I haven't posted here for a while, and I figured this blog was the most appropriate for detailing our latest trip here. Looking back at my blog posts, the last time I remember coming to the area was in 2005. We stayed at the Grand Californian, but, oddly, didn't go to Disneyland or California Adventure.
We decided to take this trip on kind of a spur of the moment (as in, didn't have reservations or anything until Tuesday night, and we left on Thursday night). I'd been pining away at coming to Disneyland for quite some time, and gone through all of the price analysis and planning what we'd do here and so on. So I was ready to go with reservations!
Anyway...we left Thursday after work. Although we wanted to get out of work a little earlier and get a few things done before we had to pick up the boys and leave, that didn't happen. Instead, we managed to get officially on the road right before 6pm. Running into a little bit of Phoenix rush-hour traffic in the downtown area, we were on our way. And we stopped three times to use the bathroom or top off on gas. All things told, it took us 6 hours, 23 minutes. Jared sacked out in the car around 9pm (late for him!), and Daniel finally gave up and dozed off around 11pm (late for him, of course, but he's a determined little guy...and this was all of 10 minutes after he insisted that he couldn't fall asleep!).
We checked into one of the "good neighbor" hotels (one of these days, we'll go back to one of the Disneyland resort ones...when money is less tight, of course!)...the Best Western Plus Raffles Inn. I'll give the reasoning for that choice in a bit. The kids were up, but exhausted when we got here, and I don't think we were all settled in and bedded down until around 2 or 2:30 am!
Moving right along, in my excitement, I end up waking up right before 8am, and about 20 minutes later I hear Jared up. Jared and I run down to the breakfast room at the place we're staying and grab a few things, trying to encourage Mike and Daniel to wake up so we can go!
And we're off...we walk all the way there (a bit of a bigger hike than we really anticipated) and pick up our passes into the park. The excitement is palpable! We head into Disneyland, and we manage to catch a couple of the characters coming out to do their meet and greet thing. Immediately, we see Pluto and Donald, and there's a pretty short wait to see Donald, so we wait. Before we can get out any cameras and pull Jared out of his stroller, Daniel is up giving Donald a BIG HUG, hi-fiving and having a great time having a one-on-one with Donald Duck! He was not shy AT ALL. I wish I could have caught that moment on camera, but I guess I'll have to settle with the mental picture. We grab a quick family shot of the four of us with the web-footed one, and we spy Mickey and Minnie together! The two weren't out for long, and we were the 2nd to last in line before they were cutting people off. Jared seemed entertained by Minnie Mouse (he gave her a hi-five and smiled at her even!). So we got some great pictures there!
Satisfied with our character greetings, we head towards Tomorrowland. That actually took longer to get there with a suddenly cranky toddler. We had a detour into one of the candy shops, and eventually veered towards our intended destination.
First ride at the park...the Astro Orbiter! They said it was an estimated 5 minute wait (the wait something we actually care about now with kids...right?), but it was more like 15 before we boarded (probably four cycles of the ride). Jared was pretty good, even though he did want to stand up and look out when the ride was just getting started (they scolded us for it, sort of, before I pulled him down). Daniel, of course, loved it!
Moving on to something else that somewhat unexpectedly became the most popular ride for us today! Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters! Now, Daniel has played the XBox Kinect version of the game (in Disneyland Adventures), but he loved this so much that we went on the ride FOUR times. Each time, Jared huddled quietly next to us, we couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself or not. It was fun! We would have probably done it another dozen times if it had been up to Daniel.
And...next, while still in Tomorrowland...we make our way to Autopia. They had FastPasses to that, but I don't really think that was too necessary for that ride. Jared ended up being too short to go on it (weird, since he was measured tall enough at the doctor's office!). So we made use of the "rider swap" feature. It worked out well because Daniel got to go on the ride TWICE (once with each of us) and didn't have to wait really between the rides. Good feature.
After that, it was approaching 1, and time for naps. So we walk back to the hotel (long walk, really hot), with Jared asleep for most of the ride. He goes down for a nap, Daniel settles in with some web cartoons, and Mike and I nap between Daniel fussing about whenever one of his shows would end. We get pizza, and get ready to head back to Disneyland for the evening.
Just as we're getting back in there (we decide to cheat and take the parking shuttle that happens to be close to where we're staying), the parade starts! Everyone seemed to be enjoying that (Daniel recognized some of the characters, and I think Jared likes the music). Then time for one ride. It took a while as we followed behind the parade to get to the general area of the rides we wanted. And we ended up choosing It's A Small World. Again, both kids enjoyed the boat ride!
We get out of our last ride and it's already dark, so we decide to head back to the hotel.
So that's our day! We've gone on 4 different rides (and went on one of those 4 times!), so we're off to a slow start, by hard-core rider standards.
Tomorrow...California Adventure!
Friday, September 07, 2012
Monday, August 08, 2011
Thoughts of a New Website
OK this is more meant to be a brainstorming post...so it really isn't about a whole lot in particular :)
As some may know (or not know), I've had blogs, websites and all sorts of things scattered around the web. I've had a personal website (www.amycoon.com), Mike and I have had our couple-turned-family website (www.amyandmikestone.com), alongside various blogger/blogspot sites. I've posted entries and notes on MySpace and Facebook. I've tweeted (some). In other words, I just have stuff scattered everywhere. Some of it overlaps chronologically, some of it doesn't.
In my spare time (which isn't much), I've given some thought about what I'd like to have for a new and improved website. A one stop place for all things Amy. And Mike. And the boys. How would I put together all of the things I've collected?
The obvious is the blog posts. Collecting them up is the first step, and then organizing them by person (since I started a blog for each kid, and actually have spots reserved for not-yet-conceived children), and organizing by time. Perhaps a timeline? I could add my (limited) tweets in there too.
