5 Year Plan

In January of 2005, my mother made a New Year's Resolution.  "I'm going to purge all of my stuff and get rid of everything I don't need", she said.  Never think that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

I can't believe it's been that long since the world turned upside down.  Katrina devastated so much of a region, and so many families, including mine.  I was, of course, living in Birmingham at the time and still had the comfort of my worldly possessions. My parents home, a sanctuary to all us kids, was left filled with logs and water from a 30 foot storm surge. My godparents' home was effectively turned into a duplex. Nothing was salvageable, but that didn't stop us from trying. I still have water-damaged photos from a scrapbook that was left behind.  No one thought it would or could be so bad, but it was. So much of what happened is still unfathomable as I watch the news reports this morning, the 5-year anniversary.

The weekend before Katrina hit, I went home to visit.  Looking back, I'm so happy I was able to visit one last time. I went for selfish reasons-I was looking to my mom and dad for courage and resilience to dump my live-in boyfriend.  This was a LONG time coming, and I certainly should have done it years before.  Anyway, I got home on Friday night, and my mom mentioned, "You know, they say there's going to be a hurricane".  We've been through a million hurricanes, and no one was worried.  Just reinforce the windows and find somewhere dry to go.

My sister had made the homecoming court that year, soon Saturday we went to the mall to buy some clothes and shoes for homecoming week.  I was so excited to help her shop, and we had a great time.  The mall was packed, and only a murmur of "gotta go board up the windows" was heard. After shopping, we went back to the house and helped to reinforce the privacy fence.  I got blisters, but that fence was still standing after the storm.  By Saturday night the storm had strengthened and was heading straight for Bay St. Louis, MS. 

That night, I had Grey Goose with cranberry juice and drowned my sorrows.  My mom told me that no matter what, I had to be happy.  I knew my relationship was toast, and knew I had to do something about it.  That night, Katrina strengthened to a Category 5 storm.

Click here for the scariest weather report I have ever seen. (It's Wikipedia, so you'll have to scroll down to "bulletin".)

Sunday morning I got up, turned on the weather, and evacuated with the rest of south Mississippi.  Dad and Rikki went to my grandmother's house in Philadelphia, MS. My mom headed into the hospital, being a nurse, because she was required to stay there in case of medical emergencies.  At the last minute she was sent home, and almost went to our house.  She most likely would have died there, or at the very best ended up being rescued from the roof.  Ultimately, she evacuated to my grandmother's house.

When I got back to Birmingham, I broke up with my live-in boyfriend within 1 minute of walking in the door.  By Monday, everything was gone.  

The power had gone out at my grandmother's house, so it was a day or so before my parents knew the extent of the devastation.  For several days, there were many family members that were unaccounted for.  They all survived.  

I cleaned out all the clothes and shoes from my closet that I thought anyone could use. I bought and filled up gas can after gas can so I could go to MS to see my family. My sister moved in with me for a month, a welcome reprieve from the loneliness I was feeling.  I took her shopping for clothes, but this time because she really didn't have any. My parents (and pretty much everyone else too) moved into a FEMA camper for a long year-I can't even imagine how difficult it was for them.  They filed their insurance (flood insurance bought only 2 months before the storm), sold their condemned house and property, and made their plans.

Mom & Dad and Tommy & Donna rebuilt their lives and began a new life in new homes-- with very different priorities than before. We made new memories.  I started dating Rob, then we were engaged and then married.  I defended my dissertation and earned my Ph.D. My little sister had a baby and got married. My dad took stock of his health and became a bodybuilder -- thus winning the prize of biggest physical transformation.Our family grew together, and I hope that we always will remember what's most important. We've all had multiple challenges along the way, and we have all dealt with them with the same brute force that was used for the Katrina aftermath. And here we are, stronger than before.

Best Sushi Ever

Dear Surin West:

Please add the following to your sushi menu.  This would greatly increase the LOL's at lunch.

HURRAY IT'S MONDAY! ON WEDNESDAY!

I have had a very busy week so far, so my Monday post has been pushed to Wednesday.  Anyway:

I had a super crazy but fun AND productive weekend, even though the next weekend is now hovering.  I'm going to tell you about last weekend anyways.

