Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Snowy, Icey Valentines Day to many! Please travel safely in whatever your plans are for the day. Personally, my plans are to stay right here and get a lot of paper writing complete. Campus is closed this morning due to the inclement weather which we had Tuesday night into this morning. It reopens at noon but by then, I am off work and my late afternoon class was canceled by the professor. Therefore, I have decided it best to just stay put enjoy the sunshine and daylight.



My car is the blue one with antennas on the windshield and tons of snow and ice :-) and it will most likely stay snow covered til this weekend. My car is in total shock these days. Luckily it had a nice trip to Kentucky this past weekend. Otherwise it pretty much sits right there never going anywhere. The goal is to not get gas until I hit Kentucky again in early March.

55 Minutes of Live Basketball Action - One Day

Wow, what a Saturday I had to continue from the previous post and concentrate a bit on the games, especially UK. 180 miles apart across state lines and fan divide sit Rupp Arena and Assembly Hall. Miraculously, I landed in both venues on Saturday two watch two very exciting NCAA basketball games and 55 minutes of live basketball action.

The IU game was fun, but the UK game was exhilarating. The atmosphere in the two gymnasiums on Saturday is no comparison. UK was lit up though I do think that the openness of Rupp Arena helps the atmosphere over the very enclosed feel of Assembly Hall. You can see the expanse of people at Rupp Arena, where at Assembly Hall I could barely see the score from my seats on Saturday.

Both games were huge though the UK vs Florida was similar to the IU vs Wisconsin game in which the atmosphere at Assembly Hall was much more electric that it was on Saturday at the Illinois game. I was really looking forward to another electric atmosphere in Assembly Hall and was slightly disappointed. I am looking forward to hopefully cheering the Hoosiers on to an undefeated season at home for the first time in many years. Two home games left against Minnesota and Penn State.

Back to the UK vs Florida game. Wow what an exciting game and all those fans who gave up with a bit over a minute to go. Shame on you. One thing I hate about fans in general is the early departure when you think the game is over one way or the other. If you have watched much basketball this year, you know its almost never over until the final buzzer sounds. All you have to do is watch some UK games for that matter.

It was an impressive last minute comeback, but at the same time they were there because of a lot of poor execution in the second half. Granted I can mostly only talk about the second half, since I missed all but the last 5 minutes of the first half. (Yes, we got a few words thrown at us for being late. Trust me fans it was not my intention to be late.)

Synopsis of areas the CATS must improve to be successful:
- Free-throw Shooting (They lost the game right here at the end of the game.)
- Offensive Execution (If you don't penetrate the ball in the 3 is never open and always forced, resulting in 3-22 shooting behind the arc. 2 of which went in during the last minute of the game.)
- Ill advised shots (Stop running down the court and shooting a three with no one around to rebound and a man in your face. Its most likely not going to go in and the opponent will have the ball in their hands again. I really don't understand this one. UK is not the only team that does this. I see IU do it all the time. They are lucky a lot of the time, thank goodness.)
- Scoring and Failing on Defense (I don't know how many times UK cut the score and turned around and let Florida hit an easy layup. You will never win a game if you don't get back on defense.)

I have to say having not been able to attend and search out tickets for numerous UK games this year. I believe I attended two of the more monumental games of the season at Rupp.
- UK vs IU was a 50th meeting of the two teams, though a poor show of talent by both teams.
- Last night, enjoyed being part of a record crowd of 24,465 patrons in Rupp Arena and a very exciting battle against #1 Florida.

Now that I have procrastinated enough this weekend. I better go write a paper or two. I will be going in hiding for the next two weeks. See you on the other side.

Assembly Hall, Rupp Arena, One Day

Yes, I know putting Assembly Hall and Rupp Arena in the same title together may make some of you skirmish around the countryside but here me out. The best way to outline what occurred in my life on Saturday is to give you a somewhat detailed time table of my day. So here it goes, please enjoy vicariously as I enjoyed Saturday immensely.

Approx 9 am - Pressed my blue blouse (Side Note)
11:45 am - Searching for my IU Id and ticket to the IU vs Illinois game
12:05 pm - Packed car for overnight trip and headed to Assembly Hall
12:20 pm - Arrive in section M of Assembly Hall for IU vs Illinois game wearing blue blouse
Slightly before 1 pm - Receive red scarf to finish off my outfit for the IU vs Illinois game (Sampson Out - See Side Note)
1:05 pm - Indiana University vs Illinois Mens Basketball Tip-Off in Assembly Hall
2:30 pm - Depart Assembly Hall with 10 mins to go in second half and a very close game
2:45 pm - Arrive to car, departing Bloomington, listening to the end of the IU game
3:17 pm - IU defeats Illinois 65-61, Turn on to I-65 towards the great state of KY
5:45 pm - Arrive in Lexington, KY for CKRSCCA banquet at the Campbell House
9:15 pm - Two sets of tickets to the UK vs Florida Game with current score of 10-5 Florida, up for auction
Briefly thereafter - Depart with fellow GS competitor with 2 tickets to UK vs Florida
9:45 pm - Arrive in seats at Rupp Arena, mid-court upper arena for UK vs Florida
Approx 11:05 pm - Depart Rupp Arena, after thrilling conclusion but unfortunate loss to Florida 64-61.
Shortly after 12 am - Arrive at competitors house to crash in spare bedroom.

Side Note-IU Athletic Board decided instead of a White Out or Red Out to do a Sampson Out. For those who do not know, Sampson is the head coach of IU and he wears a blue shirt with red tie to every game. I thought it was a great idea since I had to be dressed up for a banquet in Kentucky anyway. Instead of wearing my dress red shirt and getting harassed potentially when I arrived in Kentucky, I was wearing red though I did have my IU pin on the collar initially. One of the ladies whom I have seats with brought me a red scarf to finish off my IU Sampson outfit. In the end, it worked out perfectly because I was actually wearing blue at the UK game versus a potential red shirt or something else, hopefully it wouldn't have been orange.

Would you like to see 52 degree weather?

I am sure many of you said yes to the question posed in the title and hopefully it attracted you to actually read this. Take a 3.5 hour drive west from Lexington or 2.5 to 3 hour drive west and a smidge south. Yes you will still be in Kentucky but at 6:30 pm EST the temperature was in the low 50s. My parents had just been out on some errands , seeing absolutely no snow and 50 degree weather.

While on the other hand all of towards the east are freezing and snow covered. I hope everyone made it home safely. I took the bus into school today with no snow on the ground but some chilly temps to come out of work about 3:30 to see a good 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and sidewalks not cleared :-( I was able to make it safely to class across campus and then up to the bus stop, where I about froze waiting on the bus. I think they were running early or really late, definitely not on time. The roads are still slushy here though they are trying to clear them off. Looks like the snow is done for now, not sure if we are expecting more tonight or night. I am sure tomorrow will be another day on the bus. I find it a whole lot easier than cleaning the car off, driving, finding a parking spot, and most likely walking more than if I had just taken the bus.

Be careful in all of your travels and hopefully I will see some of you this weekend as long as the weather cooperates.

Super Bowl - What is that?

I believe that I am about the only person that I have encountered today that watched pretty much none of the Super Bowl game last night. Yes, a lot of people reading this are probably ready to 100% disown me, and at times today, I have asked myself why I didn't find it important to watch the game. Here is my synopsis of that:

Firstly I am so sick of hearing about the Super Bowl and the fact that its the only thing people can talk about. I would say that the IU vs Iowa game was a big deal in Hoosier land this weekend. This is partially due to my basketball bias and the fact that the Hoosiers played a very critical game on Saturday, which I thought deserved more attention than it received. Yes, I did spend my Saturday watching basketball and getting a play by play report from my father of the UK vs Arkansas game (another story) because it was not on tv here.

Secondly, I have no strong affection to either team that played in the Super Bowl and really did not care who won the game. This will probably get me totally mauled in my current location, but those are my feelings. And from what I read in full news reportings, Indiana especially Bloomington fans, really couldn't lose in the game last night. Of course the Indianapolis Colts being the State team but at the same time a Bloomington HS native and a IU football player both were part of the Chicago Bears team. So it was a win win for all around.

Thirdly, I had slacked off and watched too much basketball on Saturday and so I had to get a bit of studies done on Sunday in order to make it through the week. I know a lame excuse but still.

Did I see any of it? Yes, two commercials and maybe 2 secs of play to find out the score during the early part of the 4th quarter. The next time I remember to turn the TV on the game was over and the Colts were celebrating.

I hope everyone had a wonderful time at their Super Bowl parties and I will be glad when the state of Indiana gets back to the important sport of the day basketball. Oh wait, Hoosier basketball spirit is very lacking, but might be on the up and up.

