November

Fall is definitely here now. It was 70 degrees yesterday. Today, the first of November, it is 50 degrees, crisp and sunny. Carl thinks we can push my thesis through if we really work at it. I want to, so why can't I? We've tried this before. Hopefully, it will work this time.
It is so lovely outside. Outside definitely seems better than the Ordovician on a computer screen right now. Ugh.

9-11-09

I spent the day out in the back woods of upstate New York. We were on a field trip and had no idea anything had happened until we got to PRI (Paleontologic Research Institute, not Public Radio International) in Ithaca, and a friend there told us. It was before all of the rerouted planes had managed to find landing spaces, but after both towers had come down. One of the men who worked at PRI was really nervous because his dad had flown out of Newark that morning, and was unreachable. I got a little nervous then because my dad was doing biweekly trips to and from Newark at that point in time. I called his cell phone, and it went straight to voice mail. I called my mom on her cell phone and at home, but she didn't answer. I was scared my dad had been on one of the planes. The details were still really blurry at that point. We still didn't really know what had happened. I remember the guy at PRI finally getting a call from his father who had been rerouted to Canada. I finally got a hold of my parents that evening - my mom had shoulder surgery that afternoon, but no one had told me. My dad had watched the towers fall (because he often left CBS news up as a background to his work), and then had to take my mom in for her surgery. She'd left her phone at home, and my dad had turned his off because he was in the hospital. No one thought it was a big deal. I thought my dad might have been dead. Fortunately (thanks in large part to my mom's surgery), my dad didn't have a business trip that day. My heart goes out to everyone who did - to all the people just doing their jobs, to the families going to visit each other, to everyone who lost someone that day.

a wednesday morning rant

Aarrgghhhhh! Why does everything my coworker does get under my skin?!? Is it because he's 78 and acts like he's 12? Is it because he won't retire, and I'll never have job security past a year-long contract? Is it because he's annoying as all hell, and loves being that way? Is it the incessant groaning and moaning that accompanies his every move? Is it his annoying desire to be right always, and to throw it in my face when he thinks he actually is? It's everything. All of these things and more. I feel slightly better now. May have to rant again later.

married life

So I got married, drove back to CT, cut all my hair off, but things still feel the same. The only time things seem different is when I talk about Nate as "my husband." That is still weird to say. Having trouble focusing today (as if the time of this post didn't suggest that). Too many brachiopods with too many of the wrong numbers on them... Why couldn't I just have fixed it all the first time through? Probably because I had no clue what I was doing. That's three years of experience talking. Ah well, back to my brachs!

Pre-Wedding Madness

So I'm getting married in, let's see... T minus 8 days and counting. We're leaving for Ohio in 48 hours (after a brief stop at the Dr. Seuss sculpture park in Springfield, Mass.). I'm not sure how Mr. Bunny feels about the Lorax, but I suppose will find out because he's coming along too. I think everything is in place. We have a site, food and alcohol. Do we need anything else? Smoke says, "Meow." I'm not sure if that's a yes or a no. Maybe he's just mad that he doesn't get to come along (and that I'm typing this instead of petting him). Mom and Dad should be safely in Oregon now, surrounded by all of their fishy friends. Life will be calmer soon. That's all I have to cling to at this point. Life will be calmer soon...

winter in the northeast

It gets cold in Connecticut. I was excited for this because I thought we'd have tons and tons of snow. Then, the first two years there was very little snow. This year, however, was different. We had well over a foot of snow, and it stayed. For months. I couldn't wait for the "rocks of Gibraltar" at the end of the driveway to melt. They were as tall as me. For months. Now, finally, in March everything has melted. Spring is on its way, right? Not so fast my friends. Tonight we're supposed to get 6 - 10 inches. Tomorrow, another 3 - 5 inches. So much for my first crocus sighting...

and still they grow...

Every day Nate and I come home from work, and we slip right into our routine. He gets the mail, and I wander the yard to see what has sprouted new leaves or grown a little taller. In honor of this routine I submit photos of the plants coming up in our yard.