Birthdays are Great!

So every year, for the last 4 years, Soluman has thrown a surprise party for me. This year we went surprise kayaking. We had a blast. They we went to the Crab Shack and met up with some surprise party friends. There was cake & party hats and everything!

I love birthdays. They are your own personal holiday. I feel like whenever somebody tells you happy birthday, they're really saying that they're glad you're alive. When my friends all get together, taking time out of their lives just to tell me happy birthday, I realize just how fortunate I am, I realize that maybe I do make a difference, at least to some people.

Been a LongTime

Wow, so I've been neglecting my poor blog all years so far & for no good reason either. I had no reason not too. But now that I'm taking 20 credit hrs this semester, working part time & poor as dirt, well, I'm back...for now at least.

So I'll be graduating in May, then it's off to grad school. Plus Soluman & I are engaged now! We'll be getting married during our spring beak.

We have a paper published in the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. So I guess that makes us scientists now. Hooray! Ha, well actually I won't feel legit until I get my PhD.

Moving & Homework Don't Mix

So we've been moving since last week. You'd think we'd be done but no. We got all the major stuff last week, but it's the little things that take the most time to organize and pack. I hate that part of moving. I'm such a packrat, it's hard for me to get rid of things. Anyway, we have until this weekend to be out. It's almost done. It's just great to be in a new place though. There's more room, and being a townhouse it feals like a real home, not just al place we live in. Though it costs more, I think that we'll save some money since Soluman won't be as inclined to go downtown all the time to study. We're both a lot happier.

2006

I know it's a bit late to be getting around to this, but I have to say that 2006 was actually a very good year. The other day I went for a run around Lake Meyr and I started thinking about all that I accomplished this past year. I took on 2 semesters of organic chemistry in 6 months and from those classes I feel like I understand the world a little bit better. I did some biochemistry research and learned more not only about amino acids, peptides, and ligands, but also about how the scientific community works. Basically, I learned a lot and I think that I'll like being a scientist.

I also took up a new hobby, crochet and knitting. It is a newfound obsession. I never felt that I could really make anything. In high school I go a 'D' in art. It was the only 'D' I've ever gotten. I've done some very amateur sculpting, but nothing permanent, always in modling clay. It seems like getting into clay takes a real commitment of time, money, and lots of space. I guess you can say the same about my new love of fiber, but knitting and crochet and weaving are less ... messy. Over the winter break, I've been knitting and crocheting constantly. I find that it has helped make me ready for the coming semester, cleared my mind.

But my major accomplishment in 2006 was that I lost 47 lbs. Since I've been out of the Army and even while I was in, I steadily gained weight. I joined the Army at 155 5'4. I got out of the Army at about 170 lbs. After being out for 2 years I gained about another 20 lbs dispite working out 3 times a week. At the beginning of 2006 I realized just how big I had gotten, despair began to set in. It seemed hopeless; I was working out, I didn't eat fast food often, but I never lost a pound. I decided to join Weight Watchers in Febuary with some encouragement from Soluman. I am now fianlly at a healthy weight for my height, and can wear a size 6. Even when I was 155 in high school I was a size 10 or 12. I also started running 5K's which is funny because I hated running in the Army. It never occurred to me that running could be enjoyable, but I'm glad to finally experience that it is.

So again 2006 was a great year. Let's see what 2007 has in store!

But It Never Really Ends...

Well, the Fall 2006 semester at Armstrong is finally over and the grades are in: exactly half A's and half B's. Pretty much what I expected. Just like I think every other semester, I should have tried harder. Not to sound arrogant, but I got these grades with out too much extra effort on my part. I should be pulling straight A's, but I'm lazy and I really hate studying. Next semester should be better, I'm only pulling 13 credits plus auditing a pottery class. But before the semester starts up again, I need to spruce up my math skills; I have chemical quatitative analysis, physics II, and calculus. Since I don't discipline myself enough to drill the problems, math has always been my weak point. Soluman reassures me that it's easy and he'll be tutoring me over the break.
Now I just have to finish my holiday projects. I've been crocheting mostly since I'm more comfortable with it and it turns out projects so quickly. I finished everything to send to Soluman's family: 2 hats, a gaiter, socks, an 3 coffee cozies. I hope they find them useful. Now I just have to felt the rather large bowl I made last night for Jim and Cathy, make Drew's beanie hat, and maybe his cousin's somthing small, like a headband and beanie. No rush, I have a week and no classes!

