Birthday Recap

The birthday was a good one this year!  

The celebration started by going to bed early because I had a bad sore throat.  We got up early to help a friend move and I was already starting to lose my voice.  

On the way home Husband took me to the garden store to pick out my presents!  I got four clematises that I planted around the pergola.  Eventually they will climb all over it and give as a nice shaded retreat in our backyard!

Mother came to visit and took us out to dinner.  It was a quiet dinner because I couldn't really talk, but they're good at reading hand motions!  Dinner was at Cheesecake factory, nothing to special, but the lemon raspberry cheesecake was absolutely wonderful!  

{image via}

When we got home we found out that Husband had snuck out behind our backs and got me another little present...an expansion to one of my favorite boar games Ticket to Ride.  {I love Husband!}

Sunday {Birthday} morning I spent some much need rest in the hammock under out pergola.  It was heavenly, but I had to go in and clean the house for company later in the day.

Yes I cleaned the house for my birthday.  And you would too if Grandma-in-Law was coming to visit.  We're talking the old school of thought, passive aggressive, immaculate cleaner, I can hold a grudge with the best of them Grandma.  Yes she still has a carpet rack and will use it!  The thing is that she's legally blind, but can see more than she lets anyone else know.  So I cleaned and scrubbed and Lord knows vacuumed out all of the footsteps, then locked the dogs out in the yard to keep it that way until they arrived!

The In-Laws took me to dinner at Buca di Beppos.  I thought it was a safe choice because I know Grandma-in-Law likes Italian, but hates new places.  {I was not choosing Applebees, her favorite, for my birthday dinner just to make her happy!}  Well it turns out she didn't much like Buca's either...Oh well.

After everyone left I fell asleep.  My voice was pretty much gone, I was worn out, and I really wanted to sleep.  

It was a pretty good day considering I was sick, but I would have liked it if my Dad would have called.  He always forgets things like birthdays.  Oh well, he'll remember in the next couple of days and give me a call then.

And amazingly I didn't take one picture the entire weekend!  Highly unusual...

How was everyone else's weekend?

Its The Golden Bithday!

Today is my birthday!!!

But its not just any birthday.  Its the golden birthday!  I'm now 26 years old on the 26th day!  It only happens once. 

And how am I celebrating?

Well right now I'm sitting in the hamock in our back yard, watching the puppies play, listening to the bird song, waiting for everyone else to wake up, and saying a little hello ot all of you!

{This morning's perfect setting almost makes up for the fact that I think I have laringitous, with a sore throat and lack of a voice}

I wish you all a happy Sunday and you'd excuse this birthday girl, I'm going to enjoy a little of this...

The Anti-social Slacker

Yep, that's what I've been the last week.  I just haven't felt like writing anything, but I think that the mood has pasted!  

I wanted to give you all a little recap of my weekend and what I have neglected to share...

I had the most amazing Saturday this past weekend!  A friend and I went to a coffee held by Side-by-Side for the wives of doctors and dentists.  All of the women were so nice and helpful!  The topic for discussion was Supporting our Husbands through the Hard Times.  The topic is so important because there will be hard times.  There's no point in denying it, its not easy being married to a med-student or a physician.  There are lost of long night and special occasions spent apart and its hard to be the wife and never be upset or feel neglected.  My friend is going to have a rough year next year living apart from her husband.  All of the ladies were great about offering her support!  

After the coffee we went for a little shopping and gelato!  I had so much fun!

Sunday I started to feel really overwhelmed with all of the things that I have going on.  The feeling has just started to go away, but Sunday I was so tired and worn out.  Don't you just hate it when things seem like they have buried you?  Well I'm beginning to see the light. {literally...the sun its out today and it is gorgeous!}

Image by: Millie Holloman

This is what I wish I was doing right now!

