We stayed at a nice Hilton-related hotel in Boulder which had free breakfast, free Internet, and a kitchen. It was very cold some nights while we were there, but on Thursday it was so warm we didn't need our coats. It was very awesome to finally be able to wear my new brown coat and scarves!
On Wednesday we went shopping for our share of the Thanksgiving dinner. In the afternoon we went on a hike with Graham outside of NCAR. We were trying to get to a bat cave but it started to get dark so we turned back. Then we picked up Amanda and went to Pearl Street for dinner. After the first place had a two hour wait, we ended up at the Walnut Brewery and instantly got a table!
Thursday was Thanksgiving! The day started out great. We had breakfast downstairs and then hung out watching the parade. Jay called his family right before we left for Graham and Amanda's house. Right around then I started getting a twinge in my tummy ... just a little uneasiness.
We arrived at their house and I kept myself from petting their adorable dog Annabelle while I helped chop onions for the stuffing. Amanda finished it off and stuffed the turkey, which Graham cooked. We hung around the house a little more and watched the Academy video, and I began feeling a little worse. Graham proposed a drive while we waited for things to cook, and off we went. I felt even worse in the car, and finally asked if we could pick up some Pepto Bismol. At Walgreens, it was official ... I was sick.
Unfortunately it got worse throughout the day. I tried Pepto twice and couldn't keep it down. I couldn't even hold down water. My stomach had a strong pain in it all evening. I laid down for a while before dinner, but finally I had to admit defeat ... I knew if I ate dinner it would be best meal I ever threw up. It all looked amazingly delicious, and I sat out in the living room with Jay, Graham, and Amanda. We watched a Christmas Story and some Family Guy, and then went home. Right around then I started feeling more human, although still sick. Jay and I watched Live Free or Die Hard, and then went to bed.
THANKFULLY I was all better on Friday. I think it was just an 8-hour bug, but we weren't sure if I was allergic to something I ate or what. We went to the Original Pancake House and I ordered pancakes and toast, but I didn't eat too much of it. I would have figured on being ravenous after a day without calories.
We went to go see a movie (Thanksgiving tradition!), Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was good, and had some very funny lines, but also had some really weird parts. I think Jay's final opinion is that it was okay. We walked around the outdoor mall next to the theater. I bought something from Borders for Jay and a little gift for Heather at one of the random stores. Then we went to Best Buy so Jay could use up the rest of his gift certificates on DVDs and I bought Molly a gift.
In the evening, we drove with Graham and Amanda down to Denver to meet up with Jon and Shannon. We ate at the Breckenridge Brewery, which was surprisingly empty for a Friday. Then we went to 16th Street, which is similar to Pearl Street and 3rd Street Promenade, closed off to cars and a popular hangout place. We walked around looking for a place with dessert (for Amanda and me) and beer (for everyone else). The city had just done its Christmas lighting, and several buildings were lit up beautifully for the holidays. In the middle of the street was an AWESOME German-like Christmas fair. Little shops were set up with gorgeous Christmas ornaments made of glass and wood, nativity scenes carved from wood, nice warm clothing, and all sorts of goodies. I would have bought soooo much but none of it would have survived the plane ride! It felt just like Peddler's Village in PA. I bet my Mom would have loved it.
Finally we ended up at the Tilted Kilt, which is like an Irish Hooters Pub, and had dessert and beer, and talked into the evening. Before we left we got pictures, yay!
Saturday was Pearl Street day. We ate lunch at Chipotle before going to Pearl Street. We walked up one side, checking out stores as we liked, and down the other. It was pretty cold, and we got coffee somewhere in the middle. It was just ... peacefully wonderful to just walk and talk and browse with Jay. Most of the stores were expensive. We both bought a few things for our families. One of the coolest stores was an art-and-map store, which I was kind of bored in at first, until I saw their "Rare and Unusual Map" collection, dating back to the 1600s! I would have loved to buy one for my dad, but they were all hundreds of dollars. It was awesome to look through them though. We also spent a lot of time in this store which has TONS of kites, and scientific experiments for kids, rockets and growing kits and stuff about physics and biology and geology, all sorts of interesting things. I wish I had a lot of that stuff when I was younger.
We went to go see another movie, 2012. It was your typical ridiculously funny apocalypse movie. Jay HATED it and was very mad about it when we left. I just don't understand where everything was falling into. THERE IS MORE STUFF BELOW US PEOPLE.
After the movie we met up with Steve and Marisa at Southern Sun. It was the first time Jay had seen Steve since the Academy! It was awesome to see them as well, and all of our Academy friends. We did a lot of reminiscing this week!
Sunday was driving day. We started out from the hotel after 8 (luckily there was no snow, clear skies all the way). We tried to find a Dunkin Donuts in Aurora but the GPS lied to us, so we ended up at Panera Bread instead. Then it was a really really really long drive east. All the way through eastern Colorado and most of Kansas. Where there is nothing. Not even trees. Seriously, at one point we passed a hole in the ground and we were both really excited about it because it was a break from the monotony of fields! It was like driving through the beginning of Manos: The Hands of Fate, for ten hours.
Then we turned south.
We stopped in Wichita for dinner at a Buffalo Wild Wings. Mmmm. Wings. From there it was a mere two hour drive back to Enid. We picked up some groceries quick from Walmart and then we were home!
Monday Jay went to work, and I slept in later than I meant to. He came back with new boots and gear, and we found out that his starting date for pilot training was bumped up to December 21 (it was that originally, and it's been January 26 for months and months, and NOW they push him back up). It's good and bad ... he only has two days before going home for break, but he's not exactly sure when he can leave to go home. Oh Air Force, you just love to pull the rug out from under us! He also had been getting to know some of the people in his old class, and now doesn't really know anyone. Amanda might end up being in his class though because of medical stuff, which is awesome because I love Amanda. And apparently, John McCain's son will be in his class, as one of the Navy guys. Yeah. Weird.
We hung around the house, ate lunch (Dinner Roast), watched NCIS, and played a Lord of the Rings video game, before we had to leave for the airport. I was okay the whole ride ... knowing that Christmas is so soon really helps. But after the coffee the waterworks started, and I had to race to catch my plane! The security guy gave me a tissue. I read almost all of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund. It's a young adult book about killer unicorns. Seriously.
Now it's go time. AGU is coming up fast, and the poster printing date even faster. I have a certain set of programs I have to run, and then I need to write a few more. I also caught up on the zillions of emails I hadn't read, and sent an email to NAAA for the AGU meetup.
I love this time of year, when so many wonderful things happen, and I get to see so many friends and family. Even though Thanksgiving wasn't quite how I'd planned, the rest of the trip was still awesome. And soon will be AGU in San Francisco, home for Christmas, Jay's for New Year's ... Let's do it!
This post serves as a comment collector so people avoid getting the same things. If you leave a comment with what you get, I won't see it, but others can.
Post your lists people, help the ones you love!
CHRISTMASSSSSSSS!!
I am so thankful!
Jay has been doing great at flying. He had one bad day where everything changed last minute, and so he didn't have time to prepare, and on top of it he flew with a guy who must have been having a bad day, because he was a total jerk to Jay. Luckily things went uphill from there (including his standing with Bad Day Guy). He's completed 10 flights out of 13, which means that tomorrow he will fly solo for the first time!
However, they are also 'double-turning' him tomorrow which means he will fly his pre-check after the solo, and THAT means he flies his checkride on Saturday! On the one hand, this is great because in two days he'll be DONE with IFS! On the other hand, when we were first expecting him to get done in Dec, or at least just one or two days before Thanksgiving, now he'll be done several days before.
So I'm hoping that it will work out and that he doesn't have to go all the way back to report to Oklahoma, just to come all the way back to Colorado to see me for Thanksgiving, which I wouldn't be going to Colorado in the first place except that's where he was supposed to be! Hopefully he can just take those days as leave, and still have enough leave for Christmas. But he might have to get a hotel too, and ugh, it just makes me annoyed. And it's sad because if we had known that he'd be done, he could have gone home to see his family for Thanksgiving! But thus is the Air Force ... schedules change, and there's not too much you can do about it.
He will have to report to Oklahoma on Monday after Thanksgiving though, so I had to change my flight from flying out of Denver on Sunday to flying out of Tulsa on Monday. (Take note @Christine ... that works here right? ;-) )
Since the beginning of this year, or even before, I'd been thinking about investing for retirement. As I learned more about managing my finances, I saw how the earlier you start saving for something, the better. Even though retirement is decades away, now's the time to start because of compound interest. But when I was about to start, I got scared. I found out I wasn't going to get the fellowships I applied for, and the THEMIS money would be going away ... what if I needed the money for the school year? So I sat on it, and waited.
But this month I read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton G. Malkiel, and tons of stuff online. I figured out an asset allocation, a small minimum amount I could start contributing each month. I started a Roth IRA at Schwab. And then ... nervously, but knowing I needed to stop being scared ... I typed in those buy orders and purchased the first index funds of my retirement account.
