Odds n Ends

I did P90X with my roommate K8 last night and again this morning. I can barely move, and any motion involving raising my arms above my head flat out isn't going to happen.

So far this summer I've found the heat significantly less painful than the past 2 1/2 summers. But today is a different story. It was 88 degrees at 7:20 am. And then 96 degrees at 9 am. It's just wrong. The high today is only 103, but it already feels worse. It doesn't help that it's the most humid it's been in a while here - 27%. I realize that most of you think that's nothing. But when the humidity is normally less than 10%... 27% and 96 degrees hurts. Almost as bad as my quads hurt from the P90X.

Paper writing sucks. Even though I'm only writing a 2 page communication, there always seems to be one more set of experiments to do (whose outcome is NOT going to change the major point of the paper!). Seriously, you can only fit so much data and discussion in 2 pages.

I finally have prospects for another adventure abroad! Ever since I came back from New Zealand I've been itching to have a big trip of some sort on the horizon. Well, thanks to my awesome friends who move and travel to cool places, I have an excuse now. Amy, the friend I visited in New Zealand, is moving to Amsterdam with her Kiwi/American boyfriend. Amsterdam is an excellent choice seeing as I haven't been to the Netherlands yet. :) And my friend/labmate Ashley, just received a fellowship that will send her to Paris-ish for 5 months. So yay! 2-4-1 trip to Europe next year! Well maybe this year, but more likely next year - I'm thinking either immediately after Christmas (cheaper airfare, more direct flights from Boston!) or March/April-ish, right before Ashley comes home... If I knew for sure that the canals in Amsterdam would freeze, I'd totally go with January just so I could ice skate on the canals. :P

I finished reading The Secret Life of Bees last night. I liked it. Not too heavy, but not light and fluffy either. (Nothing against light and fluffy...or trashy and dumb for that matter...the last book I read fell into these categories.) I could see it being a much heavier book to read depending on your life experiences though, say if your mom left you and/or died. While my mother is utterly insane much of the time, she's around (more or less). Anyways, I will offer no deeper analysis than I liked it, and I would recommend it if you're looking for something to read.

One of my labmates does not eat vegetables. Or fruit for that matter. E and I have made it a personal challenge to sneak vegetables into dishes when we all have dinner together. This morning in the shower, I decided what whenever my labmate has children, as a baby gift I'm getting her children's books about vegetables. And when they're a little older, and have a play kitchen set, I'm getting them the sets of plastic fruits and vegetables.

My younger brother asked for recipes for his birthday. This fall he'll be a sophomore in college, with his own kitchen for the first time. So I wrote out a book of various recipes, cooking tips, and meal ideas. Everything from really, really simple how to roast vegetables or how to make a quesidilla to various recipes we grew up with. I included lots of vegetable recipes, along with a guide to different kinds of squash. He promised to at least try the vegetable recipes. I guess the book showed up in the mail yesterday or today, because my sister called me to voice her complaints with the book. Her biggest objection? My suggestion that he try cauliflower. She really needs to come visit so I can make her eat all sorts of weird things. :P

I got a spam industry email the other day that started "Dear Dr. ...." I'll admit it was kind of exciting and it will be even more exciting when that's actually the right title.