Our Love Holds On

Today I heard "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry three times.

To be fair, I was in the car (and thus listening to the radio) much longer than usual, since I drove Randy to the airport this morning. His grandmother passed away earlier this week, and he flew down to Texas today for the funeral. Luckily, the company his mom works for is affiliated with an airline, and she was able to get a free flight pass for him. It's nice that he's able to be there with his family. I've been thinking about them a lot today.

I would like to apologize...

OU 37, Baylor 30 (2 overtimes)

I'm afraid I jinxed OU. Earlier today, when the Michigan - Iowa game went into overtime, the announcers pointed out that it was the first overtime game played at Iowa's stadium. I turned to Wendy and said "You know, I don't think OU has played an overtime game under Bob Stoops." So, of course, Baylor (of all teams) took us to two overtimes. Thankfully we still pulled it out.

To their credit, Baylor is a much-improved team this year, and I'll be rooting for them to become bowl eligible. I'm just glad they didn't do it against us.

After a quick check of the statistics, this is indeed Bob Stoops' first overtime game at OU. OU's last overtime was a win over Texas in 1996.

New Job and Other News

Good: Everyone has been really friendly and welcoming.
Bad: "Everyone" is, so far, approximately 578,459 new co-workers whose names and faces I need to remember. It's a much bigger college than my old one.
Redeeming: There is widespread nametag usage.

Good: I can set my own hours, outside of the events I need to be there for.
Bad: The events are sometimes on evenings or weekends. For instance, I worked yesterday afternoon, and this coming Saturday, there's an event with set-up starting at 6 a.m. For those of you playing along at home, that means I'll need to leave at 5:30 a.m. I am so not a morning person.
Redeeming: 6 a.m. events are very rare, I'm told.

Good: I have an actual office, with walls and a door.
Bad: It's pretty small, and I share it with two other people.
Redeeming: They're very nice and funny, and can answer the questions I can't, such as where the bookstore is, and whether we take credit cards (through the pillars and past the information desk, and yes).

Good: I really, really like my job so far, and can't stop talking about it.
Bad: Randy's getting kind of sick of hearing about my day in excruciating detail.
Redeeming: He's happy to see me so happy, even if it means reliving my day in almost real time.

In short, I'm really pleased to have a job again, and I'm really glad it's this one in particular. It was disappointing to be rejected for the other jobs, but I think this is the right one for me.

In other news, this weekend we went to The Pumpkin Patch and walked through a six-acre corn maze. It took us about 30 minutes, and was lots of fun. We also got some apple cider and pumpkin donuts, although we didn't actually buy any pumpkins. Priorities, after all.

Also,using the last of his birthday money to (partially) fund it, Randy bought The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. We've been working our way through it (all 23 pounds of it) and really liking it.

And in conclusion, poor Notre Dame. What a way to lose.

Weekend Recap

Today we made it to the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford. It was a very pleasant experience, and was made even more so thanks to the fall colors. The Gardens turned out to be a fairly popular place to be this afternoon; there were several employees out directing the flow of pedestrians.

One interesting sight we came across was a tree growing horizontally off of a hill. It was still growing strong thanks to a very tall log that had been put in to prop it up.

There were also several paths blocked off with "Private Property" signs; they all appeared to lead to a house at the top of a hill. We overheard a group of people in front of us say that the gardens were basically someone's back yard, open to the public. What a very cool back yard that would be. (Incidentally, we also overhead those same people discussing various creative ways that an ostrich could kill a lion.)

Most of the trips we take during the fall tend to be on Sunday, since Saturday is, of course, college football. Thanks to the magic of digital cable and ESPN Gameplan, there were 29 football games available for us to watch yesterday. When your team of choice is being trounced by their arch-rival, it's nice to be able to switch to any number of other (more competitive) games to take your mind off the resounding defeat.

On a happier note, Friday night Wendy and I went to see Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was incredibly funny, with moments of absolute genius. We both highly recommend it.

Finally, a sunset from late August. If you look closely to the left, you can just make out the beginnings of townhouses that are being built across the pond. (Fortunately all of the trees are staying.)

Employed!

I am very pleased and excited to announce that I am once again a productive member of society: I got the job! I will be a conference center assistant in the Continuing Education department of a nearby college. It's part-time, and will mainly be event planning and coordination. My first day will be next Wednesday. Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone!

Also, the weather today was fall-like and gorgeous. Earlier this week, we were back up into the high 80s, but today was mid-50s and delightful. Hurray for October!