And of course it's down today! ;-) But that's the point! It's okay that it's down, because I won't need the money for 40, 50 years. I will add to it slowly every month, and when I get older, I'll change my account to be more conservative. The key was just to start and take that first step.
What did I choose, you might wonder? Since I have so much time, I went with 90% stocks and 10% bonds. Specifically:
30% Total Stock Market Index Fund
30% Small-Cap Index Fund
20% International Index Fund
10% Emerging Markets Index Fund
10% Bond Market Index Fund
The emerging markets is actually a higher percent than I want it to be, but I had to put that much in to meet the minimum. I just won't pay anything to that for a while and put the extra in a different account until the percentages are balanced right.
Also in money news, this month my car loan went below $10000! Woohoo! I can't wait until I have that baby free and clear. It costs me soooo much, and it really is a luxury at this point, not a necessity, but I am VERY happy to have it. It makes many things much more convenient.
I have been poked and prodded more times this week than the past year! Last Wednesday, I had a dentist appointment. Apparently I have three tiny cavities that need to be filled, and then have to numb me to do it. :-( :-( :-( x 1000. That's tomorrow. Apparently I'm also supposed to get a deep cleaning. I'm dubious of this. I switched my appointment to the other dentist I had before though. Not that scary lady who's kind of rough (okay she wasn't like terrible, but compared to my last two wonderful experiences there I was like, what is going on?!). Then I had a TB test on Friday so I can tutor at the school (which you know, I'm already doing), I had to go back in to have it read on Monday, and on Tuesday I had another doctor's appointment! I guess I'm just getting it all out of the way.
I feel like my research is just right this quarter. Last year for AGU, I spent a lot of time on things that didn't help up working out, and Bob and I had to rush around at the end trying to get things done. This quarter I am doing ALL of the work on my project (as opposed to me passing some tasks to Bob in the interest of time). I also feel like I'm very on track to finish my goals in time for the conference.
I have like zero Christmas shopping done. That's bad. Not only that but I'm unsure of what to get many people ... either I can't decide, or have no idea. So if you're reading this you better update your Christmas list. (I'm looking at you HEATHER AND MOLLY. Who never read this anyways. Because you hate me.)
I am kind of sort of maybe thinking slightly about getting a haircut. But not til Christmas.
Yesterday I tried to make Heather's cream cheese brownies, to sent some to Jay and also to keep some for us in the apartment. However I think I messed up because they are very hard to get out of the pan without the chocolate layer falling apart. I think I was supposed to put the vanilla and then chocolate layer, or to put a very small part of the chocolate layer, then vanilla, then the rest of the chocolate. Instead I did chocolate and then vanilla. Oh well. They still taste okay.
On Monday I was SO FREAKING EXCITED. Know why? Because Tung-Shin came to tell me that we were having a GROUP MEETING. In the CONFERENCE ROOM. Bob, Tung-Shin, me, and Xiangning. Like we are a REAL RESEARCH GROUP or something. Not only that but it is going to be a WEEKLY SCHEDULED meeting. OMG I died and went to research heaven. Structure! Not having to hunt for Bob through the halls, wondering if he's around, or if I'm bothering him. Now I have a clear, defined time to ask questions and show progress. I was quite pleased.
Jay has been learning to fly! I've gotten used to it now. He's gotten 100 on both tests, and is improving on every flight (they fly every day). It's fun cause I get to learn a little more about it during our conversations. It turns out that he won't actually get his civilian private pilot's license out of the entire training, so we talked about someday doing that together! I'm so happy for him too because he's waited SO LONG for this and his dream is FINALLY becoming a reality.
I've been watching TV shows online with Molly ... it's a good way to spend time with her from across the country. We're watching Ouran, which is a weird anime one. It's a liiiiittle too kooky for me. We're also watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I love to make fun of but is better in terms of plot. M. Night Shanananana is making a live-action movie out of it. Aasif Manvi is supposed to be one of the bad guys. I am so not going to be able to take him seriously. I'm also very excited about the Avatar movie that's coming out this month or next. The preview looked AWESOME.
Watch Glee.
It was an AWESOME lecture. He talked about the non-Christian evidence for Jesus' existence. He made a point over and over again that you can't do what he called "Gospel Stew." In other words, many (Christians and atheists) will take a word, or a sentence, from a Gospel and use it to make a point, without referring to the Gospel as a whole, or the point it's trying to make. He talked about the need to read the entire book of Mark (or John, etc), and understand it as a narrative, portraying Jesus in a certain light.
He talked a lot about the early Christians and how they were organized, and he made a point that Constantin at Nicene was the one who screwed it all up. He brought back war and aggression and all of these things from his previous religion, and put them into Christianity. He drew this great parallel between Constantin, through the Pope who ordered the first Crusade, all the way through Bush sending soldiers to Iraq, all of them saying, "it's in the name of God" when the God of Jesus is anything BUT that!
He emphasized the difference between saying "Jesus is like God" and "God is like Jesus." If you say the first, then you can bring in whatever definition of God suits your purpose, and fit Jesus into that mold. But if you do it the other way around, you have to look at what Jesus says and does and the example he gives, and then define God that way. Saying "Jesus is like God" is how Constantin was able to influence things.
But at its essence, the lecture was great because it was thought-provoking, and encourages critical thinking (which he says is one of his main goals in one of his side rants). It was fascinating. I'd love to take a class with this guy! Hmm, appears he has a couple of books out ...
One other thing, is in the discussion afterwards I found out from him and Christine about this "in-house" movement, basically going back to the way early Christians organized, or how the Quakers do it now, where a group of people will meet in each other's homes, and discuss and pray together, and help each other. No pastor or leader, no building costs, etc. Just fellowship. This sounded really interesting to me, I'm thinking about looking into it further.
Event selection sucks. It's completely necessary and very important, but it still sucks. Staring at a day of data to determine if the right conditions are met for an event. Then the next day. For a whole year of data. For six years. OMG MINDNUMBING. Yesterday I did it while watching football, and today I put on numerous episodes of the Daily Show to get through. It helps.
So I volunteered to be part of a study on women in PhD programs. Basically I'll write a journal entry at least every two weeks on an 'event' that occurs, good or bad, related to my studies/work/environment etc. Today I took two introductory surveys, including basic facts about me as well as how I relate to my department, advisor, work-family life, etc. They had a lot of issues on there that I never experience in my department (such as racial or gender discrimination!), so it made me realize (remember?) how good a program I'm in.
Halloween was lots of fun ... too much fun almost. I bought a halo and wings, and used the white dress from when I was 16 to go as an angel. I think Xiangning's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw my get-up! I went to the ESS barbeque and Kate's party on Friday. I was a total glutton and had way too much food. I actually ate too much sweets. I know, weird for me right? But I did. Also I couldn't sit back at ALL due to the wings. But I had a great, long convo with Arianna, and I got to have my fall Smore. And I carved pumpkins at Dave's house when Jared was visiting (kitty with Trogdor arm) so fall is complete. Well, except for beautiful leaves changing colors and freezing weather, but you know, I guess that evens out.
Jay is currently in Colorado, and tomorrow he starts Initial Flight Screening. By next Monday, he'll be flying a plane. I guess I got a little nervous about that this weekend. It's just a Cessna-type aircraft, so there's nothing to be worried about there, but I think it was just the actuality, you know? Like now he'll ACTUALLY be flying, instead of there being months until that happens. I'm really excited for him though!
Yesterday I made chicken pot pie from a very simple recipe, and it tasted great! I bought some materials to make a 'cookbook' for myself. I have a few recipes now that I know I can make, and I've been reading this blog that has some recipes that I feel I could manage (the pot pie one came from there). But since it's all online, I don't want to save all the URLs, so I'm going to kill a couple trees and print out the recipes that I really think I would try sometime. Then when I'm feeling ready to make a meal, I can look through my own specialized cookbook! Filled only with recipes for foods I know I like!
Last week I ordered a new printer on sale ... it should be here tomorrow. Mine hasn't been working for months, and it would cost the same amount, if not more, to fix it. The scanner still works, so I figure I'll post it on craigslist for anyone who either wants a scanner or who thinks they can fix it. I don't NEED a printer, but there were times when it was a hassle not to have a working one.
During GEM I told Anna about my plans to reapply for a NASA GSRP fellowship. She recommended her own NASA Technical Adviser to me, a guy named Jim who works at Marshall. I emailed him and he said he would like to work with me! Oddly, the GSRP website has been down. Today, Jim and Vassilis both emailed me about this other internship, NESSF (NASA Earth and Space Sciences Fellowship), which would also be a great one for me to apply for. I felt very happy that both gentlemen are looking out for opportunities for funding for me, especially Jim, who I've only exchanged two emails with! I can't wait until I can work on ARTEMIS all the time ...
