Tuesday, November 04, 2008
I Voted
Josh and I woke up just after 5:30 this morning to get to our polling location a few minutes before it opened at 6 am. We stood in line for nearly an hour and a half before actually getting into the school cafeteria to vote. It was neat to feel like we were participating in a historic election, but I think Josh and I voted for different candidates for president, so in reality, our votes just cancelled each other out. Oh well. At least we have “I Voted” stickers to take to Starbucks for free coffee today!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Pop vs. Soda Map
I love this map showing where in America people say pop, soda, coke, or something else. I grew up in the Midwest so it was always “pop,” but when I moved to Boston for college, it seemed like everyone else laughed at me for it, particularly the cool kids from California and the sophisticated ones from New York, as if I were some cute backwoods hick. Having not much of a backbone at the time and convinced that the rest of the country called it “soda,” I converted.
Then I moved to Houston. Now it’s “coke,” and I’m calling it the wrong thing again.
(This made no sense to me at first, but I discovered that the ordering process goes like this:
“You want a coke, hon?”
“Sure.”
“OK, what kind?”
“Mmm... I’ll have a Sprite.”)
So who wins? According to the map (by area, at least), the soda kids are in third, the cokes take second, and the cute backwoods hicks claim the majority. Ah-ha!
Then I moved to Houston. Now it’s “coke,” and I’m calling it the wrong thing again.
(This made no sense to me at first, but I discovered that the ordering process goes like this:
“You want a coke, hon?”
“Sure.”
“OK, what kind?”
“Mmm... I’ll have a Sprite.”)
So who wins? According to the map (by area, at least), the soda kids are in third, the cokes take second, and the cute backwoods hicks claim the majority. Ah-ha!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
We’re engaged!
Josh and I are engaged! Josh proposed during our trip to Hawaii and, of course, I said yes. :) We spent most of the trip on the Big Island, and on our second day in Volcanoes National Park, we drove down to the southernmost end of the park where hardened lava flows meet the ocean. The road ends abruptly before it reaches the coast because recent lava flows have buried the asphalt, so we got out of the car at the end and hiked the last half a mile or so on the rocks until we got as close as we could to the water. The area was completely deserted, so Josh set up his tripod to get a picture of us together on the rocks with the active volcano in the background. We took the first one and then Josh says, “How about just one more?” Okay, sure... So while I stood around and admired the volcano and the waves, Josh went back to fiddle with the camera. He set the self-timer and jogged back to where I was standing, but instead of turning around to face the camera, he took my hands, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him!
More about the rest of our Hawaii trip to come...
More about the rest of our Hawaii trip to come...
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
My computer is struggling to transfer many GB of files from my harddrive to the server. To reduce its workload, I’ve done everything else I can think of that doesn’t involve my computer—straightening up my desk, filing papers, talking to a few coworkers to get some questions answered... and my computer is STILL transferring files. Bleh.
Today is my 1 year anniversary at work. Sadly, this is the longest I have held a single job in my entire 26 years of life, not counting the two years I was in grad school and working for the company that paid my tuition. It’s been... different than I expected. Recently I’ve gotten an opportunity to work on a new program, and it’s been nice to stretch my brain a bit and do something different. I have a feeling this won’t be a long-term job for me, but then again, I have trouble seeing anything as a long-term job for me...
I got a haircut yesterday, and I think it’s the first time that my wonderful stylist here has goofed. I spent forever messing with it this morning and eventually ended up going to work with my hair in a ponytail. Ugh. I can’t decide if I want to go back to have her trim it, or if I want to wait a few days to see if I get used to it (or at least figure out how to not gag when I look in the mirror).
My paper for this conference is due on Monday, and in typical fashion, I’ve put it off the final edits until the very last minute. I’ve had a hard time getting motivated for this thing, especially now that our travel arrangements for Hawaii are all set. :) I’m not getting graded on the paper or the presentation, although it would suck to look like an idiot in front of people I’ve never met, just like it would suck to look back at this paper in several years and wish I had spent more time polishing it.
Meh.
Today is my 1 year anniversary at work. Sadly, this is the longest I have held a single job in my entire 26 years of life, not counting the two years I was in grad school and working for the company that paid my tuition. It’s been... different than I expected. Recently I’ve gotten an opportunity to work on a new program, and it’s been nice to stretch my brain a bit and do something different. I have a feeling this won’t be a long-term job for me, but then again, I have trouble seeing anything as a long-term job for me...
I got a haircut yesterday, and I think it’s the first time that my wonderful stylist here has goofed. I spent forever messing with it this morning and eventually ended up going to work with my hair in a ponytail. Ugh. I can’t decide if I want to go back to have her trim it, or if I want to wait a few days to see if I get used to it (or at least figure out how to not gag when I look in the mirror).
My paper for this conference is due on Monday, and in typical fashion, I’ve put it off the final edits until the very last minute. I’ve had a hard time getting motivated for this thing, especially now that our travel arrangements for Hawaii are all set. :) I’m not getting graded on the paper or the presentation, although it would suck to look like an idiot in front of people I’ve never met, just like it would suck to look back at this paper in several years and wish I had spent more time polishing it.
Meh.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Good news!
I am thrilled/relieved/amazed to report that my eyes are doing better! I have a few theories on why they’re doing better, but I can’t be sure... best case scenario, it’s because I started allergy shots a few months ago and the shots are working. Worst case scenario, the past few weeks have been a complete fluke. My best proof so far is that on Saturday night, I spent a few hours outside on a friend’s porch and drank a single beer and my eyes only looked mildly pink the next morning. Hooray! Just a couple months ago, spending two hours outside, staying up late, and drinking any kind of alcohol would have turned me into an unbearably itchy, red-eyed monster, so this is definitely an improvement. I think it’s also helped that we’ve had the air conditioning on almost all the time that we’re home these days. I still have a ways to go—the whites of my eyes aren’t yet that beautiful healthy pale blue, no contacts yet, and I’m still on the allergy eye drop, but even small improvements are fantastic. (Seriously, sometimes I look at makeup ads in magazines and wonder if the whites of the models’ eyes have been photoshopped because it’s been so long since my eyes were that clear.) And believe me, the contacts party is still on if I make it that far!
