Day Two Hundred Eleven

I graded all day today. If not for the 2.5 mile walk outside with the roommate, I would have silently gone crazy at the dining room table. So. Many. Lab. Reports.

Oh, and we found a cave. Photo evidence included.

Day Two Hundred Nine

Back to the real world today. No one broke anything or burned themselves during lab (yay!), and I got two new stacks of lab reports to grade (nooooo!). I finally remembered to fill out the instrument log books, and found a surprise comment from one of my students last semester (see photo). Awwww. That definitely made my day better.

Day Two Hundred Eight

I'm back! I decided to take a hiatus from everything (including blogging) while I was back in WA just so I could enjoy being home with my parents. And due to unexpected ear difficulties, the trip was extended for 2 days. I've never been advised by a doctor not to fly before, so that was a new experience. It meant a little extra time at home though, so things could have been worse.

Thankfully my flight back to Austin today was, for the most part, ear pain free. I tried out some fancy earplugs made specifically for dealing with pressure changes during flights, and they actually worked really well. As they should have, since one pair was $8. Seriously, airport?! I get that they're fancy earplugs, but they're still just earplugs. $8 is absurd. I also got a giant bag of jolly ranchers, which my two seat mates very much enjoyed. Now...time to get back to the real world. I've avoided it for as long as I can.

On a final note, the trip home was comprised of...Pike Place Market, the monorail (which was sporting some very stylish Seahawks flags), the Space Needle, Seattle Center, Northwest Trek, some doctors visits, and lots of time with family. And I got a pair of Seahawks socks. And some Seattle skyline socks. There was an unintentional theme to my purchases during this visit.

Day Two Hundred Three

I'm home! But one of my ears STILL hasn't popped from the descent. Every rose has its thorns. Allergies and planes are a lethal combination.

Day Two Hundred Two

That homework assignment was a BEAST. Now...only a matter of hours until I fly home!

Day Two Hundred One

I got my exam back today. The one I took in an allergy induced haze. And I did way better than I thought! Which immediately indicated that my day was going to be good no matter what. And it was a really good day, which is always good to have on my longest day if the week. Tuesday, you exhaust me. But I didn't fall asleep at my 8am group meeting thanks to my all-crunchy-trail-mix. The one valuable thing I learned from Drivers Ed - eat crunchy things when you're tired and it'll wake you back up. It definitely works, which is why some days I'm shoveling trail mix in to my mouth all day during class. It probably drives the people around me crazy, but I always share so they can't be too cranky...right?

The random surprising moment of the day was meeting the person sitting next to me at seminar and finding out we're both from Olympia and lived a mile away from each other. What?! This made me so happy. Another northwesterner! There aren't many of us in the grad program, and technically he's a chemical engineer and not a chemist, but I don't even care.

The baseball season home opener was today at 6pm. I elected to go home and eat instead. I still got to experience the rowdiness for a few minutes though, as a hoard of baseball players got on the shuttle with me at 730 this morning. They must have just had their protein/energy drinks, cause they were way too loud and awake and energized for 730am. No matter what time I get on the shuttle, I just can't escape them. And any time pre-9am is just way too early for their loud insanity.

Lab tomorrow at 10am. Time to sleep.

Day Two Hundred

What better way to kick off my 200th day in Texas then a trip to the doctor for allergies? Texas, you spoil me. I can't think of any better 200-day-anniversary gift than a box of Mucinex-D (which actually works really well).

I had a record 6 people at office hours today! And my lab finished 20 minutes early. So, those parts of my day were pretty fantastic. The fact that I had school on Presidents Day? Not fantastic. Not cool, UT. It was a gorgeous day out, I could see it as I gazed out the lab window. So close, yet so far.

Final note, I finally got to watch some Olympic Curling today. I have no idea how its played or how people score, but I just can't stop watching.

Day One Hundred Ninety Nine

I finished all my grading today! Just in time to get some more lab reports to grade tomorrow! It's a vicious cycle, let me tell you. Those suckers take forever to finish.

I also went to a Valentine's Day brunch today hosted by my apartment complex. It was full of delicious food, and I love my complex even more now. Then I went to the grocery store to pick up more allergy medicine. Because this is my life now. Appointment with the allergy specialist, you couldn't come soon enough.

I feel like the weekend went by waaaay too fast. But I guess that's okay, because it means I'm even closer to my trip back home! I fly to Washington on Thursday for a short weekend visit, but I don't even care that I'm only there for two full days, because it means I'm home with my parents and the rain and my dog. And this time I'm dragging the roommate and her parents with me. Herzog family, I hope those cold days in Texas prepared you, because it's that weather every day in Washington right now.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Yay?

Day One Hundred Ninety Eight

Laundry. Grading. Coughing. Sneezing. This was my day.

Day One Hundred Ninety Seven

Five things seen/heard today at UT - Valentine's Day edition

1. "Cure your Valentine's Day depression with SUGAR!" (I almost bought one of their cupcakes due to how much this advertising made me laugh)

2. A very emphatic middle aged woman holding a bible and screaming about the impurity of Valentine's Day and 'Valentine wine' (no, I don't know what this means, nor do I want to)

3. A giant, very colorful table full of candy and, as the enormous sign advertised, free condoms (way to keep it classy UT)

4. A guy outside the Co-Op 'dressed' as Cupid, wearing only tiny white running shorts, a ribbon around his neck, and a handmade bow and arrow (I made sure to walk past him very quickly)

5. A guy dressed as a giant penguin (I still don't know why, but I immediately liked him more than creepy Cupid)

It was an odd day. Even though it was a gorgeous day outside weather-wise, I just stayed in my lab to avoid the general weirdness that was happening all around me. But when I got home, my apartment complex had little Valentine's Day goodie bags for all the tenants. Awwwwww. AND my roommate made chocolate-covered strawberries. Best dessert ever.

