1. a bag of flour
2. the electrical cords of my waffle maker and my George Foreman grill
3. one size 2 bamboo double pointed needle
4. a 4 pound bag of potatoes, and all of my onions
5. my binder of recipes printed from the internet
6. countless dog toys (new ones and all of Satchel's)
7. a ziploc bag of valentine's day sugar cookies
8. the box of a 12 pack of Bud Light bottles
9. a few half-dead cacti
10. MY GLASSES
By now you might have guessed, I'm attempting to compile a list of all the random crap Lucy has ruined or almost ruined in the 4 weeks we've had her so far. In general, nothing was a major loss. I was very upset about the cookies (and all the sugar had the unfortunate side effect making her extra crazy for the whole night). But yesterday came the kicker - while I was in the shower, she ate MY GLASSES. I had put in my contacts while sitting on the couch that morning, and I left my glasses on the end table. When I came down from my shower, I saw them sitting on my couch, and I thought to myself, why did I leave them there? Then I saw one of the lenses sitting there. Then I looked at my actual glasses and saw the other lens and the frames were covered in teeth marks. GREAT.
Honestly it could have been worse. My glasses were about 5 years old, and 2 or 3 prescriptions behind, and I had been considering getting new glasses for about 6 months. So now I guess I can get a new pair. I just couldn't believe that after 4 weeks of unsupervision while I'm in the shower, suddenly she would eat MY GLASSES. Damn dog.
Other than that, Lucy is ok. She already getting bigger - I have a hard time throwing her out of my way on the bed. She only rarely is having accidents inside, partly because we are now keeping her in a kennel during the day. She is just so crazy wired when I get home in the evening, then she calms down just in time for Kevin to come home and it happens all over again. Its interesting to say the least.
Not much else - just catching up on work after being in Chicago.
I guess I officially have a belly of some sort too - I saw Jackie last night for the first time in a week and a half, and she immediately said 'Wow you look pregnant!' A coworker also said something about looking bigger yesterday, which I thought was funny. I'm just praying I can keep wearing normal clothes as long as possible....
On Monday we'll know if we're having a boy or a girl! Woohoo!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Glad to be Home
Phew.
That was a long exhausting trip. Nothing overly exciting, and I guess not overly useful, but parts of the conference were interesting and it was fun to spend a few days in Chicago. I'm not sure if I said anything about going to this conference, but it was the annual meeting for AAAS, the people that paid for my internship this past summer. So they paid for my registration for the meeting, leaving me only to find a way there and a place to stay. I stayed with one of my old college roommates (Shannon) who lives north of the city, and I took the El in each day. It was very nice and very convenient, and it was great seeing Shannon for the first time in more than 2 years.
The meeting itself was pretty overwhelming. There were so many different career workshops, scientific symposia, and other seminars going on that I could hardly think straight. There were at least a few highlights: Al Gore spoke on Friday night, and he was excellent - the perfect amount of entertaining and intellectual. We ended up having to watch his speech from the overflow room though - the room he was in was packed immediately. Oh well. Another entertaining seminar I went to was about people who do science consulting for the entertainment industry. One of the guys that talked to us works for the show The Big Bang Theory, which I watch and enjoy, so it was interesting. Those are basically the highlights.
I was hoping to get a lot of career advice out of this, but that didn't happen. I won't bore you with specifics about the career workshops I did go to, but they were useless. I also tried to go to a job fair for science writing internships just out of curiosity, but when I showed up I discovered it wasn't a normal job far but was instead a series of one-on-one interviews that people had to sign up for with the media outlets they were interested in. Oh well. I've resigned myself to the idea that I don't remotely have the drive to be a science journalist. Oh well.
