May 29, 2008
i'm not gonna write you a love song
this is one of my favorite things - aiden "reading". He love books. I love that he loves book.
i got ben mario cart for the wii for father's day. it is awesome. i am addicted. i played it for 2 hours yesterday afternoon and did something strange to my eyes. It freaked me out, but once it was better, I was back to racing around that track.
aiden is going through a growth spurt. he eats and eats and eats. he is napping well. and the gymboree chick comments that he looks bigger than last week.
it hurt if he get his finger in your mouth. his teeth are sharp!
he alllllllmost crawling. He can certainly get himself around the living room no problem.
i have not done the switch to wordpress b/c i am being unreasonably picky about the site look. there are a million choices and I can't find one like this one. I can't use the same code with same WP changes b/c WP is way cooler and has wigets that update the stuff on the right without having to go into the code. that is awesome.
Posted by christina at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2008
lend me your ears
a perfect nap - sun and toy
- today, i have been very techy. i fixed our wireless router and redid the design on my blog.
- i am tired of perpetually feeling like i have to cough
- sunday we made ben's day by going to the baseball game. my friend tom went with us so I would have something to do. it was chilly, but i did not freeze. and the game was only 8.5 innings! the people sitting behind us were from northern LA. It was obvious, not by their heavy accents or the fact they told us they were from the south, but by their starting a conversation with us - "You folks from around here?" They had won the trip from their company (US Foods). They left in the 5th inning. Strange. They were nice, and amusing. It was good that they left for i think they would have talked to us the whole game.
- cracker jack prizes suck
- what happens to baseball uniforms with players' names that left the team?
- how can baseball be played in a dome? (Ben: it is HOT in houston. people would be dropping like flies if it was outside. the catcher would not be able to make it around the bases!)
- moveable type has some sort of annoying glitch that sometimes makes it unable to type in the entry box. obviously, i have also figured out this problem. but it makes me think about work press.
- Ben is a little too into the game right now. There has been jumping, raising of the arms, and pumping of the fist. FOR REALS? It isn't that close! Three runs is a big lead.
- He just pointed out that he has to engage in something since i have required that he STOP TALKING TO ME. Praise jesus, thank you for tv.
- opps, tv does not prevent useless questions/comments. sigh.
- filing complaint to jesus.
Posted by christina at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2008
quiet hushed voices
easter egg dying a while back
so. i've been spending a bit of time poking around facebook (hence the twitter question). I have been spending the time because Ben and I play a lot of Word Twist. Last night I was poking around on friends' friends list.
Facebook is great for connecting with old friends.
Facebook is not great for reminding me of people that I was happy not remember. No enemies or anything (ha ha, like i have enemies). But there are some people i knew in college that i just did not like as human beings. I found (find) them fake fake fake. Last night I found out how nice it had been to not remember these people, as I was telling ben about some of them. I'm sure they will fade again from my memory, but as we played wii tennis last night I got all annoyed again at these people.
Today was HOT. I am not complaining, but it was hot. We were out in the heat of the afternoon without really realizing how hot it would be. I walked, Aiden rode, to Pepper's grooming appt about 20 mins away. It was to be an hour, so I planned on walking up to the walgreens and the gap during her spa treatment. I did, it was hot! (I love this new groomers. no cages!) I had to take Aiden's overall's off to make sure he didn't overheat. oh the weather. spring, where are you? is it JULY?!?!?
Anyways, Ben met us at the gap after he got home early. We got some cute hoodies (of course I am going to dress my child like me (tank, jeans, hoodie is my standard, okay he's in a onesie not a tank.)). Of course they were on sale, like i could bring myself to pay full price at the gap. I have been inspired by a random blog to start buying clothes I find on sale for Aiden to grow into. I've gotten some good deals - today- a shirt and a hoodie for 12-18 mo in addition to a hoodie and onesie for now. I got from $5 jeans from the clearance at the children's place. Awesome. Kid's clothes, I have found, can be expensive. I stomach it much better at sale price because they do not wear they that long!
On our way back to the groomers we stopped by the bagel so ben could get corned beef for lunches this weekend. Also, I got to get some cookies from the House of Fine Chocolates - "Your Neighborhood Bakery" - as it says on the package. (WHY THE QUOTES?) I love this little shop. It is old, and yummy. (So i just looked up the store to put a link to their website. Their website is quite modern, unlike their store. Funny.) Anyways. Very yummy. Cookies make the walk less hot. ha ha ha.
Posted by christina at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2008
i can see the wind blowing through the fields of wheat
Ah. Spring has finally arrived. I have been enjoying running along the lake most days. Yesterday the blue blue lake glittered in the sunshine. Aiden seems to enjoy riding along the lake. I only infer this in the absence of whining. He looks pretty ready to be back at the end of the hour or so trip. This morning it was quite windy, so i put on the wind/rain cover. I was impressed. it is nice, but i think Aiden was happy when i took it off at the turn around point when the wind was now at our backs.
We've had the front balcony door and the windows open. It feels good to get a breeze going. Also, the animals love love love it. Both Pepper the dog and Izzy the cat go out there and hang out.
Today is the first day we haven't been running off somewhere for the lunch time. It is nice to sit and chill.
Ben has stand-by jury duty today. He had to drive out to a suburb (it is county jury duty) and sit in a room. I laugh at him. I laughed really hard when the dog took a bite out of his summons - including the part you have to fill out and take with you. The dog has been acting out lately. And by acting out i mean by stealing baby toys. If she steals from the baby's hand she get time out in the bathroom. So she learns.
I have signed up for a twitter account really only to follow people. Current debate: do i use it?
Posted by christina at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2007
when the coast is clear
33.5 wks
As I walked to my haircut today, I briefly cursed the humidity. But then I realized that it is only in the high 70s. I remembered how I would spend chunks of my summer outside at summer camp without air conditioning in arkansas in 90+ heat. We would always say it isn't the heat, but the humidity. It is great weather today, though a touch humid.
i miss summer camp. i miss being in the woods, spending the afternoons at the swimming pool and the evenings around the campfire. my kids are definitely going to have the opportunity to go to overnight camp in the woods. with cabins. and campfires.
yesterday I had lunch with my friend emily. she is 17 wks pregnant. i think that i think that i am smaller than I am. she is showing pretty well. it is cute. her friend just had twins and had the very experience that i was afraid of having had I chosen to deliver at Northwestern.
Her friend was carrying twins and her doctor decided to induce once she made it to 38 weeks. Her appt was at 2 am. (so as to deliver in the afternoon or so). She got there, and they were so busy she had to wait in the waiting room for two hours! She said there were other people there who had waited 12 hours. The L&D was very busy as they usually have 30 births, and they had had 50! Her friend didn't even get a regular L&D room, but one of the operating room. Crazy.
Though i tell people that I am not delivering at northwestern because it is snooty, the real reason is that it is sooooo popular that things like this happen. And so I am quite happy with our decision.
We started baby class last week. It isn't as bad as I feared. The 4 other couples seem normal. The instructor is not that great (but not horrible), and therefore it is boring. We did get a tour of L&D and the Mom & Baby unit. The most interesting thing is that they don't have a nursery. The babies stay with the moms the whole time. I was planning on insisting on that anyways, so i am glad to know that it is SOP.
(side note - several people have told me that i should let the baby go to the nursery the first night so i can sleep. if this is what you want to do great, but i am not. i have ben. and others. so i think i'll be able to sleep if i can. in the end, i think that i'll sleep better if he is in the room with me. but to each their own. do what works for you and your baby.)
of course, there is a NICU, in case something goes wrong.
Anyways, it was good to see. It was also good to see that all of the rooms are private, so ben will be able to stay (there are a couple of semi-private just in case).
