Friday, December 30, 2005

Fun times at the Gastroenterologist's office

Since so many people who visit gastroenterologists tend to be, uh, large, shall we say, the chairs are all over-sized. It's fabulous. It makes me feel slightly less chubby. Always a good thing.

On the other hand, the scales they have are not the normal Dr's office scales. They're, uh, "big people" scales, which naturally makes me feel huge.

Interesting times.
Ms. V

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

A little tip for all of the wives out there

When you're husband gets bored with his talking Homer Simpson bottle opener, DON'T buy him a talking Homer Simpson pizza cutter to make up for it. Sure, he loves it, but will *you* love hearing it played over and over and over again? I doubt it.

More to come later in the week.

xo,
Ms. V

Friday, December 16, 2005

Yes, yes, I know it's been 3 weeks since my last post...

I'm in the middle of final exams and will come out of my cave soon. I promise.

In the meantime, I thought I'd give all of you a link to this story. Really, there just aren't any words to describe it. I guess the best one that comes to mind is "Ewwww!", followed by some major retching.

xo,
Ms. V

Thursday, November 24, 2005

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

This is one of my favorite holidays (the other is Halloween). :)

Plans for today: eat a lot of food, watch a lot of TV.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Ms. V

Monday, November 21, 2005

A meme

I'm on break from school this week and have a LOT of work to do, as well as a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. I thought I'd take a break and post in the blog. This time I stole a meme from my sister.

100 Facts about me.
1) I go to school full time
2) I have 4 jobs
3) One of them is in the lab, 2 are at the hospital, and one is at the local community college tutoring students
4) I have a husband who I'm head over heels in love with
5) We have four cats and treat them like they are our children
6) We have 2 extremely noisy parakeets
6) There are only two places in the house that we can put the parakeets without the cats getting to the cage
7) I play the flute
8) I play the piano
9) I used to speak (nearly) fluent Spanish but I haven't used it in years so I've lost much of what I've known
10) I love learning about various religions, even if I don't believe in them. I do it because I find it interesting
11) I hate George W. Bush and think he's the worst president in the history of the United States.
12) I love that I live in a place where most people agree with #11.
13) I have 20 first cousins and 4 second cousins
14) Only one of my cousins is older than I am.
15) I have blue/tourquoise eyes - depending on my mood, the lighting, and what I'm wearing.
16) People often ask if I wear colored contacts, but I don't. This is my natural eye color.
17) I want to be a Pediatric Neurologist
18) I have an autoimmune disorder. Sometimes it makes my life suck.
19) I'm addicted to Prevention's 3-2-1 workout.
20) I hate folding laundry
21) I wish I were rich
22) Even if I were rich, I'd still go to school. I'd just be able to pay for it without taking out a massive loan
23) I have 2 cars right now, but after this weekend I'll only have one
24) The one I'll have after this weekend is a Toyota 4-runner. The other that will soon leave is a Geo Prism
25) I have a freakishly good memory, particularly for numbers
26) I remember every phone number I've ever had
27) I remember every address I've ever had
28) I get that from my mom's side of the family
29) I think cells are the most amazing things in existence.
30) I like to think of children's names, even though hub and I don't plan to have kids. It's fun.
31) I really like my name.
32) I *love* the letter S
33) I'm obsessed with the number 3
34) In high school, my locker combination was 3-33-3 and my parking space senior year was #33.
35) When I got my locker combination for the year, as well as my parking space, I got in my car at exacly 3:33 pm.
36) This is what started my obsession with the number 3
37) Thanks to hub, I understand - and even enjoy - football
38) I have friends all over the country because of my old job
39) I have been to Italy, Greece, and Holland
40) This spring, I'll be going to Ireland
41) I wear size 9 1/2 shoes
42) I have 9 ear piercings, but only consistently wear earrings in 3
42) I have a tongue ring
43) I have a nose ring
44) I have freckles
45) I had braces for nearly 2 years (23 months)
46) I had braces for our wedding
47) They were clear so you can barely see them in the photos
48) I have curly hair
49) I used to straighten if every day
50) I cut it
51) After it grew back, I stopped straightening it
52) I'm only 5'3" tall
53) I wish I were 4 inches taller. Even 3 inches taller would be nice
54) I love the movie Napolean Dynamite
55) I never used to watch much TV...
56) but we have a DVR now so I record a lot of shows
57) I played the saxophone for a year in high school
58) I really love to swim
59) I really love to ride my new bike
60) I have a motorcycle but I'm too scared to drive it...
61) so I'm going to take the training course in order to feel more comfortable
62) I love to snowshoe
63) I'm secretly excited for snow, just so I can go showshoeing
64) I love my college
65) I hate bugs, particulary spiders
66) The 3 guys I was most serious about in my adult life (including hub) were all middle children
67) The only CD's I usually buy are Dave Matthews Band and classical music
68) I love ragtime piano
69) I'm envious of anyone who can play ragtime piano because it's hard
70) I think Beethoven was a genius
71) I read tarot cards
72) My favorite card is the moon card
73) I hate crowds...
74) so I get my holiday shopping done early or online to avoid them
75) I'm naturally a night-owl.
76) When I'm not in school for the semester, my normal bedtime is about 3am, sometimes later if I just got out of work
77) I really enjoy working in the lab
78) When I'm done school, I want to teach part time at the community college for some extra cash
79) I'm a huge animal lover
80) I've "officially" been a vegetarian since August 29th, 1994
81) I say "officially" because I didn't really eat much meat before that
82) The only thing I miss is tuna fish
83) I found a vegetarian tuna that isn't too bad
84) I love to go camping
85) I love the Northeastern United States, particularly VT and the Adirondacks
86) I was born in Alice Hyde Hospital
87) I have an awesome birthdate
88) It fits well with my "3" obsession: 1/24. The only number missing is 3.
89) When I turned 24 on the 24th, hub bought me the "Birthday Suit Bear" from VT Teddy Bear.
90) I named him "3"
91) I like multiples of 3, too
92) I've given each of the cats several nicknames
94) I love to knit
95) I get along better with guys than with girls
96) As a result, I have more guy friends
97) My left wrist cracks a lot
98) I have REALLY sloppy handwriting
99) I have to recopy all of my notes because they're such a mess
100) I'm really good at math and science, but not so great with languages.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Sorry for the low posting

The thing is: I go to school full time and have 4 jobs. The little bit of time I get to spend with hub and the fab four is precious.

