The life and Wisdom of Dugan

3 year wedding anniversary

2007-07-10T11:32:00.001-05:00

Three years ago today I married the most amazing woman I have ever met. Times were alot different then, and through all of the hard times, and all of the wonderful times there is noone that I would have rather had at my side than my beautiful Angela. I can remember wondering the day before our wedding how we were going to get wedding rings (we did by the way). I remember at our wedding, when my friend and mentor John Paul Abner went around with a bucket, asking for donations to the "help the Dugans not spend their wedding night in a tent in the torrential rain" fund ( we ended up staying in a 5-star hotel). After our wedding, when we finally got to the hotel I( after dinner at Applebees with my family and the 30 minute drive to the hotel), I dropped Angela off at the door in her wedding dress, and parked the car. In my rush to get back to the hotel, I forgot to turn off the headlights! A week or so after our wedding, we got in the car and drove to our new home in Pittsburgh, where we would spend the first 5 months of our marriage. I can remember how sad Angela was during this time, when our work schedules made it hard for us to see each other, and when we didn't have any friends but Pat; but I also remember how unbelieveably happy she was when we finally moved back to Tennessee to be with her family. We have had hard times, and we have had many many good times as well. If I had to choose my favorite time since we got married, I would say going to the beach in Charleston, and seeing dolphins playing within 15 feet of the shore. Angela, being married to you makes me the luckiest guy who has ever lived. Thank you for having the amazing personality that you do, and thank you for always being so supportive and wonderful to me. I love you my beautiful!!

My_wife+drugs=unending_hilarity

2007-06-29T17:11:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is actually Saturday night summed up in a mathematical equation. As a little bit of back story before I begin, my wife has been having very strange pain for several months now, but has not wanted to go to the doctor because of money. Last week we had a tragic loss in our family, and Angela was put under a great deal of stress because of it. On saturday, the pain was so bad that Angela's family and I decided to take her to the emergency room. Now I have described some stressful and tragic events up to this point, but this post is not about that, but in fact about the silver lining to every cloud shall we say.... or more directly, my wife on drugs. You see, they didn't really know what was wrong with her, other than the fact that she was hurting. So the first thing they did was try to take blood. Several times in fact before they succeeded. The nurse who came in first decided that the best way to give Angela an IV was to jab her as many times as he could until he found a good vein. After about 15 unsuccessful attempts ( leaving a bruise the size of texas on my wife, and me in the corner shaking like a little baby because of my fear of needles), he decided to get another nurse to try on her own. She had the IV in and the blood drawn in less than 10 seconds, and decided to give Angela some medicine for the pain. Now any of you who have met my wife know that she is not a big lady... at all. In fact, my wife weighs less than 100 lbs. So when the nurse brought out the one-gallon syringe full of pain medicine, I knew we were in trouble. So after almost everything was said and done, we were told that Angela was finally allowed to have food (she had been in the emergency room for almost 8 hours at this point, and hadn't eaten in at least 12 hours), so I went to the nearest restaurant (Taco Bell) and bought food. I would have to say that one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen in my whole life is my wonderful wife, exhausted after a long time in the ER and starving after not eating all day, trying her hardest to eat a Taco, but being unable to bend her arms due to the intense bruising caused by the male nurse from hades. So, being the wonderful loving family members that we are, her mother and I held her Tacos for her so she could eat them. A few minutes later, the pain started coming back, so we called the nurse to have her give Angela some more medicine. Out came the one-gallon syringe again, and the nurse preceded to fill it three times with different pain medications, and pump it into my dear sweet wifey. They filled her with so many drugs that she nearly tripled in weight from all of the liquid. After the nurse gave her the last shot, we were left alone for nearly 20 minutes. Angela, her mom and I had a great conversation for about the first minute and 45 seconds of this time, after which Angela began to giggle, and then promptly passed out. Angela's mom and I just cracked up at how quickly she went down, and were still laughing 10 minutes later when Angela sat bolt upright in the bed, and promptly stated that she was ready to leave. Now at this point, Angela still had an IV in her arm, and we were awaiting the ok to leave, as well as the prescriptions that Angela would need to get better. So we told her "Angela sweety, we can't leave while you have that IV in your arm", thinking that this would be enough to get her to lay back down. We were wrong. Instead of laying back down and waiting patiently for the doctor, Angela decided that she could easily remove the IV on her own... after all, she couldn't feel a thing in her whole body. Luckily for us we only had to attempt to restrain her for about 15 seconds before she passed back out, but unfortunately we repeated the cycle a further 38 times before the doctor came back. When it was finally time to go home, the doctor brought in a wheelchair for Angela (because she was on enough drugs to kill a small horse twice), and we wheeled her to the entrance of the hospital, where I was going to go get the car. Because I love my wife, and felt bad for the ordeal she had been through that day, I leaned in to give her a kiss before I left to get the car. Instead of getting a kiss like I expected, however, I ended up with a swift punch in the stomach and the orders "GO GET THE CAR!!!!!". I ran away to go get the car, and as I looked back I saw an expression on my Mother in Law's face that could only mean one thing..... "Angela-1, Brendon-0". We got Angela home, and she wasn't feeling good, so we went to bed and have been doing our best to pamper her since.

p.s.-- The contents of this story have been exaggerated greatly for humor value, but everything stated happened to some degree or another. Angela is doing alot better now, but her medicine still makes her feel awful. We are both looking forward to when she can feel better without medicine.