I see a lot of pregnant women nowadays. i think i just notice it more. and in the winter coats cover bellies. but i know a lot of people whose birthdays are in august. so a lot of late summer babies. i only wonder this as i wonder how busy the hospital is going to be. but there are only 5 couples in our class (all due in late august through the middle of sept.).
As i've noted here, this pregnancy has gone really great, but the hormones i must comment on. yesterday i almost cried at the sex and the city rerun where carrie and mr. big break-up for good (well, except for the affair in later seasons and the end of the series). sigh.
Posted by christina at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2007
i will stay
mopsy (my mom's puppy) and guy/dude/elbo (rachel's kitten) rolling around playing in my lap. NOTHING CUTER!!!!!
beside my loves pepper and izzy. and i guess ben, but he isn't very cute, more scruffy, so not on the cute list.
Posted by christina at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2007
beware the ides of march
how we studied for finals
i cannot let today go by without saying it is my favorite holiday - the ides of march.
it has been a good ides of march being that i flew first class to houston. (thank you frequent flier miles). first class is nice. they give you a lot to drink, which is nice since i woke up yesterday with a sore throat and today it feel like razor blades every time i cough, which is getting more frequent as the mucus has moved in, much like those commercials on tv. i finally got some cough and decongestant stuff approved for baby incubators by webmd/baby center. i spend a lot of time reading on the internets about sickness and pregnancy since it has been a bad two and a half weeks. currently, not a fan of being pregnant. though i did get to see a quick glimpse of the baby on monday. it actually looks like a baby!
Posted by christina at 7:31 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
my snow white queen
my dog sits like a person.
the thermometer outside the window reads 29.8. It is a heat wave! Too bad it won't last. Temps are dropping all week to a high of 10 on Thursday.
I am having all sorts of concentration problems studying for my stat/regression midterm. i find it straight forward, which probably means that I will not do well on the midterm.
Tom and I watched Babel on Friday. I don't understand why it was nominated for best picture. It was good, but not great. Little Miss Sunshine was much much better. I'm trying to figure out what else i think is better, but it is hard to remember all the movies I saw last year. Especially b/c since I stopped going to evanston, tom and I's friday night are split b/t the theatre and watching a dvd or on-demand.
ben made cookies today b/c he likes to tempt both of our will-power. And mine is pretty low lately.
I am really enjoying the tv show House. We are netflixing it. It makes me think i have all sorts of weird medical condition. My thigh hurts and I am convinced that I have those worms you get from pork.
Posted by christina at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
counting stars on the ceiling.
one of the more entertaining things i've read in the times
i love soup.
i am having a love affair with soup.
speaking of love affairs, I must confess that I am a cheater. Hopefully I will be forgiven.
I spend time thinking about my new love. I feel guilty. But you can't help what catches your eye.
Her name is Gracie.
She is a precious miniature schnauzer puppy. She is the puppy of this older gay couple in our puppy class. She is so amazing. I spend all session just staring at her. I beg Ben for one. I want one more than I want anything right now. Well, except soup, but I am eating some, so puppy love it is.
Posted by christina at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2007
funny little frog
running while hurt
this is an interesting article about running while hurt. I'm a big proponent of sucking it up and getting moving, so it is nice to know that some doctors agree.
Dinner was quite yummy last light. i got my egg rolls, in case you were worried.
Ben is quite happy about the Bears game. Puppy and I are quite happy that scary football man will be gone for the week. Though he will be back next week. Of course, I am convinced that the Bears will be in the superbowl b/c it is my birthday and the universe hates me that much. : )
Our dog snores so loud. I've been walking up a lot at night. Now that I have gotten Ben to stop sleeping in the middle of the bed, I just lie there and count the weeks until it in time to take the puppy in for spaying. At that time, they are going to correct her asymmetric nostril and hopefully that will diminish the snoring.
Ben is currently watching Rome, a miniseries on HBO. It make me wonder what it would be like to be carried around in boxes by slaves. Is it bumpy? What if someone slips? What if someone has to pee?
Posted by christina at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)
January 7, 2007
And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall
baby love
on gift cards
on libertarians.
i have had a distinct libertarian streak in me. If someone wants to use drugs, eat poorly, drink their life away, i've always said, more power to them; of course, only if they don't hurt anyone else. Lately I've come to realize that the latter part of that statement is impossible. If we were all islands, maybe it would be true. But we are not. We have people that love us. We have people that live next to us. We have people that our lives affect wether we want to or not. Parents, friends, siblings, children, coworkers. And for that reason saying "its your life" is never completely true.
Posted by christina at 1:43 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
i'm no superman
this article in the times interested me with its commentary on the lack of professional dress of medical residents. i find this to be true in both engineering and policy grad school. Yeah, we are graduate students, so i'm all for jeans, but I just don't understand clevage. at nu this was your job. and you interact with your boss. and do experiments in the lab. at uc you interact with professors. why show everyone the tops of your breasts?
Posted by christina at 7:42 AM | Comments (1)
September 9, 2006
standing up for nothing
Well, it was a good week. I finally solved the block puzzle at Tom's. I've been trying forever, and last night while watching V for Vendetta, I finally got the thing back together correctly. It was awesome.
I've spent the day working math problems. Caedmon's Call came up on my playlist and i was quickly transported back to my first two years of college. I worked a lot of problems and listened to a lot of music that year. I'm reminded of weekends full of wholesome activities and lots of studying. I am not a good tester. It is a fact. And though it seems this week i have achieve the ultimate goal in engineering (education wise), i am lost in memories of classes I did not do great in. As i review my math, I love how the number slip around in my head. I love getting problems right. I love figuring out what I did wrong when I do not get it right. It is a new feeling. After 4 years of math which used a lot of "tricks" (fourier transforms of x-ray data, quantum physics), I find much joy in the simplicity of logarithms functions. They become straight forward. Quantum mechanics never did. In defense of quantum mechanics, I probably would do better now then then. A 2+ years break from classes make spending time on the concept of them more attractive. I would probably have a better time with quantum mechanics now that my life is settled. The quantum mechanics quarter was full of settling in to chicago and all the drama that came with it. (Oh boys. they distracted me.)
I look forward to starting classes. Some of them will be quite different, but the stats and econ classes that comprise the majority of my first quarter will be reminiscent of my undergrad (probably b/c i took those classes then. Though i was 18 when i took econ for engineers and i did not go to my stats class b/c well, i had stuff to do. i was the only class i ever skipped regularly. and i deserved the c i got in it. obviously, didn't cramp my further education.
Posted by christina at 3:55 PM | Comments (0)
August 8, 2006
am I more than you bargained for yet
we went to go see the 25th annual putum county spelling bee sunday night. my sister had mentioned
wanting to see it and I got an offer for $25 tickets so there we were. It was good. I enjoyed it.
I don't think i would pay $60 (normal price) for it, but $25 was just right.
I don't understand ticketmaster fees or the high price of broadway tickets.
We did get california pizza kitchen after as my first choice was closed. the waiter had this cute
australian accent, which jenny, rachel's friend, was convinced was faked for better tips. he was
overly friendly. we were really the only people in there (we got there close to closing). i tipped
him well.
Posted by christina at 3:29 PM | Comments (2)
August 6, 2006
be still my love
This morning, after my run, I learned from Weekend Edition Sunday (on NPR) that turning on your air conditioning does reduce fuel mileage, but that driving with your windows down reduces it even more. I can’t image what having the convertible top down does to the gas mileage. The story did have an interesting fact that air condition reduces hybrid mileage by 27%. That brings them near my saturn. Another reason, carter in the south, that a hybrid wouldn't have been the best choice.
