I'm ENGAGED!!!

More to come later, just wanted to update the blogosphere. Here's a pic to hold you over until the details come!

:)))))))))))))

Tear my heart open

Last night's loss to Tennessee ripped me to pieces. I have not been that frustrated about a UK loss since the basketball team fell to Marquette (and Dwayne Wade) in the Elite 8 of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The common denominator in those games: I thought we were going to win. No, I was convinced we were going to win. Even though our football team was on a 24 year losing streak to those white trash hicks from Knoxville, I believed this was the year it was finally going to end. We were playing for everything in this game - a 2nd place finish in the SEC East, a senior day win against our bitter rivals, and a chance to play in a New Years Day (ie respectable) bowl game. We were coming off a huge win at Georgia last week. It seemed as if all the stars were lining up for us. And then what do we do? Our "Head coach in waiting" calls an absolutely atrocious call on 3rd and 9 with 35 seconds left in regulation, putting the game in the hands of a true freshman quarterback who was playing the worst half of football of his life. We have one of the best athletes in the country on our team with Cobb, and we don't even include him on the play. What a JOKE. As soon as we settled for that field goal to tie it up, I knew the game was over. UK football won't go anywhere if Barnhart really does leave this team to Joker Phillips.

I don't know why I let myself get so emotionally involved in UK football, because it always leaves me in disappointment. I need to stick to expecting the worst and being pleasantly surprised if we happen to win. That approach is much better on my health, both mental and physical. I am already wrapped up emotionally in UK basketball, I can't handle much more. And neither can my poor boyfriend, who has to take the brunt of my frustration.



PS - I find it ironic that both of my schools (UK and A&M) play their rivals on Thanksgiving weekend every year, both opponents are "UT", and both wear a disgusting shade of orange (burnt orange for the t-sips and construction worker orange for the Vols). It does not leave me a happy girl when both teams lose to these orange clad freaks, which unfortunately is usually the case. :(

Weekend in Paradise: My Dream Home

The day the super hero pooped on my front porch.

Halloween has always been one of those holidays that just didn't do anything for me. It's not that I don't like holidays, because I do, I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it seems like everyone these days lives for Halloween. It has become the most popular holiday of my generation. I am not here to discuss the spiritual aspects of Halloween, because that is not the reason for my distaste. I personally do not think it is heathen to let your kids dress up and go trick-or-treating, or for adults to put on a costume and go have a good time at a party. I've been known to do that myself a time or two. But there is one pervading theme at the end of all my Halloween experiences - it's just not that fun. Maybe it's because I've never had the perfect costume, or maybe because I hate going out only to find some of my friends dressed up like sluts for the sake of a "costume". Who knows, all this bitterness could be due to the fact that my favorite childhood pet, Chadwick, was killed by my rambunctious teenage neighbors at their Halloween party simply because they saw a black cat walking down the street and they decided it'd be funny to throw him to his death in the neighborhood pool. Whatever the case, I am just not too keen about Halloween.

This Halloween provided yet another reason for me to find the holiday annoying. On Friday, October 30, I had taken my cumulative final examination for my Immunity and Infectious Disease class. Having never studied for anything so hard in my life, I was absolutely exhausted and beat by the time the weekend of freedom arrived. While most college students were gearing up to go out for all the Halloween festivities, I was winding down and getting ready to catch some much needed Z's.

Ed and I had watched a semi-scary movie on TV earlier that evening, and while I was somewhat scared from it, I convinced myself that it was just a stupid movie and that I'd be fine. Ed tucked me into bed and then left my apartment to go back to his place. A little before 3 am I woke up suddenly. Not knowing what caused me to do this, I figured I must have been having a dream. As I rolled over to try to fall back asleep I heard a noise. Now let me first say that I live in an apartment complex full of undergrad students, so it is always loud. I think normally I would have shrugged off the noise, but due to being on edge because of the scary movie I'd watched, I immediately picked up my phone and called Ed. I was afraid I would wake him up, but of course my night owl was still wide awake. I explained to him I heard something and he told me to not worry, he'd come over to check it out. FYI, he lives about 5 minutes from my apartment.

