Resolutions

Well, whatcha got for me? These past 2 weeks have been great. Shannon has been home and we have had a blast. We have gone to many get togethers, dinners, social gatherings, family outings, luncheons, brunches, fiestas, and bahmitzfas. Bahmitzfas? I dunno….but anywho. It really has been a most enjoyable break. I had put the word out early that I might want an Ipod nano for Christmas and through all my family gatherings, I was able to attain enough gift cards for Best Buy to get me one. However, they are sold out of the 4GB nanos so I will have to be a little more patient.

On to New Year’s resolutions and what they are for me. Well, my number 1 goal for next year is to lose some weight and get myself into shape. I know, I know, that is a pretty common goal, but I’m going to take it very seriously. I’m cutting out cokes, desserts, and fast food and the running shall commence. I have some other goals as well which include getting all A’s or at least a B+ in my final semester of school. My GPA is 3.55 right now and I was told that if I can stay above 3.5 then I can graduate with honors or magma cum laude. I dunno about all that, but I’m going to give it a whirl.

Another very important goal of mine for next year is something I received straight from the Top. God spoke to me one day and told me that I should never, ever go through life without telling the people that helped me how much they are appreciated. I was doing a prayer walk and I started to think about my life and how happy I am with Shannon and the place we live. It was then that my former minister Ed Lowe came to mind. I remembered at the moment that without him I wouldn’t be here. I know that God used him to help me and that is when God told me how much of a shame it would be for me to have so much gratitude in my heart and Ed never know about it. Well, he isn’t the only that has affected me in some way so I want to constantly let those people know how much they mean to me. I’ll have quite a few other goals this year, but those are going to be paramount. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

The Office

My good friend Danny told me about this show called The Office. He had hyped it up pretty good and since we have a similar since of humor I knew it was going to be good. Oh and it was!!! I have watched each episode a couple of times, mainly because they are not long, but full of comedy. Steve Carell is the main guy in this show and his comedy is little different than most. He is a master at awkward moments. His whole routine is based off of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and there is no one better at it. If you are fan of subtleties then I strong recommend getting your hands on this show. You can check him out at this link.... The Office.

When It Rains...It Pours

Just a while back Shannon started experiencing car problems. It really was just some gauge issues that needed to be looked at. We took the car back to her hometown dealer to take a look at what the problem was. Apparently the computer was bad and needed to be replaced or fixed or whatever. So her car was has been in Alvarado for about a 1 ½ weeks and her parents were gracious enough to loan us their Cadillac until it was ready. Well, after a couple days with the Caddy, Shan noticed that it made an awful sound when she braked. She had me test it, and I confirmed it. It was awful. : ( So from there we had to take the caddy to the shop. We got that back yesterday and we took my car into the shop because it needed to be serviced. Last night, my graphics card got fried because I was killing too many Germans…(it’s a game a I play ; ) ) So I had to order another card, which is a little better than the one I had before. All in all, there are some other problems that I will need to fix that I am having to triage. This happening at Christmas and 1 month before I have to buy a ton of books for my last semester of college has been rough. Shan is very good at showing me and reminding me how God has blessed us and even in the midst of all these shortcomings…He definitely has. Shan’s dad found the warranty information on her car that the dealer claimed we didn’t buy and immediately $1100 was erased. Halleluiah! Also would like to remind you that we did have use of the Caddy and at least one working car these past two weeks. We will survive.

Speeding Tickets

Speeding tickets….a scam if I ever saw one. Not only are most speeding tickets given to simply boost income, they are ridiculously expensive. I recently got a speeding ticket for going 61 in a 50 inside the wonderful town of Argyle. Now, I think this is a speed trap designed by this pitiful town in order to give them enough money to raise their stupid flag. You enter the town with a speed limit of 60 and then a quarter mile down the road it drops to 50. This speed limit expires a half mile down the road and jumps up to 65! If that isn’t suspicious enough…the 50 mile/hr stretch is right in front of the courthouse. You wouldn’t know this was a courthouse because it looks like an old western bar.

Oh and I’m no longer being nice to cops. My experience shows that all this does is make it easier for the cop to write you a ticket. So from now on…I’ll leave my dome light off! I’ll leave my window up! I’ll put my hands where they can’t see em! I’ll give them the info they request and have the best smart allic remark for when they ask you the stupid question. They always ask a dumb question. Where you headed in such in a hurry? Are you aware of the speed limit? Since nothing I do gets me off on a warning…and I don’t believe in the reason behind speeding tickets, every time I get stopped, I will make it the most uncomfortable, most humiliating experience I can for the police officer. I won’t break any laws, but I’m tired of police officers handing you a $150 ticket for going 10 mph over the speed limit on an empty road and then telling you to have a nice day as if they don’t speed themselves. That night, we were having a discussion. The cop and I agreed that there was no reason to have a land line because you can save money. I told him since I was recently married I needed to save as much money as I could so we only had cell phones and he still handed me an unnecessary ticket. If my wife had been in the car, I promise she would have gotten a warning. I’m sick of it!!! Sorry, I think I’m getting madder the more I write. I’ll stop now.