Happy 60th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my father who turned 60 today.

Go Hoosiers - Basketball Spirit does Exist

Wow...that is definitely one word for tonight. I am still trying to recover from hearing loss and loss of feeling in my hands. I probably didn't yell quite enough to lose my voice tonight though we will see how it things sounds tomorrow.

Hoosiers knocked off #2 Wisconsin tonight at home in a heart pounding second by second game for the majority of the time. I am definitely glad that I had seats in the student section for this game. It most likely will be one of the best if not the best games of the season for the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall. And finally after attending over a half-a-dozen games in Assembly Hall this year, I actually felt some Hoosier basketball spirit. The entire fan base was into this game and so was the team. In addition, I am impressed with the fact that the student body actually had the majority of their seats filled prior to the start of the game, unlike all previous games. (See other post)

It was the first game that I can remember being at that the student body rushed the court, which in itself was quite an experience. And no I did not rush the court and instead slipped out the back and got home before the crowd left the arena and filled the streets.

Caught in Cream and Crimson or Maybe Just Gray

It is Tuesday afternoon and I am sitting in class awaiting the start of class, along comes the professor, who is an associate vp of student affairs. As he walks by me, he tells me that he saw a picture of me, which I in return replied "what". He goes on to say that it was a picture from the IU game and I was sitting in the student section prior to the start of the game. All of which is very feasible logic because I did sit in the student section at Saturday's game and was there prior to the start of the game.

I was very perplexed at the fact that I was in the local paper and had no clue of this, except for a professor telling me that he believed it was me in the picture. I came home that evening and with access to the local paper online tried to do a quick search for such picture. I did not have any luck with pictures tied to Saturday's game in the HT or IDS so I went on to a meeting that I had that evening.

In the meantime, I did send the professor who was teaching law class an email to see if he by chance could provide proof that such a picture exists. I figure he just might still have the paper at his home. He responded back today that he would see if it was and he was not positive it was me, but would see.

Still in search of a copy or proof that I have been caught "Crimson" handed in IU attire, I checked with my supervisor today to see if she gets the local paper and the fact that apparently I was in the paper. She says no but we have it online and must find it. She was very enthusiastic about this and went on a hunt for a picture of me in the HT. I am not sure what word search she used, but all of a sudden I hear there you are. I still was in shock until I finally saw the picture and the related article.

The article was about students not being in their seats prior to the start of the game and the new debate that is going on about changing the student sections around. There has been a couple different controversies around this lately, but I am glad to see someone finally call out the students on not being in their seats. I can see both sides of the story to some degree because student season tickets are fairly easy to come by as long as you have the money to pay for them. The thing is as soon as you make it harder to get tickets and reduce the number of tickets, students are going to complain that they don't get enough seats. Its a win-win or lose-lose situation. We will see what happens for next year. I personally hope it doesn't get too much harder to get tickets because I like not having to wait in lines for hours to get tickets.

Though I rarely post pics on my blog, I will post the pic of me at the game on time, especially since there is no visible proof of the supporting team on my person :-) (wow....i sound like i am in law class)



Picture from the Herald-Times.

1957 Plymouth Belvedere

Have you ever buried something in a time capsule? If so, I bet you never buried an entire car inside of your time capsule. Check out the link in the title to read the full story about the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in Tulsa in 1957. During the upcoming centennial festivities, the city plans to dig up the car and see whats awaiting them. Definitely an interesting story and one to stay posted to.

White Sunday Morning

Did you awake like I this morning to a gorgeous white snow covered ground? I would say that we received a good 4 inches of snow last night along with some sleet. When I woke around 6 and took a peak out it sounded like sleet falling. I proceed to go back to bed until the trucks started clearing the parking lot.

I believe this is one of the largest snowfalls that I have seen in a few years minus the 2 feet of Christmas snowfall a few years ago. I plan on staying put until the road crews have time to clean up a bit, which will work just great since I have a paper due tomorrow that is yet to be started. So on that note. I shall attach some pictures of the beautiful snow, grab some breakfast, and start writing.

Winter is Finally Here

Finally on Tuesday morning, I woke to a nice dusting of snow on the ground and a chill in the air. I bundled up and headed to the bus stop and on to work. To close the evening off, I headed off to the IU vs Iowa game in Assembly Hall. For the first time this season, the weather actually felt like true cool, crisp basketball weather. If you saw the score do not be fooled, the game was a blowout. It was a mental issue by the coach and the players that resulted in such a close game at the end. (If you would like me to expound, please let me know and I can. Otherwise I will not bore you with my analysis.)

The first two weeks of classes are over though only half of my classes have met both weeks so there are still lots of questions of how the semester is going to play out. I am a lot more confident about the semester now that the syllabi are in front of me. It will be a busy semester but not an impossible semester. Plus I finally get to attend my first University Faculty Council mtg this coming Tuesday because Law class is canceled to bad its just a teleconference and we are not actually meeting in person.

Funny but true story----
As my friend (L) and I returned to her car after the game, L walked to the passenger side of the car, while I walked to the drivers side. L had the keys to the car and was prepared to unlock the care with said keys, while I on the other hand was ready to wait by the drivers door for her to unlock the car. Then we both looked over at one another and started laughing hysterically at not one but both of our actions of trying to get into the wrong side of the car and at the same time mentally acting as if we were on the correct side of the car. So you may not find that as funny as we did last night, but it was quite amusing. The semester has already made us delirious and it just started.

And on that note my deliriousness is going to work a bit more on a project and see about getting some sleep.

What American accent do you have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The South
The West
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
Boston
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

This was a fun little quiz but I believe there are other words and sayings that might depict one's accent better. Not sure that I totally agree with the Midland accent but then without knowing the others it is also hard to determine.

Thanks Chris for the quiz.

How do you manage your contacts?

For years now, I have been wanting a better way to manage my contacts and all their related information. I have debated over and over again about creating an Access database but I really despise Access. I have thought about some of the other free databases out there but that required more thought and work than I wanted to undertake. Plus lets be truthful here and agree that I have had no time to create and learn such.

Then during my extended Christmas/New Year vacation, I was informed by a previous colleague about SQL 2005 Express Edition which is free and available to the public. I considered this and actually thought about starting the project over the break, but never got around to it until now.

I may beat myself up after I reboot my computer or try to work on something else later but for now things seem to be going okay. First of all, I had to download .Net Framework 2.0, which was a bit scary because I had heard all the bad things about it 6 plus months ago and have no clue where it stands today, except there are three versions and I just hope I picked the correct version for my PC. I also learned that apparently .Net 3.0 is in Beta. (I am so glad I don't have to work with those individuals who think the latest and greatest is the best solution.) Then I downloaded and installed SQL 2005 Express and have a running database on my system even if there are warnings about the hardware requirements to run it.

Now back to the question in the title. How do you manage your contacts? How do you keep track of everyone's birthday without creating a separate entry for each? How do you keep track of relationships like spouses and children?

I have tried to load information into Outlook but it has no relationship tree and its hard to maintain individual information for everyone's spouses and children for readily available use. I wanted contact info and calendar events to be connected and it all seems too complicated. Therefore, I have quickly put together a database to maintain contact information. I am not positive of my satisfaction with the layout and normalization of the data, but it definitely is a start.

If you are so inclined to examine and offer feedback, here is a diagram of the database layout. Category is used to define contacts as family, work colleagues, school friends, and etc. ContactType is used to define contact information in regards to work, home, parent, mobile, mailing, and other. Input and suggestions are welcome as it is always good to throw ideas out there.

If you think I am insane or have a better way to manage contacts, please share that as well.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone an early but very safe and Happy New Year!
May 2007 be full of bright, special, and exciting moments for all.
May God's love continue to grow within each of you.
Best wishes with the new things in life: school, weddings, babies, jobs, and more.

In a few hours, I am off again to tour the Kentucky lands and land somewhere to celebrate New Years Eve, maybe I will see you. If you are across the world I hope you are enjoying your New Years Eve celebration.

Fire Activity - Not Personally Affected

In my lifetime, I have seen very little real fire activity but in the past week, I have experienced two actual fire activities within close proximity to my family's house, neither of which currently have directly effected us.

The first came on Friday evening after my arrival home. We had a street full of fire trucks and police cars for at least a good hour. A neighbor down the streets house was the focus of attention and fire hoses actually attached to the nearby fire hydrant. Luckily according to information from a neighbor, the damage was mainly smoke because an aquarium which started the fire also ended up busting and putting the fire out before too much damage was done.

This evening as I was soundly sleeping I was nicely awakened by my brother and parents discussing something which sounded like another fire. This is no small fire but instead what seems to be a decent size fire back in the wooded area across the street, where fire trucks cannot get to nor fire hydrants located. Cops and fire trucks are placed at the very end of the street though. The clear night sky is full of smoke now.

