okay...i think it's fixed. if you were one of the unlucky ones to witness the awful shmutz that was making up this page for the past few days, i apologize.

today i have to:
~go to walmart and get the stuff on my last minute things list
~do laundry
~(egads!) start packing

tomorrow is my parents' 28th wedding anniversary. i have the world's best parents. they are amazing, and still so in love after 28 years...everybody needs that. happy anniversary, mom and dad :)

trying to fix this...just excuse everything for now...the color, the spacing...ugh. i'm too anal. i can't leave it like this while i'm gone...

btw...why does my blog look like crappola in my mozilla browser (and, i'm assuming, netscape)? if you know why, please tell me. it's bugging me.

hope everyone had a very merry christmas...mine was absolutely wonderful. i know i've been awful about updating lately, but...well, i'm going to be even more awful in the next few weeks b/c i leave for patagonia in 6 DAYS!!! holy moly. i am so, so excited about going...but i am so, so sad about being so far away from mike for three weeks. opportunities to call will be few and far between, so...*sigh*. but i will be in a new and exciting place and learning a lot. i got lots of great trip related stuff for christmas, too (like my super-fun headlamp, thanks erika...). no plans as of yet for new years, but i'm sure we'll think of something. have a great new year's everyone!

got my PCB paper back today...got an A-!! kick ass. i worked so hard on that paper, so that's really great. also, finished my last exam this morning. whoo hoo!

short on time, but check this out: i have discovered the absolute coolest show *ever*. you need to watch it if you haven't yet...it's on the discovery channel and it's called monster garage. the other day, they turned a geo tracker into a hot air balloon (so, trackers are good for something after all...). what can i say? i'm a jeep girl...

okay...so i just finished my remote sensing exam in an obscenely short amount of time (1/2 hour). and i think i did really well, somehow. we were allowed to bring in a "cheat sheet" to the exam, and by some divine intervention i apparently put all the right things on mine--most of the exam consisted of me looking at my sheet and just transferring the answers over. there were a lot of questions about the different characteristics of certain types of sensors (Landsat, Quickbird, SPOT, etc...), and i pretty much just copied all of that info straight from the lecture slides and onto my sheet. so now i'm just waiting for lisa to finish up, b/c i picked her up today (roads were a little icky in her neck of the woods). whew--only one more exam to go.

tomorrow we're "doing lunch" with todd and catie and the 2 itty bitty bergers (well, not so itty bitty...but they're babies. and relative to todd, almost everything is little). we're doing that right after my 8 am (blech) dr.'s appointment in trumbull. yikes. guess who's going to be up bright and early tomorrow...

just a little over 2 weeks until i leave for patagonia...we're flying Hartford-->Atlanta-->Santiago-->Punta Arenas (look waaay at the bottom). so far away...wow. i'm getting so excited...i got a list from lisa of what to pack (since she went last year), and i'm going to start figuring out how my tent/sleeping bag/etc are going to be packed. b/c i can. b/c i want to. b/c i'm *excited*.

ok, time to be producitve--going to print out my semester project for my modeling class (that looks so bizarre--modeling class. i feel like i should elaborate...eh, you've been paying attention all along, right?). adios...

**yay** i got my plane tickets for patagonia today!! delta and lanchile, respectively. i'm so excited...

lisa and i made personalized christmas cookies for some of the nrme professors the other night. we gave them out yesterday, and they loved them! we decorated them relative to whatever the professor's specialty is (remote sensing, wetlands, etc). it was really cute to see all of their expressions when they saw the cookies. it made me want to make cookies for everyone i know :)

today, lisa and i set up every computer in the leris lab so that it would have a picture of david hasselhoff as its wallpaper. hee hee. we also set all of the web browser home pages to davidhasselhoff.com. buahahahahaha! because you can never have enough david hasselhoff (check out my regular webpage for a hilarious david hasselhoff related link...i'm to lazy to go fine the URL and make a link for it here...).

