The One Without the Barn Party

I just read very sad news on the Daily Kansan web site. The J-School voted to get rid of the barn party, a Kansan tradition for the last 30 years. Besides the addie-newsie softball game, a source of pride and free kegs, this was the only activity that brought the news staff together with the hated ad staff. The J-School would provide buses that drove us out of town to a farm owned by an older couple who was happy to host college parties. Boy, did I have some good times at those things.

Just think, Chris, about all the memories future generations of KU students won't have: trying to pull Juan out of the hay when he passed out at like 8 p.m., watching addies go at it in the stalls, Nathan doing a pole dance, trying to dress skankier than the addies (well, more me than you :), mixing rum with Dr. Topper because I couldn't afford the Dr. Pepper after buying the rum... How can you take that away?

Plus, someone sent anonymous pictures of the Last Night of Production to the Dean to try to get that stopped. Last Night of Production is what it sounds -- the last night of production for the semester. Everyone would sneak in mass amounts of alcohol and drink after the janitor's crew came through. That's when you passed your editor position to the next editor coming in with a shot of cheap whiskey. After the paper came out, we would head to Mass St. to close down the bars and then hit the lawn of Frasier for a game of kickball. Then, of course, running through the Chi Omega fountain. I can barely remember stripping down in my yard and leaving my clothes all over the lawn. (Remember how much trouble you got into with my roommates the next day because we were doing our laundry?!?!?)

I understand the Board's determination that they don't want to sponsor opportunities for underage drinking or support the consumption of alcohol by the students, but they're college students! That's half the college experience. By not providing the buses, you're just opening up the chance for more accidents because the underage drinking will still happen, just with underage driving afterward. I can't believe even Musser voted against it!

Anyway, I was very saddened to read that report today. I hope that the current Kansan journalists will be creative enough to find a way around all this and continue to have those end of the semester traditions. I mean, what's next -- the addie-newsie softball game? Really.

The One Where I Talk About My Pups

I guess I haven't really blogged anything positive in awhile, so I thought I'd write an update, which will consist mostly of talking about my dogs. :)

I took Chubbs to his second level agility class Sunday, which is just more off-leash work and more combinations of equipment. Chubbs continues to star. He had a little problem with the weave poles the first time he did them, but after learning what he was supposed to do, never made a mistake again. Apparently, in this class, we learn about gaining more speed. He needs that. My boss has actually persuaded me to think about competing with him. I think he'll make a terrible agility dog because he's slow, but he's a great competition dog. When people are cheering for him, he really shines. I'm also thinking about doing Rally Obedience with him, which are just obedience/agility type courses that mutts can compete in as well as purebreds.

Chubbs has also been continuing his therapy work by going to the group home to entertain the children. This group actually entertained him rather than the other way around. They danced for him and fed him lots of treats. He quite enjoyed it, but he did airsnap at a boy who pulled his back leg up too hard. I've never seen him do that so he must have been really annoyed.

Muggsy and I have just been continuing his weekly walks in Yorba Linda. He spends a lot of his time outside and in his garage bedroom, but it's really helping him calm down. He's a lot easier to deal with when he's in the house. It's been awhile since he's attacked Chubbs.

I have a hard time getting Ross to do things with Fenway, but my goal is to get her involved in something that she'll enjoy. I'm not sure what yet. Any suggestions?

Ross was in Omaha last week during the one of the worst weeks of my life when I fought with co-workers and was the victim of a hit and run on the freeway. It's nice to have him back. I'm a really independent person, so I like being alone from time to time, but he's a huge support to me. I'm glad he's back.

This week, I don't have dog classes, but I'm going to watch my boss do bomb-dog training on Wednesday, I'm attending Taste of Anaheim to support a former co-worker on Thursday, and I'm going to the Counting Crows concert on Friday. I'm always excited when they come into town, being one of my two favorite bands. They're incredible live and listening to them play is like listening to the sound track of my life. Each of their CDs was a favorite when it came out and listening to them reminds me of who I was and what I was going through when the CD came out. Then, this weekend, we're headed out of town to avoid the fireworks. Ross has a friend getting married in Malibu, so we're going to take the dogs and hide out on a beach in Oxnard. Should be interesting.

So I guess that's about it. Everyone have a great week.

The One With the Evil Back-Stabbing Bitch

Um, OK, I think this is the meanest thing that anyone has ever said about me. Evil? I'm evil? I can't even think of anyone that I would say that about and I say that Roy Williams is dead.

I guess I should explain. Friday, I was supposed to have the transition meeting with my former co-workers, who will now be described as the EBSBs, to discuss all the things that they have done for the district that I work for. They were supposed to turn all pertinent documents over to me about their projects. Without getting too specific, the things I was asking for were very mundane, just to save me the work of going back through old POs and contracts. The meeting was terrible. They took pot shots at my personality and lectured me on not talking about them behind their backs to vendors, which I would never do because I'm not 12. They were at their form, playing mind games that would have stumped Einstein. To top it all off, they gave me incomplete information in an effort to make me do poorly at my new job.