Congratulations and Welcome Ava!!

Congratulations to Shannon and Neil on the arrival of little Ava!

She arrived Wednesday, December 27 at 9 pm on her father's birthday.
She weighed 7 lbs. 13 ounces and 20 and 3/4 inches.

Next Semester - Spring 2007

A bit over five months ago, I picked up my apartment and life and moved to Indiana. It has been a wonderful and exciting five months, definitely a different lifestyle as well. I have loved almost every minute of it and am definitely glad that I have taken this step in life. Final grades for the first semester came back very positive and exciting. 13 hours of the 41 hours to complete the program are now in the books thanks to a transfer class.

Next semester brings another 11 hours or 5 classes with 20 hours of work.
- Diversity
- Introduction to Higher Ed and College Admin
- Practicum Experience, which includes 7 class periods plus 10 hrs of work in the Student Activities Office on Leadership Assessment
- College Law
- Advising Organizations

Should be an exciting, interesting, and busy semester so I will apologize now if you do not hear a lot from me especially prior to Easter. The first weekend of April, I will head to Orlando for a joint conference of the two college student personnel organizations and a visit with a Georgetown friend. After the conference, things should settle down a bit unless I am still looking for something to do over the summer. You never know I may end up in your area so stay posted.

There is a quick school update more updates to come hopefully.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! May God's blessings be with you and your family this wonderful day of our Lord's Birth. Safe travels to those traveling around the countryside.

It has been a wonderful Christmas season thus far and a great time to catch up with friends and family. Thanks to all of those who welcomed me cheerfully back to Kentucky this past week and half. It was wonderful to see all of you. For those that I was unable to see, I am very sorry and will try to look you up next time I am in your neighborhood.

Currently, I am safely at home in Paducah with family. It was wonderful to see my mother's family on Christmas Eve. The entire immediate family was there minus one cousin, his wife, and daughter. They are in Florida with her family. Christmas Day will be a joyous time with my family and then off to my father's family at the lake. I will report back tomorrow on the Chef's cooking. (My cousin is a chef and is cooking part of Christmas lunch.)

God Bless all of you and your families!

50th Meeting of UK and IU Men's Basketball

On Saturday afternoon, the University of Kentucky and Indiana University men's basketball teams met for the 50th time. The last time in which they met at Rupp Arena was 1988, which also marked the last time that both teams came into the game ranked out of the top 25.

I had the awesome experience of attending the game, after accidentally running across decent tickets Thursday prior. There are two games that I have always wanted to go to UK vs IU and UK vs UofL. With the history of the UK/IU game, this was definitely one to be at. 50th meeting and in Rupp Arena, usually it is held on a neutral site of Freedom Hall or Conseco Fieldhouse, but this year Freedom Hall had a scheduling conflict and it was moved to Rupp Arena.

It was worth every penny plus the drive from Bloomington to Lexington to watch the game. Prior to the game, I enjoyed a little local IU Alumni gathering, and then went into the game wearing all Kentucky. The royal blue shirt with Indiana across the front was stuffed in my coat pocket for safe keeping during the game.

It was definitely not the best played game by either team and the season is not looking bright for either team. The other strange thing about the game was the fact that I new the IU players better than I did the UK players. I suppose that is what happens when attending the third game in week for the same team. But dear UK fans do not worry, I was rooting for the Big Blue, and was in great distress towards the end of the game when UK could not handle the press to save their life.

Thankfully, UK succeeded to pull off the victory over an IU team that definitely wanted victory. I saw a few good things from UK, but there was just as many bad.

The next big test is Saturday at Freedom Hall against Louisville, who too is unranked. It would be interesting to see when the last time these two teams went into the big game both out of the top 25.

Go Wildcats!

1st Semester is Over

Woohoo!!! The first semester of my masters is now fully complete. I put the finishing touches on the last paper first thing Monday morning and turned it in at 1:30 when class meet at the professor's house for a potluck. It was nice to rest and enjoy everyone's company. I did have a class meet late afternoon on Tuesday, but it was basically to hand back the last assignment with a brief discussion. Overall, I believe the semester went well and I didn't fail the classes. There is one that is questionable of how well I did, but overall I feel fairly good about how things ended up.

Tomorrow or I suppose today, since it is 2 am on Wed, is my last day of work for the year. Then I will be returning to good o' Kentucky for the winter break. I am looking forward to traveling the central country side as I did for the past few years and seeing all of my friends, church, Georgetown, and previous work colleagues. I am afraid that the 10 lbs that I lost this semester may be gained right back in the next two weeks.

I will try to post some more during the holiday break because I will go ahead and warn you now next semester will not be one of many posts. I already know that it is going to be very busy with 11 hrs, 10 hr practicum, and 20 hours of work. Plus professional organization responsibilities as the new treasurer.

I would love to see you all over the break so give me a call and we will see where there is a free moment in the schedule. Several group activities are planned as well so if you haven't heard about those give me a call.

One Paper Left

Well since I am reading everyone else's blog and Kerri just remarked on the end of her semester, I figured I would take time to make a post as well.

I finished my last class this evening and now only have 1 15-page paper left to complete. The goal is to have that done by Friday, so that I can come to Lexington on Saturday. We shall see if that happens or not, especially since tomorrow night is an IU basketball game.

The Mind is Mush

Though I am sick of sitting in front of the computer and typing, I found myself here staring at the computer so I figured I would make the most of my time and say hi to everyone.

In a week and 3 to 4 days, the semester will finally be over, but before then I must complete the following items:
* 10 page develop my own theory (started just need to build the theory from the lit review) - due Monday
* Prepare a 5 minute presentation on my theory - due Monday
* Rewrite a Case Study - due Monday
* Complete a Budget Revision Assignment (mostly complete, just needs to be reviewed) - due Tuesday
* Take a Final, which I have skimmed a couple chapters thus far - Tuesday Morning
15 page Applying development theories to my own story - due Dec 11 :-( :-(
* Maybe another revision or two on a couple of the above projects depending on how they went.

Once all of this is over, I am heading back to Kentucky for several weeks and if I can complete that last paper before next Friday, I just might arrive in Lexington for the UK/IU game. I will definitely be watching it with my UK spirit, which reminds me next week is UK Blue week. I will see how much blue I can get away with wearing next week. Hmmmm ;-)

Okay since I am clearly writing with no concise or orderly thought. I believe I will conclude here and get ready for a good nights rest so that I can write and study tomorrow before the IU vs Charlotte game.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you and your family or future family have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving Day! Safe travels to all those roaming around the countryside and world.

Tis the season to be thankful.

Thanks to all those who have supported me during this period of change.
Thanks to all those who have been there for me through the years.
Thanks for being wonderful friends, wherever you may be know that you are a true light in my life and so many others.

Time is Flying

Wow...time sure is flying by at this point in my life. With the completion of classes today, I have three weeks of classes plus finals week to go in my first semester of grad school. It has been over a month since I wrote something personal on here so I thought I would take a moment to say hi.

The next few weeks shall be very, very busy so don't expect to hear a lot from me. Three 10 plus page papers due, budget creation, research and stat test, and one last group project for the semester. All of which have a whole lot of work left to do. Then it will be home free for a few weeks before I start probably the busiest semester of my masters career.

In the past month, I have done some traveling back to the great state of Kentucky. The first trip was a wonderful trip to catch up with college friends as well as YAACK friends at Homecoming and Keeneland festivities. A congratulations goes out to two YAACK friends Chris and Kerri on their engagement over that same weekend.

Two weeks later, I made a trip to the western half of the state to visit family and partake wedding parties for my cousin, Lesley, who is getting married this December.

This past weekend, I enjoyed a wonderful break from the hustle and bustle of life to rest and reflect on life at the annual YAACK retreat. It was great to see everyone and be out in nature away from civilization. Mentally, it was a time to rejuvenate and reflect on what was happening in life. Unfortunately physically, my body decided to let the gremlins take over and I am fighting a nice head/chest cold at the moment. I am not complaining one bit about this since it seems like almost a year since I was fighting the last one and it is fairly mild compared to other episodes.

Other news, I failed to attend a Big 10 football game this year. Goal 1 for 2007 is to attend a game before graduating. I have received my IU basketball season tickets and plan on attending my first IU game this coming Friday, followed by another on Sunday.

For those concerned about my eating habits, I do not believe that I have had such random dinners as posted earlier recently. Granted this week has been fairly void of food because of sickness. (On this note, remember whatever you post will always come back up at interesting times. Thanks Laura for the reminder of my lovely eating habits.)

