It's all Greek to me!

I just walked back from the Post Office on campus and saw no less than 10 students in shirts that advertised one Fraternity or Sorority or another.

It brought me back to my undergrad days.  I went to a school that had a handful of Fraternities.  No Sororities.  We didn't see letters of sweatshirts and t-shirts.  The fraternity boys generally wore navy blazer, khaki pants and ties.  There were things that you knew.  You knew that Chi Phi was responsible for the International students being moved to a smaller house.  You knew that pledging Kappa Alpha required writing a HUGE check.  You knew that when Sigma Chi was rushing you'd get stopped and serenaded.  A lot.

You also knew that if you went to a fraternity party there was a better than average chance that your drink would be spiked and you'd be raped.

There's no other way to put it.  It was popularly known.  And it happened.  Often.  And as far as we knew nothing was ever done about it.

from www.washingtontimes.com

These days hte news is full of fraternities and sororities trashing things, fraternities with rapey signs,  and batshit crazy sorority recruitment.





I drive past the stately sorority building on campus here and wonder what these organizations are really like.  Because of where I went to school they weren't an option.  Are they as awful as the media says?  Other than finding lifelong friends (as the recruiting pitch goes) why would you join one?  Did I miss out on someone special because they were allowed on my campus?  (Apparently for some people it's never too late)

I'll never know.

And thus is life.

Itty Bitty Kitties

On Saturday we ventured out to the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter to see if they had any kittens.

We ended up getting take out!

Our new additions!!

We have two additions!

Mulan, who is shy and very watchful.

And Merida, who is adventurous and VERY loving.  She loves to give head butts and rub all over!

Misty wants so desperately to play.  But she can't play fight like the cats do.  She she tries to poke and get them to chase her.  Poor puppy.

What am I doing this weekend?  Cleaning.  The cats get into EVERYTHING, so everything must be cleaned.

it's been quite the few days... (As told through GIFs)

It's this time of the year again.....


On Friday, it was Freshmen move in day here on campus.  Tons of parently and lots of driving the wrong way.

Friday was also the first of my two catered orientations.

Two catered lunches, 2 orientations with materials, the purchase of sodas and snacks for two lunches and a party?

Friday came and went without incident.  I had materials printed.  Food was ordered.  I was all set.

Then Monday Happened.

Monday not only did I manage to slam my fingers of one hand in a door.  I also managed to slice open my palm on a wooden chair.

Yes.  A wooden chair.

It's not a bad cut, but damn it hurts!

I also ran unto numerous door frames.

I was all:

Tuesday happened.

Graduate student orientation happened.

And we totally rocked the catering!

Today was the first day of classes.   I came in and had a few enrollment issues....  Like at 9am....

I'm not used to having a crisis before 10am....

And this signals my transition from summer to autumn.

The one constant that I've been dealing with has nothing to do with school.  It's been hectic around here.  I'm slowly catching up.  Sadly, I'm going through a day's spoons and having to borrow from the next.  By Saturday I'm going to be all:

Happy First day of the 2015-2016 school year!






I'm going to sum up with 3 GIFs that I adore...  And have no purpose in this post:

I had some Mandatory Fun this Weekend

Months ago, we learned that Weird Al was bringing his tour to town.  So I bought tickets!

Good seats, huh?

I opted for messanine seats.  But not just any sets.... front row of the mezzanine, center.

The show was amazing.  It started out with Tacky.

Al wasn't on stage....  was it pre-recorded?  Nope.  it was a live feed of him walking through the halls, just like in the video.

from setlist.fm

I went in to the concert with the hopes that he'd do my favorite songs.  And he did...

Honestly, the concert was simply amazing. It was a mix of live performances, wild costumes, and video projection (that filled in the time between costume changes)

 It was simply the most fun that I have had in quite a while.

We laughed.

We sang along....

it was amazing.

What are my favorites?


