3 Things to Post About

I debated doing 3 separate posts but couldn't come up with catchy titles for all 3, so I am just posting all three completely unrelated topics together.

Irks of the Week
1. Best Buy - they have awful customer service - this could be an entire series of posts, but I will leave that alone. Doug went and bought a BluRay DVD on Saturday only to open it on Sunday and there was no disc in it! Best Buy is not a stone's throw from our house and they treat you like a criminal when you return something of that nature for a "malfunction."
2. Chick-fil-A - I am a huge fan of the place, especially their nuggets and strips (recall earlier post where I bought both for one meal). They changed the recipe on the strips - supposed to be bigger, dippier, tastier. They are bigger, but are not good. I took them back and got nuggets.
3. Public Restrooms - I work on an entirely Pediatric floor in a medical building. Since most children are brought to their appointments by their moms, the moms get to take them to the bathroom. However, most of these moms do not clean up after their children. Because my trips to the bathroom have increased, I am noticing this more. Every time I go, there is pee on the seats, toilet paper all over the floor and the trash can is overflowing with dirty diapers and wet paper towels.

Best Thing of the Week (as of Thursday morning)
I have finished the work for my MBA - That's right, I am now a master of business administration (in addition to other things I have mastered). I am on a mission to find Darla Moore's office and clean her stuff out and replace it with mine! Plus I am looking forward to getting to come home after work and not have to go to school or do school work! (Of course, last night I had to bring work from work home so that kind of squashed my euphoria!)

Gameday Day
This embarassingly redundant embarassing phrase was coined by SC's Governor Hodges when the ESPN Gameday crew made it's first ever trip to Ol'Billy Brice! Governor Hodges claimed that day as "South Carolina Gameday Day." He may have even given Corso a key to the city (big mistake!).

All that aside, today is the start of college football season, my favorite of all the seasons! The Gamecocks are opening the season against the Wolfpack of NC State. People are already tailgating down by the stadium. Doug and I are headed to watch the game with some friends - although it somehow happened that I am the only Carolina fan going. I am sure this is karma (or Doug) paying me back for making him watch Carolina/Clemson last year in a room full of Carolina folks decked out in Beat Clemson shirts (that didn't work). Oh well - it's good food and great friends and some pigskin! I'm so glad this day is here!

Calling Real Women!

Hello? Are you out there? Check out my sister-in-law's blog for some information about how to be all that you can be! (Plus you can see my super cute nephew!)

http://thedevoefamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/female-recruits-wanted.html

I've also got some pictures up on the right side of my blog - it's great fun and there's a tshirt involved which is always a plus!

You've got almost 4 full weeks to train!

What a Week!

It all started Saturday. Manu Ginobili, NBA Superstar and member of the Argentine national basketball team, was kidnapped by the president of China. They put a burlap bag over his face and beat him up. Then I was called in by the president of China to give Manu a lethal dose of some elixir. Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to get out of the cellar where he was being held and call for help. Manu's back playing today against Team USA.

Then, Tuesday night, I was at one of my brother's baseball games in Frisco, Texas. The Jonas Brothers were singing the National Anthem. But I didn't care about them. My brother, who normally directs the game entertainment was having to fill in for the home plate umpire who couldn't make it. Then, Gabriel got hit in the crotch by a pitch that took a bad bounce. He was down for the count. Thankfully, Nick Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers) helped him off the field and then took his place behind home plate. The Riders Won!

Now, Wednesday night. I had had a long day at work, but somehow I got roped into picking up Michael Phelps from his local babysitting job. Nothing too exciting. I drove to get him in the rain. Sat in the car for a while and honked the horn numerous times, but he took forever to come out. I didn't want to get out of the car because I couldn't find an umbrella. Finally, he came out. He was running late because the kids he was sitting for did not want to go to sleep. (Still not sure how he could leave before the parents got home.)

So last night, after the first day of school for Midlands children and many of my teacher friends, I met Amber at her RNE classroom. Her senior physics students were still there. Apparently they were waiting on me to get there because I was scheduled to teach them all the Electric Slide. Which is fine with me because I love to dance. But Amber would not let them move the desks. So it was really difficult to teach them such a mobile dance through rows of desks. If I go back to teach the Cupid Shuffle, Amber will just have to move her desks. I promise to stay after the lesson and help move them back.

Man, with all this stuff going on at night, it sure is tough to keep up with work and school and a household. No rest for the weary - as you can see, I am in great demand across the entire world while I sleep.

Thanksgiving With the Head Ball Coach

The Lord certainly works in mysterious ways. Yesterday, I had the sheer privilege of getting to have lunch with Steve Spurrier. Ok, he was at the head table at the annual USC Faculty luncheon and I was merely a guest of a faculty member at a nearby table, but we ate at the same time, nonetheless.

We entered into a banquet room at Seawell's near the fairgrounds, after having driven by Williams Brice Stadium and scoped out the field. The room was adorned in garnet and black and our tables were already set with bread and salad and tea. After the prayer, which was referred to as a "pause", we were allowed to get in line and make our plates, buffet style.

This is where the delightment increased. (Side note, my biggest fear of this pregnancy is that I will not deliver before Thanksgiving or that I will still be in the hospital at Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving and all the food that surrounds the event celebrating America!) So on the buffet, we had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes with two types of gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. I was so excited but extremely confused about the dates. It had such a fall feeling to it and I expected to walk outside after lunch and see the leaves on the trees changing colors and people wearing long sleeves and sweaters. That didn't happen. But I did go back for seconds!

So after lunch, Steve spoke. Ever the optimist, he poo-pooed the offense and told us all we had a tough road ahead - Now that's "fall" talk for sure. Most of us Gamecocks aren't still strutting our feathers by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. But it was still so exciting - just getting excited about the upcoming season of football in general.

I love sitting upstairs on Saturdays with Doug singing the Game Day theme song and flipping back and forth between games. We don't tend to go to many games since we are a divided household and cheer for different teams. Plus, Penn State seems to override everything else - including good seats to good games here in SC!

Anyway- we have just about a week left until football and the trash talking has started. I love it! I have a feeling one of the Carolina games is going to make me go into premature labor - hopefully not the Georgia game though!

PS - sorry for the lack of posts recently - I have been swamped with school work and sort of put myself on blog restrictions - plus, there was nothing very interesting going on in the midst of studying finance and economics. The school work caused me to forego a trip to Charleston with friends, an American Idol concert with Kathryn, and a family trip to Fayetteville to see the Devoes!