Another trip for work; this time I am in Nashville. What a strange town. The airport is nice and I got a sweet upgraded rental car. Some sort of Ford called an Edge. It is baked bean colored. I really like driving it.
We discovered Vanderbilt University on our way to the restaurant. It is a plain looking campus wedged into a dirty but kind of trendy city strip.
We ate at a P.F.Chang’s. I had wok seared lamb served with spiced stir-fried green beans and brown rice. It was delicious.
We then drove to the hotel and I met my roommate and now I am sitting on my bed in my PJs, thinking about how full my belly is.
Tomorrow is a big day. We teach a class totally off the cuff being that we haven’t written it yet. Should be interesting.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Belle, the ferret: 2004-2007
Sometime today, while we were all at work and school Belle, the ferret, died. When I got home she was curled up peacefully on a towel in the tub (we had been keeping her there since she got sick).
Belle came into our lives at a time when I was never going to get another ferret. Sebastian, my healthy and huge male ferret was getting old and after he was gone I was sure I was never going to get another one. A lady a work sent out an email requesting that someone help out her daughter and rescue her baby ferret as her landlord had suddenly sprung on her that there were “No pets allowed.” I contemplated the adoption after I sent the email saying, of course I would help out and rescue the little one. Dan and I met up after work and drove out to the girl’s house and picked up Belle. She was so little. I think she was only 6 months old.
I brought her home and Sebastian and she bonded immediately. They were never apart until Sebastian died back in 2005.
Belle had a little bell around her neck that would jingle as she hippity hopped around the house. She is by far the feistiest ferret I ever had. For the longest time we called her “The Nibbler” as she would attack any feet that were within reach. I saw her leap off the couch once just to get at some delicious feet nibbling.
She is the last of the four ferrets I have had in my life, going back to 1998. Taggert, Luna, Sebastian, and Belle; all adorable, irritating, cuddly and thoroughly ridiculous animals. We’ll miss you Belle.
We buried her in the back yard next to Crookshanks.
Belle came into our lives at a time when I was never going to get another ferret. Sebastian, my healthy and huge male ferret was getting old and after he was gone I was sure I was never going to get another one. A lady a work sent out an email requesting that someone help out her daughter and rescue her baby ferret as her landlord had suddenly sprung on her that there were “No pets allowed.” I contemplated the adoption after I sent the email saying, of course I would help out and rescue the little one. Dan and I met up after work and drove out to the girl’s house and picked up Belle. She was so little. I think she was only 6 months old.
I brought her home and Sebastian and she bonded immediately. They were never apart until Sebastian died back in 2005.
Belle had a little bell around her neck that would jingle as she hippity hopped around the house. She is by far the feistiest ferret I ever had. For the longest time we called her “The Nibbler” as she would attack any feet that were within reach. I saw her leap off the couch once just to get at some delicious feet nibbling.
She is the last of the four ferrets I have had in my life, going back to 1998. Taggert, Luna, Sebastian, and Belle; all adorable, irritating, cuddly and thoroughly ridiculous animals. We’ll miss you Belle.
We buried her in the back yard next to Crookshanks.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Squirmy Wormies!
Everyone needs to go to Dan's blog and check out the ever-so-clever yet squirmy new addition to his Sudoku-stylings repertoire. And they are fun to solve too!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
My Big Mouth
Have you ever left an interaction knowing you have said too much?
This morning I got into the elevator with my uber-boss. He held the door for me as I was trying to slink in without him noticing. I was late again. He said
“How are you doing?”
“Fine, just moving a little slow this morning.” I said. And that is where it should have ended. But no, I had to keep talking.
“I’ve got a teething 8 month old and a sick pet at home. It makes things a little more interesting in the mornings.” I continued.
“Oh, I would rather have the eight month old. What pet is sick?” He asked, looking very concerned.
“I have a ferret. Actually she is dying. I think she has cancer.” He looked horrified.
“I am SO sorry,” he practically cried. “Is there anything you can do?”
“I am just trying to make her comfortable. But it is pretty normal for ferrets to get cancer; I have had four others who have…”
At this point the elevator door opened and I stepped out. He was to continue to the next floor.
“died. Have a great day!” I waved cheerfully as the elevator doors closed, concealing his mingled looks of horror, concern and confusion. I should have shut up at “Fine.”
This morning I got into the elevator with my uber-boss. He held the door for me as I was trying to slink in without him noticing. I was late again. He said
“How are you doing?”
“Fine, just moving a little slow this morning.” I said. And that is where it should have ended. But no, I had to keep talking.
“I’ve got a teething 8 month old and a sick pet at home. It makes things a little more interesting in the mornings.” I continued.
“Oh, I would rather have the eight month old. What pet is sick?” He asked, looking very concerned.
“I have a ferret. Actually she is dying. I think she has cancer.” He looked horrified.
“I am SO sorry,” he practically cried. “Is there anything you can do?”
“I am just trying to make her comfortable. But it is pretty normal for ferrets to get cancer; I have had four others who have…”
At this point the elevator door opened and I stepped out. He was to continue to the next floor.
