let the feasting begin...

So I get home last night from a meeting, and what do I find....

Back up, reverse to the night before....

Nick and I are being lazy, watching TV, just ate an entire large pizza, and Nick says he has a sweet tooth. Now typically, I'm not really that big on sweets, but I go in phases and the last 4 or 5 months I have been craving anything with sugar non-stop.... like really, one day on a double at work, I went across the street to Price Chopper THREE TIMES to visit the cakes and pies section of the bakery.

(On a side note, been super obsessed with donuts lately too. Which is weird, because it all started the night I watched Monster about a week ago - w/Charlize Theron, great movie! - and we googled it to see what kind of prosethic makeup and such they used to make her look so unattractive. Turns out, she also gained 28 lbs, pretty much by living on Krispy Kreme. Disgusting, right? ... ummm.... apparently not, because ever since I have been jonesing for donuts... ate 4 yesterday... whoops)

Anyway, Nick wants cookies, and usually we have the premade cookie dough, precut into squares packages that you just pop on a cookie sheet and into the oven. Alas, we were out. So we decided to actually make them from scratch, and decided to spice it up a notch and make Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies. The recipe made a ton (4 cookie sheets full) and needless to say we had a bunch left over.

So after we had our fille, I put the rest in a big 10 x 8 airtight tupperware container, and left it sitting on the back of the counter in the kitchen.

.... fastforward to last night....

I get home from a meeting, greet the dogs and take them outside. It was cold, and they did their business quick, so I offered them a treat. Of course, their tails are wagging furiously and Reese has already started to drool at the sight of the treat. Then Wrigley gets up on her back legs and is pawing and licking at Reese's face, just to be sure he didn't leave any crumbs behind. You'd think they'd been starved.

Pat them on the head, good dogs, blah blah blah...

Walk into the kitchen to get a drink, and on the floor..... empty 10 x 8 tupperware. Not a crumb in sight. Apparently Reese must have stood up like a human and pawed them to the ground, where I'm sure my fat-ass puggle probably ate the majority of them. (She's a quarter of the size of Reese who weighs over 100lbs, but in the morning she'll bully him out of the way and eat all his food.)

Look back at dogs. Still wagging tails furiously.... though Wrigley does look a bit bloated.

So after reading Molly's post and hearing about Cesar's Way, pretty sure that's on top of my wish list for Christmas.

And a larger Santa outfit for Wrigley, because this is what I ordered, and pretty sure she'll no longer fit in a medium.

(Give me a break, the whole fam will be at my mom's for Christmas - we have to have a Santa.)

That time of the year again...

Finals suck.



End of post.

Observations from the Bsider

1. Away Chiefs games (especially big ones) = busy, crowded sports bars. Please do not tell me that comes as a surprise. More people / set # of bartenders/servers = less attention for you. My tips on avoiding possible frustrations:

Problem: waiting on drinks

Solution: order early, before you actually need one…. If you’re a fast drinker, maybe even order your next one when the server delivers the last one
Problem: waiting on food

Solution: order early, be prepared to wait a little while, or if you’re in a hurry order food that takes the least amount of prep time. Salads, chips/salsa, nachos (if they use queso, not melted cheese), soup or anything else that can be prepared ahead of time or without an oven/grill will be the fastest. Anything deep fried will always take longer. Across the board, pizzas and wings tend to take the longest.
Problem: can’t find a table/not enough chairs at your table/the TV nearest you is on a different game

Solution: If you care that much about the game, get there earlier! You can reserve enough tables, seats, etc. The only reason the TV by you is on the Denver game is because the Denver fan was smart enough to get there early and request that the TV be put on his game.

2. Please don’t be the jackass who thinks you can stand at a crowded bar, yell at the bartender, and automatically be helped first. Even worse, don’t think you can yell a generic girl’s name at the bartender and get helped. You think you’re being oh-so-clever by guessing my name, and that even if you’re wrong it’s going to seem cute or witty or flirtatious. If you yell “Hey Katie!” at me, I will probably turn around: (1) because I’m trying to figure out why there’s some random chick named Katie coming behind the bar, and (2) when I figure out what you’re doing, I want to see exactly who said it so I can be sure to serve you dead last.

