Today was Tyler’s two-month well-baby checkup. He was, once again, *the cutest baby*. Victory!
His appointment was for 11:00, and I wanted to meet up to be there too, so, of course, Jess called me at 10:35 to inform me that they were already there. I drove over and met them in the waiting room and then we took Tyler over to get his measurements. He was asleep, but woke up as we were getting him all naked-ed up for the doctor. He gets all cute and stretchy when he wakes up. Anyway, he’s 12 lbs now and 24 inches long. Up from 7lbs 15 oz and 22 inches at birth! That’s a lot of baby. While we were walking him over there we saw another newborn coming the other way, crying her lungs out but *barely making a whisper!* How quickly you forget how small they used to be.
He was quickly soothed back to sleep with a pinkie while we waited for the doctor to show up, and after questioning to make sure that Tyler’s cuteness is right on schedule, she gave him a quick exam and gave us the thumbs up. She did hear a tiny, tiny heart murmur, but it’s a relatively common thing to hear in the youngest of babies and not worth worrying about unless it gets worse with age.
Then came THE SHOTS! Trauma! Tyler was lying down all nice and sucking on pinkie to keep calm when the nurse, with much professionalism, held down the legs and gave him three shots, rapid fire. He hadn’t even gotten to the second “waah” by the time she was done. That first “waah” was pretty bad, though. One of those lung-clearers that gets quiet at the end so that you know they’re gearing up for another good one. Mommy and daddy were there to sooth him, though, and he calmed down just enough to realize he was also hungry, so we fed him and all was well. Jess cried a little, though. She’s a mom.
Speaking of moms, we have a spare! Nana is here with us now, and has been lending all of the helping hands she has available. She’s been helping with cooking, making us French toast for breakfast the morning after she got here and also helping with dinners and the like. It’s definitely nice to have her around. Tyler has taken to her as well, she’s gotten several nice smiles out of him. She feeds him and plays with him and tickles his little baby feet. We may have to keep her. She can’t get to the airport without us. Mua ha ha ha haaaaa!
Tyler continues to make little progress every day. He’s definitely started to recognize things. He still cries his little heart out when he gets hungry, but when you sit in the ‘baby feeding spot’ he calms down. We’ve started to develop a nighttime ritual, and he’s gotten good at falling asleep and occasionally even soothing himself to sleep, too. He slept 9 hours once, though Jessie didn’t. He would ‘wake’ every hour or so, make some cute noises, and then just conk right back out. I’ve developed a cast of characters for his play-mat, though I don’t think he recognizes the continuity, yet. Mr. Toucan is the hard-talking, hard-working gym trainer, always demanding more energy and focus from his baby guests. Mr. Monkey is way more laid back. Then there is “the white monkey” (he is a rattle) that is the arch-nemesis of Adventure Baby (He’s Number 1 for adventure!), though Adventure baby is constantly foiling his plans.
Also more clothes. He’s grown out of most of his 0-3 month clothes (I think they size these things so you can pretend your baby is way more advanced. Already in three month clothes at two months! I’ll bet this doesn’t happen to absolutely everyone!) so we went to the consignment shop (shoppe?) to get some used baby clothes. Mostly simple onesies, but two things stood out. 1) I got a onesie that said “captain adorable”. Yes. 2) At some point, they stop making onesies. He’s going to have to wear pants!
In non-baby related news (less and less of that every post, I’m sure) Jessie’s teeth are feeling much better, thanks. She’s off her antibiotics and can feed Tyler again, now, if she wants. I made four loaves of bread and I’ve become so good at bread that I can actually be disappointed with some of my loaves. I call that progress. We’ve also lined up a photographer for this weekend when Grandpa Preecs comes down. Pretty much just for the pictures, I suspect. And I’ve been playing a lot of a game called Dungeon Fighter Online. It’s free! Maybe you would also join? (You will probably not join.)
Jess got to go get a massage this weekend while I took care of Tyler, and then today she gets to go to derby. I get to go to Judo tomorrow.
-N
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Matt to the rescue. Again.
It hardly seems worth commenting on the obvious challenges in writing a dissertation. Finding the right way to summarize large data sets, find the right word to give nuance to my conclusions, organizing a giant file- I think we all expected this to be challenging. It's the unexpected challenges that I think are worth commenting on- they make me both glad I am keeping up on my writing schedule and also that I live with Matt. Let me explain.
On Sunday night while I was writing (finally writing, I enjoyed the sunny part of the day), Noel Skyped me for a quick Nana & Tyler adorableness update. And my computer kept dropping their call/turning itself off. While this didn't hinder my laser focus on the adorableness of my best nephew, one symptom I noticed was that while the battery was dying, my power cable was burning hot. When I showed Matt, who got apprehensive about continued long term use. Once I was all but done for the night (let's say 11pm), he took another look. The kind of look that requires taking a flashlight to the garage to dig out tools. He assured me that while there would be a part in this where my power cord would absolutely NOT work, he was confident he could get it to work again, and if not, we'd buy a new one first thing in the morning. I think you know where this is going.
