Too young?

This morning on NPR, Morning Edition featured a story about "Generation Next". Basically, people within the 18-25 year age range do not consider themselves adults and are not usually considered adults by their own parents. Many want to have careers and want to wait to get married and settle down to have a family.

When I hear things like this it stirs up some interesting emotions. I was 18 when I got engaged to my now-husband. We got married two days before my 21st birthday. I had my baby girl about a month before I turned 24. I've heard it said that we were too young, especially for marriage. Well, we've been together for over 7 years total and we're still enjoying each other. I have met a couple of people my age who are astonished at my "way of life" and family, and say "My gosh, I can't even imagine being married/having a kid at my age!" This reaction has always made me feel like an outsider.

So this morning's program got me thinking. Z's friends in school are all going to have older parents. Probably most will be 8 or 10 years older than my husband and I. I have a friend who is 34 and her son is now almost 8 months old. My best friend is 26 and her kids (she's not having any yet) will be at least 3 years younger than Z.

I feel it's great if 18-25 year olds don't need to take on the real responsibilities of the world, so they don't yet feel like adults. I'm sure we'll still be helping Z if she needs it, and I don't want her to feel like she's being pushed into being a "grown-up". Yet I also feel like an outsider when I think about how many people out there my age are so different from me. I always felt compelled to settle down and have a family. Not from the outside, but from the inside. I wanted it.

My own father was 36 when I was born. My mom was 30. Growing up, I felt like my mom could understand my situation better, maybe because she was younger. So I wanted to be closer in age to my own children. Thinking about that now, I can look at things in another way. My father was born in 1946. His parents were "traditional". He was raised differently than my mom. Now I think he was less approachable and understood me less when I was growing up because he had a different perspective of me. He thought "children should be this way" and "growing up should be this way" and it wasn't the same for me. My mom had a more open mind and could see more things my way. I bet that many more parents of 18-25 year olds now have more open minds and in that way can remain closer to their children. And their children don't feel the need to push away.

All that said, I am very happy with my life and my family. I wouldn't trade any of it for a career or a chance to travel more or whatever. I like it just the way it is.

This is the stuff dreams are made of

We got our Christmas tree yesterday! The first time we've ever gotten it before December. We put it up and put the lights on it last night and Z helped me decorate it this morning. She had so much fun at the tree place yesterday afternoon. She was running around and playing with everyone there and she helped pick out the tree. It was so wonderful to see her enjoying herself. I love it.

Potato soup even my toddler likes!

Caution: this is not necessarily a toddler-friendly recipe! My girl isn't a very picky eater. But we all think this soup is yummy. And it's filling!

Saute in a heavy pot:
1 medium onion
3 stalks celery, finely chopped (include leaves)

Add and cook until tender:
3 medium potatoes (or 2 large), peeled and diced
3-4 cups water or stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bay leaf

Let cool briefly. While stirring with a wire whisk, add:
1 cup instant dry milk
1-2 tablespoons butter

Reheat but do not boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley or green onions.

Yoga is awesome!

I started doing yoga seriously about a month ago. I'd been wanting a "fitness program" that fit into my life better than my "weight loss program". I just couldn't see waking up at 6am almost every day for the rest of my life and popping in a workout DVD. So, I decided to try the yoga.

At first I was pretty inflexible and stiff. But now, even just a month after starting, I can do an *almost* perfect shoulderstand! And in just a couple of weeks I've gotten so much better at the plough and the forward bends. After a session I feel renewed and energized. And so far at least it has fit into my life very well, much better than the workouts I lost the motivation to do.

Happy belated Halloween

I know all the Halloween posting is through, but I didn't get a chance to get in on it! My little Z was a bunny this year. Her costume was made by my mother, who used to make me an awesome costume every year. We went to the Emerson and got some candy and had a good time.

Gifty Meme!

In continuing a tradition from Amelie, I have joined in the gifting circle. If you are in the first 5 to comment on this blog post I will send you a gift by the end of the year! And if you are one of the 5, you must offer the same to your readers.