Saturday:  Human brain dissection, market day, sunbathing, back to lab to coverslip, light shopping, then a PARTY!

Sunday:  Sunbathing, piano teaching, barbecue (I ate TWO pulled pork sandwiches!) with birmingham gators, nap, trip to Lake Purdy, making the best cupcakes ever.

All I have to show for all of this are a few pictures of Bells after her first trip to the lake:

Her take:  "OHMYGOSHAWESOME!" Although, not so great with water.  Only a little splashing.

And then it was Monday. I felt about the same way Slick did:

Upside:  Joy made me a name plate for my office, so now I have something typed instead of a post-it note with my name scrawled in purple marker.  Thanks lady!

Yes, I did decline to wash my hair today.  No I'm not naked. Whatever.

Speed X 100!

The kid driving the vehicle was ejected, awake and speaking after the crash. He is in critical condition. The accompanying news story says that police are investigating to see what role, if any, speed played in the accident.(!)

Compliment yourself today.

Today on "The Frisky", one of my favorite blogs, there was a post entitled "30 things I love about myself".

It got me thinking that we are our biggest critics and tend to focus only on things we want to improve.  I know that I am VERY critical of myself, because I know that there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

But today, I think I'll focus on things I like about myself.  I've listed a few below.

 1. (Probably my favorite)  I'm SUPER well-rounded.

 2.  I'm a good friend (right, friends?).

 3.  I'm in good shape.  Some might say great shape, but probably only in comparison to the rest of   Alabama. 

 4.  My love for animals

 5.  I always do my best.

 6.  I have a Ph.D. in brains.  Does this make me double-smart?

 7.  I'm musical.

 8.  I'm a good wife.  New at it still, but good nonetheless.  Husband better agree if he knows what's good for him :)

 9.  I will try (almost) any food once.  In Boston I had pasta made with squid ink.  It was actually delish.

10.  I'm tougher than I seem.


What do you love about yourself?


Have a great weekend everybody!

Oh yeah, that comes in a can!

Old lady

Today I feel old.  

The undergrads are back on campus, and more spastic and douchey than ever, if possible.  This is combined with all of the first-year med students, who I'm convinced were placed in a room and told they are better than everyone else on campus.  

Anyway, the students are running to class.  Running.  I guess maybe they are late, or they are lost.  The ones that are driving are looking for a parking space close to class, really a moot point on any campus. This part is pretty comical.

I usually ride my bike to work--it's a 6-minute trip one-way on the sidewalks.  But today I drove, parked a little farther away, and walked in to the lab. This exercise takes about 30 minutes, so it's not the most efficient. It was a good decision, however, because the sidewalks were jam-packed with lost freshmen. Not to mention those magical mystical people that walk alone, but somehow take up an entire sidewalk all by themselves.  

So I'm trying to remember what I was like as an undergraduate student.  As an entering freshman in the fall of 2000, I routinely wore pajamas to my early classes, didn't have a cell phone (!), went to the dorm to shower after chemistry, then went to the afternoon classes in regular clothes.  I drove a 1990 Honda Accord, which wasn't fancy, but it got good gas mileage and transported me from A to B. College was lovely, and I loved the freedom of it all.  I remember being so excited to start college, so nervous that I would fail, so thrilled to be making new friends that I had lots in common with, and very excited about my brand-new compaq laptop.  I stayed up as late as I wanted.

I wonder if I was as immature as the incoming college students I see on campus today.  I mean, probably I was.  But my mom raised me to at least be considerate.  Also, I had THREE campus jobs.  Two in a lab, and one teaching aerobics.  Combine that with a major in biochemistry and molecular biology, and you've got a busy girl.  

The students today have this awfully inflated sense of entitlement with their iPhones and new cars financed by the "Bank of Mommy and Daddy".  I know from my own experience with college students that half of them do not know how to write a complete sentence containing a subject and a verb that agree.  Rob and I have concluded that college now is an extension of high school, which, sadly, makes grad school the equivalent of what college used to be.  I guess this a natural progression of things.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Even though I'm acting like an old lady, I'm trying to remember that this is a huge step in these kids' lives, and maybe they're not quite as douchey as they seem.  They are probably all excited and overwhelmed at the same time.  College is a huge adjustment.

