Loving Sunday, Dreading Monday

Man, Sundays are great. Especially when you take the time to truly have a day of rest (seriously, I think all those religious traditions are onto something!). Peter and I both had naps today, though at different times. I have spoken before about my passion for naps, and today was a wonderful example of why. Drowsy afternoon, full belly from lunch, sunny but with a chill in the air and no appointments to make. Wonderful!

We went to the wedding of a friend of mine from school yesterday in Colorado Springs. It was the first time we had been there, but it probably won't be the last. It's actually a lot closer than we thought! Another good thing that happened yesterday: The Buffs WON! Amazing. I keep thinking about those of little faith, the scoffers and the disbelievers who didn't want to give
Coach Hawkins a chance. I hope they are changing their tune now! My family has followed him for several years now, since he was at Boise State, because one of my high school classmates from Reno went and played for him up there. He took that team from exactly the kind of fame Idaho has always had, and brought them to the national spotlight with the Fiesta Bowl game last year (even if he wasn't actually the coach, it was his recruits and his former coaching staff).

You could see the spirit even last year. I don't really know sports, I will admit, but even at some of the games last year, it just seemed like if we only had a little more time, we could have made a great comeback. The momentum would shift late in the game, but never soon enough to win. This game, I guess we managed to get *just* enough time to make that amazing field goal with seconds to spare. Now if we can just keep pushing that margin of time back, that would be great!

Well, Monday's less than an hour away now, which makes me sad and excited for next weekend already. I'm just so tired of constantly going with no breaks. Even a lunch hour would be heavenly. I don't know what I would do with all that time. In the meantime, I should probably look at my work for tomorrow and make sure I didn't miss something huge. Merry October too!

Bedtime

My contacts are dry, I'm making up excuses to surf the web, I'm avoiding studying, and I'm not at all tired. It must be time to go to bed.

At the Game

Savoring the feeling of winning. It may not last long.

Snuggling

We put the down comforter back on the bed last night. It was very hard to get out of bed this morning.

Still here

Sorry for the lack of posts, everyone. We had a very social weekend with a wedding shower of Friday (fun!) and house guests Friday through Sunday (also fun!). But the combo meant that free time was spent working on homework and assignments, so, it was not actually free time.

Exciting things:
We went to the football game on Saturday and roasted in the sun but CU won overwhelmingly, and winning is very fun, especially when last two games and last season were not-so-hot. The best part is that a lot of the good plays were made by freshman, so that really shows the rebuilding process is in full swing. Why I love our new coach: ""We've won four games in two years so we're just trying to win a football game against anybody," Hawkins said."

Picture from the game (in the student section with two of the girls in my program):

Weather was CRAZY today! Woke up to buckets of rain pouring down, complete with thunder and lightning. At 6:30 AM people! This simply does not happen here. Rain, especially accompanied by thunder, comes at 3 PM in August. That is it. Even crazier is that it rained all day. Not as heavy as the morning, but steady and more than a drizzle most of the time. They are saying we'll be above our average for the month already just after today. Crazy style, but good.

Sentimentality done right

Man, I don't think there was a better time for movies that tugged at your heartstrings than the 1940s era. We just finished "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (from 1939, but close enough), and holy cow! Very sentimental, but sentimental done right. One of my other favs is "Mrs. Minniver," which was about England during WWII. The first time I saw it, I only saw the last ten minutes, but I was sobbing during the last scene, even though I had no idea who anyone was. I would highly recommend id it, even if you only watch the last ten minutes.

Best Cookie Ever

I just made a batch of meringues for an upcoming shower. O. M. G. Very good, very easy, and very not-bad-for-you! Just two egg whites, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and a little salt, beat until stiff peaks form (the tip stands up straight when you pull the beater out), then add 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and/or fold in your favorite flavoring or nuts/chocolate chips/mint chips/etc., plop them on a parchment- or foil-lined cookie sheet or two and stick in the over at 200 degrees for an hour and a half. Then, the best part? Turn off the heat and leave them there. Go to sleep, go shopping, whatever. They don't go from gooey to burnt in half a second, there's no rush to rescue them at the perfect moment, they're fine. And oh so delicious! And since there's pretty much nothing in them (except sugar), they're practically health food! I made them with some mint chips that ruin chocolate chip cookie recipes, so they have been abandoned in our closet for quite some time. I chopped them up, folded them in just before putting them in the oven and... heaven! I need to stop eating them so there will be some left for the party. But I can always make more! I think the very best part is that the altitude doesn't seem to affect them at all. Score!

