no good deed...

Usually I ignore the panhandlers at a light near my house because I had a bad experience with one who ended up yelling at me because I wouldn't give him money. Today I decided to break my standard "fake a phone call to avoid eye contact" routine, and instead give a homeless guy a sack lunch. 

He asked if I was pregnant. FML.

since you were dying to know

I realized that I tend to post a lot of plans or stories, but I rarely post any updates, so this is a big ole followup to everything since starting this blog!

Being green. Strangely, when I moved to a new-urban-community-in-the-making, I actually stopped riding my bike. I loved riding it to bars, brunch, and work, and I'm not near any of those things now! Eventually, Mueller (my 'hood) will be set up with all of these things and the Marin will be back in action, but right now, the tires are flat. Sad day. Also on being green: I have to admit, I was really good about using the reusable bags for a while, but now I'm not even sure where they are. I still try to not take bags from the store, though, if I can just carry my stuff out. I did make my office start recycling, and I (for the most part) stopped using plastic water bottles, and we recycle most of our stuff at home. Oh, and my house itself is a 3-star green building (out of 5)...does that count for anything?

Brushing my shoulders off. I've been much better about adapting to life when it doesn't go as planned. Which is 99% of the time. I will give all the credit to my go-with-the-flow fiance, and I have to admit, life is more interesting when you are challenged to make good out of bad. 

My Dad's birthday present. This year I ordered an engraved brick that will be placed in a path on the trail at Town Lake, which was one of his favorite places to ride bikes, walk, and kayak. He actually loved kayaking so much that he even bought one. Since I have been going there with him my whole life, I thought it would be great to make sure a piece of him stays there forever. 

The motorcycle. Although we don't ride it all the time, the old Shadow is still around and is doing great. It has caused a fair amount of tension lately because my mom wanted me to promise to never ride it again, which I didn't do. Although I really do hardly ever 

ride it, little does she know...

...I learned how to drive it!

P90X. We are six weeks in and still going, although right now we're in the middle of a two-week hiatus! We are starting to see some results—although we're still not following the diet portion of the program—and the workouts are definitely still making us sore because the order of the videos keeps changing. It's getting harder and harder to stay on track, though, due to vacations and awkward schedules. It doesn't help that the videos themselves are getting more boring to follow (but easier to do while watching TV at the same time...interesting plus). I definitely have not lost weight but can tell my body is toning up, and overall I am much stronger than I was before starting! Brian is definitely losing some fat and replacing it with muscle, so again no weight loss persay but general strengthening and toning. We are going to get the nutrition guide from a friend and then hopefully go balls to the wall for the last six weeks. 

Girl's Trip 2K8. Was followed by Girl's Trip 2K9 to San Diego last weekend, a.k.a. National Championships 2009, a.k.a. that time we started dance-offs, had matching Bubba kegs, drew finger mustaches, and generally acted like an idiot pack of 12 girls (heretofore referred to as Hurricane Bubba Nation). It was awesome.

Peer evaluations. Oh boy did this go downhill! The woman who mouthed off in the first e-mail then decided to write an e-mail starting "Dear Laura" but with the whole group copied on it, so something was obviously up. Sure enough, she point blank said that the other group members told her they'd given her 100s, so why did I not, and what did I think she did wrong since I was obviously uncomfortable talking to her about it during the semester (yeah right, as if she was after constructive criticism). So then I had to launch back a "cease fire" to the whole group to get them to stop harassing me. Ultimately the e-mail defended myself and the intended confidentiality of the peer evals, explained why I didn't give perfect evals, included some math demonstrating how I knew the others were lying about what they gave out, told them I didn't want to continue the conversation, and said I was sorry the semester ended on a bad note. She wrote back and apologized in that "I'm only fake apologizing" kind of way. However, the man-child in the group was not so smooth, and instead decided to rattle off a hateful e-mail saying all the things I imagined he thought: that I was bossy, full of bullshit, and manipulative. Although Brian and I came up with about 15 really great patronizing responses, I decided the best idea was to contact my teacher. I have to say, I wrote and re-wrote that big e-mail to the group for about two hours, and I cannot express to you how glad I am that I did this because my teacher and the dean and assistant dean ended up reading the entire string of e-mails and I would've been mortified if I'd been bitchy or petty. The whole thing ended with me having to e-mail him back (at the insistence of the dean) and state to never contact me again by phone, e-mail, or in person or I would involve the dean's office. Pretty weird end to a shitty semester with these people. So I bet you can imagine how excited I was to walk into my new class last night and see Little Miss Mouthy sitting there.  

