I swear, it is just like that around here…I either post six times a day for a week, or you don’t hear from me at all for five days. I’m all discombobulated and in absolutely no set routine whatsoever, which usually gets me into trouble or at the very least, makes me unproductive. I’m working on that. I blame this “in between” time between school terms.

Speaking of school…remember my team project? Well, we got an 89 on it…with the “peer evaluation,” my individual grade was bumped up to a 90. Funny thing…the vast majority of our points were taken off for lack of analysis and lack of tie-in to the course material. Gee, I predicted that one, didn’t I? The good news is this grade came out a few days before my individual project was due, so CU and I went over that 22-page behemoth with a fine-tooth comb before turning it in our last night in Wilmington. Still waiting for the grade on that one…stay tuned.

On the television front, we’ve recently gotten ourselves hooked on Weeds. Along the lines of Entourage last summer, we decided to see what all the hoopla was about. Turns out, it’s the wonderfully edgy humor and grown-up content you’d expect from pay cable. Aww, a drug dealer with a heart of suburban mom gold. Aww. Weeds is everything Desperate Housewives could have been, had it not been on ABC…on Sunday night. The best part? Denny Duquette as Nancy Pantsy’s recently departed husband. Rrrrow. The worst part? Netflix needs to take these DVDs out of rotation, because they’re all scratched up and skippy. Nothing makes my brain twitch faster than a stuttery DVD viewing.

On the home front, we’re renovating our laundry room and our pantry…and will begin the daunting task of restaining all of our cabinets when we get back from Hawaii. That’s right…the kitchen renovation begins in September. We should call TLC or HGTV…they’d love to hang out with us for three months while we put all those ducks in a row.

What are all of you watching this summer? I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions on Big Love and Entourage. Which is better, The Singing Bee or So You Think You Can Karaoke Like A Fifth Grader/Who’s Missing Line Is It Anyway? Did you hear Michael was coming back to Lost? I think Brenda’s pregnant on The Closer.

Who needs the Quik-E-Mart? We do! CU and I trekked down to Dallas today and visited one of only twelve Quik-E-Marts in the US!

Click here for photos!

And shhhhhhh…don’t tell our employers, but we’re cutting out of work early on Friday and going to see The Simpsons Movie…thanks Blingo, for the free movie tickets!

10. The proliferation of the internet. How did I make it through the early 90s without it?
9. No wine coolers within a mile and a half
8. Better guy in my bed
7. My car has all its original hubcaps
6. No need to sell books back at the end of the term to pay my electric bill
5. I’ll probably use this degree (See: “What are you going to do with a Poli Sci degree?”)
4. I can afford to drink two glasses of wine during asinine project team conference calls
3. I don’t have to write my papers on this thing.
2. Less poufy hair this time around

And, the #1 way my MBA experience is different than my undergrad…

No microfiche!

Oh, I so need to be working on my project at lunch rather than goofing off…

I just realized…Capt. UberHusband and I are the Sonic Couple…except we don’t know the names of any of our neighbors.

So, I have found my new favorite show…The Singing Bee. Now, I don’t know if Fox’s rival So You Think You Can Sing Like A Fifth Grader will be any better, but I can tell you…any show which results in me shouting in glee and pumping my fists in the air multiple times can’t be all that bad.

Plus, it has Joey Fatone, a live band and scantily clad dancing girls affectionately called “The Honey Bees!” Of course, CU and I couldn’t look at the Honey Bees without thinking about her and the botched Mother of the Year contest on Big Love.

I don’t really have a boss in my job. I used to, but in the last year or so I’ve sort of become my own self-directed work team, for lack of a better term.

As part of my graduate management program at the University of Dallas, I am participating in a management development exercise. The exercise is a 360-Degree Assessment designed to give me feedback on my leadership, management, and team skills.

In the 360-Degree Assessment, I complete a survey on myself, and individuals that are familiar with my management style also fill out a survey on me. In this process, typically a boss and three or more coworkers are invited to complete a survey.

The survey input is summarized, and I receive a report on how my results compare to a “norm” group of managers from a variety organizations. I will see how my boss described my management behavior, and I will see how my direct reports and coworkers described my management behavior, provided at least three individuals from each group submit a survey.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with this. I haven’t done one in years as the organizations I’ve worked for in the last 7 years or so didn’t employ this as a performance review process, but I was excited at getting some feedback. I haven’t had any formal feedback since I started this job over three years ago. I think at one point I was told as long as they kept me on the payroll I was doing a good job, but that wasn’t in writing.

(more…)

I can hardly contain my excitement…P.F. Chang’s will be opening a mere five minutes from my home on July 19th!

Time to kick up my gym routine, lest all that lo mein go straight to my lower body.

On a totally unrelated note, why on Earth is Maroon 5 playing the Fort Worth Convention Center? What good is my iTunes pre-sale password if the venue isn’t any good? Even Harry Connick, Jr. scored the Bass Performance Hall when he played in Fort Worth.

So, here’s how far in advance Capt. UberHusband and I plan our vacations: last year, I bought our plane tickets for our 9/06 trip five months before he even got home from Iraq. This year, we bought them…in February, I think.