My Friday mornings at the high school are going REALLY well! I'm actually excited to get up those mornings. I really like working with the students. Even when I don't remember how to do something, the Avid style of tutoring leads the other students to help each other, so I encourage that until I finally remember how to do proofs, or something similar. It helps that the students are motivated to be there and to learn. The students, and it seems especially the girls, also really like having me there. I'm really glad I decided to do this. It's very rewarding, and it's great experience.
I just came back from a meeting with her and Bob. I haven't felt this excited about my research in months. First of all, I was freaking out all weekend because Bob emailed me on Friday night saying that he thinks we've done our analysis all wrong. And I was like "............. I'm going to bed." So on Saturday and Sunday, he was working on it, and I was reading up on the issue he posed, and worrying the whole time, because my paper is basically done. But during the meeting with Anna, I obtained clarification from him, and from the plots he made and what he said, we're okay, the analysis is right. So that's a huge weight off my back.
In addition, with all three of us in the same room, we compared and figured out a possible reason why my results differ from Anna's. And it's doubly exciting because I was the first one to bring up the idea! Basically, there could be a solar cycle difference in what we're looking at. If true it would be new and interesting, and so at the end of my paper I can say, "this is the next step" which is always good, to have follow-up questions. Not enough papers do this by the way. Then finally, Bob and Anna combined to explain something to me that I've been confused about for WEEKS and I finally get it!
I feel so energized coming out of that meeting, and part of it was Anna's enthusiasm. I was telling Christine this, and as I told her, I think it's easy to forget to be excited about your science if no one else is excited about it.
- Mood:
ecstatic
Jay had Monday off, so we slept in and then went bowling. We also went to Buffalo Wild Wings (B-Dubs) and I had my first real chicken (buffalo?) wings. We ordered four sets of six, and you could get a different sauce on each set. The BBQ sauces were the best--Sweet BBQ and Honey BBQ. It was very good!!
Tuesday was the Day of Return. We drove to Tulsa early so Jay could use part of his Best Buy gift card. But center speakers were way expensive so he bought movies instead. Then we ate at McAlister's! I had Leaving Tummy so I didn't feel much like eating, but the smell of my potato cheered me up a little bit. Then we waited at the airport for a few minutes because my plane was slightly delayed in arriving. Although after we boarded, we sat at the gate for an hour and a half due to mechanical issues. I was worried about making my connection in Phoenix, but they told us that even though we would miss it, we had been booked on the following flight.
Unfortunately, the very last guy to get on the plane took a seat next to me, and he was a Talker. You could just tell that about him as he came down the aisle. He was an old, kind of grizzled guy with greasy hair. Totally harmless and nice enough, but WAY TOO talkative. I was reading my book but no dice ... he started talking to me. And talking. And talking. When he started reciting the story of Samuel (from the Bible) to me I was like, "you've got to be kidding me!!!" (in my head. Because I'm polite.) Like he would pause after a story, and I would raise my book and start reading ... and he would start right in again. And what can you do at that point? He kept giving me advice for things I already know. At one point he started quizzing me about topic sentences. WHAT?! And he kept coming up with imaginary futures for me and Jay (who he kept calling my husband). "Now when your husband buys a weapon, this is what he should do ..." "So then you and your husband buy a boat, and go up to Lake Michigan and the kids are all having a grand old time ..." And I'm just like "PLEASE I JUST WANT TO READ MY BOOK STOP TALKING WHY IS THIS FLIGHT THREE HOURS LONG?!"
WOOF.
This morning I went with Mike to the Culver City High School and sat in on the tutoring thing he does as part of his fellowship. The program is called AVID, and it's based on peer learning and the Socratic method. It was really cool and relaxed. The students go up to the board to answer their questions, which after doing the same thing with Ray, I think this should be required in all schools. You learn so much better when you have to explain the problem! So I'm definitely thinking about volunteering to do this. It'll be a great experience and I guess I can get certified as an AVID tutor.
Sweet, the AGU schedule is up. Time to start planning!
Jay flew in on Wednesday, although his flight was a little rerouted and delayed. On Thursday we went to the THEMIS/ARTEMIS barbeque, where there was a TON of food. I introduced him to all the various important peoples, although some had already met him.
Although we saw each other a couple weeks after my birthday in August, we had always planned to “do birthdays” after both of them (his in Sept), the next time we met. I gave him a $100 Best Buy gift card, and a cute little lightswitch plate with the Moon and stars on it. He gave me a CD he made of love songs!!! <3<3<3
Then on Friday, he took me out for a secret birthday evening that he planned out. Although I drove, I didn’t know where we were going. We ended up at the Palm Restaurant in Hollywood. It was AMAZING and very, very nice, fancy, and romantic. Apparently it’s only one of two 4-star restaurants in LA, and is a popular place for celebrities! I almost felt like we were celebrities ourselves because of the service. The manager introduced himself to us, and our waiter and others were always stopping by to see how we were. OH, the booth seats were very close to the table, so the person who sat us had to shift the table for us to slide in. But I like that because I didn’t feel like I was a mile from the table like I usually do.
It was a steak/seafood/pasta place, so Jay had steak and I had swordfish. I kept watching the people coming in to see if I recognized anyone, but no dice. Because it was our first time at the restaurant, they gave us a free dessert! Cheesecake, mmmm.
The second part of the evening was the entertainment—we went to a comedy club! The setup was strange … a stage for the comedians, and then the seats were pairs of chairs around a small table, all scrunched together tight, although there were couch/booths in the back of the small room. Another thing I’d never encountered was that on top of our fee to get in, there was also a two-drink minimum that we had to buy. Weird! The line of comedians went one at a time, maybe for 10 or 15 minutes or so each. Some of them weren’t that great, but a couple were HALIRIOUS, especially one guy who was incredibly funny, and didn’t have to tell a single crude joke to do it. It was all in his tone of voice.
It was an amazing, romantic, incredible evening, completely perfect. Unfortunately when we got home, one thing marred the occasion. We suppose that omething I ate didn’t agree with me, because my stomach (not my “tummy” but actually my stomach) hurt and was very upset, and I woke up several times to be sick. It’s weird though because we only had food/drink from the four-star restaurant, which it seems it would be impossible for it to have bad food, and the comedy club, which might be more likely but also improbable.
On Saturday, we drove up to Vegas! We got a late start and didn’t arrive until late afternoon, and then we were tired from the drive so we took a nap! We stayed at the Stratosphere, which has the tallest building in LA apparently (although the hotel rooms aren’t in the tower). It was at the opposite end of the Strip from most of the “Action”, so that kind of sucked, but it was cheaper and we had my car so we just drove down to the other casinos when we wanted to.
That evening, we went to New York-New York for dinner (we planned on Luxor, but it took us too long to get ready). We ate at an Italian place. I ordered a Moscato wine for us, and found that it’s listed as a dessert wine, which is probably why I like it so much! Then we went to the Zumanity show, a Cirque du Soleil show. It is an 18+ show, but after I got past the initial discomfort, I spent the evening amazed by the acrobatics and art of the performers. I think the part that weirded me out the most wasn’t anything sexual, but was the contortionist guy! Ewwww. Bodies should not move like that. In between the acts were funny skits, where they sometimes would pull people out of the audience and of course, embarrass them.
Sunday was our day to explore Vegas. There were several attractions I wanted to see, and Jay wanted to gamble in as many casinos as he could. (We had done a little slots in New York-New York the night before, so that was covered.) First we ate the champagne brunch buffet at the Stratosphere. I liked it (crab!) but most of the things Jay chose were bad. :-(
We started at the opposite end of the Strip, in MGM Grand, where we played a couple slots and saw the Lion Exhibit! There were two female lions, who were sleeping most of the time. Their trainers (who use no whips or anything bad like that, but just bond with them) were in the exhibit as well, just hanging out with their lionesses. In another part were two little lion cubs AWWWWWWW.
Next we walked (zomg so hot) to Excalibur, and took the tram through the Luxor to Mandalay Bay. Again, a couple slots, and then we went to the Shark Reef aquarium, which did cost money. Now, I had been looking for this shark exhibit my Mom had seen when in Vegas, where the aquarium threads itself through the pool. But I got it wrong, and we should have gone to the Mirage instead. Oh well.
We drove up to the Bellagio, which I would LOVE to stay at some day! It was very classy and pretty, and they had a conservatory/gardens with fountain-trees! Whoever thought of combining TREES with FOUNTAINS is brilliant!!!! Again slots, and then we walked outside to see the fountain show, although we had to wait because they were fixing something. YAY FOUNTAINS.
Finally we ended in Caesar’s Palace, which I had seen in August via the Forum shops. It’s freaking huge. We also passed a wedding party just from the ceremony.
By that point, I was dragging, and it was late, so we skipped the Mirage and the Venetian, and went back to our own hotel. We checked out the pool, but it was closing, and then ate at the restaurant just across from the elevators. AMAZING BREAD. I love bread. I which I could have restaurant bread all the time because it is SO MUCH BETTER than store bread!
