Eyeball 2008

Brian and I attended our third consecutive eyeball. If you haven't heard me talk about it before, Eyeball is a formal dinner and dance that is held every year to honor the 4th year optometry students. One of my classmates describes it as a wedding reception without a bride and groom with an open bar....it is always a fun night! Optometry students know how to drink, that's for sure.




My Best Friends Ryan and Roy


Pose much?? I don't remember "posing" for either of these, apparently the head turn with a drink in hand is my go to move. :)

Please ignore the weight gain and pasty skin, thanks.

Nightmares

In the last week I have had nightmares about the health of two different family members. So if you all could go to the doctor and have a complete physical and reassure me you are ok, that would be great. This is for both those I have dreamt about and as a preventative measure for those I have not....yet. I don't like starting the day with that much stress and anxiety! I am turning into Grandma Dorothy faster than I imagined I would!!

MOA Conference in Branson

This weekend I attended the Missouri Optometric Association in Branson, MO. It has been many, many years since I have been in Branson....the west side sure hasn't changed much. However, the East side has a new addition that is young and hip, full of new stores and lots of restaurants, it's called The Landing.
I was one of several students who served as a monitor for the conference, checking doctors in and out of the their continuing education classes so they can get their credit in order to keep their license. After the lectures have started and all the docs are checked in we get to sit in and listen too. It is amazing how much I have learned in just over two short years. I remember attending these same type lectures in my 1st and 2nd year and not having any idea what was going on. Now I am able to keep up with the lectures and really get a lot out of them.
Since this was the MISSOURI Optometric Association nearly everyone of the doctors there was from Missouri and most are Mizzou fans. Saturday night was the Presidents banquet which was also at the same time as the kick-off of the Mizzou vs. OSU game. This was a black tie dinner, very formal, except that the docs with access to the mic were all MU fans and made the crowd do cheers, and some had even brought in Mizzou signs. ANNOYING!!....Kind of like hell. That's too bad they got beat, a real shame. M-I-Z....Z-O-U SUCKS!!!! That's the cheer that they were doing at the dinner, I took the liberty of inserting the sucks part, and its really obnoxious.

Nice Relaxing Weekend

We had a great weekend. Since it was Brian's off-week before starting new classes, he actually had a weekend without homework...the first one off since he started school.
Friday we sat at home and watched our Netflix movie "Dan in Real Life". We both enjoyed it, although I was a bigger fan than he was. Compared to our last movie "I'm Not There", which we turned off half way through because it was so bad, we were extremely happy with this choice.
Saturday Brian attacked out mole problem (none caught yet, but no new mounds either). I watched KU football, which wasn't so relaxing since it started off so bad and almost ended worse, but a win always makes me happy. That evening we had tickets to see Ryan Adams and the Cardinals in concert (who you can find in our playlist). We first went to dinner at an Italian restaurant we had never been to. It was quite good. We had some extra time between dinner and the concert so we walked around the area and sat outside at a cute little park enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The concert was at the historic Fox Theater. Neither of us had been to this venue before; it was an amazing place! The theater was built in the 1920s and recently underwent a multi-million dollar restoration project. This is where the musicals and opera's are held when they come through STL.
Today we decided to go see the movie "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" that just came out on Friday. We both thought it was awesome too. Afterwards, we came home and caught the end of the race.
Good weekend together with 3 things we enjoy most: good food, concerts and movies.

MOLE!!!

It all started last weekend....
I had noticed some unusual mounds of dirt, we went out to the yard and started to investigate. I noticed that down around the mailbox there appeared to be some raised area of ground and the grass was discolored. I walked across it and it sank like quicksand. I walked and walked and walked, there were tunnels all over and little dirt mounds where the tunnels ran into the sidewalk and driveway. Moles...voles...groundhogs...what's going on. Oh god, get me out of this yard before this little rodent comes running out! Brian had a good laugh....moles apparently are fat and don't scurry around like mice. I lived on a farm for 18years, but we never had a mole problem-just mice-so that's all I know.
I got online, mostly because I wasn't entirely convinced that they were not going to invade my house like a mouse would or come running out of a hole if I startled one, and did some research. I decided from the shape of the mound it had to be moles. I also learned that they can make as much as 100ft of tunnel per day! FYI because I have done so much research, moles aren't rodents, they eat earthworms, may only come above ground once in their life, and are blind or have little to no vision. They kind of resemble a rat, but have a big fat sausage-shaped body.
So off to Lowe's I went to find something to deter the little varmints. Brian was really busy finishing his final papers so I was sent out to find something. I didn't know what I was doing so I picked some solar powered spike you put in the ground. It supposedly puts out a sound that is supposed prevent them from coming within a 90ft radius. The next morning, 3 new mounds right next to the stake. Fabulous. In its defense, I didn't put it in until the evening so I don't know if it was fully charged and working correctly. I again stomped down all the tunnels I could find. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....no new mounds of dirt! Maybe that thing does work.
Thursday.....some dirt right along the edge of the driveway, not really a mound, but where did it come from. Well, I walked along and felt the tunnel that connected it, but it could be some new little critter. I read that other critters will come in and take over the all ready dug and now abandoned mole tunnels. I now scour the yard everyday, and I keep finding more and more little holes in the ground without the mounds of dirt...great something else, but I don't know what it is. There are still tunnels everywhere that I like to walk along and smash. My neighbors probably wonder, as my mom so accurately stated, "What's that crazy white girl doing?". I can only imagine what it looks like....walking an invisible tight-rope across the yard.
Saturday morning a new mound! Damn it! They're back. Brian asked some of his co-workers and apparently a lot of people are having the same problem and we've been told that traps work well so Brian is at Lowe's as I speak!! This is annoying.

VP Debate At WashU

The VP debate tomorrow night-October 2nd-is being held at Washington University here in St. Louis which is the school Brian is attending for his MBA. This is his week off before starting two new classes next week, thus he will be watching it on TV like everyone else. They did have a raffle for a very select number of WashU students to attend, but Brian did not put his name in for some reason.
So just in case you do watch....yes, it's Brian's new school.

P.S. It took a lot of self control to refrain from making political comments about this very interesting debate coming up, but rest assured I (and Brian too) have many opinions about this upcoming election!!