Strange Times Indeed.

2007-03-20T19:59:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been very strange indeed. Before spring break, Angela and I were so poor that we didn't know what to do with ourselves. We were sick of having to eat "poor people food" (our diet for the last several months had consisted of ramen noodles, pasta, and microwave burritos), and our savings which we had been so careful to keep and grow for the whole time we have been married was dwindling almost to the point of nonexistence. We had applied for a re-evaluation of financial aid to see if maybe we could get a few hundred dollars more to help pay the bills, but it had been a month in processing, and we were on the verge of catastrophe. When school started back, one day both Angela and I independently decided to check our campus mailboxes (a very rare occurrence for either of us), and we both found our updated financial aid letters. They were written in a way that was too complex for me to comprehend, so I continued on with my day and went to my next class. Angela, being much wiser to the inner workings of an award letter, understood immediately what the letters meant, and the huge impact that these small pieces of paper would have on our life. After class, I received a very excited call from Angela. "Our financial aid went through!" was all I could make out from her excited (and unbelievably rapid) exclamations. We met up at the financial aid office, and it was there that I finally found out exactly how much financial aid we were receiving. $9,000. What we had hoped would provide enough money to help us keep up with our bills turned out to be enough money to pay our bills outright for the next year if we wanted. We have been having alot of problems with our neighbors in the apartment complex where we live, and we decided that instead of paying our bills outright for a year we would invest that money in a good cause... moving. We looked for weeks before the financial aid came through to find a place that was inside our price range, accepted pets (because of our cute puppy), and seemed like it would not be one giant frat house. We hadn't found anything yet, but the sudden increase in budget sent us back on the search double time. After a suggestion from my Dad, we called his landlord to see if he had anything available. And he did! When we approached the house for the first time, Angela and I immediately gave each other a look which meant "Nope... not for us", but that all changed as soon as we walked inside. The inside of the house is amazing! It has an open floor plan of almost 1300 square feet (great improvement over our 950 square foot apartment now), 2 full bathrooms, 2 decent sized bedrooms, and 2 very nice yards for Marty to play in. While we were talking to Shane (my Dad's landlord) about specifics on rent and whatnot, the topic of us buying the house came up. Normally we would not even consider buying a house on our limited income, but Shane offered us a lease to own option which really fits our plans for the future. Basically we put down a down payment now (a small portion of the down payment usually expected for a house), and every month for the next 4 years we pay rent. A portion of that rent would go toward the balance of the house, and a portion would go to Shane as rent. At the end of the 4 years, we would make a balloon payment equal to the remaining balance on the house (which we would do by getting a normal home loan). This way we do not have to try and get a loan from the bank while we are still in school, and we are able to set the price of the house in today's market for a newly remodeled house in a developing part of the city. All in all it is a good deal. There have been alot of exciting things happening recently, but there have been some less than exciting things as well. One of my classes at ETSU is Intro to Sociology. I usually love it. The professor is a crazy hippy lady who rants and raves about whatever comes to mind. Yesterday she decided to rant in a way that almost made me walk out of class. She was talking to several students in the classroom about what classes they were taking in the math department (where her husband is a professor), and asking which professor each student had. As each student told who their professor was, she would tell an amusing anecdote about that particular professor, or otherwise describe them in a positive light. Then one of the students in the class mentioned that they had Rick Norwood as a professor. She immediately began talking about what an awful person he is, and told us all about the things she had heard. She told us about how his children were taken away from him because he admitted to molesting them when he lived in Louisiana. She told us that he had been caught watching little boys change clothes in the locker room of a local water park, and she told us that he claimed to another professor that he had romantic feelings toward the 18 month old daughter of one of his fellow professors. At one point in class she even mentioned that at one point he had a son who was killed on campus. And then she continued ranting about how awful he is. AT ONE POINT HE HAD A SON WHO WAS KILLED ON CAMPUS I had been upset the whole time she had been talking about the things Dr. Norwood had done (and the possible implications of those actions on Jamez's life), but when she mentioned his life and death so flippantly, I almost got up and left the classroom. I felt like the wind had been forcefully knocked out of my lungs. How could someone who made such a huge impact on my life (like helping move all of my belongings out of my parents' house in one day to avoid detection) be mentioned as if he had never mattered? I still don't know if I am going to bring this up to the professor or not. I don't know if I can do it without crying. Today was not so hot either. You see, when I was growing up in my father's house, I was constantly tormented by my step-mother. It seemed like she aimed to make my life difficult. If I ever did even the slightest thing wrong (such as not sweeping the floor he way she liked) I would be grounded for literally months on end, and there would often be severe physical punishment as well. Not to mention the screaming. Kathy could scream longer and louder than anyone I have ever met, and with such hate that most grown men would cower in front of her rage. And it rarely stopped. When I turned 18, I took the first opportunity I had and I ran. With the help of Jamez and Mikal I moved out, and was able to have a life of my own. This life however, was at the cost of a relationship with most of my siblings. I eventually moved to Pittsburgh, and when I was there Kathy went to jail for the first time. She was there for 3 months, but it didn't help me because I was too far away to spend any time with my family. 7 months ago however, Kathy went to jail again, and it seemed like this time justice would be served. I took advantage of the situation, and began reforging the lost relationships with my Dad and youngest brother. I spent more time hanging out with them in those 7 then I had in the previous 4 years combined. There were many things that my Dad discovered during that time that he had either overlooked when I lived at home, or that Kathy had hidden from him. He didn't know that sometimes Kathy would beat me with whatever she could find within reach (sometimes causing me to bleed if the object had sharp edges), and he didn't know that over the course of 4 years she stole literally thousands of dollars from me by claiming to put my paychecks into "my bank account". He learned that I was often denied simple things such as a decent lunch to take to school (or the money required to buy one), and he learned that Kathy would often attempt to provoke me to hit her when he was not around so she could have me arrested (which she never succeeded in doing).Yesterday all of the progress that I had been able to make with my family was brought to an abrupt stop. Kathy was released from jail last night on time served, and my Dad accepted her into his home with willing and open arms. He knew that she has hurt his children for years, and he knew that she had stolen relentlessly from his children (even taking out a credit card in my brother's name without his permission), yet he still welcomed her home as though she had been the only source of happiness in his whole life. This coupled with all of the emotion relating to Jamez the past two days have really hit me hard tonight. I feel like the only thing helping me hold on is Angela. She is always so supportive of me, and so unbelievably caring. Angela, I love you with all of my heart, and thank you for being my strength when I have none of my own. I love you

