Samba, Aye Carumba!

I just had my work Christmas party recently and wanted to post some photos. We had it this year at Samba Room, a Latin themed restaurant.

My date was, Heather, one of our office admins whose boyfriend happened to be out of town that weekend.

After dinner I had to show off my mad salsa dancing skills (Coincidentally, a friend invited me to salsa lessons the week before). I only have photos of me dancing with Ingrid, another coworker, but she wasn't the only one. ;)

Overall, it was a good time. You can even see Heather dancing with Gabe, our IT guy, in one of the photos.

Some Corny Fun

I didn't know that you could find such a thing in Florida, but just north of Orlando was a corn maze this fall. It was actually quite fun and takes several hours to make your way through it.

There is actually more to it than just trying to find the exit. There are stations that you are trying to find that have answers to questions on your guide/map. Your map is actually coded so that you can't read it unless you find the special map reading stations where you can slide your map under the decoder and figure out where you need to go next.

As you can see by looking at the map, the theme was space exploration and the maze is actually an astronaut, a spaceship and the earth all combined.

I went with a friend from church, Kelly, who is the person who invited our bible study group. She's the blond looking back in the photo.

I also decided to try some of the corn, but it turned out to not be that good. A few ears even had worms. :(

When Hell Freezes Over!

It's been a while since my last post. I've been quite busy with all sorts of drama; one of the most annoying ones being the replacement of my refrigerator. Let me preface this by saying that if you are shopping for a house and find one with a built-in refrigerator that is not brand new, RUN! Unless of course you have lots of money to sink into that financial black hole called a house.

The story begins as a simple water leak in the lines that supply water to the ice maker and door dispenser. So I called a repair guy who was referred to me by a friend. He shows up the next morning, takes one look at the fridge and leaves (I'm not making this up!). The best answer I could get from him before he hastily left was that GE Monograms (my fridge brand) are completely different than your ordinary fridge. Based on another recommendation I call Sears Appliance Repair (whose website claims they repair GE Monograms) and get an appointment for a few days later. Once that guy shows up he pretty much repeats what the first guy told me and says that my best choice is to call GE directly, but he'll see what he can do. He manages to replace a bunch of the line and stop the leak but claims that the damaged line extends into the wall and needs to be repaired by a plumber and it could start leaking again at any time. He also tells me that this fridge would cost around $5000 to replace (Say what?!) and that this one is pretty old. Sure enough, it only lasted a few days so I called a plumber I found in an ad. He shows up the next day looks at the fridge and makes up some story about how he needs some special tool and high tails it out of there never to be heard from again.

By this point it's been a couple weeks and I'm just sick of this fridge. On my way back from a physical therapy session that same day the plumber left me high but certainly not dry, I decided to stop at Appliance Direct (infamous in Orlando for awful TV commercials). After looking at some fridges and then going home to measure the size of the opening I realize that this nightmare fridge is a completely non-standard size and that a normal fridge would stick out like a sore thumb into the middle of my kitchen. The sales person informs me that I need a "counter depth" fridge aka not cheap. Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned that I had a GE Monogram and she told me that they had a scratch and dent one in the back. I look at it and it only has some minor damage and is marked down to around $1600 from the original $6000 price tag. Considering that this is the only thing that will fit in the opening and not look like total garbage I jumped on it the got an open box stainless steel dishwasher (to match the new fridge) at the same time since the delivery charge was the same and I needed a new one too.

If it were only that simple! Appliance Direct would not deliver it because they said that GE Monograms are too heavy and easily damage kitchen tiles, etc... because of their weight. However, the did recommend a delivery company who would deliver it but of course for more money. I finally got a hold of the delivery guy (business must be good because he doesn't seem desperate for work based on how well he returns phone calls) and he delivers it a few days later. Upon removing the old fridge, we discover that the whole back wall is soaked and growing mildew from all the water that had been leaking. I also needed to call a plumber to connect this new fridge and replace the leaky water line. I got a referral for a different plumber and he was in and out of there in no time (of course it helped that the fridge was already removed). The delivery guys left the old fridge out by the curb and I called the garbage company to some pick it up. The next day the garbage company calls me back to let me know that the fridge is too heavy for them to load into the truck at that I'm on my own. Wondering when this problem fridge would get out of my life, I formulated a plan to get together a few coworkers and take it to the dump ourselves (because clearly the local garbage men didn't want to ruin their manicures) but someone hauled it off by the time I got home (that is about the only thing that took care of itself).

With the old fridge finally gone I had to figure out how the get the new one had to be "installed". The water and electrical have to be in the exact locations or else the fridge won't be flush with the cabinets for that built-in look. The previous installers just cut open the drywall and ran the water and electric and then stapled HVAC tape over it. This of course allowed water to seep into the wall from the leak. After letting the drywall become "dry" again, I began the joyous process of taping, patching, and sealing the large opening they left while moving the water and electric to the correct positions for the new fridge. This took about three weeks because I only had a day or two here an there. Finally, just before thanksgiving I was able to get two coats of paint on the wall.

Once I returned from visiting friends and family is South Florida, one of my roommates helped me push the fridge back into position. It took a couple days and some figuring out to get it adjusted (we had to pull it back out once) and flush with the cabinets but it is now done. I don't want to see or hear of another fridge problem for as long as I live in this house!