Why you might ask, do we buy our tickets so early? Well, we generally either buy coach tickets and then use our miles to upgrade, or use our miles outright to get first class seats. Because seats are limited for us bottom-feeders who laugh in the face of paying full price to fly in a premium cabin, we have to have our act together very early in the process.

Anyway, we planned our trip before I made the big decision to go back to school. Now we know to schedule our vacations during my breaks, but we were sort of stuck when it came to Hawaii this year. I don’t know about you, but I’m not particularly amped to get on a plane and fly 3500 miles to a tropical paradise for a week of fun, sun, drinks, fresh fish and…studying. Ugh. There’s something about toting textbooks to the beach that reminds me a little too much of my undergrad days. Then again, if I was able to actually get a degree from U.C. Santa Barbara with the beach only ten minutes away for four years, maybe it won’t be that bad.

(more…)

As I was flipping around the channels this morning while waiting anxiously for Whatever Happened To Puck and Other Reality “Stars” (or something to that effect), I was treated to a super-sized promo for a new show VH1 is premiering next weekend…Scott Baio Is 45 and Single.

Naturally, this begs the question (literally, based on the promo I saw)…why?

First off, I was stunned that Scott Baio is 45. Then, I realized I myself was on the downside to 36. Oops. They all say the mind is the first thing to go. Anyhoo, it appears Scott has to go through what looks like a two-month, four-step process during which he confesses his sins, apologizes to the girls, chicks and ladies he screwed over and tries to become a “better person,” all with the ultimate purpose of determining whether or not he’s ready to settle down and marry…a blonde bimbo. Really?

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this…Scott’s an aging teen heartthrob who has never been able to commit to one woman, and now he’s scared he’ll die alone. Personally, I’m more frightened he still hasn’t quite managed to shed that “when I grow up to be a man” tween boy facial hair thing. Pray VH1 doesn’t try to capitalize on things more by launching Flav-o of Bai-o.

Although…it would be sweet for Scott to show up on Entourage. After all, Ralph Macchio ‘fessed up to that whole Playboy Mansion debacle…surely Chachi could be involved in something equally Dramarrific.

I’m so glad we’re cutting Daisy’s beard shorter now…she looks a little silly in this photo.

I’d also like to point out that it’s 2 PM…and we haven’t had a drop of rain today…yet. Dare I mention it’s actually…sort of…sunny outside? Well, maybe not sunny…but it’s really bright. I’m sure there’s sun beyond the clouds.

Off the subject, I’m not quite sure why the CSS for this theme made everything in italics appear in bold red. When I get around to turning the Mac back on tomorrow morning, I will need to fix that…for it is rather annoying.

Anyhoo…in no particular order, here’s what else is going on…

1. It’s still raining here. Three weeks, now…I think…of rainy days. For those of you new to the game, It’s JULY IN TEXAS, and we’ve only turned on our sprinkler system once in the last six weeks. ONCE. By the way, thank you to the City of Allen for allowing us to water twice a week as of yesterday. I’m sure that will come in handy when monsoon season ends in August.

2. Our adorable little nephew Sam will be turn the big O-N-E in a couple of weeks, and Auntie Snarkwife and Uncle Capt. UberHusband have decided to make the trek to NC to see the kin and give the little kid a gift he surely doesn’t need.

3. I’m waiting for Apple to load some sort of iChat/IM application into the iPhone, then I am iBuying it.

4. 65 days until we leave for Hawaii although, ironically, it’s felt like Hawaii here for the last month, minus the ocean and aloha spirit.

5. Daisy’s allergies seem to have resolved themselves…looks as if her incessant paw chewing was caused by an unfortunate infection in her paws, which 30 days of antibiotics have cleared up. Go Schnoozer!

6. Cookie’s headed into the cardiologist on Thursday, and hopefully we’ll get a better prognosis for her. It’s strange to talk about prognoses (prognosisises?) when she seems healthier and happier than ever, but I also have to remember she’s on a pretty powerful drug cocktail so…there you have it.

7. CU and I re-landscaped our front yard, but there were some things the landscapers screwed up, so we’ve been waiting…two weeks now for them to be unscrewed-up. Problem? It’s been pouring rain every day, which suffice it to say, puts a hamper on people coming out and working in the yard. Pictures forthcoming…again, likely, after monsoon season ends.

And…that’s about it. I’ll try to be better about checking in…and I need to catch up with everyone on Big Love, Entourage and Army Wives! Four more weeks until Org Behavior is done, and I just need to crank out one more project (individual, thank God) and then I’m free for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I realize I’ve turned into “that girl”…you know, the one who gets who she thinks has a really cool new boyfriend and then cuts off virtually all contact with her friends.

Except, with me, I got four really uncool boyfriends and have had to hang out with them for the past month. Let me introduce you to them.

First, we have The One Who Sucks Up To Me. This guy was over-enthusiastically enthusiastic about pretty much every idea I had, every plan I proposed and every email I sent out. While the flattery was nice at first, eventually it got…a little…creepy.

I also spent time with The Totally Inattentive One Who Said About Ten Words Our Entire Relationship. I’m still trying to remember what his name was.

Most of you ladies out there will be familiar with #3, The One Who Shows Up Only When It’s Convenient For Him, Showing Zero Concern For Your Needs. He’ll pop in and make some sort of profound statement and the next thing you know, he’s gone.

(more…)