Boring = Good (sometimes)

I have been very boring lately.  For Halloween last night, I dug out all of my orange and black clothes, put them on, and handed out candy. Probably will do the same tonight.  We tried to go to a party, but then everyone was running late and we couldn't really find the place, so we went home. Told you.  Boring.

BUT: I'm starting to catch up on other things.  For those of you that have not heard me complain, I am hopelessly and irrevocably  behind on every aspect of my life.

House Dirty (cleaning today!).  Behind at lab.  Behind at teaching-need to design a molecular biology methods course to present to my superiors next month.  Hence the procrastination/blogging.  Anyway, here are some things I have and am accomplishing at the moment-at least I know I'm being productive.  Maybe boring is good.

Reasons why Keri is boring:

• I started making our Christmas Cards, and I'm about 90% done Christmas shopping.
• I have a plan for Christmas wrapping/tag making.  This is huge in my world, as wrapping gifts is my favorite activity in the world.
• I rearranged some furniture and brought out my fall/winter clothes and shoes.  Just the shoes part was a chore.
• I bought a new camera battery, so my blog will have pictures again starting next week.
• I got over the plague.
• I have planned a trip for my sister's 21st bday, which is next week.  Good thing my camera is fixed!
• I got 4 new tires and  my engine light taken care of, after not driving my car for 2.5 weeks! And Rob fixed and installed my car bra. Mustang ready to go anywhere!
• Cleaning today!  So my house will be in order, which makes everything else fall into place.
• I have given my boss everything (I hope) she needs to finish her grant renewal - and early!  This is pretty much unheard of in my lab.
• I finally started collecting data for a paper, not characterization or a grant.
• Amy and I are still trudging along on our marathon training plan.  Emphasis on the trudging.  My feet look like they belong to a troll.

So.  Edie and I are going down south for Rikki's 21st bday next week!  Party!  Then it will be off to San Diego for the neuroscience conference.  Then it will be Thanksgiving. I will be exciting again soon :)

Happy Halloween everyone :)

Everlasting Rhinovirus

Keri's Story:

Last week I was sick.  I feel ill the day after my birthday, but really, I could have blamed it on a hangover except for the stuffy nose.  

By Monday night I was hiiiiigh on decongestants.  

By Tuesday, stubbornness had set in, and I had decided I COULD continue training runs and teach yoga, plague be damned.  Tuesday night I realized I'd made a terrible mistake (fever had also set in), but was still stubborn enough (read: Stoopid) to try and run Wednesday morning.  

Wednesday is my teaching day, and everything was canceled after 4.  I took a quadruple dose of Nyquil, slept 11 hours, and skipped my Thursday run.  

I had to go to Stillman for extra teaching stuff Thursday morning, but I worked from home in the afternoon.  I also canceled yoga.  I took a double dose of Nyquil, and slept 10 hours.  

Friday I was able to go to work without everyone around me running in fear. 

Saturday I completed 7 miles of a planned 9 mile training run, and proceeded to feel like ass the rest of the day.  I took a single dose of Nyquil and slept 10 hours

Sunday, I rested!  

Today I feel better except for a slight cough.  

Robert's Story:

Last week I was sick.  I started feeling crappy on Tuesday, but used decongestants to get through Wednesday.  

Thursday and Friday I stayed home and slept all day.  Friday I drank a 1/2 gallon of orange juice.  

All three days I obediently ingested all of the drugs given to me by my wife.

By Saturday I was better.

Now, you tell me:

His 3-day illness versus my stubbornness which stretched a cold into a 7-day plague. Which one of us is smarter?  My money's on the hubs.  

WHERE am I?

My friend (and coworker) Joy has made me the coolest thing that I just had to tell the google-webs about!

Okay, so here is the whole story.  When I leave my office, I stick a post-it on the door telling any potential visitors where I can be found.  Or at lunch or coffee or whatever.  I keep the variety of post-its on the back of the door so that when I need one I can just remove it from the back of the door and stick it on the front.  This ultimately led to the back of my door looking like this:

Now, I feel like I'm an organized person normally, but Joy is the most lovable freak of nature I've ever had the pleasure to work in a lab with.  She is completely freaked out by my disorganized iPod, even though I kind of feel like it's okay. Anyway, she made me the following to hang on my door (it's actually now hanging on the door, not the doorknob, but you get the picture:

So cute, right?  Well, if that wasn't amazing enough, she also made me a holder containing lots of different interchangeable options for where I can be during the day:

Thanks, Joy, you are so creative!

Will you go to prom with me!?

Well, here they are.  Photos from mine and Amy's birthday party.  The theme was thrift-store prom, and everyone looked fantastic! Many many thanks to Edie and Abby, the hostesses.  Also to Johanna and Jada, decorators and cake makers! There was music Aerosmith and Journey, flip-cup, beer pong, football on TV, glitter spray, and fabulous outfits! A great time was had by all, even though my hair was set on fire briefly by the trick candles.  Photos below!