3. The nicer you are to me, the nicer I am to you. If you acknowledge that I’m swamped and running my little butt off but doing a good job, I’m more likely to check on you first/more often every time around.
4. When guys ask for your number, be careful of just answering with a fake number. Apparently, creepster guys are getting smarter and getting wise to this. I watched this poor girl get completely humiliated when she gave this annoying guy a fake number and he said “Great. Here, I’ll call you so you have can save mine too.” …. Obviously, her phone (sitting 3 inches away on the bar) did not ring, and it was soooo embarrassing. For all of us (though I’m sure especially for him).

Don't Google.... Goodsearch!!!

Not really a blog post, but just something that I love and think is a great idea and wanted to share. I learned about the website Goodsearch.com four or five years ago from Reader's Digest. There was an article on ways to give back, and this was the one that stuck in my mind the most because it is soooo simple and is a part of your daily life anyway, and can really do some good.

Goodsearch is basically a search engine, powered by Yahoo! and shows all the same results as a Yahoo! search would, so it's really thorough. The difference is that every time you search, you're making money for charity. All the advertising money on the website (like the sponsored results and the banner ads along the tops) goes straight to charity, instead of to Yahoo! or Google. Like I said, it was a few years ago so I don't remember all the details, but I think that money is donated for every search you make, every search result you click on, etc.

The part I like the best is that you can choose what charity to Goodsearch for, and there are TONS! When I lived in Lawrence I volunteered at the Lawrence Humane Society and saw firsthand how bad they could use some donations, so it was awesome that I was able to help contribute without having to give away some of my extremely meager student loans that I was living on. There's always a Charity of the Day that's highlighted, and if I remember correctly that charity gets all the proceeds of any searches made that day when a charity isn't specificed by the user. And not that it matters, but it also shows "Who's Goodsearching" and tells you some celebrities that Goodsearch and for what charity, as well as businesses that work with/donate to Goodsearch.... make me feel a little bit better about spending my money if I'm shopping with them.

BBR, Part 2

This is a continuation from my last post….

Not really a deep thought, but I may have possibly witnessed the biggest case of Little Man Syndrome / Douchebaggery ever. Subject: male, probably 5’6” – 5’8,” shaved head, attractive face (to be honest, he was pretty hot for a little guy), dressed in trendy flannel shirt, fitted guy jeans, boat shoes, and leather necklace w/a metal pendant (think Hollister).

He shows up in the BBR all by himself, no friends in sight. To begin, he’s all over the dance floor, trying to show off his moves, smiling and winking at anyone who looks his way. Then he’s flirting w/some girl in a skanky purple tank top. Buys her a buttery nipple shot (hint: guys, if for whatever reason you ever care what a bartender thinks about you, don’t get a buttery/slippery nipple shot. You look a pansy with bad taste. We will make fun of you.). Also knocks over girl’s beer in the process, has to buy her a new one.She goes to the bathroom, he repeats ridiculous behavior on the dance floor.

Finds two girls and molests them. He starts on Blonde Friend and proceeds to dry hump her from behind, leaving Brunette Friend to dance by herself, looking and surely feeling very awkward as she watches her friend get violated. But don’t worry, soon he has roped her into the action, latching one arm around Brunette Friend so that she must dance on his ass while he continues to grind on Blonde Friend, effectively making a Douchebag Sandwich. Cute girls, very nice, I had talked to them earlier… was very disappointed in them for letting this happen. Buys them all shots and a beer for himself, proceeds to knock over his earlier beer (which was still ¾ full), looks at it, looks at me, winks, and walks away.

