My First Missoula Traffic Jam

This morning, I experienced my first Missoula traffic jam! I was biking to the YWCA, which is about three miles from my house (sidenote, definitely made it there in 12 minutes - NICE!) Anyways, so I was biking down Higgins, which is the main north-south street in Missoula, but it is only two-lane for the whole south side of the river, which is where I live. Anyways, so doo-doo-doo, biking along and all of a sudden I notice that all the cars are stopped both ways. Well, since I am a biker and I am privileged, I just get to zip right up that bike lane right to the front of the line. Low and behold, a very muddy dog with a collar on is what is holding traffic up. This dog was definitely suffering from dementia and must have been hallucinating. The poor dog! He looked so confused there in the middle of the road, and people were beeping. Me, being the nice person I am, parked my bike on the side of the road in order to try to get the dog to come over to the side. Mind you, this is the only day I have ever worn heels while biking (I had a meeting), so I looked pretty darn goofy/good. I patted my leg a few times, and the dog started to come towards me. A few more times, and he stopped. More pats, a few more steps. More pats...getting closer to the bike lane. I cautiously reached for his collar and realized that was not a good choice, but luckily I escaped without injury. More pats on the leg, and finally Rufus made it to the grass. What happened to him after this, I do not know. I hope he found his home. But, I needed to bike the rest of the way in my heels and aviators. That's what's cool in Missoula - being odd and dog-caused traffic jams. So, that was the start of my morning.

Also, to reverse time a little bit, we had our informational meeting last night for the Fulbright-Hays grant we are applying for to go to Ethiopia. It was a good turnout...there were about ten teachers from area schools that came and offered a lot of great discussion on what the students know about Africa and Ethiopia, what is covered/lacking in the curriculum right now, and what they are hoping to get out of an opportunity like this. It was wonderful. Our deadline is approaching in one week, and I just have a feeling that I will have a lot of work to do in the next week....my darn organizational skills. After that, Laura and I will start work on the grant we will be applying for at the YWCA for their transitional living program. We get to design a playground and do a rapid assessment!!! Fun!

Oooh, also something interesting. In doing a personality assessment in my Health Counseling class, I discovered that I am an ESFJ personality type, which has changed since I was in high school when I was an ENTJ...which, according to my professor, means that I am now closer to knowing who I truly am as a person. Cool. If you're wondering, ESFJ stands for Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. The extraversion is obvious. The Sensing means that I am practical, grounded, and remain in reality. My family members would probably dispute this one, but moving on...The Feeling means that I use value judgments to make decisions, make my emotions visible, and go with my gut feeling. True. And, the Judging means that I like closure, I establish deadlines and stick to them, and I work before play. Also true. The combo of the SJ means I'm a "guardian"...who are reliable, respect themselves for doing good things, enculturing as parents, helpmates as spouses, and conformity-oriented as children. Yes, true. It's sort of like a horoscope in a way....but cool, it helps me understand why I'm so neurotic and organized. Grrr.

Anyways, I'm off to a potluck. Yes, I baked. Brownies. Yes, they are taken out of a box mix. Judge me. I hope they are delicious.

Quote of the Day
I might not go, I have a lot of baggage in my pants right now...like, in the form of stuff in my pockets.

WHAT?!?!

Context: I am at the bike racks (which is a pretty popular place in Missoula), and about 10 feet away from me, there is a girl who is inviting a boy to her house/dorm room to "see" her new futon. Clearly flirting. This is how he turns it down. Wow.