Approaching the pre-pregnancy weight!

Finally, 16 months after Z was born, I am approaching my pre-pregnancy weight. Since July I've passed over into the "healthy weights" on the BMI charts. Basically for my height any weight under 155 is considered healthy. And, since August I've been fitting into ALL (or almost all) of my clothes! I'm still aiming to lose another 10 pounds, and I'm still exercising and trying to be fit, but I'm pleased with my success.

I have this neato chart I made after tracking my weight since January. In January both my husband and I kept meticulous track of our weight several times a day, to see the natural "error" in the measurement (1). The variation is up to 5 pounds in any given day. Then I started weighing myself only once or twice a day. There is a break of a couple of weeks during July (2) when we went on vacation, and (3) marks exactly 1 year after Z was born. I was just over 155 pounds - 10 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight, which was 145. Since September I've plateaued around 150, but I think I'm still losing weight more slowly, although I haven't been keeping track as well the last few weeks.

Wine Tasting and Chocolate Truffles

We were invited to a wine tasting on Friday night. It was a trip through French and Californian Pinot Noir's - our host said he was serving the best in the world. They were very tasty. We started with a 1998 and finished with a 2005. My husband has a list but it's not here so I won't tell you the exact wines. It was a fun party. We even got to bring home a bit of wine.

Everyone was requested to bring an appetizer of sorts. Many people brought cheeses and that sort of thing. I was addicted to the Champagne Cheddar. We decided to make chocolate truffles! What an experience. Very messy. But lots of fun! We started on Wednesday evening by making the chocolate, and we rolled the truffle balls on Friday afternoon. Please enjoy the recipe and the pictures...

1/2 lb semisweet chocolate
1/2 lb bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder

• Coarsely chop both chocolates and set aside.
  
• Heat the cream and instant coffee in a large saucepan, stirring to blend. When bubbles start to form along the edge of the pan, remove from heat. Scatter the chocolate over the cream, stirring gently until melted. Set aside for 8-10 minutes.
• Add the liqueur and vanilla. Stir gently, just until evenly blended. Scrape the chocolate into a shallow bowl. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.
  
• Take chocolate out of the refrigerator a few hours before you plan on making the truffle balls. (We didn't do this and had to figure out how to get the chocolate to room temperature quickly. A difficult task! But it is much easier to make balls with warmer chocolate).
• Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up enough chocolate to make balls approximately 1-inch in diameter. Place balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
  
• Roll the balls in cocoa, shaking off excess, and transfer to wax paper until ready. Best when served at room temperature.

We made some truffles in simply cocoa powder, some in a mixture of cinnamon and cocoa powder and some in a mixture of cayenne pepper and cocoa powder. All were very good but the spicy ones had quite a kick! My favorite were the cinnamon.


MMM, chocolate tastes yummy!

My legs hurt!

I appreciate flat shoes. I'm not a heels kind of girl. I hadn't worn shoes with a higher heel in months, until yesterday. I wore my Doc Martens with a 1.5-inch heel. I walked to and from work like I usually do. Now my calves hurt. Bummer.

Well, here I am

From June to October... Quite a hiatus. During my "time off" I thought about starting an entirely new blog, and maybe quitting blogging altogether. I got more involved in the "friends" sites, especially Facebook. I considered writing in my old blog a few times, when I was particularly moved by something. But I would always think, "Is blogging THAT important to me? Do I NEED it?"

So what now? I've decided to keep blogging as much as I can/want to. I am kept pretty busy by my family and all that of course. Blogging to me takes a secondary role to the rest of my life. I've tried to change things around so my blog is more "me" and also more indefinite. For example, we won't live in Montana forever. In fact, we won't be living in Montana at this time next year(hopefully)! My blog should easily move with me or I won't write in it. And the purpose is to write. I'm also not an academic anymore, at least at the moment. I'm a full-time mom with a job that pays the rent. I don't know if I will go back into academia. It all depends on a myriad of things that happen in the future.