I hung up with him and once again rolled over to try to fall asleep, but then I heard the noise again, and this time it was louder. I turned on my bedroom lights, thinking that if someone was really out there and they saw that someone was inside, they'd panic and leave. Well the noises only started getting louder, and then I heard yelling. I opened up my bedroom door and looked down the hall and realized that the noise was coming from my front door. Someone was messing with the door knob. I immediately went to my bedroom, opened up my back window in case I needed an escape, grabbed a wood plank for protection, and called Ed again to let him know that someone was trying to get inside. He at first told me to calm down and that no one was really there, but then I walked up to the door and looked in the peep hole and sure enough saw a guy standing there messing with the door handle. I then screamed to Ed on the phone, "No, I am not making this up, I am staring at a guy right now!!!" Well that blew my cover with the intruder, and he started to yell at me. "Let me in! I hear you! LET ME IN!" Not knowing what to do, I figured I couldn't just ignore him since he knew I was in there, so I answered in a deep voice (trying to sound like a man, which was an absolute failure), "GO AWAY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DOOR!" I felt bad for throwing the H word in there, but I needed to sound intimidating. I started beating the door and telling him to stop messing with me or else I'd call the cops. He laughed at me, which only made me more mad, and kept screaming to let him in.

After my verbal exchange with the intruder and physical exchange with the door (which probably lasted all of 10 seconds but felt like an eternity), I called 911. I explained the dilemna and the dispatcher told me that cops were on their way. She then asked me for details of what the guy looked like. "6 foot white male, about 20 years old" I answered. "What's he wearing?," she asked. I looked out the peep hole again to see. "A green sweatshirt, red cape, and no pants." Trying to hold back her laughter, the dispatcher told me she'd stay on the line with me as long as I needed or until the cops got there. I figured that it would be a good idea in case the guy got in, but then came the awkward silence. What do you talk to a 911 dispatcher about when you are waiting for a guy to break into your house? So I made some small talk. "If this guy gets into my apartment, am I allowed to hit him with my bat? Can I bash his head in?" She did not know how to respond to that, so after fumbling around for words, she said that I was allowed to protect myself if he did in fact get into my apartment. That made me feel better. I then let the lady know that my boyfriend was also on his way over to my apartment, so that the cops wouldn't beat him up if they happened to see him first.

Finally, I heard Ed run around the corner. My first thought was "Thank you Lord", but before that thought came to completion, a new thought emerged - what if Ed entered his "protective boyfriend that has way too many years of Army Special Forces training and can kill someone with one swift movement" mode? Fortunately, the stench of the gentleman intruder stopped Ed dead in his tracks. Ed would not get within 6 feet of him. The guy had pooped his pants, wadded them up and thrown them against my door, and was standing there in his underwear (not boxers, but undies) with poop all over his body. Ed told him to get away, and the guy kept saying that he wasn't going any where, this was his friend's apartment. Once Ed realized that this guy wasn't trying to break in or rape me, and that he was just completely wasted and high and had no idea where he was, he calmed down a bit. Ed tried to reason with the guy that he was in the wrong place, but the superhero was not going to budge.

The cops showed up shortly after, running to my front door from both angles so that the guy couldn't escape if he tried. But then all 3 of them did the same thing Ed did....sprinted all heroically around the corner then STOPPED within 6 feet. "What is that smell?!?," one of the cops yelled. Apparently it was atrocious; I never got a whiff of it. No one wanted to touch the guy, but the cops realized that he needed to be handcuffed and taken in. After finding a pair of gloves, one of the cops cuffed him. The guy mouthed off to the cop, so he tightened the cuffs another notch and threw the guy against the wall. It was beautiful. For the first time in my life, I liked the Po-Po.

I never got to thank the cops. I guess they didn't want to go through the trouble of filing a report, so they didn't even come talk to me. They did their job and left, which I was perfectly fine with. I had been all strong and put together during the whole ordeal, but when I finally got to see Ed afterwards, I fell into his arms and lost it, bawling my eyes out. I am such a girl.

I don't think there will be any long term consequences of this encounter with the pooping superhero intruder, but you never know. I do have a bruised fist from pounding the door, and I am still a little jittery at nights, but I expect a full recovery.

Until next Halloween....

Just call me Tim.

I wrote a blog not too long ago about how my competitiveness has dwindled since starting medical school. I sincerely believed this to be true when I put it down for the world to see, but I now must recant that statement. I am just as crazy competitive as I used to be, it's just that academia did not provide the proper platform to display it. Apparently all I need is a sports field...