Caught Red Handed!

As much as Daisy and Cody try to hide it, they've come to enjoy one another. They may fight every once and a while, but what siblings don't? I've finally managed to catch them on camera sharing the dog bed. They both enjoy the bed but will usually only use it if the other is not already doing so. Every so often though one will plop him or herself next to the other one. The bed can comfortably handle both of them and lucky for them they don't have to fight over who's hogging the covers!

MBA or Bust! Part Deux

I just got off the phone about 5 minutes ago with the University of Florida Professional MBA Director of Admissions. I was calling to make sure they received all of the application materials I had submitted when the person on the phone told me, "Congratulations, let me transfer you to the director". I figured that meant I was accepted, and once I spoke with the director I found out the admissions board had just recently met and made the acceptance decision. Woo Hoo!!! That is one less stressful thing to worry about. I was actually a bit surprised because their website says they don't give acceptance information over the phone. I guess that makes it easier to deal with people who weren't accepted.

Now that I've been accepted into both schools I applied to, I need to make a decision. After much prayer and thought, I think I'm going to UF. Before I make that commitment though, I would like to visit the campus and check out the school of business and the hotel where the MBA students stay for the weekend. If that all checks out--and I'm sure it probably will--that is where I'll end up. Considering that they are both excellent schools with highly ranked MBA programs on the national scale, the decision came down to mostly two things: time and money.

I applied for the Saturday MBA program at Rollins which means that I would have class every Saturday with only a few weekends off per year (pretty much Thanksgiving and Christmas). The benefit is that the program is only 19 months which is really short, but you are sacrificing your social life, etc... which is really unappealing after already finishing one Master's Degree. UF's Professional MBA program is 27 months long but you only go to class one weekend a month. Although that requires more discipline to study those other 3 weeks it's a lot more flexible.

As far as the money, UF's program is $32,000 vs. Rollins' $55,000 but UF requires a lengthy commute, staying in a hotel plus food, etc... Accounting for the differences I calculated the total UF cost was about $40,000, which is still quite a bit cheaper than Rollins and I could pay for those additional costs out of my regular budget. Student loans are how I plan on paying for the tuition minus how much my job contributes, which is still to be determined.

MBA or Bust!

So I just can't seem to give up grad school. This time though, I'm going for an MBA. I've applied to University of Florida and Rollins College, both excellent nationally ranked MBA schools in Florida. Each has things I like about it, so I'm still not sure which one I plan on going to. The good news though, is that I found out yesterday that I was accepted into Rollins. Hopefully, I'll also be able to say the same for UF pretty soon.

Yesterday was my interview with the Saturday MBA (the track to which I applied) program director at Rollins College. I wasn't sure what to expect and what questions they would ask me. It turned out to be pretty easy. From the get-go I was told I was a strong candidate and that this would be fairly quick (while winking, I guess to let me know I was in). The director and her assistant only asked me 3 questions which were more or less personality and teamwork questions to aid them in placing me on a team. Only 44 students are accepted into the Saturday MBA program per year and everyone is assigned a team that has been pre-arranged based on the individuals skill sets to make the teams fair and well rounded. After the short series of questions the director got my "acceptance" pen, signed my acceptance letter and gave me the pen. I guess the pen is a ritual that they carry on and only those who have been admitted to the program leave the interview with the pen. Lucky for me, I left with a pen!

But Don't Take My Word For It

"We have to test everything.
I thank God for anybody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God.
But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating.
Test it. Probe it.
Do that to this book.
Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it.
Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn't mean I've got it nailed. I'm contributing to the discussion.
God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?"
-- From the back cover of Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

I read that today before church service while looking at some books. I love it! I think in so many ways it describes my feelings about Christianity. Don't just take my or anyone else's word without first testing it. I grew in a Christian environment that taught me that I should know why I believe what I believe. Not just because some guy on stage in a suit told me so. Unfortunately, I don't think many people who grew up in the church can say the same.

In case you didn't get it, the title is an ode to LeVar Burton's famous line from Reading Rainbow.

A New Sheriff in Town

Some of you already know, but for those of you who don't, I got a new dog a few months ago. He showed up at a coworker's doorstep and didn't leave. Eventually, I ended up with him and named him Cody. He's quite affectionate and can run like I've never seen. He's part whippet which is a racing dog and looks like a greyhound but smaller. At first, the turf wars were absolutely awful. Of course the two dogs have now resolved most of their differences and even share a bed (although not at the same time)! Cody is on the right, while Daisy is on the left.

Money talks, mine says goodbye!

Here's a new website that I find quite interesting, http://www.mint.com. You set it up to link to your bank, credit card, etc... accounts and it collects your transactions nightly and allows you to graph and track where your money is going. Best of all, it's FREE. They make money from advertisements based on the things you spend your money on. Maybe this will reduce the questions about http://www.wheresgeorge.com or for my fellow Canadians http://www.whereswilly.com.

Is she really with him!?

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It's about time!

Welcome to my lovely new blog. I wanted a better way to keep people informed about what is going on in my life, so I thought this would be the perfect medium. Instead of just getting a blip in a Christmas card once a year, you can now find out what is happening year-round!