These arrived...

over the weekend. Can you guess what I'm going to get with them? I'm hoping that with discounts (yea! 20% off) and a current promotion, it will basically be free. I'll share with you once I have it. This is part of the reward system for productivity at work; made even better because I don't have to pay for the reward with money. The productivity is that I finished writing two grants this summer, one is submitted and one is being edited.

What they do, not what they say...

I tend to disregard the title phrase. I believe what people say. But this week, in at least two separate incidents, I think I've decided I need to pay more attention to what people are doing. And to focus less on what they say. People lie. And I think they lie a lot. The main reason for this is that I've gotten burned one too many times. So here are the example from this week. The first is entirely jaw dropping. I'm still totally in awe that this actually happened and the other party involved basically denied it to my face. I know what I saw and what I saw was cheating pure and simple.

So here's the first story. I was collecting papers from my students this week. We were in a non traditional classroom (eg no desks). The students were milling around and handing me thing, asking questions, talking to each other. I looked around and noted that one student had two papers in front of him. He was very clearly looking at one papers and copying answers onto another. Cheating pure and simple. When confronted, I believe I said something like, "Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing?", the student replied, "Um, I'm just checking my answers with my buddy's." I think I said something to the effect of, "Well, checking answers doesn't involve writing anything down and aside from that fact, how do you know your buddy has the right answers?" I told him to come to me in the future to check answers. Last night, I pondered this incident with a friend who is a woman on the faculty at my U. I wondered if this might have been a result of my gender. My thought is that the student didn't think I would call him out or something along those lines. I know I'm probably going to get a bad evaluation score from this particular student now. But I really don't care. He was clearly breaking the rule and didn't even admit it when called out. The worst kind of cheater in my mind. He did absolutely horrible on the assignment. But I haven't figured out what if any penalty I am going to enforce.

The other incident, is just related to me and my one on one interactions. It doesn't have to do with work at all. So, what I was going to reveal at the end of my last post was that I had had a nice date with a guy I was excited about seeing again. I didn't want to jinx things, so I didn't tell you all about it. Well due to circumstances I knew about, I couldn't see him last weekend. We had planned to meet for an adventure this weekend, something that would overall take about a day, though which day wasn't decided until late in the week. Meaning that I had kept my entire weekend clear to make sure that whatever he decided I could go along with. Well, no more! He canceled late in the day on Thursday! I understand that work gets in the way sometimes and that sometimes the unexpected happens. Believe me, I understand this. But I had worked hard all week to make sure that I had a day free over the weekend and I kept my schedule clear. I'm kicking myself now. And I'm really on the fence in my decision as to if I'm going to give him another chance. I'm disappointed and I'm angry at myself for falling into my usual pattern of waiting for a guy. I think what I've decided is that unless he is really willing to go out of his way to set something else up, to really step up, I'm not going to see him again. (BTW, he canceled in a voicemail and I have returned two phone calls since then, both of his calls included apologies and the later asked for a rain check. But, the ball is currently in his court. And I was pretty disappointed when he said in the last voicemail that he wasn't going into work until 1 pm on Saturday, so I could call him at home until then. What I don't understand is why he didn't ask me to come meet him for breakfast on Saturday or something else that wasn't a whole day adventure but could be done with the small amount of personal time he had over the weekend. I think this means that something has changed and he's really not interested.)

This later incident just seems to be another in the long string of such incidents. I was actually fascinated at a comment made when I met up for dinner with one of my former roommates from grad school a few years ago now. He and I were aware of each others dating lives or lack of them during grad school. I told him a story during dinner about my current status. His response was something along the line of how he thought I really had never gotten the respect that I deserve. I was surprised that he said that, but really I guess it's true. I was excited about this new guy because he said that he wanted to see me again and that he enjoyed out date. He even called me a few days later (that almost never happens to me). But currently, this seems like just one more to add to the list.

What...

