K...Site

The trip to Boston was a full one. Got to see Allison, play Wii for first time and get my butt handed to me repeatedly on boxing. I love the implementation of the wiimote in Wii Sports, but not going to get one, yet (graphics are lousy, too many good 360 games). But, as I play DDR for exercise and my legs show it (tight!), after only a little while with the Wii, my arms were sore - clearly a sign that I should be working out with them, too. OK, from now on DDR with punch moves!

I'm going to skip a lot of the business of the convention in Boston. Needless to say, I spent 18 hours a day in meetings, finishing posters/talks, networking, and working on new project ideas. But enough about that! (I was fortunate enough to see some great friends during the week, too, and made some new ones - so I kept what little remains of my sanity in tact)

Got to see Wicked at Boston Opera House. Wonderful story! Music was pretty good. When I returned to Omaha, 2 hours later I got to see Spamalot - hilarious! Fun all the way through - better music and comedy, but less on the story (imagine that). Feel fortunate to see them both in 8 days.

While away the neighbor-folk took care of the kittehs. Here's a picture of them ensuring that my dining table is being used well... but where are the kittehs?! (edit: picture currently not working )

Actually, the heater hasn't been working. Neighbor "Stevo" brought in an expert who did the quick fix and last night he was nice enough to come over and finish the job. Too much humidity getting in, causing buttons to get stuck, metal to rust and fuses to go out. Still more to fix, but so good to have heat - though it was nice to have extra attention from the kittens, though now I know it was because they were cold and wanted to curl up!

Had another game night - expected only 3 to show but in the last 3 hours everyone wanted to come over and there were 14 or so who came by throughout the night. Take 6, Ticket to Ride, Guitar Hero jams, DDR match-offs and Werewolfe were part of the fun. We also got to figure out who was allergic to cats and who wasn't. I HAVE to get rid of the extra cat hair! Even my allergies have gotten much worse.

Got to be part of a surprise 40th birthday party for my coworker, Ted. A wonderful surprise put on by his wife, though I don't think anyone really wanted to see him get his arse beat with a paddle by 40 different attendees - his siblings were rough!

Good to be back for a while including being able to spend the holidays with family without having to go far. Spent time on weekend trimming down the plant growth from around the house. So many leaves! Planted some tulips for next spring... we'll see if anything comes from it. They should be deep purple.

It's the busiest time of the year for me. Conferences abound, have to finish posters, and create presentations for classes and elsewhere. I have another few days in between trips, but plenty to write about.

There was a large gathering of family members this weekend to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. It was nice to see so many in attendance! I got a lot captured on video, but haven't taken the time to figure out how to transfer that here... yet.

The mystery party was a hit! A bit difficult for so many that were new to it, but still a lot of fun. A group of 12 of us went to Perkins until 2am to chat afterwards. I'll create a new web site for it once I'm back longer.

Also did some work at Stanford, got to see some friends in CA and attended Bo & Laurie's wedding in Santa Rosa. Afterwards I spent 4 days at a conference in Pittsburgh. Gorgeous weather and view of downtown skyline, and learned a lot as well. Zooloretto is Michael & Smita's newest favorite board game, too. And, as usual, I am grateful for my neighbors taking care of my kittens while I'm away.

Today I got to see Baxter (now named James), too. The new owner surprised me by bringing him by. TB hissed at him and he definitely looked disoriented being back at home (though he knew to go downstairs to get food!). Glad he's happy at his new home and reminds me that 2 cats are plenty.

The weather is getting cold! Need to get the sprinkler system aired out...

Had 2 game nights this week - one with the usual game-night crowd (played Arkham Horror), and one with the non-game night crowd who were dismayed not to know anything about the "official" game night crowd from the mystery party. Both were a lot of fun and both had way too much Halloween snacks! I'm feeling stuffed still and no DDR to help... time to run around the block a few more times.