I am a nerd

2007-03-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

I am now running a dual boot on my computer of Linux and Windows XP Pro. I am a nerd.

Funny Political Humor

2007-03-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

So Angela and I have her sister Crissy spending the night tonight. We played a game of aggravation, and I won. After the game, Angela (who lost due to the worst dice luck in the history of boardgames)was talking to Crissy (who came in second place)about how a nice hubby wouldn't beat his wife (in the board game of course). Then she said "But I guess a nice sister wouldn't beat her wife either." Of course we all understand that she had just referred to herself as a wife for me, so she just let the wife part slip for her sister, but I decided to make a joke about it, so I said "I don't think that could happen around here... it would have to happen in a mixture between Massachusetts and West Virginia..." I'll let it end there.

Please Help

2007-03-02T13:49:00.001-05:00

The Children First Development Center in Johnson City, TN is a center for the educational supplementation of underprivileged toddler through elementary school Children. Recently, the Johnson City Housing authority has decided to cut funding for the Center, causing countless children to lose educational opportunities that they desperately need. The closing is scheduled for March 31, 2007, so we still have time. I have recently written a letter to Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee to appeal for his help (as he was instrumental in the creation and funding for the Development center, even going as far as to sign a bill concerning pre-k education at the Center itself). I would ask that everyone who believes that education is the key to our future please read the email I sent, and send a similar one to Governor Bredesen at phil.bredesen@state.tn.us(or just click the link). I hope that we are able to stop this catastrophe from occurring.

Here is the Email:

Dear Governor Bredesen,

On June 16, 2005 you signed into effect a law concerning pre-kindergarten education at the Children First Development Center in Johnson City, TN. According to an article in the Kingsport Times-News, you are quoted saying "We're going to expand it again next year, and frankly as long as I'm governor, I want to continue extending the program." I respect your emphasis on education, and feel that it is the only way to secure a successful future for the state of Tennessee. It is for this reason that I am very concerned with the recent decision of the Johnson City Housing Authority to close down the Children First Development Center, the same site that you valued enough to choose as your location to sign this bill into effect. There are many people in the Johnson City area that will be aversely affected if the Center is closed, and countless children will lose many of the opportunities that the center provides. I am appealing to you to look into the situation and fight for the educational opportunities of these underprivileged children. I thank you in advance for your time and effort in resolving this issue, and I hope that you are able to act swiftly on behalf of these children, as the center is scheduled to close March 31, 2007. Below is the text from the article I quoted.

-Brendon Dugan

6-17-2005 Governor plans to expand pre-K program (Kingsport Times-News) JOHNSON CITY - Although pre-kindergarten education will not become mandatory, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday, he plans to extend his initiative beyond this year's start to provide access for any family that wants it. "We're going to expand it again next year, and frankly as long as I'm governor, I want to continue extending the program," Bredesen said during a stop in Johnson City to promote the initiative. While the law already bore his signature, Bredesen ceremoniously signed the legislation Thursday at Children First Development Center, a Johnson City Housing Authority child care center that has housed one of the state's pilot pre-K programs for seven years, in one of three such appearances across the state. Funded by lottery proceeds, the $25 million program will build upon the pilot program to provide about 300 new pre-K classes serving some 6,000 students across the state starting next fall. In adopting the governor's plan, however, the state legislature amended the law to designate the funds for one year only, leaving its continuity in some doubt. "I'm concerned that they put the money in as one-year money rather than a continuing part of the budget, but I think that was more people just having to put some mark on the legislation," Bredesen said in a news conference after Thursday's ceremony. Some local school officials have wondered whether the initiative will be the first step toward mandatory preschool. The governor dismissed the notion.

