I look before I leap. I love margins and discipline.
I'm long overdue for a post. I'm just going to write a little blurb about all of the topics I've been meaning to explain.
Bicycles
Andrew and I finally purchased bicycles. We are going to build up some stamina before attempting the commute to work. We purchased the same bike, in slightly different sizes. Here's my Trek 7100, and though I could have those sweet colors, I went with a blue and silver instead. Andrew's bike is still being built, and hopefully he can pick it up today. I'm pretty sure this is the exact bike he's getting. We also bought helmets, but at Costco to save a few more dollars. I bought an entertainment book so I could take advantage of the 20% off coupon at Marty's. They capped the limit at a $25 discount, but we were able to use two coupons - one for each bike! It definitely paid for the price of the entertainment book. If Andrew's is ready tonight, you can bet we are going for a ride.
ETA: Oh lol - Andrew just picked up the bike and they are matching colors.
Q and A Wedding
Two weeks ago was the wedding of Q and A. I started writing up a post, complete with pictures, but I crashed firefox and lost it. I was so ticked off that I didn't try to start another post. All of my photos are on flickr and 59 are on facebook. I still can't believe what a beautiful weekend it turned out to be. Who was really expecting 80+ degrees in April in Vermont? E, Steve, Andrew and I had a sweet room at the hotel too. I swear it was nearly the size of my old apartment - definitely had more closet space. We visited two breweries the Friday before and had a fabulous rehearsal and dinner later that evening. The wedding went smoothly and though everyone in the bridal party was thinking, "By the power of Greyskull!" Ian didn't say it. I thought it was rather endearing how nervous Q seemed to be. What is with the guys being so frightened? A was absolutely beautiful. And now she doesn't have to hear any more remarks about un-bustling the dress.
Alaskan Vacation
Andrew and I are planning a combo vacation for later this year. We are going to do a cruise/tour from Alaska ending in Vancouver. From there, we are going to spend a few days with my sister and Jon. They've been in Vancouver since last July and this is our first visit. I've never been to Canada, let along Alaska, so I'm really excited about the whole trip. We are pushing into the tail end of the cruise season. I really hope to book the cruise and flights tonight. It looks like we will be flying into Fairbanks, taking the tour part of the cruise for a few days, boarding the ship in Seward and then cruising to Vancouver. We'll fly home from Vancouver. I'm not sure how the ff miles will work on this, but it doesn't make sense to book round trips to Vancouver. The flight from Fairbanks to Vancouver is more expensive than Fairbanks to Newark! Ugh, all these little details are driving me nuts. Arrrrrrrrhhh.
Dog Training
Darla spent a couple of weeks with my mom when we were away at the wedding and in Milwaukee. We picked her up when we came home and tried to get her back on her normal schedule. Well, she is back to being completely miserable when walking. She has regained her ability to smell and must smell everything. She pulls from the moment we leave until the moment we get back. She pulls as much as I can handle when there are other dogs around. The leash cuts into my hands. I cannot wear my wedding rings without regretting it. So, we have been looking for places to train her. I'm sure that Petsmart is a great location for most people, but we have a 95 lb German Shepherd who has been trained before and is still "bad." Mind you, I'm not sure who is the problem. We may be reinforcing the bad behaviors without realizing it! So we decided to watch a session without Darla from a local trainer to see if his teachings were a good fit with us. He's been training for years and started off training dogs for the Army. We definitely enjoyed the session and we signed up for a 6-week basic obedience course. Darla will hopefully start next Monday. We also didn't look at any of the dogs that were available for adoption. No more pets!
Grad School
I had a grand list of things to accomplish this weekend. I didn't do much of it. Instead, I worked on my last homework assignment for my grad class. It looked pretty easy - find 4 papers about specific topics (IR and Raman spectroscopy of skin, etc.) and write a 200-300 word essay on it. It wasn't easy because I couldn't find any papers that I understood! It was so frustrating. Eventually, I found papers that were good enough and wrote something that was good enough to finish the assignment. I don't even care if I do poorly on it. It is my last class! This should be my last wasted weekend where I sat inside by my computer and didn't go outside until Sunday. The assignment is due tonight, so I had to finish it this weekend. There's no way I can work on it at work. And yay, now I'm done! I still have a thesis to write, which should be finished in the next month, so I should be graduating in October!
Christmas Cards
I still have 95% of my Christmas cards to mail out. I have the materials and I must use them. I cannot let them go to waste. We were too busy with the move to get them out before Christmas. Really, they are individual letters as a way to catch up. I wanted them to double as address change announcements as well. And then my dad died right after Christmas and I put them off. With everything else going on, I haven't been in the mood to write. Who wants to get an out of season card telling you how we've lost family members? I made a deadline to mail them out before the postal increase, but I didn't meet it. In case you didn't know, domestic US mail is up as of today. And I still have all of the nutcracker stamps! At least I have a stock of 2 cent stamps because I'm a mail nut. New deadline is by 6/25 - 6 months past christmas.