Then comes pictures. I like those chronologically too, and maybe an option to have them interspersed (but able to be separated out) with blog entries/tweets.
Then silly sections that I've thought of. How about a numbers section? Just a crazy thing where I have "numbers" of items, or times I've done something, or places I've lived. Another silly one that I'd thought of was "pieces of me". Sometimes I take odd pictures of myself...like my uber swollen foot/ankles while pregnant with Daniel. An imprint of part of my shoe on my arm. Imprint of my fingers on my legs. Imprint of Mike's hand/palm on my leg. Bruises. Cuts. Discolorations. Any other types of oddities. Put them all together and you get me!
And lastly (and I haven't figured out specifics on this one)...topics that might be near and dear to me. Something work related? I always feel the need to relay some of the "science" stuff to people in lay terms. Make it understandable and exciting as it is to me. Also things baby/child related. Simple things that have worked for us.
With any luck...it will happen!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Happy Anniversary!
It hardly seems possible that it is our FIFTH wedding anniversary already. In many ways (and Mike and I both agree on this), it seems like it was just yesterday, but at the same time, it seems like we've been together longer!
So I'll go into today...woke up in the usual way, got ready for work and got the kids up and got them ready for daycare. Mike was working from home today (now according to his "typical" work at home schedule...Monday and Friday). I went to work, did a few things in the lab and really wanted to go home early to spend some quality time with Mike.
And right before 2pm, who comes walking through the doors of the lab...my sneaky husband! A vase of roses in hand! SURPRISE!
Now, I've never really been the cheesy type of romantic, as I appreciate smaller gestures and genuine surprises much more than having someone write me poetry or other stuff like that. This was DEFINITELY a genuine surprise, the point that I wanted to jump up into his arms in the lab...whee!!! Yeah, indescribable...I don't think it could have worked out any better!
With any anniversary or birthday type event, I start to let my mind wander to the past and to the future (but not lose sight of the present, of course!). How far have we come in the past 5 years? We got married on Lake Tahoe on a cloudy and almost stormy Saturday late-afternoon. We were living in Nevada at the time, and had probably thought that Reno was where we'd be for the next few years.
We celebrated our first wedding anniversary on the same boat that we got married on, and we were in the midst of trying for our first child. Our second anniversary, we were weeks off of becoming parents (no boat ride that time!). Our third anniversary we got to spend with our almost 1-year old son, and he got to go on the boat ride with us. Our fourth anniversary came after a move to Phoenix, and not long after, we found out we were expecting our second child. So, as you can see, each anniversary keeps building upon the last!
Where are we going to be in 5 more years? I find it fun to prophesize about these sorts of things. I'm sure I'll come back in a year and laugh at where we thought we'd be, especially if it's way far off of what I'm about to think of here. In five years, I think we will have at least another child, if not two more. We will still be living in Phoenix, and both Daniel and Jared will have started school. We will most likely have moved to the other side of the Phoenix. Both Mike and I will have settled even more into our jobs, and things will be more relaxed when we are more financially sound (I hope!).
Well, that's about all! It's a whole lot to take in, but a whole lot has happened in five short years! I look forward to the next 5...or 50... :)
Saturday, June 11, 2011
All Things Mommy Related
Once again, time has passed to the point where I have been neglectful of my blogging duties (as if it was an actual requirement!).
In Mommy news, Jared turned 3 months today...a quarter of the way to a year! Daniel is less than a month away from turning 3. And what are the boys doing? Jared is the smiley boy...he smiles whenever he recognizes one of our faces (mine, Daddy's or Daniel's!). He started grabbing at things like toys on the swing at daycare. He's been sleeping pretty consistently, still, and there's been a few times that he's slept all the way through the night until we had to wake him up to get ready. Daniel is chatty little fellow, and he picks up on so many new things so quickly. He can count to 15 pretty reliably, he's decent at telling us what color something is (he knows well enough to give a color as a response...whether it's the correct color or not is up for debate). He can name all of his toy cars and trains, and works the computer like a pro on a little PowerPoint that I set up with pictures of his trains. And this evening after his shower, he actually pee'd in the potty! It was an amazing moment (especially since neither Mike or I have seen him pee...only poop).
In the interest of professing something deep and philosophical, I'll switch to talking about some life change-type things and maybe some random bits of Mommy knowledge. As if I could word that more awkwardly. Here's also hoping that I can remember the dialog for this that I had running in my head earlier today.
It sounds cliche, but the whole thing about "everything changes when you have a baby" is true. It's happened twice to us, and things definitely change, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be all good or all bad. Just different. I hope it is different with our next child(ren) as well.
The good things...it's made me become more patient. I like to think that I was pretty patient before having kids, but I've somehow acquired a more "relaxed" type of patience. I think almost everyone has the urge to rush things up or start to fidget when another person is taking a long time to complete a task. I try to set myself up to not have to be rushed, so that I do have the time to wait. It's not wasting time...it's just not stressing myself out. "Old" me would have her mind in another place or thinking about the work that needed to be done (thus not enjoying what is going on in the moment). I think it helps not only making time with the kids more enjoyable, but also able to deal with interns at work, students in one of my classes, or other people that I'm working with on a project.
Second good thing...learning to accept help. I'm still working a bit on this one, and it has many different facets to it. I don't mind if someone comes to help with the baby, or do something around the house like take care of dishes or cook dinner. I've accepted help in the form of childcare when I really needed a couple of days to recoup after childbirth (and not wanting to worry about having two kids at once...I could just focus on the newer, more demanding one). But on the flip side, I've not asked for help many times that I think I could have used it.