Because we were staying at the Stratosphere, we got a free ride up to the top of the tower, so we took it. It’s like 110 floors or something, so it was pretty high. Great view of the city! We were going to eat at the restaurant up there, but it looked pretty expensive, and I wanted to go to the Romance lounge … oh well. ;-)
Then we finished up our gambling. After the few slot machines I had done, I knew I didn’t want to risk a lot of money on Blackjack or anything else that would be more than a few dollars, so I watched. Jay played Blackjack, but didn’t do very well due to the luck of the cards. :-( But then we went to the craps table, which was AWESOME! Jay was teaching me what he knew as he played, and another guy next to us who knew more taught us both. After Jay rolled the dice they asked if I wanted to do it, so Jay gave me a couple of his chips to play with. I rolled two sevens on my first two rolls! (Which is good, haha). I had a pretty good run, and gave the money back to Jay to keep watching. In the end he won back the blackjack money and ended ahead. :-D
On Monday, we searched for and found a Dunkin Donuts, based on Jay’s memory of seeing a sign on the highway. None of them appeared on the GPS. Mmmmm donut-y goodness. I forget what we did Monday when we got back.
On Tuesday I went into work for a little, and then Jay picked me up and we went to meet Jon and Cam for dinner! Jay found this microbrewery online, and it turned out to be AWESOME. It’s a small place and in the corner of a plaza, but they had a very long sheet with 100s of beers listed in tiny font. I had a cider and liked it. Their burgers were also awesome and OMG sweet potato fries rock my world. The beers that the guys got came in HUGE bottles. It was awesome to see Jon and Cam again too!
Wednesday was leaving day :-( but I couldn’t be too sad because I knew today was coming! Right after Jay walked away a woman approached me, asking if I could give her a jump, she had all the cables and knew what to do. I was a little worried when she handed me two of the connectors and said “make sure they don’t touch!” Eep!
This week I spent re-finalizing my paper … things keep changing. I mean, it’s good, but I keep thinking I’m done and then something else comes up. I also gave my journal club presentation on Wednesday, so I’m officially done with ‘homework’ for the quarter.
On Saturday I went to the Dodgers vs. Rockies game with Christine and her church peeps. My one goal in life that day was to have a hot dog, and I did, and it was the BEST hot dog EVER. Man just thinking about it now makes me wish I had another one. The game was kind of boring because it was a ‘pitcher’s game’ which means no one scored and hardly anyone got on base. But it was fun to see the enthusiasm of the crowd and a couple of Christine’s friends. Then in the seventh inning the Dodgers scored 5 times and it got interesting.
On Monday it was “sports night with Christine and church peeps” again, this time football: Packers vs. Vikings. Unfortunately the night didn’t go as hoped, which sucked. (Out of 14 games this week, Jay and I only picked FOUR right!)
On Tuesday, the IGPP seminar was by Dr. Saito from Japan, who’s the PI on one of the Kaguya instruments. He basically did an overview of all the results related to space physics that have come from it, including some that are of great interest to Christine and I. We joined him, Vassilis, and a few others from the dept for dinner that night at Palomino, a really nice Italian-style restaurant. They had the most AWESOME BREAD. Did I mention how much I like bread? Theirs came with this tomato-type sauce for the top, kind of like a chutney? I dunno. But awesome. And it was on the department’s tab so I had fish. :-D Then on Wednesday morning we met with Vassilis and Dr. Saito, to discuss ARTEMIS and Kaguya and flybys and stuff.
~*~*~*~*~
Well, now I'm in good ol' Enid, America. Getting here was kind of sucky. I made it to Houston just fine, and my plane to Tulsa took off on time. However, there were terrible thunderstorms over Tulsa. We tried to land twice, and it was the worst experience I've ever had in a plane, due to the 60 mph wind shears ... extreme jerking back and forth, dropping through the air, etc. After the second attempt, the plane rerouted to Dallas to refuel. We were there for a while though, because people kept getting off the plane (presumably to find a different way to their connections) and holding us up due to paperwork. We took off and headed back to Tulsa. Another plane attempted to land while we held in the pattern, but he could only get halfway. So, we rerouted, this time to Little Rock! By this time the sun was going down. We waited in Little Rock for a long time for a gate, because all the other rerouted planes were there. Every time we were on the ground I was on the phone with Jay, who told me that other planes were landing there after we left.
Finally we pulled into Little Rock. The crew had to get food (understandable) and they were going to keep people on the plane, which I was happy about. But then they found that they were required to let people get off the plane, and of course all but ten people deplaned. Oy. THEN they told the rest of us that we HAD to deboard, so I got off the plane and onto the jetway. Because the computers didn't recognize us, they had to write down all of our names by hand. I was in the back of the line waiting when the crew ran back up and said, come back, come back! We gotta go! So BACK on the plane, but then they had to round up all the people who got through to the terminal ..
We departed Little Rock, and landed in Tulsa from the north. We were supposed to land at 3:15pm. Final arrival at the Tulsa gate was 9:45pm. Woof. I finished the entirety of Fell, and I wasn't even reading the whole time (during the layover I wrote most of this, and during a lot of the latter flight I felt ill from the air effects). During the drive home it was still rainy and windy, but it calmed down at the end.
On Friday, Jay and I went to the Officer's Club to watch class 10-01's drop night. Basically, that class of pilot trainees are three weeks away from graduating, and on Friday they found out what kind of plane they'll be flying, and what base they're assigned to. It was a very strange night ... first of all, there were TONS of pilots in flight suits there. All of their wives and children (usually babies or toddlers) or SOs and friends are there. It's so strange to find out where you're going to spend the next few years of your life in one second, with 200 other people around you. If you get a 'bad' assignment, you still need to applaud. I could only imagine what it will be like. Until that moment, you'll have no idea what kind of clothes you'll need to buy (cold weather? warm weather), where to look for a house, or a job. Where your children will go to school. Jay and I are lucky that I'm 'stuck' in grad school ... by the time he finds out where he's assigned, I'll be just about to start my job search.
The class was already sauced by the time they entered. They showed a video that they had made with different parodies ... pretending to be in the Full House theme song, a skit about "APTs" (Awaiting Pilot Training) that was a play on iPhone apps, slapping each other, pretending they were talking with Will Ferrell and Samuel L. Jackson, and autotuning over the microphone.
Each pilot was called up one at a time, and some jokes were told at his expense. Then he pulled a "lever", and the Powerpoint on the wall showed what he would be flying and where. The fighter drop interested me the most: one guy got an F-22, and another an A-10. The other side of the house (the heavies) had a really good drop.
We went to the drop with Amanda, a friend of Jay's from OTS. She just started pilot training this week. Afterwards we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which was actually really good! It was neat to talk to a female pilot, and Amanda herself is a really cool person.
Yesterday, we went and bought Jay a wireless router so that we could play WoW together. ;-P Which, after we hooked it up, we proceeded to do. In the evening we went to Callahan's, which is supposedly an Irish pub but had dishes with Chinese, Turkish, and Indian themes! It's one of the only 'nice' restaurants in town. Today we had pancakes, and other than that we've watched football all day.
Oh! I made a cake! :-D Just from a pre-made mix, but I made it in two layers (I bought Jay a cake pan, but only one, and there was two much mix), and then I put the layers together and frosted it! It's pretty good. We're going to cook some chicken tomorrow, too.
We also watched the LCROSS impact on the Moon. Unfortunately there wasn't much to see, but it was awesome to watch the spacecraft get closer ... and closer ... and closer to the Moon! It's also neat because one of those instruments is calibrated using Jay's body heat! ;-) It's funny, that was more than two years ago. It seems longer ... like a lifetime.
Back to football.
Heather and Molly drove down to get me from the conference, and we ate sushi in Annapolis before heading home. Thursday was my mom's 50th birthday, so I came home for that and planned a surprise party for her on Saturday. But on Thursday, both Mom and Dad came home early, so we hung out and then Mom and I took a nap together ... such an exciting day I know!!! Haha, but I think we were both tired. And then I put a magnetic sign on Mom's car that said "Honk! Driver just turned 50!" before we went out to run errands, and she discovered it at the post office. "::gasp:: Who put this on here?!?!" Heh heh heh. Unfortunately when I moved it to Dad's car that night (that's the car we were taking to go out to dinner) it fell off somewhere. Sadness. :-(
On Friday Mom and I went shopping. We went to Dress Barn and ONCE AGAIN I would like to announce to the world that NOT EVERYONE is large in the chest area, and why do you not carry a lot of small sizes, and why is it that even when you have small sizes, THEY'RE TOO BIG!!! Seriously?! But I did end up buying a pretty skirt and two long-sleeved shirts. There were these awesome other shirts but they were too big. Once again a paragraph ends in sadness.
Saturday was The Day. In order to keep Mom away from the house, I had to go to church so I could be with her all day. I did get to see Molly lead the prayer service, which was cool. Afterwards was potluck. I talked with Larrabee for a little while, he was really interested in what Jay's doing and was telling me how he watches the shuttle launches and EVAs and landings! I guess I'm always vaguely surprised when someone who isn't a Certified Space Geek expresses interest and excitement in the space program ... I'm just like, "Whoa, really?"
