Service interruption

Now that I am back in Ann Arbor (at least for the time being), my goal was to update my blog with the occurrences from my last few weeks in MN, my trip to DC, the drive back to Ann Arbor, and my trip to NYC and Boston. Of course, as luck would have it, my computer decided to go a little haywire earlier this week. And, of course, as these things ALWAYS happen this way, the warranty on my laptop expired two short months ago. Fortunately, the problem is fixable (although not necessarily cheap), but in the meantime I am computerless and forced to go to the b-school once a day to check email and such. Given that classes don't start for another 10 days, I am trying to minimize my time in the building, so the blog has been put on hiatus for now. If I get the inspiration to write about the rest of my summer while on one of these marathon computer sessions, I will do so. But for now, I am awaiting for the (hopefully expedient) return of my laptop...

I'm back!

After a 33-day hiatus, I'm finally back in action. I wish I have some great excuse, like I've been travelling across the globe and haven't had internet access. But no, all it really boils down to is: I'm tired.

Somehow, I'm finding myself on Week 9 of my 12 week internship. How I got here seems a little hazy. BUT, despite the exhaustion and the occasional (at the very least) feeling of "What is going on?," I'm loving my job. I'm learning a LOT, I really like the people I'm working with, and my project is super interesting. I even got to travel to Salt Lake City for a week to do research. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how my summer is going, and am very glad that I: a. decided to go with market research over brand management, and b. accepted the Mills offer. Two thumbs up to them.

Here's a bulleted list of everything that's been going on since I've gotten to Minneapolis:

1. Welcome baskets - On Day 1, Emily and I walked in to the conference room and saw that we each had a House of Meals Welcome Bag. Inside were a bunch of meals goodies (Progresso Soup, Betty Crocker potatoes, Old El Paso taco kits, Green Giant veggies, Suddenly Salad pasta salad, a tshirt and a few other things). But, right next to my HOM bag, was this enormous basket that included a Cheerios duffel bag, cereals, soups, desserts, cake mixes, granola bars and a whole host of other things. The Consumer Insights team had gotten us CI interns these crazy welcome baskets (which I totally wish I had gotten a picture of). They certainly made me feel very welcome.

2. HOM University - On Day 2, when I still didn't know ANYTHING about what was going on, Emily and I spent the whole day in training, learning more about the Meals Division. At the end of the day, someone clearly thought I had learned enough, because I "graduated" and even received a diploma and a sweatshirt for my efforts. Only two days in, and I managed to graduate!

3. Roller Coasters - My first weekend in MN (before I had even started work), included a trip to the Mall of America. I was totally in awe of the roller coasters and I couldn't wait to go back so I could go on all the rides. Well, somehow, I have yet to make it back to the Mall of America. But, after my first week of work Meryl and I went to Valley Fair, an amusement park about 30 minutes away from my apartment. It was a perfect weather day, and the crowds weren't big at all, so we rode each coaster at least once. We also made the mistake of going on the Flume and the Rapids rides. Both would have been great if we were wearing shorts and it had been a hot summer day. Unfortunately for us, neither of those were true, and the water was freezing cold. Not a very smart decision (it was pretty much my fault). But it was a fun day, and I wouldn't mind doing it again at some point. As for the MOA roller coasters? It's still on my to-do list, so I'm trying to arm twist a few people to head over there after work one day.

4. Concerts - So I already told you about the Death Cab concert (super fun), but I also got to see Ingrid Michaelson at the Fine Line Cafe. I never would have gone if not for Meryl, but since she saw Death Cab with me, I thought it was only fair to go with her. The only Ingrid Michaelson song I had heard was the sweater song in the Old Navy commercial ("If you are chilly, here take my sweater"), which I couldn't stand because there is a line in the song that actually goes: "I'll buy you Rogaine when you start losing all your hair." Well, I'm glad I went because it was actually pretty good. There was a guy in the audience who totally cracked me up, because he was pretty much in love with her, and knew every single word to every single song, and he was literally standing about 2 feet from the stage. They even managed to have a conversation in the middle of the set! But two thumbs up for her cover of Radiohead's "Creep." It was totally unlike any version I had ever heard, but it was pretty awesome.

5. Trip to Dallas - Amazingly, my relationship with Mills started over a year ago, at The Consortium Orientation Program in Indianapolis. This year, OP was held in Dallas, and Mills offered Consortium interns the opportunity to attend this year's conference in a recruiting capacity. So, after 4 weeks on the job, I found myself trying to answer incoming students' questions related to b-school, life at Mills, and the difference between Marketing and CI. The process was completely exhausting. I think last year was much more stressful, because you had to be "on" 24/7 when talking to companies. However, the surge of adrenaline carried me through the 4 days. This time around, I was just plain tired. It was a lot of fun, though, because I got to meet some Mills people that I never would have met otherwise, and I had a good time talking to some of the incoming students. Plus, I got to have my picture taken with Lucky the Leprechaun! Also, Alex, one of my friends from school, is interning at Frito-Lay, and we were able to grab breakfast before I left town.

6. The Company Meeting - Given my former career at the Federal Government, I had never really witnessed the spectacle of a company meeting. We all got bussed to the Minneapolis Convention Center and spent the morning listening to the different execs talk about the year that was and what is up ahead for Mills. They had a really good year, so it was a very positive meeting. Plus, we got to try some of the products that are going to be introduced in the market later this year. It was a lot of good food, so I will be making a trip to the grocery store once I get back to school and stocking up on some things.

7. And speaking of food - Having the Company Store so easily accessible is probably not a good thing (for the wallet or the waistline). My addiction of the summer? Fruit Roll-Ups.

8. Beasley's herniated disc - When I got home from work on Friday, June 20th, I noticed that there was something up with Beasley. She didn't run to the door to greet me when I got home, which is super odd. Then, she couldn't/wouldn't jump up on to the couch or my bed that night. When the weird behavior continued into Saturday, I decided it was time for a visit to the vet. The diagnosis? Poor Beasley had a herniated disc. So, she went on 3 different meds (which is super fun), and I bought her doggie stairs so she could get up on to the bed. She totally ignores the stairs, but she's clearly feeling much better and is almost done with the meds. Unfortunately, she is genetically pre-disposed to have it happen again. Which not only means lots of pain for the Beast, but some pain for my wallet.

