Weeks in Review

Just got back from a week-long SfN meeting in Atlanta. Good meeting but a week is a long time to be gone from loved ones. Here's an update of two weeks' past events and happenings.

In the past two weeks:

Ran irrigation lines to the parking strip -- We had to redo the sidewalk per city regulations. While we redid the concrete, we got to run conduit for my irrigation tubing (meaning I no longer have to hand-water any flowers in the front or back beds. Everything is on a timer connected to individually adjustable drip irrigation). Ken dug the trench and laid the conduit for me. Once the concrete was dry, I dug the irrigation trench, ran the lines and replanted all the plants (kept the ones that did great, moved the ones that sucked or were over-crowded). A long day. Meanwhile....

Ken learned to make applesauce -- While I was digging, Ken asked how he could help. Since they're tearing out the apple trees in the lot next door next month to build a duplex, I had him pick two stockpots of apples. "Now what?", he asked. "Core and quarter them." "Ok, then what?" "Cover them with water and a little lemon juice and put them on the stove on low". Congratulations, Ken, you just made your first batch of applesauce. I canned it with my pressure canner and we now have enough for a small army (or for a family of 35).

My paper was published

I lost my favorite jacket -- the black mountain hardware fleece I bought for our backpacking trip a couple years ago and have since worn practically every day since. I have even slept in it on multiple occasions, including the Hood to Coast race where a guy told me "it looks like you slept with your dawg". The mountain hardware website informed me that a replacement may exist at a local store and I am going to check it out after work today. Man, I loved that thing.

Ken joined a basketball league -- I know what you're thinking... we don't have enough going on especially now that softball is over for the season. Exactly why Ken is playing in a men's league on Wednesday nights.

I got MVP! -- Last week in dodgeball, we beat our 2nd undefeated team in two weeks. My dodgeball class must be paying off because I was voted MVP of our game. Caught more last week than all previous weeks combined. One guy's jaw dropped when I caught his ball. Even had a big bruise to prove it!

I am a mom (of sorts) -- Made my first stable cell line at work. I have 8 clones ready to be tested. Aww.

Kinley is back to health -- The medications worked and he's all healed and happy. I love that dog. Especially after reading Marley and Me. Cute book. Highly recommended.

Went to SfN in Atlanta -- presented my work, got to talk to colleagues and see old friends (including Julie, Taryn, Chuck, Dan, my undergraduate lab, my graduate mentor Gary and his new lab, and some folks I just met who also work up on the hill). I also got sick while I was there and have been sniffling ever since. I promptly crashed for 4 hours upon getting home but woke up for our game which was even more fun because...

Dodgy Slappers won again! -- We won our game last night, making it the 3rd undefeated team we beat in three straight weeks. The victory put us in the top 10. I even threw a guy out to win one of the games. I was excited. Final score 10-2. (Note: my teammates play much better than me, but I get excited about my small personal victories)

Events coming up in the next week:

Murdery Mystery Dinner -- On Saturday the 21st, a friend is hosting a murder mystery event. Everyone is assigned a character, including Ken and I. I tried to question him last night to see if he's the murderer, but he was evasive and looked the other way "pretending" to see if there were any cars coming. Hmmmm...

Home Depot Workshop for Ladies -- On Monday the 23rd from 7-8, I am joining a friend for "this free Home Depot Workshop for ladies only where they teach you how to patch a wall, install a GCIF (or something that starts with G) pluggy in thing, and fix a toilet leak". If you've seen my past wall patching, you'll know exactly why I am attending. I'm pretty sure patches aren't supposed to make the wall squishy.

Pumpkin Carving Contest -- Wednesday the 25th is a carving contest while Ken is playing basketball. I am quite capable of carving ridiculous things into pumpkins. But will it be enough to win the contest?

Ken's 33rd Birthday -- Friday the 27th. Yet to be planned, but I'm excited for it. Celebrating birthdays are fun.

Dodgeball Halloween Party -- In a league of 40 teams x 12 players, having a league-wide dodgeball party on Saturday the 28th sounds very fun. And messy.

Halloween Trick or Treating-- I love it when little kids tromp up the stairs in costumes on Halloween night. I'm pretty sure Kinley will like it, too. He loves kids. They taste like jam.