Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Taking one for the team




Yesterday was a pretty hectic day.

It was Monday, trying to get into gear with things. Analyzed some data. Went to a thesis defense. Ate cake.

Then 5pm rolls by and I change into my softball attire. It was game four. The previous game we won by one point, and we had actually improved our game a lot.

Then we learn that this team we're playing is actually very good. We get there and they're measuring (with a tape measure, not just steps) the distance between the bases. They also have multiple bats, which up to now has meant that the team can play.

We have one bat.

I digress. So, we warm up for the game. I'm feeling particulary lazy and sleepy. Our best and most competitive player, Jody, is out of town. And there's no beer.

So we start playing, and they demolish us from the start.

First inning: They score 6, we score 0.

Second inning: They score 3, we score 0. I pitched, we were happy that their score went down.

Third inning: They score 4, we score 0. Becky pitching, ok but they still scored a bit.

Fourth inning: They score 5, we score 0. Me pitching isn't helping.

Fifth inning: We decide to let Steph pitch, I can back her up if things go badly. I take 2nd base for the first time. Tim is being really helpful and trying to get the balls. Then a girl comes to bat. Hits the ball straight at me. I think, I can do this, I will try to catch it. I'm trying to figure out where to place my glove and bam, it hits me in the face.

My first reaction, because my vision was a bit blurry, was that I broke my glasses. Uh, no, I'm wearing contacts. Then I notice the blood spewing out of my nose. Some guy takes off his shirt and gives it to me to try to stop the bleeding. Dr. Jon comes to the rescue (an MD/PhD on our team), tries to get the bleeding to stop. A yellow towel is swapped for the tshirt. After a while the bleeding is better, I guess. But now everyone is wondering whether my nose is broken, and whether to take me to urgent care at the health center or to the ER. Jon whispers that he thinks it's either broken or my cartilage is torn.

This is not good, I think.

I get Becky to call Ryan, as Amanda comes with her car. We're off to urgent care. It's hurting quite a bit, although it's not as swollen as I would have thought.

Once at urgent care it went pretty quickly. I filled out the "triage" form (reason for visit: took a softball to the nose.)

Then they give me some ice, take my blood pressure. And it's off to wait for the doc in a room with a cushy bed. Jon came by to make sure I was alive :P That was sweet of him. I freak out a little bit.

Anyway, the doc finally comes in, he's very nice. Kind of didn't know where to start since there most of been a lot of blood around the area. It hurt quite a bit when he was cleaning it. He didn't think it was broken, though. He gave me two stitches right then and there (the softball cut into my skin a little bit), and I was on my way.

This is me now:


Not too bad I guess. It's just a bit painful. Certain facial expressions are a no-no, which I learned the hard way. Apparently I use a lot of facial expressions when I talk.

So I stayed home today, preparing for my meeting with Sue tomorrow, reading some papers, organizing my week, etc.

Off to do some more of that now :)

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Summer Cleaning

This is the official first weekend of summer!
Weekend recap (although it's not over yet!!)

FRIDAY: I felt like crap, so I went into lab late (did read a paper in the morning, yay me!) and then came home right as happy hour was starting. Which lead to marathon "Weeds" watching. My new addiction. We finished Season II with a terrible cliffhanger... and Netflix only has season III on DVD (not streaming live), so we'll have to wait until next week to find out what happens. This is just as well, since we are way too addicted to this.


Ryan made a yummy meat and cheese platter for dinner, salami rocks! Oh, and we tried this Chilean cheese... I'm not a huge fan.

Then we watched "Thank you for Smoking", which was okay, but not great.

SATURDAY: Sleeping in, yay! What else did we do? Not too sure. I know I read three papers (my goal was between 3 or 4, so I'm pretty happy). Then we both worked out with Wii fit. Then at 6pm we were finally ready to go shopping!

I'm not sure if I talked before about Clinton Crossing, but it's a great outlet mall about 25 min away. I had to return some shoes, Ashley needed to return some stuff too, and Jessie was on a mission to get some jeans. We were all pretty successful (although I found jeans and Jessie didn't). Then we went to the Log Cabin for dinner. We were starving, which was a good thing because the portions were huge! We all took a ton of leftovers (so much that Ryan and I had my leftovers for lunch, and we'll probably have his for dinner).