On the bright side, when I finally have a break I'll have plenty to talk about!

Aren't you excited?
Ms. V

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Bam!

You know what's super-fun? Taking your car in for the "once over" and having to spend nearly $400 on brakes. Sweet.

Flat broke,
Ms. V

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Happy 1 year anniversary Bloggedy Blog Blog!

Actually, the 1 year anniversary was on 11/1. Oh well. I'm usually late.

In honor of my oh-so-frickin-fabulous blog, I'm going to do a meme. I swiped it from my sister's blog.


True or False. Feel free to elaborate on your answers.

1. I'm at my best in the early morning: True, as long as "in the early morning" means "1-3 am, after I've been up all day." I guess most people would consider that "the middle of the night" though.

2. I start each day with a healthy breakfast: True. It consists of coffee and sometimes a glazed donut. If I don't have to commute to school, then it's cereal. :) (It's healthy for my emotions, not my body.)

3. I'm always sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night: False. 8 or 9 hours of sleep at night would be a dream come true. Realistically I get about 6, sometimes only 5, depending on how late I was up (usually finishing a lab report that I put off until the last minute).

4. I enjoy my job: True, for the most part. It depends on the job (at this point, I have 5) and what's going on at the time. ;) (I *love* being frustratingly generic).

5. I get along with most everyone: True, believe it or not. Even if people annoy the crap out of me, I can still manage to get along with them. "Getting along" doesn't always mean "liking to the extent of friendship."

6. I'm looking forward to the new season of tv shows this year: False. Sure, I watch plenty of TV but I could also live without it. All of it. I'd probably get more homework done that way.

7. I make sure I take some time for myself every day: False. Time for myself? What the hell is that? I do it sometimes, not every day though. It usually involves sitting on my arse in front of the TV with knitting needles in my hands (because, like I fool, I decided to make blankets for most of my family this year).


xo,
Ms. V

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Welcome to the 21st Century, mom!

She finally got a cell phone. :)

Exams are over, I think I did OK. Now I have more labs to write. They're multiplying. I have 3 of them to finish today, which means that I'm stuck inside with my nose in a book on a glorious, sunny day. Lucky me.

I just spent a fabulous couple of days in Montreal with my sister though, and Hub made me blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning, so I guess it all evens out. Now it's time to work.

Happy early Halloween to all!
Ms. V

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to my sister!!!

Also, happy belated birthday to Perplexio!! (I think it's belated - it was yesterday, correct? I can never remember if it's the day before my sister's or the day after.)

xo,
Ms. V

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Friday, October 21, 2005

Dear everyone,

Instead of emailing all of you, I'm simply going to post it here.

I have 3 exams and 3 labs due this week so I'm going to be freakishly busy until all of this is over with (after Halloween).

Forgive me if you're waiting for a response to any type of communication. I'll get back to you when I come out of my study-cave. I promise. :)

xo,
Ms. V

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have flooding.

Well not hub and I, personally, thank goodness. Cambridge, VT does though. Lots of it. Enough to close down Rt. 15 and send me on a 7 mile detour through the Notch in order to get to class. At least it's a really pretty drive. The leaves on the trees on that side of the mountain haven't fallen off yet so I get an extra dose of our September colors.

The town basically sits at the base of a few mountains and has a river running through the middle of it, so it didn't really stand a chance. The Boyden Valley Farm & Winery is a mess. Their entire field is a giant pond. They have a corn maze off to the side and you can only see the top 1 or 2 feet of the corn stalks. On the bright side, the cows across the road are OK. Their grazing area is extremely hilly so they only have to deal with a little bit of mud.

Let's see, other news this week: The parakeets have a new (larger) cage and this mop of curls on top of my head that most people call "hair" is finally almost back to being shoulder-length. I've waited over a year for this. Yay. :)

Pretty boring stuff, huh? Welcome to my life.

Time for homework,
Ms. V

Friday, October 14, 2005

God help us, it's back!

The El Camino. That's right folks, I saw it with my own eyes. I thought that perhaps I was hallucinating since it was early in the morning and I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee yet. Unfortunately, I was able to verify its return simply by checking Chevy's website. Ugh.

The tackiest vehicle ever created has been put back on the market. Apparently Chevy thinks that renaming it the "SSR" will help its image. We can't be fooled though. It's just a souped up, extra-pretty El Camino wannabe.

To prevent copyright problems, I didn't take the picture from their website. If you want to see it with your own eyes, you can click here. Make sure to look at the yellow one in the second row down, second picture in from the left. See what I mean?

At least it's not quite as ugly as the Subaru Baja.

Happy driving,
Ms. V

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Sometimes the joke is just too easy

The family lives in Arkansas. They've just welcomed baby #16. The father's name is Jim Bob. The mother was only 17 when they got married AND she has a mullet.

Can't beat that.

Click here for the full story.


Considering a tubal ligation,
Ms. V

*Edited to add a disclaimer: I mean absolutely no disrespect to the former Congressman and his family. In fact, I hope they're very happy. I am not - in any way - making fun of them with this post. I only mean to say that their situation will likely give the comedians some good material because Arkansas, to some, has been (probably unfairly) stereotyped as being a bit of a "hick" state.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

An influence over young girls

This past weekend I taught my 10 year old cousin a very important lesson: When asked if she prefers platinum or gold, ALWAYS SAY PLATINUM.

:)
Ms. V

A big adjustment for Ms. V.

I'm spoiled rotten. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled absolutely disgustingly rotten. By Hub.

For the past 6 years I've driven my lovable little Geo Prism. I swore I'd never give it up. I'm way too attached. Unfortunately, the time has come to move on. Hub has supplied me with a Toyota 4-Runner. The Prism will go to my sister who needs it far more than I do right now. :sigh: Take good care of her, sis!

Anyway, I've also gotten pretty attached to my license plate. I've had that for 6 years too. Today I went to the DMV in the new truck and got a new license plate number. It felt very, very strange. I'm slowly adjusting.

For the past decade I've driven small cars. The Geo most recently, before that I had a Toyota Tercel, and before that I had a Ford Probe (it's fun to see the looks on people's faces when I say "I had a probe once."). Driving this monster is going to take some getting used to. In fact, the first day I took it for a spin I actually fell out of it when I opened the door. Hub laughed. I'm used to being much closer to the ground. You're allowed to laugh too. I really did fall out.