supposed to get an ice storm tonight, and i'm pretty bummed b/c we weren't able to get a christmas tree last night and i'd really, really like to be able to get one tonight. oh well. tomorrow, we're driving down to take my dad christmas shopping and have dinner at mike's parents' house for his birthday (which is friday), so we were thinking about going to a tree farm mike used to work at down in that area and getting a tree there. the place we went last year had very thin, gappy trees this year :/. i know there was a drought this year and all, but i want a big fat beautiful tree. and i'm going to be picky about it, too. so there.

alright, enough time wasting...going to be productive now...

putzing around, waiting until i can meet with my advisor...
not much on the plate today; probably ought to do some studying for my modeling exam tomorrow. planning on doing some laundry tonight, and maybe making cookies (yay!) with lisa. because she should be studying for modeling, too :). maybe we'll study *while* we bake...make cookies in the shape of stocks, flows, and converters; maybe some sinusoidal ones, too...or not.

i finally finished my paper! yippee!

i am having a very, very bad morning.

1) mike got me a beautiful sweater as a hanukkah gift. i put it on this morning when i got dressed, then went into the bathroom, where i proceeded to spill liquid makeup all over the floor, rug, wall, my shoes, my pants, and MY SWEATER.
2) on the way to school after cleaning up (got the sweater pretty clean, still wore it), i realize that i'm out on windshield washer fluid. as i drive, my windshield gets more and more caked with sand and salt from the roads. i stop at a gas station to buy more, but they are out. i throw snow on my windshield and keep driving.
3) the second gas station i stop at has fluid, but i have no cash and there's a 5 dollar credit card limit. there is no limit for debit cards, so i tell the cashier to do it as debit. stupid cashier man insists that it is "either a credit card or a debit card, but it can't be both." he is apparently confused by the mastercard logo. "it's a debit card, too" i say. he looks confused. i stare at him. "yes. just do it." he does. it works. i leave.
4) i pull out of the gas station only to realize that the direction that i want to go through the intersection is closed. i cannot go straight. no one will let me move over from the straight lane. i sit through 3 light changes before someone lets me go.
5) i get to school, where my one class is a lecture devoted to cancer, which my grandfather is in the midst of dying of.
6) after class, i go to my department head to see if i can get out of a class for my secondary major. he says fine, just check w/ my animal science advisor. i go. he sends me to the professor of said course. i go. professor of said course is a snippy, bitter little asshole, who says his seminar is different from the natural resources seminar that i'm taking, and i have to take both. the difference? his seminar teaches how to write a resume (which i already know how to do) and brings in people to talk about job opportunities in the animal science field (which i have no desire or intention of ever working in). he says many rude and presumptuous things that will take too long for me to type. my eyelid is currently beginning to twitch just thinking about it.
7) after meeting with the snippy, bitter little asshole, i look down to realize that there is a hole in the sleeve of my brand new sweater.
8) as i was typing the above sentence, some guy came into the computer lab and informed me that he had a project saved on the computer that i was working on. there is a universal drive in this lab that can be accessed on all of the computers. did he save his project on that drive? of course not. i moved to a new computer and had to wait for it to start up so i could finish ranting and raving.
9) i now have to go to work, where i was supposed to have had my schedule for next semester straightened out with the other 2 girls that are in school currently by 1 pm today. it is 1:06. i will not be at work until 2. my schedule still is not settled b/c of the snippy, bitter little asshole. i am probably going to get chewed out by my boss and given even less hours to work next semester than i already have, which could only be described as paltry at best.
10) i want to go home and curl up into a ball and sleep all weekend, and i can't b/c i have to write a paper on the effects of pcb's and breast cancer, which i haven't had time to start yet b/c i've been working on my modeling project which still is not working.

garrrr. >:(

got the lilo and stitch dvd last night...i love this movie. i've always enjoyed disney movies as much as the next person, but i am borderline rabid about this one. i don't really know why...stitch is just so darn cute! i was complaining during the previews about how disney always makes crappy straght-to-video sequels of their movies...next thing that comes onto the screen? a straight-to-video movie all about stitch. and i'm so going to buy it. i'm such a hypocrite :D

it took me an hour to get to my internship in hampton this morning because, despite the fact that this is new england, people do not know what to do with themselves when there is a millimeter of snow on the ground. but i anticipated that, and left a little earlier than normal, so i still got there only a few minutes late. problem? no one was there. the doors were locked. i couldn't get in. bah! so i had to turn around and go back home, which makes my gas-guzzling behemoth of a car rather cranky.