Third...deciding what's important to worry about and what's not (or "letting go"). House not completely clean the day after you come home with a new baby? Who cares! Trying not to do it all, especially not all at once. It's awesome to work hard and reap the benefits, but not if you make yourself ill as a result.
OK so now some changes that aren't all that great (I hesitate to call them "bad"). Worry. Where did this worry come from? Before, having to worry about ones own self was pretty much it. Don't get me wrong, I worried (in a healthy way) about Mike too, but it's a different type of worry aimed towards a child. When they are sick or hurt or something along those lines, it sends an indescribable sensation through your body. I have a weird sense of empathy, almost feeling what I imagine they must be feeling.
In the interest of time, I'm going to stop and continue this later. But I do intend to have a little spout about some of the ways that life is better, and some of the nuggets I've picked up on along the way!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Obligatory Birthday Post!
Once again, the Earth has made it's rotation around the sun and landed in the spot where it was when I was born! I usually use this day (when I remember to blog!) to reflect on things that have happened in the past year since my last birthday...and today I will follow tradition with that!
So...Happy Birthday to me! I turn 34 today! It doesn't seem quite possible that my age has become firmly rooted in the 30's. Not that I think that I'm old by any stretch of the imagination, but rather I think of where time has gone and what will come in the next 34 years!
In the past year, I've gone through another pregnancy, and had another awesome little baby boy! At this time last year, I wasn't even pregnant yet, and I hadn't even gone off birth control (or had the IUD out, rather). I was still "settling" in to living in Phoenix, and was 4 months in to my new job at TGen. Daniel was not quite 2 years old yet, and was changing so much every day! We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in June as well, and 7 years together on New Years. Mike finished out one job (at Charles Schwabb) and started a new one this past March.
It's hard to say what will come in the next year, but there are tons of things to look forward to! Jared turns one month old today...and I go back to work in another couple of weeks! Daniel will turn 3 (wow!) in July...he's already growing by leaps and bounds, and it seems like since Jared was born, he's grown up a ton more in a short period of time! We'll have our 5th anniversary in June, so we'll figure out something to do then maybe! We have visits planned with Mike's parents, and visiting Montana in September for a wedding. Hopefully by then, Mike will be hired full time, I'll have some papers published this year and plan for the future at work! We might move to a different house at the end of the year, perhaps. And, ultimately, as things are more stable (and certainly not by the time my 35th birthday rolls around), we might add another baby to the family!
Out of all the things that have happened this year, I'm pleased with the way things are going...and look forward to another great year!!!
Friday, April 09, 2010
The Dreaded DMV
At the risk of paining my hand while I type this out...I report to you from the DMV. Or MVD...same difference...
This place is dreaded and probably with good reason. As I start to type, of course they start blasting through numbers which makes it harder to concentrate and type. See, my mind is already screwing with me.
I am number B112. I am here because my NV licence is set to expire in 2 days. And last but not least...I arrived here at 1:36pm according to my ticket.
Things started to "move" a bit more about 5 mins ago. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason or order with letter/number combos. I've not seen a B prefixed number pop up yet! Lots of A's, a few C's, M's and F's. Oh...and a K now. At least a few more counters open now than when I first got here. Lots more people too...meh...
2:18pm...still...waiting...
I'm going to start counting people now to pass the time...
7 people in the starting information line. 5 people called to a window in succession. I'm getting hopeful!
Now 10 people in info line...it's 2:22pm
Might have to continue this later...wish me luck!
This place is dreaded and probably with good reason. As I start to type, of course they start blasting through numbers which makes it harder to concentrate and type. See, my mind is already screwing with me.
I am number B112. I am here because my NV licence is set to expire in 2 days. And last but not least...I arrived here at 1:36pm according to my ticket.
Things started to "move" a bit more about 5 mins ago. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason or order with letter/number combos. I've not seen a B prefixed number pop up yet! Lots of A's, a few C's, M's and F's. Oh...and a K now. At least a few more counters open now than when I first got here. Lots more people too...meh...
2:18pm...still...waiting...
I'm going to start counting people now to pass the time...
7 people in the starting information line. 5 people called to a window in succession. I'm getting hopeful!
Now 10 people in info line...it's 2:22pm
Might have to continue this later...wish me luck!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Bus Blogging
So I've started taking the bus for now (from work and meeting Mike on his way from his work). It's treated me well so far and it's a time saver too :).
The downside is that buses come nowhere near our house on the other end of things. And the new light rail in Phoenix? Yeah that doesn't really go anywhere we need to go regularly.
It just got me to thinking...how would I design public transit such that it worked more effectively? On a larger scale, how would I design a community based on this so it worked more effectively? Amy's perfect world.
Anyway, seeing as how I'm blogging on the bus at present, I won't write more of the specifics down. The bus is bumpy, some girl on a cell phone is making her conversation everyone's business, and once in a while I catch a whiff of a chemical substance. And my wrist hurts from typing all this on an iPhone keyboard :). So I shall leave it at that!
The downside is that buses come nowhere near our house on the other end of things. And the new light rail in Phoenix? Yeah that doesn't really go anywhere we need to go regularly.
It just got me to thinking...how would I design public transit such that it worked more effectively? On a larger scale, how would I design a community based on this so it worked more effectively? Amy's perfect world.
Anyway, seeing as how I'm blogging on the bus at present, I won't write more of the specifics down. The bus is bumpy, some girl on a cell phone is making her conversation everyone's business, and once in a while I catch a whiff of a chemical substance. And my wrist hurts from typing all this on an iPhone keyboard :). So I shall leave it at that!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Mean People Suck!
I thought I'd go off on a rant about mean people. Probably because yesterday we had our car broken in to and things stolen. The thing that rattled me the most was my new work laptop...I get teary eyed when I think about it!!!