Life is Just a Walk in the Park

2007-02-28T23:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Angela and I went to the park with her Mentee, Gerry. We had a blast. It was good to get a chance to go out in the warm weather (with Marty of course) and run around. We went to Willow Springs Park, which has amazing walking trails and a really nice playground. Above you can see that Gerry and I were learning how to Fly (I was practicing a little known martial art form in that picture as well), and we had tons of fun with Angela as well.

Marty enjoys the playground as well. In the above pictures he is training to be a world-class agility dog. He does great in the tunnel (do you notice the little boy watching him?? He was soooo cute), but it looks like he may need a little work on the balance beam before he can go national.... I really enjoy taking pictures. I have always liked it, but until recently my pictures have all pretty much sucked due to crappy cameras and no real reason to try and learn to take better pictures. This summer however, Angela and I spent almost $800 on a Canon Digital Rebel XT, and I have been in love ever since. After a quick tutorial on shooting in full-manual I became obsessed (and just so you know, I am not yet an expert... just a crazy hobbyist). Angela and I are eventually going to have to buy another proffessional quality camera so that we can both shoot (from different angles of course) all the time. I really want to get good at artistic composition of shots. Angela is MUCH better at artistic shots than I am, and she knows a ton of technique to help her make good pictures, and I really want to be like her someday. I was able to get my first semi-decent artistic shot yesterday though... just a simple shot of a lamp-post and the mountains. I wonder if this is what sprouted out of the ground at the sound of Aslan's song...

For now I am going to go to bed, but I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and leave me a comment if you read my site... I really would like to know who all is still reading.

Crystal-Burger

2007-02-28T23:15:00.000-05:00

I know that several days ago I promised a post about Crystal, but I'm sad to say that I don't think it will be coming. At least not the way I intended. You see, every year, Crystal and I have a "Date" soon after Valentines Day for her elementary school's "Chaperon-Daughter Banquet". As her Chaperon, I put on a shirt and tie, and take her out to a catered dinner in her school cafeteria and let her be a little lady (and a super cute little lady she is!). This year, Crystal was running late before the banquet, and as a result we couldn't get any really good pictures. The banquet was good, but I fear that without any pictures this post will be somewhat anti-climatic. So I will end it here and begin a new post with lots of pictures to make up for it. Have a great night!!

Heroes

2007-02-22T22:45:00.000-05:00

I made a post a few days ago about the TV show heroes, and I needed to make an addition to it. This video is amazing, and if you are reading this through Email updates, come to the site and see it.

"It's Better to be Pissed Off than to be Pissed On!"

2007-02-21T20:57:00.000-05:00

But today I was both. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I tutor at a local elementary school, which also happens to be the school Angela's sister Crystal attends (more on Crystal Tomorrow). Today, like every Wednesday, I finished tutoring, and picked up Crissy from educare and took her home. We had a good conversation in the car about her creative movement class (she likes it), and arrived at her house like normal. As her Mom was not yet home, I stopped in to wait, and shortly afterward Angela came over to her Mom's house as well, and noticed that her mom's dog Chipper was still locked up in a bedroom (to keep him from using the bathroom all over the house). She let him out, and he began running around like crazy, and then suddenly jumped on my lap and stopped. At first I assumed that he just wanted me to pet him until I felt the warmth spreading across my leg. That's right... he relieved himself on my leg. Under normal circumstances I would have said that he just couldn't hold it any longer, but with Chipper this isn't a normal circumstance. You see, this is the third time Chipper has emptied his bladder on me, and once he tried to poop on my foot (the same day was the first time he ever urinated on me). I remember it like it was yesterday....... When Angela and I got married, we were poor. Because JP (I love that man) was kind enough to take up an offering at our wedding, we were able to spend our wedding night in a five-star hotel. After that however, we stayed with Angela's Mom for a few days to save money before we headed back to Pittsburgh. After the very first night, I guess Chipper wanted to show me who the "Man of the House" was, because when we woke up he promptly lifted his leg on my torso. The other time was random, much like today, just a simple "I Hate You" from our furry friend. When it happened, needless to say I was pissed. The pants I wore today were my favorite Khakis, and I had been waiting for days to wear them (they were in the laundry at Angela's Mom's house when we got snowed in), and I had been hoping to wear them more than once before washing them again. Also, I had just gotten over to Angela's Mom's house not long before, and I was really looking forward to hanging out with her family for a little bit, and I thought I was going to have to leave to go change clothes (it ended up that her brother had a pair of shorts for me to borrow). All in all, I have to say that the title of this post is quite true.

Hello New YOOOOOOORK!