What have I been doing you might ask during this nearly month long blog absence? I have been super busy. For example, the weekend before last, I had submitted one of the two big grants from the summer (the other is still being edited and I hope to submit it by the end of October). So, I did the things I had been meaning to do all summer. I got a second cabinet for my bedroom (so I don't have clothes all over the place). Here's what the two look like:
That's a cute owl on the upper handle. I also fixed the pulls - the cabinets come with white pulls, but I like the stainless/chrome much better since it matches the other accents in my room. But when I originally got them, the screws were too long for the cabinets. I've fixed this with some added washers. I could have purchased different screws, but the washers seemed faster since I didn't want to have to figure out the threads on the screws.

That weekend, I also cleaned all the floors in my house (well, okay, I haven't yet gotten around to vacuuming the guest room, but everything else is clean). It's lovely to have clean floors. I used some new fangled Meyer's lavender scent cleaner. It was quite soothing and nice and is supposed to be eco-friendly.

I also finally got around to painting the kitchen. I'm not totally thrilled with the results but it's growing on me. So here was the inspiration, these are the pulls on the kitchen cabinets, along with the color of the cabinets:

So are you ready for the finished product:

(the counters are actually more blue that it shows on my monitor.)
Also, I had a painting error that I have yet to fix. This is the ceiling above my sink. I have white paint to fix it with, just haven't had the time yet.
What else could I possible have fit into that weekend? Well, I'll tell you. Pilates, the farmers market, getting some new umbrellas and a funky orange blazer (very cool), some cooking of farmers market things, including my favorite potato salad complete with tomatoes from my garden plus my roast eggplant dish (super easy, just dice and mix with tomatoes and other veggies, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic and roast at 400 for 25 minutes or so).

This past weekend was much the same. Running, Pilates, farmers market, helping a good friend pack and load for a move (very sad!), to IKEA (bad idea, forgot about college move in, duh!), to Trader Joe's (yea! pizza dough) - that was Saturday. Sunday was a long 8 mile run outside. I have a hunch that's why I've also been MIA - the weather has been delightful! A few other things that I might elaborate on at some point. Then I worked on Monday and was very productive since there were no distractions from students. Monday night I made a delicious frittata with farmers market eggs, local smoked swiss cheese, roasted corn and basil! Yum! And now it's back to the usual routine. Teaching, seminars, advising (and sometimes badly), faculty meetings, and the like. It's been busy!

Things that make you go hmm...

Okay, so I've been posting in bursts lately, often two posts at almost the same time. I wonder what this does to folks following on a reader? Anyway, I have a few short comments for today.

1. I drove a Yaris last weekend. I got 42 MPG! This was mostly highway driving, but some of the highway driving was slow as molasses (<20 mph) due to construction and weather. I was pretty impressed with this. I had driven a Yaris when I was researching new cars, but I didn't like how close my head felt to the ceiling. I did have probably 4 inches (or possibly more) clearance, but I didn't like it. It was a four door and had a large trunk.
   
2. I don't like the Verizon wireless program NE2 - getting a new phone at a discount every two years. I'm super tempted to get a smart phone, but really I don't need one and it's an added expense that I also don't need. I mean really, is a cell phone worn out after only two years of use?
   
3. The bounty at the farmers market is awesome!
   
4. My tomatoes are out of control. Yum! I may have a delicious recipe to share later this weekend. I'd like to have a photo and my camera is currently hiding out at work.
5. Pilates this morning was awesome. Small class and good flow.
6. I was very lazy this week and only ran once. Need to get back in the routine.
   

More of the beach

Out towards the point, it was a lovely day!
From the porch, can you smell the ocean?
From the farmers market, yummy snacks. The blackberries in the top bin were picked by yours truly.

The Bug

A quick get away last weekend took me to the midwest. I have a good friend from college there. She lives in a cool town. And more importantly, I was going for her baby shower. When I decided to go, I was prepared for a lovely shower with decorations and food orchestrated by another friend from college. The flags above and the roses below are part of the loveliness that I was expecting. But...
unexpectedly, I also go to meet the bug (as they have nicknamed her). She was born 6 weeks early, and not in her home city - there's a long story that goes along with this. But she is beautiful and is doing just fine. Mom and dad are doing well, too. They both absolutely adore their new addition! It was awesome to get to see their growing family!