Somehow this threesome breaks up, and at next sighting he has reunited with Purple tank top girl. He resumes dancing with her, from behind of course so he can still eye f*ck every other girl in sight. Back to the bar, buys them both bottled beers. Lifts his to his lips, misses his mouth by a good three inches, pours beer all over his exposed chest and down his flannel shirt. Embarrassed? Nope. Grabs girl behind the head and rams it towards him, so that she can lick spilled beer off his chest. I try not to puke in my mouth. He looks at me… winks.

I get busy, lose visual contact. When I get a break, I find him again on the dance floor wrangling in new girl. Big girl (refer to last post). I realize he has a signature move: I call it Quicksand. He corrals any girl not currently dancing with another guy when she comes within his wingspan. He reaches out an arm, wraps it around the waist, and curls her in like an octopus (or what I think octopuses (octopi?) do). He is the center, his reach is the radius… get within that circumference and you’re a goner. Just like quicksand.

Anyway, he has roped in Big Girl and she seems to be enjoying getting it from behind, so much so that she gives some back. Big butt bumping into him proves too much for little guy, and he literally goes bouncing off. Bounced in the direction of the bar, naturally he comes for a drink. At this point, Chad (other bartender) have literally been laughing at and providing our own commentary on this guy for nearly two hours. I lose Rock, Paper, Scissors, and have to go see what he wants. Orders bottled beer. I can not make this up – as soon as I place the fresh beer on the bar, he once again knocks over his earlier beer.

Why keep serving him, you might ask? 1: He tips (Chad and I have already decided that based on his clothing, his attitude, and the fact that he has money, he’s probably from Shawnee Mission East). 2: He cannot be that drunk, seeing as how the beer in his hand is always at least ½ full and he continuously spills that. 3: It is a horrendously slow night (Plaza Art Fair night), we can’t really afford to turn away business when his only sign of drunkenness is foolishness, and as described above, I am quite certain that is his overriding character trait.

He orders a beer and a shot of Rumplemintz. For those of you who may not know, Rumple is 100 proof peppermint schnapps, so it's super strong. It's also delicious and tastes just like Christmas. (And in one of those cases where dumb/drunk people say something so stupid it kinda makes sense, I was once told: "It's the perfect thing to take at last call because it's so minty fresh. If you're going home with somebody, you don't have to brush your teeth. And if you get pulled over, the cops won't smell the alcohol and won't think you've been drinking." But I digress...)  The important point here is that it's also clear. So I grab a shot glass, turn my back to him and fill it with water. It's close to last call, and I've decided I am done dealing with this guy (Thursday night a guy threw up on the bar in front of me... not in the mood for a repeat). As described in the rest of this post, this guy is clearly a winner. He takes the shot, slams the shotglass down on the bar, and shakes his head like he's motorboating someone, like he just took straight well tequila. And winks, like now I'll really think he's a badass for taking the whole shot. Clearly he's convinced that I am under this impression, because instead of walking away, he leans on the bar and leans toward me. Trying not to laugh right at him, I raise my eyebrows as if to say "Yes???" He proceeds to tell me how beautiful I am and how beautiful my eyes are. Now, if I didn't already know he was drunk, this would be a clear giveaway, as I have horrible allergies this time of year and my eyes are completely bloodshot and I look like a total crackhead. Again, I try not to laugh in his face (though I do laugh, but hopefully he doesn't realize it's 100% at him and not at all with him), and mumble thank you or something along those lines. Bad move. Now he asks what my plans are after work. I tell him going home with my boyfriend and point to Chad, who is standing behind me eavesdropping, laughing so hard his face is about to turn purple. (Chad is fantastic, but all you have to do is look at us to see that we have COMPLETELY different styles, and that Chad is about 10 years older than me.) I fear this didn't work, because he grabs my hand from across the bar. He kissed my hand... winks... and walks away.

Somehow Purple Tank Top Girl is still around and has not been swept up, and they reunite on the dance floor. A little more skanky dry humping before last call and the lights finally come on. Much to my breathless delight, I get one final wink as he and girl head up the stairs. While I would have preferred to be too busy to witness any of this, if I couldn't make any money, at least I had some good laughs.