Today I had to attend a radiation safety meeting.  Doesn't it sound like fun?  Yeah, it wasn't.  This training is for the new lab that I have been in now for like a month.  I should be done in that lab soon and I am just now getting this training to allow me to use the x-ray diffraction instrument.  I can't believe that I had to postpone running samples because of this training.  But the best part was the location to I had to go to for the 1 hour training/you-don't-need-to-be-scared-of-it course.  It was at the corporate building...I had to take the shuttle to get there.  And the 'building' didn't even exist on the first map that I had!  

The 'building' was really just a space in between 2 other that was enclosed.  {does that really count as a new building?} It was so difficult to find with all of the meandering hallways, not so level floors, stairs to no where, and lack of directional signs.  Even Boss Man said he would probably get lost trying to find it!  But I'm proud to say that I did find my way there {and back!} and only had to ask for a direction once!  HA take that impossible to navigate corporate building complex! Hahahah

After that victory I'm feeling pretty good about myself!  We'll see how the night turns out!  

I'm headed to Wives's Book Club tonight and we're talking about female rivalry in relationships.  Should be interesting!  Do you have any rivalry stories that involve relationships between your girlfriends and/or spouses?

I'm really liking this book.  Last week we had some great discussion.  I hope tonight does not disappoint!

Are you Drinking TEA or the Kool-Aid

Yesterday, April 15th, tax day...Did you wait till the last minute or get yours done early?

I was really excited to attend the local TEA Party!  I brought my camera, held up my sign, and joined in the fun.  I met some really nice people and, when I asked them nicely, everyone let me take their picture {I should have them developed and post some soon!}.  

It was really nice to see all of the different types of people there together.  There were middle class families, college students, veterans, people in suits that just walked down from work.  There were tattoos, dreadlocks, piercings, dogs, kids, cameras and lots of hilarious signs!  There were not any 'extremists' shouting, it was wonderful gathering.  In all it was estimated that there were about 3,000 people that showed up!  

With all of those people in the middle of downtown I was surprised at the little news coverage.  I couldn't even find a story covering it on the local newspaper website.  And when I did finally find a story on it, the story turned into a critizism of the environmental impact of the tea that was thrown into the river.  And it was not limited to the local media.  Did any of you see the coverage by CNN?  Journalism really is dead...

After talking with several people about the TEA Party I realized that most people don't really understand what the protest was and why it was needed.  So here is my humble explanation for you...

The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation without representation.  This Tea Party was not a protest against paying taxes.  Most of the people there probably pay their takes in full and on time.  I don't have a problem with paying taxes.  Taxes are essential for the function of our country and provides for us a military, police force, fire protection, education, etc.  The problem is that they people that we voted into office are not represtening their constituents and spending without restraint!  The spending has been done by both parties, but it needs to stop! 

So I'm really happy that people are starting to make their voices heard together in such a wonderful way and that I got to voice my own opinions, plus take some {hopefully} really good pictures too!  I even had a little friendly 'run in' with the state police...More on that later when I get the picture that goes with the story!

I hope you all get involved with your local movements!  

An Image for Today - Wednesday

Twisted...

Image by: Jennifer

Taken 15 February 2009

Now that have have finished Nephew Calendula's pictures I can concentrate what little free time I have on my personal pictures.  I'll post a few every now and then, but its probably going to  take a long time to get through all of them!  I hope you like them!

In the mean time...

So I've been writing a lot about how many hours I have been working and everything.  Well I just had a very good meeting with Boss Man about my career goals.  It went really well!  We'll see where it all goes from here!  I have the best bosses in the entire world!

{On that note, I may or may not be bribing the lab group with chocolate cake...mint chocolate to be exact!  And I must say its really good!}

After all of this good news today I think I'm going to do something fun and completely out of my norm after work...I'm going to the local TEA PARTY!  And I'm bringing my camera!  I hope I get some good shots and add myself to the group of those speaking out! 

This should be fun!  Are any of you going too?

Without Further Ado...