Sound of the waves

Lost and Found

I misplace items from time to time. I usually do okay with keys, cell phone, etc because I either have places for them or I leave them in plain view. It's the things I use less often that tend to get lost. Anyhow, I have been missing several items. Today, I found my black kitten heal shoes that have been missing for months. And, I also found a guidebook for a nearby city that had been missing since around July 4th. Yippee! I wonder what else I'll find? Buried treasure, a pile of gold, science funding??

Beachy Keen

I spent a lovely weekend at the beach. No computer, no internet. It was quite possibly the best Saturday of the summer - weather wise, too! Here's some of what I saw:

Clockwise from upper left: Morning glory among the grape vines, soon to be blackberries, hydrangea, the surf.

Left to right: Cabana door and a dewy spider web.

More soon...

I did it...

A while ago, I wondered on this very blog if I could run 100 miles in one month. Well, I did it. This month my total is 100.4 miles! Yipee! That is all.

today

I have been wanting to show you a photo of my lovely tomato plant for a while but keep forgetting to take one. Earlier this week, I had a tomato accident. It was quite stormy one night and when I got up in the morning the tomato plant (despite the tomato plant cage) had toppled over. I let out a yelp of oh no! I now have an additional stake in so hopefully that won't happen again. I did loose a branch that had a bundle of tomatoes growing and lots of promising flower. But as you can see from the photos, there are still ones that are looking okay on the plant.
Today, I have done very little work, but I needed a tiny break. I've been processing things in my head though and have taken notes and will make improvements in my writing tomorrow. What did I do instead? I ate some delicious food. I stuffed some zucchini and other squash tonight - I invented the stuffing based on what I had in my refrigerator - this included onions, garlic, mushrooms, rice pilaf, crushed tomatoes, sunflower seeds and cut up squash. The remaining stuffing, I added some wine and more tomatoes to make a sauce I'll eat with pasta for lunch this week. Delicious. I also ate some wonderful strawberries and enjoyed delicious lemon frozen yogurt!

Please do, please don't...

I had my neighbors over for dinner earlier this week. They were so funny in the conversation when I invited them. They said a new roommate would be moving in to their place. With the economy as it is, I thought, okay. I know they have an extra bedroom. But I didn't at all put two and two together... so then they said, the new baby would arrive at the beginning of January! How exciting. And congratulations! They brought me beautiful flowers when they came to dinner (so that's the please do...). Here they are:

But, I had bought some "good" salsa in the produce section. You know the kind. What Chipotle calls "fresh tomato salsa." I thought it would be a good second option to fresh guac with chips for an appetizer. Well, this is the please don't... please don't put cucumber in salsa. It does not belong!

Feet up, but working

This morning, I have my feet up, but I am working. I am drinking spiced iced tea, have my computer on my lap and am surrounded with books and papers. It is lovely outside and I hope to escape at some point today to enjoy it!

Random Photos

This wine bottle makes me think of grad school and the postdoc I worked with who talked about cricket a lot. I thought it was pretty neat. Though I never did really understand the game.

Ahhhh! This guy (the scream) is always in my bathroom!

Paint samples for my kitchen on the kitchen counter. I'm planning to paint between the cabinets and counter and around the pass through - not the whole space. For those of you who've seen my kitchen in it's old state, currently all of the walls are white, there is no more blue sponge painting. The colors are pretty true. The one of the right is close to one of the colors in the knobs on the cabinets. I really have no idea what I'm going to pick. I'm always up for opinions, so consider the polls open.

Blooming

This is Grum's blooming wax plant (Hoya carnosa). The buds are just opening here. I ended up with quite a few buds this year. It's a funny plant as the blooms smell very strong and have a viscous liquid on them so it looks like the buds are crying! Also, each of the buds here is on it's own little stem and they all fall off once the flowers have gone brown. I really like this plant - it's in a hanging basket in my East facing window.

Floating away?

