life

Ok, so other than my post about going to the shooting range the other day, I have been really inactive on my blog. But things are getting better and not so crazy hectic with work, so I have time to participate in other activities. I've gone to the gym several times this week and feel really good. Atthe gym last night, I ran for half an hour with some sprints/interval training, and then really focused on my legs. Oh man, they were so toasted. I really had to use the handrails when going down the stairs, but I am surprisingly not very sore today. A little tender, but I was expecting real I-can-barely-move-and-walk-like-a-really-old-lady-because-I-overtrained- PAIN. But that is a good sign that I am getting stronger.
I asked Meryl to send me some swim caps and nose clips (for those of you that don't know my cousin, she is a synchronized swimmer so she has lots of extras) so that I can do laps at the pool. I got the package from her earlier this week, and not only did she send me what I asked for, but an official bathing suit (her team is sponsered by speedo now, so they can't wear Nike - BUMMER =P) Adidas warmups and a team T-shirt. Plus two pairs of goggles, swim caps and the nose clip. This also sent along this really funny card of an angry looking kitty in a yoga pose trying to de-stress. haha! I love her. If things are going kinda slow in lab, I might go to the pool during lunch today... its sunny and 80!
I am also currently looking for a new place to live. I got the papers to renew my lease this week and Yikes! Rent is going up again. Ridiculous.
Outlook for the weekend: working Saturday as usual. But I might try to go to the yoga class tomorrow morning. If I miss it, then I'll go for a fun down on town lake. I've also got some crocheting to do. . . I've started a couple new little projects. Hopefully I will get to update on those in the coming week, and still as always, working on the Bliss Blanket. I did lay it out on my bed the other night, and I am 1/3 of the way through. Sheesh! I'll probably also spend some time driving around and checking out apartment complexes/ areas of town, since I will probably be leaving Far West. Maybe I will also get to make a run to Home Depot and get new spring plants for my garden boxes, they could use some brightening!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend . . . Happy Friday!

Lethal Weapon

Or more like learning how to be lethal with a weapon. Yesterday Ryan, Jason and I went to the indoor shooting range. It is this place called Red's, and is a 100yd indoor shooting range. We rented two guns, a 9mm and a revolver (.357? don't remember what the caliber was). Anyhow, it was my first time firing a handgun, and I was, admittedly, pretty scared at first. But that is how you want to be right? I mean, its a WEAPON, with LIVE ammo. It deserves respect.
Well the guy showed us how to load them, laid down the rules and then let us go shoot. Wow, it was SO LOUD in there. It was an all brick walls, tin roof structure, so the sounds just reverberated off the walls and all throughout your body. I've shot shotguns before, and they are very loud, but outside it just doesn't seem as shocking. Every shot scared me, and I knew I was pulling the trigger! Ok, I am really painting myself to be a bit of a wuss, but go to an indoor firing range and you'll know what I am talking about. There was this guy there that was practicing with his rifle. . . WOW. crazy loud.
Anyhow, I like the 9mm much better than the revolver. It was a smoother fire, and I thought more easy to aim and actually hit the target. I felt like the revolver was kind of all over the place... or maybe it was me. We were there for about an hour and went through 4 boxes of ammo, 2 per gun. Towards the end, we did a little challenge to see who had the best aim on each of our targets, 9yds away using the 9mm. Jason did pretty well. Ryan was most the most deadly. I did alright too, all body shots (mostly gut, ouch), but it was only my second time with the 9mm. The guys, especially Jason, were shooting that one much more. I saved my target but forgot to take a picture this morning. It would have made this post much more interesting. But, if I ever have my brother or dad come out to Austin again, we'd probably go do this with them. Definitely a guy thing!

Getting Some Balance

As most of you know, this is a pretty crazy intense time for me right now....just alot going on and things to get done. Being totally knocked off my feet by sickness last week didn't help much either, so its been all about playing catch-up this week and trying to gain some ground on that long list of things I have to do. But, I am finally starting to feel a bit better, I am about 90% back (physically) now and am getting things together. let's hope the rest of this week goes just as smoothly.
Despite all I have to do though, I managed to go to the gym tonight. See, usually in these situations, I feel guilty about giving up any time for myself to get all the things done that i need to. I've done that for the last four (almost years) and am saying "Not anymore!" I am in the worst shape I have ever been. I haven't gained alot of weight...its just the "fitness" that I am missing. Cardio? Forget about it. A flight of stairs gets me winded. SAD. Due to my build and athleticism, I am naturally muscular, but I have lost ALOT of muscle tone. So I am remedying this situation.
I bought the Texercise pass for the gyms here to take the fitness classes. I love these classes! They are fun, and motivating. Maybe I am a masochist...but I LIKE when I have someone yelling at me to do pushups until my arms feel like they are about to snap. ..or to run harder and stop being a sissy. Libby (my club volleyball coach) was the best for me in that respect. and probably the reason I like this sort of treatment...on good days, she worked us HARD. And on bad days, we didn't spend our 3 hours practice playing volleyball. aaahhhh....the burn.
Last night, I got a yoga mat and went to yoga and "Ab lab" tonight. (those are the names of the classes) LOVED it. And, I have blocked out times in my schedule for other classes I want to go to: kickboxing (my favorite), sculpting classes (to build muscle), boot camp and more. In the summer when the middle of my day is free, I might try some swimming at the pool. I'm excited.
It feels good to take care of yourself. I hope I can keep this up!
And, since I have a cool yoga mat, I should try to find time when my schedule does in fact clear up to make a cool bag for it! another fun project to add to my list.
Also, if you didn't notice, I added Mr. Hawkins' blog to my "faves" list, so if you haven't already bookmarked it in your own favorites, you can always have easy access from my blog. Continue to pray for him....he stood during therapy this week!

