Welcome to western PA

Well. Looks like someone got her winter coat just in time....


What the...it is still only October, right?

I can't wait to move to California.

WTF...or...

What The Fur?

I need boots, but I realized today that before I get boots, I desperately need a winter coat. Cause I don't have one. And it was 40 degrees today.

So, I went out this evening and I have the following question:
Why is there fur trim on EV.ER.Y coat I saw tonight? Why. Seriously. Why.

All I wanted was a classic pea coat. With a hood. Tailored. Classy. Warm. It took me 3 hours, but I found it. And it was 50% off.

Awesome squared.

The weather outside is frightful...

Okay. The past 6 years, I've only had to be outside for as long as it took me to get from my house to my car and then from my car to my office.

This is NOT the case now. I have to walk across campus to get to the office, or for meetings, or to get to the dining hall...you get the point.

What does this mean? It's means I'm going to be cold. It also means that since I'm pretty much in a snow belt (the stories make my eyes water), I'm not going to get to sport cute pumps for much longer. I need boots. I don't want UGGs or anything that resembles them. But I want my feet warm and dry. But I also want to look wicked cute.

I'll take suggestions. But in the meantime...thoughts on any of the following:












(Okay, they have a heel, but...I kind of want them.)

The shallow end...

Welcome to the wading pool.

So, right now I'm sitting on my couch and I'm watching this thing on the Duggar family. They're that family that have 17 children. In this episode, they have friends visiting them (for 2 weeks) that have 15 or 16 kids themselves.

I've just learned that, apparently, God doesn't believe in birth control. Well. I've been schooled.

Whatever. I can't figure out why these people annoy me. And then it hit me...it's the long horse hair ponytails and the matching clothing.

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy? If you want to be a baby factory, that's fine, but can't you at least let your kids be NORMAL? Jeans? T-shirts?

Okay, the mother just said, "We just thought this would be pleasin' to the Lord to start wearin' dresses."

STOP. Just.stop. I'm pretty sure the God has some bigger fish to fry than being pissed off cause we womenfolk are wearing pants.

The following post is rated "F" for Female.

If you're a dude and still reading--don't say I didn't warn you.

Ladies. Listen up. I'm not squeamish and I'm not shy, so I'm just gonna do this.

It's time you went and got one of THESE.

Don't be put off by the ridiculousness of the pinky-pink, flowery stupid website. The bottom line is this thing changed my life. Fo.real. It's a thousand times healthier, a thousand times more environmentally sound and it saves you hassle and money. What's not to love?

I'll answer any questions if you have them. If not, order one.

Oh LiLo...

Honeybunchesofoats...if you're gonna get a spray-on tan, make sure they get your feet.

You're welcome.

What I've Learned...

So, I've been here in my new life for what, like, 2.5 months? It's been really great. Really busy. Sometimes I have days like this past Thursday where I had 6 hours of just meetings. In fact, most of my job consists of meetings. The idea of that might drive people crazy, and while it can be exhausting, it will always beat the hell out of a cubicle.

That being said, I've also been busy getting an education of my own...

• Quarters are priceless when you're paying to do laundry again.
• Dorm water does awful things to my hair and skin.
• 4-inch pumps are not the best shoes to wear when you have to walk everywhere.
• I should really learn how to throw a Frisbee.
• 33 is really old when you're surrounded by 18 to 21-year-olds.
• 33 isn't really old when no one thinks you look older than 25.
• Chicken patty day in the Cafe makes my day.
• Apparently, water pressure-like Spandex-is a privilege, not a right.
• Don't try sleeping in "limited" clothing. You'll inevitably get a call on the Duty phone and end up taking a little bit longer than normal while Campus Safety waits for you in your lobby. Not that that's happened.
• I canNOT win at Phase 10. Ever.
• People really don't have a problem making out in front of everyone. Or on the science building steps at 2am when it's 40 degrees outside. Just sayin.
• Football players have been, and will always be, the same.
• When sorority girls tell me they love my hair, I feel cooler than I really am.
• Sound, and voices, carry incredibly well in a residence hall.
• Parents of Millennials are batshit crazy.

That's installment #1...I'm sure there will be more.

CAKE!

It's been awhile since I've made a cake. Mostly because I don't have an oven in my apartment. But this weekend I went home to celebrate a couple of birthdays and my nephew Carter had requested a police car cake. With a machine gun on the top. To "shoot at the bad guy cars."

Bring it.

The great thing about being home to do it was that my Mum acted as an excellent Sous Chef.

It started like this.


Turned into this.


Yeah, they got a big kick out of it.


I looked over to see him doing this...

Defying gravity...

This month I also went to see Wicked with Jess (Roseum).

Our seats were kick ass.




OhmygoshitwassostinkingamazingthatIcantevenbegintotellyouhowmuchIlovedeverysecondofit.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return...

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good...

Le sigh.

Civil Discourse

Here's the deal. I work for a great school. The average SAT score here is higher than Penn's average SAT score. These students are ridiculously smart, outrageous over-achievers but (sometimes) immovable in their opinions. They are the young Religious Right. For the most part.

We (the other RDs and I) operate out of the Student Life & Learning Department, so basically, we're always trying to do just what that implies--educate our residents in a way that a classroom doesn't, or sometimes can't. I saw alot of value in trying to teach my students that when they leave here, they're going to enter a world where (gasp!) not everyone thinks like they do. And (shockingly) the people they encounter, may even believe what they believe, but not vote like they vote.

Civil Discourse was Jason and Justin's brainchild. Other staffs (including my own) jumped on board because we saw it as a really valuable program, and something the campus needed. Basically, we pulled all kinds of campus groups together, and gave them tables to set up and then had a professor come in and speak on Civil Discourse and how we can, as humans and as christians, disagree better. Then we aired the Presidential Debate live. It was a huge success. We were told we'd get about 50 people and we had over 150. We didn't change the world. We may not have even changed any minds, but it felt good to try.

Here are some pics from the night:

Baby come back...

I know. You missed me. Well...Adam missed me. I have a lot of ground to cover. I'll do it in bits and pieces so it doesn't end up as one loooooong blog.

K? K.