Since this is probably incoherent and I am getting tired, I believe I will signoff here.

KFC Visible in Space

Kentucky Fried Chicken has made their claim to fame with Colonel Sanders visible from space. Click the title to check out the press release from Louisville.

Go Tigers!!!

Quick shout out to the Georgetown College Tigers who played a hard fought game against the University of Louisville Cardinals in Freedom Hall this evening. Though the Tigers lost, a 94-92 loss to a top NCAA Division I school is nothing to be ashamed of. I hope that the Georgetown faithful were out in full support this evening of there remarkable Tigers.

Louisville fans....you better strengthen that ball team if you expect to be the Wildcats in December.

St Louis Cardinals - 2006 World Series Champions

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals with an outstanding 4th victory against the Detroit Tigers to bring home the 2006 World Series Championship to the St. Louis crowd in the first year of the new Busch Stadium.

10th World Series Championship for the St. Louis Cardinals
1st Championship since 1982

Congratulations!!!!! Go Cards!!!!!

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin - Canonization

Today in Rome Pope Benedict XVI canonized Theodore Guerin as the 8th American Catholic Saint, along with three others from Italy and Mexico. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin was a sister with the Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana. Additional information can be found at the below links:

CNN - Information on all 4 new saints.
Indy Star
CBS News
Sisters of Providence

You know you are from Louisville when:

You Know You're From Louisville When...

Your "International" airport has only one passenger flight that actually leaves the 48 contiguous U.S. states The in-state sports rivalry is paid more attention to than the national championship. You live in an area that occasionally gets considerable snowfalls, floods, and tornadoes... but has no capacity to deal with any of the above. You pronounce the name of your city different than anyone else you've heard. You think the rest of the people in Kentucky sound like hicks. When you think "Kentucky" you don't automatically think horse racing or fried chicken. You ask your doctor for an allergy cure and he tells you to "move." You've shovelled 10+ inches of snow and worn shorts in the same week. When people ask what school you went to, they don't mean Vanderbilt, Yale, or Harvard; they mean Ballard, Male, Manual, Trinity or St. X. You know what the Bambi Walk is. Your last ten vacations were in Panama City or Destin. You make an emergency run to Kroger for bread and milk at the first sighting of a snowflake. You've lived here for years, yet somehow you get hopelessly lost each time you attempt a shortcut through Cherokee Park. You're convinced turn signals are useless options on a vehicle. You hold up traffic to let a motorist you don't know into your lane. You give directions based on landmarks that no longer exist or street names that have changed, but your directions never confuse any of the other Louisvillians You have never been to the Derby, but wouldn't miss the Oaks. You call in sick to attend the Oaks and spot your boss - who also called in sick - at the next betting window. You think all the REAL hicks live in New Albany. You think the only thing Southern Indiana is good for is buying pumpkins. When introduced to another life-long Louisvillian, you spend the first part of the conversation finding out how you are connected. It's never as many as six degrees of separation - usually three will do it. You think a pervert is someone who would rather have sex than watch basketball. You've built a shrine to Rick Pitino in your basement. You can read about Rick Pitino in at least three different sections of your newspaper. You think the rest of the world knows what Benedictine spread is. You think the rest of the world knows what a Hot Brown is. You have never eaten fish that wasn't fried. You think the whole world puts spaghetti in chili. You want another bridge built over the Ohio River, just so long as it doesn't cut through YOUR neighborhood. You've experienced a "salt storm" after a two-inch snowfall. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Louisville.

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Death of the PDA :-(

Yes, I believe the Tungsten E PDA has finally bit the dust. I really have no clue what happened, but it refuses to turn on. I had it plugged into the computer and had just synched it up with my Outlook. I took it off the sync chord and then realized I had forgotten to add something to the calendar. I tried to turn the PDA on and it refused. Today at work, I found a paper clip and hit the reset button. It turned on and then almost immediately turned itself back off. I tried again with the same results. So its either totally hosed and done for or I suppose the internal battery could be bad. Does anyone else have thoughts? Should I try to replace the battery is that even possible? You know me. I am not very hardware, gadgety oriented. I suppose its back to paper, pen, pencils, and highlighers for a calendar. I was just thinking how much I was really not using my paper calendar. I suppose that will now have to change because a new pda is not in the budget.

I need a new blender before a PDA ;-) and I am sure there are other things more important than a PDA that I might have looked at once a week.

Random and Exciting :-)

A week ago, I had all kinds of ideas of things to write and share with you though at this moment I seem to be drawing a blank so I will just share about life.

- Another advance in technology, I finally put up my 19" flat screen monitor that my father finally decided I had to have. I am not going to argue. It is easier to read off of than my old monitor, which is probably a good 8 years old :-)

- A group of three women from the cohort turned in our IU Season Basketball stubs in order to obtain our grouped seats on Friday. I am rather excited to experience NCAA Div I collegiate basketball as a student and in the Big Ten. Plus I looked at UK games to see if I could per chance get to a game during Christmas break. So if you are interested in going let me know. Or if you have tickets for sale let me know.

- A week ago Friday for the first time since my trip to Lexington/Louisville on Aug 26-27, I filled up the gas tank. Therefore, I filled my gas tank only once during the month of September and it was on the 29th of the month. I made it an entire month without filling up the car though I will say the car light was on and I got very shotty gas mileage, hence the issue with driving around town all the time. I calculate the mileage I put on my car each month, which resulted in a total of 90 miles for this month. Previously 90 miles would have got me to Louisville and maybe to Frankfort but probably not even that far. Wow. I just hope my car is enjoying its nice break from constant driving and not hating the in town short driving spurts. I know I am enjoying not changing the oil every other month and filling up every other day. I am lucky to see a gas station more less put gas in the car.

- Woohoo..I survived the first week of college hell. We received an A of some sort on our group presentation and thankfully it is over now. I have two group presentations left for the semester. One is a small, quick presentation about students with psychological Disabilities and the other is a bit larger project about the Career Development office here at IU. Several research projects left to go as well as minor papers. Wow, I am calling these papers minor now after last week they were causing great stress. I feel like I am fairly prepared for the week ahead of me though several papers to write and a test to study for.

I think this has been one of the most unproductive weeks since school started but definitely a needed break. My supervisor let me have Thursday off to get some rest which I definitely needed after staying up to 2 am two nights in a row for absolutely no reason. It was nice to lay around the apartment and not worry about anything on Thursday, though it lead into a continued lethargic attitude for the weekend.

Enough ramblings for this evening. I think I am going to go catch a few more shows that I have on tape before I call it a night. Have a wonderful week!

Needed Sleep, Brain, Nourishment, and Common Sense

Not necessarily in that order, but I am definitely needing some guidance at the moment. After spending nearly 2.5 hrs trying to find a refereed (Peer Reviewed) article about Facebook, I got up from my desk for a break and there was the light bulb that I needed 2.5 hrs ago. Had the light bulb gone off 2.5 hrs ago, I would probably have a completed revised Issue paper. Instead, I must go grab some dinner, return, read, and then work on the rewrite.

The Light Bulb: Sitting on my desk, under my cellphone (I have picked up at least twice in the past 2.5 hrs), is a peer reviewed journal with an article about Facebook. Amazing enough, when I received the Journal about 2-weeks ago, I thought how I could have used that article in my paper, but the paper was already complete and I didn't want to rewrite at that time. Now I have to rewrite and can include it in my paper.

I do not know the moral of this story but if someone else sees it please share. As for me, I shall go get some nourishment and maybe the brain will start functioning properly again.

PS For those who have heard my level of stress for the week, you will be glad to know that one paper has been moved back a week so that is a point of relief. :-) I will survive, but no more blogging til more is complete. I just had to share quickly my 2.5 hr downfall.

Eating Development

To focus on what I have been learning lately, we will take this discussion as a need of development in eating, cooking attitude. I just concluded eating probably one of the lamest meals I have fixed myself ever: piece of toast with jelly topped with turkey that was fried with melted cheese. I really have no explanation for this past it was quick, easy, and used items currently in the refrig. I swear that I use to actually eat more normal meals and even cook half-way normal meals, but in the past couple of years, my eating habits have seemed to cease normality. I am struggling to obtain this normality again though I so very much want to. I constantly find myself looking in the refrig to find what is quick, non-messy, and easy. Even the thought of cooking a good staple, macaroni 'n cheese with chicken nuggets, seems to complex and timely.

Issues to resolve:
- Why the necessity for quickness? This is a carry over from the past couple of years plus the constant feel of need to study.
- Is the mess really that hard to clean up?
- Dislike of leftovers and continuously eating the same thing all week.
- Pure laziness
- Not thinking of cool things to eat and fix.
- Need to go to the grocery. (Currently, no milk or bread)
- Regain the desire to cook on a more consistent basis.