Kitties

My family just got a new baby kitty. She is so cute.

They gave her a Dutch name (as they do most of our cats) and I don't know how to say or spell it. It means "sweet little one". Chanelle was going to surprise me with the news by updating her blog and me find out about when I read it, but mom called me yesterday and told me the news. The blog would have been a pretty good surprise....but not as good as the time (a few years ago..I think I was visiting home during a weekend while I living down in SD for my internship) that my parents told me to get something out of my room at their house, and I go back there, open up the door and these two adorable kittens (jonge and meisje) come running towards me. I screamed so loud (out of surprise and sheer glee) everyone started laughing. (I also did this a couple years ago with my mom and sisters on Lake Austin when we were feeding the turtles at County Line on the Lake....there was this baby turtle that was no bigger than a fifty cent piece. I screamed because it was so cute....prompting it to quickly nose dive under the water) I don't knwo what it is with me and screaming when I cannot express myself with words.
But now I want a kitty. I have a Tesie....but I never got the kitten stage with her since I adopted her from the animal shelter.
When I was sick and FINALLY woke up on Friday evening, Ryan came over to take me to get something to eat. When I opened up the door, he had this big, silly-stupid grin on his face. "What are you smiling so goofy about?" Then I hear a rustling of plastic, and he pulls out red roses from behind his back. It was so sweet...After I told him thank you he asked me "what if it was a kitty, missy?"
"AAAHHHH!! I would love it!! "
This was before I heard about my family's new baby. Now I really want one! Besides....maybe its time Tesie got over her only-child syndrome. Am I right? =)

Thirty eight....

The number of hours of sleep I had during the forty-eight hours that were Friday and Saturday. I got sick....really sick. It's been a while since I was that sick. I missed two days of work in a row! Needless to say, I have ALOT to catch up on. Some of those deadlines were missed, but what can you do? Stress due to aforementioned deadlines, coupled with the cold rainy weather this last week got my defenses down and probably made me sick in the first place.

it is a beautiful Sunday and I am at the lab. boo. And I am so excited for whats in store for me tomorrow.

Its about to hit the fan

I just want to apologize in advance if my blog sees some inactivity soon. My plate just keeps getting fuller and fuller.

Whats up:
~teaching is always going on, but somehow this is not supposed to take a lot of time. hmmmm
~we are going to submit another paper by the end of the week...or at least that is the goal. Still so much to do to make this happen.
~I was also told about two fellowships that I should (meaning need to) apply for, but the deadline is 2.1.09. nice notice
~I did some mechanistic work related to my current project, but it is going to be published with another paper. The other guys are all done with generating their examples and just told me yesterday that I need to run more labeling experiments to get more info about their mechanism ( I didn't even know I was going on that paper until this week). So now they are waiting on me.
~Molecule of the Month. Every semester, Mike has the group divided into two teams, each with a leader. Then he chooses some big, hairy, scary natural product and we compete to propose the best synthesis. Ryan is a team leader but he hasn't been able to work much on the molecule or assign tasks for his team....so I need to help him with that so it is not a totally bad presentation.
~And my seminar is March 2nd. I need to start making my presentation so I have enough time to get it all polished.
~I need to get my car fixed. I was running errands on Sunday and all of a sudden it sounded like my exhaust was disconnected or something because it was freaking LOUD. My little cute 4runner sounded like one of those muscle cars or something. Ryan heard it and liked it, said it reminded him of his old Ram Charger (which had cut off exhaust and open headers...yeah like I said, LOUD) I was able to drive back to my apartment, albeit slowly, because the mechanics are all closed on Sundays. So I need to get my car towed and figure out what the deal is. My poor car.
In the meantime, Ryan is letting me use his car because he lives fairly close to campus and has more buses going by his place, so its a bit easier for him to get by without a car.

Can you see me stressing out?

Lists

Things on my to do list:

~make receiving blankets, headband, and burping cloths for Lindsay's baby girl due next month!
~finish the Bliss Blanket (what an undertaking). But I have been working on it every day/night. even if only for an hour or so.
~make ryan a duvet/sheet/pillowcase set. ..the one he has is so old and falling apart. haha...guys. they can get by with so little.
~ make myself matching pajama shorts to Ryan's pants.
~crochet Easter bunnies for Maddie and Hayden (Riki's kids)
~make myself something for once....I am thinking a pretty knitted sweater. I need to pick out one I want to make...and get started on it asap so I can hopefully wear it this winter! yikes
~sew sew sew! sun dresses for summer. =)
~I think I'd like a pair of linen pants too....so comfy!
~ I think I should try my hand at a quilt ....let's not be too ambitious and do a lap quilt this year.
~As soon as it gets a little warmer....redo my window boxes and baskets on the balcony.

I think that is all I am going to put down for now. I have so little free time to do fun crafty projects I don't want to jinx myself by putting a whole bunch of things down and then not be able to do them. I am a list person, I love to make lists of things to do and cross them off. Ahhhh...the glorious feeling of accomplishing/finishing something! And nothing feels worse than a whole list of things that couldn't be done....so I am not going to set myself up for failure. If there is one thing I have learned, it's to have reasonable expectations for myself.

It's Thursday....almost the end of the week. And a beautiful Thursday too.