So, it happened when we were picking up Daniel at daycare...I mean, really, how low??? It is scary because we often see people picking up their kids and they will leave their door unlocked, car running. We did neither and got robbed...which still sucks!
I don't like the way it makes me feel spiteful and mean towards them...like karma needs to intervene and punish them!!!
Anyway...just writing this while I wait at work...typing on my phone because I don't have a laptop!!!
So, it happened when we were picking up Daniel at daycare...I mean, really, how low??? It is scary because we often see people picking up their kids and they will leave their door unlocked, car running. We did neither and got robbed...which still sucks!
I don't like the way it makes me feel spiteful and mean towards them...like karma needs to intervene and punish them!!!
Anyway...just writing this while I wait at work...typing on my phone because I don't have a laptop!!!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
A New Life in a New House
Well, it's been a while since the last blog update. The reasons for that have been numerous...but mostly that my main blog was down for so long during a domain transfer. But I digress...
The 2010 New Year started with a big move to Arizona. For me, it's a return...for Mike and Daniel, it's a whole other world!
It started back in early summer of 2009. Things were getting tight at the University and in the community college system...in that they were limiting the number of classes one could teach. Lab jobs were slim pickings (especially since my full time post-doc ended in 2007). Mike had the looming threat of layoffs at IGT. So I started idlly looking other places...one of which was Phoenix. I got a call in September to have a phone interview and flew down for an interview at the end of that month. Job offer came that week!
If that was the end of the story...it would be easy. But, for sake of time...we're here!!!!
Mike is on the last leg of his trip down from Reno (with felines and some of our stuff). We got the keys to our new house today!!!
And with that...our new year and new start has come!
The 2010 New Year started with a big move to Arizona. For me, it's a return...for Mike and Daniel, it's a whole other world!
It started back in early summer of 2009. Things were getting tight at the University and in the community college system...in that they were limiting the number of classes one could teach. Lab jobs were slim pickings (especially since my full time post-doc ended in 2007). Mike had the looming threat of layoffs at IGT. So I started idlly looking other places...one of which was Phoenix. I got a call in September to have a phone interview and flew down for an interview at the end of that month. Job offer came that week!
If that was the end of the story...it would be easy. But, for sake of time...we're here!!!!
Mike is on the last leg of his trip down from Reno (with felines and some of our stuff). We got the keys to our new house today!!!
And with that...our new year and new start has come!
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Random Blogs
This has become a recent (almost) obsession (for lack of a better word) for me. Blogspot is a pretty big repository for blogs, or at least it's my understanding that it is. Regardless, every once in a while, I find myself clicking on the "Next Blog" link at the top of the few blogs I read on a regular basis. And it takes me to some random blog, half of them I can't read because they were written in some language other than English or by some person who feels that their comments are made more noteworthy by spelling things wrong or capitalizing every other letter in a word.
But it got me to thinking. How many people randomly hit upon MY blog? After all, I'm reading random people's blogs. How "random" is clicking on that next blog button.
So curiousity got the best of me, and I added a couple of webstats/counters to the blogs here. Any hits? HA! Just by me and Mike! So NO ONE has randomly happened upon my blog. Again, makes me wonder just how blogspot determines the next random blog.
But it got me to thinking. How many people randomly hit upon MY blog? After all, I'm reading random people's blogs. How "random" is clicking on that next blog button.
So curiousity got the best of me, and I added a couple of webstats/counters to the blogs here. Any hits? HA! Just by me and Mike! So NO ONE has randomly happened upon my blog. Again, makes me wonder just how blogspot determines the next random blog.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Passing Prelims!
I'm sure my huge viewing audience (HA!) will be pleased to hear that I passed my prelim exams! Yay!
I felt the most stress relief the day that I turned in the forms to schedule. I think at least a dozen gray hairs disappeared from my head at that point. As I went through the next week or so after scheduling I noticed that the stress didn't just reappear either. And then Monday...1pm...prelim time!
I hardly hesitate to say that it was almost "fun", especially compared to those who have taken it in my program before and described feelings of wanting to cry. I think I did a good job keeping composure, and I can't exactly explain why. I didn't get EVERY question exactly right, but I wasn't afraid of screwing up, because there isn't a percentage or letter grade at the end. Just pass or not. And I did!
Anyway, I passed. And that's one hurdle down. Just need to write that dissertation and I'll be good to go!
I felt the most stress relief the day that I turned in the forms to schedule. I think at least a dozen gray hairs disappeared from my head at that point. As I went through the next week or so after scheduling I noticed that the stress didn't just reappear either. And then Monday...1pm...prelim time!
I hardly hesitate to say that it was almost "fun", especially compared to those who have taken it in my program before and described feelings of wanting to cry. I think I did a good job keeping composure, and I can't exactly explain why. I didn't get EVERY question exactly right, but I wasn't afraid of screwing up, because there isn't a percentage or letter grade at the end. Just pass or not. And I did!
Anyway, I passed. And that's one hurdle down. Just need to write that dissertation and I'll be good to go!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
PhD dissertations and other exercises in futility
I'm sure Mike can attest to the frustration I've been experiencing for the past few weeks or months even. But hey, I figure I can vent my frustrations to the rest of the world right here too.
I'm just finishing out my 4th year as a PhD student. When I started the program "officially", I had already taken a couple of the core classes and gotten them out of the way. I was also working in a lab that I intended to continue working in, so that was another leg up over other students that were coming from other places. So I should breeze thru this whole PhD thing? Heh.
I could have easily taken the oral prelim exam after I was done with classes. Heck, I've been told that you don't even really need to be totally done taking classes to do so. Why didn't I? Stupidity? Laziness? Time getting away from me? Other things going on in my personal life at the time? Yeah, all of those and probably a few more that I can't bring to the front of my mind here. My boss was also not really pushing it, and in fact took the attitude of "don't worry about it, it's just a stupid formality."