Thanks for listening at my failure to adequately nourish my body.

TV Season Premiers

Fall TV and the new season of our favorite shows is set to begin this week. So what shows are you sure to watch this year? Are you planning on checking out any new shows?

I will not be searching out any new shows this year, if something catches my fancy maybe I will check it out. Time is very limited in my life at the moment so we will see if I can handle the definite 4.5 hrs and up to 6.5 hrs. I do have one major issue. Two favorite shows, CSI and Grey's Anatomy, are on the same night at the same time, which doesn't surprise me as I am sure ABC is trying to capture people from the CSI crowd. Current solution is to be home to watch Grey's Anatomy and tape CSI, but I know that will not be possible every Thursday night.

*** Sunday Night ***
No Shows

*** Monday Night ***
How I Met Your Mother - 8:30 - CBS
CSI Miami - 10 - CBS
What About Brian - 10 - ABC (Maybe)

*** Tuesday Night ***
NCIS - 8 - CBS

*** Wednesday Night ***
No Shows

*** Thursday Night ***
Grey's Anatomy - 9 - ABC
CSI - 9 - CBS

*** Friday Night ***
Numb3rs - 10 - CBS (Occasionally)

*** Saturday Night ***
No Shows

Week of Firsts

The week has been one of study, research, fun, and a lot of firsts which recap the third week of graduate school.
- Visit to the Writing Center was first up on Monday for a first review of the Issue Paper for this coming week. Yes it is actually done already and had two reviews at the writing center. I promise nothing in the future on being ahead but this week was good.
- I received my first assignment back with an OK. Apparently we are getting okay's or needs work for the first two assignments in Research methods then for the rest will get actual grades. Mentioning of the second, I must go work on that soon since it's due on Tues.
- Went to my first Professional Association meeting for Indiana University Student Personnel which started me thinking on running for an office in late Oct early Nov. Looking at Orientation and Relations (Alumni mostly). I will keep you updated on that.
- Indiana University Basketball Season Tickets - Ordered - Waiting on Coupon to put together with other HESA folks for group sitting and actual tickets. This was a first in many ways as I have never purchased season tickets for any sporting event, never purchased student tickets to Big Ten or NCAA sporting event, definitely never purchased a ticket to watch IU play before because those against Kentucky are too expensive.
- Just finished my first loads of laundry at the complex and was amazed I only had 4 loads to do.
- Library, wow, I don't know the last time I spent so much time in the Library doing research for a project. This also means now I have four books to review through before Sunday’s group meeting for theory class. We have a presentation on Identity Development Theories in three weeks, but then it will be done thank goodness.
- Sat in (actually stood outside) on the first session of the Presidential Search Open Forum by the Trustees. These meetings are very eye opening to what the Faculty, Students, Administration, and Trustees view as important and how the Indiana University System is perceived, just that as a system not as one University. The next year or two is going to be quite intriguing as these discussions grow and the search for a new President occurs. I am very excited to be on the closer side of this search than most.
- I went into this third week of classes actually prepared with all readings completed though if I do not go into the other room now and start reading, I will not be able to say that for two weeks in a row.

Hope all are doing well! Go Cards!

When you start to feel old?

During the past day and a half as I read through the assignments for this week, I have started to feel a bit dated. The majority of the documents were published as I was graduating or thereafter. In ways, I actually enjoy reading these documents because I can relate to the findings of the late 20th Century as I was a part of these findings.

Side Note: The late 20th Century was also a part of the big shift in Higher Education with the technology boom. As I started undegrad, rooms were for the first time being fully wired with internet and telephone access. I would say that maybe 1 in 5 students had a personal computer though that may be a bit optimistic. Cell phones, if you had them, were for emergency use only though most people didn't have them until closer to 2000. Now every student has a cell phone and checks them between every break and walk to class on the phone.

Back to the subject: It also makes me think about what I would have learned about six years ago. Like the area of technology, the profession of Higher Education Student Affairs is growing and developing at fast paced rates especially with the evolving areas of technology. The number of things students face and education in general face today has so much to do with the evolving technological field. I guess I can't totally run away from technology, no matter how much I may want to.

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With the goal of getting back into shape and also the love of sports, I signed up to play on the HESA intramural volleyball team. Season doesn't actually start until late September, but five of us got together last Monday evening to get in a little practice. Within the first half hour, I had already sprained my left thumb pretty bad. I am still not sure exactly what I did. At first, I questioned whether or not it was broken, but I seemed to have full mobility and kept on playing. I new it was going to be sore and probably bruised by the next day. I never imagined my entire bottom half of my thumb being one large bruise. It wasn't sore anymore though it looked pretty bad. I had a few other random bruises on the hand as well. But as I was contemplating the status of my hand on the volleyball court, I started wandering was I too old to be out here playing with all these spry youngsters. I think the true reason for that thought is not as much age but current status of athletic ability. I am slowly but surely trying to improve this situation. I walked to campus twice this week though I did get a ride back home both days, but still it was a good 30 minute walk.

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On Thursday, I attend Mass on campus during lunchtime. I didn't necessarily feel old for being there but in talking with the Brother Patrick about the Graduate and Young Professionals group which they had recently started at St Paul’s. I asked what sort of age range were they looking to work with and he says 23-30. Wow what a small age range and it made me think about YAACK and experiences there. I really feel that the group is limiting at that age range. Especially since being in my latter 20's and having spent the last few years with people in their 30's, I enjoy the intellectual stimulation of those wiser and older than I as well as learning from the younger and helping to develop them into young adults.

Spectrum of Sports Information

Have you moved jobs lately or moved to a different city or state? If so, then you might have realized the differences in sports popularity and your personal sports knowledge. I have definitely noticed then in my last two career movements, especially this time.

Starting six years ago and continuing for almost four years, I definitely knew when and where the World Cup was being played, who was playing in it, and the status of the competition. Why? Because my coworkers were from Bulgaria and Russia where soccer more commonly known as football is the number one sport. Secondly, I kept up with UK sports especially basketball, attending my first game in Rupp Arena. Thanks to tickets from a professor. The best thing about being on staff at Georgetown was the numerous amounts of tickets available for a variety of events.

Two years ago, I learned quickly that my business casual wardrobe had way too much red and not a stitch of UK Blue. Every time I appeared at work in red, especially red and black, coworkers greeted me affirming the fact that I was dressed in UofL colors and that it looked quite nice on me. I quickly remedied that situation at least adding blue into the wardrobe. I no longer knew anything about soccer, but become very aware of both UK and UofL football and basketball programs. Also because of my long drive and enjoyment of listening to 590, I began listening almost nightly to the sports radio program. Allowing me to learn all about the ups and downs of the football and basketball programs at UK as well as how some of the other programs were doing like baseball and women's basketball.

Living in Georgetown, I also started to get familiar with football. Not growing up with football, I still no very little about the sport, though I became an avid Georgetown College fan towards my latter years of undergrad, and since I have found myself on a Sunday afternoon catching a glimpse at the Bengals or even attempting to watch some UK games, like this evening.

Now that I have moved to Indiana, I have no clue what is going on in UK sports. I feel totally out of the loop. I really had no clue what to truly expect this evening though I had my opinions. Granted I really had hoped for a slightly better showing than what I have seen thus far. As you can tell, I have lost interest in the game and decided to come write about sports than watch them. So if anyone hears any news worthy information about UK sports, please forward it on so that I can keep up. Though as I told my dad earlier, I might just have to become a Hoosier football fan, if Kentucky keeps playing this way. Then again maybe, I will switch over to soccer, since it seems to be very popular around here. Plus since I don’t drive hours a day, I don't get my daily sports commentaries so in ways seem totally out of the sports loop period.

Next time you move take a look at your sports interest and knowledge. See how it changes.

First IU Sporting Event

No I didn't go to the football game to watch IU defeat W. Michigan St 39-20 this evening. I was at the apartment working on my 7 page paper some more. Instead last night, I went to the IU vs UConn soccer game to cheer on the Hoosiers as they tried to defeat #2 ranked UConn. IU is currently ranked 12th. It was an exciting game with a bit of a nice soccer drizzly around halftime. I don't know that I have ever stood as long as I did last night. There was definitely no sitting as you watched this game. I'm sad to say this was my first ever collegiate soccer experience, but it was a great one. I was amazed at the size of the crowd, including locals and the band. Halftime score was 0-1 Hoosiers, but the Huskies came back to tie the game 1-1, which is where it ended after a double overtime.

Go Wildcats, Beat the Cards tomorrow!

What's Happening to those Reds?

