Posted by barb on Oct 26, 2003 in
Books by R. L. Stine
I picked these up to release on Halloween, so I decided to read them through first. As with the other two I read, these were fun stories, especially for kids.
Deep Trouble (#19) Billy Deep Jr. and his sister visit their marine biologist uncle on his research boat every summer. The kids are supposed to stay away from the coral reef, but Billy is up for adventure. Adventure is what he gets…in the form of a half-human, half-fish.
The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (#20) Jodie and Mark visit their grandparents’ farm every summer. Grandpa usually tells great scary stories, and Grandma makes the best chocolate chip pancakes nearly every morning. But this year, things are different. Stanley, the hired hand for nearly 20 years, had put up a whole army of evil-looking scarecrows. Grandma and Grandpa seem more than a year older than last summer. And Jodie spies the scarecrows twitching one night…all of them in unison.
Posted by barb on Oct 25, 2003 in Uncategorized
While I was talking with Dave tonight, I asked if Kira had received the Halloween package that I sent. He said yes, but that they weren’t letting her open it yet, since it was a Halloween thing. I told him to go ahead and let her open it, since next week is not only Halloween, when she might be getting other treats, but also her birthday (so many October birthdays!).
The package contained just a few little goodies — a stuffed animal (a black cat in a pumpkin costume), a book (Mouse’s First Halloween), and a couple pieces of candy.
Kira had already wished me a happy birthday, with a bit of prompting. (Mom says that Kira is just getting used to the phone — last week Dave was on the phone with Mom and asked Kira if she wanted to talk to Grandma, so Kira picked up her toy phone.)
A couple minutes after she opened the package, Dave and I were talking about some random subject, and Kira apparently came over to Dave with a purpose, and wanted the phone. Suddenly I heard a muffled, “Thank you” from the other end. Then Dave came back on, and confirmed that I’d heard “thank you”, but through a mouthful of chocolate. Too cute.
Posted by barb on Oct 25, 2003 in Uncategorized
Just last year, I had barely started my PhD thesis research. Now, a year later, I have passed my thesis proposal defense, and have completed a first run at a data pipeline. I have downloaded just about all of the data I will be analyzing (with the exception of data that will be added in the coming year or so).
Andrew and I have been settling nicely into our life together. We seem to share the house and our lives very easily, and I feel so luck to have him in my life. He’s loving, caring, has a great sense of humor, and can weather out my dark moods. I can’t imagine having anyone else in my life.
I’ve started to take control of other parts of my life. I’m starting to feel more and more like a “real person.” This has been a struggle after all my years as a student. Somehow, it’s hard to think of myself as a full-fledged person when I’m “just” a student. I feel as though I’m not really contributing anything to the world. Now, even though I’m still a part-time student, I’m starting to see that I have lots to contribute, and not just to the scientific world. My definition of success is changing.
Posted by barb on Oct 25, 2003 in
Biking It was 36 degrees (F) when we got up, which was just a bit cold for me, but we waited until the sun came up before we went. I’m thinking that this will be our last bike ride of the year — I was chilled. I know that some people like the feeling of cold air in their lungs as they exercise outside on a cold day. However, I find it painful. I had learned this long ago about myself when my family used to cross-country ski in the woods behind our house, but in my long years trying to forget winter, I had forgotten. Oh well, the bike ride was fun anyway. It was good to get out one last time.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been out on the bikes. I do bike about four times a week on our stationary bike, but of course it’s not the same. I started to get disappointed on this ride, because I found myself tiring out after just a couple miles. Just six weeks ago I was ready to do the WABA 12 mile ride, and today I could barely do a few miles. In the end, we did 5 miles.
Then I started to think about it more, and recalled that when we started biking this spring, I was barely able to do 2 miles. So, frankly, if 5 miles is now a “bad day”, I think I can be pretty darned proud of that.
Posted by barb on Oct 25, 2003 in Uncategorized
Well, I turned 32 today.