Deep Thoughts from the Boom Boom Room

So last night I was scheduled to work down in the Boom Boom Room at the Brooksider. I was pretty excited to go to work last night. For one, Thursday nights are huge at the BKS - don't asky me why, but they're almost as good as Saturday nights, while Fridays are pretty dead. For two, I don't have to go in until 10pm, all I do is stand behind the bar (no food service, no pretending like I care about a customer's stupid story or stupid food allergies.... which, PS, I'm pretty sure a lot of people say they're allergic to things just to ensure that it doesn't come out on their plate... I mean really, who is allergic to cucumbers???) Anyway, oh yeah, other reasons I love shifts in the Boom Boom Room: It's the shortest possible shift, it goes by incredibly fast, it's fairly fast paced and if it's not there's always plenty of entertainment to watch on the dance floor, and you still make good money (great money if you calculate it hourly).

It was a strange night from the start. If you've been to the lovely Brooksider recently, unless you were blacked out you noticed that there have been some major renovations going on. Most of these have taken place upstairs in the main bar area, but even the BBR feels different. There are now 2 staircases that lead downstairs, and coolers/wells/sinks behind the bar have been ripped out/moved/replaced/reinstalled, etc. So it felt kinda weird from the beginning. Cue music, and cue my deep thoughts....

1) The first guy who comes down the stairs arrives, looks around, see no one, and right on cue, says "Hey! Where is everybody? I thought this was supposed to be the Boom Boom Room. You should get more people down here.... blah, blah, blah." Yes dummy, it is the BBR, but by virtue of being the first person, no one else is down here yet! Don't ask me why, but this questions, which is inevitably asked every single night, is SUPER irritating. Chad (who I worked w/last night, has worked at BKS for 7 yrs, and is ridiculously funny) hates this part of the night so much he refuses to engage in eye contact with (and sometimes hides from) the first person down the stairs, no matter who it is.

2) White girls cannot dance. Ballet/jazz/studio dance, yes. Dance floor, pop/R&B/rap dance, no way. Again, inevitably the first group of drunk white girls to enter the BBR think that because it's relatively empty, they have full reign over the dance floor.... it makes me sad for my race. It's like watching Jerry Springer: so pathetic and sad, but you cannot tear your eyes away. What makes me even sadder is when I watch these girls and realize that a particular move looks familiar, because I have done it before.

When your brain is under the influence of alcohol, you think you look like you have rhythm and look sexy. In fact, you look like my puggle Wrigley when she stands on her hind paws and humps our lab's leg. But wobbly. And in heels. Throw in a few hair flips and it's a nightmare. Stop there?? Oh, no. The Brooksider has to go and add a giant fan. Girls, you are not in a music video, you did not achieve the slightly wind-blown look, you do not look pretty with your hair blowing all over your sweaty face, and you absolutely do not look sexy when you drop it low and body roll against the fan. STOP IT NOW! And if you insist on dancing provacatively, at least wait til after midnight when everyone else has had a chance to consume significant amounts of alcohol.

3) Liquor's expensive -- deal with it. If you want it cheap, buy it yourself and drink it at home. What's more expensive than liquor?? Red Bull. Don't get mad at me. Call your local Red Bull representative and complain.

4) The BKS has $1 draws on Thursday nights (which is exactly why 95% of the people present have showed up). Not $1 domestics, but "$1 Draws." SPOILER ALERT: it's Natty Lite. We take all the domestic beers off tap and hook Natty kegs up those taps, because otherwise, if we used only one tap for Natty, it would take us forever to fill your 9-beer drink orders and we would constantly be changing the keg, meaning the tap would be out of service even longer. You came for dollar draws, don't get mad when you get a draw that's only worth a dollar. If you really want a Bud Light, buy a bottle.

 5) Due to dollar draw night (see above), we strictly enforce our posted $10 credit card minimum. If you only want one beer, don't start a tab. It is not a difficult concept.

