What I Love

I am at school...putting off a long walk to my car and an equally long drive home. 

School because I am presenting a poster of my research at AGU in December and I need to make the poster in order to present it.  I complained all day and weekend about having to do this with my precious time.  But when I got here and sat down...I realized and remembered that poster making is one of my most favorite things to do.  I also found out that I understand my abstract.  I know that sounds crazy, but abstracts are so condensed I have a very hard time reading them, let alone understanding them.  It's just a bunch of big words and confusing numbers.  This time when I read it though, I understood what each sentence was saying completely and I understood why it was there.  Then I realized that it is a blueprint for my poster!  I just looked at each sentence, thought about what it meant and then made a list of all the charts and diagrams that would prove or back up that sentence.  When I was done I had my poster.  All I did then was organize the list into topics and then fit them together in a comprehensive flowing poster.  This is all rough draft on paper...I've barely even opened illustrator yet.

Oh man I'm getting excited.

I have to do a presentation on biodiesel to the tribes I am working with at the end of December and provide them with a handout.  I am looking forward to it because it is similar to a poster...I am using words and pictures to convey a message.  It's still a puzzle on how to work it out, but already I am starting to come up with ideas and how to organize it.  Shit.  I'm thinking of my work outside of work...the probably happens when you have an "outside of work" time, and that's probably why I never thought of my thesis work outside of work...because there was none!  It's all coming together now.

I had a great weekend.  Thursday I ate Etheopian food with Cindy and her friends.  Cindy is Rachel's roommate, and I met Rachel through my Christian group.  Cindy is very nice and very friendly.  Then on Friday I had a potluck dinner with Cindy and other of her friends and then went Contra dancing.  (It was Cindy's birthday and she was special enough to do two nights of fun things for it!).  Contra dancing is like square dancing but when you stand in long lines and dance down the middle of it.  There is a lot of spinning.  I got hit on by a girl and I worked very carefully and very subtly to let her know through body language that I was not interested in her but that I very much enjoyed talking to her as a friend.  I think I did a good job.

Saturday I went to Cosco with Sarah and Heather.  It was a long but fruitful trip that ended with Mr. Pibb.  I know I know, I swore it off...but at the end of a long shopping day there is nothing as satisfying as a fountain pop...Mr. Pibb or no.  Plus, in the end I would pick Mr. Pibb over any other pop...Dr. Pepper wanna be is better than no Dr. Pepper.

Did Y'all see the Lions win!?!?!  With zero seconds left?  Amazing!  I was sooo excited when I heard that.  Before Josh left for work, they were down 24 to 3 in the first quarter.  We had given up on that game.  BUT NO the Lions pulled through!  So I'm even MORE excited for Thanksgiving if that's even possible.

Okay, I have to go home and make mini-appley muffins for a potluck lunchean that's happening in our building tomorrow.