Well, we are to the appendix. A short chapter on a short project.
I have taken up embossing. Dude. I am so random. Which is probably what James and Chrissy thought when they saw that I had registered for a sewing machine and got it for us. They win with the first wedding present. I do know that registing for a sewing machine must be random, BUT I am random. And I would like to be able to repair seams and tears, which is what the little machine that is so light got good reviews for. Plus, I have this strange desire to sew.
I bought my first baby present for one of my friends from high school. I also dreamt about her last night. Just about how weird it is that she has a baby in her. I’m sure the dream was brought on by the purchase and by the 10 pregnant women I have seen in the past two day.
Posted by christina at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)
July 30, 2006
and so convinced and just too cool
When we were in Hawaii, I got a manicure and pedicure. It was my first one. The entire time I was really uncomfortable having someone do something I could easily do myself. I kept feeling like I needed to apologize to the girl. I don’t see how it doesn’t make everyone uncomfortable.
I also have this uncomfortable feeling about strip clubs. I don’t think people should be banned from going, I just don’t see why they do. I have a libertarian streak, so I think that if someone wants to strip or go see strippers and it doesn’t hurt anyone else, than they should be able to. It is an objectification of bodies (women, usually) and the concept makes me uncomfortable. I don’t see how one could go and not feel really uncomfortable.
Posted by christina at 4:16 PM | Comments (2)
July 24, 2006
I won't let it go down till we torch it ourselves
hanging in there.
almost done with the draft. therefore basically done taking data. (ha ha. i say that know that i love data too much to quit cold turkey.)
Posted by christina at 6:51 PM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2006
didn’t you / love me faster than the devil
life is crazy. i've been working crazy hours. then jenny, my sister, got here and so i balanced the crazy hours with hanging out with her. balancing still results in crazy hours like 1:30 pm -9 pm yesterday, so i could hang with her in the morning and then work while she shopped with other sister (who is here for the summer) and then they all went to the game.
i went to the game on sunday. it was way to hot and it got way too stupid. for the second time, we left early. (the first being 2 years ago at least, when it was so cold i thought really that my toes were going to get frostbite.)
Posted by christina at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
and the only way to beat it is to bat it down
We got our new cell phones yesterday, and my opinion of sprint costumer service was completely altered. We went on a Tuesday afternoon as I wanted to go when it was not going to be busy. I knew that the process would take a while, and even though it was an hour and a half, it was not bad. The store has a restaurant take your name and we’ll call you up system, which gets rid of lines and people impatiently waiting behind you. Our guy was knowledgeable, and even the things he didn’t know, his boss was right there to help. We combined our plans. We got new phones, which started all the good things. First, the rebates are applied there in the store. The last time I did this you had to lay out the $200 for the phone and then get a $150 check in the mail. This was an awesome (and logical) improvement. Second, the phone we had picked out (but couldn’t find on display) they did have and it had come down in price. They were only $50 (each) to use. We had gone prepared to pay the $30 more for the Bluetooth technology. Then the dude gave us a 20% discount on the pair of headseats we wanted. It was awesome. (i must note that with the rebate, our headset cost as much as the phone, but they are so worth it.)
Of course, they had trouble setting up my account. They always have trouble with my account. But they were nice and funny and we left with our phones working and Bluetooth headsets programmed. We ended up having to do the plan set-up over the phone. When ben did, they randomly gave us a 5% discount on our plan for the 2 years because we had to call.
Now I’m all giddy with the niftiness of the camera phone (my first one). I’ve never seen the need, and probably won’t use it much, but it came with the Bluetooth. I love the Bluetooth. It is so nice to be able to talk with catching the cord on things. And since it is illegal in Chicago to drive and be on your cell phone without hands free it is really worth it.
Posted by christina at 3:51 PM | Comments (2)
July 8, 2006
i feel as if i am looking at the world through the bottom of a well
duck butts.
We got back safety from our trip around the country. Utah was good. The mountains that surround that area are so beautiful. i totally understand why people live there. In my recent memory, i have not been anywhere else where you can see mountains all the way around you. The fourth was filled will grilling and 2 hours of fireworks set off by Ben's extended family. It was a lot of fireworks. It probably has been 20 years since I've been see fireworks set off (i.e. not the professional kind). I found a great park new the hotel to run in before we left on Wednesday. Running, i've found, is a great way to see the area. The parks in Orem (where we were) was quite nice.
Upon return, i freaked out as I hit the 6 weeks until my thesis is due mark. So i work. And I write. A lot.
i will always equate living in chicago with people hitting me.
This morning I left around 9:30 for school. I was sitting at a light by my house. It was an alternate route than I usually go due to a large truck in the street the I usually take. The guy in front of me at the light wants to turn left, I want to turn right. The light is not turning. We sit there forever. The guy behind me also wants to turn right. he gets angry and pulls out from behind me, hitting my right back bumper and keeps going! He turned the corner and was gone. I was stuck behind left turn guy so i could not follow him to get a license plate.
All I could do was honked at him.
I did not know what to do, especially since I was stuck behind the non-turning guy. I finally get the guy to turn so I can turn and inspect my car. It is not that much worse than what someone would do in a parking lot. It is a little worse than a scrape. I was so annoyed, but after my incident with the bus, know that the police can't do anything. It isn't over $500 (my deductible) so i'm not going to report or even fix it. seriously. this is ridiculous.
Then I went to the farmer's market before going into to the office. There is something about walking around amongst all the fresh food being sold by the people who grow it that made me realize that it is just a scrape.
Life is not about my paint job, but about falling asleep curled up in my bed with my kitty laying her head on my hand.
Posted by christina at 4:48 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2006
to feel like busting up a Starbucks
me in central park
We got the most perfect fruit from the farmer's market. Fruit picked ripe from the vine is SO MUCH BETTER than store fruit...even whole foods. We got michigan strawberries and blueberries. We tossed them with a whole food cantaloupe and have the best fruit salad in our refrigerator.
We taken to going to the farmers markets as I've gotten more into eating locally. When I can, i try to buy local. We've been buying our lettuce (we have salads every night, so we buy a fair amount of lettuce), broccoli, mushrooms, peas, fruit, tomatoes, and flowers from the farmer's market. I like to support family farms, but i also like to reduce this country's dependence on oil. Trucking of food consumes a lot of energy. So even at Whole Foods, i try to buy local or closest. For example, Ben wants to try the grass fed beef. All fine and good until i notice it is from New Zealand! We got good ole american beef. Of course sans antibiotics and stuff.
I've given up diet soda besides my diet coke at lunch. I has having trouble staying hydrated until i broke down and bought bottled water. Yes, it tastes better. i have fallen in love with the archer farmers smooth bottle. I even refill it (though the water at school is not good). Most importantly, I am drinking what i need to be drinking.
Posted by christina at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2006
hurry up sky
pete
I washed my phone in the washing machine. I had gotten back from work yesterday and started laundry right away (saturday is laundry day) and threw the hoodie I had just taken off in. As I put my clothes in the dry i found my phone (and sunglasses) in my hoodie. I let it dry out. It worked...the screen flickers and being on caused condensation on the outer screen, so I'm keeping it off currently. The serendipitous part is that my 2 year contact is up on July 1, meaning I am now eligible for sprint $150 rebate upgrade program. Ben is past his mark. So we are trying to combine our plans into one while (1) saving the $300 and (2) keeping our numbers. We went by the store last night. This is a form (a transfer of liability) that is needed and only found at the main stores, not at the dozens of "express" stores scattered about chicago.
It also is serendipitous that wed ben and i leave for a week trip across the us (east for a wedding, west for a family reunion) and so i don't really need my phone but for the next three days. and i can live without it.