Retooling the blog

I haven't been able to blog about anything. Some things I thought about seemed out of place on my blog. Then I couldn't think of anything that would fit in! Now, this is stupid. I mean, a blog should be a place you're comfortable writing whatever you want to write about. If you specifically want to write about a certain subject, then you base your blog on that. Some people write about everything. Well, I didn't feel like I could write about *anything*. I felt that my blog didn't belong anywhere. It used to be a mostly academic blog. Now I'm not a grad student anymore. It could be a mommy blog, but sometimes I don't want to blog about mommy stuff. Although that is my life. I just don't want to be pigeonholed into a space where I don't feel I can write anything!

So I'm trying to put another new face on my blog. One I can be happy with. I apologize to those of you who may still read my blog from the academic days. I'm trying to find myself a bit right now, so my blog is going through that with me I guess.

Goodbye Grandma!

My grandmother passed away on Monday.  She was 96 years old.  She lived quite a full life and died peacefully.

I'm taking Z down to the funeral.  It involves a 2-leg flight there and another to get back home.  We're leaving Saturday afternoon, getting in at about 8:30, the funeral is Monday morning, and we're coming home on Wednesday afternoon.  A quick trip.  We will see my parents, my cousin, my aunt and uncle, and maybe my other aunt and cousin.  My husband and I had a long discussion last night about whether or not I should go, and take Z.  I feel like it is a good thing to do.  He said he couldn't physically or mentally do it.  Taking Z is too much trouble for him.  Heck, he has problems taking her to the grocery store!  So he wouldn't.  She and I have an easier time doing things like that together.  I've traveled with her alone before and it was no big deal.  She is more interactive now, and the flights may be a bit more of a hassle, but I bet it will all work out fine. 

The best reason though, for all this rushing around and hubbub, is that gram would have liked to know that the family was getting together.  All of us, especially Z.  So here's to my grammie, I hope you have fun in heaven with gramps again.

New me

I got a haircut yesterday.  It's short.  I like short hair.  Especially on me.  I think I've realized that my hair is meant to be short.  It will grow out, but it takes FOREVER.  And my hair is very fine, so when it is long, it doesn't do much.  It won't hold long layers, so mostly I wear it back.  What's the point?  I had short hair in high school, and I was kind of punkrock.  I cut my hair short again right before I got pregnant, and I decided to let it grow when a little girl at a museum didn't know I was a woman ("what lady?").  But it had been taking forever and ever to grow.  I've had it with limp boring hair!  So it is much shorter again, and I can put the putty stuff in it and spike it up and all!  I love it. 

The last time I had short hair (just over a year ago) I also wasn't wearing any makeup.  Now I think short hair looks great on girls with dark hair, but blondes need a bit of help.  I'm very blond.  You can't see my eyebrows or lashes on my face, they match very well with my skin tone.  Lately I have been getting into wearing eye makeup again, like I did in high school.  I went through this phase in college where I thought makeup was annoying and stupid.  Now I see it as an accent to my features.  I like wearing a bit of eye makeup because it makes me feel girlie.  I am enjoying the more girlie feeling lately.  So, short hair and eyes that stand out... the new me.

Work leads to babysitting!

I'm very busy right now with work and baby and family!  I am almost busier now than I ever was in grad school.  Almost.  But it's a good kind of busy.  Not so many deadlines and I get to play with my kid!

Work is really picking up.  I'm getting more and more tasks and organizing the lab more.  It is really quite exciting!  I enjoy my job.  Especially when I see my name in a forwarded email from my boss, and it says "K is my part-time administrative assistant.  She has taken on part of this project and has done a great job so far."  The summer is always the busiest time around the lab, and summer starts in a month or so.  We're planning a few new events this summer, and I'll be a part of it all. 