The other interesting/exciting thing that’s been consuming my time lately is looking for a townhouse. When Josh first suggested it a few months ago, I scoffed at the idea because—come on—only grownups buy houses! We’ve been looking primarily in Reston, which is a wonderfully green, outdoor-oriented city a few miles east of where we currently live. I’ve fallen in love with a couple of places that
we’ve looked at so far—one was a top floor condo on Lake Thoreau with an amazing balcony overlooking the lake and a dock for us to keep our own kayak (!). But it was a foreclosure, small, and needed A LOT of work. I loved how much potential it had, but it would have quickly stretched home-repair skills and budget, even before the $300/month condo fees. Josh was not amused.
The second place was a contemporary townhouse a couple miles west of the south Reston lakes. It was HUGE, very well maintained, had a beautiful deck and yard, and
backed up tons of mature trees and running trails. Plus, we met several neighbors the couple times we were there to look at the house, and everyone was extremely nice. The icing on the cake was the turtle Josh found in the backyard. :) We had a couple reservations though, so while we debated the merits of this house for a couple days and the “oh my gosh, are we actually going to do this??” another couple swooped in and made an offer, and the sellers accepted it. I was really disappointed.
Unfortunately, everything else we’ve seen since then hasn’t lived up to the turtle townhouse. We found another place this past weekend that’s possible, but we haven’t fallen in love with it like at least I did with the other two. The size and layout would work very well for the two of us, but it has a few potential resale issues and it would require some work (although nothing too involved). Still, I like the area and it meets a lot of my top criteria... we just haven’t fallen in love.
The other interesting/exciting thing that’s been consuming my time lately is looking for a townhouse. When Josh first suggested it a few months ago, I scoffed at the idea because—come on—only grownups buy houses! We’ve been looking primarily in Reston, which is a wonderfully green, outdoor-oriented city a few miles east of where we currently live. I’ve fallen in love with a couple of places that
we’ve looked at so far—one was a top floor condo on Lake Thoreau with an amazing balcony overlooking the lake and a dock for us to keep our own kayak (!). But it was a foreclosure, small, and needed A LOT of work. I loved how much potential it had, but it would have quickly stretched home-repair skills and budget, even before the $300/month condo fees. Josh was not amused.The second place was a contemporary townhouse a couple miles west of the south Reston lakes. It was HUGE, very well maintained, had a beautiful deck and yard, and
backed up tons of mature trees and running trails. Plus, we met several neighbors the couple times we were there to look at the house, and everyone was extremely nice. The icing on the cake was the turtle Josh found in the backyard. :) We had a couple reservations though, so while we debated the merits of this house for a couple days and the “oh my gosh, are we actually going to do this??” another couple swooped in and made an offer, and the sellers accepted it. I was really disappointed.Unfortunately, everything else we’ve seen since then hasn’t lived up to the turtle townhouse. We found another place this past weekend that’s possible, but we haven’t fallen in love with it like at least I did with the other two. The size and layout would work very well for the two of us, but it has a few potential resale issues and it would require some work (although nothing too involved). Still, I like the area and it meets a lot of my top criteria... we just haven’t fallen in love.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Work has been frustratingly boring recently. I’ve been finding myself at work daydreaming about all the other glamorous careers I could have—journalist, photographer, environmental activist or researcher, writer for HowStuffWorks.com, any work for National Geographic. Then I get even more carried away and start wishing I lived somewhere like France, for example, where I’d only have to work 35 hours a week. The wife of a friend of mine has a job where she’s required to work 50 hours a week, but she’s compensated by a salary that’s 1.25 times what the standard for that position would be. From a standard 40 hours a week perspective, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t take the extra hours for the extra pay. When I turn it around though and think about whether I would take a 25% pay cut to work only 30 hours a week, I’m less sure of my decision. Once you have the money and your lifestyle “inflates”, it would be harder to go back.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Yesterday I finally booked my ticket to go to Hawaii this August.
!!!!!
I booked my flights through work, because officially, I’m going to to Honolulu present a paper at the AIAA GN&C conference. Josh got on the same flights using miles, because unofficially, we’re going on vacation, baby!
I’m presenting in one of the morning sessions on Thursday, August 21st, so we’re arriving on Wednesday afternoon and then staying an extra week until Sunday the 31st. We get to stay at the swanky Honolulu Hilton Wednesday night, but after the conference, we’re getting booted out of the hotel and will probably be staying in grungier places the rest of the trip. But hey, grungy in paradise is better than anyplace here!
So we basically have no idea what we’ll be doing for rest of the time that we’re there. Josh wants to see the areas where they filmed Jurassic Park, I want to go surfing, and we both want to see volcanoes. We know another couple that is staying in Hawaii after the conference, so we might tag along on a few of their adventures. I’ve heard that island-hopping isn’t cheap, but I spent a week in Oahu a few years ago, so I’d like to at least go to the Big Island and Maui or Kauai. Ahh, so many choices...
!!!!!
I booked my flights through work, because officially, I’m going to to Honolulu present a paper at the AIAA GN&C conference. Josh got on the same flights using miles, because unofficially, we’re going on vacation, baby!
I’m presenting in one of the morning sessions on Thursday, August 21st, so we’re arriving on Wednesday afternoon and then staying an extra week until Sunday the 31st. We get to stay at the swanky Honolulu Hilton Wednesday night, but after the conference, we’re getting booted out of the hotel and will probably be staying in grungier places the rest of the trip. But hey, grungy in paradise is better than anyplace here!
So we basically have no idea what we’ll be doing for rest of the time that we’re there. Josh wants to see the areas where they filmed Jurassic Park, I want to go surfing, and we both want to see volcanoes. We know another couple that is staying in Hawaii after the conference, so we might tag along on a few of their adventures. I’ve heard that island-hopping isn’t cheap, but I spent a week in Oahu a few years ago, so I’d like to at least go to the Big Island and Maui or Kauai. Ahh, so many choices...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Notes on domestic life
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had chapped lips. It was probably a combination of my stupid habit of rubbing my lips together when I’m nervous, which happened all the time at gymnastics practice (not to mention continuously drinking from my water bottle), and playing wind instruments growing up. It seemed that I could never get enough Chapstick on my lips, so I started carrying a tube around in my jeans pocket all the time. The days that I forgot it or lost it to the dryer meant dry, peeling, cracked ugliness, and those were the times that I would say to myself that when I finally grew up and had my own place, I would stock every room with Chapstick so that I was never more than an arm’s reach away from one. I had forgotten that until recently, and the day after I recounted my dream to Josh, he showed up at my place with a three-pack of Chapstick whose contents we have since divided and stashed around my apartment. It’s glorious.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about food. I’ve been thinking to myself that I should really make more of an effort to eat more healthfully and eat a wider variety of foods. Enter my bread machine. It was a gift from my dad several birthdays ago, and I used it a couple times in Houston and once in Boston, but mostly it sat in its cardboard/styrofoam home on top of the cupboards. But several weeks ago, I was inspired to make stuff from scratch, so I pulled it out again and baked a loaf of whole wheat bread. I did this several times, and the loaves always came out fine, but the recipe constantly wavered somewhere between slightly off (fresh) and downright gross (week-old). Over the weekend I finally discovered that it’s because the whole wheat recipe uses molasses instead of sugar. Blech. Molasses doesn’t belong in bread. So I tried the basic white loaf (which uses sugar) and substituted one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of the white flour. Yum! The only thing I’m going to do differently next time is reduce the salt. The bread machine is officially in business.
