The Plan Keeps Coming Up Again

I have a plan.

For the entire month of November I am going on a diet, which I have made up myself.  Because I don’t care to follow diets made up by random people I don’t know.  This one’s for me.

I tried it out for a week last month, and it was kinda hard, even for a week.  But I’m going to stick to it.  So far (all three days) it’s been going all right.

Here’s what I came up with.

Meal 1: Cereal

Meal 2: Yogurt

Meal 3: Soup, Sandwich or Salad

Meal 4: Fruit

Meal 5: Whatever (within reason)

Rules: 1) Meals can be in any order  2) I reserve the right to substitute lunch with leftovers so I don’t waste food (because food wasting is bad!)  3) It is required to drink at least 5 glasses of water per day 4) Diet soda and ice tea are allowed

That’s all I can come up with right now.  I’ll let you know how it goes at the end of the month.

I’d also like to start some sort of exercise routine but it’s hard trying to decide what will fit into my schedule in the long run.  The only exercise I really enjoy enough to stick with is yoga.  Right now, I could start going back to my gym for yoga class, but the time is so inconvenient.  The gym is on my way home from work which would be great if the class didn’t start at 7:30 pm.  I’m not staying at work that late.  That’s just craziness.  4 pm and I’m outta there.  And when I get home… it’s just so hard  SO HARD to go out again.  And then there’s Matt.  Now that I’m home during the week, I get to spend more time with him.  I don’t want to waste that time by driving half an hour just to go to yoga class and back.

I know, I know.  Excuses excuses.  I have a couple other options.  A new yoga class just started up at my apartment complex.  I could try that for now, at least until next semester at school starts and my schedule changes again.  There’s also $5 yoga at a studio right down the street from my office.  The time’s a bit inconvenient for that too, but I might try to work something out.

In other news, I’m participating in the month long writingfest otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.  And I haven’t written one speck of a novel yet.  Ok, that’s a lie.  I wrote a little bit last month because I was inspired for some reason.  But it seems that inspiration went out the window with the end of October, or the end of the field season in which I spent many hours on the road dreaming up what I’d write in aforementioned novel.  Thoughts, however, are no good unless I write them down.  I really need to kick it up a notch.

Not tonight, though.  Tonight I have to eat dinner and watch Dancing With the Stars with one very good-lookin guy.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like

Halloween?

This week in the Gila, it snowed.  Yes, snowed.  Not a lot.  Only about 2 inches at the most.  But still.  It’s only October, people!  It doesn’t even snow this early in Michigan, usually.  And I still had field work to do!  Snow is not exactly conducive to identifying forbs (aka flowering plants) and determining canopy cover percent.  Digging the hole wasn’t too bad, once we got down to the soil part.  But the main problem?  It was coooold.  Very very cold.  Not just in the morning, either, but all day long.  A couple times the sun would make an appearance for about 2 seconds, and just when we were starting to get excited, it went away again.  Boo sun!  And it was very windy also.

This morning we had to clip a site.  Clipping a site basically means going out to where you dug your hole and throwing a metal hoop around.  All the plants that fall within the hoop are cut with garden clippers and put in a carrying container (in our case a Wal-Mart plastic shopping bag).  The cut up plants are later weighed to calculate biomass content, or some such thing (I’m not really sure how this is done or what it involves, since I have never been a part of this process).  In order to get an accurate(?) assessment we have to do this ten times.  It is oodles of fun.  It’s even more fun when there’s snow on the ground.  Don’t believe me?  You should try it sometime.

While we were clipping, Nori said, “What a ridiculous way to end the field season.”

And with that, I am done with field work.

Don't be sad, Gila. I'll be back next year.

Don’t Try This At Home

This past week at work was our annual field review.  Last year I went but I didn’t have to present anything for it so I spent the whole time wandering around being not much use to anyone.  But this year I presented my first site for review.  What happens is our main boss comes out and looks at the sites we have chosen to see if we did a good job or not.  This can be stressful!  I didn’t have to show anything until the last day so I was somewhat prepared for what to do by my boss and Nori, who went first.  They both did a really good job and I got some experience looking around at and describing sites I had never been to before.  And I saw some pretty neat stuff.

Plains of St Augustine

BEAUTIFUL eluviated horizons

At that point it hadn’t really sunk in yet that I would be the one doing the presenting very soon. By Thursday morning, I was shaking in my boots in anticipation for the events that were to come later that day, when I would be the one in the spotlight.

