The tree and the trash

Well since this is a new post I have room for two pics I hope - let's see if the system crashes again. Without further delay, here is the infamous tree, and evidence of how strong was the storm that came through. They had set up all these paper trash baskets around the lawn so people wouldn't litter. Great thought but since they were mostly empty and light at the time of the storm, most of them blew away! And.... ended up in the reflecting pool :-(
So, these are my first posted photos - I'm sure there will be many more to come!

The tree made it but not the trash. It's time for bed, otherwise I'll be up all night uploading photos.

Dishes

It worked!!! ;-)
Well, this picture has nothing to do with my original blog for the day called "dishes". I decided to add a photo just as a trial thing and it worked - yeah! This is Lincoln memorial on 4th of July this year. We were sitting next to the reflecting pool a little closer to the actual fireworks, but as you can see there are tons of people sitting on the steps. These really are the most beautiful fireworks I've ever seen. Let me see if I can add a photo of them bursting in the air! Oh and now that I am having so much fun adding photos, here is a pic of a tree that got hit by the lighting about 20 ft from the reflecting pool, about 45 min before we got there! There was a huge storm that went through, we were very lucky. We were just coming out of the metro when it started storming. Stayed under the overhang until it passed and watched dozens of soaked people run to the metro. I think for most of them the 4th of July celebration ended right there. After it stoped raining we went through the security and found a wonderful empty lawn since now we were some of the first people back... It was a spectacular show! Well, the tree didn't work - let me try again... Still a no-go. I'll try to post it as a separate blog entry, but if that doesn't work, it will have to remain a mystery - you'll just have to come see me in person to see the pic :-)


Somehow, I constantly feel like I am surrounded by dirty dishes. Just when I get them all clean, there are new ones waiting in line - or at least it feels that way. I really hate doing dishes. And I really can't complain because I live alone - what would I say if I was taking care of a family? No clue, but one thing is for sure - my husband (whoever that may be) will have to participate in that activity.
On a happier note - since there is not much on TV worth watching this summer, I've been trying to catch up on Grey's Anatomy. I just started watching it towards the end of the last season and really loved it! Now they are showing both the first and the second season kind of simultaneously, so I am trying to catch up on all the story lines - it really is funny. I think this might be my favorite show now. What shows do you follow regularly? I'm still an avid fan of ER, and I did get roped into Lost (although I'm starting to lose interest because of too many unexplained things), and Apprentice. Even though that's a reality show (which I normally don't watch), I think this one is interesting from a business and "business politics" point of view. The interactions are interesting, particularly in situations that call for ethical or moral conduct.
Anyway, I'm spending time doing more useful things than watching TV at least until the fall. ;-)
Let me see if I can add a photo to this blog for today... I think the hardest part will be choosing what photo... Stay tuned :-) Apparently it didn't work, my internet crashed - maybe next time.

Work and vacation

Nothing too exciting happened today except that I went to pick up a friend from the airport. She just came back from spending a month in Germany for work. It sounds exciting except that she didn't have a whole lot of money to travel, was there for work, and doesn't speak German. All of that put together and a month can seem kinda long I think. So she was all smiles to be back, very tired smiles after over 20 hours of flying. She goes on her vacation tomorrow, so that will be the real R&R.
I can't wait to go on my R&R in three weeks!!! And I will stay for three weeks! I can't wait to swim in that blue sea, dive off the rocks, get a little tan... Most of all, I can't wait to see all of my family and friends. One of my cousins is supposed to have a baby in the beginning of Aug, so I should be able to see her and her son (and meet her husband too). My parents are already planning all this traveling along the coast - won't hear me complain! I feel like a tourist :-)
There will be a lot of firsts this summer: my cousin and her baby, seeing my brothers house on the coast, going to some of the coastal cities I haven't been to... I still can't believe that I am going for that long. I think my boss was shocked too because he sounded surprised when I told him the dates I will be gone. And then he just said: "Oh, good for you!". But it wasn't quite clear whether that meant "Wow, how did you get away with that?!?" or "Oh great, have a great time, you deserve it!". One of those things that make you go hmmmmm. I choose to believe the second version - what do you think?

blogs

So here I am again. This blogging thing is pretty addictive I must say. What I would like to know is - who reads this besides my sister who got me onto this site? Every time I log in, I see that there were more and more visits to my blog, but can't imagine how people get to it? Through my sister, or through random keywords that appear on my blog, or something totally different? It's not important really, I'm just curious.
It's been a super long experiment day today and I just got home. I've tried to come up with something meaningful to say other than going through my day, but my mind is totally blank - too tired for words. And I have a wonderful comfortable bed waiting for me in the next room, I think I'll have to go visit it... Night, night.