Then after potluck Molly and Mom had this Core thing where they go to a playground in Reading and play with the kids there, so I tagged along on that. Now, I didn't know about this previously, so my excuse to keep Mom out of the house all afternoon was that I needed to go to the mall and go shopping, and that Molly needed to go too. So I had made a big deal about this. But by the time we left the park to go to the mall, it was 4:20, and Mom's secret mani/pedi appointment was at 5! And we got to the mall at 4:40! So we rushed into the mall and Molly quick got two shirts and I got a book, and rushed out. And Mom's all walking slow, and saying, "Why are you hurrying me? Why are you pushing me?" and I say "Mom I forgot something in the car and we have to go back COME ON!!" and she's like "all the way back to the car? How about I just stay in here and wait." And I say "NO YOU HAVE TO COME WITH ME! I didn't abandon you, I stayed with you all day while we hung out with church people!" And then we got to the car and I was like, "I'm driving because you're slow." And she's like "What? Are we done at the mall? Are we going to Wal-Mart to get contact solution?" And I'm like "Yes, that is totally what we're doing."
So then I drive past the exit for home and I say "Oh well, I guess we can't go home, we'll just have to go to .... your surprise birthday present!" Mom: "Why, did you get me a pony?" Me: "No." ::several minutes go by in which Mom does not seem excited or happy about a surprise birthday present:: Me: "Mom, don't you want to know what I got you?" Molly: "Yeah, we weren't joking." Mom: ".... Huh?"
So finally we get to the nail salon that Mom always goes to and I'm like "Winona Kissinger is here for a mani/pedi!" and the guy looks at her and is like, "Didn't you just get your nails done last week?"
Me: ::wilt::
So she just got the pedi, and she's sitting there and she starts WINCING. And I'm like "Molly OMG she hates it she hates pedicures and this is the worst birthday present EVER!" And Molly and I keep making these sad faces at Mom and she smiles at us through her winces and gritted teeth and I'm like "WHAT HAVE I DONE." It turns out only one part hurt, and the rest of the time she was trying not to laugh because she's ticklish. But I have learned my lesson: No more pedicures!!!
Anyway so then we drive home, and of course everyone (including Heather, who "had work") had parked far away so she wouldn't suspect. So she walks in and greets Dad, and me and Molly are looking around, wondering where everyone's hiding. And so then she walks STRAIGHT PAST the living room with all its decorations and into the green room where people are sort of hiding! And my Dad makes this futile grab at her arm, like noooooo but then she comes back out and walks into the living room, and sees the decorations, and is like, "oh, so are we going to get pizza and cake?" (because earlier Dad had asked her about cake pretending it was just for the five of us and at the nail salon she suggested we get pizza for dinner). And Dad's like "Um, NO, we're not getting pizza." And then everyone jumps out from behind the couch and screams SURPRISE and Mom literally jumps in the air and gives a little gasp and clasps her hands to her heart, and I totally didn't catch it on video. Oh well. SHE WAS SURPRISED YAY I WIN!!! Then there was food and spinach dip and cake and presents. Lots of stuff for old people. It was awesome.
On Sunday we went to Hershey Park, again with all the church people but most of them were Molly's friends so it was okay. I rode on the Fahrenheit which sends you straight up slowly and then straight down very fast. I also rode the log ride, the Great Bear, and the Comet. We even got Mom to ride some of the coasters. Most of the time I spent walking around or sitting with Dad and Mom, just behind Molly and her friends.
On Monday I flew back to LA, a 12.5 hour trip. Blah. Then on Wednesday Jay came in! A little delayed, but no matter. We had CPK and started watching The 10th Kingdom.
Yesterday was the THEMIS/ARTEMIS barbecue, so we helped to set up and tear down, and in between was food ... waaaaay too much of it! I had two pieces of cake to do my part :-D
Also last night we watched Flash Forward. Although the characters are all different, the basic plot and troubles the characters deal with in their forwards are very similar to the book. I don't think the explanation is going to be the same though. I like it so far! It's weird seeing Penny with someone who's not Desmond though.
Today I have a meeting for ARTEMIS (yaaaaaaay) and then I'll go home to spend time with Jay. He has a Surprise Evening planned, very exciting!
Yesterday I went on a cooking spree! Well, kind of. First I cut up an entire watermelon, which was soooooo refreshing. Then in the afternoon I mass-produced ten burritos with eggs, potatoes, green onions, salsa, and cheese. The potatoes gave me some trouble but eventually I managed. I'm going to try the first one today for lunch. Finally, in the evening I made salmon. Although I think it had skin on one side that I didn't realize I was supposed to take off. I used a recipe Jay's mom gave me with help from my mom.
"Hey Mom, how do you juice a lemon?"
"Get out your juicer."
"Yeah, I have no juicer."
Shot glass ftw!
"Hey Mom, how do you press a garlic clove?"
"Blah blah blah, separate the clove from the rest ... Now get out your garlic press."
"Haha, yeah, no garlic press either."
It wasn't too hard besides that, just mixing stuff together and putting it on the salmon and veggies. And soon it was done and it was sooooooooooooooo good. Although a little too lemony. Now I need to find more recipes to use this pesto in.
On Saturday, I sat down to read a couple chapters of Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer. I ended up finishing the book. This is the third book I've read by Sawyer (the other two were Calculating God which Dad sent me, and FlashForward, which is what the new ABC TV show is based off of).
All three of these books were incredible. First, they were well-written, with believable characters I cared about. Second, they had phenomenal "what if?" ideas. What if we finally make contact with aliens, and they're searching for evidence for God? What if the entire consciousness of humanity sees a glimpse of their future in 20 years? What if aliens show us the fourth dimension? It's clear he reads/knows a lot about science, from psychology to physics, and concepts are explained easily in his writing.
Every single book had me on the edge of my seat, wondering Truman-style, "how's it going to end?" Every book made me say "wow" at the end, and left me more excited and energized than when I'd begun.
I'm definitely going to search out the rest of his books! Haha, his website is http://www.sfwriter.com. Nice.
In work news, I've submitted my abstract and travel grant request to AGU. I also have (sort of) a first draft of my very first paper. (I've actually helped to writte two papers previously, but this will be the first one published.) I say sort of because it still needs a couple of things from me, and I'm hoping for a lot of input from Bob and Vassilis. I can't believe the Themis SWT meeting is just in two weeks! Guess I better start working on that presentation.
The ceremony took place next to a small lake at around 5pm. For some reason there weren't enough seats, so Jay's parents and I had to stand. I didn't mind so much because we got a much better view, but my heels kept sinking into the grass so I had to put all my weight on my toes.
The wedding didn't have one or two particular colors, but rather the colors were based off of the Gerber daisy, which can have many colors. So the bridesmaids wore the same dress but in yellow, orange, red, blue, and green, with the flower girls in pink. The groomsmen had ties that matched one of the bridesmaids' dresses. I lucked out in that Jay had the blue tie, which just so happened to match my blue dress very well!
When we walked in we got programs, which were just printed on simple cardstock listing the bridal party. Jay is listed as "Chad's childhood friend *Future astronaut*".
So every single wedding I've ever been to has been with my family, except for one that I attended with Nicole. The one thing that stood out for me for this wedding as opposed to others I've been to is how much fun was allowed to be had! I have this image in my head of most wedding ceremonies being very solemn affairs. Maybe not solemn, exactly, but very dignified, full of gravity at the situation. But this ceremony was full of laughter. The first thing the officiant started doing was cracking jokes. Every now and then during the ceremony, Lisa would laugh with joy. It just struck me as very different.
The song choices were different, too. Jay and the groomsmen walked in to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillet, and the other two song choices were just as modern--no Wedding March here.
I liked how the officiant told the story of how Chad and Lisa met, especially because I hardly knew any of it. Both sides of the family were very involved in the wedding. Lisa's mother was her matron-of-honor, and Chad's brother Aron was the best man. Lisa's brother and Chad's nieces and nephew were all also in the wedding party. Chad's older sisters both did Biblical readings.
The one thing I didn't like, which I don't like about all weddings I've been to, is how the vows are given. The officiant says part of a phrase, it's echoed, then we move on to the next phrase. I think it'd be better to have the vow memorized, and give it in full, without stopping and starting.
I loved that the wedding was outdoors and near a lake, but it was rather hot, with no breeze. I basically ruined my copy of the program that I was holding.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Lisa looked great in her dress! It had some of the things I tend not to like in wedding dresses but on her it looked amazing and made me reconsider! She had a nice tiara and lovely veil, too. Later on in the evening I saw on the dance floor she was wearing white sandals which is the BEST IDEA EVER. I think she had heels during the ceremony, but what a great idea to change your shoes, since no one sees them under the gown anyway!