We started off the morning at Quemado Lake, where we met some people who usually work in an office all day.  It was the week of their leadership team meeting and they decided to go camping in the cold weather. (Believe it or not,  New Mexico does get cold this time of year)  Silly people.  Even we stayed at a hotel.  Anyway, we went up there because our bosses had to give a presentation telling them about what we do all day, because they have no idea.  Honestly, I have no idea what they do all day either, but oh well.

Then it was time to show my site.  I was nervous but I managed to explain things and answer questions with confidence (or at least what I thought was confidence).  On the site itself I had described some things that were not quite right but I just tried to explain my reasoning the best I could and admit when I knew I had done something wrong and correct my documentation where appropriate.

We were able to have some fun times as well.  It was a really great group of people, including all the usual suspects (the field soil scientists), the forest soil scientist and hydrologist (who are both awesome), the contract botanist from Arizona, and a couple student employees who came and went as time allowed.  I sat on the porch of the hotel drinking tequila and beer with my bosses and heard stories about serial killers, and pigs feet, and run-ins with the law, plus much more.  It’s great to hear from these people who have been in the business for so long because they have so much knowledge and experiences to share.

When we arrived back at the office on Friday afternoon and were taking out luggage to load back into our own vehicles, my boss told me I did a good job.  He said,  “I’ve seen some improvement, just keep trying to get better.”  I told him I was really trying and he said “I can tell.”  It was something I really needed to hear.

We also did some trundling.  This is amusing.  You should try it if you ever find yourself on a steep slope with many large boulders.  Exciting times in the woods of New Mexico.

A Day off and the Domestic Diva

You know what I love?  Random government holidays.  Like Columbus Day.  Which was Monday.  And I had the day off.  It was fantastical.  I woke up in the morning to the sun shining, birds singing, golden harps playing, hot shirtless men doing all my chores…

Ok, so those last things didn’t actually happen.  But I did have the day off and it was grand.  I pretty much sat around and did nothing all day besides watch a bunch of mindless television, like the Tyra Banks show, which was about prostitutes and men having a “cheating gene” (which I don’t buy at all, btw).

Somewhere in between episodes of Friends and That 70s show, I managed to bake a cake.  Just for you!  Ok, not really for you.  For me.  And Matt (who shamelessly insisted suggested that I bake a cake for my week out of the field).  But I will give you the recipe.  And pictures.  Will that make up for it?  I think so.

Oh and the best part about this cake is it is healthy!  (supposedly)  I got it out of my cookbook, called Lighter, Quicker, Better.

Here’s all the ingredients you will need

3/4 cup all-purpose flower, spooned lightly into measuring cup

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (as you can see, I used Hershey’s, works for me!)

1/3 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature (if very cold, briefly run the egg, in the shell, under hot water)

1/2 cup lowfat or nonfat yogurt

1.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack slightly lower than center level.  Spray an 8-inch square or round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Lightly dust the pan with flour, tapping out excess.  Set the pan aside.

You'd think I'd be good at this after watching my mom doing it like a zillion times... oh well

2.  Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of wax paper; set aside.

I do not understand this sifting business. I just sort of mixed everything together and dumped it on there.

3.  Add the cocoa to the lukewarm water in a measuring cup; stir with a fork or whisk until a smooth paste forms; set aside.

Warning: Does not taste as good as it smells

4.  Place the oil and vanilla in an electric mixer.  Begin to mix at medium speed, gradually adding the brown and granulated suars, and scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice.  Add the egg and beat for about one minute, or until the mixture is smooth.

This is a lot easier to do if you don't let your brown sugar dry out and become a solid sugary brick. The egg helped, though.

Lower the mixer speed slightly.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour, and mixing only until the ingredients are partially blended.  Turn off the machine and finish mixing with a large rubber spatula just until there are no more visible traces of flour ( I forgot about this part, it seemed to work out ok anyway).  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

The book screws up at this point and totally forgets to mention adding the chocolate. I added it because a chocolate cake without chocolate is just very very sad.

5.  Bake the cake for about 25 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed gently with a fingertip, and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.  Cool the cake, in the pan, on a wire rack (or a stove?).  Serve cut in pieces, directly from the pan.

yummers!

The End.

Weekending in ABQ

Remember how I said October is an awesome month to be in Albuquerque?  Well, here’s a couple more reasons why…

This past Friday Matt and I took a road trip to a neighboring town, Moriarty, to go to the haunted barn and corn maze at McCall’s Pumpkin Patch.