on a brighter note, i convinced myself that since i'd been so put out, i earned the right to skip my one and only class at 2:00, and i went *christmas shopping*! whee! b/c we all know how much i hate christmas. riiiiight...

on a weirder note, i saw someone that i haven't seen in years today...an old friend that i'd known since 1st grade but lost track of completely a few years ago. walked right by him in the hallway of my apartment building...i guess he lives in one of the other mills now. pretty neat.

**Lilo and Stitch comes out today**! when mike gets home, we're going to the mall to pick up our pre-ordered copy. i can't wait to watch it again. don't laugh at me, it was a really good movie. shut up, it was. *and*, i'm making hamburgers for dinner. yum yum yummers.

well, i don't know about everybody else, but i ate waaay too much food on thanksgiving...but that's what it's all about, right?

went down to mike's aunt and uncle's for hanukkah on saturday...i got hanukkah gifts! that was pretty unexpected. i got some socks, earrings, a little stuffed stitch (as in lilo and) christmas tree ornament, a set of lilo and stitch figurines (so cute!), and *gasp* a barrel of monkeys. and some other stuff...

todd and catie welcomed baby number two--ryan michael berger--into the world on saturday morning. we went down to see them before stopping at the party. very very cute baby--and huge! 10 lbs 3 oz! 15 inch head! yikes. i'm in no hurry whatsoever.

tracy called me last night and announced that she and her boyfriend got engaged! the wedding isn't until may of 2004, but...wow. how exciting. i love going to weddings :)

looking forward to tonight; tanya, cece, kim, and possibly a few other people that i work/used to work with are having a girls night, going out to eat and catch up and all that good stuff. but first, i have lots and lots of schoolwork to do. blech.

i am making hanukkah candles for mike's mom as her hanukkah gift tonight. hopefully i won't goof them up; i have to make 44 of them. i have to go out today and get a hanukkah gift for mike, as well. (i'm not saying what, on the off chance that he happens to look at this before he gets his present). the stores will be horrible today, but...oh well. c'est la vie.

well...i suppose i ought to go get dressed so i can get my shopping in before work.

...i hate the mall...

SNOW! i love almost nothing like i love the first snow of the year. especially when it dumps a fluffy, cheerful, just-wet-enough-to-pelt-a-snowball-at-mike-this-morning (who? me? never) 8 inches on me. wheee!

as a side note...and the logical benefit of this would be what? remember, i said *logical*.

sheesh. the world frightens me. BUT: i made *beeyootiful* mini quishes today. absolutely lovely. i also made artichoke heart and spinach dip, and kielbasa chunks wrapped in croissant dough. i'm going to be the Appetizer Goddess tomorrow (i'm also bringing brie and crusty bread, and the requisite tortillas and salsa).

i also was extremely productive in the christmas-present making department (oh, wouldn't you all like to know...well, too bad. buahahahahahah!). and i made myself some beeswax peppermint lip balm.

how hard is it to screen baggage? ummm...pretty darn hard, actually. go see how *you* do.

:D

my modeling project has been driving me crazy. insane. up the friggin' wall. i'm trying to build a mathematical model and flow diagram of the phosphorus concentration over time of a pond subjected to runoff from a series of out-of-date septic systems.

anywhoo...my professor just checked out my model and graphs, and gave me a high five! i have reasonable numbers as results!