Other than the conference, I did a few fun things. I had lunch with my oldest friend, Scott, which was nice. I went to the Illini/Northwestern game (previous post...). I went with another AAAS fellow friend to a yarn store and bought some fun sock yarn that I'm excited to use soon. After that I walked very very far - basically from Grant Park to North Michigan Ave and back to the conference at Michigan/Wacker - and did some shopping. I rationalized buying myself a new purse since I wasn't spending any money on food (Sarah and I found enough receptions with free food to fill us up every evening; I think I had to buy lunch twice). I also shopped for maternity clothes for the first time ever - I don't need them yet but figured I'd look for deals. So at least I had a bit of time to do un-conference stuff.
Sarah and I drove back yesterday afternoon and got back just in time to have dinner with Travis while he was in town. Kevin met us at dinner, and I was SO HAPPY when he showed up with a clean-shaven face!!!!! I guess that was my Valentine's day present. I'LL TAKE IT! He had also done a good job of cleaning up the house and doing laundry, for which I was grateful.
Now its back to work....
That was a long exhausting trip. Nothing overly exciting, and I guess not overly useful, but parts of the conference were interesting and it was fun to spend a few days in Chicago. I'm not sure if I said anything about going to this conference, but it was the annual meeting for AAAS, the people that paid for my internship this past summer. So they paid for my registration for the meeting, leaving me only to find a way there and a place to stay. I stayed with one of my old college roommates (Shannon) who lives north of the city, and I took the El in each day. It was very nice and very convenient, and it was great seeing Shannon for the first time in more than 2 years.
The meeting itself was pretty overwhelming. There were so many different career workshops, scientific symposia, and other seminars going on that I could hardly think straight. There were at least a few highlights: Al Gore spoke on Friday night, and he was excellent - the perfect amount of entertaining and intellectual. We ended up having to watch his speech from the overflow room though - the room he was in was packed immediately. Oh well. Another entertaining seminar I went to was about people who do science consulting for the entertainment industry. One of the guys that talked to us works for the show The Big Bang Theory, which I watch and enjoy, so it was interesting. Those are basically the highlights.
I was hoping to get a lot of career advice out of this, but that didn't happen. I won't bore you with specifics about the career workshops I did go to, but they were useless. I also tried to go to a job fair for science writing internships just out of curiosity, but when I showed up I discovered it wasn't a normal job far but was instead a series of one-on-one interviews that people had to sign up for with the media outlets they were interested in. Oh well. I've resigned myself to the idea that I don't remotely have the drive to be a science journalist. Oh well.
Other than the conference, I did a few fun things. I had lunch with my oldest friend, Scott, which was nice. I went to the Illini/Northwestern game (previous post...). I went with another AAAS fellow friend to a yarn store and bought some fun sock yarn that I'm excited to use soon. After that I walked very very far - basically from Grant Park to North Michigan Ave and back to the conference at Michigan/Wacker - and did some shopping. I rationalized buying myself a new purse since I wasn't spending any money on food (Sarah and I found enough receptions with free food to fill us up every evening; I think I had to buy lunch twice). I also shopped for maternity clothes for the first time ever - I don't need them yet but figured I'd look for deals. So at least I had a bit of time to do un-conference stuff.
Sarah and I drove back yesterday afternoon and got back just in time to have dinner with Travis while he was in town. Kevin met us at dinner, and I was SO HAPPY when he showed up with a clean-shaven face!!!!! I guess that was my Valentine's day present. I'LL TAKE IT! He had also done a good job of cleaning up the house and doing laundry, for which I was grateful.
Now its back to work....
Thursday, February 12, 2009
How Did They Pull That Off?
I am currently in Chicago for the AAAS annual meeting. Tonight I ended up going to the Illinois/Northwestern game with my college friend Shannon who I'm staying with. Anyway, I had reasonably high hopes for Illinois to do well....but the game was HORRIBLE. We were tied once in the first half, and never ever had the lead. But somehow they pulled it together and won it by one point with two seconds left. After NEVER leading the whole game. I still don't believe it.
If I'm bored tomorrow maybe I'll try to post more. The highlight will be lunch with my oldest friend, who is a new dad. Weird.
This is also my first post ever from my phone. It certainly makes me a bit lazy about typing but it's good to k ow I can do it.
