It has been almost 2 months since I last updated the blog and I have so much to share.

After the 2.5 "ice days" (meaning no work, no school, no leaving the house), I had severe cabin fever and was anxious to get the semester started. "Rock the Boat," our big beginning of the semester event was cancelled and replaced with a more low-key "Spring Kickoff." A band called "The Skinny" came in from Florida--they're amazing, check out their myspace page--to entertain us and we had food and drinks to boot. The next evening was girls dinner out...to The Melting Pot, a fondue joint in north Austin. Six of us indulged in a 4 course fondue feast and had a lot of fun in the process.

With temperatures still barely breaking the 30s, I was questioning why I came to Texas. I thought this place was supposed to be the "armpit of America" or something. Aren't armpits supposed to be HOT? Mine certainly weren't! Even in the freezing cold, the Fresh Up Club still went out and won our first soccer game of the season, and have continued to dominate ever since (see state cup section below). Books and Babes also managed to meet to discuss the worst book ever (IMHOATOOAEEIBC--in my humble opinion and the opinion of almost everyone else in book club) "Fall on your Knees." It goes without saying that we still managed to enjoy ourselves and the food left nothing to be desired, especially the Mud Pudding complete with gummy worms (Robin had been craving it). Megan hopped on the Book Club band wagon which was a treat (and now she's as true member) and we had another special guest--moshe the mouse. It was quite a site to see...all the girls screaming and jumping on counters and couches. I will have you know that after lots of traps, poison, and extermination, we now have to "mouse problem" under control. I kinda miss the lil guys.

To start off February, I had a birthday party for the trees on campus for Tu B'Shevat (a Jewish holiday). I handed out mini cakes and had balloons and signs reading "Happy Birthday, Trees." I got a few questions and a lot of weird looks, but I guess that what being JCSC fellow is all about. That night I watched the bears play basketball...I think we lost, but it was nothing a fun night out (with alcohol) couldn't fix. And then it was superbowl sunday--oh how time flies--and I went over to the AEPi house (it's my job, but it's fun, too) to watch with the guys.

And then it was Barbie Party time. I held a Barbie Party for some of the girls in non-Jewish sororities...we ate pink cookies on barbie plates, drank punch from barbie glasses and watched "The Tribe" (http://www.tribethefilm.com/) a movie that tells the history of the Jewish people alongside the history of the barbie doll, which was invented by a Jewish woman. It was a fun evening that started some good discussion amongst the girls. Later on that week I went for a long walk with Katie at the lake, which was so nice--the weather was finally getting better. That night I met Whitney (my intern and friend) at BookPeople, a very cool Austin-y bookstore for a wonderful event. Here is the excerpt from the email I sent to a few people the next day:

"In late 2006, there was a short story contest in Austin and last night was the reception and reading. My student intern Whitney mentioned the event to me and I decided it could be a fun evening outing and a chance to check out Book People, a local Austin bookstore. After announcing the top 10 stories, the top 3 stories were read aloud,by the authors. The third and second place stories, about a sexually abusive stepfather and brutal war experience respectively, didn't resonate much with me. Then, the top story titled "Tuber" was read by the author--a cute,young guy named Mark Grayson Mayer. It's not often that I can totally clear my mind and focus on something, but these 15 minutes were different. I was totally captivated. I don't typically get into artistic expression--the lead singer in a band crooning into the mic doesn't turn me on and a dancer with great moves doesn't get me going. But Mark (not that we're on a first name basis) totally got me. His story really made me think about finding meaning in life and what moments really count. When you have a few moments, read his story.http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A444367."

That weekend I was off to the Bay Area for a weekend with the family. Grandma turned 85, and all the cousins (minus Shoshi and Magi, but including Agi and the babies), aunts and uncles came out to celebrate. I also had Shabbat dinner at Denises, ate lunch and scratched lottery tickets with lindsey at the Emeryville food court (eww!), reverted back to my college days with a night out with Kali and other XO gals, went out in SF with Jess Richman and saw a movie with the grandparents. What a wonderful weekend. :)

Just hours after getting back into Austin, I went with some friends to the UT basketball game. As usual, the Longhorns annihilated their opponent, and I taught the other gals a few of the cheers. Then it was valentines day. Thank goodness for good friends...Katie, Sandi, Sarah, Robin and I cooked a wonderful dinner, drank wine and gossiped. It was perfect.

And then, what seemed like moments later, Dorie was here. In Texas. To play.

Thursday, February 15th, I officially turned 24 and 1 month. And boy, did we celebrate. My parents treated me, Dorie, Robin, Katie, Sarah and Sandi to an amazing dinner at the Belmont and then we treated ourselves to a crazy night on the town. Highlight #1 was Robin's gift for me...an Explicit Frogz doll that sings a beautiful song: "Go shorty, it's your birthday, we gonna party like it's your birthday. Cause you know you we don't give a f*ck it's not your birthday." Classic. Highlight #2 was, well, the entire rest of the night.

