An Upbeat Christmas

Today was Christmas, and the family grouped together last night for our annual Christmas Eve party, here are the highlights:

We spent most of yesterday at my grandmother's house cooking, getting her ready, and visting with my mother's aunt and cousin. There were no big problems this year, and we all got out the door on time.

My uncles Dave and Johnny went in one car, and were supposed to follow us in my mom's car. Somewhere on route 2 we started questioning whether or not they were behind us. We got off the highway to get some coffee, and they were nowhere to be found. Neither of my uncles had their cell phone, which was highly unusual.

Dave and John, running out of gas, got to a McDonalds and finally called us. The two trouble makers were having a grand old time. Once everone was back on track, my mom went out to meet them and retrieve them. So dinner started late, but here were plenty of snacks to hold everyone over.
Dinner was great, as usual.

Present opening happened promptly this year. My poor grandmother's bad memory meant she couldn't remember that she had gifts for all the grandchildren. This meant that every 5 minutes or so we were weepily informed that she had nothing to give anyone. It's heartbreaking that 1) she can't recall anything 2) she can't figure out that we'll make sure she's got everything she needs and 3) she doesn't realize that all we really care about is her being there.

Lauren and I exchanged gifts with each other this year. I got cookie cutters and a new rolling pin. I gave her the card game "Fluxx", the version that has a zombie theme. Very holiday appropriate, I must say.

For the first time ever, Lauren and I interacted with our other cousins Sydney and Hannah. Buying that game was the best thing ever, the four of us played for the rest of the evening. Lauren's parents were in a rush to get home, so I told them I'd get her back so they didn't make her leave. I didn't want to cut down on the already short time we had together. This was the best part of the evening, for me anyway. It really meant a lot to have all the girls doing something together.

Matt wasn't there, which I think really dissappointed Aunt Kim. Neither of my aunts have met him yet. I don't know when we'll finally have the family meet him, officially; but, first we need to sort out the technical details of the holidays a little better. Matt has already said that next year, we're traveling together. I concur. An impending snowstorm for Monday is going to spoil my travel plans, and it looks like I won't get to PA or see Matt and his family until Tuesday.

This morning mom and I exchanged gifts: I got a really cool sweater and a jewlery organizer that was shaped like a tree. The sweater is really great, it's warm and looks awesome. I need to cull my sweater collection when I get back to school, I have too many old and out of date sweaters. I'll probably donate them, there isn't anything structurally wrong with them, and I'm sure there are people that could use them. I keep seeing nice sweaters that I would like but that I refuse to buy. I have nowhere to put them because the old ones are taking up too much space.

Mom and I were so busy yesterday that we didn't quite get everything we intended for dinner this evening, and absolutely no grocery stores were open today. No big deal, we improvised with what we had around the house and what we could locate at convenience stores. We ended up having roast pork tenderloin with squash and scalloped potatoes. For dessert, an apple tart. Everything ended up coming together well, despite the initial setback.

Dave, my cousin JP, and my grandmother all came over for dinner. The five of us had a really nice evening. I don't spend that kind of time with JP, ever. He's usually working or out doing something, and I only ever catch him briefly at my grandmother's house.

This year I not only got to spend time with the family I'm already close with, but I got a little extra with those I haven't interacted with in a while. I hope that we can repeat this next year.

Northeast For The Holidays

I've been slacking, as in slacking off on seeing people since I've been home. It's not that I don't want to see people, I do; this time of year, being home alone while mom is at work, and the chaos puts me in a droopy mood.

I am glad to be home though. It's so important to me that I'm getting to see my mom, Grandma, and Uncle Dave. I'll see the Georgiades clan on Friday evening, as per usual holiday plans. We pack the car up, and head on out to my Uncle Rob's house for a tall tree, fireplace, and more food than any human being should eat in one evening. I'm making egg nog again, as usual. I wonder if Mom has reminded Dave that he is invited? This year I think I'll make some cookies while I'm home: some to bring to Christmas Eve, some to give away to friends.

I have been successful in seeing Jenn. We had breakfast together my first morning back. We went to the Glastonbury Coffee Shop, one of the best places to get breakfast. It's kind of small, which means it can be kind of drafty in the winter, but it has a charm that is quinticential to this area. And it's been around forever, I've been going since I was an infant. My family used to go every weekend.

Jenn and I met up again this evening to puts around the mall area. We hit Target and Red Robin, and then went to the dreaded mall. I promised myself I wouldn't go to the mall until Christmas was done, but we met up with Katie and she needed to return something. I didn't have any shopping to do, so I figured wandering around and looking at sparkly objects wouldn't be too bad. It was a nice evening; homefully I can see Jenn again next week before I head out to Virginia.