Yes, I know I have been away from my blog for an extended time. And, no, I have not floated away in the rains. While I was away, I have been house hunting, but I am done for the year. There is nothing on the market for me right now; npr has confirmed that banks (and likely individual owners) are holding onto properties while the market is bad. I did put in a very low ball offer that was not accepted. I will stay put for at least another year, and potentially until I get tenure. This is fine with me. I like where I live, despite the negatives. Also, I was traveling, mostly for work, but I did get to catch up with some friends, both here and there recently. I got to meet a very new baby! and a slightly older baby, and see a friends' new condo, and catch up with a friend and her husband - they're pregnant, and see friends I haven't seen in about a year. I also met a whole slew of new and exciting people, who I have not been doing a good job at keeping in touch with. There is also some awesome science percolating and some work writing going on. And I had an absolutely fabulous 4th of July adventure with about 1/2 a million other folks. Otherwise, I do not have terribly much more to say at the moment.

A Gift!

These flower photos are quite old and I have been meaning to share them for some time. A series of blooms happened on significant days this year for my one day bloom plant. And these doubles were especially rare.

Off the list

I've been productive today and recently, in fact. Earlier this week, I cleaned all the floors in my place. This involved 5 different cleaning methods - broom, swiffer, generic cleaning solution, Murphy's oil soap, and a vacuum. And I'm very pleased with my results. I'm a fan of having clean floors under my feet and I had almost forgotten what if feels like.

Today I had breakfast at my favorite place, ran a bunch of errands, had a late lunch, ran some more errands, had a nap, went for a long run outside, finished two things on my work list and now I think I'm going to watch a movie (or some old TV) or I might end up reading. Though I should spend a little time making 3 other lists. One list is for shopping I need to do tomorrow at Trader Joe's. Another is for my upcoming trip - I'll be traveling for about 2 weeks, most of which is work related. And the last list is for my house hunting.

The house hunting is coming along fairly well, thought I haven't yet found the one. I have seen more than one that could work. I'm still mulling my options and I will see three-four more options this week along with a revisit of three of my favorites.

Breakfast

edited to correct typos:
Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. Sometimes I eat it three times in one day. I recently finished reading Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies, which was highly recommended by NPR and a bit heart breaking. One of my favorite parts of the book was her talking about a breakfast she had with her family. The special was savory pancakes. It was pancakes covered with asparagus, Gruyere and ham. Covered with two sunny side up eggs and drown the whole lot in maple syrup. I'd pass on the ham. But otherwise it sounds divine. Though I don't think I could eat it right now. I have been having a culinary adventure that I would rather have avoided. I have switched my whole way of eating to try to stay healthy. I eat bread topped with applesauce for breakfast - a trick learned from my sister. And I've been eating a lot of roasted vegetables and way more meat that I normally do. My new favorite roasted vegetable is fennel. If you aren't totally averse to licorice and can find it at your local market, roast it up (400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so) with what ever other veggies you'd like. I recommend precooking potatoes slightly. Couscous has become a staple again, too. Today I broke all the rules and had breakfast for lunch. I ate delicious lemon poppy seed toast coated with cream cheese. The cream cheese had lavender mixed in. This was a wonderful invention, but I think I would have also added a little honey and lemon zest to the cream cheese, too.

Mothers

I have been reading for pleasure a good bit over the last few weeks. Yesterday I finished a short book that I highly recommend. Ruth Reichl's new book Not Becoming My Mother was excellent. It is all about how the women of earlier generations didn't get to do what they really wanted. Ruth talks about her mom being an incredibly intelligent women who just ended up bored - partly because her parents discouraged her from becoming a doctor. Ruth is glad she didn't end up with that kind of life and knows that it's partly because her mother thought she could do anything. (In case you don't know the name, Ruth Reichl is the editor of Gourmet and a former food critic of the NYTimes and LATimes.) I think there are still walls and ceilings that women hit from time to time (and a good bit of it comes from others who still have a certain belief about what women should do with their life). But anyhow, it's a great read if you are looking for a short, funny, enlightened book, I highly recommend it.