I have finally finished processing the pictures that I took of my Nephew Calendula's baptism!  Its been really hard getting to them after coming home from working 10 plus hours EVERY day that last couple of weeks, but I think they turned out really good!

So without further ado...

Nephew Calendula's Baptism

So, what do you think? Itsn't he just the cutest?!

This weekend was a lot of fun! The Boy came to visit and the guys played video games alll weekend! I mean they would get up around 9 and stay up and play until about 4 am. The only breaks they took were to eat...And man did we eat!

I made some beef pitas and my amazing lasagna!

The pitas were really easy - cut the beef into strips and marinade in Kraft Greek dressing, the brown and put in a pita with humus, lettuce and feta cheese!

I wish I could give you all my lasagna recipe! But, alas, I don't make it from a recipe and it changes every time! I can tell you that I make a tomato soup bases meat sauce and a cheesy bechmeal sauce and layer it with lots of motzarella!

Easter was a laid back holiday this year. We didn't see any family and we made it a day together. And what was for dinner after all of the great food this weekend? Tacos! Yep, we have tacos for Easter! It was fun, not stressful and 100% focused in the right direction...perfect.

I hope you all had a great holiday!

What is This Tag?

Megs over at Perfectly Imperfect tagged me with a fun one! 

Unfortunately to play, you have to abide by some rules. I do despise rules! But I do love being tagged so duh, I'm playing.

Rules:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.

So here's my picture...

I don't think that its to terrible.  This is me at work.  You have to forgive the angle...I am sitting in some else cube while they are on leave and I'm in the new lab {she has A LOT of personal things and I didn't want to capture any of it} and I can't risk accidentally snapping a shot of company intellectual property.  So you get a pretty picture of the ceiling!

This is me all bundled up for the coldness in this new lab...yeah its 66 degrees in here! 

I'm going to pass this on to:

jlc of French Kiss

Sara of Unwrap Life

That Girl

Mrs. Priss

Miss Lemonade

Have fun!

Obsess Much?

Just a little insight into me...

Have you seen the show Scrubs?  There was one episode guest starring Michael J Fox {season 3, episode 59} who played a brilliant Surgeon with obsessive compulsive personality disorder.  In the episode he would spend hours washing his hands because they were not clean enough and he had follow his mind's rule for how it was done.  If he didn't do it right it would cause him significant stress.

Well that's me...sort of.

I know I have it {not clinically diagnosed...its obvious}, but I live with it and for the most part it doesn't interfere with my day to day life.  The only thing that it really causes is Husband's annoyance.  

I have a tendency to constantly click and rub things between my fingers.  I am not aloud to hold the remote.  I play with the buttons and it drives Husband mad with the constant tiny noise and movement.

While I'm typing at work, if my right fingers have hits more keys than my left I will type a few words with ONLY my left hand.

Its the little things really.

Why do I tell you this?  Because last night I had a huge Manic OCD episode.  I have never had such a problem before.  Thank God for Husband because if it wasn't for him I would have been up cleaning {just the kitchen island} the entire night.

I had just scrubbed the island clean {because I had anxiety about it} before we went to been and I thought that it was over.  It wasn't.  What was just about the island that wasn't clean enough turned into sheets that weren't straight and perfectly flat on the bed.

I knew it didn't matter.  I couldn't stop thinking about fixing it.  I finally feel asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Husband always jokes that I have OCD and yet our house is never clean {there are always papers and shoes all over the place}.  This may seem odd, but its how I cope.

Yes I would love to have an organized house with straight clean modern lines.  Its a style I adore, but I also know its not possible.  I would obsess.

So if you would see my house, it always looks slightly unkempt.  There are piles of papers on the tables.  Probably a stack of dishes to be scrubbed {scrubbing tends to stress me out!}.  Dog toys strung all over the floor.

It keeps me sane.  If there is no order it is ok and is supposed to be like that.  If everything has a home it better be there and will be straighten repeatedly.  

I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into the craziness that is my mind.  We're all a little crazy right?  Its what makes us all unique right?  At least I choose to believe so...