Eventually two lives were joined together, and Mr. and Mrs. Chad were presented. The receiving line followed, where I was introduced to some people Jay knew through high school and college. Another awesome idea was that a table was already set up with snacks and drinks for the wedding party. They proceeded to take pictures while we headed inside (AC!). Instead of sitting around, waiting for the wedding party to arrive, we got to mingle, eat appetizers, and order some drinks.
You know, it occurs to me that maybe the reason I was so bored during weddings when I was young is more to do with not being able to do adult things like talk to other adults and drink while waiting. Maybe those weddings weren't all that bad, if I had been grown up.
Anyway eventually we were let into the dining hall and I got to sit with Jay's parents, yay! Also at our table were a couple of Chad's relatives and um I think some friends who I didn't really talk to. Jay had to sit at the wedding party table, but only for dinner.
Once again, the entrance of the wedding party was more joyful and full of laughter than I remember in other weddings. The parents danced in, followed by the bridesmaids all together, followed by the groomsmen all together, and then by Lisa and Chad, all to "Tonight's Going to Be a Good Night". Then IMMEDIATELY Lisa and Chad had their first dance, which I thought was great because it "opens up" the dance floor so that anyone could start dancing as soon as they were done eating. Otherwise no one wants to dance until they do their first dance.
The dinner started afterwards, with a fruit and whipped cream cup, followed by a salad. The main course was either chicken or prime rib, and I got the steak because the chicken sounded like it was spicy. The centerpieces of the table were very simple: two Gerber daisies laid on the table, along with an empty bottle of wine. Each bottle had a card on it saying where and with whom Lisa and Chad had shared that bottle! Soooo cool.
Instead of cutting a cake, Lisa and Chad "scooped ice cream" and fed it to each other. Dessert was a delicious brownie and a scoop of the ice cream.
Soon after, the dancing started, and I was asked to dance by my handsome boyfriend. Who is a FANTASTIC dancer by the way. There were both older and modern songs, and it was a lot of fun. There was the father-daughter dance, the mother-son dance, an anniversary dance (for anyone already married), and a dollar dance, which I had never seen before, where the guests pay a dollar (or more) to dance with either the bride or groom. Jay danced with Lisa and I danced with Chad.
The bouquet and garter were done differently, in a sort of musical chairs. After Chad took the garter off Lisa, all single men and women (including Jay and I) were called into the middle of the dance floor, and the men brought chairs. A sort of musical chairs proceeded, where guys walked in a circle on way, and girls walked in a circle in the other. When the music stopped, the guys hurried to sit on a chair, and the girls hurried to sit on a guy. Jay and I made it until like third or fourth from the end.
At the end, Lisa and Chad changed into “sleep gear”, and came out to dance one last time. They departed for Boston, as early the next morning they would fly from Boston to Puerto Rico to board their honeymoon Bahamas cruise. The rest of us picked up cookies that Chad’s sister-in-law had baked, and then caught the shuttle back to the hotel.
In all it was a great wedding, and I’m glad Jay and I were able to attend. He looked so handsome in his suit! Of course I was looking at all the wedding details for ideas, and I think Jay’s mom was doing the same thing in some of the comments she made.
In the morning, Jay and I ate breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and drove to the Boston airport. We got lost though because of a missed turn, and found out how ridiculous it is to drive in Boston. Eventually we made it, and checked in. Jay ate some pizza but I couldn’t eat anything because of my sad upset tummy. All too soon, the moment of departing was there, and gone, and I was through security.
I flew on JetBlue from BOS to JFK in New York, and then had a three hour layover (ouch) before my flight to LA. Luckily JFK had free Internet. During the first flight, the captain told us to look out the window to the left side (which I was on) and we would see a plane in the distance. It was Air Force One! The Obamas were flying to Martha’s Vineyard for vacation. That’s probably the closest I’ve ever been to a president …. 35000 ft in the air!
JetBlue is pretty cool because the seats are bigger, and you get free TV! I watched a marathon of NCIS and a documentary on what would happen to the world if humans suddenly disappeared. When I landed, Christine picked me up from the always-busy airport, and I fell asleep at home without even unpacking! It was a good trip … but I want to hurry up and get the next one in place. A day and a half isn’t long enough!
My friends were very thoughtful! I received the gift of food in the form of my dinner (Kate), a box of German chocolates (sehr gut! Marissa), and a Godiva chocolate bar (Feifei). Hmm I wonder if I've ever made a point of the fact that I like chocolate. Then Christine gave me WALL-E and I squee'd all over the place. I also got a cute photo frame that says "Friends" from Shanshan, and Xiaojia gave me a Hello Kitty mirror and comb set! Now I match them, haha! (They have matching Hello Kitty change purses.)
( Vegas baby! )
( Home sweet home )
There was a lot of delays that day, but luckily I was going "east" (really north) and our flight was cleared to leave, although it was about an hour late. The ride wasn't that bad except for a bit of turbulence over Philly. Eventually I landed in Manchester, and met Jay's mom outside. I guess there were tornado warnings so she was a bit worried.
I spent the evening with Jay's parents (Katie was there, and left soon after with her new boyfriend, who liked my NASA shirt so he's cool). Kathy made burgers (in a pan since the grill was soaked from the rain) and we watched sports. I went to bed, but only after I saw on flightaware that Jay's flight from Atlanta had finally taken off at 11:11, an hour late. He didn't get into Boston until 1am, and then had to rent a car and drive home, arriving at 3am. That was also the day he took his big test (and passed) so he was very tired!
The next morning I woke up and got dressed, but let Jay sleep until 11. I spent the time reading Robert J. Sawyer's Factoring Humanity. I had finished FlashForward on the plane. Which I didn't even realize was a book, but the new ABC TV series coming out is based on it! Except in the book everyone sees 20 years into the future, not 6 months. The book was very good. He's also the one who wrote Calculating God which I LOVED, so I think I have to read all of this guy's stuff now.
Anyway, Jay woke up, and we had pancakes his mom made. We kind of just hung out until it was time to go to the wedding. This is already pretty long, so I'll write about the wedding later.
On Friday I left work early to head up to Pasadena. I met Jon, Courtney, and Robbie for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (::mourns loss of salad once more::). It bears repeating ... Pasadena is awesome. Trees, grass, flowers everywhere, not jam-packed with cars, nice neighborhoods ...
It was awesome to see Robbie after a year, and of course Jon and Courtney as well. We all caught up over pizza, and then went to the mall to get some Cold Stone. On the way Courtney was like, "we should go see a movie!" I agreed, and we figured Jon wouldn't go for Julie and Julia, so we suggested GI Joe. Apparently this was really strange that the two girls suggested it but whatever!
We ate Cold Stone, and then Robbie left to catch his ride to the airport and Jon and I moved our cars from the CPK parking lot to his house. We walked back to the movie theater place ... I tried to call Jay but he was still out at dinner.
The movie was good. I know nothing about GI Joe but it was action packed with special effects, which is what I was expecting so I was pleased. I was NOT expecting the cameos all over the place! I was constantly going "OMG it's THAT guy!" I liked the storyline and the characters, and how they did one relationship in particular. Several lines made me laugh out loud. Of course there were a couple things made me and my friends roll our eyes, like a line from one of the female characters, and ( Slight spoiler )
Yesterday I went shopping down at 3rd Street. I had like three Victoria's Secret coupons to use (and actually found another one this morning) so I went there. The lady didn't let me use one of them, saying that I'd have to come back tomorrow. Okay yeah you'll totally see me here tomorrow ... not. (It was one of those coupons where to use it you also have to buy something else, so they would have made more money by giving it to me. Sucks to be them!)
Every Saturday (at least when it's warm), there's a farmer's market in Santa Monica. I walked along there for a while, looking at all the nice produce, but I didn't buy anything as I'm leaving town in a week. Even when I'm here though, I don't buy a lot of produce ... since it's just me eating it, whatever I buy usually spoils.
I also went to Forever 21 ... see, Nicole's been bugging me to get a "Vegas outfit". So I figured I'd just go look and see if there was anything there.
I have determined that I will never be trendy or fashionable. As I walked through the rooms and examined the clothes, I kept thinking, "People actually wear this stuff?" One room was full of plaid. Really? Plaid is in? Many shirts had ridiculous ruffles and decorations on them. There were way too many pieces which I couldn't tell if they were a too-long shirt or a too-short dress. I am also terrible at layering, and it was clear that many items required something underneath or on top, but the clothing next to it didn't seem like it matched. Some things I could picture another girl wearing, but not me.
Eventually I found a room which had reasonable clothing, actually the same room where Nicole and I found a tank-and-overshirt combo for me last year, which is one of my favorite outfits. I tried a bunch of stuff on, and there were several items that I couldn't decide on. So I bought them, and I'll show them to Nicole and my family and have them help me decide, and return them if they're a no. In an effort to improve my layering technique, I bought five spaghetti straps in various colors, for only $2.50. They are kind of a little bit see through, but with an overshirt that won't be a problem.
