Living In My Mother's Basement: Wk4 pressing forward/remembring the past

At the beginning of this week I had this great idea for this blog to create a guide for daytime TV in case anyone wanted to know what the best things to watch are between the hours of 9 AM to 4 PM. Unfortunately, as it turns out I was not able to assemble the list and critique the shows for this weeks blog. Next week it will be there, I look forward to it!

This week has been a challenge for me. I am not sure why, I suppose it has something to do with a lack of purpose. I have purpose, it is just that I want more purpose, more focused tasks to work towards. Okay, I really just want a job and somebody to play tennis with. Or maybe it had to do with the substitute powerflex instructor. I thought that this week would be easier when an older, slightly bigger lady showed up to run the show. I sure was so happy to see her! Turns out she had a chip on her shoulder or something because she worked me and she was not nice. From now on, I will be ever grateful for the sergeant.

This week, I once again was able to spend more time with the nieces and nephews. Friday night I went with my oldest brother Chris and his family to a place called Camper World, up by Tremonton. It is like Disney World without the rides, food, entertainment, Disney characters, etc. They did have a big natural hot spring pool, hot tubs, fire, and yes, many camping trailers. In my haste to leave I forgot to bring a jacket. After they kicked us out of the pool we decided to cook S'mores. It ended up being a shivering fest as the purpose of the fire was not to cook S'mores but to stay alive. It could not have been much worse than being a part of the Donner party. I also got to go see Kung Fu Panda with the kids on Saturday, all I am going to say is that there now is a second way to skadoosh!!!

As far as my job search goes, it has been slow and rough. I am gaining experience in job hunting, patience, empathy for other jobless souls, bored people, and stay at home mom's (though I don't have kids, I do have dogs). Ultimately, I think that the Lord is just teaching me to trust him, I think that I have a hard time with that sometimes. This week I attended the LDS employment career workshop. It lasted two days, six hours long each a day. I got a certificate when I finished! I think I will frame it! The course was useful, its purpose is to prepare people with the skills to find a job. I learned about job hunting, me in 30 seconds, power statements, and interviewing skills among other things. Now I just need to get at it.

Tomorrow being Memorial day I have been thinking about those who have passed on both those within my family and those who fought in wars. Though I have trials in my life, thinking about the men and women who had to experience war and death makes my trials seem small. I am glad that I do not have to shoot and bomb other souls, and that I do not have to get shot at. War is among the worse things that I can imagine. I also think of my father, I miss Saturday morning donuts from Tasty's that he would always bring home. I miss his ability to work in the yard. On Friday, my brother and I spent about 10 hours working on the sprinklers in the yard and spent about three hundred dollars at the sprinkler store. It was a stinkin long day. If my dad were here I could have slept the whole day. He would have did it himself. I also miss sharing the newspaper with him on Sunday mornings, he would enjoy the comics and front page news while I would take the sports page. I am most grateful for the way my dad worked to provide for the family, I don't think that I ever appreciated him for that growing up. When I was on my mission, he never wrote me but I could always feel his love and knew that he was thinking of me and that meant more to me than anything, even letters from home. Lastly, if it were not for my dad I would probably not have inherited my love for sports, my lack of zeal towards board games, and my love of sweets(well I get that one from my mom too, double dose).

This upcoming week should be good, I don't know why but I gotta feelin. I look forward to getting out of the basement and enjoying life. I will keep getting ripped at the gym, reading good books, job hunting, and learning much from my mother. This week my mom taught me about her insides. She got a scope done and it came with pictures, imagine that! She was most excited that her insides looked normal. I was just excited to get out of that hospital, I hate those places they give me the creeps. Tootles! Next week I will try to write something more informative, aka top daytime shows.

Living In My Mother's Basement: Week 3 Family, Friends, and Dogs

I have now settled into the basement, found some things to do to occupy my time, and can now begin to focus on new adventures that come along each day. One of the adventures that I get to experience is that of being around my family more. For example, this past week I was able to spend time with my brother Chris's family on three different occasions. I was able to roast marshmallows with my nieces and nephew(Okay we attempted to roast marshmallows, but because the fire essentially died we merely just warmed the mellows)and then yesterday I attended Jackson's soccer game. The girls and I gathered under the tent umbrella while watching Jack dance, lift up his shirt to check out his belly, hike up his shorts to show his underwear, and score a goal with the assistance of his hands.

This week I also had the chance to go to another aerobics class but this time with my sister and brother-in-law. Yes I was not the only male! It was a different class from the one that I attended last week but with the same instructor, I call her sergeant. It was a muscle fusion class and so the next day I was sore, as I am sure my sister and brother-in-law were as well. Today my sister's family came over for dinner. My niece Kirra said to me "you are funny" and then later asked "are you a boy?" At least she did not ask if I was a girl. Kirra is also in the process of getting potty trained, today while she was over she went pee three times. After each time Kirra successfully used the potty, she did a two-minute victory dance that was a fun sight to behold.

The nice thing about being around family is that they make me feel extra special. My mother's opinion about me getting a job and finding a wife is that I am the most awesome person ever and that if a job does not want me or if a girl does not want to date me then they are just crazy! I am sure that your mother's say the same type of things about you, but it is still nice to hear and for you it is probably true. For some reason my family just seems to love me no matter what. I especially like when nieces and nephews say nice things to me. The other day Jackson grabbed my arm and said, "you are tough Jason." See! My working out with the sergeant is paying off.

