It's time for another six months in review

Last week when I posted on my blog the fact completely fled my mind that I had then been home a year and a half. As has been my custom, I shall write a brief review of that half of a year.
Frankly, I thought not that I could grow more nor did I surmise that my situation could change in the manner it did. I worked in the fierce snow and freezing cold. On a couple of occasions my gloves and hands were wet during the whole day of work. The wind howled and dragged me some 20 feet while I held onto a sheet of plastic. I decided that I no longer wanted to go ice fishing. After working in this bitterness, who would really be willing to sit on a frozen lake under the same conditions? Yet through this hardship I struggled to hold my tongue and not murmur. There were many out of work at the time and eventually I joined them.
I became one of the 10% of the American population without work. Luckily I had a "vacation account" with my union and family to offer moral support. I spent several days working on the farm with several purposes in mind. Firstly I wished to help my father since I had an abounding measure of free time. The second reason was to occupy my time. Finally, doing work has always made me feel like a contributor to society. Even the most menial of employs yields to me satisfaction that I have done something.
A new challenge arose when I felt compelled to stay in Saratoga Springs more than I had been. The trips to Salina and elsewhere diminished. Sadly I began to idle away my time playing video games, watching TV and sitting on Facebook. I spent some two weeks in this vegetative state. While at institute a friend asked for my help in her classroom. I gladly accepted to do what I could to help out. This possibly saved me from myself. Leaving my home and doing something to serve others reignited that flame which produces in my restlessness and dissatisfaction with mediocrity. With the flames growing out of the coals I looked for work. When in disappointment I found the construction companies had whom they wanted for the job I looked elsewhere. I put in several applications online and in person. When the call came for me from the city's public works department I became elated. I accepted the work, despite the much lower pay. Work is work. It may not be the greatest work but there is worse to be done. I'll not complain.
Dating also took a new twist for me in the last while. Some time ago I decided that I wanted to marry within two years of returning from my mission. During the most recent period I engaged in more casual dating, or simply going on a date to get to know someone without expecting anything more to come. Interest in one or two people came but also left. I cannot exclude mention of the episode which brought forth my four posts on relationships either. This small era produced questions and doubts and eventually answers and understanding. I received two valuable pieces of advice in this transitional stage: 1) you cannot put a date on getting married while you're still single; 2) when I find someone I want to be with I need to mold myself to fit into her life (while, of course, not sacrificing my standards of conduct). Since then I've become a little more relaxed about dating.
All this considered, I've learned and grown in those six months. One last item worth mentioning. While volunteering at the elementary school my love for reading was rekindled. Since I began volunteering I've consumed the following books: The Give, Gathering Blue, and Messenger all by Louis Lowry; The 39 Clues by Gordon Korman; and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.