2007-02-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

So Angela and I don't really watch TV at all. Ever since we got married, we have only turned on our TV to watch it a handful of times, such as about 5 minutes on the day we got cable (for our Internet), and maybe once or twice while entertaining boring guests. We have watched it at other people's houses before (such as both of our parents' houses where the TV is on pretty consistently, and Val and Eli's house for The 4400), but we have never really had a reason to watch it at home. Until tonight. Not very Long ago at all Angela and I became aware of the show Heroes (Thanks Bobby!!). I had seen previews of it in the past, and I even caught a peek at it once while talking with my next door neighbor in the hall (it was on in her apartment). I have to admit that at least I am hooked, and I would say that Angela would say the same thing if given the opportunity to answer (but this isn't her blog so she won't get that opportunity :P). We found a place on the Internet that will allow you to watch previous episodes -->Here<--, and last week we spent every spare moment watching Heroes. Although I'm ashamed to admit it, we even stayed up much later than we should have to watch "just one more" on several occasions. I know this seems like a lot of Blogging for no point, but I'm getting there. Tonight we sat down at 9:00 and watched TV. We planned it out beforehand and everything. It felt kinda strange to sit down and watch TV (commercials and all), but the cuddle time was nice and it was worth it for Heroes. This episode was unbelievably awesome, but it left me with one last thing to say... it's not fair to leave us hanging until next week!

More snow

2007-02-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

So last night the snow turned into ice. The entire hill is covered in a thick layer of ice, and my crazy neighbors are getting restless. Last night a car full of "gangstas" decided that they needed to get around our car, and ended up getting stuck in the woods almost. I went out to make sure they hadn't hit our car, and got some more pictures of the snow while I was at it. This morning, some crazy lady was ringing every doorbell in our complex trying to find out who's car was stuck. When I told her it was ours she flipped out. I guess she wanted to try to leave in spite of the sheet of ice covering the street. So eventually I called the landlords, and they told me where I could find some rock salt (they had a stash underneath our apartments), and said they would give us a rent deduction this month if I would go salt the road. So armed with a kitty litter container and an 80lb bag of salt I headed down the street. After a while I was able to back my car ever so slightly to get it towards the side of the road, and now the pathway is clear. I don't think Angela and I will be leaving our apartment today though, it will be much easier to just hang out here and be slackers.

Snow

2007-02-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

It doesn't snow very often in Johnson City. In fact, up until today there had not been a decent snow yet this winter. I was beginning to feel like winter was over. The temperature had started rising again, and the days were beginning to be beautiful. Even this morning was amazing. About midday, Angela and I were at her Mom's house doing laundry when it started to snow. I didn't really think anything of it. Time passed, and the time came for Angela and I to head home. The temperature had dropped considerably since we left the house that morning, and the snow was most definately sticking to the ground. That posed a problem for Angela and I. You see, we live on the top of a relatively large and very steep hill. Because it is technically a "Private Drive" the city is not responsible for salting it. And our landlords are irresponsible. The result is the picture you see here. Our 1998 Buick LeSabre muscled it's way uphill but alas, was unable to carry us to our apartment. I guess for now it will have to stay and wait for the weather to clear up. Until then however, noone can enter or leave our apartment complex because of our car blocking the street. It has been unusually bright tonight because of the snow. The picture for this post was taken at 9:30 pm using only the light from the moon, a somewhat far-off streetlight, and a very little bit of extra light from the neighbor's window (and I guess I should note the random headlight of a lucky neighbor who has a 4 wheel drive vehicle stuck behind our car). I am going to post an album of a few pictures I took tonight. There is a picture of the sky that really shows how bright it is for 9:30 at night during the winter.

Snow

I'm a Nerd.

2007-02-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

I really love my wife.

2007-02-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

So I skipped class this morning. It was my sociology class, and we were watching an Eddie Murphy movie. Angela and I have not really been sleeping well recently (I think it might be our matress), so we both really needed more time in bed this morning. So the alarm went off, and we decided not to heed its call, and back to sleep we went. I really enjoy having a wife who understands the important things in life. Relationships. I think that cuddling with my wife for an extra hour today is the best possible way to begin a wonderful Valentines day. And I know it will only get better.

Marty Dugan

2007-02-08T18:29:00.000-05:00

My Puppy is unbelieveably cute. The other night Angela and I had gone to bed, and Marty was laying on Angela asleep. It was so unbelieveably cute, and I wasn't feeling well, so I told Angela that I wished I could hold him. So she picked him up and set him on my chest, and he just fell right back asleep with his cute little face right against my neck. He laid like that for several minutes, and then he suddenly woke up with the unbelievable urge to give his Mommy and Daddy cute little puppy kisses.For the next hour and a half. Although I was exhausted, I couldn't help but stay up until the middle of the night to play with him. I'm glad I have a good little family at home!

2007-02-02T22:44:00.000-05:00

I am still alive, und I haven't updated in a while. Because of the joys of Picasa, I may end up using my Blogger more than my Xanga from now on.

I miss my wife.

2006-09-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Angela is out of town and I miss her. She left yesterday, and should be back sometime soon, but I want her to be here now. It's amazing what spending every day with someone for 2 straight years can do when they are not there for even a few hours.

