It's that time again, folks!

Once again, I am at home in WV for the christmas break, and it is once again very quiet. I have found myself being very much non-social--I have highschool friends home, but I keep forgetting to call them. Here is what I have been up to:

1. Random naps and sleeping in: the grad student equivalent of a day spa
2. Going shopping with Mom (a very traditional activity)
3. Helping lil' sis Liz get ready for trying out for "Grease" for the highschool musical (how do you interpret the character of Rizzo and her conflicting views of herself and other girls?)
4. COOKING my presents for all my relatives. What could be better than cookies and fudge?

I am also reading "Nimishia's Ship" by Anne Perry, which is pretty awesome so far. It pays off to have a brother who picks up lots of scifi books on the cheap--I get the chance to try out new authors for free.

I have also admittedly been acting like a gushing foolish nut about the new boy in my life, so thanks to all who have put up with me so far and all my twitterpated craziness. With great happiness comes great responsibility.

All in all, Christmas finds me with alot to think about. I love my program, I love my friends, I love it all. I just hope I'm up to the challenge of keeping it all for as long as I'm supposed to. And in the short term, I hope I'm up to the challenge of driving around on these crazy WV roads with no snow tires.

Law and Order Quote of the night: "He had sexual narcolepsy. He kept falling into beds."

You know, I have mixed feelings about these moments in my graduate school career where I am on the cusp of completing some project or near taking a big exam. I mean, they are certainly chock-full of stress. But they also have this wonderful promise of self-gratifying relief when they are over or accomplished. I think it is entirely possible to become addicted to it. It pairs well with procrastination, of which I am a fan.

So tomorrow is the big Sequence Analysis Final tomorrow. I'm not really concerned anymore, becuase I have gone over all the material, and sometimes the exam structure has been blatantly odd or unfair in the past (aka a test of 70% TorF questions?!) so I know that there is only so much that I can do to avoid destruction. And if I get destroyed, well, then mom's dream will come true and I'll get a C (she had a dream about that). Grad students are supposed to maintain a B average for each semester. Blargh. So many years of straight or near-straight A's, and one bad class can mean so much.

Life is pretty good though. Very confusing at times, but I won't complain. Pretty much all drama and stress is of my own doing. So the beds I make, I lie in, and that's about that.

Almost time to drive home to WV (next sunday), and already I have learned I'll miss the rapidly-becoming-legendary McMechen bar crawl (there are a total of 5 in all of the city/township of McMechen). I think though I'm most excited about getting to see my family, my dog Mocha, the cats, and a slew of new and growing cousins from the second wave of kids on the Pollack side (I and my siblings were part of the first, and I am the eldest grandchild). So yay!

Finally, if you are bored, you may want to watch a movie trailer:

http://www.thenewworldmovie.com/trailer_qt_large.html

Veja du

My www.freewillastrology.com horoscope tells me that this week I may experience the exact opposite of Deja vu: Veja du. The inexplicable feeling that you have never experienced this moment before.

The hosting of big-name Microbiology speaker Dr. Jeff Gordon (yes, like the Nascar driver) went extremely well. Dr. Gordon was simply a delight, and a sci-fi fan to boot. He gave a fantastic seminar. The confession I must make is that I have little concept of how huge he is in the field of microbiology, but I can tell from everyone around me that he is indeed so well known that people fight to get to talk to him. So, sitting across the table from a legend in the field, riding behind him on the car to the airport and talking about mopeds and Star Trek. . . it was pretty surreal. And for a group of students who have never organized a guest speaker together before, we did so well that at least Roger and I took most of the rest of the day off.

I count that as my big blessing for today. I have joked that he is my psuedo-Sam, because he has the balls to be a bastard when he wants, but also is one of the most caring people I know. There is only one Sam, and there is only one Roger. Roger works so damn hard I rarely get to see him, and usually that's with a group of people. We don't get much quality time to chat. But today we dropped Dr. Gordon off at the Dane County Airport and then went to Starbucks for coffee. We sat and just talked and talked for some time. Depressing things and happy things. I am really thankful for it.

For now, life is weighed heavy with exciting things for me, and maybe drama all around. It's so near the holidays and so much is happening. I'm just trying to do right by everyone, but it isn't always easy. I'll just keep trying.

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday!
-Amber-

May you live in interesting times

Big weeks ahead here, folks. This week: Amber, Roger, and Andy host a big name in the field of Microbiology. Next week, Amber has an exam and should find presents for other people! Week after that. . .home for the holidays . . .

I had perhaps one of the most drunken weekends I've had in a long time. And stayed up waaay too late, but for good GOOD reasons. So it was a real weekend this time around, but now it's monday and I'm oh-so-sleepy.

Nothing high-content here today. I think the combination of work and holidays upcoming will makes things intriguing/tiring/memorable. Who could ask for more than that?

Happiness is the after-dinner nap

In college, I remember at least one full year where I would go to dinner with Sam and Dave, fill my belly with cafeteria food, go back to their room, and just pass out on Dave's bed until 8PM. In hindsight, that was probably an obnoxious thing for a girlfriend to do, but man was it awesome.

I had not the best night's sleep on Wednesday for several reasons, the most blatant of which was that I had to give lab meeting on Thursday. I had a lovely dream about my teeth falling out. But lab meeting went WONDERFULLY. Sure, I didn't have any exciting data to present, but I got a chance to share with everyone what I'd been up to, and get some really great information and advice for my upcoming experiments.

To me, there are few things so wonderful as the relief and satisfaction that immediately follows a presentation. Not that I'd go seeking out presentations so I could feel it again and again, but I try to dangle that in front of me whenever I get nervous. How good it feels to have worked hard and done a good job--resulting in guilt-free indulgence in the after dinner nap. Losing yourself for an hour in your street clothes in your bed.

Friday awaits! Hugs all around because I'm feeling pretty grand and loved and admired.