SUNDAY: This is where the title of this post comes in.

My goal for today: start writing my prospecuts proposal.

Reality? Well, we woke up pretty early (talked to my folks in Argentina), had some breakfast... and then I started going through my closets. Massive spring cleaning (but it's summer now, so I guess it's summer cleaning). I finally threw away/donated a ton of clothes that I haven't worn in ages. Same thing with shoes. Plus we reorganized our drawers and closets. Very productive. The apartment actually looks great this weekend, we've been good.
And now I've actually written two paragraphs and Ryan went to do some shopping... ok, off to help him unload stuff from the car.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Crushing on Jon (but I still love you Ryan)



For some odd reason Jon Stewart decided to stop by Wallingford, CT last night and do some stand-up. It was so much fun! He is my favorite comedian, ever!

Ryan got me the tickets for my birthday. So we went there yesterday, and we got there by pure luck, Wallingford is confusing. Wallingford is where my BMS internship was... and that's about as exciting as that town gets. We were wondering to ourselves, why Wallingford. It turns out Jon Stewart had the same question. He was like, it's great to be here in... where the fuck am I?

He was very funny, minus a few times when he used some material from his show (I think it was when he was either nervous or needed a transition). I think he was funnier without those bits, he's just such a funny person.

Anyway...

In other news, I've actually read some papers. Although I'm quite behind. But hopefully I'll get at least 5 papers read this weekend. I'm also planning on having some of my classmates over for dinner and board games. We'll see if anyone shows up. It's kind of perfect for it, though, bc it's supposed to thunderstorm.

Another update, we got wii fit. It's pretty awesome. Awesomely brutal. But awesome. We've been good about using it every day. It keeps a chart of your BMI and weight, as well as your wii fit "age" (how balanced your body is or whatever). Ryan's lost a ton of weight already. Mainly because we've also been doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day! Plus Ryan's doing tennis and golf. I've joined a coed softball team. It's been great. I'm pretty bad, but slowly getting better. I was pitcher the other day, which ended with one nasty bruise from being hit by a ball.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Quarter of a Century



Today is my 25th birthday :)
There will be a bbq on Sunday (if it doesn't rain) that I'm pretty excited about, as well as yummy cake!!
Tonight it'll just be Ryan and I, and I hear he's baking me a cake.

Have a great day!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Put down your novel and pick up a paper.

Wise words from my PI :)

This blogging more frequently may still be sporadic. Sorry.

I'm in my qualifying preparation time, or whatever. I had my preprospectus about 10 days ago, and will have my prospectus in less than two months. Hence the title of this post. I really need to crack down and get some reading/learning done.

What am I talking about?
So, as you know I'm getting my Ph.D. In our program, before the start of third year we have to pass our 'qualifying exam'. Basically a 2hr oral exam about topics related to my proposed thesis project.
What does this entail?
1. Summary of my research in one page: completed
2. Research in progress talk in front of whole department: completed
3. Meeting with committee to see if they like my project: completed, committee happy
4. Picking topics for my prospectus: completed
5. Coming up with lists of papers that I'm actually going to read: in progress
6. 10-page N1H style paper on my proposal: to do
7. Revamped presentation with more detail: to do
8. Actually reading 50+ papers:to do
9. 2hr qualifying exam: to do

So that's what I have been up to.

In better news, I got this prestigious fell0wship from the nati0n@l science found@ation!!! I'm very excited about this! Plus it increases my stipend!! Yay!!

In non-science news, I saw Smart People and was deeply disappointed!

Jag sameaj... Happy Passover!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Back from hiatus

Hi...

The plan is to start blogging again...

I'll keep you posted.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Happy 1st Anniversary to us...

It's been a year since we said I do!

Yey!

Ok, off to celebrate with Ryan (he's making salmon and asparagus... and a yummy red velvet chocolate cake! I'll post pictures later)...

In the meanwhile, here's a bit about me.



___________________________________________________________________________________

Edit: for some more info on tonight, you can read the husband's blog.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Hallow Obsession

So, yay or nay on the handwriting?

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Cook Out (and other ramblings)

... not a BBQ, nope, here on the East Coast it's a cookout... (like it's not a yard sale, it's a tag sale... they're weird here).
In any case, we (ok, so I did most of the grilling, how cool is that) grilled some chicken kebabs, veggies and corn, had some rasberry lemonade and a yummy salad!

<----- Here I am preparing the yummy salad...
...and a close up of the said salad.














All the while, Ryan had to do some work, but was able to take it outside:




all in all, a perfect afternoon/evening.

We actually hung out all day... it started with Ryan making almond, coconut pancakes, then us running some errands and having lunch at TGIF (which has a very nice revamped look)... and then home to marinate the chicken, do some housework... talk to the 'rents...


Oh yeah, so we have our vacation all planned out. We're going to North Carolina to see Ryan's dad and then down to Florida to their beach house.... we're thinking that Disney World may be part of that... which would be sooo exciting. I've been to Disneyland, but never to the World!!


But, we're debating on whether to go to both Magic Kingdom and Epcot, or just one of the two, and if so, which one? We're probably only going to go for one day... Suggestions are appreciated.



Ok, so back to work tomorrow morning... But a great weekend overall (last night we had a potluck at Mikki's house... I made fried spinach things: tortillas de espinaca, which came out soo yummy!! and we watched Catch and Release, which I did actually like...)


It's July already! I can't believe it...


which reminds me, I got Ryan's anniversary present on Friday, a watch (he picked it out with me), so that was cool. And we both got some new shoes, all at the outlet mall in Clinton...

Ok, I'm off to enjoy the last of my Sunday.

Monday, June 25, 2007

East Coast Extravaganza (a few months late...)

We had a blast back in March when Melissa and Claudia came over. We went to Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, MA; NYC, NY... it was sooo much fun!! And I got to see a lot of the East Coast... Here are some pictures...







<--Legal Sea Foods, Boston



Harvard Library with Melissa and ClaudiaBoston scenary....


The White House, Washington DC... that was sooo cool to be there!!!



NYC, with the host of the comedy show!






Museum of Natural History, NYC with the girls!

NYC Subway... me getting everyone lost!

Not so 9 to 5 :)

Week 2, internship.

I started at 7:30am and ended at 5:30pm... it's been a long day... but I did take a lunch break (yay!!) and talked to Ryan during that time, as he was heading to LAX... on his way home! Double yay!
He was so cute, he left me tons of text messages after that, while I was working. :) I can't wait to have him back.. I'm a bit selfish, and it's ok!!

Oh, and I have been witholding some big news from my blog readers (barely plural, but hey)... I have a lab home!! I finally heard back from my first choice!! I've talked to him about projects somewhat, and I have some ideas brewing... so I need to solidify them by July 9th when I meet with him again. Yay!!!

More on the internship...
I really like the person I'm working with, she's so positive! I was trying to get these cells to come off a plate (lab lingo, sorry) and they just wouldn't do it! So I tried again, and not so much... So I tried counting the cells I got out, and they were really low... This took like 2hs or so, of me freaking out and trying different things. Finally I found my mentor and she was like, oh, seems like these are tough cells (they were new to her too, so she didn't know what the conditions would be), lets add a higher concentration of trypsin... plus she was saying how great I was doing, and that it was a problem with the cells, not with me...

Later on I did get the cells to come off, but I think I must have sucked them all out and lost them... She was a little disheartened, and told me we'll just try again tomorrow together... So, I was a bit sad that it ended up being all screwed up, but I still felt good about myself at the end of the day... so I stayed another hour to prepare for tomorrow and write what I did today in my notebook...

Now I'm home and oh so exhausted...

Ryan comes home in like 4hs though! Yay!!!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Intern

Moi.... a real picture, as promised...

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Intern Perks, Part 1

As you may know I am an intern for the summer... and well, it came with some perks (nothing too fancy, mind you).

