7.31.10 - teaching everyone Tichu

Yesterday I went up to Wal Mart to grab a few things, and was amused by the contrast in customer service compared to the Wal Mart where Jack works (it's much friendlier here, it's ridiculous). Then I went *back* to BreadCo for lunch with Aunt Linda (it's tradition). I got the Frontega Chicken Sandwich for the 2nd day in a row, and was not remotely sick of it.

When I got home I got to try out Everett's new elliptical machine while watching my Youtube music video playlist on his 50" plasma TV screen. It was fantastic. After the workout, Everett, Ellen, Mom, David and I went to Sugar Creek winery to play--yes that's right--Tichu. I'm teaching everyone! We had wine, chocolate, cheese and crackers and played nearly a full game. We cut it off at 930 to 770 because a storm was rolling in (which was wonderful to watch, btw).

At home Everett and David showed me Fantastic Mr. Fox and Slammin' Salmon, and both movies were very funny.

Today I woke up and basically just talked to Mom for the first few hours of the day. Then Julie had her pre-wedding Pow Wow, and when it was over Troy, Erin and Aaron stuck around so that I could teach them Tichu. They picked it up pretty quickly, just like everyone. They had to leave before it was over, though. Alas.

That it so far, but it's been wonderful. Mom and I are getting ready to go to the St. Charles County Fair now. I just wanted to write this all out so in a year and beyond I'll still have the good memories.

7.29.10 - MO trip so far

Yesterday morning Jack and I got some frappuccinos and walked around Berkeley campus. We stopped once in a wooded area where squirrels walked right up to us over and over, and another time on a stone bridge over a creek. We had good talks about our lives right now. I really like him.

Then he took me to Oakland airport. The place was nearly empty--I guess flying on a Wednesday afternoon is the way to go. I breezed through security, played Spider Solitaire until we boarded, and read more of The Name of the Wind (which is picking up) during the trip. All was smooth. As the flight descended in St. Louis I got to watch a thunderstorm a little ways off. Watching thunderstorms from that height is wonderful, because you can see the nearly-incessant lightning.

Ellen and Mom picked me up from the airport and as soon as I got home I taught David, Everett, and Mike Tichu. Spreading the love. They picked it up pretty well, but Mike had to leave before we finished. Then David, Everett and I stayed up until about 5am watching old home videos I brought. We laughed till we cried.

I got up a few hours later (today) to take Mom to work so I could use her car during the day. I never quite went back to sleep. Went to BreadCo, had a (4 hour!) lunch with Angela visiting, which was great fun, and while I was there I ran into a friend I knew at L'abri! How bizarre is that? We are going to try to get coffee next week.

When I got home Ellen and I walked around the neighborhood a bit. I'm actually really enjoying the heat and even the humidity, just because it brings memories of other MO summers. It feels like there's little weather in the bay area by comparison. When I got back I finally crashed for a few hours.

That night David, Everett, Ellen, Adam and I went to see Julie and Denny's new home. It's about twice the size of my apartment at half the price (welcome to CA), and it is really nice. We stayed for a few hours, played more Tichu and watched funny music videos on Julie and Denny's giant projector screen. Went home around 1:30 in the morning. I think the summer weather out here is conducive to late schedules, because we don't want to go out until evening when it's cooled, and sleep during the hot part of the day.

7.23.10 - Editing home videos

A week or two ago I realized I have a working VCR stashed away in my closet, so I used it to watch 5-6 vhs home videos I haven't watched in years. They are from 2002, 2003, and 2005, and they have a lot on them I'd forgotten about. Some of it is very funny, all of it is nostalgic. 

So I've spent the last week or more recording all of the videos onto a computer and editing them in an attempt to make dvds for many of the people in the videos. (I notice I pledged copies of a lot of the videos to said people at the time of the recordings; better 8 years later than never, I guess.) It's been a fun project!

Since I don't need to be at work, and Jack is trying to get extra work done for Dad, I've been spending a lot of time at Dad's house. By "Dad's house" I mean "Dad's media room" because most of the house is covered in plastic sheets and cardboard while the kitchen sits in a state of disarray. The kitchen is being remodeled, so I spend nearly all my time in the media room, editing video files and playing Tichu with Jack, Neil, and Cody (who lives here now, btw.)

