For Christine

For my amazing friend, Christine.
For the one who has shown generosity unlike anyone I have ever known.
For the one who has gone above and beyond the call duty in our friendship.
For the one who has listened to me cry and made me laugh.
For the one I can always count on.
For the one whose opinions I may not always agree with, but I always respect.
For the one who doesn't always agree with me.
For the one who stands up for what she believes in.
For the one who is patient and kind and genuine.
For the one who reminds me to be kind when I don't want to be.
For the one who has been fiercely loyal through it all.

For you I say my most sincere and most heartfelt prayers... because that is all that I can do for you right now.

I know that you are going to be ok.
The doctor said that you are going to be ok.
You cannot not be ok.
You looked so small and so fragile in the hospital bed this morning. But you looked ok. Every prayer that I said last night was answered 100 fold. And for that I am so grateful.

An aneurysm? At 24? How does this happen? Why does this happen?

As the doctor rambled off things like "coils to repair the artery"... "started bleeding again during the operation"... "drilled a second hole in her skull"... "tube to monitor the pressure on her brain"... "she'll be here at least a week"... I felt queasy and afraid and helpless. So helpless.

All I can offer you are my prayers... my love... my support... my good thoughts. I hope they help. I hope they are enough.

And I promise to bring you chicken soup when you can eat again.

I hope you don't mind me posting this. I just wanted everyone to know how special you are to me. I wanted them to know what you are going through. I wanted them to pray for you too.

I love you.

And The Crowd Goes Wild

Just as life starts to seem pretty mundane, and I feel bogged down by the constant pressures of work and school... a rousing game of office chair soccer breaks out.

Oh, you read right... Office Chair Soccer!

See, they are re-doing half of the cubicles in my little corner of the cube-farm world. And in order to re-do the cubicles, the old cubicles must first be removed. Once the old cubicles are removed, you are left with several hundred square feet of PRIME office chair soccer playing area! Woo-Hoo!!

Office chair soccer is much like regular soccer:
No hands may touch the ball at any time - except for the goalies, of course
No time outs
Each team tries to kick the ball into the opposing team's goal
Games are typically low scoring and emotionally charged
Players should not play in high heels*

Here are some excellent photos of the action:

By the end there were like 16 of us playing. My team ended up losing, but it should be noted that the loss was not my fault! In fact, I assisted in TWO goals!!**

It was SO much fun! Such a great break. And the best part? When our boss came out of his meeting and ended up face to face with our impromptu tournament, he just shook his head, smiled, and continued walking. Awesome!

------------------------------------------------
* Unless, of course, you happen to be wearing high heels on the very day that the biggest and best game of office chair soccer in the history of office chair soccer breaks out and you have no choice.

** Assist #1 - I accidentally kicked the ball to a guy who I thought was on the other team, but he ended up being on my team and then he scored! (That counts as an assist, right?)
Assist #2 - A guy on my team kicked the ball in my general direction, it ricocheted off of my chair, and landed in the goal. TOTALLY counts!

Everyday

Wake
Shower (optional)
Eat breakfast in car
Work
Work
Eat lunch at desk
Work
Work
School
Eat Dinner in lab
School
School
School
Sleep (6 hours max)

Repeat until March 17.

Please forgive the lack of blogging. :(

Picture Pages

I downloaded a bunch of pictures off of my camera yesterday... Here are a few choice ones. :)

Sara and I partying it up.

My roommate, Mark, and his British friends.

Kiss. (My BFF Sara and her man - awww.)

Kiss. (My other BFF Kim and her man - awww.)

Stolen Kiss! (Me and my man!)

My boyfriend and his little bro wearing the random free t-shirts they got in a bar last weekend. Don't ask me, I don't get it either.

Proof I'm dating a hottie.

Market street lighting up at sunset.

Me and Kyle at a Crab Feed. YUM!

Ari and Corinne... who are now ENGAGED, by the way!!!!!

(A million congratulations, guys!)

My Valentine!

For My Valentine

Symphony
By: Jessica Riddle
CD: Key of A minor

I have a foot to wrestle, under the table.
And he will keep my toes warm late at night.
And I have a leg to pretzel while we're watching cable.
And he will wrap around me tight.

I have a sexy stomach to run my fingers along.
And he'll take off his shirt and drive me wild.
And I have an arm to hold me, and he's so strong.
And he will flex it with a smile.

You make me happy, when I feel too much.
And when my hand are cold, you warm them up.
And I'm not worried, when your not around.
And I hear symphonies...without a sound.
Without a sound.