Still on my kick, I went to the library today and checked out a Cooking Light cookbook titled 5-Ingredient 15-Minute Cookbook. Perfect for people like me for whom anything more than boiling pasta water is “a lot of work” for dinner. It’s quick (duh), healthy (duh), there’s a picture of every recipe, they suggest side dishes to go with each meal, and they even write out a grocery list for you. Yeah, I know… how lazy can you get… but trust me, I need all the help I can get.
I’ve also discovered a hidden benefit to quasi-living with someone else – there’s more inspiration to cook because you won’t have mountains of leftovers, and – AND – there’s someone else to split the work! I usually “cook” dinner for the two of us, and Josh is awesome on dish duty.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about food. I’ve been thinking to myself that I should really make more of an effort to eat more healthfully and eat a wider variety of foods. Enter my bread machine. It was a gift from my dad several birthdays ago, and I used it a couple times in Houston and once in Boston, but mostly it sat in its cardboard/styrofoam home on top of the cupboards. But several weeks ago, I was inspired to make stuff from scratch, so I pulled it out again and baked a loaf of whole wheat bread. I did this several times, and the loaves always came out fine, but the recipe constantly wavered somewhere between slightly off (fresh) and downright gross (week-old). Over the weekend I finally discovered that it’s because the whole wheat recipe uses molasses instead of sugar. Blech. Molasses doesn’t belong in bread. So I tried the basic white loaf (which uses sugar) and substituted one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of the white flour. Yum! The only thing I’m going to do differently next time is reduce the salt. The bread machine is officially in business.
Still on my kick, I went to the library today and checked out a Cooking Light cookbook titled 5-Ingredient 15-Minute Cookbook. Perfect for people like me for whom anything more than boiling pasta water is “a lot of work” for dinner. It’s quick (duh), healthy (duh), there’s a picture of every recipe, they suggest side dishes to go with each meal, and they even write out a grocery list for you. Yeah, I know… how lazy can you get… but trust me, I need all the help I can get.I’ve also discovered a hidden benefit to quasi-living with someone else – there’s more inspiration to cook because you won’t have mountains of leftovers, and – AND – there’s someone else to split the work! I usually “cook” dinner for the two of us, and Josh is awesome on dish duty.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Belated birthday
My 26th birthday was just over a week ago, and it feels very strange to say that I am 26 years old. My actual birthday was very low-key, since work has been so busy lately and Josh and I had just gotten back from our whirlwind wedding weekend extravaganza. It was crazy—a friend’s wedding in Richmond on Friday night, driving back to DC early in the morning to catch a plane to Detroit for my dad’s wedding on Saturday night. And that still feels weird to write too! Anyway, I had to stay late at work on Monday, so Josh and I just went out to dinner at TGIFriday’s that night. I told Josh several weeks ago that I wanted to go to the Melting Pot for my birthday dinner, but I knew we wouldn’t get a chance to go before we left for the weddings, so maybe when he gets back this weekend we’ll be able to do it. We made plans to go there nearly three years ago when we both worked in Houston, but it never worked out, so I’m hoping that the second time’s the charm. :)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Florida
This past weekend Josh and I went to Florida to see his family and to celebrate his nephew’s 4th birthday. We spent Saturday in his hometown and then drove to Orlando on Sunday morning. We spent Sunday at SeaWorld and Monday at Disneyworld. Sunday night when we were all eating dinner, Josh and his dad were talking about the plan for the next day and how long the park was open. They kept talking about how we were going to Magic Kingdom, and finally I had to ask if that was the actual Disneyworld. I am definitely not from Florida...
It turned out that I actually didn’t make it to Magic Kingdom the next day. My eyes finally revolted after the past two nights of 4-5 hours of sleep and then spending all day Saturday walking around in the sun and the wind at SeaWorld. My eyes were getting red, itchy, and dry by the evening, and when I woke up the next morning, they were all red and crusty (lovely, I know). I knew they wouldn’t be able to handle another full day of being outside, so I spent the day in the hotel while everyone else went to the park. It turns out I may not have missed much, since the kids hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights either, so it sounded like everyone was kind of cranky. Regardless, I really missed being able to spend the day with them and hated wasting a perfect 75-degree vacation day cooped up in the hotel.
I spent a lot of this weekend and the previous weekend thinking about generations of family. Josh’s siblings both have kids, and a handful of my older cousins have kids already, and it’s nice that those kids will be able to spend many years with their grandparents. I’m definitely in no rush to have babies, but in a way I wish I were because then my kids would be able to spend more time with their grandparents and even their great grandparents. I have wonderful memories of how fun my grandparents were when I was younger, and I would hate for my kids to miss out on similar memories if their grandparents are older and less able to play with them.
It’s hard to see my extended family members age, and there were times when I was at home last weekend that I wanted to freeze that exact instant in time and preserve it for my maybe-eventual kids. I suppose time seems more precious now because of my grandmother passing away last spring. I certainly had several years with her, but many of them weren’t her best. I guess I fear that the same thing will happen to my children, but I want them to know my parents as the funny, energetic, loving people that they are now.
It turned out that I actually didn’t make it to Magic Kingdom the next day. My eyes finally revolted after the past two nights of 4-5 hours of sleep and then spending all day Saturday walking around in the sun and the wind at SeaWorld. My eyes were getting red, itchy, and dry by the evening, and when I woke up the next morning, they were all red and crusty (lovely, I know). I knew they wouldn’t be able to handle another full day of being outside, so I spent the day in the hotel while everyone else went to the park. It turns out I may not have missed much, since the kids hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights either, so it sounded like everyone was kind of cranky. Regardless, I really missed being able to spend the day with them and hated wasting a perfect 75-degree vacation day cooped up in the hotel.