Image by: Justin Lyon for the Mammoth Men

How Many Times Does That Happen?

How many times does it actually happen that the first half of the week goes really well?

In all honesty, Monday through Wednesday are usually dragging for me and I'm looking forward to the end and the weekend.  Good news and events almost always happen in the later part of the week.  Is it true for you too?

Well this week, dispite the FREEZING weather, has been awesome!  

The good news - The robot at work did not cooperate well last week, but has been working perfectly and has finished my experiment.  I'm crossing my fingers that it continues to be so wonderful while I work up and run my analysis!  {Do you hear me robot?  I'm loving you right now, will you return the favor?}

I have also been really productive!  I have organized and finished all of the samples I had to run in my new lab {all 19 of them!}, completed nearly all of the notebook entries for samples in BOTH labs, and had time at home to process some more of the pictures I took of my nephew!  

However, last night, not so productive.  Neither of us got home until 5:30! Then we spent way to long at the gym.  I didn't even start making dinner until 8:30.  and then we went to bed...we lead such fun and exciting lives!

If the beginning of the week wasn't good enough, the end keeps sounding better and better! 

The Boy {husband's best friend from elementary school} is coming to visit Thursday to Sunday!  I love to have him visit!  I just wish that his fiance {The Girl} could come too!  I absolutely love her and couldn't be more thrilled that they are getting married in June!

This weekend promises to be filled with...

• Good food - I can practice ANY recipe on the guys and they will love it.  And if they don't I am getting The Boy his very own box of cereal, which will probably be gone before he leaves!

• Lots of video games - Its what they do.  And that means that I will get lots of naps because video game gun fire at 10,000 desibles = me falling asleep for some reason.

• Plenty of time for me to get things done without having to make sure Husband is entertained.  I have mentioned it before...he is sooo ADD.

And because I love their pictures, I'll leave you with one from their engagement session we had last year...

Image by: Jennifer

Don't You Want One? I Know You Do!

Hey everyone!  Help a girl out!

Do you know anyone who would like to adopt a puppy {ok more like a fully trained dog}?

My bff is moving back to closer-to-home, which is great!, but they can't find any places to rent that will let them bring both of their dogs :(

They have 2 trained labs...Max and Molly

Please email me if you know of anyone who might want to adopt one of these adorable little ones!  We really don't them to have to surrender them to a shelter...

pour.lamour.de {at} gmail {dot} com

Thanks for all of your help!

Its so Wonderful

I'm honored!  Thanks go out to Sara from Unwrap Life agging me in her Kreativ Blogger Award!

  

The rules...

List seven things that I love.

Pass the award on to seven bloggers that I love

Shouldn't be to hard right?  After all this is Pour l'amour de...{For the love of...}.  

1.  Our Little Family

Husand is at school studying for his block of examines tomorrow and I am home with the puppies, The Fluffy One and The Little One.  Its a small little family, but it is perfect!  It will eventually expand, but not anytime in the near future.    It is never a dull moment with the pups.  As an example here's a little video clip of the mood that they are in this morning...

2.  Reading

I love to escape into the world of a book, if only for a few pages at a time.  Right now I am reading 3 different books and have a list of about 30 that I want to get to soon!  I didn't love to read until Husband came along.  He reads A LOT.  He will go through 3 books in one weekend and has a complex that he must own the books that he reads so that he can reread them again and again {he could seriously read the words of the page}.  Its because of him that I have developed this love!  If you're wondering the books that I've read or are on my list to read click on the like in the menu above {or here}.  I'm working on populating the list now!

Just one of your many bookshelves

3.  Science

I am admit it I am  nerd!  Science fasinates me!  Its always changing and moving, trying to understand the world and how it works!  

4.  Photography

My artistic outlet.  I have mentioned before how I need to have a balance between science and the arts in my life to be happy and this is how I do it...