**i am a happy camper**

ack! all of a sudden, there's only about a week and a half left of classes! where did this semester go? i have so much work to do, and a pitifully small amount of time in which to do it...on a better note, that means christmas is getting closer and closer. in fact...christmas is exactly ONE MONTH away! yee-haw! patagonia's getting closer, too, which means i need to get my arse in gear and get my vaccinations and what-not. i'm so excited about going, but i'm going to miss mike so much... : /

at any rate... happy thanksgiving everybody :)

so why is it that when i'm x-raying animals at work, i am required to wear:

a) a badge that registers the amount of radiation that i'm exposed to over the course of a month
b) a lead smock (that covers said badge)
c) a lead neck cuff to protect my thyroid gland, and
d) lead gloves

but...there is nothing covering my face and head. ??? god forbid any of that radiation hit my pinky finger...but my brain? eh, apparently that's ok. eyes? hell, you've got two, right?

i got the warmest, cutest winter hat today. my ears are absolutely in love with it. i also got lots of stuff to make christmas goodies with (i love christmas. i love it so, so much). whee!

and, on a slightly more productive note, i found lots of sources for my paper on the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcb's) on breast cancer.

this is very, very bizarre...

things i love:
~that chester, upon returning home from the hospital, became The World's Sweetest and Most Loveable Cat
~that i went to the casino last night with one quarter (yes, only one...i'm stingy) and came home with 50 quarters (i'm an easy to please gambler w/ a very short attention span...i may never win a thousand dollars, but i'll never lose a thousand, either).

things i don't love:
~that i feel like absolute crap today and didn't get to go to the museum of natural history b/c of it
~that i am completely unmotivated to do schoolwork
~that every time i do laundry, it seems like i immediately have to do laundry again

chester comes home today! hooray. i miss his little furry kitten body all scrunched up under my chin while i sleep.

today is also the day that Harry Potter comes out in theaters, so if you see lisa, tell her not to wet her pants :) i hope i can stay awake through the movie tonight...we're not going until 10:30 pm. and i've been so tired lately...

why i hate david letterman:
1) having that many commercials in the span of an hour is OBSCENE.
2) he's just annoying.
3) he sticks his musical guests on at the way end of the show and doesn't even talk to them. (maybe all late night talk shows are like this, but i don't watch them all that often). at any rate, i love that pearl jam was on last night, and will be on again tonight, but he could at least *talk* to them.


off to class....

humph. i just went to pearljamnetwork.com, and it's been shut down. as of today. what a bummer...

new pearl jam info link: the sky i scrape

everyone who has not yet bought the new pearl jam album needs go out and do that asap. yay pearl jam! this album rocks.

today is The Day for poor little chester...he's being neutered and declawed (ouch!). i had almost changed my mind about doing it, but then i came home the other day and was greeted to cat blood smeared all over the wall. not even half as pleasant as it sounds. so, say goodbye to your cute little tootsies (well, a third of them at least...). i'm working tonight, so i'll probably be there before he even wakes up from anethesia...but i'm still worried about him. i'm such a mush sometimes.

Riot Act comes out tomorrow!!!

...have i mentioned how much i love pearl jam? i am beyond excited about this. almost as excited as lisa is that Harry Potter comes out on friday :)

morty got our tickets for patagonia yesterday. i'm so excited...

*finally* managed to finish registering for next semster's classes today...i'm taking:

* GIS
* Natural Resouces Seminar
* Animal Science Seminar
* Physics 121Q (ick...)
* Lab Animal Science (i get to spay and neuter rats!)
* Soil & Water Management and Engineering

that's 16 credits and *four* lab classes. yikes. that might change, but we'll see.

adios :)

been a while...

mike and i ventured out to the krispy kreme in newington yesterday. holy mass consumption of donuts, batman. there was a 40 minute wait that actually started outside the building, not to mention a traffic cop whose sole purpose it was to direct traffic in the parking lot. it was insane. but very, very tasty, i must say.

went running today for the first time in waaaay too long. i walked a lot :) (hey, that's still exercise!).

i've been playing with the layout of this for a few weeks. it's a lot easier to update than my general website, so i think i'm going to go ahead and make this sort of an adendum to the main site. for daily stuff. pictures, links, etc etc won't be here, just mindless chatter :)

grandparent news...

nana is recovering from her stroke, slowly beginning to be able to move around (w/ the aid of a walker)...good news is, she's well enough to make fun of far far's pants. (far far being my grandfather; it's swedish for "father's father").

