It is way past my bedtime

and i can't sleep, so I am watching touching evil on tivo, definitely a show to give you nightmares....

Today I finished the first sketch of my first results chapter from my dissertation....so far, not so bad....it wasn't due until tuesday.

I am so sore due to the new exercise regime led by the lovely and charming terri, who I am pretty convinced is trying to kill me so he can have my tivo and tahu can have all of my shoes and handbags.....but it is good for me, b/c dissertations can make you get very out of shape....so I head back to the gym tomorrow after a day off.

Although Wednesday I had a run in at the gym with a fellow duke alumnus. He was class of '97, I knew his brother who was my year. Let's just say this guy is a big improvement. Odd I never knew there was an older fusco brother when I was there.....oh the funny things that happen.....

In other news...I am hosting a West Indian dinner (meaning the Caribbean not a part of India) on Saturday night. It should be a good crowd. I think it should be a lot of fun.....or I hope so...thank goodness I finished up this very first draft so I can cook on saturday....

The laptop is finally back

I am now back with my old friend my laptop. It was so strange without it. But I am all productive again. Soon I'll be posting pictures from my vacation and some interesting tales of my adventures.

Like two minutes ago, some stranger walked into my lab, and was just looking around for something. I was like um, this is an experimental laboratory, what do you think you are doing? He was looking for an extention cord....so totally bizarre.

Well look forward to more random postings from me.

Baby Joss Pics....

So my mom went to Wellesley to see the baby this weekend....and here is a link to her photos.

I think she is pretty cute....I like it when her hair sticks up......

http://drralphie.blogspot.com/2006/01/baby-jocelyn-collage.html

Updates soon to come

So my laptop's motherboard was fried, so I am in the midst of getting it repaired, plus getting a bunch of papers sent off. One should be almost done, and the other is due wednesday at noon, so then nothing to do with those until we get feedback. I am just busy catching up. The trip was fantastic, and I am kind of sad to be back, but the daily grind is what makes vacations so fabulous.

So hopefully next week I'll have a bit more time......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I'm back

I am home safe and sound and returned to a bunch of emails and a lot of work....if you are expecting a post card from me...well...it might be on its way tomorrow....

Guadeloupe is great...Muffinhead and I had a fabulous time....but now back to the grind...if only my laptop wasn't still in the shop....i hate it right now.....

T-MINUS 5 HOURS

And we are off to the airport. I am getting a bit antsy to get out of the rain. I can't wait for sun and ocean water warm enough to swim in. We'll get to test if the amount of french I learned in high school has actually remained...let's just put it this way, it could be really interesting.

I am about to go pick up muffin head as we must return one of my christmas gifts as it is a bit too small for my thick neck....who knew one could have a thick neck...well except for those professional athletes who have larger necks than heads....hmmm...maybe I should give up sociology to become an athlete...although anyone who has seen me try to do anything coordinated will know this is a horrid idea.....hmmmm...what to do.....

Post-Christmas Update

All went very well with dinner. Somehow we fit all 13 people in the apartment. The food was excellent, and everyone seemed to have a great time. The Brits did manage to keep me awake until 3am, much to my dismay...Those boys they sure like their red wine and beer.

It was a grand time, it is nice to get a group of my friends who don't necessarily know each other together and see what happens....in this case all went well.

I am just finishing off some work, and then off to pick up a few things for our trip...yay we leave tomorrow night.....hopefully....all will go smoothly and I won't get attacked by too many jellyfish...but at least this time I have the right tools to deal with the situation.

Muffinhead and I will try to blog from Guadeloupe...but I have no idea how much internet access we'll have.

I hope everyone had as delightful of a holiday as MH and I did.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A break from Grant Land

So while trying to get a grant off to the NSF my laptop has decided to die....well it has some sort of battery issue...so it is taking a vacation to visit dell, which means I am spending many a long hour in the lab working on the grant. In one way it is good and I can't eat too many treats, or procrastinate by cooking or something fun like that...

Which leads to my next task....I have managed to somehow end up with somewhere between 11 and 13 people coming to my apartment for christmas dinner....how are the going to fit...hmmm...that is an excellent question...but somehow I will make it happen....

This is one of those rare situations when my kindness (for some reason everyone laughs when I say I am being kind or nice...hmmmm) gets me into some trouble...I just don't think people should be alone on holidays...People were so nice to me last year when I could have been alone, I had to repay some sort of karmic debt.

in other news...i have learned how to do cables while knitting...so those of you who tend to receive my knitted projects can be afraid....there is a new pattern out there that I am mastering. I am working on a scarf for muffin head...he won't wear a hat, his is grey, and I am making a scarf for myself (I oddly enough never make thngs for myself) and mine is ice blue....