Day One Hundred Ninety Six

Nyquil mini-coma, take two.

I woke up this morning barely able to hear out of my left ear.

Uh oh.........(good thing tomorrow is Friday!)

Day One Hundred Ninety Five

I feel like my body should know by now that it doesn't have time to get sick in any way. Ugh. Luckily I made it through teaching my lab as well as a group homework session. Now its time to go in to a Nyquil mini-coma.

PS - Exam tomorrow morning. Everyone cross your fingers for me!

Day One Hundred Ninety Four

Longest day in the history of forever.

Day One Hundred Ninety Three

So sleepy. I even took a nap at my desk today (on purpose) and I couldn't stop yawning the entire day. Such a Monday.

A record FOUR people came to my office hours this morning! I was pretty excited. 2 of them weren't even in my lab. The hour flew by, and I can only hope that what I told them actually helped. If it didn't, they were all atleast nice enough to pretend it did. I'll take it.

Also exciting, another lab day with no broken glassware. I'm still in awe of this due to the sheer amount of broken pieces of glass I had at this time last semester. I'm starting to realize how absurd that broken glassware streak really was. I still kind of miss those clumsy, butterfingered students though. They were fun. The two labs this semester also seem like they'll be enjoyable...thank goodness.

Another winter storm front is rolling through tonight. It's getting real ridiculous. It was fun at first, having school delays and reasons to stay in the toasty indoors. But they've gotten so random and the weather so bipolar I feel like I'm getting temperature whiplash. Texas! Make up your mind! Be cold or be hot for a week straight, just choose one!

Day One Hundred Ninety Two

I graded papers and made more flashcards today. I thought weekends were supposed to be exciting? Thank you, Gran and Papa, for taking me to lunch and reminding me of life outside of school. Highlight of my weekend.  :)

Day One Hundred Ninety One

I've been studying and making flashcards for nearly 6 hours straight. It's time to sleep. Stupid exams!

Day One Hundred Ninety

It just dawned on me today that I've been living in Austin now for over 6 months. Over half a year. That is so weird. It's certainly been quite eventful for such a short amount of time, and even now it still doesn't feel real at times. You mean this isn't just an extended vacation away from home? I live here now? In my own apartment with a roommate that likes all the same creepy shows that I do? How did this all happen? Sometimes it still blows my mind.

We had another ice-day from school today, so I decided to be productive and clean the apartment while doing laundry. Let me just say, nothing works up a sweat quite like trying to put a fitted sheet on a bed, especially when the bed is pushed up against the wall. I can't even imagine how weird that would look to an outside observer, I always feel like a quasi-gymnast when I'm trying to get that stupid last corner to go over the mattress.

I also studied and did some research-related things, because I know that just because I got the day off from going to school doesn't mean I actually get the day off from school work. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once I'm not a student anymore.

Day One Hundred Eighty Nine

Couldn't sleep. Realized I forgot to post a blog entry. Today we had late start, resulting in an exam being postponed until next Tuesday (Yeah!). So I got to sleep in, go to my second class, have a lonely office hour in the hallway, then hang out with the Avants this evening. It was a good day. A very cold day, but a good one.

Day One Hundred Eighty Eight

Had a 10 hour non stop day at school yesterday (hence no blog post). Taught a 3 hour lab today, studied until I fell asleep on my notes. I have my first exam of the semester tomorrow. And I am exhausted. Icy late start, please? Cross your fingers.

Day One Hundred Eighty Six

My Monday lab had their first full experiment today. And guess what? No one broke anything! I was kind of shocked. I wanted to tell them all, but knew that if I did someone would shatter something 5 minutes later. I've learned that it's best not to jinx yourself, especially where glassware is involved.

I also had office hours today, and two people showed up. This was also surprising, but a welcome sight considering having people actually come to office hours makes the time go by waaaaay faster.

Tomorrow is going to be a super long day. I have a meeting at 8am, meaning traffic will be a close friend of mine. This also means that if I have any hope of staying awake tomorrow I need to go to bed. Now.

Day One Hundred Eighty Five

The Seahawks won the Super Bowl. THE SEAHAWKS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day One Hundred Eighty Four

I went to my first UT Men's Basketball game today! And they won against #6 ranked Kansas! It was an awesome game, and there were quite a few big names there, which just made it even cooler. I'm talking Colt McCoy, Fozzy Whitaker, Roger Clemens, and Ben Crenshaw. And the new UT football coach, Charlie Strong, came out at halftime to introduce the new coaching staff for the football team. He was greeted with the entire arena chanting "Charlie" so I can only imagine he felt good after that welcoming. It was also awesome because I went with my Grandpa and close family friend Mary, and it's always so much fun spending time with them. And I got to take home a sign that said "Fear the Steer," which might be the best thing I've ever seen.

Tomorrow is....Super Bowl Sunday! I'll be sporting my Seahawks jersey and will likely be completely useless the entire day due to my complete distraction over the game.

Here are some photos from today.

Oh, hey Charlie.

If you look closely, you'll see Neil Patrick Harris, Ron Burgundy, and
Walter White all came to watch the game.