I leave for MO next Wed. It will be my first time there since Christmas; this is one of my longer stints away from MO since I moved to CA. I'm going to be helping Julie get ready for her wedding while having lunches and catching up with everyone there. Should be great fun, I can't wait.

7.4.10 - July 4th

This morning I got up a little early and made a (diet) cherry coke salad to chill in the fridge a few hours. Shortly after I finished, Henry came over, and we visited while waiting for Jack to get up and about. Then we all headed to the Berkeley wall for the largest wall ball turnout I've yet seen. There were enough people to play on both sides of the wall, and to later play a huge tournament-style game or several. Julie came and got to play. Dad and I watched; I, because I dislike sports and running, and Dad because his knees are sore. It was good to have him to visit with.

The games went on a long time and were sometimes hilarious to watch. Very competitive. Afterward, nearly everyone retired to Doug's house for a potluck barbecue. Far too much food, which was awesome. Brats, burgers, salads, corn, grilled zucchini (mmmmmm), pies, cookies, smores, etc. I taught three new people (including Julie) Tichu, spreading the Tichu love, and then I played in different Tichu games for a few hours. Finally we left, exhausted, and poor Jack still has to go to work! (He works overnight tonight.)

We didn't see any fireworks, but overall it was a very fun day.

6.25.10 - San Diego so far...

For reasons I've forgotten Renata got a frequent flier ticket recently, so she paid for half of my trip to come visit her for a long weekend in San Diego. I haven't spent more than an evening with her in probably over a year, so this is very exciting.

Being the genius that I am, I booked my ticked for today, Friday, at 7:20am instead of in the evening, but I'm sort of glad, because it just means more time to hang out with her. Jack was a sweetheart (shock, I know, *happy sigh*) and got up at 5:45am with me to take me to the airport. The flight was remarkably short compared to going to MO. Renata couldn't meet me as soon as I landed because she had to finish watching one of the World Cup games involving Brazil (dork), so I sat in an airport Starbucks and had a non-fat chai latte (courtesy of my birthday gift card from Merlene!) and relaxed. It was very pleasant.

Anyway, she picked me up and we hung out at her place by the pool, catching up. Later in the afternoon we intended to go with her roommate Carly to enjoy Renata's birthday present to me, which was a kayaking tour! She's very original, Renata.

We took Carly's car, and got there in plenty of time for our new appointment. Everyone who worked at the kayak tour place was very friendly. We went out with a group of about 10 kayaks, plus the tour guides. I was nervous at first, though trying to hide it. Renata manages to get me to try new things because she's so excited and I don't want to spoil it, and then I almost always end up having a blast myself once I get over my nervousness. That's what I kept telling myself, anyway, as we walked in bathing suits in the chilly wind towards the GIGANTIC OCEAN.

The scariest part was when we were first going into the water. The guides had warned us to steer straight into the waves or we'd surely tip over. We waded in to our knees before getting in the kayaks, and the water was freezing. I was thinking "How did I let Renata talk me into this??" I said that out loud to her, actually. When we started paddling we immediately got turned sideways, and it was nerve-racking trying to get back on track, but we figured it out without falling over.

After that it was completely awesome. The waves were only near the shore and beyond it was just large, gentle swells. The water was actually warmer than the air, and very pleasant. Our guides told us all sorts of trivia about La Jolla and the area, including how the $48m homes at the edge of the cliffs come with contracts where the owners acknowledge that their houses will fall into the sea within 20 years. Supposedly one such home fell in 2 years ago, and the man only had a 2 hour warning, *and* he got fined for polluting the ocean.

We kayaked over to some cliffs and saw the sea lions, and then we went one kayak at a time into a cave. All very cool. The hardest part was kayaking back to the shore, because it was far and Renata and I are incapable of paddling in a straight line. We were laughing a lot about it though.