I spent a lot of this weekend and the previous weekend thinking about generations of family. Josh’s siblings both have kids, and a handful of my older cousins have kids already, and it’s nice that those kids will be able to spend many years with their grandparents. I’m definitely in no rush to have babies, but in a way I wish I were because then my kids would be able to spend more time with their grandparents and even their great grandparents. I have wonderful memories of how fun my grandparents were when I was younger, and I would hate for my kids to miss out on similar memories if their grandparents are older and less able to play with them.
It’s hard to see my extended family members age, and there were times when I was at home last weekend that I wanted to freeze that exact instant in time and preserve it for my maybe-eventual kids. I suppose time seems more precious now because of my grandmother passing away last spring. I certainly had several years with her, but many of them weren’t her best. I guess I fear that the same thing will happen to my children, but I want them to know my parents as the funny, energetic, loving people that they are now.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hurry up and wait
The past several weeks at work have been exciting and extremely stressful at the same time. I’m responsible for a trade study that will have a significant impact on our “mainline” vehicle design, and the final presentation is next Thursday.
It’s been really cool to meet some higher-ups on our greater guidance and control team, and I’ve gotten a few nice compliments on my work so far from some coworkers. I like days like today where I get to present the stuff that I’m responsible for and I’m busy enough that by the time I glance at the clock before picking up my lunch, it’s already 3:00. It’s a far cry from a few previous jobs I’ve had where I’m so bored and/or frustrated that I’m ready to leave for lunch by 10:30 in the morning.
The downside, of course, is that I’ve been working long hours and I’ve periodically gotten frustrated with a few people and have done a less-than-stellar job of hiding it. I think Josh has become immune to reacting to my nightly stories of, “Oh! And guess what else happened today?!” This project has been getting in the way of other things, like training for the 10-miler that I’m supposed to be running in April, and it’s been stressing me out in unexpected ways. When I finally sat down to eat my lunch today, for example, my jaw was so sore that it hurt to chew my squishy sandwich. Apparently I’ve reverted to grinding my teeth in my sleep, grad school fashion.
The other downside of being in crunch time for this project is that I have to keep running around and asking people questions, and of course, they have their own stuff that they’re in crunch time for. So I beg people for their time or their expertise, but then I have to wait until they’re free to talk with me, and then once I have the information I need, it’s back to frantic Matlab/Powerpoint cramming. So as you might guess, this past half hour has been the “wait” part of “hurry up and wait.”
It’s been really cool to meet some higher-ups on our greater guidance and control team, and I’ve gotten a few nice compliments on my work so far from some coworkers. I like days like today where I get to present the stuff that I’m responsible for and I’m busy enough that by the time I glance at the clock before picking up my lunch, it’s already 3:00. It’s a far cry from a few previous jobs I’ve had where I’m so bored and/or frustrated that I’m ready to leave for lunch by 10:30 in the morning.
The downside, of course, is that I’ve been working long hours and I’ve periodically gotten frustrated with a few people and have done a less-than-stellar job of hiding it. I think Josh has become immune to reacting to my nightly stories of, “Oh! And guess what else happened today?!” This project has been getting in the way of other things, like training for the 10-miler that I’m supposed to be running in April, and it’s been stressing me out in unexpected ways. When I finally sat down to eat my lunch today, for example, my jaw was so sore that it hurt to chew my squishy sandwich. Apparently I’ve reverted to grinding my teeth in my sleep, grad school fashion.
The other downside of being in crunch time for this project is that I have to keep running around and asking people questions, and of course, they have their own stuff that they’re in crunch time for. So I beg people for their time or their expertise, but then I have to wait until they’re free to talk with me, and then once I have the information I need, it’s back to frantic Matlab/Powerpoint cramming. So as you might guess, this past half hour has been the “wait” part of “hurry up and wait.”
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
A few months ago, wanting to test-drive getting a dog, I volunteered to help with H.A.R.T., a local animal shelter. Volunteers come to one of several nearby Petco’s and hold a dog on a leash for a few hours outside the store to show it off to potential adopters. I got a beagle, and it was mostly a dull afternoon—my beagle just wanted to yank me around to find stuff to sniff (I know... beagles are like that). Anyway, due to the mostly unrewarding-ness of it and the fact that it quickly got colder and I didn’t want to spend three hours standing around outside in freezing temperatures, I haven't volunteered there since. (Ugh, I feel awful about this just typing it.) However, the other day while running some sims at work, I went onto the H.A.R.T. website to browse through the animals that are currently up for adoption. I started looking at cats, wondering if maybe I might have grown out of my cat super-allergy, because amazingly, my little sister has done it. I was bowled over by how cute the kittens were, so I stopped by the Petco store by my work on the way home to see them in real life. As expected, they were adorable. This Petco has a little room that has six or eight crates of cats, but it’s separated from the rest of the store by a glass door, presumably so that they don’t get eaten by dogs or covered with flying snot from people who are allergic. Care to guess how long I lasted in the little glass room? About 20 minutes. I felt perfectly fine for those 20 minutes, but then I felt a sneeze coming on, so I left the little room to spare the cats and family who had come in to look. I then proceeded to sneeze/sniffle my entire way out of the store, across the parking lot to Target, and halfway through my Target errands. I felt fine by the time I left Target, but my eyes were still a little pink the next morning. But considering the general state of my eyes, I probably shouldn’t place too much blame on the kittens.
So, most likely, getting a cat is not in my future. But it’s too bad, because they’re so cuddly and adorable. And they’re much less work than dogs, even though they generally don’t play fetch or go running with you.
So, most likely, getting a cat is not in my future. But it’s too bad, because they’re so cuddly and adorable. And they’re much less work than dogs, even though they generally don’t play fetch or go running with you.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
At home with family and friends
I arrived at home for the holidays last Friday morning, after taking a 6 am flight out of Dulles. My dad picked me up from the airport and we spent the morning doing some Christmas shopping (okay, he mostly watched while I shopped) and having lunch. It’s rare that I get to spend time with just my dad these days, so it was really nice.