6) There’s a certain kind of reverse law-of-the-jungle that rules in the Boom Boom Room. The BBR is not a place for casual relaxing, political discussion, or getting to know someone of the opposite sex. It is a primal breeding ground, where young adults (and unfortunately, some middle-aged ones as well) come to hunt for a temporary mate, prowling the dance floor in search of prey to take home for the night. This is not always a bad thing, as there are rare exceptions that occassionally result in procreation and even life-long mating.

Exhibit A

With the aide of alcohol, the attractive fit girls have all been claimed by about 1am, and frequently already scooped up and taken home, as their tiny little bodies cannot handle the vast amounts of alcohol that their stalkers have poured down their throats. From 1am – 3am is when the big girls feast on the leftover meat. By this time, the males who were unsuccessful in their original hunt have drowned their sorrows in significant amounts of liquor, and have succumbed to a condition commonly known in the jungle as Beer Goggles. The mixture of all these factors results in serious, indecent, R-rated PDA. These guys (some of whom I have gone/go to school with, worked with, partied with, dated…) are gobbled up like turkey on Thanksgiving.

I’m not judging – big girls have needs too. Just commenting on a very interesting female hunting phenomenon I had never quite noticed before…

This post was inspired by Jack Handy's "Deep Thoughts," which I frequently read to stay awake during class.

What I learned today...

1. When painting over a recently-patched hole in a wall, less paint is better. Otherwise the patching mud gets wet again and starts to peel away while you're painting, which totally defeats the whole purpose of painting over a patched spot.

2. Jim Rome is really annoying. He likes to take really long pauses  and repeats himself constantly (which makes me think he's probably facebooking or tweeting mid-show - even he's not that interested in 4 hrs of JRIB).

3. The only person I encountered today who is more annoying to listen to is Professor John Ragsdale. On top of that, I have to listen to him talk about Indian law and reservations from the 1800s. 'Nough said...

4. I think the only person who pays attention in Indian Law class is the one guy who doesn't bring a computer... what a stupid move on his part.

5. Cafe Axiou (or something like that) on Oak Street right by UMKC charges you extra if you use a credit card on purchases less than $7. They should tell you that.

6. ESPN the Magazine picked the Chiefs to win our division.... highlight of my day!

7. Nick is trading in his black, window-tinted BMW (which for someone reason I find super, super sexy) for a big ugly truck.... lowlight of my day :(

Kicking the semester off right

So (surprise, surprise), 8 days into the semester, and I no longer have a perfect attendance record. I know that sounds pretty typical for me (based on the fact that I maybe, at best, had a 50% attendance rate last year), but Absence #1 happened a lot quicker than I expected it to. Whereas KU didn’t have an attendance policy, UMKC has a very strict one, where attendance is taken every day and after a few absences your grade is automatically lowered.

But it wasn’t really my fault, well…. Sort of. I only have 1 class on Monday afternoons and had been getting a bunch of stuff done around the house all day. It wasn’t until I left the house to go to school that I realized my gas tank was on empty. For those of you who don’t know, I live North of the river (approx. 435 and 152) and it takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to school. So trying to make it to school on empty wasn’t really an option. And after I leave the neighborhood (once I wind my way out past the farms), it’s all highway driving until I get downtown. And of course, it just so happens that there honestly aren’t any gas stations off the highway until probably about half way to downtown. I might have been able to make it that far, but I really had no idea and I wasn’t in the mood to be sitting on the side of the road, waiting for a cranky boyfriend (who was at home sleeping) to come bring me gas.

So I used my trusty Sprint Navigation app on my phone and it said the closest gas station (5.2 miles away) was the QT on North Oak, completely out of the way. So I speed there, fill up, and while I’m waiting for my gas to pump I again use my trusty Sprint app to see if there’s a quicker way to get downtown than retracing my steps. It told me to take 169 South and wind my way downtown, which I did. (I still have no idea if that was faster, or if I should have just backtracked and taken my usual route.)