I have two lips to tell me that I am loved.
And he will kiss me till I can't move at all.
And I have two eyes to melt me, I can't get enough.
And he makes me want to fall.

You make me happy, when I feel too much.
And when my hand are cold, you warm them up.
And I'm not worried, when your not around.
And I hear symphonies...without a sound.

I love you.
I love you.

You make me happy, when I feel too much.
And when my hand are cold, you warm them up.
And I'm not worried, when your not around.
And I hear symphonies...
I hear symphonies...
And I hear symphonies...
Without a sound.

Stay Of Execution

So you may have read my haikus, and you may have ascertained that I was going a bit nutty trying to finish the most recent test of will thrown at me by my Mechatronics professor. Oh my, Thursday night SUCKED!

We beat ourselves over the head trying to get our stupid robot to work until 7:15am (Friday morning). At that point we decided to go home and get some MUCH MUCH MUCH needed sleep. We all agreed to take Friday night off (all work and no play makes Courtney a very unhappy camper) and meet back first thing Saturday morning to finish the bot - the class got an extension till Saturday because NO ONE had finished by Thursday afternoon.

Well... Kyle and I showed up first thing Saturday morning all ready and willing to waste 20 more hours in lab when, lo and behold, we saw our robot sitting in the corner with a note from our other two teammates... "The robot works! DO NOT TOUCH IT! We'll be back at noon for the checkoff with the TAs - Cris and Diana 7:40am."

7:40 am!!!?????

They pulled ANOTHER all-nighter!!!???

Oh Bless Them!!!!

Turns out each of them came in late Friday night to put a few hours in on the bot and they ended up working on it till morning.

Kyle and I felt terrible that they had put in sooooooooo much effort without us... but at the same time, SCORE!!! NO LAB TODAY!!!

So we went outside and slept in the sunshine for an hour or so. WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! Tens times more enjoyable because we had had every intention of being trapped in lab all day. It was literally like we got a stay of execution.

The TAs got to lab at noon and our robot successfully completed the obstacle course a short time later. Kyle and I spent the rest of the day relaxing. Was bliss! :)

And here's a pic of our robot... Isn't it cute?

3AM Haikus From The Lab

My robot won't run.
Communication problems.
Can't drive the motor.
***
LEDs won't light.
What on Earth is wrong with them?
Die LEDs, die.
***
Black tape, white tape, floor.
Phototransitors are crap.
Can't tell the difference.
***
Nothing will compile.
I think my code is laughing
at me and my team.
***
Oh ambient light,
You are my arch nemisis!
IR sensor freaks.
***
Little ghetto bot,
please function. I need some sleep.
I'm writing Haikus!

I Was Mopped!

This weekend, while playing in SF with Kyle and Kelsey, I happened upon a Pirate Store. (And by "happened upon" I mean Kyle and Kelsey had heard about it and were dying to go there and check it out so we planned most of an entire Saturday around trying to find it.)
Anyway, this store is an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, stuffed into a little glass message bottle, cast into a sea of fantastic strangeness... in the Mission District.

826 Valencia, to be exact.

I cannot begin to do the place justice by attempting to describe it. In fact, I'm not even sure I understand it. There is a large (LARGE) vat of lard. There is a fish named Karl. Apparently Karl is King. There are countless drawers labeled with things like "Perfection" and "Trimmings"... the Perfection drawer couldn't be opened... the Trimming drawer was filled with beard trimmings. One drawer has a large red hook in it. I wish I could remember what that drawer was labeled. I really couldn't tell you if *ANYTHING* was actually for sale in the store. It was so strange. And there were many many signs on the walls. The signs had everything from top 10 lists (Top 10 ten reasons to have tentacles #7. Fully Nuanced Gesturing)... to stories about pirating and plundering and the like (lots of use of the word "Arrrgh") ... to instructions on what to do when being mopped ("Think of yourself as a smooth wet vermicelli noodle and the mops as a thick and delicious sauce")... to things like this:

Hee Hee... I like the code... but wait a minute... "mopped"? What's mopped?

Well! Just as I was reading one of these many signs... fully entranced by it... completely unaware of my surroundings... I WAS MOPPED!!! Oh yes! A whole pile of mop heads fell from the ceiling above me and landed RIGHT ON MY HEAD!!!!!! And you know what I thought?? "I'm a wet noodle, I'm a wet noodle."
:)
Sheesh.
The sneaky wenches at the pirate store got me.
I can't wait to go back.