My dogs also make me feel special, of course dogs make plunders and murderers feel special, but still. Reggie is the male dominant dog, he always wants to play ball, is deathly afraid of kids, and has to wear a diaper around the house(that is my mom's fix for his piddle problem). Lexi is the smaller female who is obsessed with licking and she no longer plays fetch because she is afraid Reggie will run her over, which he does. They always want cuddles and endlessly seek after them.

I also enjoy being close in proximity to some of my good friends once again and to be able to play sports with them and talk to them on a more regular basis. It is amazing how as time goes by the close friends are still there, even if you do not talk to them for a year at a time. Who knows maybe that will disappear one day, but I doubt it. After being here for two weeks, I have discovered that being home can be a good thing. Who would of thought?! Making this confession I am not saying that I like living in my mother's basement, but you know maybe it is not too bad.

Living In My mother's Basement: Week 2 finding things to do

Now that I have got some things settled in here at home, such as where I sleep and where to place my shower supplies, I now must move on to more pressing matters such as what to do with my life.

You may be wondering, what does someone do that lives in their mother's basement and does not have a job? Well I will tell you, first of all I try to wake up at a decent time each morning. I set my alarm between 7:45 and 8:15 depending on how tired I am the night before. I also look for jobs, I had a job interview on Monday and each day I look for and apply for jobs online, ask around, etc. I never find much, but at least I don't feel quite so inadequate, or lazy, or retarded.

This week, the first thing that I did was obtain a gym membership at the SportsPlex in Kaysville. I now have a new appreciation for exercise mommas, I attended a sports conditioning class thinking there might be some men there to workout with, but that was not the case. All women, all over 30 and some over 50, and the workout was the toughest that I have done in years. I was sore from all the squats and steps the instructor made us do, she was an animal. I may attend her class again this upcoming week, but I must admit I am scared of her. I was wanting to attend the Zumba class the next day because surely it would be more fun than sports conditioning. As I walked by the aerobics room to see how it was, all I saw was a sea of older ladies shaking it like nobody's business. Needless to say, I won't be doing Zumba anytime soon.

The second thing that I did was obtain a library card. As of now, reading and exercise are what is going to keep me going each day. I guess that I will become smarter and stronger, OH YA! I will just be socially inept.

I am trying to improve my social life though. It is an interesting process really. My new ward seems nice, there are so many people in the ward that it is hard to process who to talk too. I just try to say hi to whoever, and to learn names. Yesterday i met a girl who's name is Ishlah. Why? I have no idea other than that her parents are something of a special sort. Institute felt like I was back in high school, I will keep going although it kinda creeps me out. Frisbee in Bountiful was fun, that should give me something to look forward to each week. My new rule in life is, even if an activity is strange or socially awkward i will still do it because it is still better than being in the basement. One day I hope to change that rule.

My mother has been kind to me this week. After she told me to keep the toilet seat down and to use the right towels once again, I decided to show her my blog that I had posted two days previous. She is now trying to not do anything weird to get herself into this blog again. One new thing that I learned from her this week is that I must wash the lid of a can before I take it off or else the dirt will get into the food. I will do my best!

After living in the basement for a week I can say that it is not too bad, kinda sad, but not too bad. I think that I can handle it for now. I know that I become stranger and stranger each day but I am not crazy yet. Always look on the bright side! Peace out!

Poll results say that I must find a date. So that I will do. maybe

Living In My Mother's Basement

It has been 4 years since I last lived at home. After my return from my mission to Japan, I lived at home for just 5 months until I started school in the fall of 2007 at Utah State University. Now that I have graduated, looking for a job, and planning on beginning my MBA degree at Weber State University in the fall, I have returned to my home that I grew up in, to the same room I slept in as a teenager.

The crazy thing is that I am 25 years old and living in my mom's basement. Once again I have house chores, yesterday I mowed the lawn and today I am doing the dishes. As I begin this blog, I have been pondering over whether or not to tell my mom about the blog. I suspect that I will write about the things that she says to me and the interactions that we have with one another. I know that if she reads the blog I may censor thoughts that I would otherwise not censor, but who knows she seems to have a good sense of humor. Recently, my mom has been telling me that I need to make sure that the toilet seat is put down after I use it, and she is really picky about the towels, and I am not to touch some of her favorite snacks.

One of my initial fears about moving back to the basement is that of not finding a job. If I do not have something to keep me busy, I will go crazy. I will never hear the end of it from my mom. I am sure that every day she will be asking me about what I am doing and why I am not doing this or that, and she will tell me what I should be doing. The mountain that I have to climb is that of getting out of the basement as much as possible. This blog is titled, living in my mother's basement, but I hope to not have to write about ever actually being in the basement. I must admit, the fact that my mother does not have ESPN will also help me stay out of the basement. One of the perks of being home is to have a room to myself again, though it is a bit lonely. My bed is also queen size in which I have never had before.

I have only been here for two days and so this first blogs purpose is to express some of my initial thoughts. Hopefully as I move forward I will have fun things to write about and share. It is good to be home again to be able to renew friendships once more and hopefully have chances to give back to those who helped me as I was growing up. Though I am in my mother's basement, I look forward to the days ahead, I will certainly do my best to make the most of them.