Despite myself, I'd like to wish all the beginning high-schoolers and college kids a very happy  and successful school year.  Hrmph.

Some randoms

1.  Awesome day at the lab, as I got some great feedback on something new I learned to do! My first set of  electron microscope photos were praised by my very patient boss.  Woot!

2.  Birthday love and hugs to my bestie, Kristin!

3.  Happy birthday (love and hugs) to my sis-in-law, Lori!

4.  Amy's husbands name is Steven, NOT Stephen.  Somehow, I always knew this and never got it right.  Sorry dude. I really hate it when people misspell my name, so I'll try to do better :)

5.  I'm worried for one of my friends, but after a bad day and some margaritas---well, let's just say I'm confident she will be on the right track shortly.

6.  Good run tonight, sweaty and gross-- but happy I did it, as always.  Motivated lady.

7.  Actually excited for the rest of the workweek--when did I become such a dork?

8.  OH, had a great weekend with my parents too!  I love when they visit :)

Huntsville Rapist Bed Intruder Song

Song now available on iTunes. I'm not even kidding.

i always FLASH the toilet.

When I was in grad school, the bathrooms on our floor had these annoying "please clean feces and blood off the toilet seat" signs on them.  As a graduation gift to myself (after looking at these signs for 5 years), I took them all down following my defense.  There were 4.

I don't know what the problem is exactly, but I don't think I've ever had such a problem in the bathroom that there is blood and feces that I would need to clean off the toilet seat.  It was excessive.

But apparently someone on that floor has some major gastrointestinal issues?

As of yesterday, I have been informed there are new and improved signs in the bathroom.  

See below for your enjoyment. Note that we are to FLASH the toilet for a HELTHY environment.

Happy Thursday.

All the Single Ladies

Actually, just me.  And I was only single for 5.5 days or so.  

Rob has been gone since Saturday 8/7 to Dauphin Island to help teach part of a course in neuroscience.  

I was terribly productive in his absence, as he always is when I'm gone.  

Saturday:  Okay, not productive really.  Farmer's Market, Lay Out for 1.5 hours, Go to pool with Amy, Stephen and kids, dinner with friends, movie at my house with friends.  House still dirty, but I got to show off my stellar dog paddling skills to Amy's oldest, Lily.

Sunday:  Teach piano. Lay out for 1.5 hours. Proceed to clean house, do laundry and redecorate the office for the next 8 hours.  Laundry folded with neighbor Amy, even though my house was clean and she was not, lol.

Monday: Work.  Walk dog.  Eat Falafel for the 2nd time in 3 days. Play with Animals, Run and do Abs/Arm circuits with Amy.  Seriously what would I do without Amy?

Tuesday:  Work.  Power yoga.  Mexican Restaurant with yoga ladies.

Wednesday:  Work.  Grocery shop (parents arriving Friday!). Play with dog.  Paint toenails.  Watch a movie. Start new novel.

Thursday:  Work.  Rob comes home today. Insanity workout with Amy.  She doesn't know about it yet. Bad surprise?

Did you notice how none of these days included watering the lawn or any other plants?  I was out watering them feverishly this morning in hopes they will miraculously turn green again before Rob makes his triumphant return....

Ala-bama

Yes, I live in Alabama.
No, I can't wait to leave Alabama.

See video below for a true ghetto witness -- "Hide yo husband cause they rapin' e'erbody out here"




That is all, I think it's enough.

Abstract Black and White Photography

Today was my first solo experience on the electron microscope in our lab, and I wanted to tell the internet all about it!  My postdoc position is so much different than what I did in grad school that most of the time I feel like a rotation student. But my mentor now trusts me to use the half-million dollar scope by myself!  I should give credit. Our resident expert, Joy, was there to answer my bajillion questions and help me to remember how to turn on the scope (it works better when it's powered up). But then I took pictures by myself!  I was looking for vGLUT1 labeled synapses (no, it doesn't matter to you what that is, so I won't explain), but I took some photos of other things that looked neat too!

All the images are from the rat striatum, but I will also be moving into human tissue soon.  These are not really the best examples, because I made lots of changes to the images on my computer in the exposure and whatnot to make the images more appealing to folks that don't do EM. They are a glimpse into what I'm up to when I go to a lab and work for an entire day! Science!

