Sorry for our lack of posting, it’s been a long couple of weeks trying to finish up my last class and start our VERY full season of car events. With BBQ’s, Cruise-in’s, Supercruises, Track Days, and Autocrosses it might just be our busiest season yet, but I wouldn’t change a thing. The hobby is something we’ve pretty well worked into our lives in a way that offers the return and the enjoyment we want. I think that’s hard to do as you get older, and your interests and the people you relate to change. I’m looking forward to this summer though, no matter if gas continues to rise at .10 cents/gal every week for the rest of the summer.
As I said first, it’s been a busy few weeks. Tonight I finished my Problem-Based Learning Class. It was a toughie in the sense that I’ve never taken a class like that before, something totally entrenched in the philosophy of learning and how people do it. Not only the philosophy, but the psychology. Let me clue you in, I got a C in the only psychology class I took in college. Not because I couldn’t do it, but because I signed up for the 8AM MWF class and never found it interesting or useful enough to show up…yeah. And we’re talking about suck-up me, so what does THAT say. HA. In any sense, my dad and I, who somehow ended up in the same group together did our presentation on a Six Sigma Learning Environment we developed for MUHA (MU Health Administration). It went well. We had a few bugs, and things I wish we would have had more time to do to a greater extent, but for what we were assigned, and the time-constraints, I’m happy with the results…even if my CSS skills are for poo. I wish I could say that I was child-like giddy in being done for the summer, but I start my next class on June 9. Intermediate Web Design…ftl.
Last weekend Neil and I went to Branson for Branson Z Fest. It’s an annual event for Z owners, and while it used to be a more midwest event, it now draws people from all over. This year we even had a guy from FINLAND! His name was Jukka, and we flew in for the event. It was cool talking to him, and learning about how things are, particularly how expensive cars are there. It was also fun watching someone from a foreign country be dropped into the, well frankly cesspool of American culture. No offense, but Branson is about as crudely American as one can get. He didn’t know what a pancake was, or how he was supposed to eat them, so he put scrambled eggs on top of them and tried to roll them up like a burrito. It was funny. Skidmore taught him to say “didj’a eat yet?” and “well she’s about as pretty as a possum on a stump.” And yes, watching a Finnish man say that is about as funny as you can imagine. It was a fun time though, with the slight exception of the massively below-normal temperatures and severe weather. We endured the threat of hail, and tornado warnings (that means they exist and are close) that forced over 60 sports cars to race for the parking garages. We met a lot of great people, and Neil had fun talking Porsche dreams with a car freak who is a literal encyclopedia! He also almost talked me into an M3. It’s crazy that they are in my price range now. It was hard to say no, but I’m committing to paying Sidda (my car) off. Plus I want my dream car to be the reward for hard work and my first teaching job.
Wedding planning is going okay. I’m not one to plan things like this, so it’s been stressful, and the issue of religion really put a stake in the progress. Neil and I aren’t Catholic, but apparently it’s really important to my mother, because of what she’ll think my grandparents might think. Yeah. Yeah. Psycho. Not to mention Neil’s parents are mostly non-denominational and aren’t cool with the idea of converting to Catholocism quickly to satisfy marriage requirements. Neither am I. I think Neil and I are both in the same place of wanting a community and having our faith play into that somehow…but are there tons of active people looking for community in the agnostic/somewhat-Christian demographic? yeah. Exactly what I thought. No. But that’s something we want to pursue at our own pace, and in time to make the decisions the right way for us. I think we’ve found that our middle ground is trying to get the catholic process going, and to get married in the chapel at Memorial Union on the MU campus. That way, if we go non-denominational, we’ll still have a pretty place we can be excited about, and if the Catholics decide to descend from the pedestal, a nice neutral place for all parties involved.
This weekend looks to be pretty relaxing. We’re going to stay in and cook tomorrow and enjoy our quiet apartment. I’m thinking a bbq recipe with a fun dessert. We’ll play our games and enjoy an evening. Saturday, I’m going to do a massive pick-up of this place. It’s covered in popsicles, snackie boxes, and laundry. We’ve been way to busy. Saturday night, a friend of our is having a going-away party. He’s transferring schools to Montana. I envy him, it’s a gorgeous place. So that will be a fun time, I’m sure my brother will be out.
Later Gators!