If I'm bored tomorrow maybe I'll try to post more. The highlight will be lunch with my oldest friend, who is a new dad. Weird.
This is also my first post ever from my phone. It certainly makes me a bit lazy about typing but it's good to k ow I can do it.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Snow, Mud, Baths, and Worms
Life continues to be more interesting with Lucy around. Last week we had a considerable amount of snow for St. Louis, and I ended up staying home on Wednesday. Satchel is always a little confused by snow, but he doesn't mind it. But Lucy really didn't care for it. The first time I tried to get her to go outside, she really didn't want to and she peed on the back steps. She finally went outside after Kevin shoveled off a little bit of the sidewalk/patio, but she hated the snow because she immediately sank 7 inches. By Thursday she was fine because the top of the snow had hardened enough for her to walk on. Here they are enjoying the snow:
By this weekend, the snow had melted, making my backyard a mud pit. So every time the dogs went outside, they'd track in muddy footprints all through my kitchen. They were muddy enough that Kevin even decided to give them a bath, and he put them both in the bathtub at the same time. This was quite entertaining. Then I washed my kitchen floor (although it already looks like it needs to be washed again...)
In general, Lucy continues to be much better about not going to the bathroom inside. She has been successfully contained in the kitchen while we're gone during the day too....with a few minor incidents. Friday while I was at work, she found my potatoes and onions, and chewed a little bit on every one. Thanks. Saturday while we were in IL at my parents, she was able to jump up on the windowsill and knock over her bag of food and she ate so much her stomach was HUGE. But she's been pretty good.
Kevin woke me up at 3:30am on Monday morning screaming 'Lucy has worms!!!!' I guess he had woken up to take her outside, and he saw some worms crawling around her tail and butt region. He proceeded to do internet research about what kind of worms she might have, and he decided she had pinworms which are really bad and could be on our bed. So Lucy was banished to the kitchen, where she cried all the rest of the night. Kevin and I stripped the bed, and tried to go back to sleep but we were both worried about whether Satchel had worms too and if Lucy would be ok. It was great.
Yesterday morning we got into the vet right away, and Lucy just has tapeworms, and we got dewormer for both Lucy and Satchel. And we learned its not very easy at all for humans to get tapeworms from dogs, which was good to know. Hopefully everyone will be fine.
By this weekend, the snow had melted, making my backyard a mud pit. So every time the dogs went outside, they'd track in muddy footprints all through my kitchen. They were muddy enough that Kevin even decided to give them a bath, and he put them both in the bathtub at the same time. This was quite entertaining. Then I washed my kitchen floor (although it already looks like it needs to be washed again...)
In general, Lucy continues to be much better about not going to the bathroom inside. She has been successfully contained in the kitchen while we're gone during the day too....with a few minor incidents. Friday while I was at work, she found my potatoes and onions, and chewed a little bit on every one. Thanks. Saturday while we were in IL at my parents, she was able to jump up on the windowsill and knock over her bag of food and she ate so much her stomach was HUGE. But she's been pretty good.
Kevin woke me up at 3:30am on Monday morning screaming 'Lucy has worms!!!!' I guess he had woken up to take her outside, and he saw some worms crawling around her tail and butt region. He proceeded to do internet research about what kind of worms she might have, and he decided she had pinworms which are really bad and could be on our bed. So Lucy was banished to the kitchen, where she cried all the rest of the night. Kevin and I stripped the bed, and tried to go back to sleep but we were both worried about whether Satchel had worms too and if Lucy would be ok. It was great.
Yesterday morning we got into the vet right away, and Lucy just has tapeworms, and we got dewormer for both Lucy and Satchel. And we learned its not very easy at all for humans to get tapeworms from dogs, which was good to know. Hopefully everyone will be fine.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Oh, Lucy.....
We've now had Lucy for a week. Things have calmed down a little bit, but just when I start bragging on how good she is and how long its been since she has peed inside, then I step in a puddle of pee.
