Engaged

So.

I’m engaged!

I’m getting married!

Can you believe it? It happened in September and I sort of still can’t.

Niall and I had gone on a couple of fancyish vacation-type trips, but he picked a regular old go-to-LA-and-watch-a-USC-football-game weekend to propose. It was perfect.

It was also a complete surprise.
I wondered why he was acting so weird and kind of hurrying me along in the bookstore when he KNEW I wanted to try on a tee shirt. I didn't clue in when he asked me what my favorite spot on campus was (I answered “Right here in the center, where everything is going on!” So then he asked me where my favorite place on campus was that I hadn’t shown him before-- I thought he was interested in learning my favorite haunts, but apparently he was trying to subtly get me to lead him to a less crowded area. (It worked.)). We wandered over to the alumni house and apparently while I reveled in the thought of standing in the very room where the first USC students lived and learned, Niall was gathering the courage to ask me a Very Important Question.
We walked outside to admire the statue of Joseph Widney and his dapper pocket watch, and Niall turned to me and told me that he loves me and he wants to spend his life with me. "Will you marry me?" He asked.
And then I gaped at him and said "Really?" for about two solid minutes before I came to my senses and said YES.
We’re getting married in June, which, I have learned, is not six months away.

 

football, 40s, fools, and fish heads

I kind of hate to admit this but I had almost semi-forgotten exactly how much I LOVE going to USC football games. Weird. I took a quick jaunt down to LA this past weekend to go to the game and see a few of my peeps. As a season ticket holder, I could have gone to the 2 previous home games but I've been too caught up with school and not wanting to drive down there and blah blah blah to be able to. So this was my first game of the season. AND I WAS VERY EXCITED!!! Everybody thought I was crazy 5 years ago when I bought my season tickets. "You're crazy," they said. And they were probably right. Instead of buying the student pass (since I was a grad student) or buying scalped tickets for the games I wanted to go to, I was spending, well, a lot more. But I'm very glad I made that decision. Good for you, Julia of the past. Now here's some other advice-- don't cut your hair off. You will regret it.

Michelle and I decided it would be a good idea to buy 40s and walk around campus before the game. Here we are in front of Tommy Trojan, AKA inspiration for tattoo #1.

Normally I am categorically against wearing a scarf and a tank top-- it's too "combination of the seasons" like wearing ski pants and flip flops or a mini skirt and ugg boots. Although, come to think of it there have been many occasions when I wear my fauxfurry boots and a skirt when I'm going out on the town so I guess I don't really have any room to be up on my high horse. But if I saw someone wearing a tank top and a scarf, I might judge them. So I don't blame anybody who saw me on Saturday and perhaps judged me. But- the weather was nice and I wanted to show off my ink and I still had to wear something cardinal and gold. Plus I was drinking a 40 and all of my ideas seemed like good ones at the time.

Including the idea to 'take a bunch of photos at the game!' Since I have been going to the games for 8 years now, it is likely that I already have several versions of the following photos. But here they are again....

I took this flower picture as we were walking to the game. Michelle thought it looked hopeful.

After the Trojan victory, we were walking to the bookstore and out of the corner of my eye I saw this woman who had been walking next to us trip, stumble, and fall on her face. She had a little boy with her who said "help. help." in that faint, terrified way that a traumatized kid might. So Michelle and I hurried over to the woman whose nose was bleeding profusely. Michelle gave her some tissues and I jumped into Student Nurse mode and instructed her to pinch the bridge of her nose and apply pressure with the tissue. And then I found out how frustrating it is when someone doesn't listen to you. She kept just sniffing and swiping at her nose with the tissues and then putting them down. She wouldn't hold the tissue to her nose so she got blood all over her hands, face, and the grass around her. Great. So Michelle went to look for the public safety people and called them while I stayed with the woman and tried to help her with the tissues. She seemed really out of it and the little boy looked terrified.

I asked the woman her name. She wouldn't tell me.

I asked if she had been drinking. She stared at me.

I asked if she was planning to drive somewhere. She said "Certainly not."

I told her it looked like she was swaying a little while she was sitting. She said, "You are."

She definitely wanted to be left alone. Every few minutes she would say something like "Okay. Thank you." which clearly meant "LEAVE ME ALONE NOW." But if there's one thing I'm good at it's sticking around whether I'm wanted or not and was also concerned about the little boy so I stayed with them until the public safety guys showed up. Then we told them what had happened, I alcohol swabbed the hell out of my hands, and Michelle and I took off for the bookstore where I rewarded myself with a new sweatshirt.

I got to spend some time with C which was really nice, and then on Sunday afternoon I drove back up to SF. I arrived at my apartment where Kelly was Bowiesitting for me. She opened the door and said "Hey! Welcome home! How was LA? Oh, just to warn you there's a big bag of fish heads in the bathroom."

Not exactly the 50 yard line

When I moved into my apartment I was considering getting one of those cable/internet packages, but then I realized that the wireless internet is mostly strong enough to work in my apartment provided I don't mind the occasional laptop-in-hand march around the living room looking for a signal. So I use my TV for watching movies and as something for my couch to point towards. And this was fine, until Saturday, when my team had a game. I called Kelly to see if she wanted to grab dinner and watch it at a bar. She was busy. And suddenly I was out of Trojan friends, which was something I hadn't really anticipated. And anyone else who I could have potentially talked into watching the game with me because they like me was already busy. I thought about meeting up with the USC alumni group at a bar they apparently go to in the city on game day, but it was kind of far away and I wasn't really in the mood to put on my being nice to strangers hat.  So I went downstairs to the clubhouse room where there is a nice big TV and settled down to watch the game there. But then around halftime some people who had reserved the room came in and started setting up for a party. I stayed until the air was thick with tension and they were all shooting me why the hell doesn't she leave already? glares.

And that's how I came to be watching the remainder of the game in the workout room, perched on the seat of an exercise bike.

Pac 10 Opener. Represent!

Well tomorrow is USC vs. Oregon State which is awesome, but also kind of suckey since I'll be missing most of the game because it starts at 6 and I won't even get home till 8 or 8:30. And I can't wear any of my USC paraphernalia because I have to wear my uniform.

Fortunately, I pimp my act with Trojan Pride on my back.

Happy Football Season To You!!!

I can't believe it's here already! To tell the truth, it actually snuck up on me a little bit. But is with absolute delight that I wish a very happy football season to you and yours! My Trojans took on the Virginia Cavaliers and made me very proud today indeed. And if I may say completely objectively, those boys looked good out there today. There were a few penalties and nonsense but overall we played like a team. Like a USC football team. With any luck we will have an exciting season and some good outcomes. But, to quote my friend Brian, "I don't believe in luck. We're USC. We believe in hard work, discipline, and Samoans."

FIGHT ON!!!