Cool. A good friend of mine and ex-coworker lives here:


http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&...00942&t=h&z=17

Ooh! Ooh! Me too! Me too! Mom's coming in from Cali on Thurs and we're going to Estes for the Scottish Festival (Princess is coming too.) Got a cabin on the river, wine in the fridge, bagpipes by the lake - who could ask for more?

Happy weekend everyone!!!

Sooo. Nice.

Gets cold in the winter though. I remember as I grew up in Lewiston and they were talking about how cold it was on the news, the weatherman would always point to the map over there and chuckle about how it may be freezing where we are, but at least we aren't over there in the mountains like those poor saps.

Yea, this is their frist season up there, his wife works at Maine Medical he works at the hospital up in Houlton on the border with Canada. The summer and fall are nice but the winter is a bitch. He bought a front loader tractor to get them to the road in the winter. Their house is one of those right on the water and converted summer place into a four season home. My wife's parents were from Maine and she was raised in Bangor. After a tour in Hawaii we could never live where it snows again. There is just no reason for the aggravation.

Raspberries in dark chocolate = me super happy!

My son's smile.

It's raining. The flowers are getting a deep soak. My fireplace is on making it a very cozy morning.

My cough is gone, no swine flu or whooping cough (I've always suspected asthma but I got tested about 2 years ago when I was unable to breathe and my throat/chest tightened on campus multiple times, and I don't have it apparently)

Bf is officially signed to the marine corps now, he'll leave for boot camp in december.

We have a new family member (I know I'm not married yet, shutup) adorable baby boy born a month early, but healthy and 6lbs. :)

Edit: That totally makes it sound like it's my kid, so for the record, NOT my kid. Bf's new nephew.

That is happy news, Classic. :)

I was so hoping it was your kid, Razz! That's it. We need a DNA test.

It's 9.30am and Max has already had 300mls AND his breakfast with minimal fuss.

Today is a good day. :)

Finally Friday.

Not only is it Friday, after work I'm heading up to Swan Crest to camp and then run in the morning. 57 km of heaven and hell tomorrow.

Sitting next to Brianna in British Lit class. :D

Cool as fuck Juni:) How is Bri? Haven't seen her about the place lately, she doin ok?

What's making me happy is that this morning I woke without that heavy, not wanting to face the day feeling. Partly because I bottomed out yesterday ( I hope) and partly because I had some good news: looks like Dad's money will come through in the next week. That'll help with at least two of the things that have been getting to me and providing a hook for depression. Were he still alive, I know he'd be helping me out right now, because I know he really wanted me to be able to keep going in academia. So, it feels a little like that's what's happening. Dad's helping me through my MA.

Good for you, Dana. I'm glad things are looking better.

Thanx Dar:)

Today I paid off the last medical bill for my hysterectomy; yay me!

yey you:)

Took Thor to his evaluation skate for Hockey today ...got free tickets the Plymouth Whalers first home game :D We are really getting into the sport and the Whalers are small enough to be accessible and big enough to be professional. Plus Thor is now playing on the same ice as them, so it's double cool for him. Tomorrow he skates on that very rink! :lol:

The football team the girl cheers for won again tonight, due almost entirely to her spirited jumping about I'm sure. 46-0

They won 40-0 last week...

Talk about defense......
Playing against them must be like playing chess with JR Casablanca.

I watched fireworks tonight. Now this is something that will generally make me happy. The fact that I was able to do it by walking across my parking lot made it all the better. Trees block the view from my porch.

Missing out on the traffic jam at the end of the show is excellent.

Watching other people in the traffic jam is just icing on the cake...

Making me happy today is the lovely weather; fresh, clean breeze, blue sky with just a few fluffy clouds, early spring sunshine, and the way it brings out all the beautiful people and causes them to frolic about in relatively little clothing.
Life is good.

Wife and I are going to see Huey Lewis and the News tonight in concert! :thumb:

I just got a BlackBerry (loving the calendar/Google sync function), am signed up for art classes, and it finally rained here. I have happiness enough that I have some to spare - here ya go, one good dollop each. Take 2 if you need 'em.

