P.S.

Wow I must apologize for being a SLAAAAACKER, but I've been busy. Friday we had another Transfer Orientation...in the rain, which was stressful at times, but we got through it with flying colors.

Let's see last the weekend I went to an AU baseball game and dinner with Michelle and Saturday I went to the dog park with Kristen and her dog. Later we just hung out, got dinner, drinks, played rockband and went out for a bit.

Then this past week all the students were back from spring break and I have about a million things to do which ended with Orientation. After such an exhausting week I went for a much needed mani/pedi...my nails are awesome, I can't believe I am a reformed nail bitter. Friday night I kept it low key and watched Grey's and my new favorite movie: P.S. I love you with Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank. OMG Such a great movie and great music. I laughed, I cried, it got me thinking. If you haven't seen it add it to your Netflix ASAP.

Saturday I was up bright and early despite the monsoon outside to drive to Florida State to see my friend from college Tom who is in grad school for higher ed. The drive was terrible, I thought I was going to die like 5 times, I had to keep pulling over because it was raining so hard. Luckily I have my new itunes purchases to keep me company: The new Fray CD, Thriving Ivory (AMAZING BAND...obsessed...reminds me of Something Corporate), the P.S. I Love You soundtrack, some American Idol songs, live David Cook concert songs I ripped off youtube, and some other random downloads. After 4 plus hours I finally made it there in one piece and was overjoyed to see Palm Trees in Tallahassee! Campus was beautiful, great buildings, quad space and their football stadium doubles as an administration building on the perimeters...redonk!

It was fun to catch up with Tom and talk higher ed and Quinnipiac. Later we got dinner with some of his grad school friends which was good times. Again I played guitar hero, but was terrible...I blame the Yuengling. Sunday I slept til like 1pm...opps! I was sooo tired from a long week and a drive. We got some yummy Mexican food and I headed back for my trek back later that afternoon which was WAAAY better since the sun was shining. Yet for some reason I couldn't go to bed last night I was up til like 2am so needless to say I am beat today. The rest of this week should be less crazy. I hope I have time to FINALLY watch Twilight, I got the DVD last week and haven't been able to watch it. Oh and I also have to track down my birth certificate since UPS is the devil...we shall see that the debacle goes.

Lastly, I just saw New Kids on the Block is doing a Summer tour and will be in Birmingham in May and I don't have Orientation that night yay!!! So I'm hoping to go since I was really depressed I didn't get to see this past tour.

On the Verge

I can never catch a break. So after monthsssss of putting off getting my Alabama license and registering my car today was the day. I took today off from work and planned to get it all over with. I get to the DMV and they ask to make sure I had my NY license, SS card and birth certificate which I present to them. Then they give me a number and I wait for a little bit over an hour. Then my number gets called and I give the lady all my stuff and I see her keep looking at my birth certificate and take it around to other people. Well it turns out my birth certificate is not a birth certificate, it's a birth registration. F**K me. So they tell me I need to request one from New York state, but they can begin to process my stuff and I would only have to come back with my birth certificate. okay. Well the start processing my stuff and because the name on my birth registration includes my mother's maiden name in addition to my last name and my ss card and license don't have my mother's maiden name. So they couldn't process anything and I have to figure out what my "legal name" is. Since I was unsuccessful with the license venture, I couldn't go to a different DMV ti register my car. Days like this really make me wish my dad was still alive. Luckily I had my sister to calm me down. I spent the rest of the day on the couch and then went to the gym to destress which was fantastical.

Prior to today's meltdown I was gonna post about how I spent the weekend in Mississippi at Ole Miss for an orientation conference. There were 1500 crazy orientation people. I presented 3 different sessions which is a lot, but they all went really well. I got to catch up with lots of orientation folks, plus it made me realize that I really have a edge with all my technology skills and I may talk to my boss about putting it into my job duties...which hopefully could mean more for $$$. Also at the conference I was thinking about how if I ever decide to get my doctorate I would do it in industrial and organization psychology. I was reading about Auburn program...but I'm not ready for a phd yet...plus with psych it's gonna have stats and math...scary.

I must get back to watching American Idol. This season I'm liking Allison, Adam, Alexis and Kris -in that order...but no one comes close to my David Cook.

Concerts on my Birthday!