I spent Saturday doing more shopping, then Sunday it was off to see relatives. My mom and I stopped by my grandparents’ house, which was slightly strange considering that they’re my dad’s parents and we went without him. After that we went to my uncle’s house for dinner. His two kids, my cousins, were there, which was great since I haven’t seen Jonathan since we were both in Boston for college over three years ago. He looks the same, acts the same—it’s great. Jonathan has been spending the past year or so working all over the world: India, Ghana, and Costa Rica. Talking with people like him always reinforces my desire to eventually live abroad for a while.
On Christmas Day, Laura and I did our usual breakfast and present-opening with my mom in the morning, then went over to my dad’s house in the afternoon for more presents and dinner. Although my parents were separated by this time last year, my dad agreed to stay over on Christmas Eve so that we could do all our usual family stuff in the morning. This year that wasn’t going to happen, so Laura and I have officially become those kids who do two celebrations for each holiday. It was sad, to be sure, but it was nice to see our parents happier and more relaxed than they probably would have been if we had all spent the day together. The family has also felt a bit disconnected because my older sister Katherine wasn’t able to come home from China to spend Christmas with us, so we’ve all been missing her.
Yesterday I finally saw some people that I’m not related to! I had lunch with Lauren in the afternoon, which was awesome, and then last night it was time for the 3rd annual Saline Bar Crawl.
My town has only about 9,000 people, so as you might imagine, a bar crawl through the “city” only hits up 3 bars. To make matters worse (or easier?), only two of them were open last night. So we started at the Brecon Grille, which is located right at what we call the Four Corners—the main stoplight in our town. It’s a relatively nice place with good food and several beers on tap, so it’s a good place to start. After everyone’s had a bit to drink and their beer standards are slightly lower, we head to Dan’s Downtown Tavern, which is a more typical dive bar with a regular crowd of old men. The beer is even cheaper, but you leave smelling like a cigarette butt. Regardless, we love it, and last night it was clear that many other recent Saline grads do too, 
because we ran into several other groups of younger people there. The first Saline Bar Crawl involved only four of us, last year was a little bigger, but this year was the biggest turnout we’ve had: 10! Hanging out all those guys always helps me remember why I love going back to Saline and why I need to make more of an effort to stay in touch throughout the year. Plus, it helps to remember where everyone is these days and where one might have a dinner companion if traveling through Austin, TX, or New York City, for example... :)
Today I’m heading down to Detroit to see my grandparents again, but this time with many other people. My aunt’s coming in from Atlanta and I'll finally get to meet my newest first-cousin-once-removed. Tonight I have to finish packing and then tomorrow it’s back to DC!
I spent Saturday doing more shopping, then Sunday it was off to see relatives. My mom and I stopped by my grandparents’ house, which was slightly strange considering that they’re my dad’s parents and we went without him. After that we went to my uncle’s house for dinner. His two kids, my cousins, were there, which was great since I haven’t seen Jonathan since we were both in Boston for college over three years ago. He looks the same, acts the same—it’s great. Jonathan has been spending the past year or so working all over the world: India, Ghana, and Costa Rica. Talking with people like him always reinforces my desire to eventually live abroad for a while.
On Christmas Day, Laura and I did our usual breakfast and present-opening with my mom in the morning, then went over to my dad’s house in the afternoon for more presents and dinner. Although my parents were separated by this time last year, my dad agreed to stay over on Christmas Eve so that we could do all our usual family stuff in the morning. This year that wasn’t going to happen, so Laura and I have officially become those kids who do two celebrations for each holiday. It was sad, to be sure, but it was nice to see our parents happier and more relaxed than they probably would have been if we had all spent the day together. The family has also felt a bit disconnected because my older sister Katherine wasn’t able to come home from China to spend Christmas with us, so we’ve all been missing her.
Yesterday I finally saw some people that I’m not related to! I had lunch with Lauren in the afternoon, which was awesome, and then last night it was time for the 3rd annual Saline Bar Crawl.
My town has only about 9,000 people, so as you might imagine, a bar crawl through the “city” only hits up 3 bars. To make matters worse (or easier?), only two of them were open last night. So we started at the Brecon Grille, which is located right at what we call the Four Corners—the main stoplight in our town. It’s a relatively nice place with good food and several beers on tap, so it’s a good place to start. After everyone’s had a bit to drink and their beer standards are slightly lower, we head to Dan’s Downtown Tavern, which is a more typical dive bar with a regular crowd of old men. The beer is even cheaper, but you leave smelling like a cigarette butt. Regardless, we love it, and last night it was clear that many other recent Saline grads do too, because we ran into several other groups of younger people there. The first Saline Bar Crawl involved only four of us, last year was a little bigger, but this year was the biggest turnout we’ve had: 10! Hanging out all those guys always helps me remember why I love going back to Saline and why I need to make more of an effort to stay in touch throughout the year. Plus, it helps to remember where everyone is these days and where one might have a dinner companion if traveling through Austin, TX, or New York City, for example... :)Today I’m heading down to Detroit to see my grandparents again, but this time with many other people. My aunt’s coming in from Atlanta and I'll finally get to meet my newest first-cousin-once-removed. Tonight I have to finish packing and then tomorrow it’s back to DC!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Eyeball update, part 23745961
So, the good news is that my eyeballs are FINALLY starting to look better. The bad news is that it’s taken a lot of medication and a lot of waiting. I saw an optometrist here pretty much as soon as I got my health insurance set up through work, which was around the end of August. She confirmed what my general physician at school had said, that my symptoms sounded a lot like ocular rosacea, not allergies; however, for reasons that I don't fully understand, she’s been reluctant to actually diagnose me with it. So the official diagnosis right now is blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelids. It’s something that can be caused by rosacea though, so I have an appointment with a dermatologist on Wednesday to see if he can tell me if that’s been contributing to my eye problems and if so, how to keep it under control.
Since my August appointment with my eye doctor, I’ve been on an oral antibiotic and was briefly taking a combination antibiotic/steroid eyedrop. The antibiotics are used because they’re anti-inflammatories, not because it’s some sort of bacterial infection. Anyway, it takes a couple months for the antibiotic to work its way into your system, so it’s been only recently that I’ve seen an improvement in how my eyes look. The itching has been significantly reduced though, so that’s also helped with the redness. My optometrist was optimistic that I could eventually wear contacts again, and although my eyes aren’t clear enough for me to feel comfortable putting in contacts yet, I’m really hoping that time is coming.