Finally attended my first ever Nebraska college football game on Saturday! They played Ball State. Not known to be a powerhouse, but 4 quarters later NU wins 41-40. Horribly exciting game. If they had lost, I never would have been allowed to attend another future game. It would have been arguably the biggest upset at home ever (though Ball State's 2 losses are now at 1 pt and their quarterback was the MVP by far). So many people in that stadium. It becomes the 3rd largest population center in the state (after Omaha and Lincoln) and holds the record for longest consecutive sold-out games at 200 & some since the 1960s.

Visited with the grandparents afterwards and then got stuck in 2+ hrs of traffic driving home as they blocked off the entrance to the interstate and made thousands of us drive 3mph on 2-line highway through small towns back. It was ridiculous! To add injury to insult, I got a horrible sun burn on the right side of my face (I was on the NW corner of the stadium) and so not only does it hurt like hell, I have an early Halloween costume as Two-Face.

In other news, Baxter is no longer with us. He joined his new home, a mile or so away, on Wed night. It's been rough and I miss him dearly, but I'm already breathing better and have had less attacks on the plants. Plus, not sure if it's fear of being sent away, but the remaining two girl kittens (TB & Qbert) are being extra affectionate since he left. Apparently he's a bit hit in his new home which makes me feel better. He definitely had a big impact during his 4 months with me. Irreplaceable...

Today, besides the Chiefs pulling out a win from behind, our block had a dedication of a tree/memorial to someone who used to live here. It was a touching small ceremony with so many neighbors in attendance and with food/drinks afterwards. Makes me feel fortunate to live on such a nice block.

For humor link this week - an alternative animation of Spiderman 3 (don't watch if you haven't seen the movie and still plan on it someday).

Two times this past weekend I found myself getting mad at someone I didn't know. This is only a big deal because of its rarity. Last Friday while picking up a friend from CA at the Omaha airport, I was told that he'd be right outside the door in a few seconds. I slowly pull up to the curb, put it in park and immediately there is an obese security officer outside my door. I roll down the window and he says I need to drive around until my passenger is outside (up to now, all understandable). I tell him he's only a few seconds away as I just spoke with him, and the "cop" says, "Sure, that's what they all say." I then protest with "What? I just got off the phone with him." and he replies, "I'd like to believe you, really, but..." and then shoos me forward. I take off and immediately pull back over to the curb 2 cars down as Mike has come out of the airport. The whole thing of parking and reparking took less than 30 secs, but I was so mad at the insinuation of being called a liar by an authority figure.

The second time was less offensive, though the more I thought about it, the more negative it seemed. Usually after our weekly ultimate frisbee event we relax with burgers at a local dive (with buy 1, get 1 free deal). This week our new waitress wasn't very good especially in comparison with the past 7-8 weeks of going there. We had 3 bills for the 7 of us. For one bill she gave them $6 more back for change than she should have, but the two people who got this free money didn't tip her, nor did 2 others, any thing at all. This was done primarily at the urging of one guy who seemed to be upset with food, service and was tight for $ (jobless). I protested to the group on deaf ears and, in the end, came back and put some more $ on the table. I was hoping we would still get service for future evenings there as I recall from my days in the restaurant biz of 1) refusing future service to those who didn't tip (or someone doing bad things to the food to those who didn't tip), 2) wait staff getting taxed on each table regardless of how much they were actually tipped. Such that when I have bad service, I mention it to the manager and/or give 5-10% tip as a minimum. Guess it's not a set thing for all, but no tip plus the "stealing" of money that wasn't theirs got me going.

All in all, great and full weekend with Stacie & Mike from CA! Game night on Thurs, swing dancing on Fri, football party on Sat with neighbors and a few other friends (yeah, NE got smoked again) with lots of DDR & ping-pong, saw Holy Family Shrine on Sun, the zoo on Mon (OK, I dropped them off there after visiting with friend who is admin there and gave us a short mini-tour) and lots of good food and drinks throughout.