on a not as optimistic note, they've found another mass near grandpa's spine. so that means more chemo, and i'm not sure what else at this point. i guess i should look at it as being wonderful that's he's survived over a year since we first discovered the cancer, but i don't really know how to look at it...

back from peurto rico to be greeted with yet another sniper shooting. this is insane. the whole world is insane...

on a happier note...san juan was sunny and beautiful and we had a wonderful time. our room had a balcony with an ocean view, so we could lay in bed and listen to the waves crashing up onto the rocks. unbelievable. needless to say, i was pretty confused throughout the bar mitzvah services (since they were conducted in 95% hebrew), but i met a lot of people and spent some nice quality time with mike, so it was all good. i miss palm trees. i miss the ocean. i miss the warm. i miss the lack of snipers...

off to glue myself fruitlessly to cnn...

have you ever seen one of those huge 18-wheelers cruising down the highway with a house on the flatbed? not overly huge houses, but still...they're houses. well, i saw one last night in the median of the highway. not the truck, just the house. sort of crumpled up on one side. i guess it must have slid off the truck or something...at any rate, i'm sure it ruined someone's day.

we are leaving for puerto rico bright and early in the morning. at least, i think that's what you call 4 am. maybe it's dark and early. at any rate, it's four days straight that i don't have to work :)

hasta luego!

garrr....so, i went over to the registrar's office and got a handy dandy little printout of my schedule to bring over the financial aid to prove that i'm a full time student. really, i am. as i'm standing in line at financial aid perusing said handy dandy printout, i notice that it says that i am a journalism major in the college of literal arts and sciences. really, i'm not. i've got 2 majors, neither one of which is journalism. i came here as a freshman, 5 years ago now, as a journalism major...but i switched to a primary major in natural resources management and engineering and a secondary in animal science. i have not been a journalism major for about 4 years now. so, i head back on over to the registrar, where i am informed that i have to head over to the college of ag and natural resources b/c i was never "officially" switched. which is funny, since both of my academic advisors are in the college of ag and natural resources, and i made dean's list for CANR last semester. but fine, okay, it's not "official". so now, it's off to the college of ag (does everyone remember that it's raining today?), where i am told that oh no, i most certainly am a natural resources and animal science major, and do i have the paper that says i'm a journalism major? (no, i had to give it to financial aid so they don't make me sign over my first born child with a blood oath). so apparently, everyone just wasted my time and that one piece of paper was a strange, incongruous, mysterious, unreplicable glitch. which i don't buy. i have this fear now that when i go to graduate in may, someone's going to tell me "you can't graduate, you didn't fulfill your journalism requirements."

i want a big alcoholic beverage. and i can't have one (well, first off, b/c i'm at school and have to head off to work shortly) because i'm trying to make a few pudge rolls disappear before puerto rico...

blah...i hate rainy days. i have to battle the registrar's and financial aid offices today over whether i'm a 3/4 time student (which i'm not) and only get an eensy weensy bit of my financial aid money, or a full time student (which i am) and get all of it. you'd think they could just type my name in the computer, say "oh, she has 12 credits. that's full-time", and give my money, but nooo. so today, i must traipse around in the rain. ah well.

good things: [mike found his wallet] [today is friday] [i don't have my remote sensing class today] [it is most definately sweater weather] [dad might get to come home today/shortly thereafter]

time to get ready for school...

i came home from work today and had the sweetest surprise from mike...he'd had my watch fixed (*how* do people not wear watches? i almost blew a fuse!), bought me a stitch (from lilo and stitch) doll (which was wearing the watch), pre-ordered the lilo and stich dvd, *and* got me this set of prints from the movie. so cute. he's great.

lisa and i taught a whole slew of fifth graders about animal tracks this morning...one of the area middle schools had a field trip at the nature center, so we got to run that part of the show, which was pretty cool. i was surprised how much i enjoyed it, considering the large amount of children involved.

going to go see dad in the hospital tomorrow...he sounded great when i talked to him on the phone tonight (yay!)

off to do some remote sensing homework and study for my environmental modeling exam...