6.19.10 - My birthday continued

Woke up, went to Safeway, bought the ingredients for spinach sausage loaf, went home, set the bread dough to thaw. Jack helped me clean up a bit while we listened to excellent music. (Recently I have really enjoyed "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance, and Jack and Neil love "Rag and Bone" by White Stripes.) Then I spent around 4 hours reorganizing my dad's massive never-before-organized living room book shelf while listening to Ken Burns' documentary on the Civil War. This was pleasant in several ways. History is more fun to listen to than to read, with people reading out loud from the letters of the past, using the same accents and verbiage, etc. McClellan sounded like a complete idiot, btw. It was also nice to go through all of Dad's books and realize how many good ones he owns. I love books. I picked out a few to borrow, and I felt like I ought to have a rolling ladder to swing across the shelf while singing songs from Beauty and the Beast.

Anyway, when I finally finished that I made spinach sausage loaf and used the extra bread dough for cinnamon rolls. In the course of doing this, Morgan, and then Henry, and then Doug came over. We all ate and drank and joked and of course, played lots of Tichu. Henry and Morgan had never played before, but they did well. Henry especially picked up quickly (Morgan had to leave early), and ultimately it was Henry and me playing Neil and Jack. We got stupidly good hands, to the point where it was hilarious to even lay down our cards because we were so crushing Neil and Jack.

We finally wrapped up the game near 1:30am. Well worth it. Overall a great birthday.

PS - Forgot to add: Jack got me a gift (already in addition to the wonderful dinner!) It is a 100-page scrapbook for me to fill up, and he said he wants to help me with it. It came with a note and was all very sweet. I like him. :)

6.17.10 - My birthday

I get several texts, tons of FB messages, and a few calls wishing me happy birthday. All were very sweet, but my favorites were

1) Sola. Julie dialed for her and then put her on, and she sang me Happy Birthday in her adorable voice. I told her "You're the first person to sing me 'Happy Birthday' today!" "Thanks...for saying that." Very, very cute.

2) Mom, calling to tell me she prayed all day that I'd have a good day, and that she is so proud of me. It was a short but sweet conversation.

3) Angela, giving me a Chuck Norris quote on my FB wall. "Team Chuck Norris can never be defeated. It will live on because Chuck Norris can never die."

4) The following IM convo with Neil:

Me: do you think tonight you could put microsoft office on my computer as well as the recording software?
Neil: HAPPY FRIGGEN BIRTHDAY!
Me: lol
Me: thanks
Me: ...is that a yes?
Neil: Yes! Because it's your birthday!

I also received cards from Mom, Grandma and Grandpa Benoist, and Jack's grandmother! And I got this shirt, which I love, from Julie:

So I went to work, learned about minipreps and a few other things. My boss, Chaomin, let me go early. Jack came to pick me up and we hung out at his place, windows open to the beautiful weather. He worked more on the puzzle (he is tireless) and I put music on my laptop and just generally relaxed. Then he showed me how to change the oil in his car, which turned out to be less complicated than I expected. Jack left to get gas, and I continued adding to my music collection. After 20 minutes or so, Jack still wasn't back, and I fell asleep. I'm not sure how long he was gone in total, but when he returned he had gotten his car washed (the inside is already immaculate :) ).

Then he busied himself getting very dressed up to take me out to dinner. I didn't know where we were going but I did know that he was wearing a suit, so that's exciting. He took me back to my place to get ready, and by the time we actually left for the mysterious restaurant we were both starving, which works out well. He drove a backwards, convoluted way so that I couldn't guess where we were headed, and it worked at first. Ultimately he had to drive past the actual restaurant looking for parking, and so I spotted it--Rivoli's! It's the same restaurant where we celebrated our anniversary dinner, and we both had really liked it.

