gets to see the house she grew up in cause her parents still live there. My dad's parents only recently moved from the house where he spent many a year.

My wife gets to go back to the house where she spent many of her childhood years.

I am not mentioning all that to whine or complain that I don't but just to point out that it is somewhat common. Sure there are probably just as many (if not more) people who don't cause their parents moved but many people do.

It's just funny cause I will stand at the corner waiting for the bus and stare down the street and memories come rushing back. We used to walk that street to get to a local convenience store where we would regularly go for candy and soda during the summer. I delivered the afternoon paper on that street when I was 12. After I started driving that was the main way in and out of the neighborhood I lived in so I was driving on it just about everyday.

Actually for about 6 or so months I would drive down that road after work cause it was the easiest way to leave my parking space. I would drive down just like I had 100s of times before. I could actually see my old house in the distance and then I would turn and head home to my current house.

I have only actually driven by the house maybe a handful of times since my mom moved. I really do miss so much about it. And there really isn't one particular thing that I miss more than anything else. I would probably say the basement though if I had to pick something.

The basement was finished and was where us kids spent most of our free time. At first there was just board games and toys, then a tv and video games, then a computer, then a ping pong table and air hockey table, and then finally a pool table. There was always something to do down there and I loved it. Hell it is probably why I am finishing the basement I have now. Although I intend to use that room for myself (for now) I am sure my kids will take over in the coming years.

I have not eliminated the idea of moving at some point in the next 10-15 years. I would like more space and some other ammenities that aren't currently provided. But the boss (also known as my wife) feels that we should stay because of our children. She wants to be in the same house forever so that our kids can come back to the house as they grow.

And the more I think about it the more I agree. I think that is something that I would absolutely provide for my kids. Cause like I said before....I wish I had that myself.


What do you think? Do you get to go back to the house you grew up in? Would you miss it if you couldn't? If you can't, do you wish you could?

The Post Where I Talk About Religion and Church

The headline brought you in....didn't it?

I went to private Catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Actually I had the choice to attend private or public school for high school but most of my friends were going to private school so I figured why not. And honestly private school wasn't too bad. The worst part of it was the uniforms but they were pretty relaxed on that for the guys when I was there and all the girls had to wear skirts, so there wasn't too much of a downside for me.

Religion was, of course, a requirement. And it wasn't terrible. I only remember 2 things from my religion classes and both came during my junior year of high school.

1. Our school didn't have air conditioning but there were ceiling fans, which during warm months were always on. Well we got a kid who was sitting underneath the fan to through a banana up into the fan and of course it pretty much exploded over everyone sitting under the fan. The best part of that is the teacher didn't believe the kid when he confessed.

He stood up and said he did it and the teacher (honest to god) said "No you didn't Bradley, sit down." I couldn't believe it. She blamed it on Rob, who was what one might call a class clown or trouble maker. Honestly, she didn't believe anyone for a solid couple of days and then finally accepted that Brad must have done it since the WHOLE CLASS told her.

2. The other story is about cheating. Yes that's right I cheated.....in religion class. Shhhh....don't tell anyone, okay?

Tests were all taken on scan-tron sheets and were typically handed back (and gone over) in the same class. Well a group in first period would write down all the answers and it would make its rounds. I had religion in the afternoon and would get the answers during history class in 4th period.

But I was smart enough to never ace the tests. I always made sure to make 3-4 questions wrong on purpose so it wasn't obvious. Well it worked out for me. The ring was broken up and anyone who had a majority of the answers right over the few tests was questioned, including yours truly. And you know what saved me? Yup, making a few answers wrong kept me from getting into trouble.


But anyways, I am getting away from the main part of this story. Religion and Church.

My family went to Church with some regularity. It was never every week but probably closer to every other week. It was always nice when my parents would go out on Saturday night. If they didn't get home before midnight we knew we weren't going to church and I hated church.

As a family we stopped going to church when we stopped being a complete family. Actually we had started going less and less and then my parents got divorced. That happened when I was 18 and I have only been inside a church once since then, for a friends wedding.

So I haven't been to Church in almost 10 years and honestly I don't miss it at all. Church never really served a purpose for me. I went but I never felt anything or got anything out of it.

For the past year I have driven by old Church every morning on my way to the bus stop. And from time to time I think about going back. But not because I miss the religious side of it. More cause I miss the togetherness of it maybe. I mean I have so many memories of being in that church whether with family or with classmates.

