She LIVES!

I have survived! I came through finals ok and I made it through "NonTrad Christmas/Marin Road Trip 2011" virtually unscathed. I did make a few idle threats on my sisters' lives but who wouldn't? That back seat got a little small there near the end.

I have started my intersession class (roughly 1/2 done!) and I'm thinking back on the good time I had New Year's Eve. Time for a list!

2010, thanks for...

...MSDA. It was hell-on-wheels while we were in the middle of it but in hindsight it was a great experience and it brought me closer to so many of my classmates. I love togetherness!

...Paper Conference in San Antonio. Again with the togetherness! So many good times...

...the most epic pub-crawl we've ever seen. I may have coordinated it...I only wish it was something I could put on my resume.

...the summer in the oil fields. I know nobody saw that coming but it really was an adventure and I made some great friends. Can't complain about that!

...my wide travels. I've never felt so grown up as when I've been terrified that I would be lost, and then wasn't. I never got really lost and I did it all without Garmin SanDiego!

...Kyle. He's kinda cool. I sorta like him. But seriously he's fun and sometimes you need more fun in your life. :)

2010, what the hell?!...

...Susan & Mahjabeen leaving. Uncool. I'm going to be bitter with you about this for a while.

...Simulation. I knew it had to come around eventually but it was PAINFUL.

...The financial-aid-scares: the 2010 edition. Seriously I'm about on a first name basis with the graduate school and the financial aid people who have to do their black magic to get me my money. This is ridiculous.

2011, I'm excited you're here. Kudos on starting things off right. Always important to make a good first impression. Here's to hoping you and I have a good run!

Desi food makes you sleepy

***Before I say anything else, my mother pointed out that my last entry implied I flossed my teeth for the first time ever. I would like to point out that I have flossed many times before, it's just...been a little while... nobody tell Melvin!!!***

So day two of school was pretty good. I only have one class on Tuesday Thursday (T and TU as the University calls them) and it looks like it's gonna be easy. John and Matt (a guy in my department and a friend of another guy in my department) are in it with me so if nothing else I'll have study buddies (but I reinforce that I don't think I'll need them that bad). When I finished with that I went and transcribed my notes from paper to OneNote (if you haven't tried it you should-- it' s pretty great!) and then went home for lunch. I spent my afternoon doing a couple errands and then I helped Mahj make some desi food (the main event of my day...maybe my week). I made palak paneer which is literally translated spinach cheese. It sounds sketch, it looks suspect, but it tastes pretty good. We had all kinds of food and I ate enough for at least three normal sized people and possibly enough for a small child as well. It was amazing.

I would have stayed at Em's eating all night but I had to grade a quiz (thankfully... I think that much food could kill a person). I went to bed early so that I could get up EARLY (6 am...which I considered sleeping in this summer...oh how times have changed) to go swimming (I had to try to compensate for all that eating I did...). Since I was up I decided to blog. I know you are riveted by all this recapping...settle down.

Tonight is "old" roommate dinner with my girls Leslie, KVD, and Stacey. Gumby's! I'm excited! I figure since I'm off to such an ambitious start, my day is gonna be pretty good. I'll let you know how it goes.

Showing Dad that I'm no fool...

Today was the first day of school...hooray! It's been a couple days so quick recap of what you've missed (not much):

I am no longer jobless! I am grading Operations Research 1 for Dr. Wu. I am supremely thankful for this because 1) I needed a job that fit my schedule and grading rocks in this aspect and 2) I can't work at the GAP in real life because I would spend all my paychecks on their clothes (that arrangement only works in my dreams). I got my first quiz to grade today (Yup, day one... Wu doesn't mess around)

I've also decided not to mess with the title of the blog... so what if my life is no longer an adventure? I fixed the tagline anyway... I'll change it when my girl J Greene tells me what to change it to alright?!

I did go see Vampires suck with Scarlett and it was... a movie. Like those Scary Movies they made it is really awkward... I dunno.

Farmer's market was delightful. I got cherry tomatoes, edamame, and peaches. All tasty.

IE pub crawl was, as expected, lots of fun. Hitting the ville with my people is always a good time and it's just so good to get the band back together.

Sunday I discovered tamarind sauce. It's better than any condiment I have ever had. I can't do it justice in words so get to a store with a desi (Indian/Pakistani) food section and get you some. It will change your life.

So that brings us up to today. I didn't sleep well last night because I flossed my teeth last night and my gums hurt something terrible and I think I was excited to get started with the semester. Even so it was a good day. I started by visiting the office before class... there were PW cinnamon rolls and they were AMAZING.

First class was simulation with Dr. Wu (who doesn't mess around) and he told us (as he tells all his classes) that his goal for day one was "enrollment reduction" and he informed one of the grad students (who do all their projects solo) that project two (which will take something like 200 hours) was going to be...well... he said "if you alone...you get killed" (all in his fantastic Chinese accent). Good start to my day. I then sat through Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and then Advanced Engineering Economy. Advanced Econ will be fun because it's an Easton class. CAM...well it'll be CAM.

Tomorrow is my last UGE credit, Urban and Regional Economics. I don't know what to think about this at this point. We'll see. After my one class tomorrow we get to meet our freshman "buddies" and talk to them about time management and all that good orientation crap. Should be fun. I'm just crossing my fingers that for once the kids I am assigned will actually show up and be in our department. The last two years I've had non-existent kids. Fortunately there are always unaccounted for orphans for me to adopt.

Tomorrow night is desi food night to say goodbye to Mahjabeen who leaves for NYC on Thursday. I promised not to cry... the jury is out on whether or not I'll deliver on that. I guess if it get's misty I can just cuddle up to some tamarind sauce or samosas...

My So Called Life

Anyone remember that show? It had Claire Danes and Jared Leto in it. Anyway this has nothing to do with that show that re-runs on Nick...I just needed a title.

My life simply isn't so exciting as to warrant a blog entry every day. I am back in Manhattan (please Lord let me be done driving for a while) and today was errand day so nothing glamorous. I washed all the thousands of miles worth of bugs off my car, vacuumed out a dozen jobs worth of dirt and gravel and tossed my paper substitutes for GPS along with a bunch of other random car accumulations. I ate lunch in the WESP office with Em so I could reconnect with Manhattan humanity. I also went and bought Microsoft office, priced text books (holy cow I'm going to be poverty stricken this semester), got my tires rotated, grabbed crap at Walgreens, and stopped at Nespor's for wine to enjoy while watching Jersey Shore tonight (don't judge, it's a train wreck and we can't look away). I also stopped to see Scarlett on the way out to my errands because poor kid lost a month's worth of work and she needed a coffee like Lindsey Lohan needed a proper dad growing up. Don't worry, I provided the caffeine and I think she'll pull through.

Now for anyone still awake after the riveting recap of my day, the weekend plans:

Hopefully going to see Vampire's Suck at some point

Pre-School pub crawl with my IE's

Farmer's Market

School Supplies shopping (I have a weird enthusiasm for this don't judge me)

We definitely need to come up with a new name for this thing... these are NOT adventures...