So, still have all 3 kittens. They are wonderful, but I wouldn't complain if someone wanted to take 1 or 2 just due to effort needed by one guy who isn't home as much as they'd like. LOTS more pictures posted in the kitteh area. They had so much fun with the bubble-wrap! Today when I let them out of the basement (so I don't have to constantly be protecting the few remaining plants and other breakable items in the house), only 2 appeared though the 3rd was audible... then I noticed the ceiling panels were bowing one by one. Q-Bert was trapped up there! It was hilarious - no idea how she did it, but the other 2 were fascinated watching me try to pull her out. They've gotten big enough that they're no longer as scared of the Roomba, mostly just annoyed by it (Baxter plays chicken with it, too).
My non-working life has been full - weekly game nights with friends, swing dance lessons and parties (no, still a newb at it!), weekly ultimate (frisbee) games, and lots of ad-hoc events mean there's never a dull moment. In fact, I miss my neighbors! Cooking more at home, using the kitchen. Finished the Harry Potter book (I don't usually put a book on pause to read another, but so many people were talking about it, I felt peer pressure to read before major plot points were revealed. I loved the book, but can tell that it's a kids book as knowing these plot points can ruin it whereas the "adult" books I read doesn't really matter as much what happens, it's all about the journey).
Better call it a day, but there are still pics from Spain to arrive next (so close to being caught up!). Thanks for your patience and for reading!

The day after the work party at my house, I drove to Tulsa (picked Sara, my sis, up along the way) for a Buckles family reunion (my Dad's side). It was nice to see family that I hadn't seen in so long, but a storm hit (recurring theme) and took out the electricity in our hotel. It was damn hot and muggy, so made a mess of the event, though the kids, Sara and I still tried playing a board game in the dark.

After spending a few days back in KS for work and seeing the fam, I hosted a Forney family reunion (Mom's side) at my house. One day of lots of BBQ, games, ping pong and hanging out. Good to see everyone!

Last week was my birthday as much of the world discovered through the help of myspace, facebook and even skype. It was a wonderful day - starting to finally feel like this is my home. So many birthday wishes, hellos and little things really added up and just made my day. My coworkers took me out to lunch at a local Thai restaurant (Bangkok Cuisine), and a few good friends joined me for wonderful and unique pizza (La Casa), a new board game (Mall of Horror), and a new vid game, Bioshock, that came out the same day.

I also got a special treat from Amy who was in Leipzig, Germany for work (at a games conference).

Who is this? Why it's the infamous, attractive, and face of gaming (the Baroness)... Jessica Chabot! Since I probably know much more about video games from the media rather than from actually playing (end sob story); she's been reporting and playing them for fans like me for as long as I've been paying attention to such video reports. Her IGN blog. Myspace (who knew a myspace profile could look so good?) & personal site. Yeah, I should have known that she would have a larger web presence... guess that makes this gift that much more thoughtful!

Plus, a couple other friends "celebrated" my bday by discovering they were pregnant. To each their own way of celebrating.

During the 2 minutes of escorting friends to their cars on Friday night, the cats attacked again.

Oh, and I still have three so if you want a beautiful, sweet and loving kitten, please take mine!!! I'm getting a bit desperate as I'm no longer able to rest or do work at home while they're up and about and that's impaired me in many ways. Yeah, I'm making an assumption that my life will be better minus 1 or 2 kittehs.

Saw my cousin Erica's performance in Crazy for You (the musical) in an outdoor production near Lincoln. It was a lot of fun and more so as clouds and lightning and wind threatened to end it early. Instead I had the most amazing lightning show straight ahead on the horizon. I've had a lot going on lately (when is that new?), but maybe more so emotionally, and the spectacle reminded me of why I trudge on. That life isn't fair, but it can be beautiful and you never know what will happen next and it's too short and ... and that I won't forget what and who is important to me and that I need not ever forget the good times in the past but will live creating and looking forward to the good times of tomorrow as they will come again in new ways. Yeah, something about an electric storm, fun musical and driving (and being tired) that leads me to this reflective state.

I'm way behind in many ways, but a lot of pictures are coming out soon (including pics from Spain & Cali!).

