So I am currently one of two people at the lab today. The person I need help from isn't here so I am unable to do any of the work I had planned. I think I may just head home and try again tomorrow. I do need to get all the stuff i brought home organized and put away. My clothes are trying to take over my side of the room.

Back to work!!

Why did I put exclamation points after that? It's not exciting.

Anyway, I am heading back to IC today b/c I have a ton I need to get done at the lab ASAP and I told my PI I was aiming to have it all done by Friday. The problem is I don't know what I am doing. I don't know the technique I need to used to analyze my samples. I do like that I will be learning something new, but I am not sure that anyone is going to be in the lab to help me. I have a protocol for it so maybe I can figure it out between that and what I can find online.

I am looking forward to Josh opening the rest of his Christmas gifts from me. I kinda spoiled him, but I am ok with that. I let him open one of the smaller gifts early because it made the bottling process a lot easier last week.

I have been feeling very crafty lately. There are so many projects, mostly knitting and crocheting, that I want to do. I am also thinking about buying a sewing machine. I haven't done any sewing for years and I am not sure I really remember how, and I don't think I was very good because I remember my mom ripping out every seam I had sewn. I know it would be a good skill to have and I kind of want to make myself a fabric case similar to this one. I may end up buying one anyway since it will take me quite awhile before I can make anything like that. I am als thinking about making one of these for my kitchen. I want to put it on the wall above my stove since I don't have the counter space for my crock of utensils.

I better start packing up my stuff so I can get out of here!

I am still tired. I slept about a normal amount last night, but it wasn't enough.

Today we went to Ames to spend a little time with my dad and grandpa and exchange gifts. They each thoughtfully gave us some cash and my grandpa changed this up and gave us each a framed picture of himself. I think I will put it on my mantle. It was the usual awkward conversations and silence. At least Lex and I had each other to carry on a conversation with. My grandpa proudly told us about how he cooks for himself and eats very little meat. For lunch Hamburger Helper, Suddenly Salad and formerly frozen Dutch apple pie were consumed.

I used to be a total daddy's girl. I did tae kwon do with him, rode RAGBRAI with him, and watched sci-fi with him. Ever since the divorce it has been different. He turned out to not be the person I thought he was. I had suspected some things about him and much of what I suspected was confirmed. I also learned a lot about him that I haven't been able to put aside. He has changed a lot over the last 5 years or so and I don't know how to deal with him. He was awful to my mom much of their marriage and he hid a lot of what he did from us. I won't go into the details, but he really disappointed me and my sister. His latest weirdness, a month-long trip to China is weird mostly because he is going to meet his Chinese friend, who is a woman he met online somehow.

Spending time with him now is not easy. Lex and I spend a lot more time with our mom than our dad. Part of it is because she still lives in the house we grew up in, but the main reason is him. We both feel guilty that we don't spend more time with him and our grandpa, but it is so uncomfortable and not enjoyable.

I don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to spend time with him, but I know I should. I don't make time for him, but I know I should.

I am looking forward to sleeping like a normal person again. I was up at 4am yesterday to take my mom to the hospital in Ames for her foot surgery. Lex woke me up at 2:45am this morning for my turn icing my mom's foot every hour. I think I am going to put on the coffee soon and make some blueberry muffins from a mix I found in my mom's pantry.

I have spent my time making my mom's computer run a little better and downloading Firefox for her and giving it a X-mas theme. The toolbar is snowing!

Now I need to entertain myself while everyone is still asleep. Maybe I will figure out what to make for dinner. I am kinda thinking beef stew would be good.

I think I have all my Christmas presents ready except for one more meal to make for my mom. I will be making it tonight. I am almost out of freezer space. I still may make a few batches of cookie dough to freeze and slice into ready-to-bake pieces. I am thinking chocolate chip, molasses, sugar and possibly something else.

I need to figure out how to be productive tomorrow in the lab. A lot of what I need to do will take a couple of days in a row so I can't really get started tomorrow. I hate having nothing to do at the lab.

I keep wanting to buy books. I don't expect to get any for Christmas so I should be safe with any I buy, but I really don't need any more books. I have a whole library at my disposal! I may need to stop at the library before I head to Eldora tomorrow so I have something else to read. I may check-out some books by Cornelia Funke. I may also see if I can find any good knitting or crocheting books to take with me so I can improve my mad knitting and crocheting skills.

stitchymcyarnpants.com

stitchymcyarnpants.com

Soooo tired...

I have been so tired lately. During the last two weeks it has been so hard for me to get out of bed in the morning. I am not sure if the snooze button is my friend or my enemy. Part of it is due to how dark it is when I get up. I must be fighting off a cold or something because I am not really sleeping any less than I usually do. There have been a few nights when I stayed up a little late reading, but that was mostly on the weekends.

I have a feeling the weekend isn't going to be exactly restful. I have a few more Christmas gifts to make. I still need to make several of the re-heatable dinners I am giving my mom to help her while she is recovering from foot surgery. I am also making her a pair of socks to wear when she can wear normal shoes again. They are socks you can wear with flip-flops, since she does that anyway. I am also going to try to finish a hexagon motif blanket I have been working on, off and on, since February. I don't think I have a whole lot left to do. I am also going to make Lexsea a headband/earband thingy since she lost her last one and I found a cute pattern on Knitty I want to try. The problem is I have not been exactly motivated to make anything lately. I think it's because I feel I need to get them done and I prefer to make things just for fun. Not that it isn't fun to see someone I care about enjoy and use something I made for them, it's just hard to get motivated right now because I have been so tired and headache prone.

A guy in the lab completed his written thesis a couple weeks ago and gave his thesis defense yesterday. I think I read his 100+ page written thesis 3-4 times looking for typos and doing some re-wording. Apparently it paid off since one of his thesis advisers came up to him the other day to tell him his thesis was well written.

Heee! So cute!

Redshirt Knitting - Erika’s Knitting Blog » Tree Sweater

List of unusual deaths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of unusual deaths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia