Doh!

So, I forgot to post this last week when it happened; probably from the loss of consciousness I received from it. JK. But, Ginny and I walk every Tuesday and Thursday around SLU and I usually wear a hat because it keeps the sweat out of my eyes. So, we are walking around, rounding a corner and I see a box that looks like a McDonald's box on the ground. For some reason, my eye was fixed on it. I don't know if it's because I haven't eaten McDonald's in almost a month or because it was half eaten. No clue. As I turned the corner, though, BAM! I head-butted the stop sign. Luckily, I was wearing a hat; even though that's what impeded my vision in the first place. It didn't even really hurt. And I know what you're thinkin', "He has a hard head." hahaha, not really. My head is way sensitive to stuff like that. But, no harm, no foul.

Compulsory school

I figured I would throw down a positive blog while things are still positive with school. I really enjoy my classes. My professors all seem fairly legit and I enjoy the material we learn. For certain, there is a lot of reading but at least it's about things that interest me; social work, psychology, social problems, anthropology, etc.

I just started searching for a job. I thought I would take the first few weeks in school to really get a grasp on things. I am at a point, now, where I feel I can spend some time working very light part time hours. I have the possibility of working in a psychologist's office working with some insurance companies. I'm kinda excited about it and really feel that it would work out for me in a lot of ways.

I've also been working out lately. I don't want to jenks myself and definitely do not want the awkwardness of someone telling me, "Have you been gaining weight?" when I've been working out for the last month. So, please, if you see me, tell me that I've lost so much weight and you're so excited for me. That would be awesome.

Go Green! Go Gold!

I'm not quite sure where my lack of desire to watch sporting events started. My dad is an avid fan of most sporting events. He played high school football and, from what I understand, he was actually pretty good. I even played t-ball and soccer when I was younger. Oh the Green Machine! Up until a few years ago, I'd moan or even leave the room if someone else turned on a football game or especially a basketball game. Yuck!

When I moved to Louisiana, though, football is a season. We are told there are three seasons here. The year starts out with Crawfish season, then moves into Hurricane season and then Football season. Of course, LSU football is an event; or at least watching it is. People will start tailgating at LSU the day before. LSU campus becomes a busy maze of tents and purple shirts with smells of every kind of southern food you could desire. Even if you don't tailgate, the city of Baton Rouge buzzes on game day with excitement and anticipation. It's almost laughable but you get roped in, or at least I did. I found myself watching football for the first time...and enjoying it. The camaraderie is amazing. These people know the players individually as if they were professional. It's astounding. This isn't just LSU football, though. However, it is the largest and grossest example but definitely not the only school.

And this is where you find me today. I've just started at Southeastern Louisiana University and I attended my first football game as a student. It was a great game. We played UT-Martin and SLU held up against the Hawks. It was way fun and I really enjoyed it. We sat in the student section (not nearly as crazy as the LSU student section) right next to the band, who deserve a honorable and genuine recognition-they were very good!

Change gears with me. I became very emotional yesterday when I woke up and flipped on the TV and saw the replay of the news coverage for the attacks from 9/11/01. I remember vividly driving home that morning from a church meeting and listening to some random babble about building being crashed into and not understanding what happened. I walked inside the house and my dad was watching the news coverage and I just stood in the doorway and couldn't move. It was surreal. Yesterday was great, though. A time to remember. The SLU band played a tribute to all armed forces at halftime and I was extremely touched. Thanks to all who daily sacrifice time and energy for my safety!

A hot mess

Summer was full of fun, adventure and a lot of change. I moved and I'm all settled in. Shortly after I moved, Ginny and I took a trip to California; where she is from. We vacay'd for a few days then worked for a company which administrates cheer and dance camps. In 2.5 weeks, we worked at 4 different camps; UCLA, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara and a smaller camp in an even smaller town. It was a ton of fun. I learned a lot, got a great tan and enjoyed the beauty of SoCal! The weather was absolutely stunning-especially in Santa Barbara; what a great little town.

After we returned, we both started school. Ginny is starting her second year in her master's program and I'm finishing up my sophomore year for my undergrad in general studies. I'm in a ton of classes that I love; Social Work, Social Problems, Psychology, American History, Adolescent Development and Ginny and I are taking a Social Dance class together; we just had our first test today. It was interesting.

After our first week of classes, we flew to Michigan for a family reunion of Ginny's Dad and his 3 brothers. THAT was great. We all enjoyed a great weekend and I had some incredible corn and played Aggravation; we need to play it again. The game is a lot like Sorry but the board was handmade by Ginny's uncle. On the way up to Michigan, I had a *clearing of throat* touch of anxiety. I refused to re-board the airplane for the return home. Reluctantly, Ginny agreed to ride back with my by train. Looking back, part of my wishes I would have just got on the plane because it was a 2 hour flight as opposed to a 22 hour train ride. But I really loved the train ride. We rented a sleeping closet, I mean cabin and it was quite doable. It was more expensive than a plane fare yet still enjoyable. The food was good and the scenery was gorgeous! Trains hold such a great history. I have a few pictures posted on Facebook under the Michigan album.

Getting back to our dance test. There are 16 girls and 4 boys in our class. Every boy has to dance with multiple girls. We were able to chose our partners. Of course, Ginny and I chose each other. But she was not the only one who wanted to dance with me. I danced with at least 7 other girls. It was insane. I was quite flattered! I do have some dance training with ballroom so I'm much more use to this style of dancing (foxtrot).

Now, I'm just going through life and indeed enjoying school. I just started exercising and realized that I am a sweaty hot mess but I feel so much better. I've also given up all carbonation to help lose weight. Oh, and I got new glasses!! They rock! Life is good.