“died. Have a great day!” I waved cheerfully as the elevator doors closed, concealing his mingled looks of horror, concern and confusion. I should have shut up at “Fine.”
Monday, April 9, 2007
I found this totally by accident. The blog entry talks about american scientists making a mistake at the huge particle collider that is being built in Europe. The blog entry is okay, but the comments are hilarious. You have to read all of the comments and then read what the author posts in response. Ha!
http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=americans_screw_up_world_s_largest_parti&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&ref=rss
http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=americans_screw_up_world_s_largest_parti&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&ref=rss
Another Snood Game!
This weekend it was cold outside so nothing got accomplished in the garden and nothing got accomplished inside. It is too hard to have a five year old and an eight month old living and playing all day inside and actually get anything clean, let alone maintain it.
But after I resigned myself to that fact, it was a great weekend. We started design on the wedding invitations (they should be coming out soon), I did lots of laundry, we watched a movie and we played a lot. I also became obsessed with Snood Slide.
Snood Slide is the newest game from the Snood guys and it is ridiculously addictive. Think Chuzzle meets Bejeweled meets Snood. Yes, it is that bad. Snood was originally created by Dave Dobson and it is a cross between Tetris and Breakout (sort of). For anyone who has not played it, if you want to continue to exist as a functioning member of society, resist downloading it. So many hours…gone. But it is a great game and if you have any will power, go for it. I would recommend paying the twenty bucks to buy it as the free trial only lets you go so far.
I love Snood, but Snood Slide is the ultimate puzzle game for me. It contains everything that I love in a game; un-timed, puzzle solving, journey through levels, ridiculously hard levels mixed with relatively easy levels (keeps up the morale), it’s just great.
So I played for hours this weekend until my free trial ran out. The question now is do I resist the download?
But after I resigned myself to that fact, it was a great weekend. We started design on the wedding invitations (they should be coming out soon), I did lots of laundry, we watched a movie and we played a lot. I also became obsessed with Snood Slide.
Snood Slide is the newest game from the Snood guys and it is ridiculously addictive. Think Chuzzle meets Bejeweled meets Snood. Yes, it is that bad. Snood was originally created by Dave Dobson and it is a cross between Tetris and Breakout (sort of). For anyone who has not played it, if you want to continue to exist as a functioning member of society, resist downloading it. So many hours…gone. But it is a great game and if you have any will power, go for it. I would recommend paying the twenty bucks to buy it as the free trial only lets you go so far.
I love Snood, but Snood Slide is the ultimate puzzle game for me. It contains everything that I love in a game; un-timed, puzzle solving, journey through levels, ridiculously hard levels mixed with relatively easy levels (keeps up the morale), it’s just great.
So I played for hours this weekend until my free trial ran out. The question now is do I resist the download?
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Bronwen is 8 months old
Today Bronwen Burr is 8 months old. Can you believe it? I still can’t believe that we had a baby in the first place. As an 8 month birthday present let me list 8 things about her that are cute and wonderful.
1. She always smiles when Dan walks in the room. I do the same thing!
2. When getting her diaper changed she grabs her feet and wiggles her butt.
3. Sometimes in the morning I walk into the nursery she is sitting upright smiling.
4. She eats all food; she is not picky at all.
5. She loves taking baths but she hates having her face washed.
6. She loves when Dan and/or I play the guitar and sing to her.
7. She laughs constantly at Piper; she thinks her sister is the greatest!
8. To her, Fay and Onyx are the most interesting toys in the house.
There are many more than 8 things that are cute and wonderful about her, but it will have to wait until she is nine months old. Feel free to add your own!
1. She always smiles when Dan walks in the room. I do the same thing!
2. When getting her diaper changed she grabs her feet and wiggles her butt.
3. Sometimes in the morning I walk into the nursery she is sitting upright smiling.
4. She eats all food; she is not picky at all.
5. She loves taking baths but she hates having her face washed.
6. She loves when Dan and/or I play the guitar and sing to her.
7. She laughs constantly at Piper; she thinks her sister is the greatest!
8. To her, Fay and Onyx are the most interesting toys in the house.
There are many more than 8 things that are cute and wonderful about her, but it will have to wait until she is nine months old. Feel free to add your own!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
My Life at Work
I sit at a desk all day. Sometimes I am productive, most of the time I am trying to force myself to be productive. This means I spend a lot of time writing lists of what I should be doing, giving myself hourly deadlines and even providing myself with prizes if I accomplish my goals.
“Ellie, you can write one personal email if you finish writing this checklist by lunch.”
Most of the time I let myself do whatever I want to anyway, and the work gets done in the last moments before it is due.
Sometimes I just sit at my desk and go blank. I don’t think about anything, or do anything. I just can’t make myself do work. I just have to wait until it passes. Today I was staring blankly at my computer screen when I realized that it had just gotten darker outside.