9. Trip to Salt Lake - Part of my summer project was doing Consumer Ethnographies, which means we would go into people's homes and talk to them about cooking and shopping and soup. After we did a week's worth of interviews in the Minneapolis area, I got to travel to Salt Lake City to do the same thing. I had never been to Utah (so that increased my states visited count to 35), and it was an interesting trip. I learned a lot and we talked to some interesting people. The one thing that stood out, though, was the weather. Who decides to schedule a trip in the middle of summer to a city where it's 95 degrees, and spend two hours at each person's house talking about soup? Me, that's who! It was blazing hot, but at least it was a dry heat. Plus (and who would have expected this?) I had lunch at TACO MAKER. The other guys were scared off, but it was awesome.

10. My birthday - Celebrations for this festive occasion pretty much lasted a full week. On Sunday the 22nd a group of interns had dinner at Famous Dave's. Mmm, barbecue.. On Monday, Jessica (fellow Consortium CI intern) brought in cupcakes and Mariel (another fellow Consortium CI intern) treated me to lunch at our awesome cafeteria. Seriously, the cafeteria is pretty good! That afternoon I got on the plane to Salt Lake, and proceeded to spend my actual birthday walking around in the SLC heat. That night Greg (the interviewer), Dave (the camera guy), and Thomas (the Progresso Senior CI associate) took me out to dinner. And for some reason, Greg decided it would be a good idea to serenade me with "Happy Birthday" in the middle of an SLC intersection. That is one loud man. Once I got back to Minneapolis, I went over to Hans and Alexia's for a birthday BBQ on the 29th. And with that, the birthday celebrations finally came to an end.

11. Year-end events - Since I was doing ethnographies, I missed out on a few of the year-end events at Mills. I made it to the Meals Year-End (where I got to play Guitar Hero), but missed the Meals Picnic (I was in Dallas). I also missed both the Progresso Year-End and the CI Year-End, but I did get some fun swag, including a North Face track jacket. Thumbs up for freebies! I still have the Meals CI Year-End to go, and it looks like I may be able to make it.

12. The return of Netflix - Now that the tv season is on hiatus, I have finally managed to catch up with my Netflix list. Some good movies: Hot Fuzz, Superbad, Definitely, Maybe. Some middle of the road: Becoming Jane, Sydney White, No Reservations. Some flops: Jumper. I barely made a dent in my queue, but at least I've managed to watch a few movies I've been wanting to see for a while.

13. RockBand - One of the highlights of the summer was the release of RockBand. I pre-ordered from Amazon (fortunately I had a lot of gift certificates to use, so I only had to pay a small fraction out of pocket) and have been practicing on the drums ever since I received it. It's lots of fun, but the best was probably when I had a group of interns over to play. John Hawkins singing "Say It Ain't So" was probably one of the funnier moments of the summer. And something to look forward to: the Wii Party, part 2 (scheduled for next week).

14. Trip to Indianapolis for the 4th of July - While most of my fellow interns were in Minneapolis boozing it up, or out of town boozing it up, I was in Indianapolis for a 2 year old's birthday party. As much as I joked about it, I had a lot of fun. It was great to see Joe, Tatum, Nadia and Sonia and mom and dad. Plus, as the godmother, there was no way I could miss out on the baptism. Unfortunately, the vacation was way too short, so I'm planning on driving back down to Indy between the internship and the start of school. Click on the Pipeline link for pictures of the weekend.

15. Mom and Dad visit - My trip to Indianapolis was followed by a visit by mom and dad this past weekend. Somehow they decided that Minneapolis was on the way, and they detoured an extra 7 hours from Chicago to come up. It was good having them visit, and they seemed to enjoy the city. Plus, the weather (mostly) cooperated, so it was a good weekend.

16. Family in the area - I've spent random amounts of time up in Brooklyn Park this summer, visiting cousin Hans, Alexia, and their daughter Lia. It's been good to have family in the area, and at some point very soon, they will be welcoming Hans Jr into the fold. It should be lots of fun to be around for such a special occasion.

17. CBC, world's most blazing apartment - Unfortunately, Mom and Dad's stay coincided with some of the hottest temperatures in my apartment. Everyone has commented on how big the apartment is, how nice it is, and how awesome the lake view is. But, given the lake view and the Southern exposure, my apartment gets ultra-hot during the day with the sun pouring in. While maintenance came to fix the A/C, apparently it wasn't broken at all. It just doesn't have enough power to cool down the place. The solution? They dropped off fans yesterday. Not necessarily what I thought I would be paying for this summer.

18. Catching up with classmates - It's so hard to keep in touch sometimes. With lots of work, tiredness and different timezones, it's been a bit of a challenge to keep up with my friends from school. Fortunately, I've been able to catch up with most people at least once over the phone, if not via email, and it seems that everyone is doing well. Nevertheless, I can't wait to see everyone back in Ann Arbor next month.

19. Work, work, and more work - Before you get the impression that this summer has been one non-stop social-fest, let me dispel that rumor right now. It's been hard work, and it's been time-consuming, but as I said during the very beginning, it's been great. I've learned a lot, and now it's a matter of wrapping my projects up and coming up with one kick-ass final presentation.

20. Tired, and more tired. Did I say tired? - I've worked a lot, and I certainly wasn't used to the working from 8-5 piece. Not just being at work. Working. So poor Beasley typically stays cooped up inside when I get home, because once my butt hits the couch, it pretty much doesn't move. I've even managed to pass out at 9pm on the couch and not wake up until the next morning.

21. Schedule for the rest of the summer - As busy as I have been for the past 9 weeks, it doesn't really lessen any time soon.

July 24th - Ethnography findings presentation

July 30th - A&U findings presentation

July 31st - Aug 3rd - Trip to DC for Roxana's wedding, and a chance to see former Census co-workers, Kyle, Rob, and maybe Consortium buddy Nicole

Aug 6th - Mom flies in to MN

Aug 7th - FINAL PRESENTATION

Aug 8th - LAST DAY (seriously, how did this get here so freakin' fast?)

Aug 9th - Drive from MN to Ann Arbor

Aug 11th - Mom flies back to FL

Aug 12th - Aug 14th - Trip to NYC to see Jenny

Aug 14th - Aug 17th - Trip to Boston to see Liz, Simon and Beatrice

Week of August 18th - Relax. Finally.

Aug 26th - Aug 30th (?) - Drive down to Indy to visit Joe, Tatum, Nadia and Sonia

Aug 30th - Football home opener vs Utah

Sep 2nd - Classes start

Honestly, where did my summer go? Time has flown by, and I don't foresee it not going by super quickly. I'm just glad that I've had a good time and made some pretty good friends in the process.