The difficult part of driving a large vehicle after 10 years of driving small cars is that I can no longer zip in and out of traffic or fit into small parking spaces.

The fun part is that I'm bigger than other cars now. Watch out.

:)
Ms. V

Saturday, October 08, 2005

My sister has a knack for bumping into famous people

OK, a few years ago, only one day after a concert in Montreal, Dave Matthews walked out of a Roots store and bumped into my sister. Literally. Actually I don't think they made contact but she had to stop short, if I remember correctly. :swoon: It was Dave. Dave the god. Dave the man I'd leave hub for (well, not really - but close!).

Five minutes ago I called her on her cell phone, only to be greeted by a bunch of background noise.
Me: Hey - what's up? Where are you?
Her: Hey - what's up? I'm at a hockey game in Toronto.
Me: Oh, wow! I didn't know you were going to Toronto this weekend.
Her: Um, Don Cherry just walked past us.
Me: Really?
Her: Yeah, he just shook Jon's hand.

First Dave, then Don. The closest brush I had with fame was setting off alarms at the Whitehouse during the Clinton administration. Oh yeah, I got Graig Nettles' autograph once. It was way back when the Mets were still good. I think I was in elementary school.

Time to go shopping for a new computer desk!
Ms. V

Sunday, October 02, 2005

You'll laugh so hard that you might actually begin to convulse.

This is the first blog I've found that is actually MORE funny than the famous "Stuck in Rehab with Pat O'Brien" (which, by the way, is still linked at the right for those who haven't seen it yet).

Check out this beauty: http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com/

It will soon be added to the "blogs I read" section on the right hand side. I just don't have time to mess with the template right now.

Honestly, you'll laugh until you cry.
Ms. V

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Exams, round 1.

So here's the rundown:

I did better on the Organic Chemistry exam than I expected (a lot better, actually).

I did worse on the Ecology exam than I expected (only a little bit worse, it was only by a few points). He drops the lowest exam grade, so as long as I do better on the next two, I'll be fine.

I took two exams yesterday - Music (it was super-easy) and Physics 2 (also super-easy).

Round one: finished.

Round two: bring it on!


What else is going on? This weekend I get to hike Mt. Mansfield to collect soil samples and measure the diameter of trees. As long as it's nice it'll be a good day. On the other hand, I haven't been hiking in about 8 years so attacking VT's highest peak is going to nearly kill me. I have to work at 11pm that night. I can only imagine how much pain I'll be in on Sunday after all of this is done.

Chugging away,
Ms. V

Friday, September 23, 2005

Always wear a padded bra to an Ecology lab

You never know when you'll be messing around in a river or trudging through a forest that's 15 degrees colder than the rest of the area.

Now that I've gotten that little tip out of the way, I have to share something with you. It's yet another reason why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Vermont. I stopped at a farm stand on the way home from lab today and bought 2 HUGE pumpkins, 4 medium ones (they're striped - how cool!), two small orange ones, two small white ones, a bag of yellow string beans, 3 Macintosh apples, 3 ears of corn, and a lovely acorn squash. It only cost $19 total, it's home-grown, organic, and I handed my money directly to the woman who picked all of this stuff from her garden. Wonderful. :)

Yesterday I stopped at one of the farmer's markets and bought some potatoes and cucumbers, straight from the garden. When I saw the strawberry-rhubarb jam (homemade, also from their own crop) I couldn't resist. I have a thing for anything that's strawberry-rhubarb.

Yum.
Ms. V

Thursday, September 22, 2005

"Baby did a bad, bad thing..."

Well, right now it's just a bad thing. I assure you though, by Saturday morning it'll be a bad, bad thing.

What is it that I did? I bought a home-made strawberry rhubarb pie today. On the whole, that may seem completely harmless, and even pleasant to some of you. In this house, however, a strawberry rhubarb pie doesn't stand a chance, particularly if it's home-made. I learned long ago that I simply *can't* have my favorite foods in the house. Not if I want to fit back into my jeans by winter. Well, strawberry rhubarb pie, as you may have guessed, is one of my favorite foods. It's certainly my favorite kind of pie. I'll probably eat nothing else for the next two days.

I guess I should get my fat clothes ready for the wedding Hub and I are going to on Saturday...

Buying my pie and eating it, too,
Ms. V

Thursday, September 15, 2005

There's a pattern for everyone, I guess.

The Knit Kitty Knit blogger has a fabulous entry about hideous knitting patterns. She recently posted this little beauty. I think it takes the cake. It is truly the most atrocious thing I have ever seen yarn used for. Honestly. My eyes hurt.

It's one of the free patterns offered on Berroco's site.





Ms. V

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Pro's and Con's, Con's and Pro's

Pro: I got a little bit ahead on my school-work
Con: I start another course tomorrow so I'll fall behind soon enough

Con: Three of my courses also have labs (well, I AM a biology major, that's to be expected).
Pro: The lab I had on Friday was spent sitting on a lake (in a rowboat) in the sunshine.

Pro: I'll be done in only 3 more semesters
Con: I'll have to work my ass off until then

Con: I haven't even started my research yet
Pro: What I hope/plan to do should be really interesting


Honestly, I have my homework done and I'm already a bit ahead, so I'm just killing some time. :)

xo,
Ms. V

Monday, September 05, 2005

Now I want to ride my bicycle even more...

There are certain things people shouldn't have to do in life. Paying $28 for 8.5 gallons of gas is one of them.

:sigh: At least we still have better gas prices than most other countries...


Ready to hoof-it,
Ms. V

Friday, August 26, 2005

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike...

Hub and I finally took the plunge and purchased two beautiful new bikes. It's the first time I've owned a "proper" bike from an actual bike-shop since the early 1980's (before my grandfather passed away and his bike shop closed).

Riding my new Trek is like gliding on air! It's a heck of a lot more comfortable than my old bike. My butt doesn't hurt at the end of the ride. Yay.

The best part is that it's a pretty color combination of red and charcoal and even matches my motorcycle!