So I've added a new section to my photo area - just for kittens. But as I've been gone a lot lately and they've grown, so has the amount of messes being made. Yes, they were litter trained from the beginning, but curiosity combined with a hatred of plants (what else would you call it) has left a destructive path.

The carnage here left the entire bathroom full of dirt all over the tiles (and a permanently shut door for kitties). Uncertain if plant will make it (it was Sara's, too! ).


The faux flower display on my dining table was the most recent casualty - lots of small pieces of glass to clean up.


The saddest one was the discovery that my favorite mug (gotten a decade ago at the Renn Faire with Josh, Sarah and friends) was ceramic and destructible after being pushed off of 4 ft heights. At least they're following the scientific method...


Lastly, I'd like to tag some or any of the kitty pics on this site. Maybe something for icanhascheezburger.com fame? I especially like QBert hiding from the Roomba (maybe a Dalek reference here?) or the series of pics of TB attacking the fish on the TV while I was watching the BBC's Planet Earth (wonderful series!).

Got the 3 musketeers vaccinated today and related first check-ups. Over $300!!! Just another reason why I need to get their number down to 2 or 1 (update, cousin Kortney will be new owner of QBert as of Sat and will likely rename her).

But for good reasons!
Friday night had too many things going on at once. Uncle Garry & Aunt Paula and family+ (10 total) came by to see the new home and attend the free local concert and fireworks at the nearby park. Attended work picnic with literally a horde of little kids and babies (apparently all of the residents/fellows at UNMC chose that time to reproduce - breaking records). Had 4 friends come over afterwards and we all joined neighbors for BBQ and walked en masse to the fireworks and a little dancing to the final throws of KC & the Sunshine Band. Fireworks were impressive considering they were right above us and we just walked a few blocks to get there.
Yesterday I played softball for 2+ hours with a new group (mostly made up of swing dancers - the Omaha jitterbugs) and then ultimate frisbee. I haven't done either since jr high (softball) and college (ultimate) and my body is sore! Very nice group - got invited to do movie, D&D, and more for later that night. Instead took the option with least amount of physical activity - played poker with another group for 5 hrs or so. Whew!
Needless to say, the summer has brought out many new friends, activities and renewed my faith in the Omaha area.

So a LOT has happened this month, but no time to write about all of that now as the immediate real life is getting in the way. So, today, for example we have: 1) woke up in pain from 3-day "sickness", tried to get work done and in the end stayed home and only did about 4 hrs of work off/on through the day with head and gut aches, allergies, sinus gunk and joints, 2) kittens destroyed more today than ever before including major claw marks on all 3 of the new leather sofa pieces, 3) got two very large and unexpected bills in mail and 4) basement is leaking out of almost all walls and floors about 25 gallons of water an hour - no, it didn't rain, but I pulled the knob to turn on the lawn sprinkler system, notices lots of water going through pipes, but nothing in yard, so after a half hour turned it off and then the flood began. Seems the basement has been painted over real thick with water-soluable paint and that there are lots of holes/cracks that weren't ever sealed. Have no idea what to do next tomorrow (besides continue to vacuum up water, be healthy as I have to be at work for several meetings and many others are awaiting email from me on various projects), but the excitement will never cease.

What I do know: I) that stomach ache is likely related to stress and that I need to not let it or any other ailment own me, II) that my neighbors absolutely rock (from taking care of kittens while I'm away, lending me vacuum for flood, and just being good company when I'm down or up), III) that bills and work will get done and I'll do the important items first and enjoy the parts that are worth doing (ie. most parts - research, teaching, managing), and IV) that I feel incredibly fortunate to have people out there that care about me even if they don't live close by (most likely the same people who are reading this... yes, you!).

I look forward to sharing about other recent events including a) trip to Spain, b) beginning of summer midwest style & c) other reasons for taking pictures, but one step at a time. I think I have one more trip to the basement in me before bed...