Death Cab

Work has been keeping me plenty busy over the last few weeks. Unbelievably, I'm already well into week 4, and pretty soon, I will be 1/3 done... at least timewise. However, it hasn't been all work all the time. Last Monday (the 2nd), Meryl was kind enough to go with me to see Death Cab for Cutie in concert. Although we were complete outliers agewise (everyone else looked to young to be legally licensed drivers), it was lots of fun, with a good mix of new songs and stuff off their older albums. Enjoy the video.

The 12 hour Odyssey

On Friday May 16th, Mom and I packed the car and headed up north to MN. I tried to document the full experience, but sadly, the camera battery died right when we crossed the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. But, here's most of the 12 hour journey...

The only reason why the trunk isn't overflowing is Mom's master packing ability.

Beasley's already bored, and we're only about an hour in to the drive.

Yay for landmarks! About 3 hours from my apartment to the MI-IN border.

Awesome view: the Coach Factory store in the foreground, giant ass cooling tower in the background.

Plenty of time for picture-taking while stuck in the Chicago traffic.

Beasley finally takes a seat. It was pretty short lived, though.

Good-bye Illinois traffic, hello wide Wisconsin roads! If only WI didn't last forever...

Welcome to MN! We managed one picture of the Mississippi River, and then the camera went black.

Princess Gezo's 26th birthday

A few days after the end of the school year, those of us still left in Ann Arbor got together to celebrate Michelle's birthday. What began as a tame evening of Mexican food and then bowling finally came to an end at 3am at the karaoke "bar." It was a long, fun evening of burritos, strikes and bad music. Or, perhaps more accurately, bad renditions of good music.
Margaritas at the Mexican restaurant.
Princess Gezo (nice tiara), and her ladies-in-waiting.
The super cool ballon bouquet/bowling pin provided by the bowling alley.

Feeling the love. Or the alcohol...

Some guests are clearly fading...

But Michelle is still going strong, as evidenced by her heartful duet to "Barbie Girl." Shockingly, they scored 100%!

End of year BBQ

It's been way too long, but I'm finally spending my Sunday night catching up on such exciting things as laundry, bills and blog updating. First up, the Section Six year end BBQ. It feels like it happened five thousand years ago. And considering all that's happened since, it might as well have been!

Michelle and John Hawkins

After throwing the frisbee into the water, our fearless section leader Brent heads into the river to rescue it. As an Erber, he clearly has no reservations about what may or may not be in there...

Notice how everyone is just standing around, watching the professional do the grilling...

Bye-bye!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. In just a few short minutes (once we manage to shove everything into the trunk/backseat of the car), Mom and I are taking off for Minneapolis. Google Maps promises a 10 hr, 39 minute drive, but with planned stops at the outlet mall in Indiana, a lunch break somewhere along the way, and impromptu pee stops for both us and Beasley, we're hoping to be in MN by 7pm CST. Cross your fingers for us, and see you in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!

Wait, what just happened?

I know it's been a while since my last post (almost a month, to be exact), and some of you have been giving me a little lip for not keeping up.

Well, since the last post, there has been a fair amount going on. First and foremost, the school year ended. It's crazy that we're done. It's been a lot of work, but it completely flew by, so I can only imagine that graduation will be here before I know it.

Following the end of MAP, there was a lot of end-of-year celebrations: BBQs, Happy Hours, bar hopping; as well as lots of Section Six birthdays: Cafe Habana, Heidelberg, bowling and karaoke in the span of 4 days. Plus, lots of farewell meals/gatherings as everyone hightailed it out of Ann Arbor.

Beasley and I drove down to Indiana the first weekend of May for a nice and relaxing weekend (minus the whiny kid "watching" Iron Man at the theater). Since I've been back in A2, there has been some down time, along with lots of laundry, cleaning, and attempts at packing. Unbelievably, Mom flies in tomorrow and on Friday we drive up to MN. I'm amazed at how quickly my time off went, but I'm excited (and nervous) to get started with the soup on Monday.

I will post pictures of the last month soon.

Yes, Soup for Me!!!

The news is here. I'm spending the summer working on Progresso Soup!!!

I'm very excited to hear the news. It seems that they already have much of the summer planned out for me and I'm really looking forward to getting lots of hand-on experience. As for what exactly I'm working on? Apparently, it's confidential, so don't ask!

Welcome admits...

At this time last year, I was sitting in the crappy terminal at DCA, with about 10 other Ross admits living in the DC area, and we were all flying in to Ann Arbor to get an idea of what the next two years of our lives would be like if we were to enroll at Ross. By that point in time I had actually made my decision and sent in my enrollment form and deposit, and was a proud owner of a umich account. Even though I had already visited campus in November, I thought it would be a good idea to meet some of my future classmates, and possibly find housing. Well, the latter didn't happen that weekend, but I did have a good time while I was here, and going to Go Blue Rendezvous made it clear that I had done the right thing by enrolling.

Fast forward to today, and the masses will once again be descending upon Ann Arbor. According to Alex (GBR Chair, and my former tv-watching buddy until he got the GBR Chair job and has since been buried in work), over 400 admitted students and partners have registered for the event. It's crazy that only one year ago I was in their shoes. The weekend is jam-packed with activities, although I won't be around to witness most of it. Since I'm flying out to Charlotte tomorrow I couldn't volunteer to be a Student Guide (ie, no nice free meal tonight). However, I am working the Welcome Table today from 2-4:30pm in my awesome highlighter yellow t-shirt. I'm glad that I'm able to help, albeit in a small way. And now that GBR is coming to a close, I hope this means I'll be able to see Alex more often... even if school is over in 2 weeks.

Winter B - Weeks 3-5

So I've clearly been horrible about keeping up with the blog in the last few weeks. I wish I had some interesting reason why, but it essentially boils down to: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." The last few weeks have been chock full of meetings, delays and thumb twiddling, but I finally feel like we're getting somewhere with this project. Funnily enough, our midpoint presentation is today... even though our final presentation is in 11 days. Every time I look at the calendar I get a "Holy Crap!!!" feeling. For one thing, how on Earth are we going to get everything done in the very short time period we have left? On the other hand, how the heck is it possible that in only 17 days I will be completely DONE with the first year of my MBA? Everyone told me that the two years go by quickly, but this is just ridiculous.

Anyway, there are a lot of things coming up in the next few weeks/months that I am very excited for, so I thought I would share...

• April 10th - the start of GBR (I'm working the Welcome Table from 2-4pm); Michelle, Lene and Shari get back from Spain
• April 11th-13th - in Charlotte for Erin's wedding!!!; Nathalie gets back from India
• April 18th - the final presentation
• April 24th - the final paper is due, and the first year is OVER
• May 19th - my first day at Mills
• May 30th-June 1st - in Boston for Beatrice's first birthday
• July 3rd-6th - in Indianapolis for Nadia's second birthday and Sonia's baptism
• July 29th - my last day at Mills
• July 30th-August 3rd (?) - in DC for Roxana's wedding!!!