Our time in the sprint store reminded me how i really miss simple black and white phone that cost $50. I do not need all the cameras and color screens. I don't even want them. I would much prefer to return to a time where one could replace one's phone without braking the bank (~$250 now days) mid-contract. (I.e. if you wash your phone and need to replace it.) The only perk i want with my phone is blue tooth. We both are probably going to end up with a slightly more expensive phone (even with the rebate) due to that indulgence.
Posted by christina at 6:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2006
marching bands of manhatten
I occasionally wonder about all those boys that passed through my life. Usually around the time I’m harassing Ben about his ex and why doesn’t he wonder about her. They dated for forever (longer than us at this point) and I am all kinds of curious about her. (Okay I am all kinds of curious about all topics besides sports, hence why I am a perpetual student.)
I have never met her nor has Ben talked to her since the “one last time” drink. I believe some of my curiosity is plain curiosity about Ben before I met him. He was a some what different person when I meet him then he is now. He is definitely a different person than when he dated his ex. I am curious about that person and hence why I want to meet the person the knew him well (if not the best).
Okay, I actually don’t want to meet her because it would be awkward. What the heck does one say?
The subject of boys I’ve gone out with yet don’t keep in touch with appeared the other day when Chris (an “ex” of mine that Ben has both met and talked to) called:
“Guess who Sara and I just saw in the parking lot of Rusuan’s”
After a wave of extreme jealously that two of my favorite people were eating at my favorite sushi place passed, I totally knew he was going to say, and I was right.
I keep in touch with the major boys from my past…well it has been a while for one of them. This one falls into the category of boy I don’t keep in touch with and I do wonder not infrequently how he is doing. My life was complicated when we were seeing each other. Looking back I realize how complicated my life was my last two years of college. It makes me realize that though I loved it then, I love how uncomplicated my life is now. But as I watch my sister live the summer of her 21st year, I am much more understanding having done that myself. It makes me appreciate the calmness of my life – my research, my boy, my friends, my family.
Posted by christina at 3:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2006
one for the money, two for the show
lots of thesis writing today. it is a by product of having a bunch of down time on my projects today. My short term goal is chapters 1-3 (Intro, Gen. Background, and Project 1) to my advisor by the end of the month. They are all in my editing stages right now. i hate the editing...though the current spread out pacing makes it manageable. I can only productivity edit something once every day or two. The next chapters (project 2, future work, summary) i should have to him by the end of july or so. That leaves us a month for edits, revisions, and extra data. (YUM! data) of course this is all dependent on a million things. it is good to have goals, though.
Posted by christina at 5:33 PM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2006
when you only got 100 years to live
100 days from today i'll have defended.
I've see two of my classmates defend this week.
I'm having one of those days in which i want to be done now. i am reminded today of one of the things i hate about research - the dangers. There are x-rays and acids and high currents. I hate second guessing myself. Yes, every time i open that door i check to make sure the light is off...but did i this time? do my hand look red? I obsess about these things and drive myself crazy over nothing.
Posted by christina at 5:57 PM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2006
you could be my silver spring / blue-green / colors flashin'
emma & ben
Two very weird things happened on the highway while we were driving between chicago and kenosha. When we were headed north we came upon what we thought was an accident that had closed down the interstate southbound. As we passed we did not see an accident, but a line of police cars and police with guns drawn. There was a big guy walking in the middle of the highway with his shirt over his head. There seemed to be several people already on the ground. (not shot, i believe, just waiting to be arrested.) It was quite strange.
When we were headed back in yesterday there was this geo prism that was speeding around everyone. He was in front of us, but not in our lane, when he sideswiped the concrete barrier. Since he was going 70+ miles an hour, it was amazing that he kept it together and continued going in his lane. I really thought he was going to spin out and hit someone. I made ben get in the lane as far as possible from drunk/high dude. Thank goodness, for the prism driver at least, we soon hit city traffic and his speed was reduced to non-fatal.
Posted by christina at 5:10 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2006
minty fresh
“I like my men with a hint of mint.”
Have I mentioned this is how I would start my autobiography of my early twenties.
I always liked my men a little minty. There was the one guy with the purple couch and white roses (tulips) scattered about his apartment. No, they were not for me. He saw them at whole foods and had to get them. We would go out dancing at clubs underground (really, underground). He cooked, and we would cuddle. He liked to talk about his feelings. He called.
The other guy also cooked, but they were his mother’s recipes. He had old records on his walls. We would talk for hours. We would go out for dessert. One summer, he got a spikey hair haircut and bleached his tip. He e-mailed me a picture. He like to gossip.
The first guy – very straight.
The second – quite gay.
Posted by christina at 4:24 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2006
little brown jug
Project Sod
I've spent a lot of this day walking between Mr. Friction tester and Mr. iBook. Lots of editing today. My wrist is tired of the mouse. It has been nice to listen to my new music. I'm happy to be done editing this book chapter. My impatience with editing does not bode well for the massive editing project called my dissertation. I can look at something 3 times and after that my brain cannot process it any more.
This weekend ben and I + ben's fam jaunted down to arkansas for some quality hot springs time. It was HOT. It was in the mid-90s. It is still quite chilly in chicago, so the change was shocking.
It was good...especially the bbq. Oh izzy, how i miss real southern bbq.
We did some touristy stuff - the botanical garden, the bath houses, the clinton library, all of which were quite interesting in their own way. The gardens reminded me of summer camp, which i miss. My section of arkansas is covered with beautiful trees, hills, and lakes. The bath house was restored from the hey day of bath houses were people flocked to Hot Springs to cure their ills in the thermal waters. My favorite sign captioned a room as the place where people received mercury rubs for syphilis. If syphilis didn't make you crazy, the mercury poisoning would. The Clinton Library is in Little Rock, where we flew in and out. It was beautiful and informative. The question we all had as we looked at all these achievements by the clinton administration, what exactly are they going to put in the G.W. Bush Library?
Posted by christina at 5:31 PM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2006
i breathe in on the tic / and out on the tock
i feel a lot younger than the things that define me (engaged, 4th year Ph.D. student, engaged, etc). When i think of people who fall into these descriptions, i think people older than me.
sigh.
Posted by christina at 5:26 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2006
waiting for my real life to begin
This return from west coast time has been harder than I remember. I’m not sure why I am crazy amounts of tired each morning. I’ve been going to bed on the early side. The sun had been shining for the majority of the week. I’ve been looking forward in to going to work as I have the lab to myself. I have a final defense date complete with a reserved conference room. I have a plan for my thesis and a good chunk written. I have the cutest cat and roommate.
I have matching bruises on both of my knees as I keep hitting them on the middle bar of the elliptical. I’m trying to get my heart rate to match my running level. This goal requires the use of high levels, which make me work and result in my knees bumping into the middle bar. Of course, one would think I would learn, but both elliptical mornings consisted of a good knee bump. It wasn’t until my stretching today that I noticed the beautiful bruising.
My labmates are gone to a conference, so the lab is so quiet. It is a different kind of quiet then when they just don’t come to work, which is a quiet of expectation that they might be in at some point. This quiet is true quiet. I’ve taken the opportunity to do some more lab cleaning and parts of it look so good. If only the rest matched…
I finally scheduled all my committee members for my defense date. Due to the long time away of my outside committee member, I am defending the Friday before the Monday I start U of C. I am happy to have it done before I start, for a while there it was looking like I was going to have to do it after I started. People look at me like I am crazy as that time period 3 huge things are happening with in, oh, 3 weeks, but I’m not worried. My thesis will be done by the beginning of September. The defense is not that stressful. I know my stuff already. It is engrained, and so can answer questions. The other night I dreamed I was done. It felt unreal in the dream, as it will feel in real life.