Drove down with 3 co-workers for a fellow coworker's wedding in Springfield, MO. Bit of a drive and I got my 2nd ever ticket for speeding as I didn't notice that the limit went down to 45mph in Clinton, MO (previous ticket was near Concordia, KS many years ago when they, too, had a somewhat hidden drop in speed limit). Besides the ticket, had a good time celebrating the wedding and doing best at dancing. It was often lonely out there, but the group from Omaha represented NE well on the dance floor. Pretty tired and kitties won't leave me alone tonight (they missed me).

Also, we stopped for lunch at Gates in Kansas City. Oh my goodness - wonderful BBQ! I know it's not the best in KC, but the ribs put everything I've had in CA and NY and most states in between to shame! A nice reminder of a "food stuff" that we have better here than on the coasts. Soo good!

So this is long overdue, but I was actually expecting more photos from this trip to choose from. After the ACR abstract deadlines of May 3 (work) came, I flew to CA. That weekend Mandi & I drove up to visit my family in Oregon (see pics of Aunt Dee previously) and then went caving again with a great group at the Lava Bed monument.







Then spent a week working at Stanford, meeting up with colleagues I've missed, enjoying the evenings and was treated to lots of good food (Korean dinner party - does anyone have a good group pic from this?), watched Spiderman 3 & Hot Fuzz (the latter was hilarious!) and a game party at Doug & Melissa's new home (same question for here) where I also got to see a very pregnant Melissa! (OK, Kemmeo, you were pregnant, too, just not very pregnant )

I returned to NE only to drive down to Mt. Hope, KS (my home since I left in '92 for college) to pick up new kitties (see previous post) and spend the week working at the NDB offices in Wichita. Also got to see high school classmate, Christine, who is also pregnant (ack! this is an epidemic!).

The last two weekends I got the ping pong table set up (took hours with the help of Andy, Erin, and Uncle Mark), and had an Indian themed party over memorial weekend. That same weekend Stacie, from CA, came to visit (my 2nd visitor to NE, yay!) and see the sights of Omaha as well as just hang out and catch up. Also, memorial weekend, my sister Sara, Mom & Grandma came to visit and Sara stayed over as well and helped out at the party. They had a rabbit show on Sunday and on Monday I got together with most of my Mom's family and then hung out with my Dad's parents. Long overdue and a very full weekend! As for the party - had lots of great Indian food - some made/bought from local grocer, other was brought in from Tandori Fusion restaurant. Had the movie Lagaan play (almost 4 hrs long, but you'll learn how to play cricket after watching), played ping pong and then some party games later on.





Good times this month!!!

Nope, no singing Disney songs, but more reflective today. Finished a chapter that had been haunting me for some time, and at the same time heard that my Great Aunt Dee passed away today. I was extremely fortunate to see her a few weeks ago (May 4) at her home in Oregon. Pics of her and me. Latter one has my cousin, Summer, and her new baby, Kelan (along with Mandi & Brad). Apparently she died peacefully surrounded by family and after she took her last breath, Kelan woke up and started wanting attention (or at least got it - he's a cutie!).


I knew Aunt Dee primarily from our rare family reunions held in parts of Colorado far away from civilization (harder and harder to find there). She taught me to play cards (and bed with pennies) and she and Uncle Bob quickly became a pair of my favorite family members. After I moved to California in '97 I got to see her again, but this time she was living with her daughter, son-in-law & granddaughter (Summer) - all new to me. Not surprisingly, they quickly became some of my favorite family members. Ones I plan to stay in touch with until my last breath.

So cheers to a life well lived and cheers to my extended and lovely family out west. I mourn for (y)our loss, but am excited to follow the growth of your next generation (Kelan and company).

So many things have happened in the past 3 weeks and so much I have to do tonight/tomorrow, but wanted to put a note in for those brave and special few who read regularly. Celebrated Sara's c.college graduation last night with family. It was a very nice evening of food, game, kitties and good company. Left for home at midnight, arrived home at 3:15am with three kitties in tow (one, "TB", got out during drive - which is quite the feat by itself - and she's less than happy with me still). Today was their first day in my home. Need to find home for 1-2 of them, but in mean time I'm providing for them and they're providing entertainment for me (and test of home first aid kit and finding new nooks/crannies I didn't know existed). One such hole is in the fireplace and goes down to who-knows depths of a non-existant fire place in the basement or the furnace (yeah, scary moment there). Also, I left my wallet at the pet store today and went through all locations at home trying to find it (lots of them). Customer found it on check out counter at store - whew!



