Follow-up and words of wisdom

this isn't a full-scale blog entry per se, but i did have two things to add from today. the first is that i somehow forgot to mention that during my travels back i ended up in the airport sitting back-to-back with a man who was transporting. . . birds. yep, some sort of noisy, crate-like contraption filled with what i assume were baby chicks (although at this point, i think that everyone knows i am a terrible identifier of animals, despite dr. weihe's best efforts and a modest A- in my "diversity of life" class ["but paul you say. . . "] only karen will understand that reference, but the amount that she will appreciate it makes it totally worth it. . . ). as you'll notice by the picture, too much noisy chirping results in some sort of pop-can-crate-resembling lid being closed over said carrier contraption. i'm sure those baby chicks learned their lesson.

the second point - more a passing along of words of wisdom - come from a friend of mine (and amazing writer), who posted a blog today about the continuing need for us to think carefully about the words we use when we're talking. even if we think we're being casual, words have real meanings and taking a second to think about what it is that you mean vs. what you are saying can save a number of people hurt feelings and heartache. her post is here, and was (i think) inspired by another beautifully written piece written and posted here (make sure you read all the way to the bottom on both, not only because the message is both well-articulated and important, but also because you are rewarded with pictures of adorable children). i know that a few years ago, a couple of my nieces & nephews heard me correct them on the usage of this term. i think these writings articulate better than i ever have where such corrections come from. this reminds me of another choose your words carefully campaign currently making its rounds on tv. . .

okay, back to work. i'm thinking of rewarding myself with a baby ruth in a few more minutes. . .

happy new blogyear

Madison's first snow back in December

i can't believe that it's already been 4 weeks since my last post. although i kind of can given the way that december flew by. i kind of keep forgetting that classes are out, it's winter, there's a new year, etc. maybe it's been the lack of snow (save for today, of course). or perhaps it's been the lack of lack of work (yeah. . .take a minute with that one). or maybe it was the insane travel schedule between october and now. whatever it is, there has been a strange sentiment to this holiday. though going home for Christmas and spending the last week and half in ohio were no less wonderful than any other year.

Hawkeye Slippers

the time at home was great. there's something about going home, as everyone knows. there is also something about being able to drive home (rather than travel there on a plane) that is also pretty delightful. that's been pretty great this year. i only spent a few days at home this year, both because a lot of stuff is going on in the lab (note: one needs to be extremely productive in the year before applying for jobs. . .) and because i don't need to go 6-8 months in between trips home anymore, which kind of rocks. my sister amy is still in florida, so i didn't get to see her or her family, but i did get to see mom and dad, dy, kassi, gabe, and izacc. presents were opened, games were played, and lots (LOTS!) of food was eaten. i really loved all of my thoughtful gifts this year, but best present had to be these oversized, stuffed slippers that kassi gave to my dad. both because she she bought them and because he wore them. which generally equates to two of the best people and one of the best gifts ever.

i spent a few days working back in madison before heading to ohio. i actually flew out the same day that a bunch of badger fans were headed to the bowl game. everyone at the airport was kind of adorable. lots of extra signs were up to help people (although this girl found them to make everything way more confusing at 5 am), everyone everywhere was wearing red, and amazingly excited and peppy airport workers were setting up a makeshift bloody mary bar/baked goods stand one gate over from mine. i can't imagine wanting a bloody mary or a cinnamon roll before 8 am, but i appreciate the sentiment.

matt and i really didn't do much in ohio, which it turned out was just the time together that we both needed. we did spend a few nights with some of his coworkers, i met another of his high school friends during new years eve, and we (of course) tried our hand at a few new recipes. matt had found a recipe for spring rolls and gotten some peanut sauce from the local grocery store. as it turns out, spring rolls are really hard to. . . well, roll. as it turns out, those little wrappers are really sticky. or maybe you all already knew that. i did not. and although i tried several different techniques, i never quite perfected it. the way to go may have been matt's way of selecting a single technique and sticking with it - trying to get it right. his ended up looking slightly better than mine, i think. but the pad thai that i put together later that week also looked and tasted pretty good. so. . . i would say that we're even, right? although i don't have a picture with them that is as adorable as this one of matt and the finished spring rolls. *ho hum*.

the only truly unfortunate part of the trip (aside from having to leave, of course) was that right around friday i started developing my first cold of the winter. it was pretty spectacular friday and saturday, which probably made me less fun than i might have been otherwise on the day that we went to lancaster with peggy, but thankfully ebbed a bit on monday so that my head didn't explode on the flight home. i'm not going to lie, it's been stuffy over the course of the last few days, but i'm hoping that i'm on my way to bouncing back after avoiding going out in the wintery mess today (and yes, that parking space that i rented two months ago is totally paying for itself right now). so, keep your fingers crossed.

Winter = Veggie Chili!

now i have several weeks of just being a person and working for the next few weeks. for some reason, this sounds kind of delightful to me. i need to go get groceries at some point, but i'm not interested in all of the work that it would take me to dig my car out right now. if i ever didn't think that public transportation was important for environmental reasons, the conveniences that i have been provided by the bus system in madison would be enough to convince me. the only problem tends to be that i buy giant containers of water (my tapwater. . . and apparently all of the tapwater on the isthmus. . . is gross) that i keep in my fridge - and these are not things that i want to schlep around on the bus.

also, i think most of you know this, but i definitely bought my wedding dress last month. it's beautiful, i love it, it was on sale, and after a brief moment in which i thought it had slipped through my fingers, i bought it (or rather, mom and dad bought it. thanks mom and dad!) so, now it has been added to the things that i'm hoping is covered by my renter's insurance.

okay, i think that is a long enough post for now. plus, the only picture that i have left is the one that matt took of the my hair from the back so that i could see what it looked like (yeah. . . i asked him if he was still sure that he wanted to get married and he said yes :) EXCEPT to say happy birthday to my big sister, dyanna. how often do i actually post on someone's birthday?!

it's going to be a(nother) big year. happy 2012, everyone!