I haven't seen Lura yet, but we've made Facebook contact. It's just a matter of time, and not having work or something else in the way, until we hang out. Maybe this weekend? If not, it'll have to wait until I return from PA with Matt on Tuesday.

Being back home where there is TV is SO dangerous. I've been wasting my life watching stupid things, and it's really rather pathetic. My mom and all my friends aren't available till the evening, so I've just been kind of vegging out. I did go out yesterday to try to complete my Christmas shopping. I'm about 98% done. I found a really cool shop, but I can't talk about it yet, or people will know what I got them for gifts. But it was so neat!

There was coffee and cookies with Uncle Dave on Sunday, and lunch with Mom today. So, I guess after the final analysis, my break so far has been fairly productive, after all.

I should be getting my publication together. Hmm, yes.

Birthday Weekend Continued

So, a lot went on this weekend.

According to my previous post, I should be telling you now how cute and funny the alpaca were on Saturday afternoon. It turns out Matt and I couldn't go because there are degenerate jerks in this world. I will explain.

Mouse and Dave came down to Albuquerque to meet us for lunch before we headed out to the farms. It was decided that we would go in Matt's car since all of his seatbelts work and since Mouse and Dave had already driven a lot. We were walking towards the car and noticed a car in our lot had a smashed window. Then we walked over to the lot where Matt's car was parked, and several more cars had smashed windows. There was a particularly large pile of glass next to Matt's car.

During the night, around 3am, someone had broken into at least seven cars at my apartment complex, including Matt's. The poor guy parked next to Matt had two broken windows, front and back. So not only was this criminal (criminals?) evil, they were also too lazy to unlock the car once they had broken the glass to get to the back seat. Nothing was stolen from Matt's car, since there wasn't anything in there to steal. But they sure made a mess. My car didn't get broken into, and the only reason I can think as to why is because I have an alarm. So, what we should do is install a tiny blinking red light on the dashboard of Matt's car. Problem solved.

By the time we got back from lunch, and got all the mess sorted out (we sent Mouse and Dave on ahead to the farms) we missed out on the alpacas. Matt is getting his window fixed today, since nothing was open after noon on Saturday. Oddly enough, I think we handled the whole thing (psychologically) very well. Had it been my car, I don't know how I would have reacted.

Saturday evening proved to be much better: I had my wine and dessert party. This is the first time we've had company over, and it was really nice having a living room full of people playing games, eating food, and enjoying ourselves. The list of guests included: Mouse, Dave, Alyssa, Meghan, Claire, and Virginia. It was also great to get the living room, kitchen, and bathroom cleaned. That part of the apartment looks pretty good now.

Sunday had even more surprises in store for me. Matt had been saying for a few days not to plan anything around lunch time on Sunday. That's because he had reservations at a ranch to go horseback riding! I haven't been on a horse in two years, and I used to ride when I was a little girl. I had a really pretty horse, too, her name was Lady. Matt's horse was named Blue. In addition to the ride, they had us tack the horse. The trail ride went down to the Rio Grande, where we had our picture taken.

So all in all, it was a very lovely birthday weekend. It was nice to have company and get cards and well wishes from family and friends. Then Matt made it extra special.

Birthday Recap

Yesterday was my birthday, and I'm happy to say I've had two excellent birthdays in a row. Last year's toga party was fun, but this year I opted for something more relaxed. Yesterday evening Matt took me out to a really nice restaurant, the Artichoke Cafe. I got dressed up, and wore this sweater dress that I've had for a while and not had the opportunity to wear it. Matt got me this cool bracelet I was checking out last week in Old Town, which also matched my dress. I almost bought it then, but I'm glad he got it for me. It's so neat, it's made from tagua nuts, and has sort of the look and feel of ivory but it's from a plant! It's a chunky bracelet, and I don't usually wear anything around my wrists, but I've decided I'm going to try to accessorize more.

For dinner I had the pan roasted duck breast over edamame jasmine rice with snap peas and baby carrots with a soy apricot reduction. A side car as my celebratory drink. This place also does flights of different alcohols, so we shared a flight of three different styles of tequila. Matt got the squash ravioli in sage butter sauce, he let me have a taste and it was also really good. I almost got that, but whenever it's a special occasion, I seem to always get duck because I don't have the will to make it myself and I love it. For dessert we split a chocolate orange pot de creme, that had little slices of candied orange peel and a little cookie as a garnish. Itw as the best dinner I've had in a long time. Everything was so delicious, and so pretty.

Afterward we went to the Chama River Brewing Company to meet up with some of my classmates, and I had a beer, and Fred bought me more dessert! It was dulce de leche something-er-other ice cream with chocolate and caramel and pinon nuts in a chocolate bowl. I also got to meet her special friend, John, who was visiting from Oregon.