I have a reoccurring dream about my car being covered in water because of some mistake of mine. I drive it the wrong way and end up in a river.
As I’ve been working on my thesis, it is amazing how much I have already written. A lot of the background and some results come from my qualifier (research proposal). I’ve written 2 published papers, on review paper (for a class), and a book chapter. From these sources, I’ve put together almost 33% of my thesis. I found a thesis from a former student that is really helped me with how to organize things and what to include, which has been very very helpful.
Izzy has lost a couple pounds, enabling her to reach her back claws. She loves to chew on them, but has bad balance. She tumbles over a lot and make me laugh so hard. She also is so cute when she laying on her bed in the bedroom as I work out.
Ben’s school kids are putting on a play tonight, and I forgot the camera. He is “helping”. It makes me “laugh”.
Posted by christina at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2006
an apple a day
oh my izzy, do i love love love love love love love the apple store with its free wireless. stupid hotel charges you for wireless. though, beautiful hotel, next to a beautiful mall, with beautiful apple store, with beautiful wireless. i just love the feel of apple stores. on this random monday at lunch, i would venture to say that this is the busiest store in the mall. lots of people are here for ipod service. I'm perched in the watching area (for a class, the man beside me just asked) with my white ibook on my lap. feeling oh so legit.
the morning fog burned off this morning to beautiful sunny skies.
i wonder what class i am waiting for?
Posted by christina at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)
April 30, 2006
rain rain / don't go away
Ah, O’Hare, how you cannot not handle weather delays.
My flight out of San Diego was 2 hours late. So it goes. It actually isn’t that bad because the time change is in my favor. We’ll get in and it will still be early evening by San Diego time. Of course, to my body it will be close to bed time. I much prefer navigating taxis, etc when it is light.
This is a long flight, so forced downtime is rarely bad. I’ve read a good bit of an excellent book (Prep), and written a couple paragraphs on my thesis. I am having trouble figuring out how much to put in the background. Some people’s backgrounds have paragraph summary for every paper they have on the subject. I like to just talking about my specfic project and incorporate references in it. I just don’t think that long windedness is really necessary. According to my advisor, the background should be like 20% of the thesis. That is um, 30 pages, since I have two topic, 30 pages double paged with figures is no problem. In fact, way too short if I followed the summarized every paper I’ve ever read model.
I really want my last to respond committee member to respond to my e-mail or have been in his office the couple times I went by. Isn’t it one’s job to respond to e-mails from students whose committees you sit on?
The Rockies are beautiful. Though I’ll probably never be able to do it again, I am really glad that I drove cross country (Atlanta to Washington state). The rockies are amazing. Maybe I’ll live in the rockies someday. There is just something majestic about driving through the flat plains of Kansas and western Colorado and coming up after days of flat land to the rockies in the distance.
I am not a good flier. Seriously. No matter how many times my advisor the pilot assures me that commercial air travel is so computerized that it is like bus driving, I am always sure that my plane is going to be that one with issue. I frequently just assure myself by believing in the computer and science. I repeat over and over trubelance is what keeps the plane up. On Cnn in the morning during the week, they have a travel forcast during which they show the radar with all the plans in the sky. There are an INSANE amount of planes in the sky at 7:30 on Friday…or Wednesday.
Watching CNN while I work out is melting my brain. Though I do read the new Yorker or time or newsweek in addition to the tv. Staying on the eliticap machine for an hour requires a lot of distraction.
Though I know that they turn the plane back and forth to avoid turbulance, I still don’t like it!
Posted by christina at 10:34 PM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2006
my mind is soaked in words / i've come to terms with all my insecurities
Coz
I watched cnn the other morning while I worked out. I watched it for an hour plus (as that is how long I elliptical). The anchor women made the same joke to the weather man at the same minutes past the hour right before the same story about the bull dog pageant.
Morning tv is awful.
John Snow, according the other morning tv quotes and the times, has said some disparaging remarks about the President. I was quite surprised to hear on NPR (a fair superior news source than morning cable) that the administration named him Press Secertary.
I leave for San Diego Sunday to start up travel season. It is an interesting conference, and I am looking forward to it. The conference is at an amazingly beautiful resort. This year I will bring the camera so you can see all the roses I rave about. The roses are amazing.
Posted by christina at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
I love the color green / because it reminds me of you
What’s the deal with social security numbers? Everyone gets a number. There are XXX,XXX,XXX numbers possible. 999 million. According to google, there are 295,734,134 people in the US. Hmmm, that is enough numbers to for repetition to be really far in the future. Did someone get 000-00-0001? I doubt it. I seem to believe that SS #s are assigned geographically. I believe that my dad (having been born in the same state I and my sister were) has the same first 3 digits…or at least close. My sister and I have sequeical SS #s. Though I am older, she has XXX-XX-XX00 and I have XXX-XX-XX01. Crazy. We are 16 months apart. Obviously my parents were slackers about registering my identity…or efficient and decided to just wait to do it together.
Ha ha.
We are laying sod out in front of the building. We have a smallish strip of land. It has been full of dead and half dead plants since the building was built in 1997. One of our neighbors decided to do something about it. I pushed for sod, just because our dog population is growing and grass is better to pick up poop from than wood chips (I think, not that I know). Sod, it turns out, it pretty easy to lay…and not that expensive for our little piece of land.
Every time I think about sod, I cannot escape a childhood memory. My parents laid sod in our backyard when I was really really young. During the process, someone found a snake in the sod pile. It was quite the excitement. I seem to remember a shovel causing the end of the snake excitement.
Posted by christina at 5:09 PM | Comments (2)
April 17, 2006
let's take a picture now / i do not want to forget
The view from my office, last friday.
Posted by christina at 6:24 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
create in my a new heart / and renew a right spirit in me
The Chapel Garden. This one seems quite appropriate with the bare trees and blooming flowers. Tech is in the background.
The weather has been amazing this week. So warm for april! Spring has definitely come. The flowers and trees are blooming.
I brought the camera with me to school today. I wanted to take a couple pictures. Right outside my window is the chapel and chapel garden for Garrett Seminary (which is right next door). Next to it is Shakespeare’s Garden. Listed on the national historic registry, the women of Evanston keep up the plants. The garden is supposed to be representative of a garden in Shakespeare’s Stat on Avon. It was so beautiful this morning as I walked through it (it lies between my office and preferred parking lot).
Posted by christina at 4:54 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2006
clouds in my coffee / clouds in my coffee
Springs has arrived. At this point in the year, I am conditioned so I think I must enjoy today as tomorrow it will snow! After the winters here, I forget that it get warm.
It is april, i tell myself. Spring! is! here! It was so so so so cold at the cubs game this weekend. It reenforced my conditioning that it is always going to be cold cold cold.
Then Monday was in the 70s. It was beautiful.
Posted by christina at 5:49 PM | Comments (2)
April 4, 2006
like the april showers on the slick cement
Beautiful purple potted flowers Ben got for me.
Someday I'll admit that I have allergies. Until then, I'll just blame it on the change weather.
We've spent that last two night with Ben's sister at their parents house. I love all the random things she tells me. For example, how ben had dawson's creek parties in high school. And the random things that go with going to a small school. Her college is quite small. Neither GT or NU are small. They aren't huge, but not small. Cosmo, of course, still awesome. Though I never do remember his pencil fetish and always lose one to his night time chewings.