I pull up to campus and it’s 2:28. Class starts at 2:30. As Molly can tell you, parking is not always easy. There’s a lot where I have a permit, and a church lot (where Lauren and Chris Dawson got married), one on each side of the law school. After stressing out for a minute about which one to go for (Left for permit lot, Right for church), I put my faith in God and head to church. God rewarded me with 1 single, empty spot in the back corner.

But by this time it’s 2:31. Now, I absolutely HATE walking into class after it’s started. Kinda weird considering I have no problem not going to class, but if I have to walk in late my face gets bright red, my heart starts beating fast, and I know everyone’s staring at me, which then causes me to curse myself for not choosing my outfits more carefully. And especially a class like this: only about 12-15 people, tables set up in a U and I have to squeeze behind everyone to get to my seat. So I sit in the car, thinking about all this for another 30 seconds, and decide not to go. After all that stress, all those potential speeding tickets, and wasting a favor from God, and I don’t even go to class.

Story of my life. At least I made it to that class today. But then again, I just spent the entire class writing this blog……. Whoops.

Summer's Over... Back to Blogging (aka not paying attention in class)

So school started this week and I made it through 3 classes without getting on the internet…. That may not sound like much but trust me, that’s monumental. So I had to reacquaint myself with how to kill time on the web, and I found myself on Molly’s blog. A previous post summarized in a nutshell what she learned from each class last semester, and it inspired me. So here’s what I learned last semester:

Business Associations II – If you own stock in a company, always show up to shareholder meetings. And if you’re going to start your own business, make it an LLC.

Evidence – There are only really 10 rules of evidence, but every rule has an exception, every exception has a qualification, and every exception has an exception that will surely apply. Unless it doesn’t. And don’t trust Law & Order, they almost always get it wrong.
Taxation of Business Organizations – ummmm…… Hire a really smart CPA. (aka Allie Hanson)

Time of Crisis: Rethinking Our Financial Markets – Nobody really knows what’s going on in the financial world and how to control it. Not even brilliant men like Alan Greenspan. The entire framework we’ve been operating under is based on assumptions that aren’t necessarily correct. And it’s inefficient to try and pay off your house; unless you plan on staying in that house for the rest of your life, only pay your minimum monthly payments and invest your money somewhere with a higher rate of return.

Commercial Law: Secured Transactions – Any time you enter into a payment contract, think about if you’re borrowing money or loaning money. If you’re the potential creditor, always get your agreement secured immediately (in writing and filed). If you’re the potential debtor, don’t sign anything, hope your creditors are too lazy to get the credit secured, and convey your assets to someone you trust if you think a creditor is about to come after you.

I hope Jay Kramer doesn’t read this because he will surely think it’s sacrilegious. I'm sorry Jay, I will burn in good-law-school-student hell.

Almost out of Lawrence

So, as I said earlier, I'm moving to KC as soon as finals are over (yay!). But, as many of you recent grads will remember, just because you leave school for the summer or graduate, you're frequently left still paying rent for the summer. I was in this same situation last summer (living in KC, paying rent on an unused apartment in Lawrence). Since I wasn't going to be there, I canceled all my utilities for the summer. Smart and responsible right? Ummm, no. Apparently there was a clause in my lease agreement that required me to have all utilities turned on for the duration of my lease. So I got a bill at the end of the summer from my apartment complex for delinquent utitilites, and a $150(!) fine for violation of my lease agreement. I guess becausee I'm still charged by the city for things like trash regardless of my individual usage? Probably something I should have known, but keep in mind this is the first time I've ever lived on my own.

Anyway, as I am currently still with the same management company as last summer, I've been dreading still having to pay not only my rent but electric/energy/utility bills all summer as well. But then a miracle happened, and I got a call from someone wanting to sublease!

