Lucy and the daffodils

The daffodils are starting to bloom! In the last picture, you can see Lucy's shaved leg from Tuesday when she had her dental...poor pup. She came back home that day extremely tired, as you can see from the 1st photo.

TA burnout

I think I am suffering from TA burnout. :(

so cold

hmm, I'm a bit tired of being cold. I feel like I'm cold ALL the time. Now some people may say, I'm fine and I don't even turn my heater on in my apartment. But let me say, that my house is pretty drafty. Air comes in everywhere, including under the front door and along all the windows. I think my house is pretty much the same temperature as outside. Oh, well, I suppose it isn't that bad. I can't remember what it's like to be hot, so right now I can't decide if it is more painful to be cold or hot. Right now, I am at home in my fleece pants and sweatshirt and my funny hat on. I am sitting in front of the gas furnace (yes, it's finally been turned on. My dad showed me how to light it when he was here) trying to get some work done.

Valentine's Day...

I really don't put too much emphasis on Valentine's Day, because I do feel like it has turned into a more materialistic holiday rather than the opportunity to tell your loved ones that you love them and appreciate them (although, this should be done regularly). Still, I have to say I was really excited about getting roses from Adrian. I've never gotten roses before and it was nice to get them (but I don't think getting roses should be a regular occurrence as they are expensive and don't last too long). He also got me chocolates, a Charlie Brown book on Valentine's Day, and a stuffed Cottonelle dog with a frame in his tummy. Adrian put a little picture of Lucy and Patches in it. It's funny. I like it a lot. As a Valentine's haiku goes:
Flowers and candy
Do not prove love, Valentine
But they do not hurt

I got him the books with the Fish comics, our favorite Aggie comic (and only, it seems from looking at the Battalion these days). Then we went to Quiznos and split a sandwich (turkey on rosemary parmesan bread) and watched the epispde of Simpson's called "Lisa's Wedding." It was cute. It was a good Valentine's Day. :)

yonder mountain string band

Last night, Adrian and I went to Houston to see the Yonder Mountain String Band. They consist of 4 guys: a mandolin, guitar, banjo, and upright bass. They were really good. There were a lot more people than I had anticipated. The only bad thing was that it didn't start until 9, so it was a late night and a lot of people were smoking. I think I washed my smoky clothes in 3 different loads.

It was a very different crowd from the Nickel Creek concert we went to in Los Angeles. I think Nickel Creek might be a little classier. YMSB was a lot of fun, though. But I think Chris Thile plays the mandolin better.

Today was such a beautiful day. I like Saturdays spent doing chores around the house and outside. I washed tons of clothes and blankets and sheets and washed Lucy. We cut up a pineapple, stirred the compost, and tried to clean my quartz clusters that I got in Arkansas last semester some more. We also tied some more corn cobs in the trees for the squirrels. Lucy got to run around with her dog friends, Mason and Dixie. Now I am making a volcano for my petrology lab next week.

bonnaroo

oh, Bonnaroo, how I yearn to go...but I suppose I probably should not. It would cost too much and would probably be a bit too crazy. Still, Nickel Creek and tons of others will be there...

http://www.bonnaroo.com

ugh

I think teaching 3 labs may be the death of me this semester. But I did have a good time in today's lab - only 6 students. Still, sometimes I think the department treats us more like employees than students...not sure what to think about that...

sad choices

This morning I actually dropped my nonprofit course through the Bush School. So sad. But I had to really think about things, and I realized that I just cannot keep putting my thesis on the back burner. so, there it is....

more about this past weekend later. such fun to see the girls again. 'twas like old times! :)

Lucy's 4!

Lucy's 4th birthday is today!

eek...spoke too soon

well earlier it seems that I felt quite optimistic about my tasks ahead of me, but now I'm starting to freak out and wondering if I can do it all....extreme sadness awaits....

Bush school and stuff about school

I always kind of like the first week of school. It is exciting to go to your classes for the first time and get so fired up about them and think, yes, this is going to be the semester for me! I already feel a bit bogged down, but sort of in a good way, like I am a person who has things to do. That can be a good feeling sometimes.

Today, I went to my nonprofit class at the Bush School. It is going to be a pretty intense class with a lot of work, but I think it'll be really interesting. I enjoy taking the occassional class that is different from what I usually take. I do feel out of place in the group, though. They are, all with exception of 2 others, Bush School people and the other 2 that are not have already done a lot of work with international nonprofits. Plus, more than half of them had their laptop computers with them. I felt like I was in a law school class at first. But I peaked at a lot of their screens and they hadn't been typing anything so I guess it isn't an imperative class utensil, because I really do not want to lug mine around. Also, I found this funny: During the break, several of the Bush school people were making fun of Democrats and liberals! It was funny to me, b/c it seems like there are mostly Democrats and liberals in the hard sciences and I am used to hearing complaints about the current administration. I guess since this is the "Bush" School they are much more conservative. I think that difference is very interesting.

Let's see what else? I have been frantically trying to get everything in order for my petrology labs but it's been a bit frustrating. I asked one of the profs to get more lightbulbs for 2 of the scopes two weeks ago and he still has not ordered them. I also have been trying to see if I can shuffle people around in my sections so that everyone will have their own scope, but it has been pretty futile. Instead of people moving out of Monday's lab, I have gotten more people requesting to be put in it. I finally borrowed some scopes from the mineralogy lab to use, but I am a bit peeved that my professor is not more interested in fixing the 6 scopes that are not working. They are much better scopes than the mineralogy ones. Oh well, I have tried.

Also, another funny story. I was in the petrology lab working on the lab when a student comes in to chat. He was in my mineralogy lab and will be in my petrology lab. He said that the other students who were in the other mineralogy lab are terrified of me. At first I felt sad, but then I thought oh well, it is better that they fear me than don't respect me, right?

the first harvest

The broccoli is ready for harvest. Actually some of them were past harvest, because the heads were starting to loosen and flower. I am planning on making a chicken and broccoli casserole Tuesday night with my fresh broccoli.

gilmore girls

It is hard to get work done when I still have lots of Gilmore Girls to get through. Good thing Monica, Christy, Mariann, and I are having a girls' weekend soon. We can have a Gilmore Girls marathon with chocolate fondue. Yum! :) Season two is so good. Emily and Richard seem really nice in these episodes. There are still conflicts of course but mostly because they come from different worlds.

Another good thing is that my petrology labs may not meet the first week of school, so I still have lots of time. However, I am getting a little concerned because the professor I'm teaching for has not been available, and I have many questions. Most importantly, what's up with more than half of the scopes that have burned out light bulbs???

another reason why professors are more apt to be at school than the grad students

I stole a donut today from the faculty lounge for the first time. It had chocolate icing on it and was filled with chocolate in the inside. :)

facebook

i ended up updating my facebook profile so it had real information. it is kind of stressful b/c i only have 3 friends, while most people seem to have hundreds. :(

here is my profile link:
Facebook me!

excellent news!

I talked to my advisor yesterday and she said that she does not see why I shouldn't be able to graduate next December! Hurrah! I was starting to get worried as I started to take stock on everything that I need to complete. Currently, I am continuing on my scrapbook kick by making pages of the Norman Slough over time. Perhaps not completely scientific, but I think it will be a nice addition. :)

Also, my hundreds of readers may be happy to see that I have allowed all readers to comment on my blog. You don't have to be a member of blogger but you have to do this word verification test thing. ;)