As I have worked with these EBSBs for two years and was told upon leaving that I "will always be a part of the team so make sure to protect them," I was expecting them to be much more professional during the meeting. Also, we're not 12. (Have I mentioned that yet? I think it goes without saying.) I spent the whole weekend, in true Rachel fashion, trying to figure out what I had done to make these EBSBs hate me so much.

I decided this: When I left, I was told to "never reveal their secrets." When asked about their projects, I was supposed to say that I didn't know and make them start from scratch. When I got to my new district, I realized that this ridiculous thinking was only going to make MY job harder since I'm the only person in the PR department right now. Thinking they would understand this, I went ahead and made a list of all the things I thought they should provide us when asked to by my manager. I think this was seen as the ultimate betrayl. I'll probably never know what I did.

But today, a co-worker came to me and confided that one of my co-workers came to her Friday and told her to stay away from me because I was an "evil back-stabbing bitch." Now, I can't imagine saying this about someone. I really can't imagine going to someone's new co-workers and trying to turn them against her by saying that. If they want to talk like that about me amongst themselves, that's one thing, but to try to turn my new co-workers against me, wow. I just can't believe someone would do that past the age of, yes, 12.

I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but it's very hurtful. In contemplating all of the ways that I can handle it, I have decided to take the high road and not mention it. I think the best revenge will be continuing to be successful at my job, without them. I don't want to get in a petty fight with people who mean so little to me. But I can't wait until this is over.

It's my turn for ... The One with the Old Friend

So against my best friend's advice (which is stupid, don't ever do that), I decided to go ahead and meet up with Travis, a kid I went to HS with. A kid I set up with his first girlfriend! And it turned out to be a lot of fun, though I don't know what we would talk about the next time around. We met up at the Baskin Robbins (I know, I'm so lame).

He looks exactly like his cousin Derek now, only not as skinny. But he's still such a nice guy. He caught me up on all the folks back home, and I'm proud that some of my classmates have actually made it out of the state. Melissa is in Reno. Chad's in Arizona. Jed and Jay live together and run their Dad's store together. :) Sadly, I guess Wes and Erin have 3 kids and marriage problem. Garrett's married with kids and so is Sam Ummel. Apparently there was a big party for the 10-year reunion, which I did not know about. But I'm happy to catch up from afar. My curiosity is quenched and I didn't even have to talk to anyone!

The One With the Attack

Well, it happened again. Muggsy attacked Chubbs this weekend. Chubbs was crowding Muggsy and Muggsy lost his temper, I think. I was in bed when it happened. It's so sad. You can see it in Muggsy's eyes -- he hates Chubbs.

But Chubbs did excellent in agility class. It was his last class, and he was clearly one of the best. He's not good at it, but every other dog except him and Flash were afraid of everything. They didn't want to go in the tunnels or climb the seesaws. There was one doberman who was so afraid of everything that he would take off running for the door when he could get free of his owner. She actually said, "That dog just needs to know that I'm the dominant one." What? Your dog is scared shitless and clearly needs a smarter owner. Sorry, but that bugs me. Poor dog. Chubbs would do anything I said, though. He was running through tunnels, banging across the seesaw and perfectly sticking his landings. Flash's owner even said to me, "My dog and your dog are the best dogs in this class." But any guy who gets a basset hound and names it Flash has to be pretty smart, right?

The One With the Old Friend

When I was in college, my friends used to joke that Jose Cuervo was the best boyfriend I ever had. And it's true that we had a lot of good times together. He was fun at parties, he made me feel good and he never made me throw up, like mean ole Smirnoff (and Barry... :). We spent every weekend together junior year.

But there were some disadvantages to our friendships. When I gave myself an ulcer sophomore year, where was he? Partying with other girls I would guess (though he never did sleep with any of my friends, like Barry...) I would argue that a better friend has always been Rocky Road. But not just any Rocky Road. It has to be Dreyers Rocky Road with real marshmellows. No matter how poor I was, I always had a quart of that in my freezer. We spent many a wonderful night together, even during those ulcer days. ("It's time for the good stuff now, right?")

Well, I recently discovered this old friend after a two-year fling with Ben and Jerry (yes, I can handle two men at a time). I had forgotten how much I loved him. Now I have a bowl every night after dinner, and even though my stomach isn't thrilled with me, I have been loving it.

OK, seriously speaking of old friends, you will never believe who might be moving to LA, Mon. Mikey V. Yes, Mikey V. who was embarrassed when I answered the door in my bra. I will NEVER forget the look on his face. He e-mailed me today to ask me if it would be affordable on his salary and if I liked it. I explained to him my complex feelings about LA and assured him that, yes, it is affordable. But how funny would it be if we became friends again?!?!?

I guess this must be former Jayhawks reunite week because not only did my old college roommate locate a very old friend who I miss dearly, but I also heard from random Michael Terry. Do you remember him? Random. He's married with kids. I just can't picture it. AND I forgot this, but he's friends with Eric Reed, who I still hear from monthly. He said that my "old fling" was married and had a kid, and I had to tell him that yes, I know, we still talk. Don't you find it weird that I still talk to Eric Reed? I mean, really.