Intramural flag football started up this month, and I signed up to play for the Microtubulies, the co-ed team comprised of my fellow 2nd year classmates. This was the same team I played with last year that lost in the Class A finals. We were winning with 2 minutes left and then choked and lost by 2 points. Not that I am bitter or anything. I also unwillingly signed up out for our class's all girl's team, the Snarfs, because they were desperate for more numbers. When enough people guilt-tripped me about dashing their dreams of getting to play if I didn't play, I gave in and reluctantly showed up to the first game. Sure enough, the Snarfs have been my favorite team to play with this season. Playing with girls really is more fun because everyone is so excited when we do anything right. Constant cheering and high-fiving is great for morale.

All was fine and dandy until we showed up to play the 3rd year medical student's team. The 2nd years had an exam the next day so we all knew we should skip the game to study, but how could we miss the chance to play our friends and supposedly the "best" team in the league? Eight girls showed up (exactly how many you need to field a team), but unfortunately everyone (including me) was completely exhausted and distracted. We played poorly the first half which was mostly our fault (read: I threw 3 interceptions), but more-so, the refs were out to get us the entire game. I won't go into it, but it was the most pathetic display of refereeing I had ever seen. They had to be getting something under the table. It got the point where half of our team was laughing at every call, and the other half cursing (plus, mix a few tears in as well to get the whole picture). I went up to the refs multiple times and yelled in their faces, dissing not only their play-calling abilities, but their personal lives. It was not one of my high points. I am somewhat surprised I didn't get thrown out. On top of that, the girls we played, who typically are our friends and peers off the field (some of which come to my bible study), were as obnoxious as could be. They played dirty, cheated whenever possible, and tried to hurt us when the refs weren't watching (which was most of the time.) I still can't look some of them in the face.

We ended up winning on a crazy last second touchdown, but I was still so frustrated with the refs and the opponent that I couldn't enjoy the victory. I ingenuously applauded the other team's effort as I disdainfully shook their hands, and then stormed off the field. Upon returning home, I showered and attempted to calm down so I could focus on my studies again, but my efforts proved unsuccessful, so I gave up and went to bed. I laid in bed until 3 am that night, replaying the game in my head and the mistakes I made. I kept trying to remind myself that we won, but it didn't help. I had not been that upset about anything since losing to t.u. in the last game of my college soccer career.

Luckily this week's opponent was not nearly as talented, and we coasted to an easy victory. My team was not nearly as emotionally involved this time, but the sorority chicks we played were not too happy with our domination, particularly when it came to me. "Someone do a chromosome test on #14, because there is no way she's a girl!," I heard after scoring my first touchdown. After the 2nd TD, one girl blurted out, "I didn't realize we had to play Tim Tebow tonight!," which of course got a huge reaction from the crowd (20 people), so the rest of the game their coaches kept screaming "watch Tebow.....get Tebow!!" I've never been a huge fan of Tebow because of all the media hype he gets, but I now have a new-found affinity and appreciation for Florida's QB.

Playoffs start next week. Hopefully I bring home two IM championships, or else things could get ugly. My competitiveness has been locked up for too long, and now that it has been released, there's no turning back. It's go time baby.

All Hail Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Winner

I was going to attempt to write a witty article about the farce that just occurred with B.O. being awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, but I think I will just let other people do the honor (I'm not that great of a writer any way.) It's not like I have anything new to add to the table. I think everyone agrees that it was unmerited.

A compilation of various articles and comments about the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision:

How to Win the Nobel Peace

Prize In 12 Days

Let’s take a look at the president’s first 12 days in the White House according to his public schedule to see what he did to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.

Editor's Note: Although President Obama had only been in office for 12 days before the nominations for this year's Nobel Peace prize closed the entire process actually takes a full year. According to the official Nobel Prize Web site invitation letters are sent out in September. Every year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sends out thousands of letters inviting a qualified and select number of people to submit their nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The deadline to submit nominations is February 1. -- Two hundred five names were submitted for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, 33 of which are organizations. A short list of nominees is prepared in February and March. The short list is subject to adviser review from March until August. At the beginning of October, the Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through a majority vote. The decision is final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are then announced."

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. Over the last decade the only requirement to win the prize was that the nominee had to be critical of George W. Bush (see Al Gore, Mohamed El Baradei and Jimmy Carter).

President Obama has broken new ground here. Nominations for potential winners of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ended on February 1. The president took office only 12 days earlier on January 20.