So we wined and dined at a corner table where we could sit next to each other and observe the rest of the restaurant. It's a very intimate, relaxed setting. We had great talks, including wondering whether or not you ought to tell your kids Santa is real, ha. When they brought out dessert (pineapple and raspberry sorbet with honey ginger cookies) they had one thin candle in it, and they *did not* sing me happy birthday--so it was the best of both worlds. :)

5.27.10 - Summer so far

So yesterday on the way home I wiped out on my bike and my backpack shoved my face into the sidewalk. I scraped my palms real good trying to stop, and I crushed the brakes into the front tire so that it can't turn, meaning I had to carry the bike home on it's rear wheel without using my palms, ha. I'm fine and Jack thinks he can fix the bike, and really I'm just grateful I didn't break anything or have any serious problems. I wasn't sure at first because I cut my forehead and there was no reflective surface around, so all I knew was that my head hurt and there was blood in my eye. Creepy. But it is actually a pretty small cut, so there you go. And luckily (a) it was a nice day out (as opposed to the rain the day before, and the rain today) and (b) I was only 3 blocks from my apartment, so it didn't take me that long to get home and clean up.

The lab job is going steady. I make and run gels and make buffers and I enjoy it. When my post-doc is busy and has nothing for me to do I read, and lately I've been reading this American History book I have from a class I never finished a few years ago. It's actually pretty interesting. I like reading about colonization and various impressive characters. Maybe I'll get into it and start reading biographies and things. Or maybe not. But it's a good way to pass time now.

I like biking home from lab (except for yesterday) because it's summer and the campus is nearly empty. It's almost like having the place to myself.

Then I finish at the lab and go home to hours of utter freedom. I'm still not used to not having homework. I certainly don't miss it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer of not-having-homework, and getting to meet Rocket, seeing Jill again, seeing Julie, seeing Renata, and then Julie's wedding! 

Meanwhile, this is the awesome view from the window at my desk in lab:

5.18.10 - Starting work in the lab

I've had at least two nightmares involving me thinking I was done with finals only to find out that I still have to take my P chem final and I haven't been studying for it. It's great to wake up from those and remember that, no, I am done with the final, and moreso, I got an A in the class. I guess my subconscious just refuses to believe it.

I started my new job working in the Cate Lab yesterday. My superior taught me to make a few gels and buffers yesterday, and went through some basic procedures involving the sonicator and larger centrifuges. This morning I've made a few more solutions and now I'm waiting for them to fully dissolve. It already reminds me somewhat of working for the Chem storeroom at City College, and that's kind of nice. And, if nothing else, I'm making about the same amount I made working for Starbucks, but I never, ever have to deal with rude or insane customers. Or any customers for that matter. So I'm pretty happy.

Meanwhile, even with work it still feels like vacation because when I go home from work, there's nothing I have to do. I love it. Last night Jack and I made some deli sandwiches (in his new toaster oven, woot) and watched maybe 5 episodes of LOST Season 5 (I'm just now catching up). And it was guiltless, and it was great. This free time should also allow me to workout more often and finish another scrapbook, etc. I'm very pleased.

I also have my apartment to myself, at least for the foreseeable future, because my roommate went back home for the summer. She may end up sub-letting her room, which is fine with me since it would only be through mid-August anyway, but for now I'm still paying only my half of the rent and getting the place to myself *and* knowing I get the same (awesome) roommate next semester. She really is idyllic for me--we are both pretty clean and we generally stay out of each others' way, but we get along well when we do interact. Love it.

To top all of that good news off, Sarah is coming to visit. She gets in to Oakland in about an hour and a half. Sweet.

So yeah, things are going really well. Glad for the break.

5.13.10 - My Heroine

"...I'm not in business to give chances. I'm running a railroad." ~ Dagny
"That's an extremely narrow view, it seems to me. I don't see why we should want to help one man instead of a whole nation." - Jim
"I'm not interested in helping anybody. I want to make money." ~ Dagny

"The hours ahead, like all her nights with him, would be added, she thought, to the savings account of one's life where moments of time are stored in the pride of having been lived."

"I feel that others live up to me, if they want me." ~ Dagny

"My way of trading is to know that the joy you give me is paid for by the joy you get from me..." ~ Dagny

 

4.23.10 - Rivoli's anniversary dinner

--I found out I have much better odds than I thought of getting an A in P chem, which would be a miracle.

--I watched more videos of Rocket in all his unstoppable adorableness.

--I found out the research position I am starting this summer is (a) paid (b) above min wage and (c) the professor is certain I can work 40+ hours a week while (d) he doesn't care at all that I'll be in MO for 2 weeks in August.

--I then found out that during the school year I can count the research work towards my financial aid credit minimum.