It took me until yesterday to see that northwestern turns out to be a highly ranked undergraduate institution. Yeah, my department in highly ranked, which is why I came here, but turns out the whole school, it is quite good. The discovery made from a GT alumni e-mail in which it touted it's ranks. I visited the US News ranking site and ta da, rankings! I don't put much stock in rankings. (As I tell people who visit here, your advisor matters so much more. If you don't get along with your advisor or department and end up dropping out of school, what did that ranking do for you?)
During my run, the podcast was stories from April 1 and there was a really really funny april fool's story on. It sounded like a real story, but i knew it couldn't be true. I'm sure duped some people, as it was about a biotechnology contraption. Some people have more awe than understanding of biotech that they will believe anything. Wilmette has some amazing houses. Next time we stay, I should take some pictures.
Posted by christina at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2006
time time time
Jen, Steve, and Chipper, the doctor, who yes, knows the risks of smoking, and who no, is not smoking inside.
Word is driving me insane. It is making me wish i was using LaTex, which is highly superior, but isn't great for the back and forth editing and tracking changes. My advisor is married to track and change. It is really nice. Floating figures in word is a pain pain pain.
I have a date. so many dates. a defense data that is. well, if all my committee members can make it on that day. My advisor can. I think it might be a tad early to ask the others.
5 months. + a couple days. Lots of pages to write.
and we're about to the 6 month left planning mark. We're arrived at a whole new list. So many details that i do not care about (and hence will not be making an appearance in oct). Why do I care what the chairs look like? Do people really need 6 months notice to bake a cake? or to order flowers?
i learned a new instrument today. it makes me happy to learn a new instrument. data data more data. pretty pictures of data.
Posted by christina at 3:26 PM | Comments (1)
March 28, 2006
you and me and the bottle makes three tonight
Nick and Chipper and the first of many glasses of wine
We had some people over for dinner Saturday. It was a ton of fun.
----
This is quite interesting
----
I’m having a small crisis of, what, I’m doing what, but I like research.
As those dear to me have reminded me, I like it because it is going well. When my research is going well, I feel like I am good at it. I am good at.
I should think about all those times I hated my research. Okay, I never hated it, but I was frustrated by it. Research is frustrating. I have a feeling policy is going to be more frustrating, as I have to deal with people. I forget in my long years of working with myself, how frustrating other people can be.
I have to remind myself that I am not going to into policy because I don’t like research. I'm going into policy because I feel like I can do more good in policy. I can enable other people to have more opportunities to do research, to make sure that research money is fairly distributed, and to try to get politics the hell out of science.
Posted by christina at 2:34 PM | Comments (2)
March 23, 2006
What if I could leap tall buildings in a single bound?
There are many things I said in life about myself that turn out to be wrong.
(1) I’ll never run unless chased
(2) I’ll never run more than 30 minutes. I would get too bored
(3) I could never run to NPR. I need music.
Turns out that I do run for fun (well, exercise). I do run for an hour most mornings. Recently, I’ve taken to listening to NPR.
Two things that totally changed my running last year was my pedometer and ipod, both Christmas gifts from my parents. The pedometer got me interested in data and beating last week’s data. The ipod kept me entertained.
Recently podcasting has really caught on. NPR has revolutionalize my morning run by podcasting their most e-mail stories of the day, on the media, health & science. These are 30-50 minutes podcast full of the stories from the previous week (or day for the first). The most e-mailed stories of the day are mostly from either morning edition or all things considered. Sometimes there is an interview from fresh air or talk of the nation. Though I listen to a ton of morning edition, I leave too late at night to catch all things considered. Therefore there are few repeats for me in the podcast. Between the podcasts and the heart rate moniter, my runs have gotten better lately.
One of this morning podcast had this interview from fresh air. It is with an author who right about his view that the governments is becoming a theocracy. There was also a story summing up (from the 3 anniversary of the Iraq war) all the “facts” that the administration gave for going to war and how they have turned out to be false.
These stories, among others I regularly read/hear, make me very pessimistic about the future. I am pretty convinced that our country is going to collapse under debt. The government is peeing money in Iraq. I just think how many people never worry about money again if we were giving them the money instead of feeding to corruption in Iraq (so much money has gone unaccounted for)… how many houses can be rebuilt in New Orleans.
A wise man once told me that these things go in cycles. I probably would have felt this way under Reagan, and then the 90s happened. Times are different and I am worried.
Posted by christina at 2:43 PM | Comments (1)
March 20, 2006
we always had time on our sides / now it’s fading fast
Today is the first day of spring. Of course, it is 30 degrees in Chicago with the threat of snow for tomorrow. This is the payment for our mild January. This is still mild, so I’m not complaining. I would rather a longer bit of 30s for a January in the 30s and not the 0s. This is much more comfortable weather to run, walk, and live in that the zeros or even the teens.
Though the weather doesn’t reflect it, my mind certainly has entered “spring”. Spring is marked by the planting of plants in our apartment. I love love love plants. I’m no so good on the watering. I am trying to get better. Ben started our herbs. The basil grows at an amazing rate. In just the hour I was working from home this morning the stalks turned to face the sun (I had turned them away). We have clover, daffodils, and an afican violet. All were products of impulse shopping at jewl. I just can’t resist a $3 plant. The daffodils are blooming away, but wilt quickly. I believe it because I live on the north pool and we get no sunlight.
I love spring break and northwestern because there is so much parking. It is awesome.
I’m trying to motivate myself. I have a book chapter for a “handbook” to write. It was sprung by the advisor last week. I have a couple weeks. Though short notice, it is actually a great thing. The chapter will become quite a chunk of the first part of the thesis. Getting something edited this earlier is going to make the whole thesis thing smoother.
We’ve been sans video games in our apartment for the past month or so. I have no idea why. Ben must of beat them or something. The games are sport games, so can’t he just start an other season? Hmmm, it is beyond my understanding. Anyways, in order to right the universe I “bought” Ben the new college baseball game for his birthday. He was on the fence and so I just said let’s go get it. I’ll get it for you for your birthday. What was I thinking? We were out at our first alone brunch complete with newspaper and amazing food. I think the bliss went to my head. : )
I actually don’t mind the video games at all. I don’t watch the tv randomly, so I don’t care that he is monopolizing it. Most of the time he plays I’m either (1) not there or (2) reading or (3) cooking. Most of the time I am not there. Remember, I’m a grad student with just over 5 months to finish. I should start a little count down clock. It would motivate me, that is for sure. As I wrote the former sentence, I freaked out a little. Off to write…
Posted by christina at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2006
you were the last good thing about this part of town
In the past couple days, I’ve been looking into and thinking about all the stuff that needs to happen between now and Sept. 24 (orientation).
One of the things I came across is math camp. Math camps is a 2 week math “review” for incoming PubP students in preparation for a math entrance exam. It would start the same week I have set as my defense week. As I pondered if I should try to defend the week before so I can attend math camp, I laughed at myself. I'll have a Ph.D. in engineering. I am sure I do not need to go to math camp to pass the entrance exam. From what I can tell it is all stuff I learned in high school (algebra and univariable calc). I believe it is to enable everyone to do the stats required for the program. Of course, as I looked at the exam from 2004, I realized that I’m going to have to do a little reviewing of terms (i.e. domains and ranges of equations, though ben cleared that confusion up for me already). A little review yes, 3 hrs a day x 2 weeks of math camp, no. I’ll be defending a dissertation. (Ben doesn’t think I should call it is thesis.)
I’ve been pretty excited this week. Though I don’t like small changes like Ben rearranging the furniture, I like big picture changes – cities, schools, lives. I was most unhappy in this Ph.D. when it felt like it was never going to end. I’ve hit that “senior” stretch when you know what is going on, and you know what need to be done to be done. I’m excited to meet new people and learn new things. I’ve been out of the classroom long enough that I yearn for learning. I look forward to discussing policy issues. I’ve always loved science, but I love policy more.