I really have no idea how my summer became so jam-packed already, but I'm looking forward to being able to see family and friends so consistently over the next few months. And of course, I'm looking forward to the internship and getting to know Minneapolis. It's amazing that when I started this whole process (applying to schools, OP/recruiting, classes) everything seemed so far down the road. But nope, not anymore!

Oh, and some very positive news on the weather-related front... it's been sunny and "warm" (mid-50s) for the past few days, so I hope this keeps up!

Winter B - Week 2

Greetings from the Hoosier state! After I left the office today I drove down to IN to meet my brand new niece. Sonia is absolutely adorable and so tiny! I had forgotten how small and fragile babies are. Nadia looks like a complete giant next to her! While I enjoy some family time, here's a recap of the second week of MAP.

• Monday - We had our meeting with our faculty advisor at the ungodly hour of 8:30 am, so I was not quite alert at that hour... It's possible our advisor thinks I'm mute. Afterwards, we headed to Borders to get more insight on our project scope from our sponsor. We thought we knew what they wanted, so even though our sponsor was going to be out on Tuesday and Wednesday, we decided to meet with other Borders personnel to get as much info as possible. After spending pretty much a full day in the office, I thought I was going to break out into hives. It's crazy how much I don't miss cubicles! Per Section Six tradition, Meryl and I went to trivia at Connor O' Neil's that night. Unfortunately, with so many people gone for MAP, it was just the two of us... we totally got our asses handed to us. We came thisclose to getting our entry fee back (ie, last place).
• Tuesday - Meetings! With more Borders people! Meetings! To debrief the Meetings! Meetings! With the Admissions Office for UpClose weekend!
• Wednesday - We took the day off from the Borders office and met at school instead to talk about our Project Plan and Letter of Engagement. In my previous life as a government employee we never had documents about ANYTHING, so a Project Plan was definitely new to me. After our meeting, I had lunch with Nathalie and drove her to airport. Crazy enough, I won't see her until mid-April, and she won't have cellphone access either. So I will definitely NOT be going over my text limit this month! Once I got back to Ann Arbor, I met with our Team Process Coach, followed by Lauren coming over to my apartment to get acquainted with Beasley. She was nice enough (or naive enough) to agree to watch Beasley for the weekend while I'm in IN. She was concerned about the whole thing (and probably still is), but the first meeting went well enough that I am not worried. Wednesday night was spent at btb cantina for a fundraiser (Drink for Drugs! was a suggested tagline). After spending way too long at the bar (I was tired) and arguing way too much with some people (I think people doubt my memory), I finally headed home at 1am.
• Thursday - We met with our other faculty advisor at 9am (still ungodly early) to go over our proposed LOE. She was very enthusiastic and gave us some great feedback, so we were excited to get back to the office to hear from our sponsor. After a brief detour to the Sprint store, where I got a replacement grey razr since the LCD screen on my red once was busted, I headed into the office, only to learn that our sponsor was out sick. So we met with his boss instead, and they promised to get their remarks back to us by the next day. After work, Lauren came over for some more bonding time with Beasley and I eventually got my butt off the couch to head to Happy Hour (only 45 minutes late!). I was pleasantly surprised to see 7 Sixers there, but there were plenty of people I had never seen before in my life. After trading MAP horror stories (at least I wasn't driving anywhere in a blizzard), and somehow being accused of being a vampire, Lorraine and I headed to dinner with Meryl. The Last Supper before she was off to the rainforest!
• Friday - There was a lot of last minute cleaning to get my apartment ready for the "Dog Sitter." Also, last minute packing that led me to forget multiple things, including my toothbrush, my phone charger, and a DVD that I had promised Joe and Tatum. Oops! My stay in the office was brief (only 2 hours), but we got to meet the Borders data guy. I think we had a moment when I shared that I worked at the Census Bureau during my previous life, and I'm pretty sure one of my teammates called us "data nerds." Hey, play nice! Our meeting with the Data Dude went very well, so I left Borders in a positive mood and got on the road to IN. About 2 hours into my drive, I got a text message from Lauren. Surprise! They've changed our Project Scope! I'm still not clear what it is that they want us to do. But, I guess that's the consulting life... After a 4 hour drive, I got to Joe and Tatum's and got to hold Sonia. Again, so tiny! That was followed by a Russell Crowe-style phone throwing incident, which coupled with my faulty hand-eye coordination, led to a super sexy split lip. Despite my deformity, I'm looking forward to the weekend and spending time with the family.

Ooh, and some bonus fun! The weather for the past 2-3 days has been AWESOME. Not quite warm, but much better than normal! On my drive down, the temperature gauge hit 59. It's not going to last, but I will definitely take it as a promise of things to come!

First Images

Finally, here are the first pictures I received of Sonia. Check out the Perez/Ward link on the right for the latest. I will be heading down to Indianapolis this weekend to meet her. It's pretty amazing, but she looks exactly like big sister Nadia!

Winter B - Week 1

Winter B has been here for one week, and in standard b-school fashion, it has completely flown by!!! Here's a recap of my first week of "work" back from Spring Break.