Soooo this week has been really weird. On Monday I was looking at a bunch Incubus concert footage online and thinking about how it has been SOOO long since I've seen them on tour. I have loved Incubus since like 2000 - Senior year of high school baby. I love their CDs, but they are fantastic live. They also mix it up, I love when they do some songs acoustic and when they do covers. On Monday, I went to their website and looked to see if they were touring...no, sad. So I facebook my fellow avid Incubus lover Jeannine and tell her I wish Incubus was on tour and when they do announce a tour we are going...even if it somewhere random and we both have to travel to get there. I've been listening to the Incubus channel on Pandora this week and even the loal radio station played some Incubus and the DJ commented they were one of his favorite bands. Well low and behold I log onto myspace and check the bulletins and I see one from Incubus announcing a Greatest Hit CD and a Tour. WHAT?!?! So I read about the CD that comes out in June, 2 discs, full of their hits, plus 2 new tracks and some rarities they play. Then I scroll to the tour and look for "NY" or "GA" shows and I stop at "NY" and see they are playing Radio City Music Hall...ON MY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Seriously, I already planned on being home then, I can't believe it. The SAME thing happened with the American Idols Tour aka David Cook Concert, they were playing Long Island on my birthday when I planned on being home!

Sometime I say I'm not lucky, but then again I do luck out with certain things. Back to Incubus real quick. I am debating on going to their NYC show on my bday or their Show 2 days before at the Mohegan Sun Casio in CT and make a whole Casino birthday weekend out of it with Colleen (her bday is Aug 5). Plus I am debating going to see them in Atlanta on a Friday in mid August on top of the CT/NY show.

Seriously though I was planning on blogging about music today and how I love lyrics that really hit home or make you think of someone (good or bad). I saw lyrics to a Dashboard Confessional song that hit home the song is called "Bend and not break" and thy lyics that made me think of someone are:

I'm talented at breathing
Especially exhaling
So that my chest will rise and fall with yours
.
.
.
Try to understand there's an old mistake that fools will make
And I'm the king of them, pushing everything that's good away


For those of you who are my myspace friends...check out my playlist. I got some AWESOME tunes going on there. Enjoy!


PS - I had a crazy dream last night that my friend Rory was talking to me as she was crossing traintracks (the traintracks were ones by where I grew up...that have lights and bars that come down) and without warning a train just plows through and hits her and she died on impact while I stand there in shock. I was seriously FREAKED OUT. I did a little "dream analyzing" via google today and it said trains are usually big businesses or groups and a problem they have involving the person they are in contact with. So I actually told Rory all of this on Facebook..we'll see what she says, but I must say I am quite thankfulthat she is alive and well because that dream was all kinds of effed up.

I Rock!

So last week I missed a day of work and my last training with my student staff due to flight drama. I spent the rest of the week getting prepared 100% for our transfer orientation session - my first BIG one in the New Student Center. There were some complications and headaches along the way which is to be expected, but overall the 350+ students and 150+ parents were "orientated" (it's not a real world and it's like nails on the chalk board for most of us).

Today my boss sent out an email to our orientation leaders to thank them and tell them they did a good job and I also got some praise.

"Finally, I think we owe a HUUUUUUUGE shoutout to Jenn......so here's mine. While she was here for our November and January sessions, they were both relatively small and we were working with a very experienced staff. I like to consider last Friday as her first official session as the SOS Director, and I for one think she did a fantastic job. She selected great OLs (clearly), oversaw a thorough and enjoyable training process, planned the meticulous details that can ruin a program if they are overlooked, and did it all with the energy and exuberance that only Jenn has. If you get a chance to come to 189 this week before you depart for your Spring Break destinations, drop by and give Jenn a pat on the back. She earned it."

So I am pretty much a happy girl today. I felt the day went pretty smooth considering all the new-ness and it was really great to get some recognition for it.

Keeping Memories of Quinnipiac

So last weekend I headed back to the good old Northeast for my college reunion weekend. I flew out Thursday evening - keep it mind it was 70 + degrees out. Colleen picks me up and the airport and we catch up for the 1+ hour drive. While driving I notice and envy how there is a Dunkin' Donuts every freaking exit and yet there are barely any in the south. I spent Thursday night at Colleen's place and then Friday she worked part of the day while I slept in and then that afternoon we ran some errands, including hitting up a huge New York & Company sale. Oh how I miss having a NY&C close by. So Friday evening we head down to the Q in the rain. Once we get to Hamden - aka my happy place - we go to my friend Katie's house. It was sooo good to see Katie it had been like 2 years since we've seen each other, but we chat via facebook/aim pretty regularly. So we all get ready and head out - there were 2 big places to go that night, but we rolled up at one place and it was packed with a line wrapping around the building with people waiting in the rain...ummm no. I realize the car in front of us is one of our friends so I call them to find out what they are doing. They tell us they are going to a more chill place since everywhere else was crazy. It ended up being really fun because a nice sized group of my good friends met up and were able to get a big table and catch up over beers. The place started to pick which was fun too. Towards the end of the night we went back to the place that was crazy packed and we went in - no cover since the place was only gonna be open for less than an hour. It was fun though to see a different group of people. Everyone all weekend kept commenting on my short dark hair, mostly because it was long and blonde last time. It was also fun to see former students I had as freshman in my orientation groups who are ALL alumni - even my youngest babies. Crazy. Friday night we slept at Katie's place..,thanks Katie!