Now this was a very strange realization as there are no windows within sight of my desk. I sit in cube land, a cube across the aisle, three cubes in front and one behind, and a door leading out to a windowless hallway. There are windows down the aisle in an office, so it is possible the tiniest bit of natural light reaches me every once in awhile. Well, today it did. I felt that the world had darkened. It was such a bizarre feeling that I had to get up and go peek out of the office window. Indeed, what had been a sunny day when I came into the office this morning had turned overcast. It is nice to know that even in cube land I can still have some sort of connection to the outside world.
“Ellie, you can write one personal email if you finish writing this checklist by lunch.”
Most of the time I let myself do whatever I want to anyway, and the work gets done in the last moments before it is due.
Sometimes I just sit at my desk and go blank. I don’t think about anything, or do anything. I just can’t make myself do work. I just have to wait until it passes. Today I was staring blankly at my computer screen when I realized that it had just gotten darker outside.
Now this was a very strange realization as there are no windows within sight of my desk. I sit in cube land, a cube across the aisle, three cubes in front and one behind, and a door leading out to a windowless hallway. There are windows down the aisle in an office, so it is possible the tiniest bit of natural light reaches me every once in awhile. Well, today it did. I felt that the world had darkened. It was such a bizarre feeling that I had to get up and go peek out of the office window. Indeed, what had been a sunny day when I came into the office this morning had turned overcast. It is nice to know that even in cube land I can still have some sort of connection to the outside world.
Monday, April 2, 2007
A night to recover from
Saturday was a great day. Dan and I woke up around 10am with Bronwen. (Dan had fed her around 6:30am and she went back to sleep.) We got up, dressed and went straight outside to enjoy the sunshine. Bronwen played in her play-pen as Dan cleared more junk from the inside of the garage and I finished cutting up the tree in the backyard and moving the pieces to behind the garage. It was a lot of work. But very satisfying as we now have an additional 20 or so feet of yard where there was none before. I mowed the vines and moved some plants. There is still more to do, but we have made quite a dent in just two weekends.
Eventually, we started to get hungry, so we packed up the stroller and walked down to Fishbones. (It was rumored that Cynthia was back from Puerto Rico and we wanted to see her too!). Chris met us there. Dan ordered a turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and roasted red peppers. It looked delicious. I had the house salad, which I had never had and it was delicious (and only $3.95!). We also ordered a few pints. Cynthia was there and she hung out with us on the patio telling us all her stories of Puerto Rico. (I was mentally planning my move there after only one story from her. I love the island mentality. I need to go live by the beach for a few years.)
After a few hours we decided to head home to "settle" Catan on the picnic table. Chris and Matt joined us there. Matt showed up with a case of Yuengling and two 12 packs of ice cream sandwiches. My hero!
We played a vicious game of Knights and Cities (we all agree it is more fun than the original version) and Chris one by 4 points. We have only played this expansion twice and both times Chris has won.
Matt drank 8 beers in 2 hours and ate about 10 ice cream sandwiches. When we finished the game we moved on to a new take on an old game: fire stump. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. We lit the stump on fire and tried to pound each others nails in as it burned. Surprisingly, no one was injured, and I think Dan won all three games (yes, the stump was on fire for three games). Matt friends picked him up and I went inside to make dinner while Dan and Chris played cards. I made skewers with andouille sausage, and shrimp wrapped in bacon covered in a mustard, soy sauce, maple syrup glaze. They were delicious.
Then Phil showed up and we sat around the fire pit and ate s'mores until 4:30 in the morning. Dan and I played guitar. Not a bad life.
Eventually, we started to get hungry, so we packed up the stroller and walked down to Fishbones. (It was rumored that Cynthia was back from Puerto Rico and we wanted to see her too!). Chris met us there. Dan ordered a turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and roasted red peppers. It looked delicious. I had the house salad, which I had never had and it was delicious (and only $3.95!). We also ordered a few pints. Cynthia was there and she hung out with us on the patio telling us all her stories of Puerto Rico. (I was mentally planning my move there after only one story from her. I love the island mentality. I need to go live by the beach for a few years.)
After a few hours we decided to head home to "settle" Catan on the picnic table. Chris and Matt joined us there. Matt showed up with a case of Yuengling and two 12 packs of ice cream sandwiches. My hero!
We played a vicious game of Knights and Cities (we all agree it is more fun than the original version) and Chris one by 4 points. We have only played this expansion twice and both times Chris has won.
Matt drank 8 beers in 2 hours and ate about 10 ice cream sandwiches. When we finished the game we moved on to a new take on an old game: fire stump. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. We lit the stump on fire and tried to pound each others nails in as it burned. Surprisingly, no one was injured, and I think Dan won all three games (yes, the stump was on fire for three games). Matt friends picked him up and I went inside to make dinner while Dan and Chris played cards. I made skewers with andouille sausage, and shrimp wrapped in bacon covered in a mustard, soy sauce, maple syrup glaze. They were delicious.
Then Phil showed up and we sat around the fire pit and ate s'mores until 4:30 in the morning. Dan and I played guitar. Not a bad life.
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