Boats!
For work two Fridays ago, we went on a canoe trip with the women's group. It was great! I like all the men on my team, but sometimes it can be nice to hang out with other women in the office -- in a group of all women, I feel a lot less like a token. Plus, it was just nice to get out on the lake and enjoy the breeze.
This life jacket is like the one I wear in the boundary waters...
Then, on Sunday, I went sailing for the first time! My advisor's sole remaining PhD student took us out, along with a new masters student who will also be working with my advisor this coming year. The wind was from the south, which is apparently the worst, because then the dock is in the wind shadow and there are also a lot of unpredictable puffs. So we couldn't go very far out, just to the line between picnic point and the smokestack. Still, it was really fun and I'm looking forward to when he gets his rating to sail a 30-footer.
Other than that... we finally got a couch that Saturday. The cats like it so far. We also went to the Fitchburg art fair, and replaced a bowl of mine that got broken -- with two new ones by the same artist. I've eaten a couple things out of them so far and it just makes me so happy to have functional art.
The kitten is getting bigger and also more annoying. But he is pretty funny. He went dashing inside from the balcony last week, which usually means he's picked something up. Last time, it was a rotten tomato.
This time, it was a cicada.
Xellos and his cicada.
He growled when I went to see what it was, and swiped a paw at Kirjava when she got close. When I tried to catch the cicada to put it back outside, he grabbed it in his mouth again. So I ended up picking him up and holding him outside until he let go, at which point it flew away to a plant. That night it was gone and I heard a cicada singing in the tree by the balcony, so I think it was unharmed.
Then a few days ago, he learned about bees. He learned not to try to catch bees in his paws. He was back bouncing around about two minutes later, so while I hope he's learned his lesson, I'm not that optimistic about it.
In other news: it was cloudy during the solar eclipse on Monday here. Half of my co-workers went down south to see totality, so the office was pretty empty. My team members who were around went out for lunch and squinted at it through the clouds but couldn't see much. I did borrow a pair of eclipse glasses back at the office and was able to see through them during a break in the clouds. Not that impressive. I guess to be really impressed you have to see totality.
On Thursday I stopped by Orton Park to see part of the Cycropia show -- a bunch of acrobats set up ropes in a big old oak tree in the park, and did a really cool show. I was standing in the back, and I only saw part of it, but what I saw was really spectacular. Next year I should make an effort to see the whole thing.
Work has been going okay... as always, I wish I were faster. But I'm getting more comfortable with things, slowly but surely.
And then this weekend I came home! I had a busy couple days. Went to the fair with my mom and sister -- first time I've been there in probably 10+ years. It was kind of drizzly, which was actually okay, because it meant that even though it was Saturday morning, it wasn't too insanely crowded. And then we played Settlers of Catan and I almost won for once -- but then got unlucky rolls at the end. So it goes.
Sunday I went to church and saw people, and then to my Grandma's to see all the cousins. There were three babies there! Also the adults got a lot more amusement out of the connect-four-ball-toss than the kids did, even though we mostly played ball with two of the balls and ignored the rest of the set. Also, one of my cousins is a weirdo who likes to stand in the pouring rain.
Now I am on the bus back to Madison. Should get there around 3, which will give me at least a few good hours of sleep in a bed before work.