Although I’ve been really glad over the past few weeks to see actual, lasting improvement in my eyes, it’s been hard to not to dwell on all the what-ifs from the past. Was there something I used before that triggered the rosacea, since it doesn’t run in my family? How different would the past two years have been if the first ophthalmologist I saw had known what this was? Would it have taken less time to clear up?
In some ways I’ve gotten more used to wearing glasses than I ever thought I could. But that doesn’t stop me from gazing jealously at my little sister’s perfectly pale eyelids over lunch last weekend, or getting annoyed with co-workers who have perfectly healthy eyes and choose to wear glasses instead of contacts, and admit that it’s just due to laziness. That is something I will never understand—why would you ever choose to just wear glasses when you could be using contacts? I understand not wanting to stick something in your eye, believe me. When I first got contacts in high school, it took me two unsuccessful hours at the doctor’s office, crying, going home, and another hour at the office the next day before I could finally keep my eye open long enough to get the contact in. It then took me another half hour to be able to get them out. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can do it.
And okay, I understand that it’s nice to be able to just take your glasses off whenever you want to take a nap. But those things will never outweigh the benefits of how much better your vision is with contacts because you actually have peripheral vision and how much more convenient it is to go through life without a hunk of metal and glass permanently affixed to your face.
Hmm... I guess I had a rant I needed to get out.
Anyway, over the past several days, I’ve tried to readjust my outlook from what-if, why-me to something more positive. I’ve finally found a doctor who knows what I have and has a plan to treat it. My eyes ARE getting better and they rarely hurt anymore. Although the antibiotic has some annoying side effects, at least there is medication. The other things that I need to do on a regular basis to get/keep my eyes healthy—get plenty of sleep, exercise, drink lots of water, stay out of the sun—are things that I should be doing anyway, so now I have additional motivation. The bottom line, most important thing I have to remind myself to be thankful for is that this isn’t something that affects my vision. It could be worse.
The other thing this has helped me get into perspective is that you never know what problems other people are dealing with, medical or otherwise. There are a couple of people at work that I’ve talked to about my eye problems, and my medical issue is probably more visible than many, but in general, I keep it to myself. How many other people at work are dealing with some sort of medical problem of their own or their child’s, or some other personal/family issue that they wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing? The fact that someone looks fine doesn’t always mean a lot.
Since my August appointment with my eye doctor, I’ve been on an oral antibiotic and was briefly taking a combination antibiotic/steroid eyedrop. The antibiotics are used because they’re anti-inflammatories, not because it’s some sort of bacterial infection. Anyway, it takes a couple months for the antibiotic to work its way into your system, so it’s been only recently that I’ve seen an improvement in how my eyes look. The itching has been significantly reduced though, so that’s also helped with the redness. My optometrist was optimistic that I could eventually wear contacts again, and although my eyes aren’t clear enough for me to feel comfortable putting in contacts yet, I’m really hoping that time is coming.
Although I’ve been really glad over the past few weeks to see actual, lasting improvement in my eyes, it’s been hard to not to dwell on all the what-ifs from the past. Was there something I used before that triggered the rosacea, since it doesn’t run in my family? How different would the past two years have been if the first ophthalmologist I saw had known what this was? Would it have taken less time to clear up?
In some ways I’ve gotten more used to wearing glasses than I ever thought I could. But that doesn’t stop me from gazing jealously at my little sister’s perfectly pale eyelids over lunch last weekend, or getting annoyed with co-workers who have perfectly healthy eyes and choose to wear glasses instead of contacts, and admit that it’s just due to laziness. That is something I will never understand—why would you ever choose to just wear glasses when you could be using contacts? I understand not wanting to stick something in your eye, believe me. When I first got contacts in high school, it took me two unsuccessful hours at the doctor’s office, crying, going home, and another hour at the office the next day before I could finally keep my eye open long enough to get the contact in. It then took me another half hour to be able to get them out. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can do it.
And okay, I understand that it’s nice to be able to just take your glasses off whenever you want to take a nap. But those things will never outweigh the benefits of how much better your vision is with contacts because you actually have peripheral vision and how much more convenient it is to go through life without a hunk of metal and glass permanently affixed to your face.
Hmm... I guess I had a rant I needed to get out.
Anyway, over the past several days, I’ve tried to readjust my outlook from what-if, why-me to something more positive. I’ve finally found a doctor who knows what I have and has a plan to treat it. My eyes ARE getting better and they rarely hurt anymore. Although the antibiotic has some annoying side effects, at least there is medication. The other things that I need to do on a regular basis to get/keep my eyes healthy—get plenty of sleep, exercise, drink lots of water, stay out of the sun—are things that I should be doing anyway, so now I have additional motivation. The bottom line, most important thing I have to remind myself to be thankful for is that this isn’t something that affects my vision. It could be worse.
The other thing this has helped me get into perspective is that you never know what problems other people are dealing with, medical or otherwise. There are a couple of people at work that I’ve talked to about my eye problems, and my medical issue is probably more visible than many, but in general, I keep it to myself. How many other people at work are dealing with some sort of medical problem of their own or their child’s, or some other personal/family issue that they wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing? The fact that someone looks fine doesn’t always mean a lot.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
DC weekend with Laura
On Friday before leaving work for happy hour, a coworker asked me what I had planned for the weekend. “My little sister’s visiting!” I said. Him: “Oh. How little are we talking about? Like, 12?” Hmm... I guess I should start referring to my 22-year-old sister as “younger,” not “little.”
Anyway, Laura arrived later that night and we spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and catching up. On Saturday we headed downtown to do the whirlwind tour of Washington. We went to the Capitol first and wanted to go on a tour, but all of the people in line looked like they had special nametags, so we assumed that we hadn’t planned ahead enough to get tickets or something. Later on we decided to go back to ask one of the guards what the story was, and he told us that anyone can get tickets, but they just ran out 10 minutes ago. Whoops...
After our non-tour of the Capitol, we walked toward the mall to get back on the metro, but we took a slight detour because I had to pee. The nearest bathroom was in the United States Botanic Garden. After my beeline to the restroom, we wandered through the different geographic “locations” and admired all of the plants we couldn’t pronounce and didn’t recognize. The best part was that the indoor garden has a skywalk, so you can admire the rainforest from above. Pretty cool! Here’s Laura on the skywalk:
This is one of the things I love about DC—you’re just looking for a bathroom and then you stumble upon some amazing exhibit.