Fast forward, and I want to graduate, and I keep asking to schedule, keep getting put off. And now my boss is leaving and it's time to go into panic mode!
Here's the current frustration. Yes, the prelim scheduling. So I have the final draft of the written part of the prelim all submitted. The earliest I could schedule after everything got done was the end of June (which would be this week). I started *trying* to schedule at the start of June. One committee member is on federal jury duty. A second was out of town the entire week. Ugh. A third didn't get back to me until 2 weeks after I sent out the original email to start the process.
So my boss is gone in July until the last week. Great. Trying to schedule it then. I have a window of about a week there and so far, one person is out of contact (the one who wasn't available during the end of June), 2 people are good to go, 1 person is still deciding whether he's going to take a vacation or not. And of course my boss is there...he's the most important I'd wager. I've been told that in extenuating circumstances, I can have 4 out of 5 there. But as of yet, I only have 3! WHY IS THIS SO HARD!!!
To make matters worse, I HAVE TO GET THIS DONE. In fact, I have to get this done before August 15th, when the lab officially shuts down!
ARRRRGH.
I'm just finishing out my 4th year as a PhD student. When I started the program "officially", I had already taken a couple of the core classes and gotten them out of the way. I was also working in a lab that I intended to continue working in, so that was another leg up over other students that were coming from other places. So I should breeze thru this whole PhD thing? Heh.
I could have easily taken the oral prelim exam after I was done with classes. Heck, I've been told that you don't even really need to be totally done taking classes to do so. Why didn't I? Stupidity? Laziness? Time getting away from me? Other things going on in my personal life at the time? Yeah, all of those and probably a few more that I can't bring to the front of my mind here. My boss was also not really pushing it, and in fact took the attitude of "don't worry about it, it's just a stupid formality."
Fast forward, and I want to graduate, and I keep asking to schedule, keep getting put off. And now my boss is leaving and it's time to go into panic mode!
Here's the current frustration. Yes, the prelim scheduling. So I have the final draft of the written part of the prelim all submitted. The earliest I could schedule after everything got done was the end of June (which would be this week). I started *trying* to schedule at the start of June. One committee member is on federal jury duty. A second was out of town the entire week. Ugh. A third didn't get back to me until 2 weeks after I sent out the original email to start the process.
So my boss is gone in July until the last week. Great. Trying to schedule it then. I have a window of about a week there and so far, one person is out of contact (the one who wasn't available during the end of June), 2 people are good to go, 1 person is still deciding whether he's going to take a vacation or not. And of course my boss is there...he's the most important I'd wager. I've been told that in extenuating circumstances, I can have 4 out of 5 there. But as of yet, I only have 3! WHY IS THIS SO HARD!!!
To make matters worse, I HAVE TO GET THIS DONE. In fact, I have to get this done before August 15th, when the lab officially shuts down!
ARRRRGH.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Amy and Mike's trip to the Magic Kingdom
Maybe it's more like our trip to Los Angeles. It's been a couple weekends past since we got back, but I figured I'd tell everyone in cyberland all about it still...
The reason for the trip was to attend the 96th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Or at least I was to attend the meeting, I just dragged Mike along for the weekend. I had a poster to present on the Monday of the meeting, which I might discuss later, so we had the weekend to play a bit.
We arrived at LAX around 9pm on Friday evening. Mike got there before I did and just waited around at the Southwest gates for my flight to get in. From there, we made our way down to the ground transportation area (which is a madhouse...I can't ever see myself driving to LAX and driving by the terminal areas without losing my sanity). We had to wait for a bus to take us to the car rental place (which...took a little while. We saw like 6 busses for a different company pass by, the same one mind you, before ours finally came. Finally on the bus, we head off to the rental lot. Right outside the gate to the lot is a car with an Asian family in it (2 people up front and like 2 or 3 kids in the back). It was just STOPPED in the road in the right lane before the turn in. The bus kept honking, but the people wouldn't GO. It was as if they didn't know how to drive the car! The kids in the back started waving at the bus driver to just go around, which the bus eventually did, only to have to make a right turn about 15 feet in front of them.
We get the car and set out north on the 405 towards Sylmar/Valencia. The place we stayed the first night was close to our Saturday amusement park of choice, Six Flags Magic Mountain. Checked in, got pizza delivered, watched a little TV and went to sleep. I remember waking up earlier than I needed to, seeing the first bit of sunlight coming into the window. For some reason, I had feared that we had overslept and would be late to the amusement park! (Mike was still kind of out of it. I jumped right out of bed and volunteered to shower first. Mike dozed, having to actually ask if I had already taken a shower when I woke him up afterwards).
And then off to Magic Mountain! Traffic was a little nuts (just sheer number of people), but we got there and into the park just about a half hour after the park actually opened.
It was a great time. Perfect weather. Great rides. A few strange people (we were starting to feel a bit out of place as the night wore on...we were the exception to everyone having strange body piercings. Eyebrows. Lips. Scruff of the neck. I don't care to know where else).
With enough thrill rides in our system, we left to go check into the hotel that was being paid for attending the meeting. Disneyland Grand Californian.
Wow. There is no way I'd be able to spend that much money on this hotel by myself. I'm not entirely sure that, if I had the money, if I'd stay there. Beautiful hotel, and nestled right between Disneyland and California Adventure. We weren't going to either...too much. But Downtown Disney was free to go to (where all the shopping is), and that was right outside our door too. Apparently that's where all the normal people were.
Sunday was the day that Mike had to go home (so he could go back to work Monday). We headed out to Redondo Beach and got to walk in the sand as the waves washed over our feet. I wouldn't have traded that walk for anything.