On the adhoc workspace, Matt razored open the end of my power cable, which was predictably frayed and damaged. While I had no expectation about what he would find in there, he was surprised by the arrangement of the wire. After some finagling with his voltimeter, he was able to figure out how the tangled fragments of wires SHOULD power my computer. He approached this with a cool, objective confidence- this stoic bedside manner kept me from panicking. From my perspective, he performed minor surgery on a MAJOR component of my writing process, unleashed some microscopic bundle of medusa hair which was carefully reconstructed by soldering and wrapping into a non-electrifying, working power cord again. I am sure you can recognize several aspects there where panic or hysteria would have seemed appropriate. Who even knew you could take apart a plug?? Who takes a writing break to rework their electronics? If I didn't have Matt on all forms of technical support, my choices would have been watch for fire, or drop loads of money - both with panic and hysteria.
Thanks to Matt, writing continues at an efficient clip, right on schedule.
On Sunday night while I was writing (finally writing, I enjoyed the sunny part of the day), Noel Skyped me for a quick Nana & Tyler adorableness update. And my computer kept dropping their call/turning itself off. While this didn't hinder my laser focus on the adorableness of my best nephew, one symptom I noticed was that while the battery was dying, my power cable was burning hot. When I showed Matt, who got apprehensive about continued long term use. Once I was all but done for the night (let's say 11pm), he took another look. The kind of look that requires taking a flashlight to the garage to dig out tools. He assured me that while there would be a part in this where my power cord would absolutely NOT work, he was confident he could get it to work again, and if not, we'd buy a new one first thing in the morning. I think you know where this is going.
On the adhoc workspace, Matt razored open the end of my power cable, which was predictably frayed and damaged. While I had no expectation about what he would find in there, he was surprised by the arrangement of the wire. After some finagling with his voltimeter, he was able to figure out how the tangled fragments of wires SHOULD power my computer. He approached this with a cool, objective confidence- this stoic bedside manner kept me from panicking. From my perspective, he performed minor surgery on a MAJOR component of my writing process, unleashed some microscopic bundle of medusa hair which was carefully reconstructed by soldering and wrapping into a non-electrifying, working power cord again. I am sure you can recognize several aspects there where panic or hysteria would have seemed appropriate. Who even knew you could take apart a plug?? Who takes a writing break to rework their electronics? If I didn't have Matt on all forms of technical support, my choices would have been watch for fire, or drop loads of money - both with panic and hysteria.
Thanks to Matt, writing continues at an efficient clip, right on schedule.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Update on Jessie's Teeth
Mostly co-opted from an e-mail I just sent to mom:
She went in yesterday to the root-canal doctors and after much hemming and hawing about whether or not she would be able to take any more needles in her already sore jaw, as opposed to waiting for a proper anesthesiologist to show up, decided to give it a go. The first needle hurt (I'm told there was crying) but after that it was much more normal. They took out the root and found a little bit of infection below the tooth in the jaw. So she has a temporary filling for a while, goes back in two weeks to get the filling made permanent, and then goes back to the dentist to get a crown, eventually.
In the interim, she's on a lot of ibuprofen, a little Tylenol with codeine (mostly just makes her sleepy) and some antibiotics, and between all of that Tyler isn't breastfeeding anymore. So it's less painful, but a little more stressful: pumping isn't nearly as much fun. She's still not eating much solid food, but at least she's not grabbing her jaw in agony anymore. Small steps, but definite improvement.
Um...I'm also doing okay. Less to worry about for me. I saw an advertisement for a father's day sale a while ago that made me smile. And, you know...working. I guess I should be glad my life isn't particularly noteworthy these days. One of us at a time.
-N
She went in yesterday to the root-canal doctors and after much hemming and hawing about whether or not she would be able to take any more needles in her already sore jaw, as opposed to waiting for a proper anesthesiologist to show up, decided to give it a go. The first needle hurt (I'm told there was crying) but after that it was much more normal. They took out the root and found a little bit of infection below the tooth in the jaw. So she has a temporary filling for a while, goes back in two weeks to get the filling made permanent, and then goes back to the dentist to get a crown, eventually.
In the interim, she's on a lot of ibuprofen, a little Tylenol with codeine (mostly just makes her sleepy) and some antibiotics, and between all of that Tyler isn't breastfeeding anymore. So it's less painful, but a little more stressful: pumping isn't nearly as much fun. She's still not eating much solid food, but at least she's not grabbing her jaw in agony anymore. Small steps, but definite improvement.
Um...I'm also doing okay. Less to worry about for me. I saw an advertisement for a father's day sale a while ago that made me smile. And, you know...working. I guess I should be glad my life isn't particularly noteworthy these days. One of us at a time.
-N
Monday, May 23, 2011
Toothy Problems
Sorry I haven't written more. It's a combination of a new computer, which therefore leaves my pictures on my old computer, and the fact that I have a baby now. Most times when I have some time to myself, I tend to just play some games to relax. Relaxing is important.
You know what else is important? Teeth. Some of you have heard that when Jess went to the dentist a few weeks after Tyler was born, and discovered to her shock and surprise that she had 7 cavities, especially given that 6 months prior, she was completely clean. Evidently this is a pretty common occurrence for pregnant women, as so many of their nutrients get sapped away by their little parasite.
We managed to get the cavities filled all at once while Mom Swanson was here to watch Tyler, but unfortunately the saga doesn't end there. A little while after that, one of her teeth started hurting, so she went into the dentist again to get it looked at. Turns out one of the fillings didn't bond correctly, so they had to make another appointment to redo the filling.