This is not just any haunted house.  It is not like the other ones in town that are supposedly “the scariest haunted houses in the nation.”  Yeah, right.  They’re nothing compared to this.  This place is HANDS DOWN, the absolute coolest haunted house EVER.  There are flashing lights and spinning rooms and scary clowns and polka-dots and chickens and things that spray at you and dead body bags and formaldehyde and chainsaws.  And there is a CORN MAZE.  And it is HAUNTED.  What more could you possibly want?

It was a really great night.  The worst part was that we had to hurry a little bit through it because Matt had to get to work.  Another bad part was that I drove, which meant I was criticized the entire way there.  I wasn’t going fast enough.  I was going too fast.  I have no hand-eye coordination.  Etc. Etc.  This is why I don’t like driving with other people in the car.  Passenger seat drivers.  They make me tons more nervous than I would be if I were by myself.  Matt said that I could get a job at the haunted house as the haunted taxi driver.  People would be afraid, wondering if they would ever make it out alive.  Ha ha ha.

But anyway, other than that it was good.  A little more expensive than the other lame-o haunted houses in town, but totally worth it.

On Saturday, my class was canceled!  Yay!  Unfortunately, I had to drive all the way over there to find this out.  Boo!

I was supposed to go over to Matt’s house after class so I decided to let him sleep for a while and went over there when my class would normally be over.  He was a pain to wake up, as usual, but eventually he did.  We went in the backyard and played with the dogs for a while and then went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Scarpas because he had a coupon for a free dessert with the purchase of two entrees.  The pizzas we had were delicious, but then, for dessert, the waiter brought this out…

Torta di Mele: caramelized apples and cinnamon ice cream topped with mocha-flavored shavings and whipped cream inside a fresh baked pastry covered in the most delicious caramel.  Yum!

After eating that, I was content for the rest of the night.

**Note: any time I put in pictures that are not taken by me, I link them to the website where they came from.  If you want to learn more, click on the pictures.  Ok, thanks.

Crafty McCrafterson

This is a painting my sister made for her art class.

And these are some recent drawings I made for my physical geography class.

cold and warm fronts

hydrologic cycle

As you can see, it’s not too hard to tell which one is the more artistic member of the family.  In fact, my own mother once laughed, yes LAUGHED, at one of my drawings and told me not to quit my day job. Thanks, Mom.

But my lack of artistic ability is not going to stop me from being crafty.  I may not be able to draw or make a decent looking bowl on the pottery wheel, but I am pretty darn awesome at layouts.  I credit this to my years of experience with latenight newspaper layouts during college.  And in grad school, I could make a poster or powerpoint presentation like nobody’s business.

About a year or so ago, I took up scrapbooking.  And I love it!  In the beginning, I was afraid that I’d make one page and get tired of it, but I really wanted to stick with it, so I have.  It’s a lot of fun creating something and seeing it all come together in the end.  Plus I can watch tv while I’m working on it.  (A lot of times I don’t, though.  I’m just too excited about the scrapbooking!)

The most fun thing about it though is creating a memory of fun or interesting times I’ve had.  I can look at my scrapbook pages and reminisce about the “good old days” while admiring my artwork.  It’s really rewarding to remember what I’ve been through to get where I am today.

This is one of the earlier pages I made showing Vegas life, where I lived and worked and some fun things I did.  I also put in my Michigan hate note that I got on my car at school one day.  At first I was kind of mad about it, but now when I look at it, I just think it’s funny.  I mean, seriously, who writes that?  (Just to warn you, there is some swearing in it)

I’ve also been documenting some of my more recent work adventures, like my trips to Arizona… (also here and here)

… and Nebraska

Most recently, though, I have been working on a new scrapbooking project.  Last Thursday, October 1, was Matt’s and my one year anniversary of our first date.  So I decided to start a book for just the two of us.  The funny thing is, Matt really loves that I love scrapbooking.  I think he likes that I have something that I really enjoy doing, like he has his airplanes.  So of course he was really happy with his little anniversary “present.”

Oh yeah, Tooty & Cakes are our nicknames for each other.  We’re dorks

For this scrapbook project, I decided to try something new.  Looking around the internets for scrapbooking ideas, I tend to see a lot of layouts with just one central picture surrounded by decorations.  That’s what I attempted to do here.  I think it worked out all right but it still seems a little too minimalist for me, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in the future I think I’d like to work on finding a better balance between too little and too much on a page.