I learned that incorrect focus will drive your life into the toilet fast.  I'm not even kidding.

The type of images I was going for (sort of):

These are myelinated axons and fiber bundles.  It's amazing how high a resolution we can get on something so little. Now that I can begin to recognize structures, I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at the wrong stuff just because it's *pretty*.

More bundles and axons, and to the right a nucleus.  I won't begin to guess what type of cell, but it's most assuredly a nucleus. The black blobs in the nucleus are condensed DNA, chromatin.  Neat, yes?

So that's mostly what I did this afternoon.  I'm somewhat paranoid that if my mentor looks on my blog she might comment that all of my captions are wrong.  But you get the picture, so to speak.

Happy Thursday!  

Some thoughts at 4:12 on a Wednesday.

Yes, I know it's 4:12 on a Wednesday, and I should be learning some science or doing some science, but the fact is that I'm on a break.  So there.

I don't have organized thoughts, just an FYI before you keep reading.

Anyway, I thought this was worth mentioning-I slept great last night.  I didn't wake up one time.  Usually the fatties (my cats Homie and Slick) wake me up at least once begging to be fed, played with, or let in the yard.  They are relentless.  Then I get up, take care of them (okay, sometimes I spray them with the water bottle we keep by the bed), get a glass of water, put my hair up because I'm always too hot, and go back to bed.  And I try to go back to sleep, which inevitably takes about 20 minutes.  But not last night.  I slept beautifully.

Some other things tinkering around in the back of my head involve pop culture.  I wonder if I'm getting too old or what, but I simply do not understand some things that are super-duper popular right now.  I should correct myself.  Certainly The Twilight Saga, all the bullshit associated with said saga, The Jersey Shore, "Bieber Fever", Speidi, and Zac Efron are not so complicated and deep that I *can't* understand them.  Seriously these things are a waste of space and oxygen.  I don't understand the obsession, even to the point that I can't even make a pointed argument about it.  Yes, I know I'm spending time putting these things on my blog.  But I digress, and so should you :)

I've barely even read my former favorite blogger, Perez Hilton, over the past 3 weeks!  Maybe it's all the Mel Gibson drama that is on there every 4.2 milliseconds that has me jaded with pop culture news and gossip.  

Also, I don't know how my little group of yoga followers feels today, but I've got fire in my shoulders and abs!  The good kind, and I'm happy to be on my workout day off!

Happy Wednesday!!

Oh, AND...

Before I even got one block from my house this morning on my way to work, I crashed my bike and have yucky roadburn/gashes all over my left palm. Strong start.

I must be channeling my parents, who crashed a moped last week in Mexico.  

I would *facepalm* here, but it hurts.

Always boys in the yard....after my *goshdarn* milkshake

Another weekend come and gone, and this one started with the priceless quote which is the title of this post.  Thanks Abby, who else?

Anyway, Saturday brought another trip to the market with the ladies, but I'll spare you all the pointless pictures of produce.  I laid out, did some shopping, and went running for an hour with Amy.

Rob and I also took a trip to the lab, where we hung up my diplomas in my office!  See photos below!

Mississippi State, BS; UAB, Ph.D.  Lovely and Official!

Yes, I DO have MSU photos on my wall in my UAB office.  Am I sorry?  No. Alma Mater love never goes away!

It's not that neat or organized, but it's where I spend the majority of my day, and hey, I can find everything.

So then on Sunday, we had planned a tubing trip down the Warrior River, which promised lots of great photos, but the river was too low for tubing.  Luckily, our good friends Gabe and Nicole Muro were fine with us inviting ourselves over to their pool.  I got lots of good sunshine, and much needed catch up time with my friends.

Gabe and Nicole.  Yep, he's drinking Mike's pink lemonade and sitting in Rob's very special river tubing chair.

Rob with Gabe, Nicole, Christy, and Vlad.  New peeps!

Rob thought I should be in a picture, so here is pretty much the same pic as before (I think for Christmas Gabe needs his very own special river tubing chair):

Who knows what this week will bring?  Last week was crazy, so if anything cool happens, I'll be sure to let you know :)

Because, as I have mentioned before, I'm very exciting.