Saturday Colleen and I went out to lunch in New Haven at one of my favorite spots and then headed to campus in search of a QU hoodie to replace the one I lost on New Years Eve. Sadly I didn't find any sweatshirts I liked...plus I was in a hurry to leave because Colleen and I weren't showered and were all scrubby and there were just TOOO many people on campus who I hadn't seen in a long while and would rather be showered and ready. So we go and check into the hotel and start to get ready while some our other friends start rolling into town. Saturday night was an university sponsored social with an open bar. It was fun, but there were too many people, it was really crowded. I did get to catch up with a bunch of people including my very first Quinnipiac crush - he was the OL that greeted me when I pulled into orientation freshman year...yum. As we were leaving the social on campus I saw one of my friend who was filming stuff for Alumni Affairs and wanted to know if I'd do a little interview....yum HELLZ YEAH. So we'll see if they use any of that footage on the website. Colleen even did an interview after me. Colleen later said she knew she was buzzed because she agreed to be filmed for an interview. haha

After we left campus we headed to New Haven and we got to the bar early enough that there were no wait and no cover. I pretty much saw everyone out at the bar that night. I swear all I did was walk laps stopping to talk to people in 20 minute intervals. I had soooo much fun that night. It was so excellent to see good friends, past friends, lost friends, acquaintances. There were some interesting interactions that not, including some awkward hand holding...not initiated by me! I talked, I drank, I laughed, I danced and i looked goooood...it was a fantastic evening. We ended up wolfing 2 pizzas and like one minute and went back to the hotel room with a bunch of people, by at that point I was so tired that I apparently curled up on the foot of the bed and went to sleep.

One thing I failed to mention was while I was at the bar Saturday night I kept getting calls from an 800 number so when I was in the bathroom I was able to pick up the phone to get an automated message saying my flight for Sunday was cancelled, but it was rescheduled. So Sunday at brunch I call to figure out my flight info. I couldn't figure out why it was cancelled the weather was fine....snow storms were expected much later. Well after over 30 min on hold I come to find out my flight was rescheduled for Monday at 2pm. Great I was going to have to miss work and it was going to be a crazy week. So I call my boss only to find out that it was snowing in ALABAMA. What?!?! There were tornadoes and 70 degree weather on Saturday with flooding and then Sunday they got over 2 inches of snow. CRAZY. So Sunday I went back to Colleens and we just hung out in sweatpants before going to Colleen's dance rehearsal for Grease that she was leading. It has just started snowing and the ground was slick and it was so cold. I like couldn't walk on the ice - i forgot how...plus I didn't bring any appropriate shoes. Grease rehearsal was a fun time...I enjoyed it. After the nearly 3 hour practice like 3 inches of snow accumulated. DAMN. I had a bad feeling about my flight on Monday. Turns out the school where Colleen works was closed for snow and my flight was delayed 3 hours. Around noon Colleen and I go outside to dig our her car which was hilarious and I made a glorious snow angel in 12+ inches of snow. We end up going to lunch with Colleen and some other friends, at this place with AMAZING chicken pot pie, before dropping me off at the airport. So I get to the airport over an hour before my flight and the plane arrives at the gate on time and I'm like okay I can get out. Welllll not so much the delay the flight a few times and then tell us there is mechanical issues with wing de-icer valves....great. Well after failed attempt to fix it, before the officially cancel the fight I try and figure out my options. I end up getting a ticket to fly standby on a flight that was boarding at the moment. I was like I HAVE to get on that flight or else I'd have to wait til 2pm the next day. Well I ended up being the 3rd to last person to get on the flight. THANK GOD. It was a crazy long travel day. I didn't get to my apartment til 12c/1e. I barely got any sleep and then I went to go rescue Freddie before heading into work - which was a crazy long and busy work well.

More on that later.


*Note the title of this post is the title of a song that 2 of my friends wrote and performed about graduating from the Q

2 Cents

I basically was in a coma-like state yesterday when I got home so hopefully I can blog about this weekend tonight or tomorrow.

HOWEVER while I was in a coma on my couch I was flipping through Entertainment Weekly and came across 2 things I thought I'd sharing you with all - my adoring audience haha.

This quote was featured with the soundbites from this week from the show Chuck in which a character was spying on his girlfriend - "Dude it's not stalking. It's caring enough about someone to learn things about them they won't tell you themselves."

Umm that quote just about made my life.

The second thing was featured as Number 1 on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" of the week...David Cook and Carrie Underwood's duet from Disney's Idol Experience Attraction opening. They did a duet of Fleetwood Mac's "Go your own way" and it is FANTASTIC - I wish it was on itunes. Check it out below.

REDONK

Alumni Weekend.
Wow.
I am still processing the sensory overload that I experienced.
Not to mention flight drama like whoa.
Once I have more than 5 hours of sleep I will write one mother of a post.