PS If you want them to look pretty like at the store, you'll need a pastry bag and a pretty tip. If you plop them on like I did, they will look exactly like you plop them (no expanding or anything). Not pretty, but tasty!

An Open Letter

Dear Summer,

I am sorry I took you for granted. I spent your hot days seeking air conditioning and your pleasant nights inside avoiding the mosquitoes (West Nile, you know). I avoided the sun by slathering on sunblock, wearing hats and seeking the shade when I was outside. I should have spent at least one afternoon reading in the shade of a large tree on a grassy lawn somewhere, but I was always too busy working. I'm sorry. If you promise to come back for an encore, I will to my utmost to make the most of the sun and warmth you provide. Now that fall abruptly arrived this morning with low clouds and a high of 60, I realize my mistake.

Thank you,
Your summer child

When you're a nerd, you're a nerd all the way

Last night, I didn't sleep well because there was a client I *desperately* wanted. A 6 month old baby with Deaf parents. OMG! I seriously love babies, I could practice my ASL and I could get another client! Even better, like a sign from above, every single time mentioned in the email as a possible meeting time I had free. Amazing! So I was apparently really wound up about this, waking up at 4 AM thinking about it. Bad! The worst part is that whenever we get emails about potential new clients, we *never* hear back about it. So those who express interest are usually left wondering for a week or more until another group email (maybe) goes out saying it's been taken. So when I woke up this morning, I had to steel myself that: a) I probably wouldn't hear for a while; b) there are other people who still need assignments and maybe they get first priority; c) even if I *did* get it, there's no way I would get an email by 8 AM on a Saturday when I replied at 9 PM Friday night. I had practically calmed down when I checked my email (because even I knew it was really not healthy to be this excited about something that means more work). And guess what was in my inbox? You got it! I got the baby! Even better, I will have a co-clinician, which means I'll have a second-year student as the lead, so I won't have to wing it as much. And my "co" is a really great girl I was supposed to have worked with before on a different client who fell through. Exciting!!!!

And, yes, I am aware that being excited about school on a Saturday morning is a VERY nerdy thing to do. Now excuse me while I go write some papers.

Fleeting

This morning I woke up to see a beautiful rainbow in front of the mountains, very unusual for this area. So I ran downstairs to get my camera, and by the time I got back up (30 seconds later), it was gone. Sorry. You'll just have to imagine it. It was very pretty.

Craftiness

I love JoAnn's sales. I now have a huge stack of scrapbooking supplies for not too much money (though more than I had anticipated). I'm pretty sure I would be happy just looking at all the pretty papers and never scrapbooking a page. But I did do 3 so far tonight, so I really am using them. I love inspiration!

Are you ready for some football?

First game of the season today, and already we have half the numbers of wins from last year. So sad, but this year is going to be better, I can feel it in my bones. Considering the start last year (losing to a lower division school that we were supposed to cream), and the start this year (winning our in-state rivalry game), I think it bodes well for us.

A lot of people (that I know, at least) hate school sports because that's what intellectuals and nerds do. Hate the jocks. Haven't you seen the movies? Sheesh! I did my first two years of high school, but there wasn't really that much to hate, since we were an all-girls school with no football team (duh). The boys' school across the street had the football team and it was easy to despise them because we never saw the boys, and when we did, they pretty much acted exactly the way teenage high school jocks are supposed to. So, gross.

But at my next high school (public, co-ed), I had to go to every football team because I was in the band. I played flag. We won every single game because that's what our high school did. I didn't resent it though because it was just a part of the culture of excellence. The Academic Olympic team got recognition when they won, as did the debaters (and of course our incredible marching band). So nerds and jocks coexisted peacefully, more or less. Plus, the games were fun. I'm really competitive and I like to win, so winning was really fun with the football team. It was great to be a part of that joy.

Now at a big football school (though nothing like Texas), I again find myself really enjoying football. I tutor some of the athletes, so it's more fun because I sometimes know the players, but it's also educational as far as the reality of "jocks." Pretty much, they are just like the rest of the college population. People like to say that the athletes get to skate through and don't work hard, but there are also students who slack and don't care as much who aren't athletes. There are also very intelligent and motivated athletes, just as there are other students who are the same way. Overall, I'm happy and proud to be working in some capacity for the athletic department, even if it's not the cool thing to do in some circles.