That was last Thursday, and keep in mind that every time Jess goes in for one of these appointments, I have to take over Tyler. He's been spending a lot of time in the office, though fortunately he mostly just curls up in the sling and falls asleep for hours. It lets me get back to work once he lets go of my pinkie. It's a little nerve-wracking, though, when he starts to cry. I don't want to bring the office to a standstill, so I'm getting very efficient at baby-soothing when at the office. Quick bottles and diaper changes, as well as walking in the hallways away from people's offices, is the order of the day. Makes work a little more stressful knowing that I have this time bomb strapped to my chest, not to mention that going to the bathroom with a sleeping baby on you is an exercise in one-handed dexterity.
Not so stressful as for Jess, though, because her tooth adventures aren't over. The tooth they fixed was better, but the one behind it started hurting, and much worse. Jess was trying to tough it out (I don't know why she does this) but I had to put the hammer down when she sneezed and nearly jumped out of her skin. She said she thought the tooth had come out of her jaw. She puts the pain level at 13 on the ten point scale and this from a woman who just went through *labor*. I don't know why *I* had to be the one to insist on calling the dentist. They called in a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and Jess has been taking plenty of Advil to help with the pain, but it's not been fun.
So she went into the dentist today and they tried to do their best to fix the problem, leveling out the tooth, but even after 4 shots of Novocaine, the tooth still hurt to push on, so the dentist didn't want to do anything. Jess has another appointment with the Entomologist (root canal doctor, I think) tomorrow morning, so I'll take at least part of the day off to take care of Tyler. Depending on how everything goes, she may have to take a Taxi back home, but with any luck, this will be the end of a pretty horrible stint in tooth pain. Those of you who have gone through it before can attest: no fun at all.
We got a new, fancy camera, which is nice, though I haven't pulled any of the pictures down yet. It's a DSLR, which I mostly like because I can now flip a switch and have it just snap pictures, 3 a second, for a good long while. Great for capturing fleeting baby-face moments.
We're starting some early experiments to see if we can get Tyler on a sleep schedule. He already has a bedtime, but he naps kind of whenever he feels like it. So far it's been all over the place, but he's a little early for a baby schedule yet. He's not quite even two months old yet. Getting bigger all the time, though. And cuter. He makes cute smiley faces, gets really leg-kick excited when daddy comes home, and really enjoys his new toy: a blanket with a bunch of toys and rattles suspended above. He's started smacking at the objects, another important developmental milestone. He also flips over from belly to back a heck of a lot more readily, and is a champion at holding up his head. So advanced! The smartest and strongest baby in the world. I credit my genes.
Bedtime for Tyler. Wish Jessie luck tomorrow!
-N
You know what else is important? Teeth. Some of you have heard that when Jess went to the dentist a few weeks after Tyler was born, and discovered to her shock and surprise that she had 7 cavities, especially given that 6 months prior, she was completely clean. Evidently this is a pretty common occurrence for pregnant women, as so many of their nutrients get sapped away by their little parasite.
We managed to get the cavities filled all at once while Mom Swanson was here to watch Tyler, but unfortunately the saga doesn't end there. A little while after that, one of her teeth started hurting, so she went into the dentist again to get it looked at. Turns out one of the fillings didn't bond correctly, so they had to make another appointment to redo the filling.
That was last Thursday, and keep in mind that every time Jess goes in for one of these appointments, I have to take over Tyler. He's been spending a lot of time in the office, though fortunately he mostly just curls up in the sling and falls asleep for hours. It lets me get back to work once he lets go of my pinkie. It's a little nerve-wracking, though, when he starts to cry. I don't want to bring the office to a standstill, so I'm getting very efficient at baby-soothing when at the office. Quick bottles and diaper changes, as well as walking in the hallways away from people's offices, is the order of the day. Makes work a little more stressful knowing that I have this time bomb strapped to my chest, not to mention that going to the bathroom with a sleeping baby on you is an exercise in one-handed dexterity.
Not so stressful as for Jess, though, because her tooth adventures aren't over. The tooth they fixed was better, but the one behind it started hurting, and much worse. Jess was trying to tough it out (I don't know why she does this) but I had to put the hammer down when she sneezed and nearly jumped out of her skin. She said she thought the tooth had come out of her jaw. She puts the pain level at 13 on the ten point scale and this from a woman who just went through *labor*. I don't know why *I* had to be the one to insist on calling the dentist. They called in a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and Jess has been taking plenty of Advil to help with the pain, but it's not been fun.
So she went into the dentist today and they tried to do their best to fix the problem, leveling out the tooth, but even after 4 shots of Novocaine, the tooth still hurt to push on, so the dentist didn't want to do anything. Jess has another appointment with the Entomologist (root canal doctor, I think) tomorrow morning, so I'll take at least part of the day off to take care of Tyler. Depending on how everything goes, she may have to take a Taxi back home, but with any luck, this will be the end of a pretty horrible stint in tooth pain. Those of you who have gone through it before can attest: no fun at all.
We got a new, fancy camera, which is nice, though I haven't pulled any of the pictures down yet. It's a DSLR, which I mostly like because I can now flip a switch and have it just snap pictures, 3 a second, for a good long while. Great for capturing fleeting baby-face moments.