The rest of Dorie's stay included: showing her off at Hillel, a campus tour, dinner out with Whitney and D.Rose (my intern and one of my students that Dorie knows), a quick trip to san antonio to see the babies and agi, a walk with Whitney at the lake, dinner at zTejas (and drinks--the best!), multiple rides on the pedicab (those things are a rip off, but boy are they romantic), brunch at Kerbey Lane and bargain shopping at By George (one of the most expensive boutiques in Austin...but Dors got the deal of the century)...and a few naps here and there!

I was then fortunate enough to meet Robin's parents and be treated to a healthy, hearty, organic-y meal at Mothers Cafe. Yum. The rest of the week was chuck-full of programs--Gin 'n Jews Happy Hour, dinner with the presidents of the Jewish greek houses, yet another Barbie Party, and on and on. Then, it was time for yet another guest...Rachael, a family friend who I have known since she was born (practically) came to visit. Since she is only 16, I had to change up the itinerary from the normal "lets see austin" plan. We managed to have a lot of fun. Thursday night we had some tex-mex at El Arroyo and then headed to Champions Sports Bar to try to catch the Cal basketball game. Sadly, though, they couldn't get it...and neither could Daddy's Bar. So, we just hung out there with Michael, my Cal fan friend and ate nasty friend food. lovely.

Friday Rachael was lucky enough to come along for a bunch of Israel Block Party errands with me and Jenna (the IBP chair and my good friend). We grabbed lunch at the Spicy Pickle and I shower Rach around the campus and gave her some time to get all the Texas gear she could ever want! That night we hung out at Hillel a bit for Shabbat before heading to Kerbey Lane for a late dinner with Jenna. Much later on, I took Rachael to the AEPi party (which was more of a get-together) so she could get a taste of college life at UT and I could spend some time with some of my favorite boys. The next morning she cheered for me at my soccer game and then we headed over to the UT baseball game. When you read it here, you may assume this was an easy thing to do. But we managed to get ourselves in quite the sticky situation when we only had $7 in ones and $1.05 in change to pay for the tickets, which should have been $10 total. oops! Once we made it in, Rachael was about ready to go because, in her eyes, it's not a baseball game unless you're eating funnel cake! No cash = no cake. But after the game, we treated ourselves to some TCBY, which was the perfect treat on a sunny day. That night, we met up with Adam and Dane to see a show at one of the theaters on campus. They showed the 5 films that were up for "Best Short Animated Film" for the Academy Awards. It was extremely entertaining, though pretty short. And, we got quite the rush smuggling in the candy we bought at 7-11. After that, we went to Austin Java for a late dinner and then back to Dane's house to hang out on his uber-comfy couch. The perfect end to a crazy weekend.

After Rachael was safely at the Austin airport, I headed over to Hillel to work on preparations for Israel Block Party. This was the start of a ridiculous week. I worked 15 hours each day from Sunday-Wednesday and then Thursday (the day of the party) I got to Hillel at 6am and left at 1am. But it was all worth it...IBP was the best ever...complete with Effys (the Israeli version of Waldo from Where's Waldo) everywhere!! Somewhere in the mix of IBP preparations, I took a few hours to go to Babes and Books (book club) at Julia and Sandi's apartment, which was a welcome break from the frenzy of the week. We ate some sort of fun fusion cuisine that Julia and her boyfriend created, talked about the book for about 3.4 minutes and then gossiped for a couple hours.

Friday I did a lot of sleeping--I think I took 3 naps before 3pm. That has to be some sort of record. And it's a good thing I did, because it was time for a crazy weekend...

Friday night after Shabbat at Hillel, I headed out downtown. Evan (a JCSC who also was student here at UT) was in town, so I met up with him and his friends on 6th street. We drank and danced, danced and drank and then I headed home. I got to sleep around 3:30am only to wake up at 6:15 am to leave for San Antonio for THE TEXAS SOCCER STATE CUP! Our first game was at 8:30am, and the Fresh Up Club (my team) kicked butt. After a short break, it was time for game #2, which we also won...which meant we would advance to the semi-finals the next morning. I spend the afternoon with Agi, Roger and the babies and then drove back up to the cabin where the team was staying. And by "staying" I mean "partying." Margaritas and mixed drinks in hand, we did karaoke and "bonded" over a game of truth or date or double trouble dare (and then did more karaoke). We finally got to sleep just in time to wake up at 6:30am for our game. Although some were hungover and others were feeling a little queasy (from the dare of drinking a raw egg with hot sauce), we managed to pull it out with a victory. So, we were on to the finals!!!!!

The finals were a piece of cake (I'm not being cocky, just honest) and we won 7-0 (or so). We celebrated our victory with a team photo in our CHAMPION t-shirts and some champagne. Then, we headed off to the local restaurant (we were in the middle of no where) for a team lunch. After a bunch of buckets of beer and some good burgers (chicken sandwich for me, in case you care) Lindsay, one of my teammates, got to sing a few songs--it was open mic night (day?). It was such a treat to hear her perform and the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.

The drive home was long and painful, but I was thankful that my car isn't manual...because my legs ached too much to push a clutch in! Needless to say, I slept quite well Sunday night. But it was all worth it for the STATE CUP CHAMPIONSHIP!

67 days left in Austin (my dad is starting a countdown).
we are starting the hiring process for a new fellow.
I am starting to get a bit sad about leaving.
my how time flies.