Then off to a quick dinner and then to the airport to drop of the car and get Mike on a plane.
If the IP doesn't change, here's some pictures from our trip:
http://63.201.24.199/capics/
I headed back to the hotel (sans Mike...sniff) and got ready for the meeting on Monday morning. Just to summarize...the meeting was okay. My poster went well (got lots of comments/questions/etc). I got some stuff from the vendors at the meeting too (a radio, a cool pen, a stuffed duck, magnets, etc). By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was tired and wanting to go back home. But I had to go back to Tucson for 2 days before finally being able to get back to see Mike in Reno.
That's it!
The reason for the trip was to attend the 96th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Or at least I was to attend the meeting, I just dragged Mike along for the weekend. I had a poster to present on the Monday of the meeting, which I might discuss later, so we had the weekend to play a bit.
We arrived at LAX around 9pm on Friday evening. Mike got there before I did and just waited around at the Southwest gates for my flight to get in. From there, we made our way down to the ground transportation area (which is a madhouse...I can't ever see myself driving to LAX and driving by the terminal areas without losing my sanity). We had to wait for a bus to take us to the car rental place (which...took a little while. We saw like 6 busses for a different company pass by, the same one mind you, before ours finally came. Finally on the bus, we head off to the rental lot. Right outside the gate to the lot is a car with an Asian family in it (2 people up front and like 2 or 3 kids in the back). It was just STOPPED in the road in the right lane before the turn in. The bus kept honking, but the people wouldn't GO. It was as if they didn't know how to drive the car! The kids in the back started waving at the bus driver to just go around, which the bus eventually did, only to have to make a right turn about 15 feet in front of them.
We get the car and set out north on the 405 towards Sylmar/Valencia. The place we stayed the first night was close to our Saturday amusement park of choice, Six Flags Magic Mountain. Checked in, got pizza delivered, watched a little TV and went to sleep. I remember waking up earlier than I needed to, seeing the first bit of sunlight coming into the window. For some reason, I had feared that we had overslept and would be late to the amusement park! (Mike was still kind of out of it. I jumped right out of bed and volunteered to shower first. Mike dozed, having to actually ask if I had already taken a shower when I woke him up afterwards).
And then off to Magic Mountain! Traffic was a little nuts (just sheer number of people), but we got there and into the park just about a half hour after the park actually opened.
It was a great time. Perfect weather. Great rides. A few strange people (we were starting to feel a bit out of place as the night wore on...we were the exception to everyone having strange body piercings. Eyebrows. Lips. Scruff of the neck. I don't care to know where else).
With enough thrill rides in our system, we left to go check into the hotel that was being paid for attending the meeting. Disneyland Grand Californian.
Wow. There is no way I'd be able to spend that much money on this hotel by myself. I'm not entirely sure that, if I had the money, if I'd stay there. Beautiful hotel, and nestled right between Disneyland and California Adventure. We weren't going to either...too much. But Downtown Disney was free to go to (where all the shopping is), and that was right outside our door too. Apparently that's where all the normal people were.
Sunday was the day that Mike had to go home (so he could go back to work Monday). We headed out to Redondo Beach and got to walk in the sand as the waves washed over our feet. I wouldn't have traded that walk for anything.
Then off to a quick dinner and then to the airport to drop of the car and get Mike on a plane.
If the IP doesn't change, here's some pictures from our trip:
http://63.201.24.199/capics/
I headed back to the hotel (sans Mike...sniff) and got ready for the meeting on Monday morning. Just to summarize...the meeting was okay. My poster went well (got lots of comments/questions/etc). I got some stuff from the vendors at the meeting too (a radio, a cool pen, a stuffed duck, magnets, etc). By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was tired and wanting to go back home. But I had to go back to Tucson for 2 days before finally being able to get back to see Mike in Reno.
That's it!
Monday, April 11, 2005
Thoughts on turning 28
By the time shown on my laptop clock, it appears to be just after midnight on April 11th. Which means...it's my BIRTHDAY.
So I'll give my yearly post that I've given ever since...uh...last year...on my birthday (see http://www.amycoon.com/blog/archives/000038.php for that post). I'm turning 28. If one wants to be super specific here, I'll have spent exactly 28 years in the outside world at around 8:30 am something, eastern standard time (translated to about 11:30 am local time). But hey...the whole of April 11th is my birthday, which means that it is now.
As for the past year? Great! Did I get everything I wanted accomplished in this past year that I had hoped for. Not really. But last year at this time, I didn't think that I'd be living in Reno, looking to buy a house there, and so on and so forth. Also thought I'd be done with my PhD now, but alas that didn't happen quite on time (keep nagging me Mike!).
Onto other things. This weekend was great as well! It was much too short for my liking, however. The plane trip from Tucson to Reno went off without a hitch and ontime for once (!!!). The weather was a little bit bumpy around Las Vegas, causing the airplane to sway more than I've ever experienced and making the landing pretty challenging for the pilots. I got the first of my birthday presents, early, which was a dozen roses. I am always so amazed and surprised whenever I recieve flowers from Mike. And this time is no exception!
The second of my birthday gifts was on the bed when we got home. I laid down and it was a pillow! Not just any pillow, but a TempurPedic one! And I must say, that pillow is one of the greatest things to come down the line since sliced bread. Actually, I think I like it better than sliced bread. Just a teaser for buying the entire TempurPedic bed one of these days. The pillow is firm, yet soft, which is kind of counterintuitive, but it gives you really great neck and back support. I know I sound like an advertisement, but it really is awesome stuff...and it made my neck feel great in the morning.