And now onto my final, more positive update!

Watching more movies. This is my biggest feat. After those 5 movies that I watched in the first week of 2009, I have watched 27 more. Like, 27 brand new movies...that's not counting repeats. That's roughly 3 times the total number of movies I'd seen in my whole life. So that you can enjoy (or avoid) them too: 

Most obscure that I liked: Grace of My Heart, My Blue Heaven, King of Kong

Biggest letdowns: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 27 Dresses

Best action: Lord of War, The Last Boy Scout

Hottest: 3:10 to Yummy Yuma.

Worst: Wedding Daze. 

Best movie I should've seen of but hadn't: Rushmore

Biggest thinker: Bowling for Columbine 

Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances: Two Girls and a Guy, Tropic Thunder

Biggest cries: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Blood Diamond, Diving Bell and the Butterfly

There is so much crap on TV these days (what, am I like 80?) that I've actually taken to preferring to watch a movie instead of flipping through the channels for 2 hours. Netflix has been such a great enabler too. Next up on the cue, a variety pack: Sabrina, Willow, Sicko, and The Hours!

good morning, texas

A subtle reminder on the way to work that Austin is still in Texas. 

the fat lady sang

Peer evaluations: the gift that keeps on giving. 

So we had our last marketing class. My group managed to meet for 4 hours and not kill each other, and we turned in a fairly respectable product. By the grace of God, we somehow scored a 95. I'm fairly certain this means the teacher didn't actually read any of the final papers though, since 2 other groups got 95s as well. This makes me feel really good about the caliber of teaching I'm receiving. But anyway.

We also had to turn in some peer evaluations, ranking each other on a scale that we set ourselves at the beginning of the semester. The evaluations were somehow tallied, weighted, flipped, curved, smacked upside the head and BOOM out came some grades. Unlike you might assume, I actually didn't crucify my group members (on this particular evaluation). Nor did I get totally bitch slapped on my own. Thus confirming that miracles, in fact, do happen. 

However, then the e-mails started rolling in. One woman wrote, "Thank you for your peer evaluations. I hope if there is someone who you don't feel is doing 100% of their share of the work on the next group project you're on, you'll be adult enough to speak to them in person, instead of hiding behind the annonymity of the peer evaluation at the end of the semester." Um okay, well I hope the next group project you work on, you actually work on it. That is my hope for you. Oh, and I'm telling Tommy that you ate dirt on the playground today. So there. 

Then the Little House on the Prairie dude in the group responded that he agreed and he was contacting the teacher for more information and an explanation. 10-4 detective, good luck cracking the case of the Confidential Peer Evals. Bet you'll get real far with that. 

The really unfortunate thing is that I tried to be less vindictive in my evaluation than I actually am in real life. So I gave these douches the equivalent of an 88 and a 93 on this particular element (much lower on another, but fortunately that one's not on the discussion board yet), and now they are absolutely going to believe I was single-handedly responsible for them getting a C in the class. No good deed goes unpunished!

two little words

I have once again been captured by the Lochness Monster otherwise known as “my retarded marketing group” that makes me do more work than necessary, but I am coming up for air long enough to yell two little words: I’M ENGAGED! Not only am I engaged, but I am engaged to my most perfect match. Ummm I feel myself becoming uber gushy so earmuff it if you’re not interested in lollipops and rainbows.

After the first time we met, we spent a painstaking 5 months getting to know each other before deciding to take the plunge and see each other in person again. And literally from that first day that we “re-met” we were both echoing with a resounding “uh oh” because neither of us wanted a long distance relationship but there seemed like no other alternative. Neither of us had ever been so instantly connected to someone or so perfectly complemented. So we saw each other again 3 weeks later. And then, oops, the week after that. And then 2 weeks after that. And now we’re engaged!!!! There was more in the middle but that’s the important part :) From the beginning we both knew deep down that we were done looking around, but now it’s in stone…an awesome, beautiful, sparkly stone that makes me turn into the biggest girly girl every time I look down.

First picture, first vacation, second time to meet. Crazy.

