To the outside world we all grow old but not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were, we live outside the touch of time

Don’t be alarmed but it appears that I am writing for a second time in the same week! This may be considered a major feat by some. On another positive note, Chevelle has released their 6th album “ Hats Off To The Bull” which is freakin awesome! Great band! I think that excludes this session of good news from Jeff so let’s get on with the rest of the show.
One of the things I was anxious about coming home was to return back to work. Sitting in class is interesting and all but I missed all the hands on fun. Since I’ve been back I’ve worked a week and totally miss it. People always talk about wishing they were back in school and not working but I couldn’t disagree more. Sure school will make me better at my job and help me make more money from it but it is not nearly as fun as actually working. Although since being in school and away from work I must say I’ve gotten a bit soft. My back and legs aching after a day’s work when I could have done it for a week before and hardly noticed a thing.
The other thing I was looking forward to here was having a social life again. Now you might be saying to yourself right now “Self, if Jeff is having a social life why is he at home writing at 10:30 on a Friday night?” Well its because I have so much of a social life that I just so happened to go out on a Thursday night, that’s right I said THURSDAY!!! That would never have happened in Orem on a school night. Being here tho I went and lived it up and was out till 3:15 only having to get up in a little over two hours to be at work at 6:30. And that is the difference between Virginia and Utah. There is so much going on here its worth sacrificing a rough day at work for a fun night out while back on the ranch its hardly worth staying up to 11 even in I don’t have anything going on the next day.
No matter when or where I go to Utah the place just seems to suck the fun out of me. Night after night, week after week, we struggle to find fun things to do in town. Here it’s tough deciding where you want to go because of all the options. Of the handful of times I’ve ventured out into the Utah County nightlife I have been highly disappointed, even with my exceptionally low expectations. A bad night out here is better than any “good” night I’ve had in Utah. Maybe as the University continues to grow the more the city will have to accommodate to its changing environment. Unfortunately that’s going to take longer to happen than the time I’ll be there so I’m shit out of luck. Maybe instead of wanting to go out every night I should pick up a hobby, read a book, or maybe even start a blog….
The last reason of excitement of coming home is to see my family. Not just Mom and Dad but the siblings and abundance of nieces and nephews that have accumulated over the years. I have family in Utah too but cousins can’t really compare to immediate family. I’ve been speaking with Nieces on the phone and skyping my brother while hardly making an effort to see any of the many cousins I have in a 20 mile radius of my apartment. That may seem pretty mean but you have to realize I grew up in Virginia and only saw them once every other summer for a week while most of them were living 10 minutes from each other seeing each other frequently. On top of that I never really fit in with the rest of my cousins as did most of my older siblings. Maybe if I made a bit more effort I could get close but I probably won’t, it’s never been in my nature to make effort to be accepted wither family or friends. That’s probably why I don’t have many friends tho. Anywho, I’ve literally been counting the days to when we all get together after Christmas and can be one big family again. There’s something special about a connection brothers and sisters have, maybe the embarrassing things we know about each other, the way all all stick up and protect each other, or passing strategy on how to survive our parents. As I wrote last time about how fortunate I was with my parents I am also blessed with an amazing group of my brother and sisters. We don’t all get together often but when we do its some of the best times I can remember from growing up until now.
Maybe it’s the Christmas season or just being back in a place I feel I belong that has me feeling all happy and emotional like a woman but hey its ok every once in a while. Once I get back to Utah I can go back to writing meaningless boring shit but for now I’ll continue this joyful streak I seem to have going for me.

“To understand your parents' love you must raise children yourself.”

Well here I am sitting at home bored out of my mind after being so excited about coming back for the last four months. I know my friends are busy and work and it’s hard to go do anything too exciting on a Wednesday night so I figured I could help pass the time with this. Not really sure what I want to talk about considering there’s actually a number of things I feel I could write about right now. I think I’ll start off on my parents.
I just want to go ahead and say for the record “I love my parents.” It might take moving away from them to really appreciate all they do but I’m so grateful for them. Not the things like my Mom doing my laundry or the free home cooked meals but the bigger things. Maybe it’s with age that we start to realize the things they really do for us and can appreciate it more fully.
Having been a member of the working class of society I realize how hard it is to be financially responsible, and I didn’t even have things like rent, car, or even food to worry about and I still managed to lose all my money. So the fact that my parents were able to provide all the things I needed, and the things I said I needed is really such a blessing. My Dad covered all of my school expenses at Snow and I was ungrateful since I wasn’t happy at school. Looking back it must have been a huge deal to pay for all those expenses and I didn’t show the least amount of thanks. When I wanted to go back I wanted to pay for everything myself since I had been working and wanted to be “Independent”. I wasn’t quite able to save enough for everything I needed and told my parents I could get a loan but they wouldn’t hear it. So my Dad covered what I couldn’t.
That is only one of many momentous things that my parents have done for me for me to be happy and successful. They don’t ask for anything in return and do it just because they love me and want me happy. I guess it’s true when they say you never love your parents as much as your parents love you, and I won’t be able to completely understand that type of love until I have a child of my own. I just wish I had been able to be more loving back to them when I think of all the things I have put them through over the last 24 years. I’ll just wait till my child goes and does all the same things I did and get what I deserve that way.
Stay tuned for more blogs, I’m going to try and keep writing on a more regular basis. I know I’ve said that before but just hoping I actually do it this time