In the next 7 months I will write a small tome, defend it, add some letters to my name, start a new program for different letters, and keep my name when most change it.
Awesome.
Posted by christina at 3:30 PM | Comments (1)
March 15, 2006
beware the ides of march
It is my favorite holiday: the Ides of March. Beware the Ides of March!
I’ve been taking the train this week to work. Ben has my car due to his taking a little R&R. I love the train. I love not worrying about traffic. I don’t have to constantly watch for people around me running into me. The train reduces my – “I’m going to die” stress level. I love the time it gives me to read. I love watching the city zip by the windows. I love the feel of the train.
I would ride the train every day if it was time efficient. The ride itself with the awesome express train from evanston to my neighborhood is quick quick quick. The time wasted is the walking, the waiting, the walking. It is a 10+ min walk to the train from either my office or my apartment. This walking and waiting doubles the time it takes me in the car. For this reason I will not continue to take the train once Ben’s done with my car. It also doesn’t make sense financially. If you already own a car and a parking permit, the $3.50 day for the train does not make sense.
Today, as it turns out, I do not have to beware the ides of march, as I found out this morning I got accepted to another graduate degree program. I applied many months ago to a 1-year masters program in policy that you have to have a doctoral degree for. It has been a little nerve racking as science and engineering Ph.D. programs notify in February. Masters programs, turns out, doesn’t notify you until the day they say. According to ben’s mom it is because they accept everyone and then dole out the money. Quite happy they waited.
Posted by christina at 2:38 PM | Comments (1)
February 18, 2006
i don't understand about / diamonds and why men buy them
it is so cold here. The thermometer reads 4 degrees. The high in Evanston today will be 6. We are hunkered down inside, but will venture out later for the gym and dinner.
Posted by christina at 1:45 PM | Comments (1)
January 22, 2006
in light speed the images are fading / and how I need you around
It snowed Friday evening. The weather service issued a winter weather warning and i got all nervous about driving home in a snow storm (as it sucked last time) and canceled my usual friday night plans with tom. It turned out to not snow that much in the area I frequent. Thankfully. And the sun did a whole lot of melting it during the day.
Due to the fresh ice/snow (as the storm started as rain and then turned to snow), I decided to replace my run with a pliates on demand session. Besides feel re-dic-u-lous in front of porch boy, it wasn't that hard. My abs strength sucks (run doesn't do a lot for the strong abs gaol). There were some moves I couldn't physically do, but all in all I didn't really feel the work out.
Ha ha ha. The abs, they are sneaky. This morning I was a little sore, but it was the feeling good sore. I did my usual 5 miles. Life was good. About 2 hours after my run, all of my abs are so sore. It hurts to laugh, cough, get up from the couch. I have porch boy help me up. It is crazy. It has also made me feel ill, but I think I am just wimpy. On one hand, I think, no way in hell I am doing that again, this hurts way too much. On the other hand, I think , dude, i must have been WEAK to be in this much pain. It won't be so painful next time.
The main impediment to a routine change is my attachment to the 5 mile run(jog). I don't have time in the morning to do both. I might cut a mile and then do a short pilates. We'll see. It was nice to workout in my living room, even though the cat was all confused that i moved her box village and the coffee table.
Posted by christina at 5:36 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2006
helter skelter in a summer swelter
so many details in my life are awesome, starting with the weather. He who orders the weather must really love me. The weather has been amazing lately. It has been warm. The sun has shone. It continues to be awesome.
Tuesday, on the way home, American Pie (the song) came on. Not just did my favorite song from my childhood fill my car, but it was the awesome 6 versus version, not the wimpy 3 versus version. The song reminds me of day of camp - both regular and canoe. Boy, do I love canoe camp. Some of my best memories are from canoe camp. To this day, any moment can be awesome if I am reminded of canoe camp. We would sing American Pie around the campfire. Dude. I love camp.
Posted by christina at 5:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2006
getting caught in the rain
courtney, my bf from high school, and her puppy ellie.
I’m really not all about the new year’s resolutions. Ha ha. Of course I am, I just don’t tell anyone. After this morning, though one of my resolutions is to drive even slower than my normal grandma slow.
I have been lurking on a random chick’s blog for a bit now. I’ve been reading ever since she was diagnosed with leukemia. She’s around my age. She is pretty amazing. Reading about her treatment and struggles reminds me that though I can be annoyed at stupid people running into the back of my car, I just need to let it go. She has written some amazing things about forgiveness and letting things go.
She has motivated me to start giving blood again. I’m always be a proponent, but since my fainting spell last Christmas eve, I haven’t given. After reading her entry today about how blood transfusions are keeping her alive, I called and made an appointment to give blood Monday after work. My new year’s resolution is to keep on giving, as often as I can after that.
I challenge you that can, do.
Oh! This chick lives in Houston, so all you Houstonites could actually give her blood! Or at least blood in her name at MD Anderson, where she is being treated.
But really, just give blood.
Posted by christina at 3:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 8, 2006
...
Posted by christina at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 5, 2006
and they way that summer fades / underneath the weight of it all
For a moment, the sun peeked its head out this morning on my way to work. I cannot remember the last day of sunshine. It had to at least be in Arkansas. In the winter, here, the clouds mean warmth, so I don’t depised them so much. It is nice not to freeze my bum off during my morning jog. The cold rains have reminded me of winter in the south, where gloves and scarves are fashion accessories and not barriers against frostbite.
I cannot separate my general feeling of blah from the lack of sun or just this moment in time. It is the beginning of an exciting year, and unfortunately, I feel more apprehensive than usual…not about anything new, just the usual, am I doing everything right? Should I be doing something more? How can I fix everything for everyone?
I much prefer dealing with woes myself than having other people deal with woes. I want to take those people’s woes and make it better. This is why I cried and cried at King Kong. It made me so sad that he was so helpless and so hurt. Hurt animals always make me cry because they can’t fix things themselves. It is the same thing with people who can’t help their situation – the sick, the poor, the old. I feel too much.
It reminds me of Secret Life of Bee (title corrected by christopher) by Sue Monk Kidd. There was a character in it who “overfelt”. She couldn’t handle the sadness in the world and her inability to make things better. Her family tried to isolate her from other’s sufferings. When they were ultimately unable, she committed suicide over the wrongful imprisonment of a friend.
Not that I would ever reach that point (I am too much of a problem-solver), but I do identify with that character somewhat.
Posted by christina at 3:09 PM | Comments (1)
January 3, 2006
weight of it all
A baby came to visit while I was in hot springs. She was quite cute. She cried when I held her; I’m just not practiced at the baby holding. I cannot remember when I last held a baby, if I have ever held a baby only 3 months old.
I’m been browsing around looking at random policy jobs (you know, it is never too early to start looking). I found that to work on certain committees in Congress you have to be “Republican or Republican leaning”. I’m pretty sure I blew the chance of even trying to pass as republican leaning with my guns are bad editorial in college. A simple google will find that article. I was a tad horrified that there was a political requirement for a job on the science subcommittee. I was relieved to find out that there is a democratic science subcommittee and I’m sure that they won’t mind my left leaning tendencies.
It is the first day of winter quarter around here. I was quite surprised to find little traffic on the way to work today and parking spaces in my favorite parking lot. Usually when class is in session, that lots fills up way before my 9 am arrival time.
And thus begins the start of Jan, pretty much the most annoying month. Though the weather is warm, so I am not that annoyed right now.
This is the year I will graduate.
Stay Tuned.
Posted by christina at 3:57 PM | Comments (3)
January 2, 2006
life flies by in seconds
chloe on a box.