After we made it out of the garden, we took the metro north to Dupont Circle. The first order of business was lunch, then we followed the Lonely Planet’s recommended walking tour of Embassy Row. I tested Laura on her international flag skills, and she definitely scored higher than I did. Some of the embassies were very impressive, but others looked like just a random row house with a strange flag and unintelligible plaque outside. I wonder how you get onto the United States government’s A list when it comes to embassy housing. A Lonely Planet misprint had us wandering around Dupont Circle for a little longer than we planned trying to find the Spanish Steps, but after finally finding them (and being mostly underwhelmed), we got back on the metro to see the National Cathedral. Another Lonely Planet misprint, however, left us wandering around some random part of northwest Washington for about half an hour before we gave up on seeing the Cathedral and headed back to the Capitol area.
The sun was setting when we arrived at the Supreme Court, making for some squinty shots of us but some beautiful views of the building.
We couldn’t skip the third branch of the government once we had already visited the first two, so we headed over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We got to the back of the White House before the sun set completely, so we were able to get a couple of decent pictures.
By the time we got around to the front though, it was a different story... This was the best I could come up with:
We went home early because Laura wasn’t feeling well, so we weren’t able to eat at Jaleo. It might have been for the best though, because we were both pretty tired. It’s amazing how just a few months out of college can make your walking muscles shrivel.
Laura and I spent Sunday shopping instead of trying to run downtown again for a couple hours before her flight left. I had been wanting to get an indoor plant for a little while, so we headed to Lowe’s and each picked up a Bonsai tree. It’s pretty cute, but I’ve discovered, after a little online research, that a Bonsai tree is pretty much the most high maintenance houseplant you can get. That combined with my “gardening skills” probably gives the poor plant about a 15% chance at life beyond one month.
Anyway, Laura arrived later that night and we spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and catching up. On Saturday we headed downtown to do the whirlwind tour of Washington. We went to the Capitol first and wanted to go on a tour, but all of the people in line looked like they had special nametags, so we assumed that we hadn’t planned ahead enough to get tickets or something. Later on we decided to go back to ask one of the guards what the story was, and he told us that anyone can get tickets, but they just ran out 10 minutes ago. Whoops...
After our non-tour of the Capitol, we walked toward the mall to get back on the metro, but we took a slight detour because I had to pee. The nearest bathroom was in the United States Botanic Garden. After my beeline to the restroom, we wandered through the different geographic “locations” and admired all of the plants we couldn’t pronounce and didn’t recognize. The best part was that the indoor garden has a skywalk, so you can admire the rainforest from above. Pretty cool! Here’s Laura on the skywalk:
This is one of the things I love about DC—you’re just looking for a bathroom and then you stumble upon some amazing exhibit.
After we made it out of the garden, we took the metro north to Dupont Circle. The first order of business was lunch, then we followed the Lonely Planet’s recommended walking tour of Embassy Row. I tested Laura on her international flag skills, and she definitely scored higher than I did. Some of the embassies were very impressive, but others looked like just a random row house with a strange flag and unintelligible plaque outside. I wonder how you get onto the United States government’s A list when it comes to embassy housing. A Lonely Planet misprint had us wandering around Dupont Circle for a little longer than we planned trying to find the Spanish Steps, but after finally finding them (and being mostly underwhelmed), we got back on the metro to see the National Cathedral. Another Lonely Planet misprint, however, left us wandering around some random part of northwest Washington for about half an hour before we gave up on seeing the Cathedral and headed back to the Capitol area.
The sun was setting when we arrived at the Supreme Court, making for some squinty shots of us but some beautiful views of the building.
We couldn’t skip the third branch of the government once we had already visited the first two, so we headed over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We got to the back of the White House before the sun set completely, so we were able to get a couple of decent pictures.
By the time we got around to the front though, it was a different story... This was the best I could come up with:
We went home early because Laura wasn’t feeling well, so we weren’t able to eat at Jaleo. It might have been for the best though, because we were both pretty tired. It’s amazing how just a few months out of college can make your walking muscles shrivel.
Laura and I spent Sunday shopping instead of trying to run downtown again for a couple hours before her flight left. I had been wanting to get an indoor plant for a little while, so we headed to Lowe’s and each picked up a Bonsai tree. It’s pretty cute, but I’ve discovered, after a little online research, that a Bonsai tree is pretty much the most high maintenance houseplant you can get. That combined with my “gardening skills” probably gives the poor plant about a 15% chance at life beyond one month.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Pumpkins!
So it’s not quite Halloween, but Josh is going to be out of town on Wednesday, so we decided to carve our pumpkins a few days early. It’s been a while since I’ve done this, and I first carved my pumpkin’s features way too small, so you couldn’t really see any light through the pumpkin. The candle even went out when I put the top on! So, back to the drawing board... but after gouging my pumpkin a little more, success!
While we were getting the camera set up so that we could sit behind our pumpkins, Josh’s pumpkin started to get a little asthmatic, so he had to resuscitate it while I fiddled with the camera.
But finally we got everything together.
But finally we got everything together.
A few pictures to go along with the previous entry
I took a few pictures at the Library of Congress last weekend, but the ones with flash looked pretty dark on my camera’s tiny screen, so I tried to take the next couple without the flash, which turned out to be a bad idea. Anyway, here’s the ceiling in one of the main rooms:
Here’s the floor of that same room, although a little blurrier...
I only took one picture outside while we were wandering around the mall—this was taken the steps in front of the Capitol, looking down the mall toward the Washington Monument.
Going downtown, especially to Capitol Hill, the White House, or the monuments, always makes me appreciate living here, even though I don’t actually live in the District. It’s easy to get cynical about politics and the politicians in particular, but walking around those buildings and getting to do things like read the actual Declaration of Independence at the National Archives always gives me a renewed sense of appreciation for the way our country was founded and what our current leaders do here.
And last, Josh’s dad took a picture of Josh and me at Cosi, enjoying our s’mores. :)
Here’s the floor of that same room, although a little blurrier...
I only took one picture outside while we were wandering around the mall—this was taken the steps in front of the Capitol, looking down the mall toward the Washington Monument.
Going downtown, especially to Capitol Hill, the White House, or the monuments, always makes me appreciate living here, even though I don’t actually live in the District. It’s easy to get cynical about politics and the politicians in particular, but walking around those buildings and getting to do things like read the actual Declaration of Independence at the National Archives always gives me a renewed sense of appreciation for the way our country was founded and what our current leaders do here.
