The December Midpoint 2010
To resolve the cliffhanger from last entry...
IT'S A GIRL!
(Or, in the parlance of Cake Wrecks, "It A Gril!") We have an idea for a name, but I'm going to save that--and a few other semi-related matters--for another post... for now, admire her cute little baby face! Everything seems to be developing nicely, right on track for an early April birthday. :-D
In other news, today is my 26th birthday, and this is my traditional annual birthday post.
I started my birthday pretty early this year, going to bed after midnight last night. I stayed up late to finish my last homework assignment for the semester, and to try and see a few meteors... the Geminids reached their peak around 1am on Monday morning, but it was overcast here. Fortunately last night was beautifully clear with a waxing moon. It's been very cold and windy for this area, down into the teens at night and struggling to reach thirty in the day; fortunately, I was able to wrap myself in a blanket and stand really close to our deck door in the dark and have a slightly warmer vantage. I could easily make out Orion, and I spotted two Geminids shortly after midnight with a little patience. Hooray!
I woke up very cozy and warm, as I've been wearing a wool sweater and socks with my pajama pants to bed. I was greeted first by a kiss from Courtney, then by Indy standing on my chest, meowing in my face to procure his breakfast. About thirty seconds after I got out of bed I got a birthday phone call from Mom. Nice timing!
I had to jump-start my car this morning. It has been starting with increasing difficulty these past few days, presumably due to the cold nights. Fortunately, I got a portable power supply for Christmas last year or so from Mom & Dave. Though it hadn't been charged in a while, it still had sufficient juice to start the car with ease, once I made a good connection to the battery terminals and figured out how to keep it from falling off the engine. The car started fine the rest of the day, but I predict a repeat performance tomorrow morning. (The power supply is charging now in anticipation.) The low power caused my car stereo to lock down--it's a theft-prevention "feature"--and at least two auto places I visited didn't have my car's model of battery. Oddly enough, though, I'm not really bothered by it... it was a fun and interesting way to start the day!
My coworkers surprised me with a tiramisu cake today that was rather tasty and served as my lunch. I was very happy about this, especially since nobody at work last year had a clue it was my birthday at all. Progress!
I left work early to do some battery hunting, and to make sure I got to GMU on time for my final exam. The test went alright; I used just about every minute available, but I answered every question. Of course, with this class, I do that all the time... it's just a question of how many I actually get right. :-P The test wasn't quite as bad as some folks had insinuated, but I'm still happy to be done for the semester.
Also on the grad school front, I received a response back from my advisor. He took a sort of sabbatical for half a year and left the country to go do research (and travel) in Europe, which sounds like fun. It would have been nicer if he'd given me a heads-up in advance, though, because that was right in the middle of my (not very) directed study this summer. I didn't get the paper done in the summer and received an incomplete. I finished the paper and emailed him, but he never responded before his deadline and the incomplete lapsed into an F, which he told me to not worry about because "it can be taken care of". Two or three months and a couple of friendly reminder emails later--in which I point out I can't be reimbursed my tuition fees for an F--and he now says that with my committee member's concurrence, he's submitted a change of grade request to the department secretary to revise it to an A. Three credits, 2/3 done with my degree, and back to a 3.8+ GPA? Happy Birthday to me!
Courtney cooked some tasty feta cheese chicken for dinner, and made me some excellent apple pie. Lots of folks have left birthday wishes on Facebook, too.
On the whole, it's been a pretty damn good day. :-D
IT'S A GIRL!
(Or, in the parlance of Cake Wrecks, "It A Gril!") We have an idea for a name, but I'm going to save that--and a few other semi-related matters--for another post... for now, admire her cute little baby face! Everything seems to be developing nicely, right on track for an early April birthday. :-D
In other news, today is my 26th birthday, and this is my traditional annual birthday post.
I started my birthday pretty early this year, going to bed after midnight last night. I stayed up late to finish my last homework assignment for the semester, and to try and see a few meteors... the Geminids reached their peak around 1am on Monday morning, but it was overcast here. Fortunately last night was beautifully clear with a waxing moon. It's been very cold and windy for this area, down into the teens at night and struggling to reach thirty in the day; fortunately, I was able to wrap myself in a blanket and stand really close to our deck door in the dark and have a slightly warmer vantage. I could easily make out Orion, and I spotted two Geminids shortly after midnight with a little patience. Hooray!
I woke up very cozy and warm, as I've been wearing a wool sweater and socks with my pajama pants to bed. I was greeted first by a kiss from Courtney, then by Indy standing on my chest, meowing in my face to procure his breakfast. About thirty seconds after I got out of bed I got a birthday phone call from Mom. Nice timing!
I had to jump-start my car this morning. It has been starting with increasing difficulty these past few days, presumably due to the cold nights. Fortunately, I got a portable power supply for Christmas last year or so from Mom & Dave. Though it hadn't been charged in a while, it still had sufficient juice to start the car with ease, once I made a good connection to the battery terminals and figured out how to keep it from falling off the engine. The car started fine the rest of the day, but I predict a repeat performance tomorrow morning. (The power supply is charging now in anticipation.) The low power caused my car stereo to lock down--it's a theft-prevention "feature"--and at least two auto places I visited didn't have my car's model of battery. Oddly enough, though, I'm not really bothered by it... it was a fun and interesting way to start the day!
My coworkers surprised me with a tiramisu cake today that was rather tasty and served as my lunch. I was very happy about this, especially since nobody at work last year had a clue it was my birthday at all. Progress!
I left work early to do some battery hunting, and to make sure I got to GMU on time for my final exam. The test went alright; I used just about every minute available, but I answered every question. Of course, with this class, I do that all the time... it's just a question of how many I actually get right. :-P The test wasn't quite as bad as some folks had insinuated, but I'm still happy to be done for the semester.
Also on the grad school front, I received a response back from my advisor. He took a sort of sabbatical for half a year and left the country to go do research (and travel) in Europe, which sounds like fun. It would have been nicer if he'd given me a heads-up in advance, though, because that was right in the middle of my (not very) directed study this summer. I didn't get the paper done in the summer and received an incomplete. I finished the paper and emailed him, but he never responded before his deadline and the incomplete lapsed into an F, which he told me to not worry about because "it can be taken care of". Two or three months and a couple of friendly reminder emails later--in which I point out I can't be reimbursed my tuition fees for an F--and he now says that with my committee member's concurrence, he's submitted a change of grade request to the department secretary to revise it to an A. Three credits, 2/3 done with my degree, and back to a 3.8+ GPA? Happy Birthday to me!
Courtney cooked some tasty feta cheese chicken for dinner, and made me some excellent apple pie. Lots of folks have left birthday wishes on Facebook, too.
On the whole, it's been a pretty damn good day. :-D