But really, she is pretty good. The problem has been figuring out how to keep her in the kitchen all day....finally we now have 4 gates (2 for each doorway into the kitchen) and that seems to work (knock on wood....). Last Thursday she stayed in with only 3 gates, but then Friday she jumped out. The only real damage wasn't too bad, but she got into my current knitting project and tore the ball of yarn up. Thankfully she didn't unravel what I'm working on; now I just have a ball of knots to undo as I knit. See?
Lucy and Satchel are getting along quite nicely. Here's my favorite picture of them so far - they're almost like a mirror image (other than being different colors and different sizes, of course....)
And here's a nice example of how Lucy just likes to climb on Satchel and pass out. Satchel crawled up right next to Kevin and went to sleep, then Lucy jumped on so she could be a part of the fun. And no, I couldn't tell you why Kevin hasn't shaved for more than a week.....
Other than learning to deal with our new puppy, last week was pretty exciting. I had countless yummy birthday lunches and dinners. I also got 3 pairs of shoes in less than a week (2 were gifts) - I figure I shouldn't bother with clothes when (1) I have too many, and there are clothes I like that I haven't even worn yet this winter, and (2) Soon enough my clothes won't fit me anyway. Too bad the snowy weather is keeping me from wearing my fun new shoes though.
Yesterday I had my 16 week doctors appt, which was pretty uneventful. Jessica was hoping they would do an ultrasound and 'accidentally' find out what the sex is (since I had a random ultrasound at 12 weeks). But no luck, we just heard the heartbeat and confirmed it was still in there. Just over the weekend I think my gut is starting to feel a little different, but I don't think I look different yet. Maybe looking different would make me feel like there really is something in there. Now I just have to be extra careful in this stupid slick weather, I slipped and fell yesterday morning, which I can't imagine is a good thing. The worst part was my stupid neighbor that we don't talk to was standing less than 30 feet away and she didn't even ask me if I was ok. Sure I'm not 80 years old, but I think I would still ask anyone if they were ok after I saw them wipe out. Whatever.
But really, she is pretty good. The problem has been figuring out how to keep her in the kitchen all day....finally we now have 4 gates (2 for each doorway into the kitchen) and that seems to work (knock on wood....). Last Thursday she stayed in with only 3 gates, but then Friday she jumped out. The only real damage wasn't too bad, but she got into my current knitting project and tore the ball of yarn up. Thankfully she didn't unravel what I'm working on; now I just have a ball of knots to undo as I knit. See?
Lucy and Satchel are getting along quite nicely. Here's my favorite picture of them so far - they're almost like a mirror image (other than being different colors and different sizes, of course....)
And here's a nice example of how Lucy just likes to climb on Satchel and pass out. Satchel crawled up right next to Kevin and went to sleep, then Lucy jumped on so she could be a part of the fun. And no, I couldn't tell you why Kevin hasn't shaved for more than a week.....
Other than learning to deal with our new puppy, last week was pretty exciting. I had countless yummy birthday lunches and dinners. I also got 3 pairs of shoes in less than a week (2 were gifts) - I figure I shouldn't bother with clothes when (1) I have too many, and there are clothes I like that I haven't even worn yet this winter, and (2) Soon enough my clothes won't fit me anyway. Too bad the snowy weather is keeping me from wearing my fun new shoes though.
Yesterday I had my 16 week doctors appt, which was pretty uneventful. Jessica was hoping they would do an ultrasound and 'accidentally' find out what the sex is (since I had a random ultrasound at 12 weeks). But no luck, we just heard the heartbeat and confirmed it was still in there. Just over the weekend I think my gut is starting to feel a little different, but I don't think I look different yet. Maybe looking different would make me feel like there really is something in there. Now I just have to be extra careful in this stupid slick weather, I slipped and fell yesterday morning, which I can't imagine is a good thing. The worst part was my stupid neighbor that we don't talk to was standing less than 30 feet away and she didn't even ask me if I was ok. Sure I'm not 80 years old, but I think I would still ask anyone if they were ok after I saw them wipe out. Whatever.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
An Addition to the Family
As if the impending arrival of a baby in 6 months isn't crazy enough, we decided to get a new puppy! Kevin and I had talked about it for awhile, but once we found out I was expecting I think we decided to wait. But then my parents found a puppy on craigslist, and we discovered there are lots of pit bull puppies on craigslist, and the next thing I know....we have a new peeing, pooping member of the family.