So I talk to her on the phone, and she is extremely thorough, to say the least. After an hour-long conversation about my apartment, my complex, my living habits, my neighbors, my preferred sleep schedule... and on and on... she decides she wants to come visit my actual apartment (she'd previously seen the model). Knowing that there is a couple grand riding on if she likes my apartment, I skip class all day Friday (like I needed an excuse) and clean for about 12 hours, until my apartment is spooooootless. Of course, on Saturday morning (just hours before she is to come visit), I get a call from the leasing officce saying someone (the girl) put down a security deposit for subleasing on Thursday... THURSDAY! The day before my 12 hour cleaning extravaganza. Not that I'm not happy my apartment is spotless, but pretty sure there are better ways I could have used my time one week before finals.

Anyway, so I speed home from work to meet this girl, already a little irritated. I hear the doorbell ring, open the door, only to be staring at a big pair of boobs. Seriously. I have to crane my head way up to see her face. No joke. This girl was an amazon. Probably 6'2" flat-footed, but she happened to be wearing heels. Not only was she super tall, but was standing ridiculously close to my door, so my head was literally inches from her boobs. Awkward start... she proceeds to come inside and look in every drawer/closet/cabinet/lint tray she can find. Also, I told her I was interested in selling lots of my furniture, so she took pictures of pretty much every piece of furniture I own. An hour and a half later, the amazon finally left...

Which brings me to my point (if I have one). I am moving in with Nick, who already has a fully furnished house. Which means I need to get rid of just about all of my furniture. I'm not trying to make any big profit on it -- as much as anything, I just want to get rid of it so I don't have to deal with it or where to store it. None of it is really expensive stuff, but it's all nice looking and in pretty good shape (pictures will follow). So if you or anyone you know is looking for any of the following, let me know: couch, loveseat, coffee table, entertainment stand, bookshelf, computer desk, bar stool/chair, dining room table w/4 chairs.

Taking Things for Granted

So I'm sitting here in "Rethinking our Financial Markets in a Post-Crisis World" (the class is about as much fun as the name suggests), and my professor was discussing his upcoming State Department trip to Pakistan to lecture on..... I don't know, all kinds of boring things. But something he said really caught my attention (and gave me something to think about for the rest of the 2 hour class, and hence this blog post).

Gretchen (State Dept. lady): "Are you clear on the details of your itinerary and the different lecture topics you'll be giving?"
Prof. Westbrooke: "Pretty much. But will Powerpoint available at each of the lecture locations?"
Gretchen: "We'll be lucky if they have power, so I wouldn't count on Powerpoint."
Prof. Westbrooke: "You're not being serious."
Gretchen: "Yes I am. They get about eight hours of power a day, so we may well be without power during the lectures."

Apparently, on average the entire country receives only about eight hours of power per day. Eight hours, for the entire country! That's not just the little rural towns in the middle of nowhere, that includes the big cities, the capital... everywhere.

He sort of explained why this is the case, and I caught some of it: As opposed to here in America, where it seems like everyone is in bed together (politicians, lobbyists, judges, etc.), in Pakistan it's apparently quite the opposite. Apparently it's a major power struggle between government vs. business, and the two are completely adverse to one another, and it makes it impossible to get anything done. One example we heard was a textile factory owner whose factor keeps getting broken into, but he can't get the government (police/military somehow run together, I'm not sure) to step in and help protect him. In terms of the power issue, apparently the government has more stable power supply, so doesn't really care how it affects the country's businesses, or people in general I guess.



That blows my mind. I had no idea that in 2010, something that we take so for granted like power is so unsecure in other countries. Obviously I know that there are people in third world countries who live their whole lives without power, but I always assumed that was just the poor rural areas, and that the big cities of the country were more modernized. No wonder these countries can never climb out of the basement and compete with the US or England. How could you run a government, or ever get anything done? You can't. That's just beyond my imagination, when I use power from the time I wake up (from an alarm clock, or the alarm on my phone) to the time I go to bed (turn off the lights). And if they don't have reliable power, who knows what other kinds of ammenities or things that we think of as just part of daily life they don't have (or isn't reliable). For all the problems with America and our current system (and especially in the last year or so, I feel like I notice a lot of them, especially healthcare and insurance), it's a pretty great place to live.