For the first few days after the engagement, I was mostly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the fact that I totally didn’t see it coming even though I had subconsciously been wondering that night why Brian gave a shit about me forgetting my shoes that were meant to go with my dress and about us being on time and about us getting a nice table. I was also overwhelmed by the fact that Brian actually really truthfully wanted to marry me and not just live a common-law existence for 10 years with joint bank accounts and kids with hyphenated names. And I was overwhelmed by the fact that this amazing person that I’d found and wanted to spend the rest of my life with not only shared my desire but couldn’t wait for that to start. We actually will have to wait, because school and cities and jobs and such will be in the way for a while longer, but at least we finally have an end-date on the horizon. Or a beginning date, rather.

Now that my shock has worn off, I've moved on to pure excitement. So watch out. This girl's been obsessed with weddings forever (hello! it's the biggest party you'll ever throw!). And now I have an excuse to totally indulge the little wedding planner inside of me! I definitely want to turn down the "freak" dial during the engagement so that Brian doesn't think that my true colors are as a wedding nazi, especially because there are so many other exciting things to do...like read books about marriage. Ha. Our nightstand already has 3 new books, 1 magazine, and 1 journal. If he's willing to have me after seeing the crazy that I'm now convinced overtakes every sane girl, then I'll promise to make sure it's worth his time. But if you think I'm not making a Knot page, theeeeeeeen you're wrong.

Just engaged, still teary-eyed! Crazy.

da dooce

This will have to be a quickie because in an hour Brian and I are heading to Chicago for the weekend, but I wanted to report that the Dooce reading was everything I hoped for and more! She had a severe Southern twang and told stories between reading excerpts from her website and book, one which was strictly about sex in the wake of lady-parts damage from childbirth...one of the few times when vagina gets funnier when it's repeated 1,607 times in 5 minutes. Everyone should be proud to know that I managed to plug my motormouth when I met her, and we successfully exchanged a nice little dialogue about Memphis without pee visibly dripping down my leg. 

Two particularly interesting things from the reading: 1) The audience was noticeably...how do I say this...homely. What about Dooce strikes a chord in women who hate makeup and hair ties? I hesitate to explore this too much for fear of what it says about me...moving on. 2) I once again fought the urge to CRY when the woman walked onto her little half-ass stage. This same thing happened when I saw Stephanie Klein in person. I have no earthly clue what about a 7-month pregnant ex-Mormon makes my tear ducts go ka-boom, but I had to focus all my energy on breathing in and out so as not to look like a complete ass in front of the hundreds of women (and four men) who were there. Although I guess it wasn't just me; the woman next to me said to her friend "I feel like I'm a kid waiting at the door of a chocolate factory!" First I thought she was a little awkwardly crazy, then I realized she was kind of right, and then I punched her in the face for talking about chocolate in front of me. Amen for the end of Lent on Easter Sunday and the chocolate Jesus I expect to find in an Easter egg! Maybe then my Frosty dreams will stop.

playing nice with others

I've noticed that I don't play very nicely with my marketing management group at school. This saddens me, because I generally feel like a fairly likeable person, but I think there's a 100% chance that the group members have all built dart boards in effigy of me ever since I sent hate mail telling them to pull their shit together. It's gotten awkward. 

Each week, we all write sections of a marketing plan that have to be edited together to make one formal APA-formatted paper, which we submit every week. Feel free to let the word formal echo in your head a few times. I really try to put a lock on my holier-than- thou editor's attitude because my group consists of very nice middle-aged accountants who use words like "supper." I'm sure they have many talents. Unfortunately, reading and writing don't seem to be two of them.

Things that make it difficult for me to not send them expulsion letters:

-One member edited the paper this week and left this sentence in. "Traffic counts – Determine the customer use of the store, If traffic counts are below estimations, is it consist during open hours or is it cyclical from weekday to weekend." When I pointed out that it wasn't a complete sentence, his response was "Grammer check did not note it." Mkay.

-Our teacher is an APA nazi, and when I said that our headings in the paper needed to be adjusted to match the correct style, he said he disagreed because he turned in a paper to another teacher once and that particular teacher didn't comment on his formatting. 

-Another member didn't write her section of the paper last week because she "just didn't know what to say."

-The same woman also volunteered to edit and turn in last week's paper. Yesterday we realized she had not even copied/pasted all three sections together and no edits had been made after we spent 2 hours in the library discussing changes. Oh, and the text was centered.

-When I devastated my group with the information that, no, Wikipedia was not a legitimate resource, they agreed that we should "just turn in the paper and see what the teacher throws back at us."

I'm considering suggesting that the professor administer a test on sentence construction as a weed-out.