We call em Crackberry's, cause it is like Crack when you get one, you can't stop. :D

Yesterday.
(page 7 onwards)

Awesome day Sundae. I am green with envy *grins* and you are looking damn fine too!

I have a new 20 min commute to work! (vs 50min before move). Still getting used to the new house/housemates though, a bit uncomfortable.
We've been gettin a good amount of rain and things at work have slowed down. I'm almost half-way through the week and I have 2 play critiques I need to write and 2 upcoming tests, but I'm not freaking out. So I guess what is making me happy today isn't any 1 thing, just that I don't feel a huge amount of stress right now (for a change).

I closed on my contract for the next three years of work. Wo hoo.

Bri knows about Cader Idris.
Somewhere more to go when our shipsies come in.
With Dani & Shawnee of course.

Oh and Mum laughed immoderately at her Fuck Cancer card.
I told her it was from all you too.

congrats Merc! Thats great. God only knows what we all would have had to put up with if you were home ALL DAY with nothing to do - heh heh heh.

Tard! :D

Heading out of town for our first major tournament of the year! WooHoo! Of course, Lil Lookout woke up this morning unable to breath because of his allergies...

I just ordered a new Big Finish Doctor Who audioplay :) - Patient Zero

I am sooo excited. Tragic huh? But I've been waiting for this for nearly two months! The last play finished on a cliffhanger, with a month to wait til the next one in the story arc...then when it was released, I was broke.

It's a Colin Baker one. He is a brilliant audio actor. Really understands the medium. Always liked his tv doctor as well, though I know many didn't.

What's brilliant about this one is that the cliffhanger is less a plot thing than a character thing. His companion, Charley is travelling with him without letting on that she has already travelled with his later 8th incarnation (lots of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, web of time stuff with an epic cross-species romance thrown in for good measure) and he's been growing more and more suspicious of her. the last one ended with him giving an ultimatum and demanding to know exactly who she is.

...yes I know...it's not exactly winning the lottery or buying a new car...but I am doing a happy dance right now, 'cause I am going to download it and listen to it tonight Har!

More fireworks, unexpected today ... apparently the township decided to have today as the rain date for part of last weekend's funfair. I saw the moonbounce and heard the band playing as I came home this evening. What I didn't expect was fireworks. When I heard the first bangs I ran out onto my porch, which turned out to be the perfect viewing point. It was most excellent.

And momwolf is out of the hospital.

Yeah for the wolf family!

Held my yard sale despite not really wanting to and wimping out last night on the prep. made a little cash, shifted a litttle stuff and one big stuff. Thor had a good first hockey practice by all accounts. Despite last minute rush (almost doubling takings from small junk)finished packing yard sale away in time for family to go to watch Plymouth Whalers Hockey game (tix free through Thor hockey). Our row of seats won free pizza, game tied and went into overtime -we won. Got home, house not on fire or burglarized.

a great day :) Let's do it over tomorrow..... :lol: (well everything except the whaler's game and add a soccer game...heehee)

Tomorrow, I'll get to see my first Twin Valley football game, where Ippy is cheering. The weather was absolutely PERFECT here today, and i heard tomorrow was to be the same. Crisp, clear, bright and sparkly.

We had a great night's observing with my Astronomy club...

We saw the Black Brant XII Sounding Rocket carrying the CARE experiment launch from Wallops (about 170 miles away!) and saw a beautiful comet-like tail that we think was the 4th stage separation.

Then we saw the Hubble telescope, crossing from Scorpio to Sagittarius. About 3rd mag, but still easily visible.

Then we saw an Iridium flare. That was bright! Brightest thing in the sky, far brighter than Jupiter.

Next, the ISS, low on the horizon just below the Big Dipper.

And a few other things while we were waiting (Jupiter, the Ring Nebula, random satellites and shooting stars). Columbia usually has fairly polluted skies, but this was a great night!

We have one guy who lives for occultations, and there was a possible tonight. He tried to set up in time, but missed the window. Oh well, you can't have everything!

This is an awsome result for one night!

I've been wanting to see a rocket launch for years. I almost saw one in Japan but it was resheduled - they had a gizmo in the satellite in backwards and needed to fix it. :( Check - bright, brief, beautiful. Check - pretty big, I saw it about 70 deg above horizon.Have you seen a total solar eclipse? Totally awesome.