But for now, I’m happy with what I’ve done and can’t wait to get started on my next project, whatever it may be.

**This post was written in conjunction with the Spin Cycle, brough to you by Sprite’s Keeper.  Click here to find some more crafty posts!

Awesome Albuquerque October

If there’s only one month you can visit Albuquerque, it should be October.

And if you only go to one event in Albuquerque during October, it should be the balloon fiesta.

Not only has it been going on forever, but it’s also the largest hot-air-balloon festival in the world.  It happens one week in October, spanning two weekends, and today was the opening day.  Last year, I didn’t get to go because I was in Houston for most of it except the last day when I saw some fireworks.  So this year, I wanted to be right in the center of the action.  Last evening, Matt and I made the decision to buy tickets for this morning’s (Saturday) events.  He had to go to work so I was in charge of buying the tickets.  This was not easy.  Here’s the thing about balloon fiesta: it’s really really POPULAR.  People from all over the world come to this thing (actually, last year we met some people from England who make an effort to come as often as they can). And since a lot of people are like me and wait until the last minute to do anything, needless to say, the website was bogged down and as soon as I would try to buy the tickets, it would say the website was experiencing too much traffic and I should try back in a few minutes.  So I tried again in a few minutes.  And again.  And again.  In the end, I did get the tickets but the stupid website somehow managed to charge my credit card eight times.  This did not make me happy, and I’m foreseeing much time on the phone trying to get those charges removed.

I’d say that was probably my main complaint about the whole ordeal.  The number of people going to balloon fiesta is so large I think it’s a little hard for the organizers to handle.  The lines for the park & ride bus were also a little ridiculous. Once you get the actual event, though, it’s totally fine.  There’s a lot of people but there’s still enough room to move around and see everything you want.

We arrived at the park in the morning around 8 am, when the mass ascension was going on.  This is really cool to see.  The balloons go up in waves starting at about 7 am so when we got there a lot of balloons were already in the sky but there were still tons on the ground.  One of the coolest parts about the mass ascension is how close you can get to the balloons as they’re taking off.  Honestly you could probably stand right next to the basket if you wanted.  When a balloon is totally inflated and finally gets going, everyone around claps and cheers.  This is amusing.

One of the popular favorites is the Creamland cow.  We saw this one go up.  It’s really impressive and I totally commend the pilots for being able to fly this thing because it’s not like a normally shaped hot air balloon.  Also, it’s HUGE.

We spent a good part of the morning running around to the different balloons going up as I snapped some pictures.  The first thing we saw go up were the bees.  They’re super cute!  (and also synchronized perfectly)

I was very excited by all the different colors of balloons, especially the purple ones!

And overhead shots were pretty cool, too.

But my favorite part was just seeing lots and lots of balloons in the sky.

There are plenty of other things to do at balloon fiesta.  Obviously, there are tons of food vendors and lots of different arts & crafts, memorobilia items, etc.  for sale.  These are pricey but maybe worth it if you’re from out of town.  We didn’t really spend a lot of time there, though.  One thing we did do was watch the Air Force band play.  They’re actually pretty good.

There was also a guy doing a magic act and two police helicopters that landed and were being shown off.  (Matt was much more impressed with the latter)

Eventually, we found our way back to the bus line (ugh) and headed home.  Aside from the silly computer mishaps, it was a really great way to spend an October morning here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Back to School! Back to School!

“It’s too damn hot for a penguin to be just walkin’ around. I gotta send you back to the South Pole.”

Okay, so I’m not exactly Billy Madison.

And I definitely don’t see a giant penguin.

But I am going back to school.  I’ve been considering doing it for a while and since I’ve been here over a year now, I decided it was time to take the plunge.  What I would like to do is become GIS certified, not only so that I will be able to include it on my resume in the future, but also because it is a really good skill set to have for my current job.  This semester, I am taking physical geography.  In a way, it’s kind of a pain because I’m still in field season until mid October- possibly early November (who knows…) so the only day I have time to take it is Saturday.  This severely cuts down on the time that Matt and I get to spend together, and definitely means no spontaneous trips to our favorite restaurant in Santa Fe, which isn’t open on Sundays.  Bummer.  But the class isn’t hard at all, and I enjoy it.