The Lion's Roar

This has been on my mind since before I saw the Chronicles of Narnia. There is something awesome in the face of the Lion. There is this intensity or presence that these animals bring. Shan and I made a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo a few weeks back and I was in awe of these beautiful creatures. Shan had to pry me away from the Lion and Tiger exhibits. I love just staring into their eyes. It’s like they know something and they are content in their own space. One thing I noticed at the zoo was the Lion exhibit was elevated and there was a clear line of site to the zebra and gazelle exhibits. Now that’s just cruel.

Any who… back to the topic at hand. I love the Lion’s roar. I soooo wish I could do that. I would use it all the time. Did you know that the Lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 miles in distance? You don’t think that for one second that if you could produce this glorious sound that there isn’t one person that would be dumbstruck? If you could erupt with the same ground shaking intensity as a Lion then you would be able to put the kibosh on any and all disagreements. Talk about getting the final word in. So if there was one animal I would love to be for a day it would be the Lion. Actually, I would settle just for the roar. What animal strikes your chords?

Graduation May 2006!

I just took my last final for the fall semester and I’m looking forward to the spring semester. The spring semester will be my last semester in college. It will not come easily however. I have signed up for 21 hours because I’m at a point in my life when I need to end the pain. I have been in college classes since the Fall of 1999. I had hoped that I could pay my way through the entire time, but I will have some loan obligations once I’m done. Let me make some suggestions to those of you who have kids or are graduating high school concerning college.

I have mixed feelings about college. Today, I had to go into one of the dorms to submit a form I need to graduate. I noticed all the students that were hanging out and having a great time. I realize that I might have enjoyed being a traditional college student. I think I gave up a lot by not taking that approach.

There are only two ways that college should be done. If you are just out of high school or have kids preparing for college, then consider something very important. COLLEGE IS EXPENSIVE! If you don’t know what you want to do in life and most people don’t then I would suggest waiting a year and working a variety of jobs that peak your interest. Once you have decided to go then fully commit. If you can become a full time student then do it while you are young. I know you will go into debt, but you will get out about 2 – 3 years sooner and can hopefully find a job that will put you in a spot to pay that back. If you think you can pay your way through college as to not acquire debt then you are delusional. Did I mention college is ridiculously expensive? There is one exception to this rule however. That exception applies to those who are already making good money. I have a couple successful friends who can pay their ways through college and it will take them a year or two longer, but they make good money already so this is fine. Most people don’t have this situation. Gitterdun and get out!

The worst thing about college is it is expensive and we don’t all have our calling in life at 18. I’m also sad to say that I don’t feel a college degree bears as much weight as it used to. Am I the only one that feels this way? College is about character and learning more about the world God has put you in. I do recommend college to everyone, but lack the ideas I had 5 years ago. Go to college to improve yourself, not your financial situation. Education is more than monetary enhancement; it’s about polishing your character.

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Static Electro Phobia

Let me take a minute and talk to you about one of my phobias that is very serious. I know you might think this is funny, but let me assure you that it is a real issue with me. If I see static build up I become very nervous. It all started from a job I used to have with USPS. We would get these pallets of letter boxes and sometimes it would require me to remove shrink wrap from these pallets. Often times there would be quite a bit of static build up associated with this shrink wrap. Well in case you don’t understand static electricity, let me give you an uneducated synopsis. Basically, you take on an excess of electrons. Well, you can’t carry them forever, so when you touch something metal….POP!! It hurts like the dickens! Now, back to my job…I would get popped…I would say about 15 times in any given day and especially during the winter months when the air is a little drier. These weren’t your little pops that you say “Ouch!” and then start to giggle. These were the type of pops that you could visibly see the arc. It would go through my boots, gloves, and jacket. I’m talking massive shocking going on. Some of my coworkers used to think it was funny to run up to me and pat me on the back when they knew they were charged. Arrrrrrgggggg!!! I hate static electricity.

Now why would you say this is an issue with me? Let me talk about some of the things that I get nervous about…I hold tightly to the car door when I get out with the hopes that somehow I’m grounded enough to prevent shock. I make my wife open all the freezer section doors in any grocery store. I make my mom hand me one of her cats that I want to pet, in hopes that she has handled the discharge. I refuse to take towels out of the drier. As a matter of fact, I stay away from the laundry room as much as I can.