--I went to Rivoli's for my anniversary dinner with Jack. We got there a little early for our reservation and our table wasn't ready, but we sat at a table by a window in the front and each had a glass of Rose wine and great talks. (EDIT: I forgot to add that while we were waiting we looked at a menu so we could order as soon as we were seated, and while we were looking at the menu Jack covered all of the prices so that I would pick what I really wanted without being able to factor in how much it cost. Frankly, I thought this was both brilliant and adorable.) We didn't even notice that our wait was longer than predicted until the host came and apologized and told us it was almost ready. When he did take us to our table, it was the only cushioned-seat corner table in the restaurant, allowing us to sit right next to each other. Additionally they had sprinkled some sparkles and miniature "Happy Anniversary" words on the table cloth. I didn't realize they knew we were there for our anniversary, because Jack had called ahead and told them.

We had great food, great wine, great talks, great dessert. My meal looked suspiciously like the meal Jules eats at the very beginning of My Best Friend's Wedding. I wrote it up as inventive and confident. Anyway, I was full and buzzed and exhausted and in a great mood by the end. Everyone was really friendly and multiple people wished us happy anniversary, which was cute.

--Then I came home and saw *another* new video of Rocket.

4.22.10 - Funny songs

Rock Sugar - Don't Stop the Sandman

Total Eclipse of the Heart, Literal version

Flight of the Conchords!

4.14.10 - I need no soft lights to enchant me, baby...

Jack and I started dating in Dec 08 but we weren't exclusive until last April. Yesterday was our one year anniversary. It got off to a decent start. I made him a very cool, elaborate scrapbook of our first year together, and I gave it to him first thing in the morning. He was pleased and surprised. The bummer is that with my school schedule and his work we won't be able to actually go out to celebrate until the 24th. Ah well.

Jack got off work and picked me up. We went back to his place. I worked out for an hour, which was exactly long enough for him to buy the groceries and make a delicious dinner for the two of us: tortellini, cheesy garlic bread, and of course, Lambrusco (our favorite). We enjoyed it together while watching The Family Man, a very cute movie. So overall it was a lovely night.

4.3.10 - How to Train Your Dragon

For date night this week, Jack and I were going to see "Liam Neeson And The Kraken" (some of you may know this by the less awesome name "Clash of the Titans.") While talking about it, we realized the last 2-3 movies we've gone to see in theater over the last several months have all pretty much sucked, and so we came up with the novel idea of checking the movie reviews before going to the theater. I'm glad we did, because Rotten Tomatoes gave "Liam" a sad 30%. In fact, Rotten Tomatoes gave most of the movies available at our favorite theater pretty low ratings. Alice In Wonderland hovered at a whopping 52%--not exactly compelling, for the prices they charge. Then we saw that "How To Train Your Dragon"--which I had never even heard of--got 98%. Jack kind of grumbled that it's a kids movie, until we realized the last movie we saw in theaters that we truly enjoyed was "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs." That settled it.

So we went to see "How To Train Your Dragon" and it was great. Also, it was the first movie either Jack or I saw in 3D, which was great as well. Jack kept exclaiming and waving his hand in front of his face at all the 3D previews. Ha. By the way, all of the preview 3D movies also looked great. 

In other news, I got an A on one of my midterms (after the curve, but still).

2.18.10 - Spring and Julie's engagement

Tonight I was riding my bike home around dusk or a little after. There are a bunch of trees on one of the main streets of Berkeley that have little white blossoms. It was windy out, and the blossoms were flying all through the air; they looked like snow flurries, even though it's 55 degrees out or something. It was wonderful.

My sister is getting married this summer. My younger sister. Well, I only have younger sisters. I can't imagine myself ready to get married, but I can imagine her ready to get married, and I'm pretty happy for her. She wrote a great description of the proposal, which even I found moving. Here's an excerpt:

Feb 14, 2010 - Enter the Japanese Garden

-Denny inquires where my favorite spot in the Japanese Garden is; I tell him it's the little dock down by the water where we sat in the summer and talked about winning the lottery

-Buy fish food by the straight bridge and feed the geese and ducks who some how manage to survive the freezing water (???)