A little over a week ago, I was starting to get scared about the Cardinals NL Central lead dwindling down to nothing, but now I'm worried that the Reds are trying to put themselves out of the race for the pennant. For the first time in several years, I thought the Reds were actually going to have a chance at the pennant race. I will give them credit for pulling themselves off the bottom of the NL Central. Go Reds! Just don't overtake the Cardinals in the NL Central.

First Week of Classes

What an overwhelming week? I should be writing my 7 page paper about my own development in undergrad, which is due on Monday. I keep going in circles and not sure if I am headed in the right direction or not, so I decided it was time to call it a night. There is a ton to read and more work to do. I am sure that I can eventually get it all done but I believe this week will be one of confinement in my apartment.

So what has been happening? To start things off prior to my first class, I received a syllabus and an assignment to read 2 chapters for Y520 (Stats and Research). It actually didn't turn out to be too bad. Classes started on Monday afternoon for me. I am taking three classes this semester. Each of which is a 3 hr class that meets once a week so by Tuesday afternoon, I am totally done with classes and just have 20 hrs of work to get in the rest of the week. Which today was a very odd day going back to work after having been gone since Thursday. I felt totally out of the loop with what had been going on the past week. Luckily, it didn't take me long to get caught back up and working hard. It was actually a very productive day in the office minus the trip to Burger King for a Crossanwich. I fell into the trap when my supervisor decided to go over and get herself one.

Classes are a bit overwhelming at the moment especially since my 7 page paper is not going very well at all. I really wanted to get it complete tonight but it’s only about three pages complete and I am not even sure if that is correct. There is a lot of reading and writing, which of course I knew going in. I think the bigger issue is the organization of some of the syllabuses is poor and makes it seem a bit more daunting than it really is. So once I get caught up on this weeks work, I hope to simplify things down and make it a bit less daunting.

I currently have plans to go to a Graduate Student Organization Wine and Cheese party on Friday and then to the IU vs. UConn soccer game Friday evening, though I am starting to wander, if I truly have time to do all of that this weekend. I guess I will have to see how tomorrow goes.

Well I am sure there is more to tell but it is time for bed.

Prayers and Thoughts!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Comair 5191 from Lexington to Atlanta on Sunday, August 27, 2006. It's a devastating tragedy and one that hits a bit close to home. I believe this will be one of those events which I will always remember where I was when I heard about the tragedy. I was concluding my weekend in the grand state of Kentucky, attending morning Mass at St. Michael's in Louisville, when during the Prayers of the Faithful, a prayer was lifted for those in the Lexington plane accident. Knowing nothing of the event, I quickly went back to my friends place to see what had happened. Thoughts started running through my head and continue to run through my mind wandering how many people on this plane was I acquainted with and fearing the worse. We always feel remorse and heartfelt pain for those involved in such tragedies, but it's time like this that the remorse and pain hits a bit close to home. Still anticipating the full list of passengers and praying that it will not hit any closer to home than it already has. I've spent most of the time on the computer the last 24 hours reading about the accident and searching for answers to my questions. Some I have found; others are still waiting. I know at least one passenger was a Christ the King parishioner and a man of great heart for others. My prayers are lifted to his family, the CTK community, and all those lives that he has touched here and all across the country and world. At times, all I want to do is cry in sorrow for this tragedy. I feel numb, lost, and confused. I think so many emotions are running because this tragedy hit so close to home, but at the same time, those here are not as closely touched and my support net is far away from me. God keep us all in your prayers and hold us tight, comforting us through all of life's ups and downs. God Bless!

The Loss but Revival of the PDA

On Saturday as I was enjoying spending time with a friend, I pulled out my PDA to jot down a few notes because somehow my purse was without a pen. Well the missing pen was not the only issue with taking down a few notes, my Tungsten E Palm apparently had no battery power left and refused to turn on. Thankfully my pc back in Bloomington still contained all the data previously found on the PDA. Sunday evening upon return, I plugged in the Palm really hoping that it was only a dead battery and nothing major because I don't have the funds for purchasing another at this time. After a couple hours, I returned to the Palm to find that yes indeed it was working again but was totally blank. After a scavenger hunt for the cd, I was able to reinstall all the Palm components and resynch it to my desktop. During resetting, I started hearing sounds from my Palm again, which I hadn't heard for years nor had any clue how to turn them back on. They had seemed to be on and just not working previously. I did manage to figure out how to silence them so that I wouldn't be in class on Monday with my Palm making all kinds of strange noises. So for those hoping that I would one day soon upgrade to a PocketPC, I'm sorry but the Palm is still doing its job just fine.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the newlyweds, Rachel and Chad, who were married Saturday evening in a lovely outside ceremony. Thanks to Our Creator, the rains held off till Sunday and the Wedding at Lost River Cave was beautiful and nature filled.

Do you know your zip code?

I sure didn't on Sunday. Why did I need to know this? Apparently at Pilot Gas Stations, they are now requiring you to enter your 5 digit zip code after swiping your credit card for added protection.

Any other day any other time, I could have given you my zip code with no problem, but for some reason on Sunday, after waiting in a small line to get gas, and being unprepared to provide my zip code after swiping my card, I went blank. My first thought was my Georgetown zip. Remembering that was no longer valid, I thought I had figured out my new zip, but instead I received two failures. Afraid of a third failure, I went on a hunt for the PDA and my zip code as people set waiting in line to pump their gas. I returned with success and filled my tank full of gas before continuing on the last trek of my journey back home.

So be prepared to know your zip the next time you go to the gas station.

Humor from a Friend's Blog

I just had to share some humor from Chris's site. Check out All About Women. Not that I 100% agree with the statements being made but it definitely is a good laugh and interesting form of logic so enjoy.

SMHS 10 Year Class Reunion

Like many of my college friends the time has come for our 10-Year High School Reunion. I think back over the past 10 years and for one cannot believe that it has been that long, for two am sad that I haven't kept up with anyone from high school for the past 10 years. I did a decent job for the first 3-4 years but since then it has all gone down hill. I did attend several weddings of HS classmates but it seems like ages since I have talked to anyone besides the random run in somewhere along the way.

In graduating from a small private Catholic High School, I knew all 50 of my classmates so I was looking forward to seeing where everyone had landed and how they were doing. Being a small group, our class reunion was on the informal side and held at a classmate’s father's house in our hometown. It was amazing the people who did attend the reunion where mostly from out of town, while a dozen people still lived in town and did not appear. The more I talk to people the more I hear that this is a commonality of all reunions. Those that live in their hometown rarely come to reunions while those out of town seem to always come back. The 13 of us plus significant others had a wonderful time catching up and hearing stories of the past 10 years of life. I enjoyed seeing where everyone was and how they had or hadn't changed from high school. I also found it interesting that the men were mostly all married and the women were mostly all single, granted the women out number the men 2-1, but that was pretty much the class makeup anyway. It was a wonderful time and glad that I decided to take the 4.5 hour trek from Bloomington home to Paducah for this special occasion. I look forward to our next reunion and really hope that more people come out next time.

I would also like to take this time to remember the souls of two classmates:
Randall McBride
Luke Martin

Orientation

On Friday, I awoke early after going to bed late for some insanely crazy reason to prepare for a new and exciting adventure. The day had finally arrived for orientation into Grad School. In ways it was hard to believe that it was actually happening, but in other ways, it seemed like I had been waiting for an eternity.

One thing I will say about the day, it was a very long and tiring day though I think there were many factors that made it even more tiring. It was wonderful to finally get registered for classes and have something to look forward to and a schedule to make out. I am taking 10 hours this first semester, 3 3-hour classes and 1 1-hour class which doesn't start until mid-October. My classes start Monday afternoon and by the time I go to bed on Tuesday, I am done with classes for the week.

During the afternoon, we studied personality types and discussed our own personality from the Myers-Briggs. First, they had us try to figure out our own personality type, which I picked ISTJ and upon receiving my results, I was an ISFJ. The F was a 2 on the scale so I can see where I am very much on the border of a Thinker and a Feeler and probably depends a lot on the situation. We also learned how different personality types react in different situations. Of course, we have all studied this in the past but it was another eye opening situation to actually see the differences in a more formal outline.

After orientation, it was off to dinner with the Cohort, which you will probably hear me say from time to time. Cohort is the group of students whom all come in together there first year for the masters program. Our Cohort is one of the larger groups in a long time with 50 members strong between the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses, with I believe 5 part-time students. After dinner, I had never been as exhausted in my life so I went home to crash. Of course instead of crashing, I had to review my schedule, try to figure out when I was going to work, and a hundred other things. With my mind going in a hundred directions as I tried to lie down to sleep, getting a good nights rest was not easy.