And last, Josh’s dad took a picture of Josh and me at Cosi, enjoying our s’mores. :)
Friday, October 26, 2007
Ahh, Friday night... that magical time where you bask in the glow of your computer screen, wander the deserted hallways on the way to the bathroom, and savor the peace and quiet in your office that only comes when everyone else has left for the weekend.
Or not. UGH, I can’t believe I'm still here. The worst part is that the guy who asked me for the data left hours ago—must be nice.
In other news, Josh and I finally got together for lunch today. For months I put that on my list of “won’t it be great to be able to do _____ together once we finally live in the same place?” things to do with Josh, and it was nice today. It was pouring, of course, but we managed to find a mostly-equidistant place to have lunch and catch up in the middle of the day. We probably won’t do it very often though, since our offices are relatively far apart.
Last weekend Josh’s parents came to visit, so we had dinner together on Friday, went to the Library of Congress on Saturday, and lounged around my apartment on Sunday watching football. If you haven’t visited the Library of Congress before and are planning a trip, my advice is to lower your expectations. The architecture and paintings/sculptures were nice, and I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but the Library didn’t quite live up to it. Our tour guide was pretty good though, and I was tempted to get a library card just so that I could say that I have one. You know, so I can whip it out at parties and impress all my friends... In any case, we had perfect fall weather last weekend, so the four of us spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the National Mall. Later that evening we took the metro to Old Town Alexandria and did some more wandering and eating. We went to Cosi for dinner, which wasn’t all that remarkable except for the fact that you can get s’mores for dessert. Mmm...
In other, other news, my former thesis advisor is trying to get me to write a paper and submit it to an AIAA conference (or journal). He’s mentioned this to me before, and when he would try to bring it up while I was still trying to graduate, I did the “la, la, la, I can’t hear you!” routine because I literally couldn’t imagine a time when my thesis would be done and I could concentrate on other things. But I guess now enough time has passed and my memory has gotten foggy enough that I’m actually considering it. Well, that, and the fact that my advisor casually mentioned that the next GN&C conference will be in Honolulu.
!!!
So maybe I’ll dust off the ol’ thesis and see if I can’t put a paper together. Hawaii definitely provides some incentive.
Or not. UGH, I can’t believe I'm still here. The worst part is that the guy who asked me for the data left hours ago—must be nice.
In other news, Josh and I finally got together for lunch today. For months I put that on my list of “won’t it be great to be able to do _____ together once we finally live in the same place?” things to do with Josh, and it was nice today. It was pouring, of course, but we managed to find a mostly-equidistant place to have lunch and catch up in the middle of the day. We probably won’t do it very often though, since our offices are relatively far apart.
Last weekend Josh’s parents came to visit, so we had dinner together on Friday, went to the Library of Congress on Saturday, and lounged around my apartment on Sunday watching football. If you haven’t visited the Library of Congress before and are planning a trip, my advice is to lower your expectations. The architecture and paintings/sculptures were nice, and I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but the Library didn’t quite live up to it. Our tour guide was pretty good though, and I was tempted to get a library card just so that I could say that I have one. You know, so I can whip it out at parties and impress all my friends... In any case, we had perfect fall weather last weekend, so the four of us spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the National Mall. Later that evening we took the metro to Old Town Alexandria and did some more wandering and eating. We went to Cosi for dinner, which wasn’t all that remarkable except for the fact that you can get s’mores for dessert. Mmm...
In other, other news, my former thesis advisor is trying to get me to write a paper and submit it to an AIAA conference (or journal). He’s mentioned this to me before, and when he would try to bring it up while I was still trying to graduate, I did the “la, la, la, I can’t hear you!” routine because I literally couldn’t imagine a time when my thesis would be done and I could concentrate on other things. But I guess now enough time has passed and my memory has gotten foggy enough that I’m actually considering it. Well, that, and the fact that my advisor casually mentioned that the next GN&C conference will be in Honolulu.
!!!
So maybe I’ll dust off the ol’ thesis and see if I can’t put a paper together. Hawaii definitely provides some incentive.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Happy birthday, Laura!
Happy belated birthday to my little sister Laura, who turned 22 yesterday! My gift to her is a trip to visit me in Washington, D.C. in a couple of weeks. Laura’s already picked out a Spanish restaurant that she wants to go to, and we’ll probably hit up at least one of the (free!) Smithsonian museums, but the rest of the weekend is still up for grabs. I’m looking forward to doing some touristy stuff that weekend, partly because I don’t make it downtown very often, and partly because I’m hoping most of the summer crowds have left. Somehow, Laura getting older doesn’t phase me all that much, but when I think about the fact that my next birthday will bring me closer to age 30 than to age 20, I get a little weirded out. And sometimes I can barely believe that my older sister Katherine is already 28...
Anyway, speaking of playing tourist, Josh’s parents are coming into town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to spending time with them, although I’m not sure what they’ll want to do while they’re here. If nothing else, they’ll have to play the Wii if they come over to my apartment. :)
Oh, and I almost forgot—my mom is leaving for China tomorrow! She’s spending about 10 days over there visiting Katherine. I think my mom’s a bit apprehensive about spending that many hours on a plane (who wouldn’t be??), but she’s really looking forward to seeing my sister. I don’t usually think of my mom as a big traveler, but she’s got all sorts of cool trips lined up—China, a mission trip to the Gulf Coast this winter, and a potential month-long stint in Brussels! The Brussels thing would be for work, and admittedly, it sounds like it’s in the early maybe/maybe not stage right now, but I’m definitely pulling for it. I mean, come on—someone’s got to go along to help her look for an apartment and get to know the area, right? ;)
Anyway, speaking of playing tourist, Josh’s parents are coming into town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to spending time with them, although I’m not sure what they’ll want to do while they’re here. If nothing else, they’ll have to play the Wii if they come over to my apartment. :)
Oh, and I almost forgot—my mom is leaving for China tomorrow! She’s spending about 10 days over there visiting Katherine. I think my mom’s a bit apprehensive about spending that many hours on a plane (who wouldn’t be??), but she’s really looking forward to seeing my sister. I don’t usually think of my mom as a big traveler, but she’s got all sorts of cool trips lined up—China, a mission trip to the Gulf Coast this winter, and a potential month-long stint in Brussels! The Brussels thing would be for work, and admittedly, it sounds like it’s in the early maybe/maybe not stage right now, but I’m definitely pulling for it. I mean, come on—someone’s got to go along to help her look for an apartment and get to know the area, right? ;)
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