And for work I have to attend a meeting on Tuesday, and my husband has to be there as well, so it will be the first time we've left Z with a sitter (that wasn't family) when she was not asleep!  She's 9.5 months old and I don't know if I'm ready for this!  I know she probably is.  Her sitter is my good friend, and we've all hung out a lot so Z knows her already.  They've played a bit together.  But she'll have to get her snack and play, all while mommy AND daddy aren't there!  Goodness!  (When I visited my parents this February I left Z with them for a couple of hours and she was fine.  So I know I'm worried about nothing.  It's one of those mommy things.)

Garden planning, cloth diapers, etc.

Today we got together with our buddies with whom we are going to garden this summer. We're looking forward to having a garden plot and fresh veggies all summer! Our friends have done it before and know something about the tricks of the trade, so we're planning with them, and we're going to get two 20'x20' plots next to one another, so we'll have a real small kitchen garden going! Z and I are going to be out there weeding with Mar practically every day. It'll be great experience for all of us. And, yes, daddy is going to garden too. It's actually mostly his pet project. Z and I are kind of "hired help". We're going to even try to grow a couple of watermelons specifically bred for colder climes! I'll keep you posted on that once summer starts.

We've been using cloth diapers for a little more than a month now, and it's going great! Yes we still have some leaks. It is a bit difficult to switch from disposable to cloth, but we still think it's the best thing. We bought some bigger hemp inserts for at night because Z was soaking through all the others. She still pretty much soaks the bigger ones, but at least she doesn't over soak them and leak out, most of the time. Most of our leak problems happen during the day now, and I think it's a fit problem actually. Or just the fact that we may not change her quite often enough. You do have to change cloth diapers significantly more often than disposables. But it is so much better for baby's skin. We just have to get used to that. We've seen many more changing tables at stores and restaurants than we had seen previously. Thankfully it's easy to change Z. Even with all the leaks, wetness, and crying in the morning every once in a while, I love cloth diapers. It doesn't use too much water, and we have had significantly less trash since we switched. I would recommend it to anyone! And if we have another baby, we'll definitely start them in cloth.

Tomorrow we're planning an exciting outing to the hotsprings! We've been before, but the last few times Z wasn't very into playing or anything. She just sat and stared. Last time we went daddy dunked her, and she did fine with that, but she still was pretty passive. This was in January. Now that she's 9 months old (!) she is much more interactive and awake for longer periods of time. I really think she'll have lots of fun in the pool this time. Hopefully all goes well.

The Amazing Crawling Baby!

Z just got the hang of moving forward on all fours a couple of days ago. It's so cool! Yes, we have to childproof stuff still and we have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't get into something, but it is still so awesome.

Sugar in baby food

I get a newsletter by email from BabyCenter, and this week there was a short bit about feeding your baby foods with added sugar. You're not supposed to! This didn't come as a surprise to me. But I have been upset in the past at the availability of certain baby foods without added sugar!

I've spent quite a bit of time staring at the baby food at the grocery store, trying to find something new to feed Z. I decided I wouldn't feed her strained meat, so all the chickens, turkeys and lambs were out. She had tried nearly all of the rest of the available fruits and veggies, and all that was left was desserts! DESSERTS! Why does an 8- or 9-month-old need to eat dessert? And I did check the ingredients, and many of these desserts contained added sugar. I have no idea why anyone would want to give their baby extra sugar.

This all lead me to begin making my own baby food. I make most of the food that Z eats - my own sweet potatoes, yams, green beans, apricots, prunes, peas, black beans, applesauce... I feel good that she's not getting any refined sugar, and that I know the steps that her food has gone through (to a certain degree... I didn't grow it myself... yet. This summer I will be giving her some fresh garden food).

By the way, high nitrate foods shouldn't be home prepared before your baby's about 8-months old. High-nitrate vegetables include beets, carrots, green beans, squash, turnips, spinach and collard greens.

Books we've read

Since I was pregnant with Z, my husband and I have been reading books together, and once Z was born we read with her. I'm talking about novels, not kids books. When I was pregnant we'd read at bedtime. Once Z was born, we'd read just about every time I was breastfeeding. We are continuing to read, now only during the bedtime breastfeeding. We've read quite a few books that way, and I wanted to note them all so I will never forget.