• Monday - It started in Rackham Auditorium, bright and early at 8am. It was very reminiscent of RLI, except for the questions that were flying past. Back in August, all you could hear was: "Where are you from?," "What section are you in?, and "What field are you looking to get into?" This time around, the questions were along the following: "How was your Spring Break?," "Who's on your team?," and "When do you leave for MAP?" After our initial orientation, we met with our Team Process Coach, who's an MBA2. After lunch, we met with our Faculty Advisor, where I had the joy of learning that our weekly meetings with her are scheduled for Monday mornings at 8:30 am. Yay... It felt odd to be done early, like I was slacking off or something. That night we had Section Whirly Ball, the last section event we will have before the end of April on account of MAP.
• Tuesday - We met with our Communications Coach (a woman named, I kid you not, Cindy Crawford) at 10am to learn how to communicate effectively. I'm not sure a 50 minute presentation really covered much. Again, being done so early in the day was disconcerting. I wondered whether I should be taking another class this term, but I knew that once our project truly kicked in I would be busy, so I ultimately decided against it. That night, during another Ann Arbor snowstorm, I went to Gratzi, where we had our HLBSA transition dinner, followed by drinks at Connor O'Neil's.
• Wednesday - The day didn't start until 1pm, when I had a two-hour meeting with my MAP team. Afterwards, I met Nathalie and Fareshta at the mall, and came back to school at 5:30pm for a course bidding workshop. I was already in a bit of a cranky mood, and the fact that I was unable to find a seat at the workshop because for some reason they only scheduled 2 workshops for all the BBAs and MBAs didn't help. So I left in a bit of a huff, drove Nathalie home and came back to school to meet Michelle for dinner. After some sushi we went to Charley's for a fundraising event. I ordered a Diet Coke and the bartender refused to charge me, leading Michelle to spread the rumor that I had flashed him. Yeah, I think I would have asked for a little more than JUST a Diet Coke.
• Thursday - This MAP-free day was basically a total blur. I went from a Student Ambassadors feedback lunch, to a meeting with my Consumer Behavior professor, followed by an HLBSA meeting for the new leadership. After my full afternoon of meetings, Nathalie and I went scrapbook shopping, followed by dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and Happy Hour at S'keepers.
• Friday - I started my day off at 10am in a meeting to discuss the finances for HLBSA (I don't think I had mentioned that I was elected both HLBSA Treasurer and Co-chair for UpClose, Michigan's diversity weekend event for prospective students). Afterwards, I picked up Lauren, we grabbed lunch and headed off to the Borders HQs. According to Google Maps, the offices are only 3.4 miles from my house. Not quite the exotic MAP locale that so many of my classmates are getting to experience. Being at Borders was a bit surreal... it had been so long since I had been sitting in a cubicle. Talk about flashbacks! After our meeting, I ran back home and changed, picked up Nathalie, went to Dance Fusion, had dinner at Marnee Thai and headed over to Goodnight Gracie's for Jessica Goldberg's birthday. After an hour, I finally called it quits and headed home.

I feel like we didn't get too much accomplished this week, mostly because we're not sitting down with our sponsor until tomorrow morning. But, I did set a personal going-out record, however. It was an exhausting week, as the people who were leaving for long MAPs were trying to pack in as much fun as they could. As it currently stands, Michelle, Marlene and Shari are in Prague, but they will get back in a week. Xavier left for South Africa today (for 4 weeks), Alex and Matt J are headed to San Francisco for 10 days tomorrow, Nathalie flies out for 4 weeks on Wednesday, and Meryl leaves for her 3 week trip on Sunday. It's crazy how everyone keeps heading in and out... it's tough to keep track of everyone's whereabouts. The good thing, I guess, is that they all know that when they get back, I'll be here... only 3.4 miles from my apartment.

Welcome to the World!!!

Baby Sonia is HERE!!! After what seems like a pretty short labor process, Tatum and Joe welcomed Sonia into the world. I don't have any pictures yet, but here's what I know:

• Time of Birth: 10:53 PM
• Weight: 7 pounds and 8 ounces
• Length: 20.5 inches

Hopefully I will get pictures soon and will be able to post them. And, assuming I can rearrange my schedule, I will be heading down to Indianapolis next weekend to meet my new niece, help the new mom, and help Nadia adjust to being a big sister!

Congrats Perez family!!!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program...

I know I still have not provided the details for Week 1 of Winter B/MAP, and it's coming, I promise! But first, I'd like to let everyone know that Tatum is currently in labor, so baby Sonia (my third niece), should be making an appearance in the next few hours. I'm very excited, and wish Tatum the best of luck. I'll post more details and pictures as soon as I can!

How I Spent My Spring Break: Thursday

Since I had promised to take the early morning folks to the airport, my last day in PR started at 7:20am. I didn't have any plans for my last day, so I spent it driving folks around, packing, and more driving. When I got back from the airport, Amy was one of the few people awake and she wanted to get coffee. So we walked to Kassalta, where I had one last quesito. After we made it back to the villa and cooled off for a bit, I drove Amy and Meryl to the other villa so we could pick up Harveen, Shermeen and the remaining car, which was under Amy's name. They went back to Kassalta for more coffee while I headed back to our villa to start packing. Not surprisingly, I had done a pretty bad job of packing (I had WAY too much stuff with me), so it was quite the challenge to get everything into my bag.

While I was busy packing, showering, and blow drying my hair, everyone was busy moving out of the two apartments we were going to be giving up. Since my flight was at 3:20pm (and Emily and Eric were on the same flight), we packed up the Kia and headed out to lunch. Unfortunately, the people who were going to the beach showed up right as we left, so we didn't get to have lunch together. We were able to return the car with plenty of time and get to the airport, which was full, but not packed. As I went through security, the TSA agent who looked at my boarding pass saw my ID and said: "Virginia? Oof." I told him: "Actually, I'm headed to Michigan." He just looked at me and started to laugh! I did not really feel much sympathy coming from him...

Both flights were fairly uneventful, although I was delayed in Charlotte (our plane was broken and they had to try and find us a replacement). We were only about 45 mins late to MI, though, and it's not like I was in much of a rush to freeze my butt off. The temperature when I got in the car? 20 degrees. It certainly made me miss the PR weather.

My Spring Break trip was a little chaotic, way too short, but lots of fun. One of the best parts (aside from seeing Abuela, eating Taco Maker and quesitos, and getting my hair done) was probably meeting/getting to know a whole lot more of my classmates, especially since Section classes are no more. The one thing that I didn't like, though? Getting the taste of the awesome weather and then coming back to the crap-tastic Ann Arbor weather. And to think, I don't get to go anywhere for MAP!!!

How I Spent My Spring Break: Wednesday

Once again, I found myself sleeping in. Apparently my goal during vacation was to do the exact opposite of everyone else. Two groups had left early in the AM to go hiking in El Yunque and snorkeling in Icacos. Being that we were lazy bums, after waking up at 11am, I dropped Meryl off at the beach at the Intercontinental and I went to Abuela's house for one last visit. We spent a few hours chatting before I said good-bye. She cried, of course, because I wasn't going to be able to make it back before flying out. My friends, however, joked that she was crying because I'm still single. Well, it's possible!

Once I was done at Abuela's, I drove past the old house to take pictures, then past my old high school and stopped at the gas station. My shopping experience fully crystallized why living in PR used to drive me crazy. First, I tried to swipe my credit card at the pump. But I was forced to go inside. After waiting in line for 5 minutes, I tried to hand in my card, but they turned me away because I didn't have any ID. When I finally brought in the appropriate identification, I had to guesstimate how much gas I needed, because they couldn't let me fill the tank. I honestly was about to scream.

I stopped by Plaza to pick up some shorts and a tshirt for kayaking, and got stuck in a patented Expreso Las Americas traffic jam. I picked up a group from the beach and we made a pit stop at the villa so we could all get ready for bio luminescent baykayaking. The drive to Fajardo went smoothly, except for the fact that the radio stations in PR are all pretty awful. We met the others for dinner at a random roadside restaurant called La Estacion, which was just one mile past the entrance to El Conquistador. Ah, the memories!