In terms of the "Vegas outfit" whose criteria are apparently "shiny and sparkly", I found a tee which is supposed to look like peacock feathers, and the feathers have rhinestones in them. It fits me very well and looks nice but I dunno if it's something I'll ever wear again. We'll see.
Finally, I bought a purple fitted shirt which I could use to present at conferences or for a nice night out to dinner. I tried this one on again this morning and I think I'm 99% sure I'm going to keep it.
I came back and ate lunch at 3, and watched TV until Christine's friend picked us up to go to the Getty Center. A bunch of people from Christine's church, as well as a couple of the girls from UCLA, went due to the free parking. Half of Los Angeles also went, and parking was crazy until we got a tip from one of Christine's friends to go to a different parking lot. Huzzah!
We looked at the gardens, which were awesome, and the fountains, which was also awesome. I dunno which I like better, gardens or fountains, but I know that when you combine the two it's HEAVENLY. I guess I didn't see many of the 'cool views' or even all of the gardens, but that's okay, I'll just have to return. We did look at some art. The coolest thing was this exhibit with illuminated manuscripts from the book of Psalms in the Bible. These are when monks would just sit there and copy the Bible, but they would draw images into a letter or next to a psalm. Christine and I marveled at their artistic abilities back then, and their copy skills in an age without the printing press!
I will copy Christine's words here ... "Oh yeah, and one thing we rolled our eyes about was that none of the museum workers seemed to know anything about the exhibits. Jenni saw a sign that said the Psalms exhibit was in the North Pavilion, so we went there and asked where the Psalms Exhibition was. The guy was just like, "Uhhh..." and Jenni was like, "Temptation of David, something or other" And he just responded with something like, "You sure it's in this building?" So Jenni went out just to double check the sign and came back, "Yeah, it says this building, 'The Psalms: The Temptation and Salvation of David', and he's just like, "All we have are these two exhibits right now." So we turn to look, and there staring straight at us is a sign for "The Psalms: The Temptation and Salvation of David". Oye. ::face palm::"
Yeah, idiots.
We also tried to see the doughnut exhibit (paintings/photographs of pastries) but it was just one wall in a sea of naked women photos. So we left that pretty quickly.
Oh yeah, in the middle of all that, we met up with Xiaojia and Hanying, and then had us come try their Chinese food. They had noodles (spaghetti) with VERY SPICY SAUCE. My lips and tongue were on fire afterwards! I ate watermelon and drank tea to try and alleviate it, and put on chapstick too ... woof. That was intense. I mean it was good ... but I am not a spicy person. They also gave us typical Chinese snacks, like peas. Yeah. Peas. But these were hard, crunchy peas with garlic. It was like small round crackers. SO WEIRD! But also awesome!
With Christine and the church peeps, we left the Center and drove to a Hong Kong cafe. I wasn't that hungry but ordered from fried rice, which was really good, and ate like half of it! It was a lot for a reasonable price, too.
In other news, work is still quiet, but Bob gets back tomorrow. I'm glad I'll get to meet with him before I go on vacation.
Last week I watched the season premiere of Defying Gravity, the new ABC TV show about eight astronauts on a mission to visit Venus, then many of the other planets in the solar system. It's been described as "Grey's Anatomy" in space and also "Lost" in space, and both of those are pretty accurate. Sure, there were a lot of things that made me roll my eyes during the show, both character-related and physics-related. But I'm going to keep watching despite all that, because that's not the point of the show. Anything that gets the general public interested in astronauts and space exploration is a plus to me, even if those astronauts make poor relationship choices and even if the space exploration has some implausible things. ANY scifi show is going to have implausible things. That's why it's scifi.
The actors-as-astronauts can do something real astronauts can't do now. They can behave on screen as real people, with real faults who make mistakes. People can look up to real astronauts, but in the end they are larger than life ... you can't always relate to them. There are certainly good reasons why NASA wants to promote an image of their astronauts as perfect and with no flaws. But these actor astronauts, who profess the same love of exploration on screen, can show flaws and mistakes that everyday people can relate to. Your average person who supports space exploration don't want to do it so they can go be scientific. They want to have sex in space! They want to have fun hanging outside the spacecraft! They want to live in space, with all that entails, the good and the bad. I think that's what this show helps accomplish ... helping people dream about space exploration again, and what could happen.
I also like the Lost-like mystery behind the mission. Oooo, what is "it"?
I can't wait for Wednesday ... dinner with my friends at TGI Friday's, Vegas with Nicole, then home to my family, then Chad's wedding with Jay ... yay for August!
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/i
The last part is the best ... "liaisons between science and society" ... this should be what every scientist (who's not a complete lab rat) strives for!!
Jay came into town (he hasn't been to LA in almost a year!) very late on Wednesday evening. We celebrated our anniversary early (it's on July 29th, but he'll be at ASBC) all day on Thursday. First we slept in, haha, and then we went to Exposition Park and saw some of the museums there. He really liked the Air and Space exhibit of the California Science Center. We took pictures by the Apollo-Soyuz mission capsule, the Gemini 11 capsule, and the Mercury capsule that flew Ham the Astrochimp! We went into the actual California Science Center for a little bit, but it's mostly stuff for kids. We spent the rest of the time at the Natural History Museum. There is a freaking lot of deer- and sheep-type creatures in their exhibits.
For dinner, we went to Duke's Malibu, which Doug had recommended to Jay. It was perfect! It's right on the water, such a gorgeous view. We sat at the bar and had drinks, looking out over the ocean. For dinner, our table was right next to the window ... there were some boulders next to us, and then the sea. The sun set as we were eating. We both ate WAY too much because they had really awesome bread. I had a Hawaiian fish that I forget the name of. To top it off, this is one of the restaurants that serves Hulu Pie, and of course we ordered a piece. But we were so full we couldn't finish it!
Back at home, we exchanged presents. I gave him a picture frame with an 8x10 photo of the two of us at the dining out before his graduation from OTS. I also gave him a box of "Moon Rocks" chocolates, created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, which was July 20th.
When he handed me my present, he told me that he was planning on giving me something else, but he had heard something in the past couple of weeks that made him get "this" instead. I was confused when he gave it to me. "You put my present in the box I gave you with your watch?" I asked. But when I opened it up I realized that no ... he had bought me a watch of my own! I guess a couple weeks ago I had mentioned that I didn't know what time it was because I didn't have a watch.
It's a Citizen Eco-Drive watch, like the one I got him for OTS graduation, a woman's Calibre 4700. It's so gorgeous! The Eco-Drive means it's powered by light, and never needs a battery change. It has a gold and silver band, and the dial is mother-of-pearl. It has 24 small diamonds around the outside. It's probably the most expensive thing I've ever worn. And we match!
Sure, we're kind of young for these expensive type of presents, but we're not going to keep up the trend. His was for his commissioning as an officer in the Air Force, and when I pointed out that all I got him for our anniversary was a frame and chocolates, he reminded me that he hadn't gotten me anything for receiving my master's degree, so it doubles as a gift for that. For our birthdays we'll go back to more 'normal' gifts.
But I love my watch!!!
</watch>
On Friday Jay helped me prepare for the NAAA Annual Event. We came to UCLA, got the keys for the room, and posted signs to help people find their way. We had lunch at CPK, where I found out they got rid of my salad!!! Whyyyyyyyy. We also went to the mall to get a few links taken out of the watch's band.
In the evening, we drove to Doug's mother-in-law's house. She lives in Beverly Hills in a multi-million dollar home. I hate LA traffic ... it took us so long to get there. We got to see Doug, Christy, and Skipper, and Jay met Christy's mom and saw the crazy train room. Have I described that? They have a small building out in the back which is completely filled with a huge train system, with a "Europe" side and an "American" side. It has tons of buildings and little tiny people, and apparently a switching station that actually works. It was started by Christy's dad and has been continued by Christy's sons and Doug.
We "talked shop" for a while (re: Academy) and then we all went to dinner at McCormick and Schmidt's, a very fancy restaurant on Rodeo Drive. I'll tell you, when I picture retirement, I want it to be like Doug and Christy's ... gorgeous home, a house in Tahoe, enjoying great food at fabulous restaurants, and hosting dinners at their house all the time, surrounded by friends. I had stuffed salmon on recommendation from Doug. Back at the house, we talked more about the Academy until late in the evening.
( NAAA Annual Event )
On Sunday, we watched our Academy video, packed up Jay's stuff, and went to Chipotle near the airport for lunch. It was just south of the airport in this surprisingly nice area. It almost looked like a peaceful suburb from PA ... quiet, not a lot of traffic, nice trees, a few weeds here and there, but nice. We found a Cold Stone as well and had some ice cream.
I dropped Jay off at the airport and did my Bucket o' Tears thing, but it turned out that I had no need. At 3 Jay called to tell me that the plane had been delayed an hour and there was no way he was going to make the connection, so he was going to stay in LA! He ended up having to wait in line for hours to figure out a new flight schedule. His plane didn't end up taking off until 4:45. I checked on flightaware.com, and his connection in Denver took off for OKC before the flight he would have been on landed ... he would have missed the plane, and they wouldn't have paid for his hotel, so he would have had to sleep in the airport. Good choice!