Crazy-excited about bike riding again,
Ms. V

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Wow, I've been super-lazy with blogging lately

I'd like to apologize to all of my adoring fans. I've been busy preparing for the semester, cleaning the house, painting the house, working, and of course, reading Harry Potter. :)

Sooo.... I just thought I'd post something for y'all to read.

I'm also in a really good mood because champagne grapes are finally in-season and they're fabulous. You can only buy them for about a week out of the year up here.

xo,
Ms. V

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Sorry it's been quiet lately...

My obsession with Harry Potter (and anything remotely related to it) has risen to a frightening height. That's the main reason the blog-in-ator has been quiet lately.

The other reason is that I'm just plain lazy and couldn't think of anything to say.

Let's see... Hub leaves for MA on Sunday night. I'll probably do some practice MCAT's, paint the entire downstairs, and devote my time to Harry Potter once again.

xo,
Ms. V

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Good thoughts for the people of Florida

To all readers:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep the good people of Florida in your thoughts. Hurrican Dennis is about to touch down and do a quite a job. I have some good friends and ex-coworkers down there. The area hasn't even fully recovered from last year's hurricane season yet so if everyone out there could say an extra blessing, prayer, spell, wish, or whatever it is that you like to do, it would be much appreciated.

be well,
Ms. V

Friday, July 08, 2005

"School's out for summer!"

I'll only have a few days of luxury before I have to get back to work. Hub and I have a movie date tonight and then we're spending the day in Stowe tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary (two days early, but whatever). Sunday will involve a lot of housecleaning and on Tuesday I'll start taking one MCAT practice exam after another. I'm going to aim for 1 full exam each week. Wish me luck!

Actually, don't wish me luck yet. Save it for when I have to take the real thing.

My "fun time" will involve a lot of reading. Aside from finishing "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (again), I have another 10 books lined up. :)

Studiously your's,
Ms. V

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Sometimes it's fun to be superstitious

Well, I've just found the 9th lady bug in only a week and a half. They're all somehow able to make it inside and then hide in the oddest of places. Supposedly lady-bugs give you good luck when you find them. Since I'm a good little lady-bug lover, I gently put them back outside. It's the only kind of bug that I actually like. Any other insect in this house promptly gets squashed (the squashing is most often preceded by a lot of "Ewwww!!! Gross!! I hate god-damn bugs!")

I've also been finding a lot of pennies lying on the ground and even found a dime yesterday. I haven't been picking them up because I figure that with all of the lady-bugs I've been rescuing, I can let the good luck from the pennies pass on to other people. Actually, it's mostly because I already have enough change jingling around in my pocket.


In other news, I only have one day left of my class then I'm off for 7 long, beautiful weeks. They'll be spent studying for the MCAT and getting ahead for the fall semester. It occurred to me yesterday that in the spring, I'll have a full course load, the MCAT, a job, and my senior thesis to complete. Gee. I can't wait. (Please note the sarcasm).

Ms. V

Friday, July 01, 2005

Popular people today.

Hub and I are quite popular with delivery personnel today. We received four packages. Four. Cool, huh?

Actually, Fed Ex wouldn't drop their's off so we only technically got 3. The fourth is sitting at the Fed Ex building. The others were from UPS and the Post Office.

I love packages.

This is what I got. The other 2 were for Hub and I have no idea who the Fed Ex one was for.

:)
Ms. V

Happy Retirement

Happy Retirement to Justice O'Connor.

I hope she enjoys it to the fullest. I also hope Bush doesn't go overboard with his nomination.

Ms. V

Saturday, June 25, 2005

A visitor...

This beautiful little lass decided to pay me a visit while I did homework on the back deck. She was even kind enough to stay put until I could grab the camera.

Close up:




Regular pic:




:)
Ms. V

Thursday, June 23, 2005

:wimper:

I found yet another fabulous tarot deck that I *must* have. Must. Yes, it's a necessity. Unfortunately, it isn't published yet.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tarot-of-dreams/

It looks super-easy to read. The artwork is OK. Not really my style, but there's still something about it that attracts me.

:sigh: If only I were rich...
Ms. V

"Summertime, the living's easy"

Name the band that sings a song with that line in it and I'll tell everyone that you're wicked cool.

On another note, I'm just tickled out of my skin. Healthy Living (favorite local grocery store) has fresh, organic lychee. I'm in lychee heaven. I just peeled and pitted some, then stuffed them in the freezer to chill (I prefer them super-cold). Yum. The wonderful people at Healthy Living also make up cute little organic fruit-salads with strawberries and mangos (among other things). How can you possibly go wrong?

Oh yeah, getting back to my usual "not so healthy" eating, I bought a piece of their homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie tonight and scarfed it down for dinner. It's my favorite. I was powerless when I saw it in their cafe. I swear it was begging to be sliced and devoured.

On a food-high tonight,
Ms. V

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Holy hanna. The countdown is *really* on

Just one month from today, I will have in my possession "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." Holy hanna. I'm counting the minutes. I think I'm going to read 1-5 again, too.

Never have I actually read a book more than once. In fact, I judge my taste for the material based on whether I WANT to read it again. Every book in the Harry Potter series *will* be. There are others that have come close, but my memory for the fine details is freakishly good. Reading a book more than once gets kind of boring, no matter how fabulous it was. Harry Potter, on the other hand, deserves to be reviewed several times. Besides, it'll give me some good momentum going into book #6. I heard from a lot of people that they thought #5 was a bit slow in the beginning. I disagreed - mainly because I had just finished #4, so I was on a pretty good roll with the storyline.

Holy crap. I can't wait. Now I'm 5 minutes closer to having it in my hot little hands.

Shaking with anticipation,
Ms. V

Stupid crap that I do for fun

Tonight I decided to calculate the approximate number of air molecules in our house.

Guess what I came up with?

1.067 x 10^28 (scientific notation). For those who hate scientific notation, the fully typed out number is: 10,670,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Holy hanna. These little buggers are making 10 billion collions per second and traveling at a rate of about 1152 miles per hour (this calculation is based off 515 meters per second... I converted it to miles per hour since we seem to like the English system so much and "miles per hour" is just plain fun).

This is one crazy place. I'm glad I can't see what's going on.


Get to know your neighbor, be a gas molecule-
Ms. V

Sunday, June 12, 2005

An oddity and a fun new game

First, the oddity:
Hub and I went to Bruegger's for lunch today and spotted a man with a Dunkin' Donuts coffee and a Quizno's sub - consuming both of them in Brueggers. Odd.