Let’s take a look at the president’s first 12 days in the White House according to his public schedule to see what he did to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize:

January 20: Sworn in as president. Went to a parade. Partied.

January 21: Asked bureaucrats to re-write guidelines for information requests. Held an “open house” party at the White House.

January 22: Signed Executive Orders: Executive Branch workers to take ethics pledge; re-affirmed Army Field Manual techniques for interrogations; expressed desire to close Gitmo (how’s that working out?)

January 23: Ordered the release of federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries. Lunch with Joe Biden; met with Tim Geithner.

January 24: Budget meeting with economic team.

January 25: Skipped church.

January 26: Gave speech about jobs and energy. Met with Hillary Clinton. Attended Geithner's swearing in ceremony.

January 27: Met with Republicans. Spoke at a clock tower in Ohio.

January 28: Economic meetings in the morning, met with Defense secretary in the afternoon.

January 29: Signed Ledbetter Bill overturning Supreme Court decision on lawsuits over wages. Party in the State Room. Met with Biden.

January 30: Met economic advisers. Gave speech on Middle Class Working Families Task Force. Met with senior enlisted military officials.

January 31: Took the day off.

February 1: Skipped church. Threw a Super Bowl party.

So there you have it. The short path to the Nobel Peace Prize: Party, go to meetings, skip church, release federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries, party some more.

Good grief.

Article by Tommy De Seno, FOXNews.com

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The following are from my friend's status updates on Facebook:

~Scoff all you like, sir. Just remember that during that time Obama managed not only to move into the White House, but also to adopt a puppy. The man is a multi-tasking saint.

~Bill Clinton should be the most upset today.

~This award has become a joke. It lost credibility with me when Al Gore nearly won it for "fighting global warming", despite consuming more energy then most. He did "invent" the internet though...not. The fact that he won does not surprise me. Hitler gave great speeches too, so let's posthumously just give him one if that is the only qualification.

~the Nobel Committee ought to know that we've made wonderful advances in treating premature laureation.

~I used to get participation trophies in little league.

~hasn't any one heard of PRE-season MVP?!!?

~I gave all of my patients meds on time yesterday and cleaned up vomit off the floor....... can I get a Nobel Peace Prize??

~(by the editor of 12th Man Magazine): Dear Pulitzer Prize Commitee, I have a great idea for a magazine story I'd like to write. It will unite people of all colors and creeds and change the world. I haven't written an outline yet, don't have any main characters or plot line...s developed, and I likely will actually never write it, but I'd like you to consider me for this year's Pulitzer Prize. Thanks.

~I'm pretty sure it's because he has 'a dream'....I, too, believe in peace and love...and also read a mean teleprompter. I think I deserve the Nobel Peace Prize!

~Kanye West: "Yo, Obama, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Al Gore won one of the best Nobel Peace Prizes of all time."

Big Blue Sadness

With all the hoopla surrounding UK Basketball, I was hoping to get in on a pair of tickets to this year's Big Blue Madness, the first official practice of the year. Thousands of people camped out at Memorial Coliseum all last week so that they could be the first in line to get their tickets come Saturday morning, but I did not think that was necessary. I would just have my men (Dad and Ed) get up at 5:55 am that morning and get online to buy them via Ticketmaster. That way they get a good night's rest in a warm bed, and not have to worry about the crazy tents and frigid weather. Much to my dismay, neither my father nor my beau-hunk were able to get tickets. Rumor has it that they sold out online in 2 minutes. I've even heard 14 seconds, but who knows. Needless to say, I doubt Ticketmaster has ever had 14,000 tickets sell out to an event between 6-6:02 am. That's Kentucky Basketball for you.

I should have been dedicated enough to get up at 6 am to try on the computer myself, but I really didn't think it'd matter. All the die-hards would be camping out, and the rest of the Big Blue Nation would just get around to buying the tickets online whenever they woke up Saturday morning. Well obviously I was wrong. I know tons of people who woke up that morning to come up empty handed, just like we did. Had I known this would have been the case, I would have definitely camped out. I'm fairly certain everyone who camped out was awarded 2 tickets. I could have endured one cold, sleepless night in order to get the chance to see my Wildcats storm Rupp Arena on October 16th. Heck, Calipari and the rest of the players were even out there hanging out with the fans, serving them food, playing corn hole, and throwing a football around. What was I thinking????? Grrrrr.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.