Kayaking was lots of fun and very bio luminescent-y. Plus, it was dark enough that you could really notice the microorganisms in the water. However, since the last time I went, they had passed a law that you could no longer swim in the water, so we started a water fight instead. Meryl and I tried to stay neutral, but then the TOUR GUIDE totally soaked us, so that was the end of my nice hair. Much later on, I found out that the whole reason they banned people from getting in the water was because people were getting a little too frisky and disturbing the ecosystem. Lovely...

Since kayaking wasn't over until 10pm, and we had a 1.5 hour drive ahead of us, nobody wanted to go out that night. Mostly people went to sleep or relaxed. I did, however, manage to slip on the wet floor and almost take Harveen down. Later on, I also managed to kick and break a wineglass. All this, without any drinking. I didn't stay up too late, though, because I promised to drive the 9:30am flight people, meaning I had to wake up at 7:20. So much for a relaxing vacation...

Next: Thursday - moving out and heading home

How I Spent My Spring Break: Tuesday

One of the things I was most excited about while I was in PR was to be able to get my hair done. I know, everyone was excited about the warm weather and the sun and the sandy beaches. But I couldn't wait for my hair appointment. I hadn't gotten my hair cut since October, so I had split ends galore, and my highlights were halfway down my head. However, for reasons unknown, I scheduled my appointment for 9am. So, even though I hadn't gone to sleep until 3am, I was up at 7:45am. I snuck out of the house at 8:15am while everyone was still passed out. On the way to the salon, I stopped for a quesito at Cidrines, and then spent 90 minutes getting pampered by the woman who had done my hair since the 9th grade. It was great to see her, and I was extra happy at the fact that getting my hair done in PR is so cheap! At 10:30am I rolled back into our villa, hoping that I hadn't left anyone stranded while I was off being vain. Fortunately for me, everyone was still pretty much asleep.

Three different groups headed out for the day. While some people headed off to the Marriot beach, and others to the Seven Seas beach in Fajardo, 10 of us headed to the Bacardi Distillery and Old San Juan. In what I found to be a common theme during vacation, I had to stop and ask directions. However, I also realized that when I was giving the directions to my classmates, they seemed to be unable to follow them, so the other car was late to Bacardi. So we headed off on our tour, learning that SPOILER ALERT! the Bacardi bat represents family unity. Um, if they say so... Once we got done, we sat in the Pavilion enjoying our free drinks, waiting for the other group to finish their tour. Since it was getting kind of late and no one had eaten, we debated lunch options. And since I had been raving about Taco Maker all trip long, they all insisted we eat there. I asked the woman working the Welcome Desk if there was a TM nearby, and she gave me some fairly poor directions. I managed to get us partway there before becoming utterly confused, so I stopped at the police department to make sure we were headed in the right direction. The cop was trying to explain where we needed to go, and the blank look on my face was enough for him to hop in his cruiser and take us there himself. That's right ladies and gentlemen... I managed to get us a POLICE ESCORT to Taco Maker. Once we finally made it, I proceeded to translate everyone's orders. Except for the "brave" (i.e. stubborn) soul who insisted he could order without my help. Needless to say it didn't work. It seemed that everyone enjoyed the Taco Maker, but I think that no one could understand why I was so excited about it.

On our drive to OSJ, I treated everyone to an authentic PR driving experience... since I wasn't sure where I needed to be, there was a fair amount of last minute lane changes, sudden braking and u-turns. We made it to OSJ in one piece, thank goodness, and parked down by La Puntilla so we could walk along the water on the Paseo de la Princesa, through the Puerta de San Juan, and up to El Morro. When we were in the fort I started to feel a bit nostalgic while everyone was looking around and taking pictures. After stopping for a mantecado de coco, we proceeded down la Calle Cristo, while I pointed out all the important landmarks I could remember. So of course I mentioned the Plaza del Quinto Centenario and the Hotel El Convento, but by far, the most important tidbit I could impart was the following: "This is La Catedral. That's where my sister got married!" Not the kind of info they'd be getting on a regular tour! Once we made it to the bottom of the Calle Cristo, we stopped at a restaurant for Happy Hour. Trust a group of MBAs to find the nearest location for booze...

Xavi had decided that he was going to cook dinner that night, so after we dropped everyone off at the villa and he put the beans on the stove, we headed to the nearest Grande to stock up on dinner fixings, breakfast goods, and of course, alcohol. While everyone started prepping dinner and mixing their entries for the night's Drink Off, I headed upstairs to nap. Or at least try to, considering how loud everyone was downstairs. Once dinner was ready (at around 10pm), I went downstairs to eat (yum!) and preside over the Drink Off. As the only person who hadn't tried any of the four entries, it was up to me to tally the votes. The grand winner was the Peach Passion, a recipe that Meryl and Emily smartly learned from the Bacardi tour earlier that afternoon. For their efforts, they won a 10 pack of Gasolina, a rum-based beverage that, for some reason, is sold in pouches just like Capri Sun. Weird! Second though fourth place was a bit tougher, as it was a three way tie. So Matt S and Jen (sangria), Xavi (something made with Bacardi O) and Byron (Caribbean Lover) were forced to split the remaining prizes: a tin of Fancy Feast and a can of Easy Cheese. Not exactly some great prizes there...

Since it was ridiculously hot downstairs (there were about 20 people crammed in the downstairs suite), I went to our room to read. I had no idea how much time passed before Meryl burst in and said: "The cops are here!" I guess our neighbors weren't too happy with us, because they called the cops. Thankfully, Sherri had a Puerto Rican friend who was visiting, so he was chatting the cops up, making sure they understood that we weren't trying to be difficult. Once the cops left, Meryl and I went upstairs to get away from the insanity. Unfortunately, the level of noise started climbing again (and we had the A/C in the room on!), so I went downstairs to "regulate." Everyone apologized for keeping us up, and I said: "Not us, the neighbors!" Why we couldn't keep the volume low, heck if I know... After Xavi told me for the 5th time that day "Your hair looks amazing!" (and Byron felt the need to chime in: "Your skin is amazing!" and Jessica Goldberg pitched in: "Your personality is amazing!"), I finally went to sleep. Tuesday was a fun, cheap day, but lord was it long!