Milwaukee
Last weekend, Andrew and I flew to Milwaukee for an assortment of things. Friday, we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, a Japanese restaurant for a Friday fish fry, and to the Symphony. Saturday, we drank our fill at the Sprecher brewery in the morning, in the afternoon we walked to the North Point Lighthouse, and went to a dinner party to celebrate Jesse's 5 years post transplant milestone. The party was really a thank you to all of the people that helped Jesse and Sarah get to today. And on Sunday, we went to the Botanical Gardens, Kopp's for lunch, and to the Milwaukee Public Museum with the Titanic Artifact exhibition before watching Chuck on tv. Whew. It was a lot, but it never seemed like too much. There are a few pictures on flickr and facebook as well. We had great weather the entire time. Milwaukee really is a fun city to visit. The next time we go, we have to tour the Miller Brewery and visit the Harley Davidson Museum. Seriously, who knew that this was all in one city?
Camping
Andrew and I want to try camping with the dog. She can get up the stairs to our bedroom, but she can't get back down without falling, so she's not allowed upstairs. So, she's never slept in the same room as us. But, I think that she's be fun to take camping. She likes our long walks and she'd be thrilled with all of the attention. I'm not too sure about sleeping with her in the same tent though. We were going to go before Memorial Day, but that's not going to happen. Hopefully we'll be able to try it out before it gets too hot.
We also had plans for a second trip to go to Chincoteague or Assateague. Campings extremely popular with the recession, so there aren't many if any spots still available for beach camping. Unfortunately, our schedules are so out of sync that we don't think we'll be able to plan the beach camping for this summer. We are looking for some other locations in the general area. I really like this yearly tradition. Thought, maybe I should drink less?
Reunions
We have two reunions to attend this summer. Andrew's up for his 5-year college reunion and I have my 10-year high school reunion. We are currently planning on going to both. Many of our camping peeps are in the same class as Andrew. My 5-year reunion was last summer and we went. We drank so much. But good lord, it was hot last year. I caught up with people I hadn't seen since graduation and had a really great time. Who's going back this year? As for the 10-year HS reunion - I have some reservations. I don't live too far away or anything, but I seriously hardly talk to anyone let alone have seen anyone in the past 10 years. Sure, there are people who I would like to reconnect with, but is it enough to go back? I don't have particularly good or bad memories of high school. So, tentatively we are attending, but I'm still deciding.
More to come, but I'm going to update now.
Bicycles
Andrew and I finally purchased bicycles. We are going to build up some stamina before attempting the commute to work. We purchased the same bike, in slightly different sizes. Here's my Trek 7100, and though I could have those sweet colors, I went with a blue and silver instead. Andrew's bike is still being built, and hopefully he can pick it up today. I'm pretty sure this is the exact bike he's getting. We also bought helmets, but at Costco to save a few more dollars. I bought an entertainment book so I could take advantage of the 20% off coupon at Marty's. They capped the limit at a $25 discount, but we were able to use two coupons - one for each bike! It definitely paid for the price of the entertainment book. If Andrew's is ready tonight, you can bet we are going for a ride.
ETA: Oh lol - Andrew just picked up the bike and they are matching colors.
Q and A Wedding
Two weeks ago was the wedding of Q and A. I started writing up a post, complete with pictures, but I crashed firefox and lost it. I was so ticked off that I didn't try to start another post. All of my photos are on flickr and 59 are on facebook. I still can't believe what a beautiful weekend it turned out to be. Who was really expecting 80+ degrees in April in Vermont? E, Steve, Andrew and I had a sweet room at the hotel too. I swear it was nearly the size of my old apartment - definitely had more closet space. We visited two breweries the Friday before and had a fabulous rehearsal and dinner later that evening. The wedding went smoothly and though everyone in the bridal party was thinking, "By the power of Greyskull!" Ian didn't say it. I thought it was rather endearing how nervous Q seemed to be. What is with the guys being so frightened? A was absolutely beautiful. And now she doesn't have to hear any more remarks about un-bustling the dress.
Alaskan Vacation
Andrew and I are planning a combo vacation for later this year. We are going to do a cruise/tour from Alaska ending in Vancouver. From there, we are going to spend a few days with my sister and Jon. They've been in Vancouver since last July and this is our first visit. I've never been to Canada, let along Alaska, so I'm really excited about the whole trip. We are pushing into the tail end of the cruise season. I really hope to book the cruise and flights tonight. It looks like we will be flying into Fairbanks, taking the tour part of the cruise for a few days, boarding the ship in Seward and then cruising to Vancouver. We'll fly home from Vancouver. I'm not sure how the ff miles will work on this, but it doesn't make sense to book round trips to Vancouver. The flight from Fairbanks to Vancouver is more expensive than Fairbanks to Newark! Ugh, all these little details are driving me nuts. Arrrrrrrrhhh.