A bit sore

So I ran my first 10K yesterday, the Enmark Bridge run here in downtown Savannah over the Tallmadge Bridge. I finished at 1:00:57, better than 10 min. miles. Pretty good considering how much I've been running lately (not nearly enough). I've run the bridge before. For a while me Soluman and Lisa ran it about every sunday. I used to have to walk up most of it, back when I was fat and out of shape. Now I can run it at a reasonable pace up as well as down, even when I'm thin & out of shape. I know I'm out of shape since I am a bit sore today. Not cripplingly so, but I wouldn't be if I was running more.

I still went to my weekly stitch-in afterward. I finished my dad's X-mas present, a "natural" color wool gaiter(Patons Classic Merino). Basically a short scarf in the round. Ah yes, the magic of scarves. It was going to be based on the pattern out of the One Skein book, but it was my first time knitting on circular needles, and frankly it was driving me up the wall. I couldn't even finish the second row without noticing something terribly wrong: 4 knit stitches in the K2 P2 ribbing, a weak, loose gap when joining the round, and don't even ask how many times I had to cast on. It was a nightmare at my level of experience (not enough), but I've learned. So I decided it'd be faster and easier to do a crochet version. I think it turned out nice, after more trial and error. I even made up the pattern on the spot. I should write it down and maybe post it on Crochet Me. Now I'm crocheting my first pair of socks for Soluman's mom. I hope they turn out OK, meaning wearable.

Oh, and in case you're wondering: Yes, I should be studying for finals ( I really don't know enough about the aldol and Claisen condensation reactions) and such, but frankly I just don't want to.

10 Days Later

Wow, so it's already been 10 days since my last post. Well, in case you were wondering, I did run that 5K the next morning. Even though I've been a slob for the past 2 weeks, I still managed to finish in under 28 minutes, which is very good for me at this point. I finally signed myself up for the bridge run this weekend, my first official 10K. I may be slightly doomed because even after that last 5K, I have reverted to my slobby ways atleast I ran once over the Thanksgiving break.

So me and Soluman, my boyfriend of 4 years, just got back from visiting my family in Ohio. We spent Thanksgiving there, I made the dinner. It was that or let my dad eat out on a day that epitomizes family togetherness. I liked making dinner for everyone and making breakfast in the mornings for my dad while we were there. I don't see us as guests when we visit, we're family and family takes care of each other.

I didn't do a bit a homework or research over the break, which I'm sure is about to bite me in the ass, what with finals around the corner. Plus I have a physics test tomorrow night, lab finals, this research paper to write, etc, etc. It's so close to the end of the semester and I just want it to end now.

I did get quite a bit of knitting done. I finally finished Soluman's scarf, just in time for the warm spell to hit both Ohio and Georgia. I made Troy a beanie, my dad a coffee cup cozy, and made some headway into the basketweave stitch scarf for my mom. Plus I helped Olivia, my niece, with her knitting. I hope she keeps up with it. I hope I keep up with mine as well, seeing as I just learned this summer. I also got some lovely yarn in Ohio, much to my surprise. There was a yarn shop in N. Canton and there I fell in love with Mountain Colors! I just had to get a hank of the Twizzle in Juniper, even if it was $22 per 250 yrd hank. The verigation is such a gorgeous blend of colors and the silk seems to make it shine and twinkle. I also got a great deal on some Noro cotton/silk blend as well, 50% off. I nearly bought up all 6-7 skeins! At the Hartville Market I even found some exquisite alpaca. Turns out there was a local alpaca farm and they sell there own handspun/ handdyed yarns as well as imports. After the indulgence at the Artist's Gallery yarn shop, I stuck to the less pricey imports. They had a beautiful brown/black tweed like I had not seen before, so I bought 3 balls/ 109 yards each. And to top it off, when we got home I saw that my cashmere that I ordered from ColourMart on Ebay finally came in! Boy, I can't wait to show the girls at the knitting group this Saturday!