That night we ate at home, rested and I crashed out still wearing most of my day-clothes. Woke up the next morning and went to a track meet for Mike's brother's school. It was COLD. And oddly enough...snowing! After spending a few hours there, we bailed and went back home. We ate a little, then it was off to look at houses again! Found some houses that we liked (not as much as one we looked at before that we have ZERO chance of getting into a new one), and a slight glimmer of hope that we might, one of these days, be on a real waiting list with a real chance for one of those houses. Sigh.
And back home again for a little naptime, followed by dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. And hey...we all got carded!
Sunday...today...sort of...we slept in a little later and cleaned up, for Mike's parents are coming soon. And next weekend we are both off to LA for the meeting!
That is my weekend in a nutshell...and my very brief reflections on the whole birthday thing. Cheerios!
So I'll give my yearly post that I've given ever since...uh...last year...on my birthday (see http://www.amycoon.com/blog/archives/000038.php for that post). I'm turning 28. If one wants to be super specific here, I'll have spent exactly 28 years in the outside world at around 8:30 am something, eastern standard time (translated to about 11:30 am local time). But hey...the whole of April 11th is my birthday, which means that it is now.
As for the past year? Great! Did I get everything I wanted accomplished in this past year that I had hoped for. Not really. But last year at this time, I didn't think that I'd be living in Reno, looking to buy a house there, and so on and so forth. Also thought I'd be done with my PhD now, but alas that didn't happen quite on time (keep nagging me Mike!).
Onto other things. This weekend was great as well! It was much too short for my liking, however. The plane trip from Tucson to Reno went off without a hitch and ontime for once (!!!). The weather was a little bit bumpy around Las Vegas, causing the airplane to sway more than I've ever experienced and making the landing pretty challenging for the pilots. I got the first of my birthday presents, early, which was a dozen roses. I am always so amazed and surprised whenever I recieve flowers from Mike. And this time is no exception!
The second of my birthday gifts was on the bed when we got home. I laid down and it was a pillow! Not just any pillow, but a TempurPedic one! And I must say, that pillow is one of the greatest things to come down the line since sliced bread. Actually, I think I like it better than sliced bread. Just a teaser for buying the entire TempurPedic bed one of these days. The pillow is firm, yet soft, which is kind of counterintuitive, but it gives you really great neck and back support. I know I sound like an advertisement, but it really is awesome stuff...and it made my neck feel great in the morning.
That night we ate at home, rested and I crashed out still wearing most of my day-clothes. Woke up the next morning and went to a track meet for Mike's brother's school. It was COLD. And oddly enough...snowing! After spending a few hours there, we bailed and went back home. We ate a little, then it was off to look at houses again! Found some houses that we liked (not as much as one we looked at before that we have ZERO chance of getting into a new one), and a slight glimmer of hope that we might, one of these days, be on a real waiting list with a real chance for one of those houses. Sigh.
And back home again for a little naptime, followed by dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. And hey...we all got carded!
Sunday...today...sort of...we slept in a little later and cleaned up, for Mike's parents are coming soon. And next weekend we are both off to LA for the meeting!
That is my weekend in a nutshell...and my very brief reflections on the whole birthday thing. Cheerios!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Late night hunger...I want pizza!
Anyone who knows me knows that I love pizza! It is my most favorite of foods. I've tried expanding my horizons on the pizza front, trying various different varieties and stuff, but I have to say that I just love the simple stuff somtimes. Pepperoni is my fav.
So I'm sitting here late at night. I'm not physically hungry, as in my stomach is not growling, and I'm just not needing food right now. But I get bored, or see Mike eating, or see a pizza commercial and all of a sudden I want to eat! It's not a good thing either, usually because it is so late at night and the stuff I have available for eating is not that good for me! Ugh!
Now the thought of pizza is plauging my thoughts. And it really shouldn't, since I had a slice of pizza for lunch and some pizza on Friday night when we were in Bozeman as well. That doesn't stop me though. I could eat pizza all day, all the time pretty much.
This brings me to the question of why everything that I want to eat is so bad for me! Why can't pizza be healthy for me? I could eat a ton of spaghetti too. Grilled cheese sandwiches are good, as is a nice steak.
See what I mean now? Food on the mind. I best be getting to bed before it really starts making me hungry...even more so.
So I'm sitting here late at night. I'm not physically hungry, as in my stomach is not growling, and I'm just not needing food right now. But I get bored, or see Mike eating, or see a pizza commercial and all of a sudden I want to eat! It's not a good thing either, usually because it is so late at night and the stuff I have available for eating is not that good for me! Ugh!
Now the thought of pizza is plauging my thoughts. And it really shouldn't, since I had a slice of pizza for lunch and some pizza on Friday night when we were in Bozeman as well. That doesn't stop me though. I could eat pizza all day, all the time pretty much.
This brings me to the question of why everything that I want to eat is so bad for me! Why can't pizza be healthy for me? I could eat a ton of spaghetti too. Grilled cheese sandwiches are good, as is a nice steak.
See what I mean now? Food on the mind. I best be getting to bed before it really starts making me hungry...even more so.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Stamina: Renewed
Well, it's March 1st (at least it is right now in many time zones). I was supposed to have everything out of my apartment in Tucson, but didn't quite make it. It all turns out well in the end, but I think I'm going to reflect on a few things that could have been done better.
Starting way back in November. Should have bought more boxes and started packing things sooner. Stems from being generally lazy and loving to nap after work. I feel like if I would have had everything in boxes (or at least twice as much as I did on actual Uhaul moving day), I wouldn't be in this predicament.
Second point. Taking said boxes (or at least the ones I had at that point) and starting to mail them. This would be at the end of December when Mike started moving his stuff in. Okay, so as I learned, mailing boxes isn't a terribly efficient way to go. But maybe it would have gotten things there faster and at least allowed me to unpack a few of them when I was there over New Years in order to make them available to use again.