[has nerd-crush on Pie].

Saw an annular eclipse back in . . . '94? Ah, yes, May 10, 1994. I was grateful to be working in an optics lab at the time; made it easier to get the right set of ND filters for viewing. Never had the pleasure of a total, tho.

We were totally psyched to see the launch. Given our distance from it, we didn't expect to see it at all, but there it was, looking like a roman candle from far away. A BIG honkin' roman candle! At the time, I wondered how many UFO sightings would be reported from the launch.
One of the observing sites for the NL cloud was Bermuda, so it was designed to be seen from far away. Send out the Batsignal! :tinfoil:

I read about that launch the next day. I wish I had known about it. If we could figure out a way to make it work, we would have watched.

Good for you! That should be worth another 13,000 posts. :lol2:

Got this link from Mr. Occultation:


...and a still pic:

We're back from our first major tournament of the year. The boys did ok as a whole, but Lil Lookout came out of our 4 games looking like a freaking wunderkid. I am obviously biased but other coaches and parents were impressed enough to be chatting with each other about his performances. He scored at least one in every game and even had a 4 minute hattrick in our 3rd rainsoaked game. The boy looked happy with himself.

Unfortunately, our final game was against an out of state team that absolutely, positively had to have provided fake birth certificates. I know a little about this game and how kids develop. I KNOW that there is no team of 8 year olds who all have that kind of technique. Everyone of their attacking players was better than LL, every one of their defenders better than our best defender.

-an 8 year old girl who is 5'6" and puts corner kicks on the backpost every single time with no variation?
-two 8 year old boys who exchange blind passes down the length of the field using only the outside of their boot without letting the ball touch the ground?
-an 8 year old boy who knows how to elevate for a header and fully extend his core to redirect a ball to goal?

No flippin way. I was really proud of my kids for holding the score to a 3-1 loss. They beat our biggest rivals 8-0 earlier in the morning.

Mebbee they got 'em on growth hormones.

Congrats to LL! :cheerldr:

This week is Fresher's Week. My induction meeting (and drinks and nibbles afterwards) is tomorrow :)

That's it. Now I have to get serious about research. I'm starting to feel a slight buzz of anticipation. An end to Summer's drifting.

We've got absolutely spectacular weather today and Max is just being so cute...and I'm finally starting to feel like things are almost back to right in my world again. :)

That's good to hear!

Glad to hear that Ali! I've been wondering about you. Is he eating better? Is he putting on any weight?

Great stuff Ali. Glad things are bedding down a bit:)

What's making me happy: I went off to uni on Tuesday for induction day: had a really nice time, felt totally reconnected with my goals. Came back buzzing with excitement at the whole research student thing. called at Mum's to grab the dog and she gave me a lift home: walked in to my house to find she'd tidied and cleaned (like sparkling) my kitchen and living room. She's spent the last couple of days chivvying me into action to do runs to the town dump with many black bags of old clothes, broken electricals etc. It's an ongoing project but already i feel lighter :P

Got back yesterday to discover she'd done my bathroom :P I've spent this morning bagging up more junk: just got back from dumping it.

It's been bothering me, the state of the house. But depression set in and I've found it increasingly difficult to tackle it. She's a gem.

On top of that, reconnecting with my study goals has kickstarted the project. I've done several hours work on it in the last couple of days, including starting my research blog (very handy as a way of organising your thoughts) and emailing my supervisor to arrange our first meeting. I've done a very basic (very basic) run down of my thoughts so far, breaking the overarching thesis title down into subquestions and briefly analysing some of the evidence I've identified, and at the same time identifying some stuff I am very shaky on (how to create a usable sample set for example).

I am very happy :)

Anniversary today. 16 excellent years.

Hey, congrats glatt!

Great news Glatt. You are beating the odds. Congrats.

Wow, congratulations to you and the Mrs., glatt!

Happy Anniversary to the glatts! :)

Thanks everyone! We're going out to an Italian place in Old Town Alexandria where we've never been before.

Congrats Glatt:)