1) I have my own computer, which is nice. It's set up with my name and everything.


2) I have my own phone and own extension (and have recorded a greeting on my voicemail, which is pretty much useless since I doubt anyone will call)

3) My name is on my cubicle (I don't have the nice perk of an office... like the other interns... I think they assigned things in alphabetical order... and my last name starts with Z... maybe I should switch the order of my last name from Z-C to C-Z... maybe!)

4) There is a nice coffee machine that makes a cup of coffee or tea from these nifty pouches (so it's not like day old coffee at 5pm)... :)


That's about it for now...
Ok, and these are not real pictures... I am slowly upping my blog from no pictures, to googled jpegs, and eventually real pics...
Working hard though... and I finally got decent sleep last night... crashed at 10pm, woke up at 6am.. I think I'm finally getting used to getting up crazy early...

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

intern, that's me

Hi!

So, I started yesterday as an intern for a biotech company-- a little break from grad school and a glimpse at career possibilities. It turns out that everyone dresses up (ie: no jeans), and I like it... So, I went to Target yesterday and got some cute shirts, like the one I wore today:


So far the internship is going great. I have a desk in a cubicle (others have actual offices, oh well), and my own computer and a phone with my own extension. Quite different than my Yale rotations...

The commute does tire me out. I have flashbacks to the kind of tired I uesd to be back in California when I got home... and tomorrow is an early day for me, I start at 7am, because there are long incubation times.

My mentor/pi is really awesome. She's really laid back and I feel comfortable around her.


...still no word on the lab front, but that will clarify itself soon enough, I hope.


Oh, and the other interns are pretty cool too!


Oh, and I'm trying to learn how to knit...I bought this book, which in retrospect may not be the best one for beginners, but I got some help from the yarn co. (theyarnco.com) for really learning step by step how to knit. Wish me luck!!



Monday, June 18, 2007

Breakfast edition

Hi!
So this weekend was pretty nice.
It started Friday evening with a bbq and mojitos at GPSCY. It was really fun and the mojitos were yummy... my new favorite drink.


On Saturday we went to New York city with two of my friends.. We went to Max Brenner (chocolate by the bald man)...





and let me just say... it was heavenly... we had some real food, since we hadn't had lunch which were delicious!! And the desserts were oh so chocolatey!!! Heaven in food form. Yummy



This is kind of what one looked like... a chocolate cake with gooey madness in the middle.. and then we had a brownie type thing with ice cream, whipped cream and strawberries.... I must if you're in NY (or Israel or Australia or.... let's just say they have multiple locations).

Then we walked around NoHo and SoHo, and we did some shopping, since it was raining (what else is a girl to do?)

We finished the NYC trip by having dinner at La Nonna in little italy.. so yummy.. Sorry there's no real pictures, maybe next time!

Now, I'm off to work at my internship at a biotech company.

Till later!

Friday, June 15, 2007

The Ultra Ultimate Personality Test

Your Score: The Giver

You scored 52 Extroversion, 69 Intuition, 55 Emotional, and 27 Spontaneity!

ENFJ

Outgoing and friendly.

ENFJs cheif concern in life is other people, and fostering harmony and cooperation, between themselves and others. Warm personal interactions-strokes of approval and appreciation- keep them going in life. Sympathetic, cooperative and tactful, with high ideals, they make a consistent effort to say and do the right thing. They are patient and conscientious and make an effort to stick to a job until it's finished.

Relationships

ENFJs put a lot of effort and enthusiasm into their relationships. To some extent, the ENFJ defines themself by the closeness and authenticity of their personal relationships, and are therefore highly invested in the business of relationships. They have very good people skills, and are affectionate and considerate. They are warmly affirming and nurturing. The excel at bringing out the best in others, and warmly supporting them. They want responding affirmation from their relationships, although they have a problem asking for it. When a situation calls for it, the ENFJ will become very sharp and critical. After having made their point, they will return to their natural, warm selves. They may have a tendency to "smother" their loved ones, but are generally highly valued for their genuine warmth and caring natures.