I will try to post again after the christmas dinner, and before muffin head and I go off to Guadeloupe.....and we'll see if we can post from there....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

While I face the wrath of some by using the phrase happy holidays, I am tough enough to risk it.

For y0ur holiday pleasure....A christmas story re enacted by bunnies http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory/

Enjoy and don't shoot your eye out this holiday season....

ps photos from my trip to boston will be up shortly....

Headed to Beantown

So Andrew and I are headed to Boston tomorrow for a little holiday cheer with my family and to meet my new niece, Jocelyn. I have procured some nice pomade to recreate that sweet mohawk she had at the hospital.

Andrew is meeting most of the family for the first time...so hopefully he isn't too scared....hehehehehe.......

So...I'll be without blog for a few days...but photos will be forthcoming upon my return.....

Have a happy weekend!

picture of my nieces

so...my two nieces met....apparently daisy...the dog, likes jocelyn, the human. I am sure their mom was quite happy about that. I'll be meeting them for the first time on friday. No news on who else Jocelyn has spit up on...although rumour is Zach was the first victim......

Let's hope I am ready for the cold....i make no promises.....

Run in with Steve Young

I swear the man only eats Asian food. I have run into him twice. Both times in Asian places....
Last night he was at a thai place that I was having dinner at. He doesn't look the same as on tv...but still a damn good looking man....Andrew wasn't impressed....well...to each his/her own.

First Pictures are In!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here is Jocelyn....

I totally dig the Mohawk.......very hip....

OFFICIALLY AN AUNTIE

Today I am officially an auntie....while many of you out there thought I would be having a nephew, in fact I have a niece. She was born in the wee hours of this morning, and her name is Jocelyn Faye. The mother, aka my sister, and the baby are doing just fine...the dad seems to be fine too....

When I get photos...I'll put those up too!

I'll be seeing this little muffin next week, so I'll get some of my own photos too!

Instead of Pandas....

Today we have bunnies....ok...a bunny.....

http://www.bklynbunny.com/

i really dig their logo.....see the little bunny ears and eyes in the bridge....

yeah i am procrastinating.....

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.....

Life in the Lab......

So as the quarter draws to an end....life is hectic down here.....

Data coding is almost done....which means data analysis begins....that should start on monday...so don't expect to see me without my laptop for awhile.

Once data is analyzed, paper can be finished......and sent off....very exciting

In the mean time..........NSF proposal must get done.....I know you are all wondering....hmmm....I thought she got one of those last year...well I did, but that was for my dissertation....this is for the next few years of my work with KC and CC. We are planning a big new project....once it gets funded I'll let you know.....

Oh...yeah...and there are the holidays....two holiday parties this week and a birthday party.....and it only gets more hectic from there....

I can't wait until I get to Guadeloupe......I need that vacation....

I hope all of you are having more fun than me....and good luck to those of you who aren't....I know there are oral exams, dissertations, chapters and articles to be completed for all of you academics out there....and all sorts of other real world tasks for the rest of my readers, I just have lost touch with what those are......

Enjoy the beginning of the holiday season.....


oh and to my niece/nephew....be nice to my sister and just be born.....

New Panda Friend

So....my little buddy Su Lin at the San Diego Zoo has some competition....there is a new panda cub, Tai Shan (peaceful mountain) in the US, at the National Zoo in DC.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051130/od_nm/life_panda_dc

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/default.cfm

This little dude is pretty darn adorable...he is a little older than Su Lin, but I think they would be friends....

I've been away far too long

so....to give my faithful readers an update...

data collection on my dissertation experiment is complete, the behavioral data is now in spss, and in another week the questionnaire data should be there too!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Niece/Nephew aka butterball is refusing to come out and play, perhaps the child is a little tempermental....well we all know what side of the family that comes from.....

My herbs de provance turkey was fabulous as was the cranberry chutney....I highly recommend that everyone makes their own cranberries....I can't abide by the pre-bought nonsense......

holiday shopping is done....will soon begin holiday cards....trust me, this year's version are super duper cool...even if Andrew thinks they are inappropriate for English audiences....they are just puppy haters....what can I say.

I hope everyone had a lovely turkey day....i was doing just fine until i got hit with a sinus infection....damn my sinsuses

Experiment=done

so...we have reached 150....Now let the remaining coding begin.....i know...fun and games...but I do have the lovely Julie/Julia team to help....so it should be done by break.....

I think it might be time to celebrate....except that I have too much to do....poop.....

new gym character

so....over the past week or so there has been this guy who looks remarkably familiar....then it came to me on tuesday as he was in a tank top---he looks like the ever popular A.C. Slater from Saved by the Bell....now if only the rest of the crew would arrive....i have bets that screetch will be next....stanford is the type of place that would attract someone like him....although it could be the illustrious jesse spano...

and the answer is no...i don't tivo old episodes of saved by the bell....