While I was pregnant we read some Sherlock Holmes stories, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and From the Earth to the Moon (both by Jules Verne). Then we started David Copperfield, which we were reading when Z was born.

We've read The Great Train Robbery (Crichton), The Wizard of Oz (Baum), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), Robinson Crusoe (Defoe), A Christmas Carol (Dickens), and Around the World in 80 Days (Verne) with Z, since she was born. We're in the middle of Wuthering Heights (Bronte). We may stop after this one, but probably not. I'm not sure what's up next though.

email blog test

I would enjoy not having to rely on the speediness of blogger, so I am testing this email for posting. 

I guess I better change my blog

... since I'm not going to be a grad student any more. So much for life in graduate school! Maybe, life while your husband's in graduate school? No, too boring. Maybe life in a small corner of Montana... That may be better overall since I didn't write too much about grad school in the first place.

I met with my advisor today and she asked for a notebook of all my data, and my excel files. She uses them sometimes in publications down the road. So now I have to collect that stuff for her. That's easier than working on a manuscript at this point. She also offered me work. Either field work in the summer or fall, or lab work starting whenever. I am happy with my job now and busy enough that I told her no for the time being. At least until the end of the summer. We're traveling a lot this summer anyway, so working for her wouldn't fit in. I just don't know if I really want to do the lab work right now. I talked to my husband and a field trip in September isn't out of the question. Is a 14 or 15-month-old too young to do field work? In this line of research, probably. We'd have to bring some friends I guess. We'll see what I feel like at the start of the fall semester, but I might work a bit for her. It depends on my other job too. But right now I have more than enough to keep me busy for 15 to 20 hours a week.

Z is my daughter

She is so precious. It is wonderful watching a child grow. I just had to hold her for a few minutes, maybe some stomach pain, and she was sleeping in my arms. She hasn't done that for a while now. The last time was probably on the plane back from visiting my parents in early February. The only time she really cuddles and nestles into me is when she's really tired, and mostly she's in bed and sleeping by then, so those times are few and far between. They're lovely when they happen.

Can't post to my blog!

Arrgh. I have another blog and I can't post to it! Annoying! So I have to write something!

I'm done with school now, I have been since January. I officially graduate in May with my M.S. I'm not attending graduation though. It's no big deal to me. I'm supposed to be working on publishing, but I haven't done a thing! Well, I did email the editor of a journal to see if my work would fit in. It won't. I should be fixing up my figures for publication, and cutting out superfluous stuff from my text. But, really, I'd rather not. I know I am displaying terrible work ethic. I am having such a good time not having homework! I do work part-time to get some extra money, and I enjoy that job immensely. But I love not having to bring it home unless I want to. I work on website stuff from home quite often, especially when I can get exciting things done in short amounts of time. But at night, I usually sit down with my book for a while. I am just screaming through books now that I don't have schoolwork! It took me nearly a year to read War and Peace, and now I'm halfway through a book that is just as long, in only 1.5 months! I love it. So no, I'm not even tempted to work on anything serious in my nightly free time. I know, I know.

By the way, I have decided NOT to pursue a Ph.D. in my field. I'm 95% sure I won't get a Ph.D. in any field. This doesn't discount the possibility of more schooling, just not toward the doctorate of philosophy. I won't say any more at this time because I haven't decided anything concrete yet.

I like web stuff

I'm working on a new website for the lab I work for. I really enjoy working on websites. Ever since I first tried, which was in college. We're using MediaWiki to build the website, in hopes of sometime in the future merging a public wiki with our internal wiki. It is so easy to work with, and there is a lot of helpful online documentation. I don't think it will take as long as I projected at first.

Cloth Diapers

Well, in a whirlwind we decided to change to cloth diapers. We had been thinking about how wonderful it would be to not always be throwing away oddles of diapers in plastic bags, littering the landfills of Montana (we switched our kitchen trash to paper bags). I was leery of prefolds and pins though. Well, during my research for my budget post, I talked to a friend that uses cloth diapers. She pointed me to a couple of websites, and I saw the light. Cloth diapers are nothing like I thought!