Next update: Wednesday - taxis and kayaks

Our police escort to Taco Maker

The lucky recipients of the Geraldine D Perez tour of Old San Juan. From L-R: Me, Meryl, Amy, Lakshmi, Sherri, Byron, Eric, Emily, Sara and Xavi

How I Spent My Spring Break: Monday

When I went to sleep on Sunday night, I had already expressed my desire to sleep in on Monday. Imagine my surprise when the only reason I woke up on Monday (at 11:30 am) was because Paulomi knocked on my door to make sure I had the keys to the apartment. By the time I was showered and dressed for the beach, there was only one carful of people waiting to leave the villa. For some theoretically intelligent MBAs, it took us a while to figure out that if 7 people were leaving, we were better off taking the 7-person Rondo than the 5-person sedan.

The plan was to go to the Farmer's Market, and of course we got lost. And I even had a former Army man as the navigator! When I told both Mom and Abuela we got lost, they each said: "La Plaze del Mercado in Santurce? That's so easy." Yes, well, if I knew we were going there, I would have been able to figure it out. Once we found it, I dropped everyone off and searched for parking. By the time I found a spot and we walked over to the Plaza, everyone was ready to go. So we headed back to Ocean Park, had lunch and went to Condado, where we spent the afternoon at the Marriot beach. While I have never been a fan of the sand and saltwater, it was great to be able to sit on a beach chair and do nothing for a few hours. Going in the water was also fun, but the sandy feet and sticky skin on the way home wasn't so great.

Once we headed to the villa and everyone got ready to go out, we went our separate ways for dinner. I drove a group to Buenos Ayres for yummy empanadas, churrasco and chimichurri sauce. Dinner was fun, but the evening afterwards got a little chaotic. First, we witnessed a guy in an SUV rear-end a police car. Then we met the other group and decided to go to Old San Juan. The first stop was a bar on San Sebastian. Apparently this wasn't good enough, so we wound up at a restaurant at Calle Fortaleza which was deader than the first place. There was some debate as to go elsewhere, but we stayed put for a while before heading home. But since I had parked the car all the way by Ballaja, and we were on the opposite corner of OSJ, we decided to take a cab up to the car, for which they tried to charge me $10. I was outraged and only paid the guy $5, so he was not happy. I picked everyone up on the way out and we headed back to the villa for more drinking. Meryl and I were tired, so we went to bed, but stayed up until 3 am talking.

Next update: Tuesday - cheap hair, free booze, touristing and the police

How I Spent My Spring Break: Sunday

My Spring Break vacation started extra early on Sunday. Since my flight was leaving at 6:40am on Sunday, and I have a nasty tendency to oversleep, I decided NOT to go to bed on Saturday night. I intended to spend the evening/morning packing, cleaning and paying bills. Instead, I wound up watching lots of tv, and before I realized it, it was 4am and I hadn't packed a thing. So I began to hustle, but the lack of sleep was definitely taking its toll. I didn't make it out of the house until 5:30am, so I was fairly concerned that I was going to miss my flight. Fortunately, the roads were empty so I made it safely and on-time - thank goodness I hadn't planned to check any bags!

Once I was on the plane, I kept an eye out for one of the other people making the trip. According to the spreadsheet, Byron was on my flight, but since I had never met him before, I just stared at all the males in their 20s-30s boarding the plane, trying to figure out who he was. I was kind of tired though, so I just hunched over with my hands over my eyes for a bit. After a few minutes, I sat up and was pretty much blinded by the plane lights, so I slumped back in my seat, but continued to look at everyone boarding the plane. At that moment there happened to be a bit of a traffic jam, and I notice this guy staring at me. So I look at his jacket and notice that it says "Michigan Ross School of Business." So I said: "Are you Byron?" to which he replied "Geraldine" and we did the polite handshake-thing that MBAs are so adept at. It wasn't until a little later that I found out that apparently I looked half-dead, with my mouth open and staring off into space when Byron first noticed me. Ask him for an imitation... he seems to love doing it.

Both flights went smoothly, although there was some questionable loud noise when we landed in Charlotte that I wasn't too thrilled with. I think our pilot had to use the emergency EMERGENCY brake to get us to stop before we ran out of runway. Byron and I chatted during our layover, and he seemed surprised I was Puerto Rican, because "I didn't have huge hoop earrings." I'm not sure where exactly he gets his information. After we landed at the SJU airport we headed our separate ways because I was going to visit Abuela. I hopped in my 7-person white Kia Rondo (which came very in handy during the week) and immediately started freaking out about the quality of driving. But I gathered my bearings quickly and enjoyed the sights on the way to Abuela's, including the ginormous Best Buy they built right by Plaza. Since I didn't have lunch, I stopped for a snack at TACO MAKER. Honestly? Just as good as I remembered. Once I made it to the neighborhood, I called Mom and sat outside our former house for a few minutes, dissecting every change they've made since it was sold. Holy crap, the house looked really good! I spent a few hours at Abuela's chatting about school and life and etc, and had dinner with her and Titi (arroz con gandules, biftec encebollado and amarillos).

Once I left Abuela's I headed to our rental house for the next four days. Byron was already there, and the next wave of arrivals (including our trip planners, Ginny and Lakshmi) were on their way. Once we were read the house rules, we all started claiming sleeping space and Meryl (fellow Section Sixer and the person I knew best on the trip) and I wound up in a bedroom in the upstairs villa. Everyone was starved, so 7 of us hopped in the Rondo, and headed to a restaurant recommended to us by the owners of the rental unit. After we sat down, we all took a look at the menu and had a collective heart attack. The prices were absurdly expensive and in no way close to what we wanted to spend. So I told our waiter a little white lie, claiming that due to a miscommunication, our group was elsewhere and we needed to meet them. So we headed out, but not before I spent $3 on a diet coke. Out of a can. Served in a plastic cup. After lots of driving around (and with random stops at Kasalta and Walgreens), we finally found a 24 hour diner by the house, and a mere 4 hours after we left the house in search of dinner, we finally finished eating. So we headed back to the villa for some relaxing, partying, and to top it all off, getting yelled at by our neighbor, a local who had to wake up for work at 5:30am the next morning. I guess it's really tough to shut up 28 MBA's who are boozing it up on Spring Break.

Next installment: Monday's Beach Mayhem

"Spring" Break

I'm finally done with classes for my first year. Hard to believe, but it's already been over 6 months since I set foot in Ann Arbor and began the insanity known as the MBA. And just like that, I'm done with classrooms and exams - at least until September. Once we do MAP, the core will be over. Just thinking about that is crazy. I feel like I just got here. How is it possible that I'm already 37.5% done with my degree?