Rob found his letterman jacket from high school.

And I have a homemade corsage.

 Win.

 Party planners extraordinaire!

It might just be me, but Steven looks like he just heard Amy is pregnant again.

(She's not, to my knowledge.)

Lovely ladies:

Even Dibs dressed the part! Now I do feel special!

Studs:

Glitter Spray!

Dr. Mans and Dr. Sestero, MERIT Scholars 

in charge of some poor college kids' education.

Jada and Sean, cute.

Dick out of the box.

JK Sean, you found a great outfit!

Thanks for helping me ring in 29 and Amy ring in 24! 

Although we are both 34, if you count the years added by marriage and kids.

 

Birthday CAKE!

Abby is busy explaining why she SHOULD be allowed to wield knives.

No one believes her, even when she is sober.  Which she is not.

Happy birthday dear *mumble mumble mumble*

 Happy birthday to YOU, lady!

About 30 secs before the hair inferno.

Leaving to go to bed-this is how prom ends for the lucky ones :)

Fun Fun Birthday!

Have a great week everyone!

Birthday Short Story: Victory is schweeeet.

I will be posting all about my birthday party probably later today or tomorrow.  However, I just had to mention that after many many years of disappointment, Mississippi State finally gave me a birthday present.  They BEAT the gators (!)-in the swamp-on UF homecoming.

I've waited a long time, being married into the gator nation, for this day. Also, I'm smart enough to realize I should enjoy it, because they are sure to fire their offensive coordinator and kill us at our next meeting.

You can see the whole story HERE


Wow. Thanks Bulldogs for a great birthday!

Birthday Happy Dance!

Tomorrow is my birthday!  I will be 29.

I love birthdays!  I love other peoples birthdays at least as much as I love my own, but probably more. I love birthdays more than Christmas, because on your birthday, it is YOUR DAY. On Christmas, you have to say Merry Christmas to everyone else.  But on your birthday, the wishes just come to you! Also, Christmas is really just one big ball of stress. Yes, this is selfish, and I don't care.

My husband is cooking me dinner tonight. Best hubs ever. Dinner at home is what I prefer, because I like the option of eating dinner in my underpants for my birthday.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say Rob likes this option as well. 

Tomorrow night my friends are throwing Amy and I a party for our collective birthdays!  A theme party! Thrift store prom!

Look for pictures next week.

That is all.

Have a super fantastic weekend!

Remember.

Last Thursday, the UAB community lost a tremendous person.  Dr. Dale Benos, who was the chair of the Physiology and Biophysics Department, died suddenly of a heart attack, about a week after his 60th birthday. He was out for an evening jog with his wife.  It was a complete shock. I cried for him, for the wonderful person we lost, and for his wife and two teenage daughters.  

I called (okay, I texted) my dad to tell him I loved him.

Dale taught my ethics class in grad school, and it was clear that he loved teaching.  He has been incredibly kind to me through the years (I'm pretty sure he never forgot a face), and from the number of people present at his memorial service, to everyone around him.  He was an amazing person who I met with just 6 days before his death to borrow some materials for my own teaching activities.  He showed tremendous interest in my goals, was thrilled for my interest in teaching, and even gave me some suggestions for my own career aspirations. I left the meeting in such a great mood, excited for the future, and made a mental note to meet with him more often.   But then he was gone, in a flash. 

Rob and I both had Dale as a teacher at some point, and we thought it appropriate to attend the memorial service, which was held yesterday at Church of the Highlands.  It was quite a nice service, despite the pastor obviously trying to recruit souls to salvation for the last 15 minutes or so.  (That part was completely inappropriate.) The point is that Dale was remembered by many as a kind, godly person who loved his family more than anything and always tried to do right by the people around him.

We didn't say anything about it, really, but Rob and I spent a lot of time together this past weekend.  We had lunch on Friday (which we NEVER do on a workday---too busy, you know?), went out for yogurt Friday night, went for dinner Saturday night, etc.  We have a tendency to sort of go our separate ways on the weekends (we both have so many projects!) but I think this sudden sense of loss made us think twice about that. 

Things like this always make me think of the ones I love the most, how much they mean to me, and what I would do and feel if they were suddenly gone.  Just gone, with no preamble and no real explanation. 

So.  That was my weekend.  Somewhat reflective, but definitely not boring.  Sometimes it's nice to just remember.

I will not post about my weekend next week because:

i am going to the movies twice.  twice!

i am going on a run

i am going to catch up on some work stuff maybe.

i am going to clean the house

i am going to catch up on making birthday cards

i might clean my car

i am going to the market, but all of you already know about that.

my weekend is going to be blissful, but nothing special to tell you about on monday.  so.

have a lovely weekend everyone!