Um...so...I don't really have a lot to say tonight. Not sure why. I'm not feeling particularly confrontational or subversive today. I've come to realize lately that I really don't have a whole lot to bitch about. I look at my life and I think wow, I really have a good life...there are a lot of people who have it a lot worse than I do. That being the case, if I start complaining I'm just going to come off like a giant wuss.

Anywho...I'm tired. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

- Jeremy

Ok...so I'm going to try something new. I've been looking for months now for a new way to more efficiently publish updates to my website. I'm going to be moving some things around and dropping other things completely.

Not sure where this will be headed, but I think it's time for a change anyway.

Let me know what you think...thanks!

- Jeremy

Ok...I know that I haven't updated in quite some time, but I have a good excuse.

Back in October I started a in a new position with EDS. The contract with Xerox was changing drastically and they were creating some new teams. When the time came to choose the people who would make up the Remote Tier II team my name was put on the "short list." In September my boss, Sarah, approached me about the new position and I jumped at it. I was getting tired and burned out working the helpdesk so I was ready to take anything just to get away from that job. Midway through October I was transferred over. I still work in the same building and many of the people that are a part of the team are people that I've worked with before. It feels great and I have a window seat! I was made responsible for creating an maintaining the groups documentation...not a small task being that we were starting from scratch. Needless to say, my schedule was changed...again. I'm now working Monday thru Friday 8-5 with the exception of Wednesday when I work 11:30 to 8pm. It's been an amazing learning experience and it has really given me a chance to flex my brain power a little which was something that I was never able to do in my other position.

That by itself will tell you that I've been busy....but wait there's more!

Erin and I are still going through the process of trying to get pregnant. This past month we've started on a more aggressive fertility treatment that will bring our chances of getting pregnant back up to normal levels. That being said, if all goes well we'll be expecting by my birthday in May! I can't wait. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'm hoping to keep up with the updates a little more this year.

Peace, love and warm fuzzies!

- Jeremy

I know that you're all starving for an update...no? Well, humor me and read it anyway.
As most of you know I've been making an effort to lose weight over these past few months. As it stands right now I have lost a total of 25 pounds off my highest weight of 320 pounds back in May. I have to admit that it feels good to be able to say that I weigh less now than when Erin and I got married a year ago. I hasn't been easy and I've had some small set backs, but I'm still fighting to lose more and I will. Even if I gain a pound or two back I can still take it back off with no problem. Thanks to everyone that has been so encouraging!

In other news...

My schedule at work has changed...again. Currently I'm working 7am-4pm, Monday thru Friday. I have to say that I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of having to get up at 5:30am every morning but I've adjust over that last couple of weeks and I'll admit that I do like getting home at 4:30pm everyday. Erin likes it too...

More to follow...

- Jeremy

BTW...Is it just me or is that Dairy Queen Brownie Blizzard commercial the damn funniest thing you've ever seen?

This has been a very odd week. Good news, bad news...more good news, more bad news.

Let me start off with the good news... First, I've lost almost 13 pounds. I'm starting to really feel the difference. I feel better, I've got more energy and my clothes are getting looser. I think people are starting to notice too. Erin has really been able to tell and I can't thank her enough for all of the encouragement she has given me. THANKS DEAR! Second, I start a new schedule on Monday. 9am to 6pm, Monday thru Friday! It's finally here...I am completely on first shift. The coolest part is that I'll be able to get home with enough time for Erin and I to site down and eat dinner together like normal people at a reasonable hour. We'll be able to go out at night and not have to worry about it being too late during the week. I'll be able to get things done when I get home. This is going to ROCK! It may only be temporary, but I'm happy nonetheless.

Now on to the bad news... I just finished watching the burial ceremony for President Reagan and I feel compelled to commit some words to this blog. If only to sort out the strange feelings that I have been experiencing all week. The fact is that I don't know how I feel. I have for so long felt a distinct distaste for Reagan's policies that I had forgotten how I viewed him growing up. Now that I am 29 and a staunch Democrat I think that I had forgotten those things that made him great. I was sitting talking with Erin about it the day he died and I've been sorting it out this whole week. Reagan was the first president that I remember growing up. Carter was around, but I was 4 and I have no recollection of him as president, only as a former president. One of my favorite memories is of the mock election we had when I was in kindergarten. We each got a ballot and we had to put an "X" next to who we wanted to be president. I remember picking Reagan. From the age of 5 to the age of 13 he was my model for what the President of the United States was supposed to be. I remember seeing him on television and being fascinated with his presence. I can distinctly recall the speech he gave after the Challenger disaster and being moved by it...even as a child. No, I don't agree with his economic policies and I think that he was lacking in other areas as well. He was the President and that commands and certain degree of respect. He helped bring about the end of the cold war and frankly without him I think we'd still be deep in it or worse. Like him or not you cannot question his patriotism and I truly believe that he felt that what he was doing was the right thing to do at the time. I think that history will remember him fondly as a man who loved his country and it's people and believed deeply in that thing we call the American Dream...well, that's how I'll remember him anyway.

and then there was more...

Ray Charles. This one hit me hard as I've never had mixed feelings about him. There have only been a handful of celebrity passings that have effected me this deeply. The first was Jim Henson, and then Jimmy Stewart, Freddy Mercury...and now Ray Charles. I know it's an odd list, but they all played a major part in the development of my creativity. I was at work checking the news when I saw it. "RAY CHARLES DIES AT 73" I literally gasped. Frozen for what felt like minutes I tried to get my mind around that fact that he was gone. This man...this music legend...was gone. I had to fight back the tears...I held them in until I drove home that night. I know the next time I hear his music I'll get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye...but there will be a smile on my face and my toes will be tapping. I hope the rest of the world realizes what it has lost. So, there it is. Two twentieth century American icons gone in a single week. May they both rest in peace and their loved ones find solace their memory.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go Hit the Road Jack and get me some jelly beans... I know I know I know...that was corny, but I don't care.

- Jeremy