Meet Lucy!
Lucy is a 3 month old pit bull puppy (although we assume she's some kind of mix, we saw her dad who looked fairly similar to Satchel). She really is pretty good so far - the first two nights she slept through the night without any problems. She is certainly far from house-broken, which has been interesting, but she doesn't tear anything up or get into trouble otherwise (so far.....). We have had an interesting time in the first 3 days she's been at our house trying to figure out where to put her - the first day she was in the guest bedroom since we have no doors on the first floor of our house to keep her anywhere. She did fine except for peeing on the floor. Yesterday we put her in the kitchen with some gates up. I went to get an oil change in the morning, and stopped back by the house after just to see how she was, and looking in through the front door I could see her in the kitchen and I was so happy! But then I got inside, and saw that she had jumped out and pooped in the living room, and then jumped back into the kitchen. So she went back to the guest room for the day. Today we are trying the kitchen again, with two gates in one door, and a taller gate we borrowed from Jen in the other door. I'm fairly sure I'll get home and see that she got out again....I'll find out very soon.
But Lucy is already doing better about learning to go to the bathroom outside - at first she was petrified and wouldn't do anything outside; now she loves following Satchel outside and doing her business. Satchel is doing ok, I think once he realized Lucy would not be sleeping in our bed he figured she was ok. When Lucy calms down, she really seems just like Satchel - she just lays down on the couch and passes out. Satchel lets her climb all over him, and they share toys (for the most part). The cutest thing is when Lucy just lays right on top of Satchel and falls asleep.
I honestly think this might ease us into parenthood....not that we intended that at all. Last night I even had to get up in the middle of the night to let her outside since she was crying (only to find she had already peed on the floor inside.....). My gag reflex is getting better when it comes to cleaning up pee and poo, not that its any fun. But we'll see. I'm confident Satchel will teach her how to be a good dog!!
Meet Lucy!
Lucy is a 3 month old pit bull puppy (although we assume she's some kind of mix, we saw her dad who looked fairly similar to Satchel). She really is pretty good so far - the first two nights she slept through the night without any problems. She is certainly far from house-broken, which has been interesting, but she doesn't tear anything up or get into trouble otherwise (so far.....). We have had an interesting time in the first 3 days she's been at our house trying to figure out where to put her - the first day she was in the guest bedroom since we have no doors on the first floor of our house to keep her anywhere. She did fine except for peeing on the floor. Yesterday we put her in the kitchen with some gates up. I went to get an oil change in the morning, and stopped back by the house after just to see how she was, and looking in through the front door I could see her in the kitchen and I was so happy! But then I got inside, and saw that she had jumped out and pooped in the living room, and then jumped back into the kitchen. So she went back to the guest room for the day. Today we are trying the kitchen again, with two gates in one door, and a taller gate we borrowed from Jen in the other door. I'm fairly sure I'll get home and see that she got out again....I'll find out very soon.
But Lucy is already doing better about learning to go to the bathroom outside - at first she was petrified and wouldn't do anything outside; now she loves following Satchel outside and doing her business. Satchel is doing ok, I think once he realized Lucy would not be sleeping in our bed he figured she was ok. When Lucy calms down, she really seems just like Satchel - she just lays down on the couch and passes out. Satchel lets her climb all over him, and they share toys (for the most part). The cutest thing is when Lucy just lays right on top of Satchel and falls asleep.
