putting the knit in shizknitz

1. I get my MBA this week.

2. I’m going to Europe next week. For 6 whole freakin weeks.

Damn, life is good.

Wholy crap.  Today I start the last session of school, EVER.  In fact, I only have one more over-priced, piece of crap reader to buy today at the bookstore.  The last penny I have to spend on readings I don’t care too much for.  Its probably not even readings, it’ll be a stack of case studies.  It’ll be my last, nonetheless (HBR magazines don’t count).  7 more weeks until my big Europe trip!  Woo hoo!

These days, I keep waking up at 3 AM.  But I don’t go to bed until 11 PM.  Its strange when I’m living my time zone and the one T was/is in Shanghai.  Perhaps with him coming home today I’ll get back onto my old schedule.  Lord I hope so.  Counting down on finals, I haven’t slept much in about 6 days.

Waaaaaa!!!! I can’t believe Steph is graduating!!!! It was the end of session/15 mo graduation party at the Viceroy in Santa Monica. Talk about a swanky venue, with crazy priced drinks (which were as good as they costed!) and too much fun… as usual, we were hungry.

I’ve now officially been in LA for.. over 9 years now. It is so hard to believe, considering how fast it has gone. But now, I’m ready to go. Don’t know exactly how, but I do know approximately when, and its coming up really fast. I haven’t really been one for making lists lately, but I’m going to start one now - all of the things I haven’t done and want to do before leaving Los Angeles. Feel free to help me out with things I may have forgotten!

1. Visit the Hollywood sign
2. Hike/Camp Joshua Tree
3. Get toasted at the Dume Room in Malibu They closed yesterday!
4. Lakers Game
5. Lunch at the tearoom at the Huntington 12/27/06
6. Visit the Getty Villa
7. Take photos on the Pepperdine Campus
8. Actually use the boogie board sitting in my living room wrapped in plastic
9. Sushi at Nobu’s in Malibu
10.

I feel like a writer. I keep these oddly random, strange hours, going to sleep and waking up to type. Too bad the content isn’t terribly interesting, they’re usually just another paper or another for school. When I was younger, I loved to write. Notes, short stories, poems, anything. I still find notebooks here and there of earnest feelings and emotions from long ago. Some I can laugh over, some I still anguish over.

I have a paper and presentation at 1 PM today. Ugh. Must write something.

On a different note, I made a splurge today.

In b-school, your most precious item (yes, more than your cel phone believe it or not) is your laptop. I put in significant thought into which model, type, brand before I made my purchase about a year and a half ago. It’s wise - I spend more time with it than any other item I own.

In computer age, my laptop is now ancient. Thinkpad X40’s aren’t even made anymore. I have no warranty (I figured it would be like buying a warranty for a Civic, what’s the point?) and I’m at its mercy. But it begged for something more - something cosmetic. But there was no justification… until the left mouse button went limp.

Those who know me know my appreciation for crispness. I like crunchy french fries, crunchy toast, crunchy bacon, and crunchy candy. I have no patience for limp things. Limp lettuce, limp sandwiches, limp… well let’s not go there. However, my tried and true left mouse button no longer had a spring in its click, and was so limp that a gentle blow would send the signal up the motherboard. I had to get it replaced.

However, what I soon found out that it was not a simple button replacement - it was a whole KEYBOARD replacement. Gosh, I thought. This is L.A. for goshsakes, I thought anything could be tucked, primped, REPLACED. IBM/Lenovo apparently never thought this through on design. After some searching, we found a replacement keyboard in Irvine. We immediately had it shipped, and T performed the surgery.

After about 10 minutes, the keyboard was in place. The left mouse button - was performing like a young’un! I was relieved. My baby now had a new face. The ‘N’ button no longer was shiny, there were no crumbs or dust particles between the keys. What I’m discovering now though, is that there is something different about the keys - T says that this X41 keyboard was manufactured elsewhere - which just goes to show that facelifts are never as good as the original.

This week has been quite intense. 3 presentations and 6 papers. Thank god I only have 1 presentation and 1 paper left today. I haven’t slept much, but I do have my new instant coffee to thank for that. This thing is like a drug - a few sips and you’re wide awake. Thankfully I have another drug (Titos chips and salsa) for a perfect accompaniment!

Spur of the moment decision led us to the pumpkin patch! A REAL one, not that we buy pumpkins often, but usually we picked them up at the store. Good lord, it was hard to pick considering there were so many just strewn about. There was more than that too - pony rides, a petting zoo, etc etc for families. I got a kick out of the red wagon to pull our pumpkins around in!

We carved out two - and cooked up the seeds later on. We had no clue what we were doing, but thanks to the internet, we made it happen.

It’s finals week. Already. I’m trippin over this Bus Law class - torts, liability, contracts, promissory estoppel - sheit. Add in some presentations, in class case competition and yada yada, oh well, I don’t know why I even bother to stress because it always comes together in the end. Today I tried to do everything but study - run, get my eyebrows done, shop for a new BT headset, lunch, boba, nap, watch Grey’s, The Office - T threatened to turn off the Internet.

I love how morning smells. Especially as the seasons change. Summer is warmer with smells of the ground, trees and flowers. This morning when I got up for my 11 mi run, it smelled like winter - colder air, fragrances of fireplaces, an absense of the summer smells. I can’t wait to pull out my sweaters and huddle under blankets.

The strangest compliment today - “damn, you’re old”. That was the cashier at our local Best Buy who looked at my drivers license for verification. I thought I heard him wrong. “What?” I asked. “you’re old!” I was a tad shocked “that’s not very nice”. T threw in a laughing “is that how you pick up on the ladies?” His eloquence continued “nah, I’m saying you’re the same age as my older brother and you don’t look that old, that’s what I’m trying to say”.

Compliment well taken. Now back to my Bus Law before the internet goes buh bye!

Wrangling fear is the biggest challenge the world faces now and the challenge we all face, now and again, at our crossroads, in the dark moments, at those times we are asked to compromise, at those times when we know deep down that we must revolutionize our own lives.

– Holly Morris
Author of Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine.

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I have my one on one TEC appointment today. I’m feeling a little anxious…

I have no other way to describe what its been like these last few weeks. I’ve only been through 2 days of classes now, but this is the first time I’m actually watching Oprah at 3 PM in the afternoon, just like I told all of my coworkers this summer I would once I was back in school.

My extracurriculars have just exploded. Completely exploded. I am involved in more things than I can even remember, and my Thursdays are waaay too long. I start with a 7 AM car ride out to campus, 4 hours of Bus Law (which for me is a challenge), then 6 hrs to study, have meetings and eat then 6-10 PM of Social Entrepreneurship. I got home last night at 11 PM, after a 16 hour day.

So this is why I’m watching Oprah for the first time..

BTW I found DA SALSA at Gelsons… I am so ecstatic you have no idea!!!

We arrived home a few hours ago from an approx 17 hour trip (incl layovers etc) from Buenos Aires. I’m going through my 1300+ photos and will be posting highlights soon during my 60 hours at home before leaving for my next trip.