2006-09-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't updated my Blogger in months, and it's not because I don'tlike Blogger, I think I have just been too lazy to update multiple Blogs. This summer was pretty crazy, Angela and I worked out at Buffalo Mountain Camp all summer. I don't think we will be going back, but while we were there we were introduced to the pastor Ramon Torres of Gray United Methodist Church. Ramon told me that his church had beeen interested in creating a contemporary worship service for their church, and that they had many talented musicians, but noone was willing to take on the responsibility. So Ramon Hired me to get everything started, and we had our first contemporary service ever on sunday night. It went really well. I am also doing school again this semester, and taking 16 hours. It's a bit more overwhelming this semester, because all of my professors are significantly more homework intensive than last semester, plus I am taking a 3000 level Spanish class which is equivalent to English 1010... completely in Spanish. Speaking of School, I need to be at class at 9:45, so I should get going so I will be ready in time to leave.

Grades

2006-05-09T13:32:00.000-05:00

I have been worried lately because grades were getting ready to be posted to the internet, and I wanted so badly to do well... The results are in....... I MADE STRAIGHT A'S !

Americans are dumb

2006-05-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

EDIT When people are putting flags on the next country we should attack, pay very close attention to where the countries are.

I need to update more often.

2006-05-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been crazy. I had all kinds of stuff to do right before finals week, and then all my finals, and then I went out to work at camp. I know for sure that I made an A in one class, and an A- in another. I am hoping for an A in math, and I think I have a B in psych. if all goes well, I may actually be able to do this whole college thing. Very soon I am going to take a clep test in order to skip all of my 1000 and 2000 level spanish classes for my major, and if so I will get to start out my major in spanish 3300. Wonderful. well, I am going to go check for my grades again.

2006-03-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

Angela found these interesting tests on the internet about your personality. I want everyone to take mine. ok, bye bye. First Here Then here

Ouch

2006-03-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

I went for training yesterday at the CPA (Center for Physical Activity) at Etsu, and felt fine until this morning. Now I can barely move my left arm without pain. I wouldn't be so upset about that if it weren't for the fact that I am supposed to have 2 more 3-hour training sessions this week, on the alpine tower and climbing wall. I don't know if I will be able to do it. I also don't know if they will be able to put me on payroll now, because I may have to be on federal work study before they can. oh well. I am going to be working at Buffalo mountain this summer. with my wifey. and our puppy. That makes me happy. ok, bye bye.

2006-03-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

This is Brendon's wife. This morning I told him that he had better update his blog, or I would kill him and update for him to tell everyone his fate. well, he didn't update.... I have to go run from the law now, so I hope everyone has a good rest of their day. Ps. That was really Brendon, having fun with an inside joke between himself and the wifey.

Love

2006-03-02T17:04:00.000-05:00

The past few days have been bittersweet. My wife had a wonderful opportunity to go with 50 other social work majors to Nashville to speak in fron of the senate. She had a wonderful time, and I think it really helped her make new friends, and was an all around good situation. The reason it was bittersweet however, was that we had to spend the night apart for the first time in our almost two years of being married. It was hard for me. You never realize how much of your life someone else is until you have to go without seeing them for a little while. Angela, I love you with all of my heart, and I'm glad you're back, and I'm glad you had a good time. You RAWK MY FACE OFF.

2006-02-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

I don't really have much going on right now, but I am alive. I'm basically just updating to get back in the habit of letting people know that I am still alive. I think I may be going to a tai-chi class tonight. crazy. Hopefully while I am at the gym I will get a chance to play some raquetball with my wifey. Ok, I have fulfilled my post requirement for now. I am off to search for something quick to eat.

Help with a descision

2006-02-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

I need help deciding something. I like making websites, and I am relatively ok at it. I am almost out of storage space for my free tripod website, but for 9 bucks a month I could double my storage space, plus get my own domain name and a few other cool things. I can't decide whether or not to spend the 9 bucks a month on this or not. Any advice?? p.s. If anyone just wants to break down and buy it for me, I will accept :P

Long awaited update.

2006-02-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Ok. I am a college student now. I am going to Etsu, and my Major is Spanish. It is strange for me to be back in school after so long. I feel out of place in a few of my classes, because I am a 22 year old freshman. I guess it is just because everyone I went to high school with is graduating this year, not just starting. I hate my math class. I get so discouraged, because I feel like I will never be able to pass it. I know my wife helps me alot, I just worry, because this isn't high school, it actually matters a bit, and costs alot of money, even more if i fail. I did make a 91 on a math test the other day, which was nice. On my last quiz I made a 33. As for my other classes, they are basically ok. I missed most of last week because I had the Flu and Strep throat. I also got sick in my psych class, in front of an entire auditorium full of people. well, I have a class very soon, so i am going to go.

I'm a college student.

2006-02-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive. Recently I have been pretty busy with school. I am typing from my CSCI class. More later.

Going Home

2006-01-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

Today I was evil. I really couldn't help it. The woman behind us at church was singing with all of her heart. I really am glad that she was singing, because she really was singing with all of her heart. Unfortunately, she was singing very very very off key. And I tried my hardest not to laugh, I really did. I was controlling my breathing and everything. I failed.

2005-12-22T19:47:00.000-05:00

My wife is wonderful and beautiful. Right now she is sleeping peacefully on our couch, with two dogs curled up on her chest. I love the fact that my wife has a huge heart.