Next semester should be a little easier since it’s not field season.  I’m thinking of taking cartography and maybe something else.  Not sure what.  It would be fun to be able to take a class with Matt sometime.  (He’s getting a GIS degree)

It’s kinda funny because today I have work to do for my job and also work to do for school, and honestly, I’d prefer to do the school work.  Although, I suppose right now I am doing neither, but that is beside the point.  I really enjoyed spending this past week at home and am getting overwhelmed thinking about going back to the field tomorrow.  I like field work, but sometimes I think it would be nice to be closer to home more often.  To get things done around the house, spend more time with Matt, actually use the swimming pool when it’s open, etc.

But for know, I guess the only thing I can do is get some homework done.

Extreme Makeover: My Apartment Edition 2

So it’s been a while.  Life has been ridiculously busy lately, what with plant association training and just regular field season going on.  These past couple weeks it’s sort of felt like I’ve barely had time to breathe between packing and unpacking on the weekend.  But I’m spending next week here in Albuquerque, which will be nice because I’ll get to spend some quality time with Matt.  Although I’m a little mad at him right now, because we were supposed to go to Santa Fe today, but he fell asleep instead.  Boo.  It really sucks having opposite schedules.

Now I’m at home, and trying to clean up a little, since I have a bit more time to get my act together this week, and I thought I’d show you the progress I’ve made since last time.

This week we will be entering no man’s land… the BATHROOM.  dun dun DUN!  Hold onto your butts.

I will start off by telling you that I absolutely LOVE having lots of counter space in the bathroom.  In fact, the main thing that turned me off from one of the apartments I looked at was its tiny tiny counter.  Nevermind the fact that it was also a handicap accessible apartment and looked kind of strange, but when I saw that counter, I was just like, no way.

Anyway, so the moral of the story is I like counter space.  And here, I’ve got some.  And I use it.  Boy, do I use it.

Here’s what it looked like before…

Lucky for you, you cannot see the scummies stuck to the counter.  Ewwy.

And here’s what it looks like now.

Much better!  When I was finishing my thesis, my mom told me I needed to get my ducks in a row and she gave me those little rubber ducks as an Easter gift that year.  I keep them in there now to remind myself that getting  (and keeping) my ducks in a row is no easy task, and a continuous process that I must constantly pay attention too.  As of now, my ducks are getting a little rowdy.  But I’m working on it!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, those things in the glass bowl behind the ducks are rocks.

Next I tackled the floor and the bathtub.  The bathtub is one of my least favorite things to clean, because it’s big, and a weird shape for cleaning, and it has shower doors, which get in the way and are annoying.  But I did it.  Yay!

Here’s what they looked like before.

Gross.

Between packing and unpacking and cleaning the bathroom, I also managed to do four loads of laundry.  I cleaned my bathroom rugs and towels, and now they are clean and fluffy.  Sadly you cannot see the towels, but trust me, they are clean.  I love clean towels.  They are one of my favorite things in life.

I also cleaned the toilet but am somewhat disappointed with the results.  I think I need those toilet bowl cleaner tabs.  I used them in Vegas and they worked great.

But for now, I’m happy it’s clean.

The ducks are happy too.

Spin Cycle: A Revelation

Ok, so the other day (Monday) I was getting ready to go down to the Gila, loading up the Suburban and whatnot.  It was then that I realized I had neglected to bring my iPod, meaning four hours of driving and listening to nothing but static.  Poor me!  Not to be dismayed, I began searching my car for a chance CD, hoping to find something buried among the seat cushions.  And I found this.

An audiobook!  Why did I not think of that before?  I could have spent the whole summer listening to books on CD.  This particular book got me all the way from Ann Arbor to Albuquerque.  It’s an interesting book about a Mexican girl who transfers her emotions into the food she’s cooking so that everyone who eats it will feel that emotion as well.  I tried to listen to it but for some reason the stupid Suburban did not like it, so I couldn’t.  Luckily, tucked inside this case was a Moby CD so I listened to that a couple times and it was ok.

But I decided I was not going to give up on my CD book idea that easily.  Next week, I’m driving up to Taos and Cimarron for a plant association class (should be interesting), and I’ll need something to listen to.  So this afternoon I walked my lazy butt over to the library in search of a good looking audiobook.  In the end, I came out with this.

I chose this book because it looked scandalous and I could use a good scandal right about now.  I think I like DH Lawrence but I can’t remember.  English Lit class seems so long and far away.

But anyway, I’m going to listen to this book on my trip to Taos and then after that I’ll get more books to listen to when I go back to the Gila in a week, and it will be fabulous.

I think this may be the best idea I’ve had all summer.

*this post is a contribution to the spin cycle, a weekly rant on all things blog-worthy.  check it out to see some more great spins.