We're starting some early experiments to see if we can get Tyler on a sleep schedule. He already has a bedtime, but he naps kind of whenever he feels like it. So far it's been all over the place, but he's a little early for a baby schedule yet. He's not quite even two months old yet. Getting bigger all the time, though. And cuter. He makes cute smiley faces, gets really leg-kick excited when daddy comes home, and really enjoys his new toy: a blanket with a bunch of toys and rattles suspended above. He's started smacking at the objects, another important developmental milestone. He also flips over from belly to back a heck of a lot more readily, and is a champion at holding up his head. So advanced! The smartest and strongest baby in the world. I credit my genes.
Bedtime for Tyler. Wish Jessie luck tomorrow!
-N
Getting harder...
I am working on the last chapter of my dissertation. This is good, of course, because that is the last chapter, and also because the final deadline is now breathing down my neck. The last Chapter has been the most emotionally painful so far. After revisiting years of experiments, what have I added to the field? Did we discover what we thought we would? No, I thought I was going to find some life-saving drugs, and we didn't. It's hard to verbally justify this: "I tried REALLY hard, but... sometimes science doesn't respond to that." I am supposed to describe how the project should continue into the future, even though I feel we pretty well plumped the available options already-I find myself tempted to suggest it might be preferable to just "Cure AIDS," as if no one had considered that option before.
The next two chapters need to get to Dr. Boss by the end of the week, so I am hoping to incorporate comments from my coworkers... soon. And get this final chapter out to coworkers for comments. This week seems crazy busy. I am not really sure why I feel so acutely worried about my pending joblessness, but that isn't helping anything.
Stats: 36 days until Defense- 28 days until I submit my document
Dissertation is now 186 pages long
445 references
26 figures and 11 tables
The first table of contents is 4 pages long...
The next two chapters need to get to Dr. Boss by the end of the week, so I am hoping to incorporate comments from my coworkers... soon. And get this final chapter out to coworkers for comments. This week seems crazy busy. I am not really sure why I feel so acutely worried about my pending joblessness, but that isn't helping anything.
Stats: 36 days until Defense- 28 days until I submit my document
Dissertation is now 186 pages long
445 references
26 figures and 11 tables
The first table of contents is 4 pages long...
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Where is this headed?
Among the fun filled delights this weekend, I both "hosted" a bridal shower for a friend (I brought the paper plates and encouraged the gals that did the real work), and saw Dr. Rockstar in concert. Since this is the polar opposite to the rest of my week (People! Stimulation! Fun!), I think I was a bit more in-tuned to my place in it. Example, I realized fairly abruptly that I am not on target to be in a band at any level of success, even though this wasn't an opportunity I remember giving up on. I believe it is called Opportunity Cost, I'll get back to this. I also remember when Matt and I were going to get married, and that seemed like it was just going to seal-the -deal on a lifetime of happiness. Don't get me wrong- I am so happy with the "married to Matt" part of my life, but since coming to grad school, that part has been much less central to my identity then I thought it would be when I was 23.
And now I am at this exciting/terrifying jump point, I am about to finish school, and I can opt to stay the course- find another training opportunity, learn something new as a postdoc- or leap from the Ivory Tower to.... something else? It makes me wonder where I am headed, and also how wrong I might be about that. Either way, the only way to get to where I want to go, is start going there- if I want to be a middle aged rocker, I better start rockin', and if I want to be living closer to my family, I shouldn't look for jobs in town. I should instead stick to my guns, and look for my dream job/lifestyle. If I want to try at all, I should shun the academic style and pursue something in industry or government- something really different.
But maybe I have a fatalistic work ethic. I don't think I can be happy unless I find some meaningful and productive work, but I will insist on taking it much to seriously and personally so that I can be just as miserable in other fields as I am currently. That might just be my dissertation talking. Everyone can find something they don't like about their job, and it is likely not something they might have predicted at the outset, right? But really, what if I am leaving the best job I'll ever have? There are plenty of things I REALLY like about my current job, and I am confident I could get another job like it. And in this economy, the job you can get is worth 100 you can dream of.
Maybe I am being old fashioned, but it seems like the jobs you used to have shape the jobs you can get next; at this point, I am on track to be a virologist. Should I be trying to jump the track to go into policy, or should I just accept that I am a trained virologist? In principle, my NEXT career change can take me to policy, but the longer I stay on this track, the more I am a virologist. Opportunity cost, right?
But let's face it, all this is a lot of panic and not a lot of job hunting. I like to imagine if I weren't so paralyzed with indecision, I might spend more time finding, nay, targeting great jobs and getting good job offers. So far, my many paltry efforts have only given me belated rejection, and not sense of improvement- which is not helping the paralysis.
Moral of the story- if you know anyone who needs a scientist, send them my way.
And now I am at this exciting/terrifying jump point, I am about to finish school, and I can opt to stay the course- find another training opportunity, learn something new as a postdoc- or leap from the Ivory Tower to.... something else? It makes me wonder where I am headed, and also how wrong I might be about that. Either way, the only way to get to where I want to go, is start going there- if I want to be a middle aged rocker, I better start rockin', and if I want to be living closer to my family, I shouldn't look for jobs in town. I should instead stick to my guns, and look for my dream job/lifestyle. If I want to try at all, I should shun the academic style and pursue something in industry or government- something really different.