Update on life.

2005-12-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

Finals are over. My wife made awesome grades, and that has relieved a whoe lot of stress. As for the money that was stolen, we are still working on it. We have filed Police reports in Johnson City and Elizabethton, because they used our card in both places. In total if the person gets caught, they face 9 felonies and a few misdemenors. Our Bank is working on getting the money back into our account for us, but we don't know how long it will take. Hopefully it will all be over soon. well, I need to go to work, so i will keep everyone posted when I find out more.

Bad week

2005-12-11T23:43:00.000-05:00

This has been a very bad week. My wife accidentally got a speeding ticket with 4 separate charges (speeding, not having her license with her, not having her registration with her, and not having insurance). Today we looked at our bank account and noticed that a little over $1200 were missing, and proceeded to find out that someone has been making huge purchases with my wife's debit card, which must have been stolen while she was at the class that she was leaving when she got her ticket. Also, my wife is in the middle of Finals at school, and a website that the school set up for teachers to post study guides for students suddenly decided to go to crap, leaving my wife without access to the notes for her 9:00 am final tomorrow. Stress galore.

PORNSTAR

2005-12-07T13:08:00.000-05:00

My wife came into the bathroom today just as I finished my shower..... and she had our camera. She got off one picture of me through the shower curtain while I was hiding. Does that make me a pornstar??

2005-11-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

I went and talked with someone from Sprint-Nextel today about picking up a second job. I will be selling cell phones on the side and making a ton of money werd.

Bad things come in Threes

2005-11-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

I have felt awful for several days now. Yesterday I was able to call into work, but today I had to go in. That was number 1. So I got up for work, and I didn't feel like going. I went to my car, and found that it had been broken into yesterday. My wife's car was broken into as well, and almost $30 were stolen. That was number 2. I have a super sensitive face, and I have to use Mach 3 razors or else my skin just falls apart when I shave. When I went into work today, they decided that I needed to shave. So they gave me a super cheap disposable razor with witch to remove my face. OUCH. That was number 3. At least my wife is awesome. when she came home from class we went to see Harry Potter. And now we are playing poker. werd.

2005-11-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

I must share This.

I love my wife

2005-11-17T10:58:00.000-05:00

My wife is awesome. I have to work three doubles in a row. Today tomorrow and Saturday. I might make some money. I like turkey. I like turkey bacon. My wife made some for me and it was good. I have a Tennessee License plate as of yesterday. My sister is mad at me for it. My wife and I got 255 prints of our wedding pictures for 15 dollars. serious good deal making occurred on my part to make that happen. I have to go to work. bye bye.

Slow day

2005-11-14T15:07:00.001-05:00

Today was a really slow day at work. I barely made any money. but.... I did find out that I am too close to having overtime to have to work tomorrow night, which means that I can spend time with my wife when she gets off school. I love my Angela alot. ok, well I need to go do a few things before 5:00 rolls around, so have a great rest of your day!!

sunday

2005-11-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

Sundays are a strange day of the week for me. it is THE ONLY DAY of the week on which I do not work, and usually the only day of the week where I have a social life. Tonight my wife and I went to Kroger, and for the first time in forever I saw wild cherry Pepsi in the store. For a very long while I thought that they had stopped selling it. Angela's family came over today, and we watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Random announcements: Katie Quillen, you left your Jacket at my house. if that isn't a good enough excuse to visit the Dugans, then don't even make an excuse. Lauren, we took the pictures to walgreens today to put them on a picture cd. You can come get them in a few days. just call ahead. and bring a cd so that i can give you your movie. Steve, you RAWK. I can't think of any more announcements. My phone number is 423.943.8265. More people should call me. it might just justify having a phone. ok, bye bye.

Today

2005-11-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

Today Has been a good day. We have had alot of people over, and we made tons of food. Bryan Upshaw left 10 bucks for my wife and I in the Dugan Hospitality fund. I'm really tired, so I am not going to write much. Just wanted to say hi, and let everyone know that you can now subscrbe to my blog. Sweet.

Better Together

2005-11-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

I love my wife more than alot. I found a song today by the oh so wonderful Jack Johnson that really says it all. Song lyrics There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard And no song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart Our dreams, and they are made out of real things Like a shoebox of photographs with sepia tone loving Love is the answer At least for most of the questions in my heart Why are we here and where do we go And how come it's so hard It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving I'll tell you one thing It's always better when we're together Mmm, it's always better when we're together Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together Well, it's always better when we're together Yeah, it's always better when we're together And all of these moments just might find a way into my dreams tonight But I know that they'll be gone when the morning light sings Or brings new things for tomorrow night you see That they'll be gone too, too many things I have to do But if all of these dreams might find their way into my day to day scene I'd be under the impression I was somewhere in between With only two, just me and you, not so many things we got to do Or places we got to be, we'll sit beneath the mango tree now Yeah, it's always better when we're together Mmm, we're somewhere in between together Well, it's always better when we're together Yeah, it's always better when we're together (mmm) I believe in memories, they look so, so pretty when I sleep And when I wake up, you look so pretty sleeping next to me But there is not enough time And there is no, no song I could sing And there is no combination of words I could say But I will still tell you one thing We're better together

2005-10-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

I am quitting my job to join the circus. Actually, to go work at Ruby Tuesdays. Donate $200 dollars to charity. $200 is enough money to keep a child in an underdeveloped country from dying from easily curable diseases before the age of 6.