It has even been estimated that one in 10 Europeans are conceived in an Ikea bed.
the things you learn from the internet.
Posted by christina at 2:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 1, 2006
Come on! Feel the Illinoise!
What’s this? Cardboard? Tape? Both things I love love love.
Happy New Year!
This new years dawns grey outside, but warm. (Warm being mid 40s.) Crazy warm. Running is so much better when it is above 20 above.
I found the best mixing bowls. One of the sisters got a set for Christmas. I saw that they were on sale on the website, and then found them at the crate and barrel by school. Conveniently, I had to spend an hour at work yesterday. This holiday, I just can’t justify taking off. I did leave early on Friday to drive out to Naperville to see liz. (LIZ! I love liz!) The weather was nasty, and traffic was narly, and I drove on every (seriously like 5) tollways/expressways getting there. If I had look at the direction before I left work, I would have went another way, but so it goes.
Last night, though I do hate new’s year eve, was quite fun. It is funny to see everyone, I haven’t seen ben’s friends in ages. I adore his old roommate’s new girlfriend. Yay for cool chicks! It was a perfect size party – 30(?). And I didn’t loose my toes to frost bit (I wore sandels) because it is not stinking freezing outside. Love it.
Posted by christina at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2005
neon shines through smoky eyes tonight
This is by far my favorite time of year at work. Everything is quiet. Most people have taken off the time between Christmas and New Year’s. People aren’t in my way. I like the quiet. And it is welcome, as my return from Arkansas always involves a little melancholy. I wish that I lived closer, that I could be around more, that I could help more. 2006, though, will bring more visits (at least one), so that is nice.
The snow has melted in Chicago, but the coldness is still a shock coming from the 60s of Arkansas. I have my usual new year’s new running shoes (I replace them in July and Jan). It is like running on clouds. I love new running shoes. Because I wear the same style, there is little (if any) break-in period.
I finished History of Love on the plane back. It is quite good. I recommend it. It got be back addicted to reading. Now that I have finished my little knitting project, I’m back to my nose being in a book. Currently I’m reading In Case We are Separated. It is quite wonderful so far.
Posted by christina at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2005
let it snow (not!)
Merry Christmas! As much as I dislike the commercialism of this holiday, I love being home with my family. I love my puppy, who I have taken a million pictures of as usual. I’ve eaten so much. So. Much. But it is the holidays and it is the only time of the year that I’ll just eat chips, salsa, and cheese dip for dinner…oh! and I can’t forget the cheese ball. We’re a bunch of freaks around here, that it for sure.
I do miss porch boy this morning. I always miss him, especially in the bed times. Mainly I miss my nightly foot rub, which for the life of me cannot convience the sistas to do.
Here’s a tip learned from wedding dress shopping… order early. It is taking 3 months to get my dress. I did the shopping early just because I wanted to do it with my mom and sistas. Thank goodness, though, since it is taking so long. So, that’s my wedding tip – order early.
Posted by christina at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2005
shower him with love while he lay in the hay
smokey, the oldest cat in the family.
Ah! Now that I am not on the plane, I totally have a more story about the girl who sat next to me. I was annoyed that I was sitting next to anyone, as my original seat assignment had been in the lone seat row, but was not when I printed my boarding pass. The girl I sat down next too had all the airs of a plane talker. First she had a pile of stuff on her lap when I got to the row. (I was the window.) She was confused about where to put her bag. She asked the flight attendent what she was suppose to do with her bag. Even if she had never flown, did she notice all the people around her putting their bags in the overhead?
She looked very much from Arkansas. I had noticed her in the boarding area talking to random people about how she hadn’t been home in 4 months. (Which leads to the question, how did she get to Chicago, if it appeared that she’d never been on a plane?) Due to my dislike of talkers, I came prepared with my headphone around my neck when I sat down. Once settled, I immediately put on my headphones and put my nose in my book....all signs of – don’t talk to me. I’m not sure I was plain enough because she tried to talk to me! She asked me if she could take her coat off. I looked at her (after pausing the music and asking her to repeat it) and said why are you asking me? She responded, in case I elbow you. I just wanted to say, don’t elbow me. Stand up! (we were still at the gate, so she could have stood up in the aisle.
So the flight pretty much passed with little talking (save for the spelling hints). We were stuck on the tarmac for about 20 mins waiting for a gate. She did start singing the battle hymn of the republic softly while we waited. I understand Christmas tunes or one is the loneliest number (my favorite song to sing softly), but the battle hymn of the republic!
My new favorite website – bloglines.com
Posted by christina at 10:27 AM | Comments (2)
December 22, 2005
they are night zombies!
Porch boy’s harassment of the cat continues
All of the local news stations had broadcast vans at the airport today. It seems that the closer the date get to Christmas, the more people at the airport are news. How are they news? Look – someone with a suitcase! How is this really news in a city full of actual problems including people freezing to death in their apartments because heating cost are up this winter. Instead of working on actual issue, Congress spends its time passing more! tax cuts and then cutting spending for programs that help those that end up freezing to death in their apartment because they cannot afford to pay the heating bill.
Transit workers are not like coal miners. When coal miners strike, only the company loses money. When transit workers work, everyone loses money. This disportionately effects the poor who cannot afford car services and taxis. (Note – I wrote this one the plane. The girl next to me, who I’d been trying to ignore, just asked me what I was trying to spell! I totally knew she was reading over my shouldar, but to admit it and ask me if I wanted her to tell me how to spell it was too much! I told her no thanks.) The poor also have jobs that will “understand” why they can’t get to work, and therefore when they don’t get to work, they don’t get paid. I’m glad to hear that the strike is over. I don’t believe that there will be another strike in my lifetime. I have read such negative backlash from “common” New Yorkers. I did amuse me greatly to see pictures of Bloomburg walking across the bridge.
Pete and J still played, despite the strike.
It is a small jet to little rock. Thank goodness it is a jet, as I expected a turboprop. A jet is quite a bit faster, as porch boy and I found out when we went to Yellowstone. It is just an hour and a half between O’Hare and LIT. This is short compared to the other flights I took last fall. You spend 16 hours on a plane (not parked on the tarmac(insert link)), 1.5 hours is quick. I also timed my airport arrival better this year. I only would have sat at the gate for 30 minutes had our plane not been a tad late. I usually like to get to the aiport 1.5 hours before take-off. After the horror stories that came out of O’Hare’s United Terminal Saturday (check-in lines out the door), I should have padded my arrival. I am flying American and it always has been quick quick quick through check-in and security. I love self-check in. American is really good about staffing the taggers, which was my big complaint with United when we flew to Vermont in June. I could see our printed tags on the printer, but no one was there to put them on.
My main complaint about today is that they changed my seat assignment from when I made the reservation and when I checked it this morning. I am quite annoyed. I almost when to ask, but it was real crazy at the gate, so I just vented to porch boy and was okay with it. Usually it wouldn’t really matter, but the plane as the single seat row, which I orgianally had a seat in. Considering the flight was oversold, I shouldn’t be complaining. The flight took off only 20 minutes late. There is no ice in little rock. Life is good.
Oh! And when I return to porch boy, alllllllllllll of the snow will be melted. Today was the first day we were forcasted to reach the freezing mark. It was nice to run this morning without feeling like I am going to die. My knees, for the record, have a BIG problem with the cold. It was cold (0 wind chill) Tuesday morning. My knees ached all day. Today it was 25 (wind chill 15) - very little aching.
Today during my run I did see something amazing. I sewer line has busted and there was a whole part of the street that was a sheet of ice. I don’t think the cars are going to be able to get out. It is a solid layer of ice beneath their tires. The craziest thing was the two