Jamaica anyone???

So...I'm going to Jamaica! YAY! I didn't want to post anything before it was confirmed, but I just booked the plane tickets, so it's official! It happened quite suddenly (wedding is Oct 26th--NOT MINE!) and was somewhat expensive, but you only live once, right?

The story: one of the Biology grad students (who came in with my group) just recently got engaged to his girlfriend of ~10 years. His now fiance was getting a little stressed about planning a wedding so soon, so they just decided to have it down in Jamaica. My friend and her fiance (engaged last week) somehow managed to get their family to give them an early engagement present of some money towards going to Jamaica and then I got it in my head that Chris and I should go too. We had to wait to make sure Chris could get the time off--it was driving me nuts, but we can go!

The bad thing: it's at a resort, so it's not roughing it like I'd like it to be.

The good thing: it's at a resort, so it's not roughing it like I thought I'd like it to be. :o) It's all inclusive, so food, alcohol, scuba...no charge. What more could I ask for? Also, I booked the same flight as our friends, so we can carpool and share the hotel room in Charlotte.

I'm stoked STOKED STOKED STOKED! :o)

What's for dinner?

From Lia Mack's Blog:

1. What's for dinner tonight? Fried okra, sloppy beef sandwiches, and pico w/ chips (sounds fattening (really it's not) and random (gotta use up the veggies!))

2. Do you do all or most of the cooking? Yes

3. What is your signature/favorite food to make? What are you known for? I'm not really "known" for anything but I can whip up spaghetti and garlic bread in 5 seconds (who can't) and my grandmother's coconut cake was a huge hit once.

4. Favorite food to chop? Cucumbers

5. Least favorite food to prepare that you have to cook? Onions, tomatoes

6. What was the last thing you made/cooked? Blueberry muffins last night

7. What was the last thing someone made for you? Hmmm...does McDonald's count?

8. How often do you burn your food? What are you known to burn? I can't even remember the last time I burned something. I'm a chemist in the kitchen.

9. What's your signature/favorite breakfast? Breakfast burritos

10. What's your signature/favorite lunch? Breakfast burritos

11. Dessert? What do you have to have that you make yourself? Cake!

12. Favorite veggie to prepare? How? Cucumbers--peeled and sliced

13. Most interesting item you've ever eaten and/or cooked? Probably dim sum mainly because I didn't know what I was eating.

14. Favorite kitchen gadget(s)? Louise's new wine bottle opener

15. Ever caught the kitchen on fire? Nope--done it with microwaves a couple of times though

16. Are you the grill master? What are you best at grilling? Hardly!

17. What would your dream kitchen include? A personal chef

18. If asked, what do you make/cook to bring to a party to share? Bean salad (yum!) or cake

19. What did you have for dinner last night? Cheese and broccoli Lean Pocket

20. And, most importantly...are you hungry now?! Absolutely! It's 12:25 and past my lunch time!

Kitchen before and after

Random things

1. It's the 7th anniversary of September 11th...it feels like it happened yesterday.
2. My seminar presentation has been moved from November 21st to early next semester! Yay!
3. I think I might switch from My Food Diary to Spark People. Spark People doesn't charge a monthly fee and does all that which My Food Diary does.
4. The power company started cutting down all of the brush and trees under the powerlines yesterday. One, a house above me that I didn't know was there suddenly appeared. Two, I feel like I'm going against my environmentalist side when I hope that they take down all of the brush in front of my house so that I can get a better view of the river. :oP
5. If all goes well (meaning my "boss" doesn't tell me I still need to do a certain plot) I'm all done with field work. Happy face!
6. My boyfriend bought an iPhone. Whatever.
7. Depending on whether or not my boyfriend can get the time off, we might be going to Jamaica in October for our friend's wedding. Another happy face!
8. Except for touch-up paint, my kitchen is done! Happy face number three!
9. I planted collard greens and cauliflower. Cross your fingers.
10. I needed to think of something else for number 10 (to make this list even) but couldn't.

Kiddie pool?

I have a digging problem. That's the first step, right? Admit you have a problem? Actually, my dogs have the digging, I have the problem. We've had this problem off and on for a while now with them digging up and killing ALL of the rhodos in the yard, but it hasn't gotten on my nerves until recently. Perhaps the problem has gotten bigger than what I'll allow.

I did some searching online to see if there's any kind of repellent for the areas they're (I say they but I'm not sure whether it's both of them or just one) digging up. No luck. The best I found were websites saying it's either their nature, boredom, or they're trying to find a cool spot in which to lay. Basically, it's the owner's fault.

So what do I do? I go and buy treats/toys to reward(?) their bad behavior. Against my better judgement (because my dogs don't play with dog toys--imagine that!) I bought a rope and a squeaky toy. I hate spending money on stupid things my dogs don't even touch. I also bought 5 big rawhide bones. I'm okay with spending money on these since I know Capone loves them. Athena loves them because Capone loves them. As I gave one to each of them I thought, "Wait. Since Athena's going to run and bury hers...this is just going to make it worse!" AAGH!

This situation has been on my mind all day. Believe it or not this is somewhat of a big deal because I live on a semi-steep hill. Since the dogs (or whichever one it is) are digging right where the hill meets the flat part, I'm afraid there's going to be a major landslide with the first major rain we get. Whether this concern is warranted or not, I don't know. At any rate, if this keeps up I feel like I might have to put in a retaining wall. :oP I would get a landscaper (not sure if this is the correct professional to hire) to come in a take a look at it, but after this kitchen renovation, I HAVE NO MONEY!

At any rate, here's my conclusion: judging from where they're digging (under an azalea, under a mimosa tree, and under the picnic table) I think they're looking for a cool spot to lay in. At the same time, one of them (or both?) are eating the roots of the mimosa. Same thing happened with the rhodos. So are they hungry? Am I not feeding them enough? They're eating grass as well. Or is it the water content in the roots? Does their water get too hot to drink? My boyfriend and I have discussed previously how strange it is that they won't drink the water I provide outside and then when I let them in for the night they'll drink and drink and drink the water that's inside. I even changed the bowl I have for them outside just in case it was the problem.

I considered buying a kiddie pool to put out back, but I did that in NM and they ignored it. Also, since it's hilly back there, the only level place I could put it is on the fire-pit patio and there's not much shade there.

Does anyone have any advice??

When a spider isn't a spider

I recently posted a picture on Facebook of a daddy-longlegs and mistakenly called it a "spider". Boy was I wrong! (As my friends so quickly pointed out.) Apparently spiders usually have two body sections, eight eyes, and unsegmented abdomens while daddy-longlegs have one body section, two eyes, and segemented abdomens. The Spider Myths Site does a really good job explaining it when they say that daddy-longlegs are arachnids but not spiders in the same way that butterflies are insects but not beetles.

A little bit of trivia for you...now go impress all of your friends.