hello, my name is grumpy
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: life
Maybe it's hormones, maybe it's lack of patience, maybe it's a bad attitude. But I was not very excited to be at pick-up for hockey last night. First of all I hadn't realized that our ice time started 45 minutes later than it had the week before, and nobody had pointed that out to me. So I was there 45 minutes early. And I was there 45 minutes later...which meant I faced 45 minutes less sleep. As the ice arena is 30 minutes from my home, I had no intention of going back, and so I utilized the time to work on my knitting, which fortunately I had taken along with me. The first half is now done. "Woo hoo" I say with little enthusiasm.

And then... And then when we finally do get on the ice it's this one guy trying his darndest to shoot the puck through the center of my body, I swear. I don't really mind taking shots like this. They're strong, clean shots (although I can't figure out why players - particularly guys - think they're exceptionally well-planned shots since they go RIGHT AT THE GOALIE...) and are easy to stop (see previous parentheses), so it makes the goalie feel like he/she is doing a good job. That wasn't my issue with this particular dude. I was much more frustrated by the fact that as he went flying around the ice with his show-offy shots, there was always at least one gal who could have gotten an even better shot if he had just dumped the puck back to her. I was mad. Wasting the team's time as they prepare for a tournament, wasting my time as in real games people don't usually get non-stop breakaways, and being a conceited jerk trying to impress I'm not quite sure who. I got off the ice. I couldn't take it. I thought I was going to have to sock him.

And then when I jumped back on the ice the teams had switched sides and then I got about zero shots and just stood there most of the time. Overall not a very good experience. And I was crabby for having been at the ice arena for so long and now having to drive back home at 11p.m.

Grr.

I did, however, find out that the ice arena has curling. I'd love to try that sometime.

I long for the "good old days" when I had a goalie coach to work with. I never realized how lucky I was to grow up with Mr. Townsend who would make sure he or another coach was working with me on skate saves or keeping my floating stick on the ice (bad habit I still have...boo) while the other girls worked on passing and plays and whatnot. In college I was also so blessed - there was an ex-college goalie who came to most of our practices and worked Melissa (the other goalie) and I until I thought we were going to pass out. Those were the days...

returning to life
Topic: life
I've been gone. Apparently.

From July 11 through July 17 I was in Jacksonville, Florida, with the high school youth group from my church, which is Northway Christian. We were helping work on houses being built by Habitat for Humanity, which in Jacksonville is known as "Habijax." There are about a million things I could say about the trip, but I suppose I'll summarize by saying the following:

1. I got to know two gals pretty well - Jessica (whom I had known before) and Mandy (whom I had not known before). They were awesome about letting "old" me hang out with young them. (For an interestin thought on this last sentence, see point 3 below.)

2. I was surprisingly disciplined. I lack discipline in a major way and am trying to work on implementin it back into my life. I think I lost it when I graduated from college, because I know I had it for most of my high school and the majority of my college years. But during last week I was getting up at 6 a.m. to read my Bible and pray. I wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep, but I dragged myself up, even with major lack of sleep. It's unfortunate that I'm much more disciplined when there are others around me than when I am "by myself" at home. It's like I'm trying to impress everyone with my diligence, but...that's not really a good motivation. I feel like my discipline should occur because I WANT to do what I know in my heart is the right and most productive thing.

3. I do feel motivated to put more effort into my relationships. I tend to shun friendships not because I don't like people - I LOVE people - but because, honestly, I feel like I'm more of a burden to people than a blessing. When I ask people if they want to do something, I feel like I'm requesting a gigantic favor from them. Probably there's some really messed up psychology there, so I suppose I'll have to work through that with time. At any rate, whether my issues are worked out or not, I do realize that one can't be close friends with someone if they never spend time together or talk. Thus, I want to make a more focued effort to call up my far-away friends and spend time with my near-to-here friends.

4. I really, really, really like Florida. Perhaps not quite as much as I like my childhood (and hopefully someday permanent) home, Michigan, but it's hard to say. I love the fact that Florida is sunny and that every part of Florida is near water - something I also like about Michigan (NOT the sunny part). I also really like the amazing thunderstorms that Florida gets. I even like the grocery stores there. I do not like that it gets so hot, although I can deal with that - I did work one summer outside in Florida and survived. I also do not like that the water at the beaches is salty. Yucko.

the best foods in the world
Topic: life
One of my coworkers returned today from maternity leave. Another one of my coworkers brought in a cookie cake to celebrate. Cookie cake is one of the best creations in all the world!!!! I could eat a whole one by myself in one sitting. ...If I had to. It is pretty filling.

There are still some people who apparently don't know what a cookie cake is. It's just a gigantic cookie (usually chocolate chip) 10 or 12 inches in diameter with decorative frosting on top. I got my first one when I was a freshman in college - on my birthday (October 12) a cookie cake that said "Happy Birthday" arrived at my dorm room from my parents via the University bakery. Mmmmmmm!

I'm not totally a junk-food-aholic. One of the other best foods in the world, in my opinion, is the apple. To be more specific, I'd say a red delicious apple, but lots of other varieties of apples have many good points. I never realized how much I love apples until I wore braces in middle/high school and couldn't eat apples for 3 years. There used to be some orchards by my home where during the fall one could go take a ride on a tractor-drawn wagon into the apple orchard, pick an apple from the tree, and bite into its crisp, juicy goodness on the ride back to the parking lot. Nothing beats that.

some stuff about me
Mood:  bright
Topic: life
I noticed that some people went to my website or my blog, I can't tell which because...I've lost most of my computer literacy. So I guess I should make this a little bit more interesting in case other people show up. Therefore, here's stuff about me:

Current "occupation": Graduate student. I've learned that most people don't know what that means. And to be honest, I didn't know what it meant before I got here, and even sometimes now I wonder what precisely the significance of such a title should have on my life and the way I live it. In general, it means that I am pursuing a PhD degree in biomedical science - specifically molecular virology and microbiology or in normal human terms "viruses and bacteria." In order to pursue a PhD degree in biomedical science, at least here at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, one takes a few required and a few elective classes during the first 2ish years. From then on, one spends a large period of time in a laboratory doing experiment after experiment after experiment to get enough research results to prove something and write a thesis about it. And throughout these 5+ years the person gets paid. Not much, but getting paid money BY the school sure beats paying money TO the school. Oh, and we help teach some classes, too, although not a lot - it's a few days a week for about a month each year.

I work on a project in the a lab devoted to HIV research. Technically I focus on SIV, which is a cousin of HIV and infects monkeys. I am working on generating a vaccine that can be taken by mouth. My work is looking up for the short term. That's the thing about science - a lot of the time what you get are failed experiments or weird results that don't make any sense. At least I do.