We bought some pocket diapers from Montana's Diaper Store. We actually went to the physical store, which ended up being a great trip. After looking at cloth diapers online all weekend I still wasn't sure what to get! So we went to the store and they helped us pick the right diapers for us. We're using the Pocket Change cloth diapers. They are working great so far!

Wrong again

I thought it was spring, but it's not. It is still definitely winter. It snowed about 6 inches on Friday, and it is forecast to snow every day this week. I guess I just have to wait longer for the nice warm weather.

The baby budget

One of my friends is considering getting pregnant. She wanted to know about how much we spend per month on Z's stuff, like diapers, etc. I went a little overboard and tried to estimate everything for her. Here is the email I wrote:

Remember, if you get pregnant I'm sure people are going to help you out a little. I'm sure the grandparents will buy some clothes and especially other little things too, and of course you'll have a shower and get gifts there. And we have some stuff you can have like our newborn tub. So, you won't have to buy absolutely everything yourselves.

The initial costs are the biggest. Getting set up with a nice crib will be between $300 and $500. A good carseat will cost you at least $150 (and don't buy a used one of these! You want something new). Other baby furniture such as a dresser or changing table may be unnecessary but if you want it you may pay a lot, maybe over $500. We bought ourselves a dresser and gave Z my old one, at a cost of about $200. You probably also want to get a baby carrier or two, and those range from about $30 to over $100. The baby backpack comes later, and I saved up for that one and I bought the cadillac for $240. You will also need some layette items like swaddling blankets, onesies, clothes, burp cloths, etc. I don't think we bought any of these for ourselves. But if you do, I would expect to pay in excess of $100 depending on what you get.

Of course there are also the doctor's costs. These vary depending on your insurance, but I can tell you we paid $750 for my doctor, and the overall total (including the $750) was about $3000.

Now the monthly expenses... These change as your baby gets older. I have been breastfeeding and it is cheaper than formula feeding. Yes you do eat more food, but adult food can be less expensive than lots of formula. Now that I breastfeed and give Z formula, we're paying about $20 a month for formula. But this can be way more expensive if you are exclusively formula feeding. Think maybe $120 a month... And once your baby starts solids, you can expect to pay about $30 a month for babyfood jars (between 6 and 8 months).

For diapering, we use disposable diapers. I have seen websites that say to estimate your diaper use at 70 per week. I don't know if we ever used that many! Realistically now we use about 40 diapers per week. We're not changing freaks, and we use diaper cream and Z has never had a rash. We pay about $50 a month for diapers. This gets a bit more expensive as the baby gets older too, but slowly. Wipes are cheap, they cost us less than $20 a month, and other diapering supplies like cream cost us maybe $4 a month.

Now for my speech on how to save money. :)
I have bought many things on ebay. Z's bouncy chair, kick-gym, and lots of clothes. Buying baby clothes on ebay is awesome. I always look for lots with several pieces. The last lot I bought was 6-12 month stuff, and I got name-brand clothes like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Children's Place. I got ~20 pieces for ~$20. WAY cheaper than buying anything at any store. Especially the nice name-brand stuff which costs ~$15 for a onesie. So don't be afraid to look for stuff on ebay! Everything I've gotten was in great condition. People selling baby clothes do seem to be truthful about the condition, and seem to not sell really crummy stuff. A couple of things I got had some spots, but you expect those in used baby clothes. Sometimes you just can't keep them clean. We also bought our baby monitor at the thrift store here, so it cost us $2.50. It is old and kind of crummy, but it works! And we could have paid upwards of $40 for a new one. I know you guys go to the thrift stores so look there for baby stuff. Some things I personally wouldn't buy used, mostly for safety's sake. Like you want a new carseat. Unless you get one from a friend and you're sure it's never been in an accident. We're probably going to get our front-facing seat from my friend S. But I wouldn't just buy one. I also saved up for the backpack, because I want something that can take a lot of wear and tear from me. I know it'll be well used so I didn't want one that was already well used.