Second, the fun new game:
Hub and I have a tiny air conditioner in our bedroom, but the VT heat and humidity has propelled us to put "The Beast" in the kitchen window downstairs, to cool the rest of the house. "The Beast" is a 12,000 BTU monster given to us by Hub's dad. He probably bought it in the 1980's. We were barely able to get it down the stairs without dropping it and crushing ourselves. Now that we have two ac's in, our fun new game is to go outside and watch our electric meter spin like wild. Whoever gets dizzy first is the loser.

Back to homework,
Ms. V

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Tagged again. :)

It's been awhile, and I want to use new answers. I was tagged by Knit Kitty Knit (who has some of the most adorable cats on the planet, I might add). Well, OK, I think all cats are adorable. Still, she knits and she has cats, so that makes her cool.

Here's how it works:
Pick 5 of the following questions and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! (No tag backs allowed.)
If I could be a scientist?
If I could be a farmer?
If I could be a musician?
If I could be a doctor?
If I could be a painter?
If I could be a gardener?
If I could be a missionary?
If I could be a chef?
If I could be an architect?
If I could be a linguist?
If I could be a psychologist?
If I could be a librarian?
If I could be an athlete?
If I could be a lawyer?
If I could be an inn-keeper?
If I could be a professor?
If I could be a writer?
If I could be a llama-rider?
If I could be a bonnie pirate?
If I could be an astronaut?
If I could be a world famous blogger?
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world?
If I could be married to any current famous political figure?


If I could be a gardener...
I'd grow lots and lots of fabulous organic veggies to feast on every day. Fruit, too. Then I'd be healthy and skinny. Live off the land, dude. I'm in VT. I'm supposed to be a hippy. This would put me one step closer.

If I could be a llama-rider...
I wouldn't ride the llamas because I don't think that's very nice. I'd feed them some of my fabulous fruits and veggies instead.

If I could be a chef...
Well, that would go along nicely with the gardener thing, wouldn't it? Then I could actually prepare the veggies. Who wants to live on raw food all the time?

If I could be a psychologist...
I'd spend all day hypnotizing people, just for kicks.

If I could be a bonnie pirate...
I'd make sure pirate hats and peg legs come into style so I wouldn't look ridiculous. Also, the fab four would travel on my ship with me. I would get them little parakeets to wear on their shoulders. Though, Teba would most likely spend her time 'hunting' the parakeets, so I guess I'd have to use fake ones. Wouldn't they be cute though?


OK, the next bloggers: Paloma, Brigitte, Erin, Perplexio. I know it says to choose three, but I like to be zany and unpredictable, so I chose four instead.

:)
Ms. V

Redemtion

Hub woke up and killed a spider for me last night. He's my hero!

Arachnophobicly your's,
Ms. V

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Le Chateau Bow Wow

For reasons known only to him, hub threw out my last 3 Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

He's going to have some 'splainin to do tomorrow. I'm not happy. In fact, I'm unhappy enough to go on a doughnut binge, but I can't, because the box is in the garbage and I'm not any relation to George Costanza.

I'll get over it soon. Perhaybe he'll feel inclined to make it up to me by taking me out for 130 flavors tomorrow night. Maybe I can even convince him to go downtown for some jazz this weekend.

Formulating a plan,
Ms. V
(I'm not really that upset, but I will try to milk something out of it - just for fun). :wink:

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Scrumtrulescent, part deux

Hub has been well aware of my ice cream addiction since we met. It works quite well in my favor. He knows how important it is to drive 20 minutes just to try another flavor out of the 130.

That's what we're doing tonight.

Also, I've decided to make two lists: a "must try" list and a "have no desire to try" list. Once it's complete, I'm going to make it my goal to cross every flavor off my "must try" list by the end of the season. I'm going to have to do it with frozen yogurt though. My waistline has expanded enough. It's time to start moving it in the opposite direction. My high school reunion is next year. Must. Look. Stunning.

Trying to patiently wait for my Angel Food Cake flavored frozen yogurt,
Ms. V

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Mmmm Mmmm Good

Sis and I just got back from a place that sells 130 different flavors of soft ice cream. Yes, you read that correctly. No, it wasn't a typo. 130 flavors. Soft ice cream.

Are you ready for this? They also have 130 flavors of soft frozen yogurt. No, it's not that flavorburst crap. It's the real deal.

I had "Bananas Foster." It was scrumtrulescent.

Anyone who gets the "scrumtrulescent" joke is A-OK in my book.

Fat and happy,
Ms. V

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Miss Cleo? Nah, it's Ms. V!

Of all the psychic moments I have in a day, a strange one occurred this morning. It was unusual because it happened at 7:30am. That's normally a time that I don't actually see unless I'm going to bed. Today - miracle of miracles - I was getting up. Can you believe it?

Anyway, the hub had disappeared and the fab four were trying to force me out of bed to feed them 1/2 hour early. I was awake for 10 minutes before the alarm went off. During that time, I had a particular line of a particular song in my head. Then the clock radio sounded. The song was on AND playing at that line. It was enough to make me get up without hitting the snooze. THAT's amazing.

Clairvoyantly your's,
Ms. V

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Fun times

The weekend in Montreal was fun. I passed the time by eating a lot of junk. Coconut rolls, custard buns, and bubble tea from Chinatown (errr... China-block), then fondue for dinner Saturday night. To compensate, I've been working out this week. Yay for me. My muscles hurt so much that I can barely walk. It's a small price to pay for those coconut rolls though!

Not so fit,
Ms. V

Friday, May 20, 2005

All shook up

For a couple of reasons:

1) I have a paralyzing fear of the dark.
2) Hub is away tonight, so I'm all by my lonesome.
3) I just got done work and it was a slow night. This meant that my cohorts and I passed the time by looking at haunted dolls on ebay and watching footage from the show "Ghost Hunters." Freaky.
4) I watched "White Noise" last night.

Combine and stir. You'll get yourself one spooked-out Ms. V.

It's true that I'm normally awake at this hour because I'm nocturnal. However, there is absolutely no chance that I will even venture into my bedroom right now, much less consider trying to go to bed.

On the bright side, there's a particular individual at work who drives me insane. I thought I was the only one who was overly annoyed by her mere presence, but tonight I found out that there are others who agree with me. Good. I'm not super-picky. Well, I am, but not about her, I guess.