Dog Training
Darla spent a couple of weeks with my mom when we were away at the wedding and in Milwaukee. We picked her up when we came home and tried to get her back on her normal schedule. Well, she is back to being completely miserable when walking. She has regained her ability to smell and must smell everything. She pulls from the moment we leave until the moment we get back. She pulls as much as I can handle when there are other dogs around. The leash cuts into my hands. I cannot wear my wedding rings without regretting it. So, we have been looking for places to train her. I'm sure that Petsmart is a great location for most people, but we have a 95 lb German Shepherd who has been trained before and is still "bad." Mind you, I'm not sure who is the problem. We may be reinforcing the bad behaviors without realizing it! So we decided to watch a session without Darla from a local trainer to see if his teachings were a good fit with us. He's been training for years and started off training dogs for the Army. We definitely enjoyed the session and we signed up for a 6-week basic obedience course. Darla will hopefully start next Monday. We also didn't look at any of the dogs that were available for adoption. No more pets!
Grad School
I had a grand list of things to accomplish this weekend. I didn't do much of it. Instead, I worked on my last homework assignment for my grad class. It looked pretty easy - find 4 papers about specific topics (IR and Raman spectroscopy of skin, etc.) and write a 200-300 word essay on it. It wasn't easy because I couldn't find any papers that I understood! It was so frustrating. Eventually, I found papers that were good enough and wrote something that was good enough to finish the assignment. I don't even care if I do poorly on it. It is my last class! This should be my last wasted weekend where I sat inside by my computer and didn't go outside until Sunday. The assignment is due tonight, so I had to finish it this weekend. There's no way I can work on it at work. And yay, now I'm done! I still have a thesis to write, which should be finished in the next month, so I should be graduating in October!
Christmas Cards
I still have 95% of my Christmas cards to mail out. I have the materials and I must use them. I cannot let them go to waste. We were too busy with the move to get them out before Christmas. Really, they are individual letters as a way to catch up. I wanted them to double as address change announcements as well. And then my dad died right after Christmas and I put them off. With everything else going on, I haven't been in the mood to write. Who wants to get an out of season card telling you how we've lost family members? I made a deadline to mail them out before the postal increase, but I didn't meet it. In case you didn't know, domestic US mail is up as of today. And I still have all of the nutcracker stamps! At least I have a stock of 2 cent stamps because I'm a mail nut. New deadline is by 6/25 - 6 months past christmas.
Milwaukee
Last weekend, Andrew and I flew to Milwaukee for an assortment of things. Friday, we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, a Japanese restaurant for a Friday fish fry, and to the Symphony. Saturday, we drank our fill at the Sprecher brewery in the morning, in the afternoon we walked to the North Point Lighthouse, and went to a dinner party to celebrate Jesse's 5 years post transplant milestone. The party was really a thank you to all of the people that helped Jesse and Sarah get to today. And on Sunday, we went to the Botanical Gardens, Kopp's for lunch, and to the Milwaukee Public Museum with the Titanic Artifact exhibition before watching Chuck on tv. Whew. It was a lot, but it never seemed like too much. There are a few pictures on flickr and facebook as well. We had great weather the entire time. Milwaukee really is a fun city to visit. The next time we go, we have to tour the Miller Brewery and visit the Harley Davidson Museum. Seriously, who knew that this was all in one city?
Camping
Andrew and I want to try camping with the dog. She can get up the stairs to our bedroom, but she can't get back down without falling, so she's not allowed upstairs. So, she's never slept in the same room as us. But, I think that she's be fun to take camping. She likes our long walks and she'd be thrilled with all of the attention. I'm not too sure about sleeping with her in the same tent though. We were going to go before Memorial Day, but that's not going to happen. Hopefully we'll be able to try it out before it gets too hot.
We also had plans for a second trip to go to Chincoteague or Assateague. Campings extremely popular with the recession, so there aren't many if any spots still available for beach camping. Unfortunately, our schedules are so out of sync that we don't think we'll be able to plan the beach camping for this summer. We are looking for some other locations in the general area. I really like this yearly tradition. Thought, maybe I should drink less?
Reunions
We have two reunions to attend this summer. Andrew's up for his 5-year college reunion and I have my 10-year high school reunion. We are currently planning on going to both. Many of our camping peeps are in the same class as Andrew. My 5-year reunion was last summer and we went. We drank so much. But good lord, it was hot last year. I caught up with people I hadn't seen since graduation and had a really great time. Who's going back this year? As for the 10-year HS reunion - I have some reservations. I don't live too far away or anything, but I seriously hardly talk to anyone let alone have seen anyone in the past 10 years. Sure, there are people who I would like to reconnect with, but is it enough to go back? I don't have particularly good or bad memories of high school. So, tentatively we are attending, but I'm still deciding.
More to come, but I'm going to update now.