Third point. On Uhaul moving day, I should have definitely put more things into the Uhaul, namely the futon frame (could have just slept on the cushion, which I have been doing for the past week or so, and it's just as, if not more, comfortable). This one goes hand in hand with point number 1. More things ready to go into the truck, faster the move, more things that get to Reno.
Okay, the fourth point. Even after all that Uhaul moving was done, I still had another month and a half to deal with the rest of the stuff here. But, I WAS LAZY.
Fifth and final point (I hope). Even after I realized that there was NO way I could manage fitting the remainder of my goods and wares into my car to cart around for a while, I should have given in and gotten a storage unit! Which I did...today. Not like I should have when I realized I was behind a week or two ago.
So, as I said, this story has a pleasant ending. I got my aforementioned storage unit at the Uhaul place. I DID get a couple of loads of boxes and things over there (futon, table, a small shelving unit, many boxes, yaffa blocks, etc). It was a ton easier once it is in there, and I really need to promise myself NOT to be lazy and force myself to take a box and bag of stuff on the plane every weekend as well as mail the big ones.
I also got an extension from my apartment complex to stay for a couple of extra days (at the rate of $21 a day). That makes me greatly much more relaxed.
Now to just not be a lazy little chica and finish out the work that I started. Perhaps I've just prolonged my torture for two more days :)
Starting way back in November. Should have bought more boxes and started packing things sooner. Stems from being generally lazy and loving to nap after work. I feel like if I would have had everything in boxes (or at least twice as much as I did on actual Uhaul moving day), I wouldn't be in this predicament.
Second point. Taking said boxes (or at least the ones I had at that point) and starting to mail them. This would be at the end of December when Mike started moving his stuff in. Okay, so as I learned, mailing boxes isn't a terribly efficient way to go. But maybe it would have gotten things there faster and at least allowed me to unpack a few of them when I was there over New Years in order to make them available to use again.
Third point. On Uhaul moving day, I should have definitely put more things into the Uhaul, namely the futon frame (could have just slept on the cushion, which I have been doing for the past week or so, and it's just as, if not more, comfortable). This one goes hand in hand with point number 1. More things ready to go into the truck, faster the move, more things that get to Reno.
Okay, the fourth point. Even after all that Uhaul moving was done, I still had another month and a half to deal with the rest of the stuff here. But, I WAS LAZY.
Fifth and final point (I hope). Even after I realized that there was NO way I could manage fitting the remainder of my goods and wares into my car to cart around for a while, I should have given in and gotten a storage unit! Which I did...today. Not like I should have when I realized I was behind a week or two ago.
So, as I said, this story has a pleasant ending. I got my aforementioned storage unit at the Uhaul place. I DID get a couple of loads of boxes and things over there (futon, table, a small shelving unit, many boxes, yaffa blocks, etc). It was a ton easier once it is in there, and I really need to promise myself NOT to be lazy and force myself to take a box and bag of stuff on the plane every weekend as well as mail the big ones.
I also got an extension from my apartment complex to stay for a couple of extra days (at the rate of $21 a day). That makes me greatly much more relaxed.
Now to just not be a lazy little chica and finish out the work that I started. Perhaps I've just prolonged my torture for two more days :)
Stamina: I need more of it
Today I feel as though I've just gone and gone and gone. I'm like a much larger and whiter version of the Energizer bunny. But at one point, my body and mind said NO MORE! Crash. I didn't just fall asleep or pass out or anything cool like that. I just had no more stamina and almost felt like I had no control over whether I could get up off my lazy butt or not.
So, as the title suggests, I need more stamina. I have a million things running through my head even when I'm laying down or otherwise resting.
Well, looks like I'm going to get a storage unit here too temporarily. Can't haul all of that stuff around in my car. Ugh.
So, as the title suggests, I need more stamina. I have a million things running through my head even when I'm laying down or otherwise resting.
Well, looks like I'm going to get a storage unit here too temporarily. Can't haul all of that stuff around in my car. Ugh.
Monday, February 28, 2005
The last night in my Tucson apartment
Well, the time has come to say the first part of my goodbyes to Tucson. More specifically, the apartment that I've inhabited for the past 3 1/2 years. Suppose I shouldn't get all sentimental and junk over it, seeing as how I've moved before and it wasn't quite like this. Maybe because I'm still in Tucson for the time being is what makes it so different for me.
Lots of things have happened in the past 3 1/2 years, too, I suppose. When I first moved into this apartment, my cats were just tiny kittens. I was just about to officially start graduate school. Other things in my life seemed to be in somewhat okay order, and I've already listed the things of note here. Then, even better things came here, namely someone by the name of Mike, who was here several times over the past year and change and we had really good memories here, too.
As my little typing break draws to a close, I'll figure out here pretty soon when I feel that I REALLY need to panic. I'm just packing the odds and ends into the two remaining empty boxes that I have. I took a time out to order pizza and run off to the post office to mail yet another box (attention Mike: INCOMING!).
So...look for an update in an hour or two. Let the panic begin!
Lots of things have happened in the past 3 1/2 years, too, I suppose. When I first moved into this apartment, my cats were just tiny kittens. I was just about to officially start graduate school. Other things in my life seemed to be in somewhat okay order, and I've already listed the things of note here. Then, even better things came here, namely someone by the name of Mike, who was here several times over the past year and change and we had really good memories here, too.
As my little typing break draws to a close, I'll figure out here pretty soon when I feel that I REALLY need to panic. I'm just packing the odds and ends into the two remaining empty boxes that I have. I took a time out to order pizza and run off to the post office to mail yet another box (attention Mike: INCOMING!).
So...look for an update in an hour or two. Let the panic begin!
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