I also got a lot of knitting done before I went in to work tonight. Maybe, after 1 full year of working on it (that involved 1 frogging), I'll finally have my Berroco Softy poncho afterall!

Keeping the lights on,
Ms. V

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

It came! It came!!

The Housewive's Tarot finally arrived! It is BY FAR, the best deck I've ever seen. It's cute, it's fun, it's super-easy to read. The cards themselves are a tad more flimsy than other decks, but they're still decent. Holy crap. I'm never going to stop looking at them. I'm going to order another deck just to put on display because they come packaged in a cute little recipe box.

I get excited over the little things in life.

One other thing I'm excited for is my upcoming weekend on Montreal. It'll be two days of sisterhood that will include a dinner at a fondue restaurant with a giant group of friends. Who could ask for anything more? Ooooh! Maybe I'll bring my deck with me....

Ms. V

Monday, May 16, 2005

Nothing to report

Alright, now that I'm on a break from school, my life is even *more* boring than it was before. On the bright side, I can put in more hours at work, which means I'll have more money, which then means that I'll get to buy more yarn, more books, and more tarot cards. There's definitely some good stuff going on there.

I got my grades back and classes start again on June 1st. Typical of every summer, my weekend plans are filling up quickly, so hopefully I'll have plenty of chances to make a fool out of my socially-awkward self. This will give me more to write about.

For now, I'll just offer an update: The house got cleaned, the visit with hub's parents was great, and his mother and I went to the yarn store. Fab-o. I bought more yarn that I didn't need and now I have another project on my list that I don't have time to knit. I guess life is getting back to normal.

*smooches to all*
Ms. V

Friday, May 13, 2005

Mostly a photo-post today

I'm going to show off my fur-family because they're too adorable for words.

But first: Happy Friday the 13th. >:D
Also, I get to go to the yarn store tomorrow. Yay! Hub's mom wants to check it out. I just stocked up, but I'm sure I can find a few more items to add to my stash. I love yarn. I think it's time to join some sort of support group.

Now for the precious little kitties-

Teba - being all squishy and cute


Condor - planning what sort of mischief to get into after his nap


Blaze - wishing Hub and I would leave him alone so he could finally sleep


Grenidine - being her usual 'Princess' self and striking a pose (note the extra toes, she's polydactyl)



Best of luck to everyone today,
Ms. V

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Sometimes it's just too hard to be patient

Well, I finally broke down and ordered another Tarot deck. As if I need it! Ha!

Anyway, it's one of my favorites. In fact, I'm toying with the idea of ordering a second one at some point, just to frame my favorite cards and display them.

I dare you to try to look at "The Devil" without laughing. >:D

It's called "Housewives Tarot", in true Leave it to Beaver style. Ab-fab, sweetie darling!

You can check out some sample images here.

xo,
Ms. V

Finally!

"Finally" for two reasons: I'm officially finished school until June 1st AND I'm posting pictures of hub's blanket. It's about time, huh?

I took my last final exam this morning. I had to get up at 6am (torturous for someone who routinely goes to bed at 3am), drive an hour, take the stupid thing, then drive home. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap upon my return. Good golly that felt good. It gave me enough stamina to start cleaning this disgusting house. The in-laws are coming on Friday and the place is a mess. It doesn't even look like a made a dent today. Wish me luck with the rest of it.

Now, without further ado, here are pic's of hub's blanket. I know it looks like I knit the entire thing in garter stitch, but I promise you, I did not.

Close up:


Overall:


Time to get back to cleaning.
Ms. V

Monday, May 09, 2005

Not the least bit surprising

I guess I should have expected this. Also, I'm sorry the posts have been so mind-numbingly boring lately. My life will be back on track soon and that will give me more time to capture you with my charm and wit. Hee haw.










Your Political Profile



Overall: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal



Ms. V

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Simple post today

Happy mother's day to all of the mom's out there.

:)

For *my* mother's day gift, Hub is bringing me home some Krispy Kreme donuts from PA. I can't wait to weigh myself next week, after a psychotic donut-binge.

Ms. V

Friday, May 06, 2005

Thursday, May 05, 2005

"Maybe I'll build her a cake or something."

You are all invited to send my sister congratulatory love notes. She received notification of her acceptance to complete her MA in Secondary Language Education.

Rock on, sista'!
Ms. V

"Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone..."

Yesderday *I* looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone. Or at least that's how I felt.

I used to live almost religiously by the idea that I should kill my enemies with kindness. It worked pretty well. Even though I've been doing that with SBFH (nicknamed in a previous post, which I later erased, SBFH stands for "stupid bitch from hell"), I've decided that I need to turn it up a notch. I saw a bumper-sticker the other day that said "Love your enemies - it really just gets them confused." So that's what I'm going to do. When the insufferable little witch is snide to me, I'm just going to be so nice that she starts to feel like she's eaten a few too many spoonfuls of sugar. ;)

I'm choosing to find her unfounded animosity towards me amusing, rather than infuriating. I can feel the stress lifting from my shoulders already. Taking the high road and finding a way to laugh at that type of poor behavior really does make a huge difference. All of a sudden, I simply don't care anymore and that's a truly wonderful thing.

back to dancing around to Jim Croce-
Ms. V

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The day from hell

It has been the worst day of my life. I got home and, instead of having dinner, I had a glass of wine, some chocolate fudge, and a hot bath. 'Nuff said.


In a bad mood and ready for more wine and chocolate-
Ms. V

Stamp-o-monga!

Cool stuff.

I'm especially pleased about Barbara McClintock because she's the only woman on the list, as well as the only biologist (I have a special place in my heart for biologists - for obvious reasons). I'm also excited about Richard Feynman getting a stamp, too. He's a quirky sort of fellow. I highly suggest you read some of his books.

I'm really not into stamps at all, but I just want to say: "Yay for science!"

Super-geek, I'm super-geeky,
Ms. V (the biologist who also hopes to be on a stamp someday)


P.S. Mom - since you have 'connections', do you think you can score me a set of these?

I'm OK with this for now

I'm OK with this for now, but hope to eventually move up to "knitting goddess" or "knitting guru." Wish me luck. Perhaybe if I weren't working and going to school, I'd have more time to devote to my precious needles and yarn.