Revisit of Goals 2005

Since I apparently did not set any goals for 2006, I figured I would go check out the goals for 2005 which I am going to carry over as continued goals for 2006. The original goals are in BOLD.

The first three goals definitely were a failure in 2005 and thus far in 2006.
- Loose 30 lbs that I have gained the last 6 months. Now this needs to be loose 45 lbs plus and being able to fit in the bridesmaids dress from August 2005 for my cousin's wedding New Year's Eve weekend.

- Exercise More
* I will say that this is getting a bit more attention than it has in the past two years. Today I walked to Work. The walk to work is about 38 minutes, when cutting over to the Ed bldg on the way and back. Plus approximately a 10 minute walk daily from the car to work.

- Eat Healthier
* Now that I have moved to Bloomington, I believe that this is coming around at least I am not eating out every meal nor eating really late at night.

- Make a decision about where life is headed next.
* Completed: Grad Apps, Interview, and Successful Admittance into a HESA program, as well as moving to Bloomington and after tomorrow will have classes to start taking in a bit over a week.

- Save money for that next life decision
Needs to be modified to live within the new means that are in front of me and not one with a decent salary.
* Not sure how this one went, but I can say that I am definitely avoiding the eating out these days and gas expenses will hopefully be going down as long as I stop all this crazy traveling.

- Read More
* I did read I Was Howard Hughes by Professor Carter, which was quite an enjoyable and interesting book that definitely maintained my interest even though I really had no clue who Howard Hughes was. Definite recommend.

- Finish 1 of 3 Cross-stitches for my cousin's kids in 2 weeks, and hopefully finish the other 2 by end of year :-)

* This was down to 2 cross-stitches til this past week when my mother shared the wonderful news that my cousin and his wife are expecting their second child. Sad thing is I haven't quite finished the cross-stitch for their 1st child yet. Though I do have to say, it is only in need of outlining and her information. Then I can start the second cross-stitch that I have with goals to complete it by Christmas and get started on the now third one. Maybe I can actually get caught up and get one done before the baby turns 1.

So those are the goals from the past and the current status. I feel a bit more confident that by the end of 2006 most of these will be on the right track and 2007 can start with a new set of Goals.

Cardinals vs Reds

The final three game series between the top two teams of the NL Central starts tonight. In my opinion this is a very crucial series with the Cardinals having lost three in a row after the last series with the Reds, while the Reds where 2-1. The lead is down to 1.5 games in favor of the Cardinals. Go Cards!

Though I have to admit, I was rooting for Cinci the other night even though the Cardinals had lost, but for the next three games its all Cardinals.

UPDATE: I was able to catch one of the three games this week, which was a great game by the Cardinals and their pitcher Carpenter. The Cards ended the series up an extra game on the Reds. We will see what happens come playoff time.

Tech Question - I Need Help

I really hope my tech friends are still reading my blog. I know at least one is but we may need the assistance of others. Not questioning your skills but questioning the ability of the question.

So I have been trying to setup my IU Exchange account on my home PC. I accomplished that feat in the same Profile as my previous Outlook emails, but then when I checked to see how my PALM would sync with Outlook, the results were not favorable. It was going to sync with my new exchange mailbox since it was the primary data file. I had to set it as the primary data file in order to maintain the emails on both my home pc and the network. I don't want to sync all of my home contacts and calendar events with my work/school account. So how do I solve this without creating another profile in Outlook?

For now, I have created a secondary profile in outlook which contains my IU account but that results in my mind to a lot of extra management. Any ideas or suggestions would be highly appreciated. And for those out there who say "Get with the Times and Run away from PALM", that answer doesn't work especially since I am already spending more than I make. No more new unnecessary gadgets for me :-) I've splurged about all I am going to splurge for awhile.

682 Emails in Inbox Alone Not Counting Automatic Filters

Okay, so I was talking to one of my friends, whom I didn't have an email address in my contacts for. She mentioned having 4 email accounts, which reminded me that I have a gmail account. I decided to see if I could still login to my account, which was successful. Then I checked to see when the last time I had tentatively checked my email. Looks like mid May 2005. I am really shocked that I could still login. I added a few additional filters to the system, and managed to clear the inbox down to 2 emails both of which I had read previously.

How many email accounts do you have? Do you check them all? How do we go about managing such accounts?

I know that my first hotmail account is long gone now because of the 30 day login process they had in the past. My yahoo account is still functioning because I log into yahoo, but I never check my emails nor get any. We all see the status of my gmail account, though it is doing a great job of catching all the IT listserv info. Maybe I should use it more for that. Of course since I changed isp services, my bellsouth email address is gone though I saved any emails that I wanted off of there. I have yet to setup an Insight email address. Should you have an email address with your isp? My Georgetown account is history when they switched systems over. I finally lost access to my account there. Now I have two IU accounts which is a bit crazy though I can set the exchange address as the primary and route the information from the other system over to exchange. I can't delete the other systems account which seems random. Those are all that I remember though I am sure there are more.

Productive Weekend

How life has changed in the past month? A month ago, I was wrapping up one life and getting ready to embark on a new life. Over the years, I have experienced a lot of changes in life but I believe this to be the one of most significance in a long time. Not only have I moved 120 miles from where I have called home for the past 10 years, I also quit a lifestyle that had me running around crazy. Not to say some of the crazy running around will not start again soon, I do believe the time that I have for myself and to actually enjoy life will be tremendous. Main reasons: I'm not working 50 plus hours a week at a computer desk, not driving 2 plus hours a day to get to work and other activitiesm, I find so much enjoyment in what I am doing even if it is sometimes very slow and seemingly uninteresting to most people.

So with all of that said, today has been one productive day. After awaking shortly after 9 am and enjoying a quick breakfast, it was time to organize and clean more of the apartment. The office area was starting to become a big clutter ball and needed major assistance, which it received. The ironing board is now along the wall and the UK crates are in the corner awaiting books and notebooks from school. All the office supplies and other related items are still in disarray, but progress is being made. I also was able to get the VCR setup to receive cable in order to tape my favorite shows :-) (Chris see I haven't fully embrassed all of the latest technology.) After all of that, I proceed to clean the apartment mostly vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom , and taking out the trash before I decided I had been productive enough for one day.

For all of those Geeks Out There

Thanks to my new Bloglines account I found this interesting article about IBM PC 25th Birthday. Since several of my old avid readers are computer geeks, I figured you would enjoy.

On that subject, Chris guess what? I think you get the distinction of being the only one in the group now using your computer degree. How does it feel?

What a Game?

::Before I start, Chris I suggest sitting down so you dont fall down with another post :-)

Back to the real post

Wednesday Night, I finally was able to find the St Louis Cardinals vs the Cincinnati Reds baseball game on TV. What a heck of a game was played that night, well at least for the hitters. If you quit watching after the first inning, you missed quite a comeback, a hold on, and then a squeeze of luck in the final inning for the Reds to win. Congratulations to the Reds for a hard fought game! Glad to see the Cards pulled out today's game with a victory.

The Cards are still up 3.5 games on the Reds in the NL Central. We will see how the weekend shakes out as both teams head east before meeting one last time during regular season in St Louis mid-week.

Go Cards! As long as the Cards are winning so can the Reds :-)

Wow Life is Grande

I think this past weekend was one of the first times in a long time that I was able to relax and worry none about the week ahead. In ways, it was definitely a needed vacation; though in other ways, it seemed like old times hanging with wonderful friends. Thanks to all who allowed me to stay with them and have no worries. Even with the lack of sleep, it was one of the most wonderful weekends that I have had in a long time.

Friday Night or Saturday Early AM, I learned a new game, DaVinci Challenge, that must be played when one is conscious and not dead tired, especially if they are in charge of the score :-) It's a strategy game of shapes and symbols for those logical minds.

Saturday Night was time for baseball and fireworks in Lexington. It was wonderful to hang out with church friends and enjoy an outstanding game of baseball and fellowship.

Having no stress or hundreds of things to run back to, I was able to sleep in a bit, attend Mass, have a lovely lunch, and hang out with a friend before making the trek back to Bloomington.

Now that is when the weekend lost a bit of its fun and excitement, as I came home to a broken AC unit. Thankfully, I did have a small fan which kept me cool overnight, and it was fixed today while I was at work.

Definitely going to enjoy the next couple weeks and get all the relaxation in that I can because I know come the start of school things are going to become very busy and crazy. With that thought, it is time to get some sleep before another day of work.