Today we are going out for a bit with Mouse and Dave to some alpaca farms that are having open houses, but I also need to find some time to clean the apartment a bit because I'm having a wine and dessert party tonight. I invited the girls from my incoming class over, and it should be a good time. I'll have a pretty full apartment, because my place isn't that big, but we'll make it work.

Time to go clean house!

Monday (Tuesday?) Night (Morning?)

Today wasn't bad, if you ignore the fact that I couldn't breathe through my nose pretty much all day. The lab I taught was on vertebrate adaptations, which was fun, especially for me (big shocker there). To make it even more awesome, I got to hold the cutest snake ever, a rosy boa who was super friendly. She was also super stubborn. For part of the exercise, I was supposed to insert her into a clear plastic tube so that everyone could watch how she moved via constertina movement (as opposed to typical serpentine movement). That worked beautifully; however, two out the three times I did this I had the hardest time getting her OUT of the tube. She just didn't want to come out and go back in her cage. I don't blame her, I think it was probably warmer in the plastic tube than her box, but it was frustrating none-the-less. The plus side, her little tongue tickled my arm when I was holding her. She was aborable.

Today's lab also consisted of endless skulls and skeletons and stuffed animals, which was also cool. One of my students was not so thrilled, especially since many of the specimens would fall within the "cute" animal category. They only care about the cute ones...

I had some time between my labs today, which meant I got a break. I was actually able to eat a relaxing lunch, and then go for tea and a snack later with Matt downtown. If only every week could be like that!

This evening we had French toast and Candian Bacon (there's a joke in there somewhere, but I can't find it at this hour). We ate dinner and watched some episodes of Community, which we have been renting recently.

And finally, I attempted to do some reading for class. It was a little late, but I more or less made it through a very lengthy paper on macroecology. Not bad for a marathon Monday.

Back in ABQ

It was wonderful to finally touch down in Albuquerque last night and see Matt. Despite a 2pm departure from Pittsburgh and more than a 2 hour layover in Chicago, I got in a little after 7pm. Not too bad.

Matt was waiting for me with flowers and we got some Rudy's Bar-B-Q for dinner. He also got me green chili and cheddar bagels for breakfast for the next couple days. We headed home, where I discovered he had picked up a bit around the apartment, and I got comfy and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Yada yada yada, then we watched an episode of True Blood.

The city is having a thing where there is free dental care today and tomorrow. My plan was to go today, but I was so beat from traveling that it just didn't happen. I needed the sleep, especially after flying yesterday, and especially after nearly a week of only mediocre rest. Meetings are anything but restful. I need to look over some work and meet up with a group for a project anyway, so I really don't have time to see the dentist today. Matt and I are going to get up early to go tomorrow.

Tomorrow may also involve going for a hike in the Sevilleta. I hope, I hope.

Debut in the Smith-Brown Lab

Good day today. Classes didn't drag too much, I had some interesting moments of intellectual reflection, and I got some work done. Lunch was also amazing, because it was a repeat of the delicious soup that Matt made for dinner last night. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I got home, because he had made a big pot of egg lemon soup. I think it might be a new favorite, that man can cook!

I'm currently putting some finishing touches on a talk that I am giving tomorrow: the same talk I'm giving in a few weeks at a conference. Tomorrow, however, I am talking about my previous research to my lab group, which has me a little nervous, but excited as well.

I am one of a couple people in the lab group who regularly thinks about the fossil record. Felisa's advice for tomorrow is to be careful about what I assume, as in, don't assume that people in the lab know terminology, and all there is to know about my research. Odds are, they don't know. This is so true, I've been in the situation where I've been talking to very smart geologists who were clueless. I'm going to guess that biologists will have similar problems. What I study, and how I've been studying it, is very different from what they are probably expecting. Different questions, different data sets, difference data problems, and different analysis problems.

I have to keep reminding myself that this department accepted me for a reason. I have a different background; I think about time differently; and, therefore, I think about biological communities very differently. Not better, differently. And so I hope that makes me valuable.

If nothing else, this will get me warmed up for Pittsburgh in a couple weeks. And it'll let everyone know exactly what I'm about.

Moral Support

Sitting here, in front of my computer, Matt called from the kitchen, "Dinner will be ready soon. Do you want a salad to go with it?"

I have a very supportive and caring boyfriend. I'm lucky to have him here, and I'm so glad he came out to the southwest with me. He says I could have done it fine without him, but I wouldn't have been nearly this happy. He helps me make decisions, and is upbeat and encouraging in all that I try to do. I feel like we have a very even and fair relationship. It's what I always wanted, and having a good partner is going to make my whole New Mexico/PhD experience all that much better.

Better not keep him waiting.