I honestly think this might ease us into parenthood....not that we intended that at all. Last night I even had to get up in the middle of the night to let her outside since she was crying (only to find she had already peed on the floor inside.....). My gag reflex is getting better when it comes to cleaning up pee and poo, not that its any fun. But we'll see. I'm confident Satchel will teach her how to be a good dog!!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I'm baaaaack!!!!!!!!
I've been contemplating for awhile whether or not to blog anymore. Obviously the title of this blog is no longer relevant, since my adventure in NYC has been over for about six months, and I never intend to leave my husband and dog for any great length of time again! I suppose I can edit the title and just leave the url the same, but all of these things are really not important. So I guess I will continue to blog from time to time when I think I have anything interesting to share, although I'll warn you my life is pretty uninteresting.
But a few updates (somewhat in chronological order):
1) I finally met my nephew John Thomas Wilkins! He is the cutest little boy ever. Jenny and Charlie came home to Illinois in August when he was only 2 weeks old, and they've been here two other times so far. I'm grateful we've been able to see him as much as we have so far. See, isn't he cute?
2) My baby sister Jackie got married in August. A great time was had by all (except perhaps less so by the stressed out new mom). Look how gorgeous my sister is. When did this happen? I'm excited because Jackie now lives in St. Louis.....not that I've seen her a lot so far but its good to know she's close!
3) I started my new job as a post doc at the Danforth Center. So far so good....not exactly sure what I'm doing as far as a cohesive project goes, but it keeps me busy and my boss is hands off. I like that.
4) Everyone under the sun is pregnant. My close friends Erin and Emily announced their news in October (they are due in April and June, respectively). At the beginning of November, Kevin and I discovered that I was too! Very exciting, but very scary! I'm glad I'll have had a number of friends go through everything before me! And its nice to have friends at various stages of pregnancy ahead of me too, because they are great sources of information.
I think that's more or less what's been going on. I have meant to blog about random entertaining things that I have of course forgotten in the past few months, but every moment that I'm not working I'm knitting like a fiend. I refuse to stop what I'm working on for any length of time so look at some silly computer! I think its safe to say that I'm addicted. At least its a productive addiction. I'll leave you with a picture of what I made John for Christmas. Despite measurements, the sweater ended up a bit too snug....I'd guess that now 3 weeks after Christmas, it doesn't fit him at all! But damn, he's cute! And since its green, maybe it will fit my kid next winter? Scary.....
But a few updates (somewhat in chronological order):
1) I finally met my nephew John Thomas Wilkins! He is the cutest little boy ever. Jenny and Charlie came home to Illinois in August when he was only 2 weeks old, and they've been here two other times so far. I'm grateful we've been able to see him as much as we have so far. See, isn't he cute?
2) My baby sister Jackie got married in August. A great time was had by all (except perhaps less so by the stressed out new mom). Look how gorgeous my sister is. When did this happen? I'm excited because Jackie now lives in St. Louis.....not that I've seen her a lot so far but its good to know she's close!
3) I started my new job as a post doc at the Danforth Center. So far so good....not exactly sure what I'm doing as far as a cohesive project goes, but it keeps me busy and my boss is hands off. I like that.
4) Everyone under the sun is pregnant. My close friends Erin and Emily announced their news in October (they are due in April and June, respectively). At the beginning of November, Kevin and I discovered that I was too! Very exciting, but very scary! I'm glad I'll have had a number of friends go through everything before me! And its nice to have friends at various stages of pregnancy ahead of me too, because they are great sources of information.
I think that's more or less what's been going on. I have meant to blog about random entertaining things that I have of course forgotten in the past few months, but every moment that I'm not working I'm knitting like a fiend. I refuse to stop what I'm working on for any length of time so look at some silly computer! I think its safe to say that I'm addicted. At least its a productive addiction. I'll leave you with a picture of what I made John for Christmas. Despite measurements, the sweater ended up a bit too snug....I'd guess that now 3 weeks after Christmas, it doesn't fit him at all! But damn, he's cute! And since its green, maybe it will fit my kid next winter? Scary.....
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