In my initial email I forgot to mention nursing bras ($15 to $40 a piece - I have 6), maternity clothes (I think I spent about $150 but you can spend way more), the boppy (an essential for us! - ~$20), the Bumbo chair (super cool - $30), and crib bedding (we got ours handed down, but I think it can be up to $200).

If there are any ammendments or additions to my list, please leave a comment!

In the wink of an eye

My baby is growing up before my eyes. It is so amazing, and a little sad. I remember when she was the teeny baby we brought home from the hospital. She couldn't do a thing then, except cry, poop, nurse and sleep. She stared around once in a while when she was awake long enough.

Now she is starting to pull herself up from a sitting position. She really wants to walk. She loves it when we help her take small steps. She can't quite crawl yet, but she is almost there too. One of the nurses that sees her often thinks she might walk without even crawling. I didn't think so until today when I really payed attention to her walking attempts. Now I think she may just be right. Amazing.

Z is also starting to want to relax more in her crib, instead of in my arms. She has a stuffed frog that I started giving her as a sort of "transitional" object. I brought him with to my parent's house to have something in her "crib" that reminded her of home. While we were there she seemed to get attached to him (we call him Ringo), and so when we got home I decided to keep putting him in the crib with her. She likes to grab him and cuddle with him during the night and during naps. In fact, having him has made her naps significantly longer. Where she was sleeping about 40 to 50 minutes before she is now sleeping 1.5 to 2 hours! So now I can put her in her crib with Ringo when she is still fairly awake, and in minutes she is sound asleep with him in one arm or within close reach. It is sooooo sweet. It is also a little sad, because now there is something else comforting besides me or my breast. But, ah, she is growing. She definitely won't be my little baby forever.

New picture

Some snow from our window.

Real good friends

Over President's Day weekend we had one of our college friends stay with us for a couple of days. He works in California now and we hadn't seen him since the summer of 2004. We all had such a great time! Before he came I was planning a trip to Yellowstone one day, but then we decided that was too much hassle and we'd all just rather hang out. So that's what we did. He and my husband rented Metroid Prime Echoes and we all played that and Super Smash Brothers Melee. We went out to eat and we went and played a bit in the snow (since there's no snow where he lives in CA).

Most importantly, though, we laughed. We spent a few hours giggling. I don't even know what all we were laughing at, but whatever it was, it was funny. All three of us realized that we hadn't laughed like that in a long time. Years maybe. It felt good. And it made my husband and I think about how great it is to have friends like that. We haven't made any here at grad school.

Time off

Since I turned in my thesis I haven't been blogging! I've been getting some r&r. I am still working part-time, and that has been nice because it provides me with a change of scenery, and keeps me busy for a little bit every day. But not too much. I'm really enjoying not having deadlines or big things hanging over my head!

I am going to submit my work to be published, either in Northwest Science or the Western North American Naturalist. My advisor and I are meeting tomorrow to talk about that. And as usual I have to submit two annual reports for my funding agencies. Both are not a big deal. The only other thesis related thing I have to get done soon is get some printed and bound copies for my committee, etc. I've been putting that off until I get back from visiting my parents.

Tomorrow...

All I have to do is submit my signature forms to the grad college office and I have my master's degree. Woohoo!

This was the PhD comic on the day that my advisor gave me the OK to submit to the grad college. I have felt that way more than once during the whole thesis-writing process. I'm just glad it is over now.

Picture of the week!

Happy new year! I got back from vacation a few days ago and I've spent most of the time feverishly getting my thesis ready for submission. It's ready now! I made it a pdf and everything! Tomorrow I'm going to email it to the lady at the grad school, and Tuesday I'm going over there to turn in the proper forms. HOW EXCITING!


This week's picture is from last January at Yerkes observatory in Wisconsin.