I remember sitting in the entrance way a couple Christmas Eve's cause the building was so crowded. I remember crawling around under the pews during practices for special masses the students were a part of.

But I think mostly I miss going to breakfast after church. We would always go to Church with my grandparents and then afterwards we would go out for a nice Sunday brunch. I loved that. Although I am sure I loved it more now than I loved it when it was happening but still it was always nice.

Either way I am now what many would call agnostic. I do not believe in what most religions preach but at the same time I am not 100% sure they aren't right. Which is why I am not an atheist. I have no problem with anyone believing what they want but I would love to debate the myths of religion with you.

Anyways the point of this post was really more a reflection of a time when Church and Religion were important to me and my family. Although to me it was never about the Religious or Faith part and more the family and friends part.

Oh and yes that is the actual church I attended at the top of the post.

Is there anything from your youth that you miss?

WARNING! Do not leave small children unattended with dogs

My husband forwarded this to me this morning and I just had to post it.



Please read!!! If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances. Only a little moment was enough for the following to happen. See the photo attached .....

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and remember:

Busy Busy Busy

I have been very busy lately and obviously haven't posted in a while. If it wasn't for the wife there wouldn't have been any posts up here since WOW February 5th. (I just looked to see the last time I posted).

Lots has happened in the past month so I will give you all a small update on what has been happening.

Last you heard from me much of the discussion was the stupid job crap that was going on. And really none of that has changed. But other things have been added or are going to be added that has made me pretty busy.

Let's start with the current job.

Our office is changing in the next few months and in May the entire office is moving its physical location. And there are some of us that will be separated and will no longer work together. That doesn't really matter much to me since I will be staying in pretty much the same position but part of a bigger group.

Right now there are about 10 of us in my section and that will probably turn into like 50 or something like that by the end of May.

Unfortunately the move is not going to help my career as far as stability or income which sucks. But what are you gonna do. There are worse things in life I guess.

Now let's move on to my job prospects.

I recently applied to be a IRS Agent and so far everything has gone well and I should be getting an interview in the coming weeks/months. I aced the assessment test and am listed in the top of the applicants for the position. The advantage here is that this area is considered hard to fill and could come with a nice signing bonus. Which would be helpful to me.

I am not certain I would take the position but more than likely I would. It wouldn't require much (if any) travel, which I hate right now, and it would be more secure and would pay more. I am excited about that and just hope that I actually get an interview.

Now onto my extra curricular activities.

I took a part time (20 hours a week) with a Internet start up company called netSpray.com. It is an online selling site that is getting started up and if you want you can come check it out. It is free to buy and sell items on the site so if you like to sell on eBay this site will be cheaper.

Basically I am doing a 12 week training course on Internet marketing while spreading their name across the web and doing some networking. After the 12 weeks (which ends in May) there is a chance that I could be kept on permanently to do Internet marketing, blog writing, and article writing. So I am pretty excited about that.

And it is a paid position so it really helps me make my bills.

More extra stuff.

I also am going to be writing for a local community newspaper starting with their June issue. I could have started sooner but with the netSpray stuff I didn't want to get too much on my plate. I will contributing to the sports section of the paper doing interviews and stories with and about local sports personalities.

That I am really excited about and can't wait to get started. It also pays a little per article so that works too.



So as you can see I have been pretty busy over the past month and that is the main reason why this site is not updated to much. On top of the stuff mentioned above I have my other 2 sites Hershey Bears Hockey and Jumping Offsides that I have been writing regularly on. And just this past weekend Verb and I started hbgsports.com to discuss local sports teams and news in the area.

I hope to continue writing here from time to time but it will not be with too much frequency. Hopefully anyone who still reads this keeps coming back and reading.

Sick

So I'm bored and tired of being sick. Our daughter was sick for about 2 weeks with a sinus infection/headcold. The hubby's been feeling off too, however, they can take medicine. I'm pregnant (23 weeks) and can't take much of anything. Plain old tylenol is it, to be exact. Which isn't getting me anywhere but annoyed, so I thought I'd type something to distract myself for a small while. Hope everyone out there is healthly. Oh and if anyone is wondering, I'd rather be pregnant then be able to take meds, but it's really annoying to keep up with a home, almost 8 yr old, 2 cats, and 2 pups without meds....blah....