Andrew and I started the day with a bike ride. After the bike ride, we went for a birthday breakfast at Anita’s, a New Mexican restaurant in town. They have wonderful breakfasts! I had a breakfast chimi with eggs, veggies and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla and fried (it’s my birthday…I can be a little bit bad). My breakfast also came with an apple-filled chimi, so I shared this with Andrew. Yum.
I had a make-up sax lesson this afternoon, so after we got back home, I showered and practiced.
The we went off to the mall. We had a couple errands to do, but our main reason for going was that I wanted my birthday dinner at Uno’s Pizza. After dinner, we went off to Target, my favorite store in just about the whole world (not that I’ve seen much of the world…). I picked up a copy of the Indiana Jones trilogy and the new Barenaked Ladies CD.
Then it was time for cake and presents. Andrew was very naughty, and got me a new iSight, so that I can chat with my parents, once we get our computers all set up (Mom and Dad have been having internet trouble, and I still need to pick up iChat AV). Dad’s been after me to get a working camera since they got their web cam, so now I can get after him to get his internet happy.
All in all a very fun day!
Posted by barb on Oct 24, 2003 in
Wedding The book catalogs some of the roots of our current wedding traditions. Many traditions date back to ancient times — for example, using the fourth finger on the left hand as the wedding ring finger originated in ancient Egypt. The other traditions date back to marriage by capture, marriage as a means of property transfer, marriage as a means to produce heirs, or superstitions about evil spirits.
I want to avoid any of the fertility traditions — there will be no baby’s breath at my wedding! However, the superstition traditions are more than welcome. I’m not superstitious, but it’s still fun to buy into a little of the hype. I’ll certainly be wearing “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”! Though I won’t go so far as making my bridesmaids dress exactly like me (to confuse evil spirits).
Unfortunately, I was often left wanting more explanations on the traditions — the short paragraph or two was often not enough.
Posted by barb on Oct 24, 2003 in
Wedding The advice in the book seems sound, though I mainly picked it up at the library for the “Questions to Ask” Lists. I have another book on saving money on weddings — Bridal Bargins by Denise and Alan Fields — that I actually own, so can dog-ear pages and mark up.
Posted by barb on Oct 24, 2003 in
Books,
Wedding by Cynthia Clumeck Muchnick
The Frugal Bride has lots of tips on saving money on a wedding. One of the best parts of this book are the “Questions to Ask” sections — when hiring a wedding consultant, buying flowers, hiring a photographer, and hiring a caterer.
Posted by barb on Oct 24, 2003 in
Books,
Wedding by Arlene Hamilton Stewart
The book catalogs some of the roots of our current wedding traditions. Many traditions date back to ancient times — for example, using the fourth finger on the left hand as the wedding ring finger originated in ancient Egypt. The other traditions date back to marriage by capture, marriage as a means of property transfer, marriage as a means to produce heirs, or superstitions about evil spirits.
I want to avoid any of the fertility traditions — there will be no baby’s breath at my wedding! However, the superstition traditions are more than welcome. I’m not superstitious, but it’s still fun to buy into a little of the hype. Andrew will not see the dress, or me in the dress, before the wedding! And I’ll certainly be wearing “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”! Though I won’t go so far as making my bridesmaids dress exactly like me (to confuse evil spirits).
Unfortunately, I was often left wanting more explanations on the traditions — the short paragraph or two was often not enough.
Posted by barb on Oct 24, 2003 in Uncategorized
I don’t remember last year being this bad; though, I do remember that during either my first or second year at the University of Maryland that I had a week in September where I had three. At least these are separating themselves by a week or so.
While I was laying in bed yesterday, I thought of what the pain reminded me of (I couldn’t fall asleep because there was so much pain, so I was left to lay there and contemplate the pain — not a good thing). It was kind of like someone came up to me and whacked me in the head with a lead pipe. Then, rather than being satisfied that I was in enough pain, that person sat there and tapped my head every second or so with the pipe. And it got worse whenever I moved.
Unfortunately, I was still dizzy and headachy this morning, so I stayed home from work. I slept until about 10:30 AM — more than 12 hours of sleep! Feeling somewhat better now, I’m not so dizzy, though I still feel a bit like my head as been under pressure all day.