WHEW!!!! Busy, busy, busy. Just a recap of last week. Everything was pretty normal last Monday through Wednesday. Just the cooking and wrapping gifts, etc. that comes with the holidays. I finally got the Christmas cards out. Gold star for me. I didn't even do them last year. Thursday was our lab Christmas party. We went to Polliwogs for beer and appetizers and played Dirty Santa. I usually don't like that game, but it was actually pretty fun this year. I got a stocking with a puzzle, candles, a Sudoku puzzle book, a fuzzy pen, and this green goo called Flarp that makes fart noises (tons of fun at a bar, by the way). Friday, I went to work and that evening we went to Doug's birthday get-together. We ate at Harveys and then went to Zachary's to listen to some music and (you guessed it) drink more beer. We woke up at 6am the next morning to go to my Grandparents' and ate and exchanged gifts, etc. This continued on Sunday and that evening we traveled back. It's almost relaxing to be at work today.
So far I've checked my e-mail (which took a while since I got 100 messages over the weekend), updated my notebook, moved some fish, and wrote this. I've got to go grocery shopping tonight since we didn't get to do it yesterday. And I have several gifts left to wrap. One of Rich's still hasn't made it in yet. I hope it gets here soon.
I will be 25 years old 1 week from today. I came to the realization yesterday that 30 is getting really close. That number has never really bothered me before. But I realized that at 30, it is the end all be all. You are an...dun, dun, dun...ADULT (oh the horror). Oh well, I've got a few more years. I really feel like I'm still 17 years old. Except that I have a college degree, an apartment, bills, and a husband. But other than that I don't feel grown up at all. It's actually kind of amusing.
Oh, and as a side note, GO SAINTS!!!!! I just knew they'd make the playoffs this year. Even though we lost yesterday, we still kick butt! Ok, end of side note.
Tomorrow and Wednesday and going to be REALLY s....l......o......w. I don't really have much to do. Well, I've got to pretend to work for a little while. Later.

So Monday is nearly over. I don't really have a whole lot to say, but I thought it would be nice to update this blog. I'll just keep typing and we'll see what comes out. This weekend was pretty fun. We had the department Christmas party Friday night. Food was excellent, as always. Who knew a bunch of nerdy scientists could be such good cooks? We stayed until about 7pm and headed to Mike and Jen's. I love going over there. It's just like family. And their kids are as adorable as they come. Again, food was excellent, as always. I ate a lot this weekend, if you can't tell. We stayed over there until about 2am (really late for me, but the conversation was good). After that Rich and I went home and went to bed.
Saturday, we slept until nearly 11am (ahhh....just like being back in high school). We hung around for a while and then decided to catch the matinee of Casino Royale. Now, I'm not usually a Bond fan, but holy crap I could watch Daniel Craig until my eyeballs fall out. HHHHHOOOOOOTTTTTT! Someone should kiss his parents for me. When he put that tux on...well, I'm just not even gonna go there. Rich thought it was funny. But hey, he got to ogle the Bond girl (which happens to be the reason I think men love these movies so much). I thought no one could reach Sean Connery's Bondness, but I have been corrected.
After the movie, Rich and I stopped by Blockbuster and rented the DaVinci Code. I highly recommend the book. While the movie was enjoyable, anyone who has read the book will find it to be disappointing. But if you're not busy comparing the 2, the movie is pretty good. Nothing exciting happened the rest of the weekend.
We did our usual Sunday routine of grocery shopping and preparing for the coming week. And that was about it. However, I would like to take a moment and send out a big shout out the the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!!!!! We are so due. Way to kick ass! 9-4! Watch out Carolina, we're coming for ya!
As for today, I have been writing my manuscript and planning out what all I need to accomplish this week. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I get so much more done when I sit down and work out all the details. I don't have to worry that I've forgotten something. Tonight, I'm going to go home, put on some laundry, watch Rachael Ray, run on the treadmill (I have a new program I want to try tonight), and just chill out. Rich is cooking tonight (yea!).
Well, that's about it. Until next time...

In need of a creative mental break. I've discovered that I can only stay focused on my writing for about 5 minutes at a time. I'm getting my stuff done, it's just that I can't keep my mind from wandering off subject and talking to my co-workers. The only thing that keeps me remotely focused is listening to my iPod. I swear that is the best money I ever spent. Except for maybe my treadmill. But I get more use out of my iPod. I remember being able to sit still for hours at a time when I was a kid. Is there such a thing as late development ADD? I guess when I used to write as a kid, it was because I really wanted to. When did writing become work for me? I used to want to do this for a living. I used to love to go to the library and do research. What happened to all that? I really think that higher education can stifle creativity. Not always. I'm sure that the fact I went into such an analytical field has something to do with it. I miss enjoying what I do. I wish there were some dance classes or something I could take to get that all out of my system. I miss performing. You would think that living in a college town would provide opportunities like dance and music classes. Hell, I think a knitting class would be a lot of fun. They just don't seem to have much around here. I'm not artistic enough for art classes (my mom and Rich will confirm that for anyone who doubts that; I just don't have an eye to create my own art.)
Well, I guess that's enough rambling for right now. I'd better get back to writing my paper.