Knitting Adventurer
You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Huzzah! The lab is finally finished!

After dancing around the room with Teba for a few minutes, I finally came up with enough BS to make a small paragraph. This is the last lab report that I'll have to write until June! Yay!

Still avoiding my lab (yeah, the one that's due at 10am)

I'm listening to Jackson 5 songs, thinking of super-cool dance moves in my head (OK, there's a lot of chair-dancing going on, too).

I should be writing the discussion of my lab. Really though, there's only so much I can say about my mitochondrial DNA. Let's see... I have mitochondrial DNA and somewhere within it exists the sequence TTAA. Yup. That's about all I can come up with.

Back to my chair-dancing,
Ms. V

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

"I'm out making some sweet moolah with uncle Rico."

Click here to see why I'm jazzed. Make sure your speakers are on when you click on the various options.

Hub just suggested that we have a "Napolean Dynamite" themed cookout. It's frightening how obsessed we are with this movie.


Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day,
Ms. V

How do I love to avoid writing lab reports? Let me count the ways...

1 - Watch "Days of Our Lives" because I just HAVE to find out what's going on with Roman and Marlena

2 - Copy physics notes

3 - check the number of hits on my blog

4 - call my cousin's wife

5 - call my aunt

6 - harass the Hub while he's trying to work

7 - check out someone else's blog

8 - read the news

9 - look at pictures

10 - try to convince myself that i can skip it altogether because it's the last report of the semester and i have a good grade in the class.

Ugh. I'm too much of a goody-two-shoes for that though. I will go torture myself some more! I have to come to terms with the fact that I'll have to write these for the rest of my academic and professional career, so I should just stop whining about it already!

Ms. V

I hate these things, but I do them anyway

I've only been to one of these cities, so I don't really know how accurate it is. So far, NYC is definitely at the top of the list (I'm trying to convince hub to consider med schools in that area). :wink:







American Cities That Best Fit You:



80% New York City

80% Philadelphia

65% Chicago

55% Los Angeles

55% San Francisco


Monday, May 02, 2005

:(

I guess all good things must come to an end. I've been addicted to the "Stuck in Rehab..." blog since I first found out about it. I'm definitely going to check out this guy's other stuff. He's downright hilarious.

For a reminder: http://stuckinrehabwithpatobrien.blogspot.com/

Ms. V

Some days it's just plain painful to get out of bed

This is one of those days. It's 8am in the friggin' morning. I didn't fall asleep until about 3:30am. I'm so tired that I feel like I'm going to puke. It's finals week, and I have an overwhelming need to skip biology class so I can study for calculus and physics.

Instead, I'll be a good little do-be, drink a lot of coffee, drive to school, drive home, study for 3 hours, drive to my other classes, come home, study some more, and maybe knit before going to bed.

I cannot wait until this week is over.
Ms. V

Saturday, April 30, 2005

"Who's on First" for the next generation...

This was received via email from a friend. I have no idea who wrote it, so I'm giving what little credit I can by saying "this was received via email from a friend." :)

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The main man in China!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you, Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you, or will you not, tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he's dead in the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

Friday, April 29, 2005

"Goin' down to Southpark..."

If I were a Southpark character, this is what I'd look like:




Note the cup of coffee.

If you'd like to make one, you can do it here.


Ms. V

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Hmmm....

My sister tagged me. This is how it goes: If I tag you, you choose five occupations from the list just below, and finish the sentence in your blog.

The questions:If I could be a scientist. If I could be a farmer. If I could be a musician. If I could be a doctor. If I could be a painter. If I could be a gardener. If I could be a missionary. If I could be a chef. If I could be an architect. If I could be a linguist. If I could be a psychologist. If I could be a librarian. If I could be an athlete. If I could be a lawyer. If I could be an inn-keeper. If I could be a professor. If I could be a writer. If I could be a llama-rider. If I could be a bonnie pirate. If I could be an astronaut. If I could be a world famous blogger. If I could be a justice on any one court in the world. If I could be married to any current famous political figure.

Here are mine:

If I could be a scientist... Well, I already am, so, um, I guess I'd be a scientist who's already been given lots and lots of grants so I can do all of the research that I want to do (also, I'd find someone else to write the grant letters and research proposals for me).

If I could be a doctor... I'd be a neurologist, because nerves are wicked cool. ;) (said in a true yankee accent)

If I could be an athlete... I'd be a world-championship swimmer with really great muscular definition.

If I could be a musician... I'd a combo flute/piano player like I am now, but I'd actually get paid to do it. That would be really nice.

If I could be a professor... I'd *finally* be able to corrupt the next generation on a larger scale than what I do now. Muahahahaha!!!


Perplexio, now it's your turn.

Ms. V

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Congress makes me sick sometimes...

A bill that I don't like

What I'm curious about is this quote: " "This bill simply says that a parent has a right to know if their child is having surgery," Clay said."

I guess I'll have to read the bill in full if I want details because there *are* non-surgical abortions. Would someone assisting a minor in getting a non-surgical abortion be exempted from living within the confines of the law (if it even becomes a law...)? I hope so.

I can't even begin to list the possible ramifications if this becomes a law. Where do I start? How 'bout not at all, because just the fact that it passed in the house (or was even proposed!) is infuriating.

Hoping I don't lose *my* right to choose, too-
Ms. V

Super-geek, super-geek, I'm super-geeky!

Well, it's time I come clean. I've been "nominated" (don't know why they use that term) to join one of the honor societies at school. Not just ANY honor society though. It's the one for the super-geeks. I guess I've done a good job of fooling people into thinking that I'm smart. This also means that everyone will expect big results when I start my research next spring. Great.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if being a nerd was still "in" but I've checked my sources (they're reliable) and it is. Also, it'll look good on my CV when I apply to med school. This means that I will join. Just call me "super-geek." I hope it doesn't mean that I have to start wearing my geeky-looking glasses. I much prefer my contact lenses.

Off to buy a pocket protector,
Ms. V

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

I wonder if he'll make it as a "runner up" in the next Darwin Awards

Check it out:

Stupid Thief

If the cops had taken longer to find him, he might have been one of the recipients of the Darwin Award, instead of just a runner up (I think you actually have to die as a result of your stupidity in order to receive the award).