Strengths

Good verbal communication skills
Very perceptive about people's thoughts and motives
Motivational, inspirational; bring out the best in others
Warmly affectionate and affirming
Fun to be with - lively sense of humor, dramatic, energetic, optimistic
Good money skills
Able to "move on" after a love relationship has failed (although they blame themselves)
Loyal and committed - they want lifelong relationships
Strive for "win-win" situations
Driven to meet other's needs

Thursday, June 14, 2007

End of rotation

So, this is the last week of my third lab rotation. I presented my data (or lack thereof) last week. So I've been just tying some loose ends, compiling protocols, etc. Not terribly exciting, but necessary of course.

I still don't know which lab I'll join, which was freaking me out at first, but now I'm just trying to take it easy and see where things lead. I'm sure whatever happens is for the best, and I'll make the most of it for sure.

The whole high school thing lifted my spirits in this if-I-could-survive-that-I-can-survive-anything kind of way. Not that high school was horrible, but things didn't always go as great as I would have liked, but I still graduated and made the most of it. So, I will take this as my new philosophy, and see how long that lasts.

Ryan left again for cali this morning (way too early if you ask me.. the plane left at 6:30am, so we got up at 3am.. yawn!). I miss him, of course. But in a week or so he will be back :)

Ok, laters!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Reunion

Hi!

So, I found out my high school classmates have been meeting up back in argentina. I so wish I could go and see everyone. It's been 6 and a half years since I've graduated... I do miss them. I did get some updates... some people getting married and stuff. But my friend says most of them haven't changed that much.

In any case.. I wish I could meet up with them again.

If only I could take 2 weeks off and go to argentina... that would rock!!

**EDIT

So, I've been thinking back at high school, and my goodness a lot has passed. I've changed quite a bit, and quite literally too, I've moved to a different country, finished college, gotten married (to an american, gasp! ok, not too shocking), started grad school.... and that world seems so far away. They posted a you tube video of a charades game they played and I was slightly jealous, wanting to be there, see what they've been up to; and at the same time I was thinking that all my changes are going to be apparent, or not, I don't know. It's been too long since I've been down there, since I've felt argentinean. It's weird.

It's cool to hear of them though, and how we've all moved on, and some haven't changed a bit. I'm sure I haven't changed all that much, although I've gained a few pounds...

ok, enough with the memories and stuff... back to the real world...

the husband leaves tomorrow morning for a week again... just as I was starting to get used to having him back... and I start an internship on Monday.

Good times.

Friday, June 08, 2007

New car

We got a "new" car. A 2006 chevy aveo, in white. It is sooo cute!!! Yey!!! I'm so excited!!! We have a pretty car that actually fits passengers comfortably!!!

OK, that's it for now... :)



Monday, May 28, 2007

decisions, decisions

I haven't blogged in ages. Which is fine with me. I've been keeping busy. Have gone to Boston a total of three times, NYC three times, DC one time, and all around Connecticut for multiple occasions. I should post pictures, and maybe I will later, I have loads of them, from when Mel and Claudia came, but also when my parents came. I've also recently had a bday (am 24 now, yey). And the husband has been away for 5 weeks, but will be back on Thursday.

Classes are over. WHich is wonderful!!! Spring is here!!! Flowers everywhere!!! We had a bbq on Sat which was great!

But, now it's time to decide on a thesis lab. I'm on my third and final lab rotation, and our DGS (director of grad studies) would like our decision by Friday, although officially July 1 is when I have to give it. So, the nightmares have started.

Yup, I keep having these dreams that people are asking me which lab I'm joining, including the actual PI's. So, yeah, talk about pressure from within me, you know?

I have made a decision, but I haven't talked to the PI yet, so I won't say much. It's just going to be tough telling the other PI that I'm not planning on joining that lab. Unless the first PI says no, and then I'll have to rethink my decision...

Anyway, so I'm a bit troubled at the moment. Big decisions, you know?

And, I can't wait until Ryan comes back!! I've missed him so much!

Oh, and I'm doing a summer internship at a pharmaceutical company nearby (BMS), just for 6 to 8 weeks. That'll be interesting too.

Ok, now off to do real work.