But maybe I have a fatalistic work ethic. I don't think I can be happy unless I find some meaningful and productive work, but I will insist on taking it much to seriously and personally so that I can be just as miserable in other fields as I am currently. That might just be my dissertation talking. Everyone can find something they don't like about their job, and it is likely not something they might have predicted at the outset, right? But really, what if I am leaving the best job I'll ever have? There are plenty of things I REALLY like about my current job, and I am confident I could get another job like it. And in this economy, the job you can get is worth 100 you can dream of.
Maybe I am being old fashioned, but it seems like the jobs you used to have shape the jobs you can get next; at this point, I am on track to be a virologist. Should I be trying to jump the track to go into policy, or should I just accept that I am a trained virologist? In principle, my NEXT career change can take me to policy, but the longer I stay on this track, the more I am a virologist. Opportunity cost, right?
But let's face it, all this is a lot of panic and not a lot of job hunting. I like to imagine if I weren't so paralyzed with indecision, I might spend more time finding, nay, targeting great jobs and getting good job offers. So far, my many paltry efforts have only given me belated rejection, and not sense of improvement- which is not helping the paralysis.
Moral of the story- if you know anyone who needs a scientist, send them my way.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
I was going to say something about my fun weekend, but...
A paper came out last week that reclassified the family of viruses I study into 3 viruses. It doesn't change the way I did or should have done my experiments, but it certainly changes the way I should describe them.
Today just got extra busy.
Today just got extra busy.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
He's Sooo Cool
I should be doing a Mother's Day post- Yeah for Moms! I'll promise to keep blogging!- but let's just say it was this, or the other thing I've been thinking about, and I suspect none of you care about the transforming ability of viral nucleic acids. (But if you do, I hear there is going to be a rockin' seminar in June you should totally check out).
Instead, I am going to write about all the reasons I haven't been evicted, starved or otherwise wasted away as a result of the writing process. Well, just one reason- Matt. Thank goodness we are married, I can't imagine why he would want to put up with me since I am so perpetually grumpy these days, and constantly blathering about things that normal people should have to suffer through (I mean- percent identity! Why does Dr. Boss care how many significant figures I use on a pairwise alignment- the point is that the clades align at all. The coloration only highlights the point- these cutoffs are arbitrary on purpose!). But he keeps doing it, and acting like this is what he signed up for. Actually, me being locked up in my "office" means he has has a lot of free time, which is partly filled by my share of all the household duties (even the few I pretended to manage over the winter), and the rest he filled with cycling. I am sure I have mentioned to anyone who has asked what Matt is up to, he is mostly riding his bike a lot. Perhaps I haven't been clear on how much.
A lot.
Matt bought a road bike this spring, which opened up a world of social cycling to him (there aren't many Mt Bikers around here). He's been on a couple of longer rides (45 miles seems really far to me), and tried going to the Races at the Circle Track. The races are a fairly informal, but sanctioned, weekly event. The circle track is a half mile, with banked corners and a grade over the start line. They can get going really quick, and it is the kind of race where the lead rider gets worn down quickly, so strategizing your place in line is important. He went once, said he tired himself out and hadn't really figured out the whole "riding in the group" thing, but obviously felt it was fun enough that he asked me to come and watch him this week. I've never had a chance to really watch Matt ride (Mom and Nana and I saw him finish a Mt bike race, like, the last 50 yards ...), and this is a unique location.
Matt introduced me to some of his cycling friends before the race (he has cycling friends?), and then I immediately lost him in the crowd. Surprising, since he was the only one not wearing spandex, or sporting leg hair. But he was wearing a red jersey, much like the CMU cycling team, and 40 guys spinning along at 26 mph was quite a sight. When I could pick him out, he seemed to be moving up the pack. They did 30 laps- and he conspicuously was leading a couple. The bell rang for the final lap, and everyone started sprinting, and trying to edge up on eachother- it was really hard to follow. When the dust settled, Matt came in 6th! Which means he got half his entry fee back! One of his buddies won the race, so everyone was in high spirits, and we went to a grown up bar for a drink and BREAD (cyclists get hungry). The 'buddies' are actually on a cycling team together, and they invited Matt to join- my impression is this means matching jerseys and a standing invitation for after-race drinks, not so much training commitment. I'm really happy for him, and I know he is looking forward to going back and showing those hairless dweebs how little difference their spandex makes.
Yesterday was fun, but today my high spirits were crushed by the overwhelming ugliness of these awful (Awful!) images I needed to compile for a figure. This shouldn't have turned into the melodrama that it was, but I spent all afternoon juggling files, and by 5:30 finally got something I could open. Ack. By 6:30 Matt was calling to check on me, and I made no effort to hide my panic and frustration. He came to work with a sub and some know how, and even though I tried to brush off his attempts to help, my juggling 3 programs method was labor intensive. Eventually, he sat down and compiled my image in photoshop, making every step a million times more efficient. Clearly his work as a drafter has given him a better sense for layout and improved mousing dexterity, which means the figure came together with steely precision, even though he freehanded everything. It was awesome, and probably saved me 100 grey hairs.
Yeah, he's awesome and I'm married to him.
