Murphy's Law

I am a contributing member of society - I have a job.

(Ok, so I just ref intramural soccer games for UF. BUT I do get paid and it's pretty fun, gosh darn it!)

Playoffs began a couple of weeks ago, and, to ensure all refs got an equal opportunity to be evaluated, each ref only received one shift out of the first two weeks. Fine, I totally understand. I got one 2-hour shift last week and I figured it would be my last week reffing this semester. I figured they would leave the rest of playoff reffing to the more experienced guys. Cool, whatever. It was fun while it lasted.

To my utter surprise, I received an email last Thursday saying "Congratulations, you made the cut!" Attached to the email was my work schedule for this week. Of course, I was thrilled - MORE MONEY!!! I scrolled through the schedule to find my name. And there it was.

TUESDAY MARCH 31, 2009. I had a glorious 4-hour shift from 6-10pm as a sideline ref for 4 co-recreational games. These, my friends, are gold. Co-rec games are coveted as being the easiest to ref for several reasons.

1. It's slow-paced. Easy to follow, easy to ref.
2. It's a recreational division so the players don't get too caught up in the game. It's all for funnsies.
3. It's slow.
4. It's slow.
5. It's slow.

I was stoked. I get out my blue pen to mark it on my lovely wall calendar. I search for the date - Tuesday March 31 6-10...

In giant letters I see:

STA EXAM 8:20-10:20 PM

Crap. I can't ref. Alright, I'll just send out an email to the dozens of other refs available to work that week and someone will pick up my shift. Better luck next time.

That night I sent out an email in which I explain my situation, my shift, and my contact information. I sign off for the night knowing that there will be a message in my inbox the next morning from some lucky soul who just scored the jackpot of all ref shifts.

I awake Friday morning and check my inbox. Nothing. I check again Friday afternoon. Still nothing. No big deal, I tell myself. Maybe some people just haven't gotten around to checking. I'll send it again so it's right there at the top, waiting for them.

Saturday rolls around. Still no word. I resend my email. Sunday comes and goes. Another email is sent out. Monday creeps up on me. My emails reflect my desperation. I thought the whole I-have-an-exam-that-counts-as-30%-of-my-grade thing would get me some sympathy at least. By Monday, I've offered up monetary bonuses, a free lunch, and even my lifelong, undying friendship. Nada.

So, that leaves me here on this lovely Tuesday afternoon on the 31st of March. My shift begins in less than an hour. My UF email has decided to celebrate April Fool's a day early by blocking my email since 2 o'clock this afternoon so I can't check for replies. The ref supervisor, who I would usually call to explain my sitch, is out of town and not answering his phone.

However, he did leave his replacement's phone number in case something like this happened. In an email. That is currently being kept under lock and key by UF webmail.

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Happy Hump Day!

Since today is Wednesday, it is officially Hump Day. Monday and Tuesday are uphill battles but it's smooth sailing after today.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away

I love surprises!

Yesterday, Jana, Rebekah, and I surprised our favorite non-roommate, Breski, 3 days before her birthday. Her birthday is Saturday but, since it's during Spring Break, we decided to do something special while still in Gainesville.

Bre is one of those people who always tries to figure stuff out ahead of time, which is highly problematic when it comes to trying to surprise her. All three of us were pretty vague all day leading up the surprise about our plans and made seemingly legitimate excuses for why we couldn't hang out. We planned to surprise her at 11:11 PM, since Bre always reminds people to wish at 11:11. We even got her roommate, Jackie, in on it!

Instead, we went to our future place of residence and made delicious brownie/ chocolate chip cookie bars. And yes, they were everything we thought they would be AND MORE. We waited outside her dorm after running all over campus trying to avoid Bre's suspicious and prying texts. Jackie let us into the building and we proceeded to run down the hall with our yummy baked goods and bang the crap out of her door.

I think this picture pretty much sums up her surprise.



Obvi, she loves us. And we love her. :)

She doesn't even know what's going to hit her tomorrow...

Lifesavers

I began refereeing intramural outdoor soccer games this semester to make some extra money. They play indoor in the fall semester and outdoor in the spring because it's SUPPOSED to be warmer in the spring.

Apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo this semester or she is playing a terribly cruel trick on all of us hardcore soccer aficionados. I have reffed more games in subfreezing temperatures the past month than I have played in my whole life. On my first night, I reffed 5 hours straight from 7 PM to midnight in 30 degrees and then walked a mile to my dorm.

Since then, my wonderful, loving, amazing boyfriend has let me drive his car to games. Even though I feel completely safe and secure on the UF campus, young females walking at night is never really a good idea. By the end of the night, my feet and hands are always white. And upon thawing about 30-60 minutes later, they promptly turn purple and blue. It's not pleasant and highly unfortunate when I need to write, type, or text.

For Christmas, I received these little puppies.


Today, my world was changed forever.

They take about 30 minutes to warm up and then you're good to go for the next 10 hours. I haven't been able to find them until this week when I was doing a little cleaning in my dorm. Needless to say, I am in love.

Today, I prepared for the tundra. I wore at least 6 layers on both top and bottom, feeling a little like the Michelin Man. I slipped one of these bad boys in my pocket and it made all the difference. I was warm and my hands were saved!

Thanks, Santa!