Moonlit walks on the beach.

2005-10-15T10:03:00.000-05:00

Last night, Me, my wife, Valerie, and Eli all went walking on the Isle of Palms beach in Charleston SC. We all had alot of fun. Then we all went skinny dipping. And Then we went home.

I am going back to School.

2005-10-13T12:35:00.000-05:00

You heard me right. I am going back to School. I am going to start in January hopefully, and quit my job. Craziness. I am going to get a Spanish Degree. I also want to take more computer classes. I got paid $100 last night to fix a dude's computers. It was sweet. I don't feel like typing much right now. I think I am going to go study Flash.

2005-10-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

I worked 15 hours yesterday without a break.

2005-09-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

You are a
Social Liberal
(71% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(5% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Mozilla Firefox is my friend.

2005-09-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have noticed the giant Mozilla Firefox logo on my site. I want to take a moment and talk about that. I am the type of person who when I find something that I like, I want everyone else in the world to experience it as well, because it makes me happy, and I want everyone else to be just as Happy. With that said, everyone should read up on Mozilla firefox and find out for yourself why it is so awesome. The things I love about Firefox are that it is significantly more secure than Internet Explorer, meaning you get less popups, less spyware, less viruses, and less problems. Also, Firefox has all kinds of cool themes, extensions, and plugins available so that you can change the look and functionality of Firefox to fit your own needs. FIREFOX IS FREE. I think that everyone should try it at least once. Click on the link on my page and DOWNLOAD!!!!

2005-09-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

So I am an idiot. My wife has been sick. Now I have always prided myself on having an AWESOME immune system. I almost never get sick. So when my wife wouldn't let me kiss her (she didn't want me to get sick), I always told her I was invincible and kissed her anyway. and now I'm sick. and it's completely my fault. Today has been rough. I haven't felt well, and to top it all off, I worked from open to close, and today was the day of my district manager's store visit. He is not a nice guy. BUT.... I came home and my wife loves me. And Something similar to nyquil works wonders. and my puppy is cute. I may be rambling. Yes, actually I am. That shall be my cue to stop typing. I don't know if I have ever mentioned that medicine makes me loopy. It does. Now I have mentioned it. OK, bye bye.

Feeling a bit better.

2005-09-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

Things were rough for a few days, but I'm feeling better now. My wifey isn't feeling well today. That makes me sad, because she is so cute and loveable when she is sick. and she won't let me kiss her. I am going to go. Bye bye.

2005-09-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

I'm hurting and I need help.

TAKE THAT AD-BOT BEEATCH

2005-09-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

I turned on word verification for comments.

My first Audio post.

2005-09-04T13:50:00.000-05:00

Great Day

2005-09-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

As of a few days from now, my wife and I will own our Saturn. PAID IN FULL. I'm pretty stoked about it, especially because that means we will not be paying the 21% interest rate I got spanked with. WERD.

Gas

2005-08-31T15:59:00.000-05:00

Gas is at 3 dollars a gallon. Gas stations are rationing gas. I have heard rumors that gas stations will be shutting down at 5:00 due to gas shortage. People are driving like maniacs, and all sense of decency is gone. This stinks.

Check this out.

2005-08-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

My puppy got excited while I was trying to take him outside to use the bathroom. It hurt.

Busy Days

2005-08-30T09:29:00.000-05:00

Today will be uber busy. I am supposed to go to the chiropractor, but I think I am going to skip out on that appointment. After that I need to go and get a Tennessee license finally (I have been driving on a Pennsylvania license the last 9 months), and then go get my car registered. The at some point I need to get home and let the puppy out, and then I will need to go and meet up with my wifey between classes to have lunch. At 15 till 5 I have to go to radioshack so that I can carpool to Bristol for our district meeting. ok. I need to go take a shower.

Lucas Looking Hot.

2005-08-24T18:09:00.000-05:00

What else can be said about it?

Testing

2005-08-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

I am going through a period of intense testing. The only thing worse than having one enormously huge problem in your life might be having 70 billion little ones, and two or three slightly huge ones (gotta love my use of oxymorons). I have never been more tired in my life as I am now, and I am beginning to think it is less because of lack of sleep and more because of restlessness ( I have been experiencing a lack of sleep, but it is mostly because of late nights with good friends, and early mornings potty training a cute puppy). I need to go ahead and go, because I have a wonderful and beautiful wife who needs my attention. Tschuus.

2005-08-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

For some reason my blog does not want to retain the editing that I have done today. I had a rough day today. In alot of ways, I see my sales as a measurement of how good of a salesperson I am, which in turn translates into how much I am worth. So when I had a 1600 dollar tv returned on me today, it hurt alot. I love my wife very much. She was so supportive of me while I was upset. I am rambling alot. I am going to republish, and then play aroud a bit.

2005-08-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

I accidentally deleted my blog. Poopie.