Image by: Jennifer

5.  Sewing

Another artistic outlet that I could spend way to much time a money working on.  I love to design and make my own clothes.  I just takes to much time to actualy make the outfits and time is something that I don't have a lot of.  I learned from my Grandmother, who learned from her mother...This love has led me to do some pretty amazing things.  My Grandmother taught me to sew {correctly} when I made my senior prom dress for a class project.  She was there guiding my hands as I made my wedding dress.  

{For source of images please contact me}

I love my Grandmother for all the love, help and guidance she has given me!

6.  Calla Lilies

They are so beautiful!  They have clean lines and an elegant flower.  

Image by: Robert Mapplethorpe

7.  My Ancestors

{Yes I'm a nerd I have already established this}  

My Great Grandparents came here from Germany for a brighter future.  They did not have a great education, but opened a tavern to support they're family.  My Grandfather could not go to school and stayed home to run the family business and here I am.  A third generation from imigrants with a Masters in Chemistry and working in pharmaceuical reseach!  My ancestor's hard work have made all of it possible and proves that America is the land of opportunities!  

So that you have it.  Seven things that I love.  

I am passing this wonderful award on to:

Ashley from According to Ashley

Megs from Perfectly Imperfect

Angela Darling from 20-Something Dreams

Jessica Lynn from Tying the Knot and Penned and Pretty

Julie from Disgruntled Julie

jlc from French Kiss

Newlywed Hostess from Newlywed Hostess

Its Time to Celebrate!

It is officially April and no longer April Fool's Day!

And what does that mean?...

Its my birthday month!!!!

I have the next 25 days to celebrate, tell everyone the things that I absolutely 'need' without seeming greedy and be all smiles all of the time!  

I have compiled my birthday list and am circulating it to everyone that will consider getting me a gift.  Its very short this year...

Nikon D90 DSLR

It would definitely take my photography to the next level {aka digital!}

It is the only thing on my list and I have asked everyone to go in together.  Its expensive, really expensive, but I've been saving for it for a long time and with the help of birthday money I think I can finally buy it!

I have also done a few things around here for the special occasion!  Some have you might have notice, but if you haven't - 

click over from your viewer and see it now!

I have a whole new layout!  There are still a few chinks to work out and I would love suggestions on what would make it better so don't forget to leave me some comment love!  I did it entirely myself so it will never be perfect and it will continue to evolve, but I'm proud of myself for learning enough HTML code to get it done!

I glad its April.  So many good things happen this month besides by birthday - April showers, the trees start to leaf, the warmer air starts to stay.  I couldn't ask for a better month to celebrate!

I Have No Sanity Left!

I came into work today {to my regular lab} expecting to do 4 experiments - the 2 drug salts at 2 temperatures each.  It should take little over 6 hours.

Boss Man informs me {a little late I might add} that he would really like me to run the drug free base too - another 2 drugs at 2 temperatures each.  That means that my 6 hours of experiments just turned into 12 hours...{fyi I get locked out of the lab at 6 pm because I'm 'only a contractor' and I didn't get here until 7 this morning! = not enough time to run them all}

Did I mention before that these samples have a rush put on them?  Yeah, the new star drug is important.  

And I have to be back in the new lab tomorrow because they have samples for me that have a rush on them too!  

So I set up the robot to run over night, which involved writing a new protocol that I really hope works!  I'm crossing my fingers that when I get home from Wives's Book Club tonight my precious plates are still running {they won't be done until well over midnight} and the robot is not sitting in the dark alone beeping in agony that I forgot a protocol.

Now I have 2 hours to sit here and babysit the robot/read the chapter for book club tonight.  

This is way to stress full to be paid hourly on a contractor's status!  I mean seriously - I'm working from home until midnight tonight!

And because it makes me happy to look at their work...

Image by: bobbi + mike

I promise to get back to the normal sanity level soon!  Tomorrow hopefully I'll find the time to do a much better post, including a tag from the wonderful Sara and a update on how the robot did!