Slacker

I realize I've been slacking in my writing here, but then again, it's not really a requirement right? It is very relaxing though to just sit back and think about your day or days as is my case. The weekend went by so quickly, but it was really good. I managed to catch up on my unpacking and cleaning (that I've been slacking on) before the party and a good time was had by all. I even managed to find some Shiner Bock beer for the party - apparently people like it even this far north :-) . The food was delicious because it was almost all gone by the end of the night and most people skipped dessert because they were still too full from the dinner. Oh and just for the record, I did try to take pictures, but my camera batteries were completely dead, not just a little dead, but completely dead! So, there are no pics. But one of these days I'll have to upload some other photos of people I work with and hang out with...
My boss came back today from his vacation in Africa on safari. How cool is that? He said it was amazing seeing all those animals in the wild - completely different than in the zoo of course. I would love to experience that one day. He even brought me a present which was very nice of him - a necklace and matching earings made out of horns. Very pretty and thoughtfull. I really have to say that despite all the politics that go into workplaces (or any other social situation really), I work with some amazing people. They are not perfect, but for the most part, are very easy to get along with and very knowledgable. Something to be grateful for.

Cooking and Cravings

I'm having some friends over on Sat for a little summer party/move-in celebration, so I spent most of the evening cooking in preparation for Sat. If I can get everything made before Sat, then I can spend the day cleaning and setting up. That's the plan... So I baked two roasts on Sun and Mon and they are already in the freezer, tonight I cooked a ton of potatos and eggs for a potato salad (my mom's recipe), and I baked about 12 red peppers for a salad with some olive oil and garlic. I think I'm in pretty good shape. But more interestingly, this morning I made some tuna salad for my sandwich that I take for lunch. And that brings me to the topic of cravings... I've been craving tuna lately - don't know why, but I can't get enough of it. Some canned tuna, some dill relish, mayo, and hard boiled eggs all mixed up and served on white bread - yum! I had a sandwich last night for dinner, today for lunch, and as soon as I was finished eating the sandwich, I couldn't wait til tomorrow when I could eat it again! What is up with that? Now I can understand craving chocolate, or ice cream, or such, but tuna???

tired

I've had a very productive but very long day today. I finished revising a manuscript that I really hope will get published in this round, now I just need to find a few last references for it. I seemed to have written something without giving proper credit and now I can't find where I read it. That'll teach me! It gives me such a sense of accomplishment when something like that is finally out of my hands. Then I helped a student do an experiment on her own for the first time and was able to see her happiness when the experiment worked! It is such a thrill when you teach someone and then see their sense of accomplishment when they can do it on their own.
Then... (see how the day goes on?) I had to do some of my own experiments and finally go help some of my new colleagues/bosses work on their experiment. That one usually goes until midnight or so. I am pretty tired now, but the really good news are that my job is changing soon. I will be learning a completely new technique to me and will be working with some of the best people in the field. They are not only extremely knowledgable, but are also wonderful mentors willing to teach. That's very rare. So even though this means lots of midnight hour experiments and lots of studying of background information, I think I will learn so much!
But best of all - all this means I have a job for at least two more years - yippie!

still clueless

I set out to write a comment to my sister's blog who is apparently an expert at this. Somehow I ended up having to create my own page - hmmm ... Created a monster maybe? I have no idea what I am doing except that I am writing into cyber space. For now, let's see what happens if I try to post this and then I will search for my sister again... Maybe I can comment now???
I could see myself staying up entirely too late doing something like this...