Instead, I am going to write about all the reasons I haven't been evicted, starved or otherwise wasted away as a result of the writing process. Well, just one reason- Matt. Thank goodness we are married, I can't imagine why he would want to put up with me since I am so perpetually grumpy these days, and constantly blathering about things that normal people should have to suffer through (I mean- percent identity! Why does Dr. Boss care how many significant figures I use on a pairwise alignment- the point is that the clades align at all. The coloration only highlights the point- these cutoffs are arbitrary on purpose!). But he keeps doing it, and acting like this is what he signed up for. Actually, me being locked up in my "office" means he has has a lot of free time, which is partly filled by my share of all the household duties (even the few I pretended to manage over the winter), and the rest he filled with cycling. I am sure I have mentioned to anyone who has asked what Matt is up to, he is mostly riding his bike a lot. Perhaps I haven't been clear on how much.
A lot.
Matt bought a road bike this spring, which opened up a world of social cycling to him (there aren't many Mt Bikers around here). He's been on a couple of longer rides (45 miles seems really far to me), and tried going to the Races at the Circle Track. The races are a fairly informal, but sanctioned, weekly event. The circle track is a half mile, with banked corners and a grade over the start line. They can get going really quick, and it is the kind of race where the lead rider gets worn down quickly, so strategizing your place in line is important. He went once, said he tired himself out and hadn't really figured out the whole "riding in the group" thing, but obviously felt it was fun enough that he asked me to come and watch him this week. I've never had a chance to really watch Matt ride (Mom and Nana and I saw him finish a Mt bike race, like, the last 50 yards ...), and this is a unique location.
Matt introduced me to some of his cycling friends before the race (he has cycling friends?), and then I immediately lost him in the crowd. Surprising, since he was the only one not wearing spandex, or sporting leg hair. But he was wearing a red jersey, much like the CMU cycling team, and 40 guys spinning along at 26 mph was quite a sight. When I could pick him out, he seemed to be moving up the pack. They did 30 laps- and he conspicuously was leading a couple. The bell rang for the final lap, and everyone started sprinting, and trying to edge up on eachother- it was really hard to follow. When the dust settled, Matt came in 6th! Which means he got half his entry fee back! One of his buddies won the race, so everyone was in high spirits, and we went to a grown up bar for a drink and BREAD (cyclists get hungry). The 'buddies' are actually on a cycling team together, and they invited Matt to join- my impression is this means matching jerseys and a standing invitation for after-race drinks, not so much training commitment. I'm really happy for him, and I know he is looking forward to going back and showing those hairless dweebs how little difference their spandex makes.
Yesterday was fun, but today my high spirits were crushed by the overwhelming ugliness of these awful (Awful!) images I needed to compile for a figure. This shouldn't have turned into the melodrama that it was, but I spent all afternoon juggling files, and by 5:30 finally got something I could open. Ack. By 6:30 Matt was calling to check on me, and I made no effort to hide my panic and frustration. He came to work with a sub and some know how, and even though I tried to brush off his attempts to help, my juggling 3 programs method was labor intensive. Eventually, he sat down and compiled my image in photoshop, making every step a million times more efficient. Clearly his work as a drafter has given him a better sense for layout and improved mousing dexterity, which means the figure came together with steely precision, even though he freehanded everything. It was awesome, and probably saved me 100 grey hairs.
Yeah, he's awesome and I'm married to him.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Happy Mother's Day
I wanted to do my next post about Tyler's numbers. We've stopped using the little App that keeps track of all his stuff (accurately predicted by Dad) and I took pictures of the month-long graphs we got out of the projects, but now I've got a new laptop and all my pictures are still on the old one, so I guess you guys will have to wait for that one while I get my data all sorted out.
Mother's day! Jess told me she wanted flowers for mothers day, then she told me she didn't. So Tyler and I are teaming up for a mothers day morning surprise. I made Jessie some breakfast biscuits and scones for whenever she wakes up. Tyler is doing the important work of staying asleep while Daddy bakes. The other part of my mothers day present, and weekends in general, is that I take over Tyler duties during the morning so Jess can sleep in as much as she wants. She still takes care of him at night during the weekend though. What a trooper.
Speaking of moms, we have a couple of them on their way in just a day or so. We're excited for the additional visitors, of course, and we're quite pleased with ourselves that we managed to go a whole week just with the two of us in charge of Tyler, even with me working. Fantastic work, all. Tyler continues to be pretty much the best sleeper in the whole world. He wakes up 2 or sometimes just once at night, and he usually sleeps for 10 or 11 hours around that. Yes, we know how lucky that makes us. It also makes me nervous to consider another kid. What are *real* babies like? This one feels like we are cheating!
Tyler is starting to interact more, too. Though in this case, 'more' really means 'at all'. He's started smiling at us! When he hasn't seen you in a while and you come over and give him a big smile...and wait a few minutes while he figures out why that particular blob looks familiar...he'll smile at you! He was all grins for a good half-hour yesterday during morning playtime. The heart melts!
Oh, and because we've been told to write this down, and I can't remember if I've blogged about it before: nicknames. We do call him T-rex every once in a while, especially wen he's nursing. Jessie's nipples are getting tougher, but the kid definitely has some serious mouth-grip going on. I can tell when he latches, Jessie starts to wince...and occasionally curse.
The more common nickname is 'Starfish.' When he startles, like all babies, all of the limbs go out in every direction, even when he's asleep, sometimes. He tends to startle at a lot of things, from sudden noises to the sound of daddy laughing. I laugh loud, anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you that. Jessie sometimes calls him 'startlefish'.
Most common, though, is still 'Baby Tyler.' I tend to make up songs for him when I get home. Usually songs about how he is a baby and is so cute and likes to dance and occasionally tries to throw up on me. Different song every day. How come I can't make anything in my studio. I should be recording these.