Soon-to-be UMKC Law Student

So, as I alluded to in a previous post, and as you may have heard me talk about before, I will be attending UMKC Law as a visiting student for my third (and final!!!) year.

The visiting student program is an AMAZING idea!! It's like transferring, in the sense that you can take up to a year's worth of classes at another university. But you still graduate from your original university (assuming you still meet all the graduation requirements of your original university), and it is so incredibly easy without any hassle (don't even have to apply, just have to get your dean to sign off on the classes you'd take). It's a brilliant idea, and so appropriate for graduate school. I'm pretty sure it's intended for people with spouses who may have job opportunities that take them to different cities and things along those lines, but I am thrilled thatI can take advantage of it so I can get the hell out of Jayhawk town. (On a side note (future blog post??), I was shocked and disappointed by the sheer number of people I encountered who were giddy and joyfull when K-State lost in the Elite 8.)

So anyway, as of May 6, 2010, I will no longer be a KU Law student (though I'll still graduate from KU in May 2011). Let me just say, I can not express in words how excited I am to get away from crimson and blue, chants of "Rock Chalk Jay-hawk," ridiculous sorority girls (RIDICULOUS!!! - coming from a former LA sorority girl, no less), and the whole never-ending Williams/Self debate.

Plus, at UMKC I get to take sports law courses (YAY!!!! no joke, by far the most exciting-sounding classes I could possibly ever take), though I didn't get into Seminar of Famous Trials (3 credit hours for learning about the Scopes Monkey trial, OJ trial, Lacy Peterson trial, etc. - way better than Federal Taxation of Business Enterprises and Corporate Organizations).

What does that mean for you??? You'll get to see my adorable face more!! (Lucky you!) I'll be living in KC, attending Wednesday night dinners, and though I'll still be working every Friday/Saturday night (the legal market sucks, as does the rest of the economy), I will be much more available and accessible, and I cannot describe how excited I am to see the faces of all my lovely friends again. It has been way too long! Love you all, miss you guys, and looking forward to seeing you on a more regular basis!!

The Beginning of a Blog

So why start blogging now, you might ask.....

Well, I've been reading all my friends' wonderful and hilarious blogs for a while now. I started out as a very infrequent visitor to these blogs when I ran out of things to look at on the internet during class and needing something/anything to occupy my interest. But as this semester has progressed (a semester in which I quit working in KC for the first time since I began law school, and have thus been stuck and completely secluded in Lawrence), I have realized that not only are these blogs a good way to I get a quick chuckle in class, but are a fantastic way to stay updated on my friends' lives.

I am the first to admit that I am/have done a horrible job keeping in touch with many of my friends, and to all of them I sincerely apologize. There just never seems to be a good block of time between school/work/Wheel of Fortune (you'll learn that I am a devoted follower) to devote myself to what is sure to be a long and in-depth phone call. So - though they may not know it - I feel more in touch with my friends and updated on their lives via these wonderful blogs. Even if they are simply musings on cupcakes or wedding plans or wedding hair or wedding food, I still feel more connected to the people I love via blogspot. Hence, me starting a blog of my own.

And, to be honest, I'm bored in the middle of a 2-hour Constitutional Law session, and I've already read everyone else's blog updates, and I'm out of things to occupy me.

For lack of being able to come up with anything better (though I'm sure just about anything would have been better), I titled this blog "Up in the Air." It seems like so many aspects of my life are up in the air these days that the title is fitting: as evidenced above, I have a terrible time pulling my head out of the clouds and paying attention in class; I can be ridiculously indecisive; I have no idea where I'll be working or what I'll be doing when I graduate, let alone this summer; I can't even seem to decide on a schoool, as I will graduate in May 2011 with post-secondary credits from 7 schools; I think I know where I'll be living when the semester is over in a mont, but I'm not really sure; and just generally have no clue where I'm going with my life.

Enough for now. I am off to Taxation of Business Enterprises, a class in which (blech!) computers are prohibited and I must find non-technological ways to not pay attention.