Slowly Converting to the New Age

Though for the past 6 years I have worked in the IT field, personally I have continued to live in the dark ages as many of you know. So this week has definitely been a time of technology upgrade:
- Monday for the first time in over three years, I upgraded from 28.8 kbps connection to 100 mbps connection, and from rabbit ears (5 channels) to digital cable with 70 channels.
- Today with a bit more information from my friend KS, I finally plunged into the world of bloglines, setting up over 25 feeds. This was not my first attempt at setting up RSS Feed tracking. I had originally setup a page on myyahoo.com for RSS Feeds but it was not the most visually appealing, and I never went out to review it. We will see what luck I have at actually reading and keeping up with blog updates and other news now.

Well I just heard a report that the gas prices have gone sky high, so I am going to run over to SAM's and see if they still have semi-cheap gas or not.

The First Week

Well, it has been almost a week since I planted myself firmly in Bloomington. A lot has happened and lots still to go. Thurs evening through Mon morning, where spent without internet and nothing but PBS on the TV. I did a lot of unpacking and rearranging of things. I believe most things are now in their basic appropriate locations. There are still a couple things out of place but not sure what to do with them. The office is in need of great assistance, as there is still a corner of boxes mostly of school and office materials that need to be sorted and organized, plus tons of papers to be filed.

Monday afternoon, I took a nice long walk to campus, unknowing of the heat advisory that was out. Guess that’s what the TV is for, learning about what’s going on. Needless to say, I survived and was smart enough to take a water bottle with me. The journey started with a walk down a random bike path towards campus and then over to the bldg for classes, which took a bit less than 1/2 hr. Then it was off to the office, which took another 15 minutes, going via the roads. I took an extra journey over to the main drag to check out parking for Tuesday and back towards the office. This is when the journey became interesting; I decided to see if I could find the path from the office to classes through campus without a campus map. In taking what seemed to be more traveled routes, I found myself on 10th Street and North of where I wanted to go, but on the path towards home so that’s where I headed. 1.5 hrs later, I found myself back at the apartment out of water and very hot and tired. Needless to say I have not ventured out on any more long journeys this week in the unbearable heat, though I am willing to go again once things cool off.

Tuesday was off to campus for the first day of work. It was an easy day of finishing paperwork, getting a parking permit (followed by finding a place to park with the permit), checking out the office, and learning a few things about what was presently going on. I took a few items back with me and went home to enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Cable...its addicting...having not had cable TV for over three years now, I found myself mesmerized by a couple movies on AMC, while I skimmed the papers during commercials.

Today was a very hot day and day of research and getting acquainted with things in the office. Our office though air conditioned was still very hot and humid, my supervisor checked out the thermostat right before we left and it was 79. No wonder we thought we were hot. I also looked at classes for the fall semester and tried to see what was offered and what times. I have 2 mandatory classes, which one is on Mon and the other on Tues. Then the decision comes into which other class to take and then depending on that which professor.

It’s late and I’m tired. So I think we will end here.

Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego?

So I haven't checked out one of these crazy quizzes lately and ran across this one on Lindsey's site, I figured why not so here are my results. Enjoy!

You scored as Sleeping Beauty.

Your alter ego is Princess Aurora, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty!

You are beautiful and enchanting, and as sweet as ever. Sleeping Beauty 75% The Beast 69% Goofy 63% Pinocchio 63% Ariel 56% Peter Pan 56% Donald Duck 44% Cinderella 31% Snow White 31% Cruella De Ville 13% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

The Move

Thanks to all the wonderful people who came and helped me move especially those that made the treck to Bloomington. Thanks to God for keeping us dry and giving us the strength to move all of the heavy boxes and furniture.

Saturday was a busy and tiring day, but we managed to get the truck packed up by around 11 am and had the majority unpacked out of the truck by 4 PM. Unpacking out of the boxes consumed the rest of the evening into Monday morning. Though the apartment is far from being straight and organized, the bedroom, computer room, kitchen, and bathroom are useable with all the main pieces unpacked.

On Monday afternoon, I enjoyed a rather scenic drive from Bloomington to Paducah. No interstates come into Bloomington so that will always lead to an adventure of sorts. There are a couple ways out of town and then once you hit I-64 several options of how to get to Paducah. I decided that I knew what the WK looked like so it was a trip along Illinois backroads instead. It was actually fairly straight and flat through Illinois. Next time, maybe we will take another route for a new adventure.

All necessary business has been taken care of here and so next on the journey is a trip back to Lexington to take care of a few more items, plus see some YAACK friends. Then its off to Louisville to take care of a few more things before heading back to Bloomington to prepare for the first day of work and continued organization of the apartment.

Bloomington Indiana Here I Come

Wow, the time has finally arrived for my departure of this great state, Kentucky. As mentioned previously, this Saturday I will be packing up the Penske truck and heading to Bloomington, IN. Thanks to all of those who have volunteered to help pack, drive, and/or unpack. I appreciate all of your assistance especially those who are in for the long haul.

Though several people had doubts whether or not the apartment would be packed by Saturday morning, I am proud to say that over 90% of the apartment is now packed with a day to spare. I do agree that all the small things laying around not yet put away can be a pain but by the time I hit the sack tomorrow night I plan to have it all done.

The last few weeks of work were interesting but very productive. At first, I was really stressing about work because of all the big projects that I had started but were not quite done yet. I was pleased by the time I left because the brunt of all those projects had been implemented or the knowledge transferred. By Friday, I was feeling 100% more relaxed and ready to enjoy my last day, which didn't quite go as planned. Thursday night late, we lost a switch in the data center and all nightly processes blew up, so I spent the first few hours finishing the cleanup and then it was time to enjoy my last day of work. It was hard leaving, knowing that it was a great place to work and a lot of people who actually cared about you. It wasn't as hard to leave the work behind and the all nighters to fix the issues due to equipment malfunctions. I really cannot say anything bad about my time there and I look forward to the new adventure.

Thanks to all of those who have helped in sending me off to Hoosier land:
- Thursday night was a blast with the co-workers. Played Texas Hold-em for the first time and actually didn't do too bad, though still have no clue how to play.
- Saturday night, my first and potentially only IU cake from the folks at Church, as we watched Shakespeare in the Park
- Sunday, an awesome Red's game, in the freezing temperature :-)
- Sunday Eve, Drive-In movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean II and Cars, both of which were good, continuing in the dry cool air of July.
- Monday lunch, with some Gtown/Comp Sci folks at my favorite Thai restaurant thus far SIAM.
- Monday night, packing began thanks to the wonderful help of Shannon. By the way movers, she apologizes for any overly heavy boxes or covered up handles in advance (which were already broken so she covered to save you from the hassle).
- Tuesday night, Ash did a remarkable job at getting a lot of people together without me having a clue about what was going on. Even if she did wake me up at 1/4 after 8 Tuesday morning to attempt to get me to decide where we were going and to see if it was alright if plans changed to Louisville instead of Frankfort. Nick's cousin was in Louisville and he wanted to spend some time with him, though it was just a big cover for the rest of the plans already devised. I will not go into all the details here but the 4 party dinner ended up 7 people in Louisville at the Cheesecake Factory, and I got to ride to Louisville from Frankfort, which was great. Thanks guys that was awesome.
- The rest of the week has been spent with the Parents finishing up the packing and cleaning the apartment.

Well, I believe it is time to signoff for now. The next post will be from Indiana or somewhere besides Georgetown at least.

Update on Life

I will not promise to keep this up to date. I think by now we all know that is not going to happen. I do plan on trying to keep it more up to date upon start of grad school, so that all of you in Kentucky and scattered across the countryside, have a clue how I am surviving in Grad School. Of course, I make no promises though.

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The plan for the next two months:
Work 6 more weeks and let them know in 2 weeks for a 4 week notice.

Leaves 2 weeks to pack and move.

Tentatively looking to move Sat. July 22, if anyone is interested in helping out here, Bloomington, or both :-) Once I secure an apartment and think things over a bit more, I will let everyone know the definitive move date. And I will need help as my Dad is working both weekends though they may come up the middle of that first week to pack the car full to take back to Paducah.

GA Position starts August 1st

School starts Aug 28 with Orientation the weeks prior.

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Apartment Search
I believe that I have finally narrowed it down to a 2 bedroom apartment about 1 mile east of campus.
- 740 sq feet
- All electric
- Nice area with Bike/Walk trail to campus
- Friendly management
- Bus Stops close as well
- I put an application in this evening so we will see what happens next.

Truely I just want this part to be over so that I can go on to the next big challenge.

I have secured a bank in town so that is one big step. I just have to wait for my current direct deposit to be redirected over there and I can close my checking account here in town.

If anyone has a good checklist of all the things you need to do when moving, please forward it my direction. There are so many things that you have to look at in changing your address on its insanity.

I believe I am going to change my residence back to my parents house that way one I dont have to deal with the change of state citizenship for a few short years.

Well its time for some sleep. More later.