Escuela!! For real this time.

So tomorrow I once again embark on an official start of grad school, but this time with real, legit classes to attend. I have to figure out how to take the bus, and my stats class syllabus says they expect everyone to have taken introductory stats (ummm...no) but other than those frightening things I am excited. I got all the classes I wanted, though it took some finagling and some waiting. The best part, really, is that the only class with a start time in the AM realm is one day a week, on Friday. The other days, its either 1 pm or 5:30 pm! I never thought I would be able to replicate the awesomeness that was my first semester at Emory, when I didn't start until after 11 everyday, but I dare say this is better. Now, these late start times are all really an illusion, since I have to put in 10 hours of work every week for ServiceCorps, but I still like it. I think I will especially like it when it is below zero and dark out in the early winter mornings and I can stay tucked in bed instead of trudging through the snow to wait for the bus.

Orientation has been good, I like the people in my program, and while I have some occasional freak-outs about not being ready for this or not knowing what I want to do exactly when I graduate, I think it's going pretty well so far. The only truly bad thing is that my books cost waaaaayy too much.

Last Wednesday was my first night out on the B-town. Went to The Vid, a pool hall type place, and The Bird which is a very awesome live music venue. When we were there they had a cover band that sang Tenacious D among other things and whose lead singer looked like John Krasinski (who is engaged, btw! sad day of mourning for all of us Jim fans). So far, Bloomington's night scene is outperforming Atlanta's, at least in terms of my taste.

What else? Played tennis today. It's a new thing Eric and I are doing because there are parks and rec courts within walking distance of our house and its good free exercise. I lost the first game 4-0 and it made me way more angry than it should have. I am apparently a terrible competitive player. I thought it was just golf that brought out the crazy in me, but tennis too! I threw my racket, you guys. Not mature. Though, I will say that I was much more cordial when I then lost 4-3. At least that score is respectable.

Yesterday was Eric's birthday and so on Friday night I made him dinner. I make dinner a lot but I put in extra effort for this one because it was an occasion, I have to say that it was pretty much delicious. So in lieu of a pie recipe, today I leave you with Turkey Feta Burgers and Spicy Chili Fries:

Turkey Burgers (taken from this recipe at AllRecipes and modified a wee bit)

• ground turkey
• half a container of feta cheese
• a lot of dried oregano
• one egg

Put everything in a bowl. Use a fork to beat the egg a bit. Mix it all together with your hands. Make into patties, throw on a skillet for about 5-8 minutes a side. Toast wheat buns on the skillet once the burgers are done.

Fries (taken and modified from this recipe)

• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick fries
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup tomato-vegetable juice cocktail
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1+ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 425. You toss everything together to make the sauce and then you toss the fries in it and put them on a baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn them, and bake for another 20 minutes, and voila!

Also I made asparagus, but I trust you all can figure that one out for yourselves. Time for Mad Men!!

Au revior, mes amis!