It rained (finally) last week on one of the days I biked into work. Oh, I've been biking into work a lot. I like doing it, and it's just me going in, so that's been my exercise, most days. But it did rain one day, and Jess came out to get me. She insisted I was cold and miserable and needed a hot shower. I didn't, of course. It's just water, and the biking was keeping me plenty warm, although totally soaked, but she tends to project her worry for me. She's cute. Then on Friday my tire got flat at work and Jess had to come pick me up. We got some new tubes to replace the punctured one and then the three of us went out for Thai food. Tyler especially liked the Pad Se Ew.
Yes, I'm kidding. He just had formula. With coconut milk in it. No! I'm kidding again!
Speaking of coconut milk, I'm hoping to try and make some Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner today. Alton brown has a recipe, and I've got the whole spices to try out. Yum.
Oop, I hear the stirrings of a little baby. Ciao!
-N
Mother's day! Jess told me she wanted flowers for mothers day, then she told me she didn't. So Tyler and I are teaming up for a mothers day morning surprise. I made Jessie some breakfast biscuits and scones for whenever she wakes up. Tyler is doing the important work of staying asleep while Daddy bakes. The other part of my mothers day present, and weekends in general, is that I take over Tyler duties during the morning so Jess can sleep in as much as she wants. She still takes care of him at night during the weekend though. What a trooper.
Speaking of moms, we have a couple of them on their way in just a day or so. We're excited for the additional visitors, of course, and we're quite pleased with ourselves that we managed to go a whole week just with the two of us in charge of Tyler, even with me working. Fantastic work, all. Tyler continues to be pretty much the best sleeper in the whole world. He wakes up 2 or sometimes just once at night, and he usually sleeps for 10 or 11 hours around that. Yes, we know how lucky that makes us. It also makes me nervous to consider another kid. What are *real* babies like? This one feels like we are cheating!
Tyler is starting to interact more, too. Though in this case, 'more' really means 'at all'. He's started smiling at us! When he hasn't seen you in a while and you come over and give him a big smile...and wait a few minutes while he figures out why that particular blob looks familiar...he'll smile at you! He was all grins for a good half-hour yesterday during morning playtime. The heart melts!
Oh, and because we've been told to write this down, and I can't remember if I've blogged about it before: nicknames. We do call him T-rex every once in a while, especially wen he's nursing. Jessie's nipples are getting tougher, but the kid definitely has some serious mouth-grip going on. I can tell when he latches, Jessie starts to wince...and occasionally curse.
The more common nickname is 'Starfish.' When he startles, like all babies, all of the limbs go out in every direction, even when he's asleep, sometimes. He tends to startle at a lot of things, from sudden noises to the sound of daddy laughing. I laugh loud, anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you that. Jessie sometimes calls him 'startlefish'.
Most common, though, is still 'Baby Tyler.' I tend to make up songs for him when I get home. Usually songs about how he is a baby and is so cute and likes to dance and occasionally tries to throw up on me. Different song every day. How come I can't make anything in my studio. I should be recording these.
It rained (finally) last week on one of the days I biked into work. Oh, I've been biking into work a lot. I like doing it, and it's just me going in, so that's been my exercise, most days. But it did rain one day, and Jess came out to get me. She insisted I was cold and miserable and needed a hot shower. I didn't, of course. It's just water, and the biking was keeping me plenty warm, although totally soaked, but she tends to project her worry for me. She's cute. Then on Friday my tire got flat at work and Jess had to come pick me up. We got some new tubes to replace the punctured one and then the three of us went out for Thai food. Tyler especially liked the Pad Se Ew.
Yes, I'm kidding. He just had formula. With coconut milk in it. No! I'm kidding again!
Speaking of coconut milk, I'm hoping to try and make some Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner today. Alton brown has a recipe, and I've got the whole spices to try out. Yum.
Oop, I hear the stirrings of a little baby. Ciao!
-N
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Great pots! And plates!
We went out to the kiln last night to unload. This is really exciting, it's the one time you get to see the pieces that other people made, and it gives you a sense of what is possible in wood firing. The firing went really well (as mentioned), and our stuff turned out really great. With luck I'll share some photos soon, but a quick summary, I spent the first couple weeks making plates and casserole dishes- which turned out great. I found it is easier for me to improve if I just focus on one form at a time Of course, none of the plates are the same size- I have pyramid shaped stacks with plates from 13 inches to 6- but that just means you can decide exactly how much food you want and it can look just right on your plate.
The casseroles are pretty cool- I'm not sure why it took such a long time to decide to make these shapes (perhaps because lots of my earlier stuff leaked, but I think we solved that), but I am really happy with them. Now I wish I'd thought more about making standard sizes- but really I just want to bake something cheesy in them.
Later in the class I started throwing taller shapes- so lots of tall (ish) skinny (ish) vases. Awesome! The kiln was REALLY full, so by the time we arrived late Friday, we were making major efforts to stack things. Having shells (from Alaska!) meant we could stack pieces together and break them apart later, because the shell degrades into a salty skeleton of it's former self. Although- it turns out the the blue mussel shells vitrify, rather than disolve. In some cases, this is cool- but in other cases, the result is, well... I have a casserole dish that I stacked another piece across the top of- now it has 4 perpendicular glass daggers hanging off the lip. But I'm being dramatic- I'll just grind the sharp edges down and it will also make delicious cheesy things.