Anyway, I had my last final today (or yesterday, since it's 2am right now). The term didn't go as well as I had hoped (considering I didn't have to deal with recruiting), but I'm just going to blame Managerial Accounting as to why I didn't fully enjoy Winter A. Now that all my work is done, I get 9 glorious days of vacation. I originally hadn't planned on doing anything during break in order to save money, but once I found out that I was staying in Ann Arbor for MAP, I had to get out of here. I'm pretty sick of winter at this point, so I'm headed down to Puerto Rico with a group of 25 other MBA1s. It's pretty insane that that many people are going, and it's not like PR is exotic (at least for me), but I'm looking forward to doing nothing for 4 days and being warm while doing that. Other things to look forward to? Sleeping in, seeing Abuela, maybe getting my hair done, and TACO MAKER! I know it's pretty sad that I'm excited about a fast food chain, but it's been so long!!!

At any rate, I fly out on Sunday and come back on Thursday. So I've made arrangements for Beasley to stay at the nearby PetsHotel. Crazy thing is, her boarding costs are about the same as my entire hotel expenses in PR. Scary - either I'm staying in a death trap, or Beasley is getting super swanky accommodations. Or maybe both? I don't think I'll have internet access while I am in PR, so I will catch you all on the other side of Spring Break. And yes, I know it's ridiculously early for Spring Break, but these people at Michigan are special. There's just something wrong about using the word "Spring" to talk about a vacation at the end of February!

Countdown again

It's here... the end of Winter A is fast approaching, so panic has begun to set in. I feel mostly okay about three of my classes, but I can help but wonder what I have learned in Managerial Accounting for the last 6 weeks.

Completed: MKT 613 Paper, BIT 512 Final, OMS 552 Final, ACC 552 Final, BIT 512 End-of-Course File
Remaining: DONE!!!

[Friday] night's alright (for fighting)

Or maybe not fighting... just arguing in the car, listening to music I've never heard before, and watching the Red Wings get their butts kicked. The Evening MBAs offered up Red Wings vs Blue Jackets tickets for Friday night, so Michelle put together a group of us to head to Detroit and enjoy the game. It seemed doomed from the start, as Michelle had to bow out due to a last-minute trip to Minneapolis. So I asked Nathalie to take Michelle's place, but 35 minutes before we were scheduled to leave, Nathalie had to cancel. Fifteen minutes later, I got a call from Anurag saying he wasn't going either. So we enlisted Hugh as a last minute replacement, and after spending two hours driving all around Ann Arbor, to Detroit, and sitting in a ridiculous parking line, we finally made it to the Joe Louis Arena.

We enjoyed a fabulous meal of overpriced hot dogs, sausages and beer (Diet Coke, in my case), and went all the way to top of the arena. It's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights! The game was never close, but the crowd reaction to the Red Wings only goal of the night was completely insane. There were some good sights, including one woman who had the most terrifying mullet I have ever seen. Sadly, I didn't get a picture. After the loss, no one was excited to go out (and we had spent all of our money on concessions at the game), so we just headed back to Ann Arbor. Thank goodness for the GPS, because we made it on to the highway in about 5 minutes while all the rest of the suckers were stuck in traffic following the signs for the freeways. The evening ended up at Matt J's apartment (again), where we did some more rocking out. Either Rock Band is the best game ever invented, or we are the most pathetic b-school people ever. Or maybe both? Regardless, I got in some solid drum practice, so I think I may be ready to take it to the big time!

Overall, I'm still not really impressed with hockey, but I did have a good time.

The view from our seats. Can you see the hockey players? No? Neither can I.

Matt P is clearly happy about the peanuts purchase.

Hugh is DEFINITELY loving the peanuts, but Matt J looks way too serious to be at a hockey game.

Matt P, ever the committed artiste, making the Rock Band vocals complete magic.

What are the odds?

I pretty much wear jeans and sneakers to school everyday. It's comfortable, and when it's crappy out, who really wants to get dressed up? Today after OMS, a large group of Sixers were standing in the lobby, bundling up and trying to figure out where we were all going for lunch. Matt J was asking me for some money I owed him, at which point we gave each other the once over. We were both wearing dark jeans, a navy/gray North Face jacket, and to top it all off, kelly green and navy sneakers (similar to those pictured, except mine were Pumas). Honestly, what were the odds?!? I started laughing, attracting the attention of our section-mates. There were lots of requests for cameras, and smart-ass Joe M said: "That doesn't happen by accident, kids!" Seriously, it seems like I'm going to have to make phone calls before dressing in the morning... we wouldn't want any more fashion faux-pas!

A.M. sprint

Right before leaving for class this morning I took Beasley out to do her business. It was still freakin' cold outside, plus I was running a little late, so I was trying to hurry Beasley along. As soon as she finished, I turned to go back to my apartment while Beasley tried to continue along with our stroll. My frozen fingers dropped the leash, and Beasley, immediately recognizing the bid for freedom, sprinted off, investigating the neighborhood. So I took off behind her, huffing and puffing. I finally caught up to her, picked her up, and jogged back to the apartment. By the time I deposited her safely in the kitchen, I was coughing like a former chain smoker and made it to class five minutes late. That Bease is a sly one!

It's frickin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth!

How cold is it, you ask? The temperature gauge in my car hit an all-time low... 2 degrees. Other signs that indicate it's completely freezing? The tears on my face caused by the wind freezing up, and poor Beasley moving as fast as a little old lady with a walker. I don't think I have ever seen her move so slow. I felt so bad that as soon as she finished her business, I picked her up and carried her back into the apartment. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf! I think it may be time to invest in a doggy sweater and some booties.

Matt Jung's Rockin' Super Bowl Sunday

After being sick all weekend (fever and sore throat), I finally made it out of my house on Sunday afternoon to watch the Super Bowl at Matt J's house. It was a pretty sad gathering of people, as half of us were either sick, getting sick, or almost over being sick, and some other people were still recovering from the night before. Add in an offensively challenged first half, and it was a pretty comatose group. The food kept us going - Matt J, former professional chef made mac and cheese and pulled pork, while the rest of us brought over chips and some form of dip (salsa! spinach and artichoke! seven-layer! guacamole!). Toss in a drinking game as incentive to pay attention to the game, and things eventually got a bit livelier, culminating in that very awesome last minute drive by the Giants. To cap the evening off, we participated in Rock Band, always a fantastic way to spend time. Somehow I felt progressively worse as the evening went on, until the Meijer Tylenol (Mei-Lynol) kicked in.

Still a pretty low-key group.

The Mei-Lynol hadn't kicked in yet. But some people were enjoying the effects of the Super Bowl Drinking game.

Clearly feeling sick. Who sits down when they should be rocking out?!?