Day 1. Kitties 2. Kaleb 1.


Momma and her kits:


Also, posted an overdue and requested pic of Frankie who is now adult size. I've never seen a cat with such strange use of his body. He sits upright, uses his large arse as a base and doesn't use his front legs much except to play and swat us with. He still has gorgeous blue eyes, too (not shown here with flash).


PS. Kitty just met Mr. Roomba - stepped on his start button and took him for a short ride before running for her life. Nice way to get ready for bed.

Not mine, but lots of belated celebrations. Sat was a rare (for me, at least!) gathering of cuz's Laura & Chris and their families. Official party was for Ava's 2nd bday. Cute pics abound (will add soon). Parents were busy at rabbit show during the day - an Easter tradition.

On Easter Sunday, we did the belated bday celebration of several Michaud family members who had bdays in Feb & March (including Uncle Rob who has had less birthdays than me, though he's lived a lot longer - the curse/blessing of a Feb 29 bdate). Got to spend time with my parents, grandparents and most of the local Michaud clan. LOTS of good food, played Through the Desert board game, basketball across the street with brand new blue ball (still freezing!), chatted with family, and comforted Frankie (who is going through recovery after losing his front claws and "manhood" last week). Investigated the manly men working on the home-made ice cream in the basement and discovered the machine doing almost all of the work (pic below). Grandma & Grandpa still know how to be the "hosts with the mosts"!

OK, the last time I can positively remember bowling was at the Thai restaurant/Palo Alto Bowl circa 1998 (yes, feel free to correct me if 1) this was my imagination from eating there with George, Aron, Tarek & co or 2) if you bowled me with me more recently). So when offered the opportunity to compete in America's favorite participation sport with relatives I rarely see, how could I say no? OK, I could have said no, as I recall being very bad at bowling. So bad that I once got last place (score of 51) out of the entire KU marching band and I was the only one sober (this was when they were "recruiting" three of us from Haven High (Corey & Jason may not recall as much of that night )).

Yes, I'm building this up because after all this time (and only 3 throws on Wii Bowling), I got the highest score of our 6-member group! Yeah, for those that know me, this will be hard to believe so I've included a pic for proof (I'm KAL, btw). So I'm on a high from this and feeling like hot stuff and so round 2 comes around and the hard dose of reality returns. From 134 to 77 - I have a ways to go still, but for one moment there - on top of the world! Thanks to the family gang for making the night so much fun (Justine, Chris, Emily, Kendra & Kortney) and to those that made the day a hoot, too!

Will have to add more pics later, but Kendra had this power swing that made me fear for everyone else's life - but more than not, she landed the ball down the run way.

One of the advantages of living in NE is having so many family members nearby in Lincoln. I've been making a few trips fixing computers and on Wednesday my Aunt Marlene gave me a haircut at her salon in exchange. Here's a pic from the next day after our monthly rheumatology city-wide grand rounds.

In my attempt to have a life outside of work, I joined my new friend Jessica at a nearby bar on Monday night for kareoke. Mind you, getting there at 7pm (ok, I was 20 mins late) meant we were the only ones there to use the equipment for a bit. Also there were always at least 2-10 others there to cheer/jeer us on. I did 4 songs: Common People, Creep, Hooked on a Feeling, & Major Tom. The last one is what the pic is from. I think it's one of the most appropriately timed pics (even if not that flattering).

So last I was here was after the Big Blizzard! (*rushing wind noises*). Well, it wasn't over so fast. I drove to Kansas City on May 2nd through a closed I29. It was frightening. I had a friend on the phone telling me how horrible it was and that I should turn around and stay home (it was good for keeping me that much more cautious) and the drive itself at times seemed like I was stuck in a zombie movie where all the cars were crashed off the road. Very scary, but all worked out ok!