As we were packing up, and feeling good about ourselves, our teacher came around to ask if we were happy with out things came out. For me, I felt like this was one of my best yet- I didn't make much that I wasn't really happy with, and nothing really got ruined- so I felt like I had a good haul. And then he asked me what I was going to do when I moved away- how would I get by without the studio time? I was taken aback. I actually really worry about finding another studio that is as supportive and open as the Union Project. I can't imagine any private artist wanting to open their doors to me, or other wood kiln people wanting to make space for my lumpy pots. Hopefully there will be spaces for that in the future, but throwing pots has been one of my favorite new things to do since I came to graduate school, and I hope it isn't just a passing phase. My teacher said he wasn't sure if there were places like this in other cities, but he was pretty sure I was capable enough to help out with another wood kiln somewhere else. That was a relief. But I am still in denial about whether that may have been final trip to the kiln, or my final class at the UP.
The casseroles are pretty cool- I'm not sure why it took such a long time to decide to make these shapes (perhaps because lots of my earlier stuff leaked, but I think we solved that), but I am really happy with them. Now I wish I'd thought more about making standard sizes- but really I just want to bake something cheesy in them.
Later in the class I started throwing taller shapes- so lots of tall (ish) skinny (ish) vases. Awesome! The kiln was REALLY full, so by the time we arrived late Friday, we were making major efforts to stack things. Having shells (from Alaska!) meant we could stack pieces together and break them apart later, because the shell degrades into a salty skeleton of it's former self. Although- it turns out the the blue mussel shells vitrify, rather than disolve. In some cases, this is cool- but in other cases, the result is, well... I have a casserole dish that I stacked another piece across the top of- now it has 4 perpendicular glass daggers hanging off the lip. But I'm being dramatic- I'll just grind the sharp edges down and it will also make delicious cheesy things.
As we were packing up, and feeling good about ourselves, our teacher came around to ask if we were happy with out things came out. For me, I felt like this was one of my best yet- I didn't make much that I wasn't really happy with, and nothing really got ruined- so I felt like I had a good haul. And then he asked me what I was going to do when I moved away- how would I get by without the studio time? I was taken aback. I actually really worry about finding another studio that is as supportive and open as the Union Project. I can't imagine any private artist wanting to open their doors to me, or other wood kiln people wanting to make space for my lumpy pots. Hopefully there will be spaces for that in the future, but throwing pots has been one of my favorite new things to do since I came to graduate school, and I hope it isn't just a passing phase. My teacher said he wasn't sure if there were places like this in other cities, but he was pretty sure I was capable enough to help out with another wood kiln somewhere else. That was a relief. But I am still in denial about whether that may have been final trip to the kiln, or my final class at the UP.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Manuscript #2 submitted!
Not much really changes in my daily routine, which I recognize is getting a bit repetitive. But this week, breakthrough! My collaborators submitted manuscript #2- and I am the first author! There has been a lot of back and forth to get this story together, which draws heavily on the distinct expertise of 3 different labs. The bumps in the road will hopefully pay off when the Journal of Biomolecular Screening reviews is and LOVEs it.
Actually, I am not really holding out hope that this will be different than manuscript #1- I expect to get it back in another month and we'll make up our minds about what else to do to it. Weird though it seems, this is still what progress looks like.
The dissertation continues too. 140 pages, 269 references. I doubt the final product will be more than 200 pages, I feel like most of it has been committed to paper by now. I continue to feel intermittently very clever and very foolish about the experiments we've done and the results we've gotten. 57 days left until my defense... I gave Dr. Boss the first draft of a chapter- we'll see if I am as close to on track as I feel.
In other news, we fired the wood kiln over the weekend. This was WAY less work because there were twice the people we usually have around. This also means there was WAY more food too- double awesome. The weather was great too. The firing went very quickly, and we got home quite early on Sunday. We crack it open Wednesday- I'm excited to see what we get. I made LOTS of plates this time, and baking dishes. Both are relatively new forms for me, with luck they look great. No pictures this time, I guess it is starting to feel pretty routine. Our teacher was a little ill, so we kept sending him away to sleep while we took charge of things. It's nice to know what you are doing.
Actually, I am not really holding out hope that this will be different than manuscript #1- I expect to get it back in another month and we'll make up our minds about what else to do to it. Weird though it seems, this is still what progress looks like.
The dissertation continues too. 140 pages, 269 references. I doubt the final product will be more than 200 pages, I feel like most of it has been committed to paper by now. I continue to feel intermittently very clever and very foolish about the experiments we've done and the results we've gotten. 57 days left until my defense... I gave Dr. Boss the first draft of a chapter- we'll see if I am as close to on track as I feel.
In other news, we fired the wood kiln over the weekend. This was WAY less work because there were twice the people we usually have around. This also means there was WAY more food too- double awesome. The weather was great too. The firing went very quickly, and we got home quite early on Sunday. We crack it open Wednesday- I'm excited to see what we get. I made LOTS of plates this time, and baking dishes. Both are relatively new forms for me, with luck they look great. No pictures this time, I guess it is starting to feel pretty routine. Our teacher was a little ill, so we kept sending him away to sleep while we took charge of things. It's nice to know what you are doing.
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