-Circle the Japanese Garden and arrive at stepping stones that descend to above mentioned dock.  Stepping stones are gated off.  Denny wishes to hop said gate, I refuse at it's bad manners.

-We decide to walk through the English Wood Garden to "our tree".

-We arrive at above mentioned tree.  Denny tells me to close my eyes.  He then continues to spin me around until I am somewhat dizzy.  He holds my hands to steady me.  I feel him let go of one of my hands and the other is leveraged downward ever so sightly.  He tells me to open my eyes.  He's holding out a beautiful silver ring.  He kneels in the snow and asks if I will marry him.

-I stutter slightly and say that I thought he had said not until later.  Then I come to my senses and tell him, hell yes I'll marry him!

-Ensue hugging, tears of joy, more hugging, many kisses.

When I told Jack that Julie was getting married, he responded "I don't want to marry you." That made me laugh. I like that he understands me.

1.27.10 - Amusing Convos, Take...Whatever

[20:57] Me: I don't know if I will make it through this semester without crying once every other week, at least
[20:57] Hugo: /slap
[20:57] Me: lol
[20:57] Me: good response! I'm impressed
[20:57] Hugo: get a hold of yourself woman
[20:57] Hugo: what are you, a democrat
[20:57] Me: FINE
[20:57] Me: I WILL GET ALL A'S

1.18.10 - It Made My Day!

I found these on a website called itamdemyday.com where people give uplifting stories about their days:

I work at a doctors office. I recently received a call from a woman’s cat who accidentally redialed our number. Every time I said hello, it meowed at me and IMMD

I came home from a long day at work and school to find my husband sitting on the couch with his replica MP40 air soft gun. He was pretending to shoot the villians on T.V. IMMD!

I work in an animal clinic, and a man brought in his pet python. It’s name? Lt. Dan. (Because "he ain’t got no legs") IMMD!

I was learning how to parallel park with my dad. Once I successfully pulled it off, my dad high-fived me, grinned and hummed the Final Fantasy victory fanfare. IMMD.

I just saw that in our filing cabinet, my husband has all federal correspondence labeled as "Dealings With The Man." IMMD.

After our new GPS told us 3 times to turn left ahead, my 6 year old replied from the backseat, "we’re gonna, lady in the box." IMMD!

1.7.10 - Random Thoughts

All of the leaves on the tree outside my balcony fell off while I was in MO. Hurry up, spring!

I ordered my books for this semester's classes yesterday. It was incredibly intimidating both financially and academically. On the other hand I am very proud of my work; I'm proud that it is difficult work and that I am doing it anyway.

I really missed Caramel Apple Pops while I was in MO, and I'm glad I have them again. :)

12.8.09 - Chilly

It was 35 out this morning. For CA that's pretty low. I put on gloves and biked to campus for some final review sessions. It's slightly uphill the whole way, and by the time I got there I was sweating. On days like today, that's actually pretty nice.

While in class I realized I'd left my lab at home, so instead of studying in the hour between class and lab, I biked home to get it. Not surprisingly, going home, the opposite direction, is downhill the whole way. I realized gloves aren't enough. I need some earmuffs.

After biking back to campus to drop off the last lab and gliding back home once more, I was very happy to trade my combat boots for slippers and turn the heater on. And now I'm very happy to be sitting alone in my fairly clean and fairly warm apartment to ... get back to studying. One more week until I'm free.

10.9.09 - Brief October-ish Update

Mmmmm.

The other day Jack and I went to a French Bistro for lunch. We accidentally ate a cow's thymus gland, and it was delicious. Texture like scallops.

Jack has started picking me up on his lunch breaks and taking me back to work with him. I walk to the nearby Starbucks and study until he gets off work. I get a lot more done because there's no internet available (I don't bring my laptop), plus it's just nice to study outside of the apartment for awhile.

After a noble effort I am not going to be either Alice or the Queen of Hearts for Halloween. Money and my body type joined forces against me. I found a very cute, very classic witch costume that I'm happy with. I mean, really, I haven't been a witch since I was about four. What should Jack be? What best goes with witches? He says Optimus Prime.