Dare to be Stupid


Fat


It's All About the Pentiums


Amish Paradise


Word Crimes


Smells like Nirvana (Complete with bored cheerleaders)


White and Nerdy (Complete with Donny Osmond on the screen)


the encore was Star Wars themed.  The band was on stage with Darth Vader and Storm Troopers (Members of the 501st)  they did The Saga Begins and Yoda.



Hell yes I sung along!

I loved that fact that there were a lot of kids there.

My only regret... not buying a shirt.

Today is a new day

This morning I decided to take a walk instead of working out inside.  It was the best decision.

Pre-dawn thunderstorms cleared the humidity.  It was clear and cool.  The grass was wet.  We did the 25 minute walk from the Jeff Galloway app.  I know it wasn't strenuous, but it was nice.

Tuesday was simply awful, but I managed to regroup.  I did think about leaving Weight Watchers for a while.  I'm using the 21 Day Fix eating plan, anyways.  I can put that $35 a month to a better use.  But me leaving would probably spell the end of our at work meeting, so I'll stay for now.

I decided that I do, in fact, need a kick in the pants.  So this is me, kicking myself in the pants.  The 3 step process:

Step 1:  Hit my eating plan hardcore.

The 21 Day Fix eating plan works for me.  I need to SERIOUSLY get back to it.




Step 2:  Continue with my Half- Marathon training

from jeffgalloway.com

I started this program with the app last week and I'm really loving it.  Two days a week, typically Mondays and Wednesdays, I run for 30 minutes.  One day a week I go on a nice walk.  My long run days are on the weekend.

It's a program that makes sense to me, and feels good to do.  I don't know how else to explain it.



Step 3:  Add a new workout program

This one is the odd one.  I know that I'm doing the running, but I need more activity.  I'm working on my stamina.

Cize came out in July, so I picked it up.  The name is silly.  I know!  The program is based around dancing, of the Hip Hop-ish variety.  I've only done 1 workout so far, but it's so wonderfully fun!  (Contact me if you're interested in it!)

This program has 6 workouts a week.  You know what that means...  2 a day workouts!  I don't know if I'm going to get up crazy early and do them back to back or run in the morning and do the DVD workout after work.  I'll figure it out on Monday.

Who else is kicking their own butts?

Today isn't turning out to be very good.

It started with my phone alarm not going off.  Again.  Well, it went off, but with no sound.  I managed to get up and do a shorter workout.  I even managed to get myself out the door.

But I've been dogged with the black clouds ever since.  The number on the scale was simply awful.  I'm tired of this eating healthy and fitness thing.  I'm tired of it not working.

I finished up sending the department newsletter.  The process is so frustrating that tears were shed today.  And last week.  And the week before.   And I have to do it all again next summer.  I'm sure that I did much of the process incorrectly.  I'm waiting for someone to call and yell at me.

Somewhere in all of this I decided to become a Beach Body Coach.  Don't get me wrong.  I love their products.  But I realized that this will go about as well as me selling Avon.  Which is not well.  I think I need to get out before I lose my shirt.

I've been fighting off tears for an hour now.  I'm dreading stepping on the scale at my Weight Watchers meeting today.  Heck, with the mood that I'm in, I'm not looking forward to interacting with the human race.

But I have to stay.  And somehow I'll get through this.

Essay Contests

I've seen quite a few essay contests to win a business.

First there was an Inn.

Then there was a goat dairy farm.

Now it's a horse farm.

Frankly, I think this is an amazing idea.  If you're looking for farm, and don't have a lot of start up capital.. it's great!

My friend posted the horse farm give away and tag me on it.  I thought it was wonderfully thoughtful!  Especially with the homes that I've been posting to Facebook lately.

I don't know if I've ever wanted to farm.  My mother grew up on a farm, and we spent summers there.  it's hard work.  Hard dirty work.  That involves actual dirt...  

Also, I'm terrified of horses...

I don't like gardening.

I'm just made for the farm-y lifestyle.

Why am I looking at those homes on Truila?  Because they have some land.  And not living on top of my neighbors would be kind of awesome.

I just don't see myself entering those contests any time soon.