Now, I know that sometimes it is unavoidable. Last night, I went to buy me and my wife some groceries because we were on empty. I had to get some things from the freezers. I waited until I knew it was safe (meaning no one was looking) and I would do this dance like thing in which I would try to quick touch the door with my elbow. Once I had touched it, I then would hold it tightly as if it was keeping me alive. From there, I would reach to the next door without letting go of the previous until I made it the door I needed. Can you see my problem!!! I need help. It’s not funny!! My guess is that no one knew that about me. Well, now you have it. Static Electro phobia.

The Love of My Life

Let’s begin my friend proclamations by letting me describe to you my best friend. I met this woman about 12 years ago. I didn’t know who she was until 6 years ago. I didn’t start getting to know her until 4 years ago. I didn’t ask her to marry me until 1 year ago and i’ve been in heaven on earth since about 5 months ago. I have met no one like her in my 25 years in this world. I like to call her Mrs. Matuni because I’m infatuated with my own name and the idea that I changed hers. Let’s talk about the type of person she is…

Shannon is the absolute sweetest person I have ever met. She is pure in every since. The thing I like about her the most is her innocence. She is the greatest form love could ever take. She is an elementary school teacher and often times her students accidentally call her mom. She never has a bad day. I mean….never. She never wakes up in a bad mood. She doesn’t get mad indirectly at other things. She never takes aggression out because she has none. I’m telling you…she isn’t human.

I love being in her presence. She brings this warmth that I cannot describe. Some of the things we enjoy doing together are talking, watching movies, talking, playing tennis, talking, going out to eat where we can talk, talking, and finally we enjoy just sitting around and talking. We are very connected. I feel like I experience two worlds everyday. I know quite a bit about her day and I never get tired of her telling me. I’ve seen her work and she is absolutely awesome. She is an excellent teacher. She is definitely doing God’s will. Some of the things that Shannon likes to do are…surfing the internet, talking to friends, watching lifetime, Oprah, and Dr. Phil. She also loves sleeping!! Oh my, she is like a cat…only awake like 10 hours a day. Oh my!!

Shannon is the type person that will help anyone. She likes to go to nursing homes on her days off. I mean…who does that??? Well, my wife is not of this world. If you have a chance to be her friend you will not regret it. Shannon has two gears…fast and park. You can’t slow her down or you can’t get her going. Shannon has her own vocabulary. Let me give you a few of the words she uses…Favorite: meaning the thing I most recently liked. Medium: basically in the middle, not necessarily referring to size. Big Trees: meaning what was said is not worth repeating if you didn’t hear it. Bomb: anything that makes a loud noise. These are just a few of them. Well, I could talk about my wife forever, but the main thing to remember about my wife is that I’m not the only one talking about how awesome she is. She is leaving a beautiful hand print on this world and those that are touched will never forget.

Sheen 

And so it begins...

My first blog will just simply be an introduction. My name is Shaheen Matuni. I’m happily married to the most beautiful person in the whole wide world or at least in my eyes anyway. I’m a very laid back guy which enjoys just chillin with friends at a baseball game as you can see. I value relationships and that is one of the reasons I have decided to start bloggin. I like this idea of putting my thoughts out there for people to soak up. I am very much a thinker/analyzer. Sometimes I come up with something and I would like to express that opinion to others. Well, I enjoy many things. I enjoy spending time with my best friend…my wife. We have a great deal of fun together and I’m very thankful for her. I think I will devote an entire blog to her so look for it.

I enjoy listening to music, preferably vocal trance that I stream from iTunes. I think the station is DI.fm which is digitally imported. I’m listening to that right now! Well, I used to play some serious baseball, but that became time consuming and over the years I have gotten a little “outta shape.” So now, I’m a cyber athlete instead of a real one. I love Halo for Xbox and Call of Duty for PC. If you enjoy playing…look for Shigeru. I love studying technology and I have become, without realizing it, a geek. A friend and I were discussing some of the finer points of Microsoft’s Terminal Service Client and noticed that our wives were eating dirt. Well, no they weren’t eating dirt but there faces suggested so. Tech talk is not good for common discussion (note to self) Oh, neither is gaming talk.

I value friendships and relationships very much. I do not take them lightly. It is for this reason I have decided to start my own blog. I want my friends to be able to know what I’m up to and at the same time tell the world about the amazing people in my life. Over the months I would like to dedicate an entire blog to each of my closest friends. I think people should know what kind of people I surround myself with. That will hopefully tell you a lot about me. Well, today is Turkey Day so I will be short, but look for good things to come…