So of course I was very happy to have one more evening with him, even though it meant he'd have to take another day of leave. We agreed to have a fun and relaxing evening. We went to Cafe 50s for dinner, and rented You Don't Mess with the Zohan. On Monday morning, I again went to LAX to drop him off, for good this time.
Of course Monday was also the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, and two humans setting foot on lunar regolith. I loved watching all the coverage and reading all the stories about it. My favorite thing was wechoosethemoon.org, which followed along with the Moon landing as it happened in real time, 40 years ago. God, I hope we really do go back and don't stall out again.
That evening, I went with Christine, Feifei, and Shanshan to see the new Harry Potter movie. Not having read the books, I liked it because I could mostly follow along with the plot. It also made me laugh several times. It still has the same problem that all the others have: abrupt transitions between events, and a confusing 'time flow'--in other words, I'm always unsure how much time has passed between one scene and the next. I think that's just an artifact of not having read the books. P.S. I heart Hermione. P.P.S. I love how Firefox's spell check told me the right way to spell 'Hermione'.
For the past three days, things have been very quiet. My office is empty as both Dave and Megan have graduated and left. Mike is in Los Alamos, and Carrie moved out. My apartment is also empty, as I drove Christine to the airport on Tuesday morning. She's in Boulder, CO for a week-long heliophysics summer school. I have to say that I really like having other people around, even if we're not talking and hanging out. It's just nice to know they're there.
( WoW stuff )
I set up the Twitter accounts for THEMIS and ARTEMIS! They are, appropriately, @THEMIS_NASA and @ARTEMIS_NASA. Christine and I are just starting to tweet on them. I hope they start getting followers!
Nicole graduates from LDAC today, yaaaaaaaaay! It has been a lonely month, not being able to talk to my best friend.
Well I think I'm caught up on all the news. Guess I better go work on my article.
- Mood:
Yesterday I did more cleaning. I also went to Target for (ssh!) picture frames. Unfortunately the one I got for my star certificate is too big for the nails in the wall, so Jay will have to help me with that when he gets here.
In the evening, I went to the Hollywood Bowl with my friends. It's like a Greek theater, but way bigger, a semi-circle cut into the hill. We listened to the LA Philharmonic do a tribute to the songs of Henry Mancini (the guy who wrote the Pink Panther theme). There were fireworks afterwards! A lot of people had these crazy food setups, picnic blankets with champagne or wine and the appropriate glasses and fancy food ... very elaborate!
Bob is now gone for a month to Boulder. I will be working on the draft of my very first paper (well, I've written papers/parts of papers before, they just never got published) while he's gone. I'll also be doing some prelim work for any lunar wake crossings ARTEMIS might see in the next year.
Oh, and when I went to talk to Vassilis on Friday, I said, "So, Vassilis, have you heard of Twitter?"
V: "Um, heard of it."
Me: "Well, a lot of other NASA missions actually have Twitter accounts. And they have many followers and are quite popular." ::goes into a list of how Twitter can be used to interest the general public in a certain mission, who would be interested, etc:: "And so I think we should start Twitter accounts for ARTEMIS and THEMIS."
V: ::looking slightly bemused the whole time:: "Uh, sure, go ahead. You have my stamp of approval."
When I looked there were actually WAY more NASA missions with Twitter accounts than I knew of. I didn't even know that Cassini has one, with 10000 followers! Phoenix by far had the most. LRO and LCROSS each have ones numbering in the thousands. I think it'll be fun to use social media to promote our dear THEMIS and ARTEMIS! (Pst ... Teen ... wanna help?)
Jay will be getting here late on Wednesday. Since he'll be at ASBC over our anniversary, we're going to celebrate it on Thursday instead. I have my presents ready for him, but I need to plan what we're going to do! This is my list of possible ideas so far ...
-Beach: Point Dume
-Getty Villa: free admission, $15 parking, open 10-5, http://www.getty.edu/visit/
-Natural History Museum: free active military, $6.50 for me, open 9:30-5, $8 parking, http://www.nhm.org/
-California Science Center: Free, IMAX ocean movies, Air and Space exhibit, $8 parking, open 10-5, http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/
-Indoor glow-in-the-dark minigolf: Putting Edge, $9.35, open 10-10
-Catalina: hiking, golf carts, snorkling, plane to get there
-Dinner: Guidos (still open?), Rock Sugar, Cafe 50s, some other restaurant, make it ourselves
The conference was great! Instead of the "AGU-style" (give a talk, next talk, then the next) the sessions were more discussion-oriented, with slides thrown up by various people to further that discussion. (There were a couple sessions that weren't like this, but most were.) In the morning were 'tutorials', which are supposed to be summaries or histories of a certain aspect of space physics. Then there were three session blocks throughout the day.
Snowmass was gorgeous ... what a place to have a conference! I definitely felt, several times during the trip, how lucky I am to be in a profession where I can go to conferences to wonderful, beautiful, exciting places, and it's all paid for! It certainly makes me very grateful!
On Saturday we went hiking ... though I wasn't prepared for the last jaunt. We started on this nice, paved path that ran by the river (my kind of path). Eventually we found a dirt path going off into the grass, and decided to follow it (Christine and my kind of path). We wandered along next to fields of daffodils and other, bright flowers that I don't know the name of. After a while we kept going up, and up, until the trees and grass and flowers fell away, and we were scrambling up the side of the mountain (Christine's kind of path). I even had my purse with me! I was slow of course (8000+ feet elevation) but I did eventually make it to the top with everyone. Of course, the view was worth it.
All of us grad students stayed a little ways down the road from the conference center in condos. They were REALLY nice. They had full kitchens, a fireplace, and very luxurious beds. I'm sure it's totally expensive, but definitely a great place to come home to after a day of skiing!
The conference center was next to the main hotel, and to the mall, an outdoor series of shops and restaurants over several levels. We ate a lot at Fuel, which at The Best Coffee In The World. Seriously. I feel like shedding a little tear that I can't drink that coffee anymore. It was always the perfect temperature when I got it, and the perfect level of sweetness. Man. I really miss that coffee. I really freaked out the cashier lady on the last day when I asked if she would consider moving the store to Los Angeles.
I was scheduled to give a poster on Thursday, but on Monday, Bob and Larry asked if I would give a talk in each of their Tuesday afternoon sessions. I was a little worried at first but they said it was totally casual, just a couple of slides. So I just turned parts of my poster into slides. I also took notes during the second session, which was basically trying to figure out what questions the community should be focusing on in terms of modes of magnetospheric response. The awkward part was that while I was taking notes, it was projected up on the screen for everyone to see. I much prefer jotting down what the person is saying, adding question marks if I don't understand, and making grammar/spelling errors, and then going back and cleaning up. But here I was worried about making sure I was writing things down correctly, and not writing something dumb. So a couple of times I wouldn't write, trying to understand what the person was saying, and a couple other scientists were gesturing at me to write it down! Oy.
I hung out with Christine a lot, of course, as well as Betsey and Robert (Lopez's grad students). In general, we hung out with a lot of the other grad students, including many I'd never met until that day. It was weird how comfortable it all was ... I never felt awkward or like I didn't know what to say. They were all really chill. OH I also saw Steve from my internship at Indiana like four years ago. Crazy!
After the conference, I flew to Oklahoma to spend four days with Jay. I <3 Jay. We spent the first day in Oklahoma. First we went to Chili's, since I hadn't eaten anything, and then we went to see Transformers. We both enjoyed it, although there was some stuff we didn't like, like how some of the robots are rather crude and vulgar. Lots of military toys for Jay to drool at. ;-) We also picked up a new TV for him at the Best Buy there, and for dinner we ate at the Olive Garden, where the manager looks like Richard from Lost. On the drive back, it looked like we were driving into a huge thunderstorm (tons of lightening!!!) but we never actually hit any rain. I guess it kept moving ahead of us.
Oklahoma is of course flat and pretty boring, and ridiculously hot while I was there, but it's okay cause I was with Jay. He's just moved into his new apartment, which is really pretty nice. We also got him a TV stand while I was there and I helped put it together, so now the living room is really coming along. It was kind of fun to imagine that this was our first apartment together ... I can't wait for that day.
We drove to base and he showed me around. It's one of the smallest bases in the country, but one of the busiest airports. We didn't see too many T-38s but saw a lot of T-1s and T-6s. We did the drive-through at Sonic, and agreed that we'd really rather just get out of the car and eat. We swam in the pool, and cooked dinner one evening. We also bought WoW for me so that I can play with him. I know, I know, it's geeky and lame, but I'm only playing so I can spend time with Jay. I have no interest in playing the game by myself.
On the last day, we drove to O-City early. We watched Night at the Museum 2 (eh, okay), went bowling, and again ate at Chili's before I had to leave. He's coming out in about a week and a half though, so it's not so bad. No more three-month-long separations, not for a while at least.
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