Had a great week following this. Weather got good, started using the kitchen, went to the zoo (yes! many pictures to come!), and explored more of Omaha's food joints. I've developed this horrible head cold. Today I was mostly useless and went in and out of consciousness at home and work. It's crazy, it reached 80 freakin degrees outside today and I still had a bit of snow in the yard! (ok, it officially was all melted by tonight) And to be sick while it's so nice outside - just a kick in the pants. But the up and down weather of the midwest is back and I like it (I think). Once again the weather guy becomes a local celebrity, known more than any other personalities.

So, last week was mahvalous. Got high on Lucky Charms. Discovered funniest site evah here at icanhascheezburger.com. KU won the Big XII both ways and I've started up the annual college bracket contest among friends/family from all over (if you're interested, let me know - starts Thursday!).

I'm also on a mission - to find white sour cream frosting. NO ONE carries it in New York, California and now Nebraska. But they do carry it in Wichita. Crazy! Got new orthotics in shoes and now feel like I'm walking sideways and got the new DDR so I can mess up my toes by dancing at home cuz there's no one below me to complain, mwa ha ha! Ok, this is all clearly proof that the cold meds are taking full effect again. Ciao 4 now!

This one hit this morning (Thursday) and went on through 3pm. almost a foot of snow. I stayed home for work and at 5:30pm shoveled the driveway. After 2 hrs, all done, but I'm so exhausted and sore. Estimated ~10,000 lbs of snow & shovel was shoveled off to the side. Think I'll hire professionals for next winter - but good exercise! (Pictures to come - too tired)

So, the folks visited this weekend. It was all about getting lots of electrical work done on the new home. They drove up on Friday night and left on Sunday afternoon - all well times as on Saturday night we had a wondrous blizzard come through!

It was very impressive - rain, then freezing rain, sleet, and lots of thick, wet snow. When it was all done (only 2-3 hrs long!), we had 6" of snow. Dad went out to shovel it at 11pm. I thought he was crazy, but after I went outside, it was so beautiful. There was so much light, so much snow and it was strangely warm - full of energy and then I wanted to shovel it!



I put Mom & Dad to work all weekend. Got lots done, but mostly in the walls or outside in the lighting, patching walls, cleaning, etc. Time flew by while working! Oh, and Frankie was a treat to see. He's gotten much bigger since the holidays (he's got a big butt like in "Get Fuzzy")

The new year has come and gone, but with it came my first ever home! It's in a fabulous neighborhood (who can complain when my neighbors brought me flowers, food and threw me a welcome party within my first week?), close to work, and a wonderful space to live in and call home. Here are some pictures!

Living Room, Kitchen, Front, Entrance

So as my first blog entry ever, I thought it best to provide a recap to one of the most exciting and full years of my life:

Spent the spring in dissertation writing mode and came up for air after my defense in May.

Took a weekend trip to Oregon in June and met up with this grizzly bear.

Had a conference in Amsterdam and discovered that my hotel was in the red-light district (quite the eye-opening perspective!). Lots to see and enjoy especially during the World Cup.

My sis visited in July and participated in Mystery Party 2006. Keeping the theme, Mom & Dad visited in August and we caught views of four humpback whales in Monterey Bay.

Went on a 3-day caving trip to the Lava Tube National Monument and caught some amazing views.

Finally finished dissertation and graduated with my PhD - to both my relief and that of my advisor, Jay.

Went to 10-year college reunion at UR in Rochester, NY where I got to revisit favorite offices, dorms, and friends. Couldn't believe how fast time has flown since school (not to mention all the babies!).

Presented research at conferences in Boston & Washington, DC (ACR without and with Dr. Wolfe), and made several other trips during the fall such that between Sept 20 & Dec 31, I was home for only 3 weeks! There were so many people of note I got to meet and see during this time that I'll spare you (& them!) their pictures, but Frankie did steal the show at Thanksgiving even when he was sleeping. Lastly, at Christmas Dad liked his new jacket especially with the antler accessory.

Whew! What a year!!!