Kinda' TO'd

For two reasons:

1) Apparently, because I have a stupid auto-immune disorder, I don't qualify for life insurance. Hub called the insurance guy and *politely* asked him to try again. It's not like I'm on my death bed! Ulcerative Colitis does not make me a huge risk. At least, *I* don't think so. They're looking into it again.

2) I was kind enough to let a girl in physics class borrow my notes last week. She has a habit of either skipping, or leaving early, so I lend her my notes. She was supposed to give them to me on Thursday, but wasn't done with them yet, so I told her to keep them until Monday (yesterday). Guess what? The irresponsible little punk skipped both of our classes to go to a Red Sox game! This means that I have a Physics exam on Wednesday and no notes. I have my crappy notes that I take in class, but she has my really pretty, recopied and organized notes and dammit, I want to study from those!

Grumpy because it's early,
Ms. V

Sunday, April 24, 2005

By my sister's request...

Black and purple it is! So, basically, it's back where it started.

Pic's of the hub's blanket will be posted later.

:)
Ms. V

Friday, April 22, 2005

She's at it again!

Today's topic is "fun with colors." I finally found a website with every html color code imaginable. Better yet, the color samples shown are a bit larger than most. I now have a better idea of how the blog look, without having to change it 15 times. Yay!

I've bookmarked it. The colors will change more often now.

Off to catch a rainbow...
Ms. V

Thursday, April 21, 2005

The linguist, part II

Background: At my old job, there was a woman who sat near me who didn't quite have even the most basic language skills. She would often use words inappropriately, and sometimes made new ones up. This extended to phrases, too. Not only would she use the phrase out of context, she would typically butcher it so much that it made absolutely no sense at all. Since another coworker and I filled our time with making up nick-names for the people who sat near us, she was dubbed "The Linguist."

I shall give you examples of her work:
1) When referring to a sick relative, she said "The Doctor says it's just going from one extremity to the other." Clearly, the correct word should have been extreme.

2) She had "back problems" and could only drive a certain kind of car. Why? Because it was the only one she could sit in without "any degree of uncomfortablement."

3) When referring to her poor-driving skills in NYC, she told me she was "still Greek with it." (What the hell does that even mean?) I'm guessing she was thinking of the phrase "It's all Greek to me" but you wouldn't typically say that when you're talking about driving. It's more of a can't-read-the-directions type of phrase.

Now you have an example of each case. Fun, huh?

I thought I had seen the last of her, but apparently, there are others like her floating around in the world. Yesterday, in bio class, one woman said "resceptible" when she should have said "susceptible." I thought she was just tongue-tied, but she said the same thing again later on that day.



I hate these colors. They have to go. I'm taking suggestions.
Ms. V

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

This is it!

Alright, these are the colors I've decided on for spring. They're absolutely awful, I know. I'd thought I'd have a little fun though. Don't worry, I'll change them. Eventually. :wink:

Ms. V

bear with me!

Don't worry, these hideous colors won't stay for very long. I'm playing around, trying to find the right combination for spring. I've looked at too many though, so I need to cleanse my visual palette. I'll come back to settle on the final outcome later.

In the meantime, make sure to wear some sunglasses if you're reading my blog.

Nearly blind,
Ms. V

I'd wake up and smell the coffee, but I can't

Well, I finally feel better, even though I'm still coughing and blowing my nose constantly. There's a problem though: I can't smell anything. At all. I'm not stuffed up, but I still can't smell. I have horrible nightmares about losing my sense of smell altogether. Bleh. I couldn't even smell the coffee brewing this morning! I keep thinking that something awful will happen, like a skunk will spray the back of the house, and I won't be able to tell. This will, of course, make me reek like a skunk without even knowing it.

Cross your fingers that the skunks who live in the woods out back don't get scared or TO'd at anything.

Also, we've had so many gorgeous days in a row that I feel compelled to read some Poe just to balance out the happy feeling I've had since last week. Instead, I will take advantage of the weather and do my homework on the back deck.

Ms. V

Saturday, April 16, 2005

A special day for some friends...

To Perplexio and his fiance:

Happy wedding day!

much love,
Ms. V and the Hub

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

I have a good excuse, I promise!

Alright, Condor and Blaze had a birthday on April 10th and I didn't post pictures like I did for Teba and Grenidine. I was sick. Really sick. Really.

In either case, to make up for my error and help get rid of some of the guilt I feel, I'm going to post extra pictures of Connie and Blazey. Lucky you. :)

The first big thing hub and I did after we moved in together was adopt this pair of littermates, partly to give Teba a pair of friends, partly to give some homeless cats a chance at a spoiled life, mostly because we wanted to expand our family together. Afterall, Teba was mine, not *our's* at the time. We found Condor and Blaze at the local shelter, fell in love, and adopted them 2 days later.

Happy 4th birthday guys!

Kitten picture:



Together, all grown up:



Blazey:



Connie:

Monday, April 11, 2005

Illness, day 5 1/2

Well, I finally went to the doctor today. After 5 1/2 days of knocking on death's door, I thought I might as well give it a shot.

Unfortunately, she said exactly what I thought she'd say: It's viral and just has to run its course. The other option is that I actually have Pertussis (the 'P' in the DPT vaccine, otherwise known as whooping cough). I find that a tad hard to believe since there haven't been any big whooping cough outbreaks in the area lately. In either case, stay away from me. Far, far away. You don't want a virus and you certainly don't want whooping cough.

I managed to make it through half of my calculus class tonight before feeling like I was going to pass out. At that point, the instructor allowed me to leave. I'm missing physics, which sucks, because I get lost if I don't go to class. Our book stinks and I can't teach myself out of the text like I can with calc.

I'm not real thrilled knowing that I'm going to get better, only to have 3 times as much schoolwork to do.

Thank goodness the semester is almost over.
Ms. V

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Last night, I tried something new...

Last night I tried to cough myself to sleep, since nothing else I did seemed to work. That didn't work either. Bummer.

After a hot cup of tea w/ honey, a face full of steam, half a bottle of advil, and several wiffs of my vicks inhaler, I was finally able to lie down without any degree of (my sister will love this) "uncomfortablement." (In English, that word is "discomfort.")

Still coughing, still wheezing, still trying to get better.

Hub's making me some more tea. I haven't had coffee in days. Perhaybe that's my problem?

On the mend, I hope for real this time -
Ms. V