Midterm week!

Well, five weeks almost down, five weeks to go before I complete my first quarter of graduate school. I am defiantly swamped and a little freaked out that I have three large papers all due at the same time and in less then a month, but hey I can do it right?!! Anyways its a good thing that its been rainy and wet this past week, it defiantly helps keep me in the office working! And no matter how bad I feel about myself, all I have to do is think back to those poor sheep outside in the cold wet rain, and to top it all off for feeling sad for the poor sheep, they just got shaved today! At least I know my life isn't as bad as a sheeps!

Anyways, happy early Halloween from the batcat!

The arrival of Fall

 

I missed fall, fall is by far my favorite season. It always makes me think of apples, pumpkins, scarecrows, warm soups and stews, mulled cider and wine, fuzzy sweaters, fires in the fireplace, and hot chocolate. It makes me want to cook and read, but unfortunately I'm stuck studying. But fall has arrived here in Oregon I get to see fall again, and I still love it. At least as I walk to the library this morning I get to hear the leaves crunch under my feet and watch them fall from the trees blown by the light cool breeze. Makes me want to pile up the leave and jump in them. Anyone want to join me?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Portland visit!

OK, this Saturday David and I traveled up to Portland to see his family. But before I totally 'dragged' him to the city to see some of what Portland has to offer. Being a small time, but ambitious foodie our first stop was the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. But man when we got there I was surprised to see a line of patrons streaming around the corner of the block in the rain (OK well it was mist mostly) just for a pink box of doughnuts. I knew Texans liked their doughnuts but I had no idea Oregonians would! So after paying the meter to park David and I waited in line, for about 30 minutes before it was our time to order. Choices, choices, choices. They had a ton of doughnuts to pick from, so David and I decided to get a dozen for variety. They included the voodoo doll, maple bacon bar (David's choice), a few cake doughnuts, including what they called Mexican hot chocolate (is was sweet and spicy and my personal favorite from the trip), and of course, how could I refuse, the Tex-ass doughnut! The doughnuts were great and worth the wait in the rain.

After we consumed way too much sugar we headed off to the largest new and used bookstore in the world! Talk about a bookworms dream. We stumble around the multiple floors and rooms of book categories in our sugar coma, and managed to buy relatively few books considering the options available. Unfortunately we were running low on time to browse so we will have to go back sometime to conquer that bookstore, but don't be surprised if that becomes a quest along the same magnitude of the quest for the Holy Grail! OK, well at least a Monty Python's sized quest for the Holy Grail, although hopefully no one will run into 'the rabbit!!". Huh, I bet you could find all kinds of movies and books about the Grail and Monty Python there.... but sorry I digress.

After we dragged ourselves away from the mountains of books we ran some errands and eventually met up with David's family, to run only more errands with them. But hey this errand was to IKEA and trips to IKEA are in my genes. I have spend many hours wandering around the depths of IKEAs in all my home states, its almost like a required trip in my family, kinda like an Olson tradition. Maybe its because of the whole Swedish heritage thing, its probably one of the closest times I have come to experiencing Swedish culture in America, beyond Christmas cookies with my family, the American Doll book from my childhood about a girl from Sweden (I think?) and the Swedish chef on the Muppet's. After all there are not a lot of Swedish restaurants in Illinois or Texas. However, I have heard there is more of that culture to be found here in the Pacific Northwest and I will definitely have to seek out some cultural events while I'm here.

But now I'm back in Corvallis with my nose in many books (unfortunately all the textbook kind) and completing multiple homework assignments. But don't worry I will make it back to Portland someday to further explore the city!

To Portland!

Tomorrow David and I need to head to Portland to search out the Ikea and purchase some dressers for our large amount of clothes. Yeah, my first time in Portland! Also while we are there we are gonna check out Voodoo Donuts, a local dive that creates some interesting breakfast items. Their signature donut is the voodoo donut, a donut in the shape of a voodoo doll, covered with chocolate, filled with raspberry jam, and a pretzel stake in the doll. Don't worry I will take pictures and post the experience. On top of it all we are meeting up with David's family in the area which will be one of the first times we get to meet them, one of many I'm sure.

Unfortunately, its supposed to pour tomorrow. I guess I better get used to it!

Running into new challenges

Well week two has come to a close and soon I will be leaving to join some classmates for a brew at a local pub. As can be expected school is occupying majority of my life, between classes, labs, assignments, and various readings I haven't spent a lot of quality time with my husband or my cat.

My cat is extremely frustrated with me and taking her anger out on me through cruel and unusual ways of torture that can only be conceived by an evil demon spawn. Besides finding hair balls on my bed she has been working hard to prevent me from getting my R&R. Every morning this week at 6:30 sharp when my husband leaves the bed to get ready for work, cue the evil cat. She heads straight for the window and moves the curtains, with a precise that can only be developed through years of practice, to send bright streams of light directly into my eyes. About 15 minutes later she scratches and cries at the bedroom door demanding to be let out. Yes, she always wins this fight and either David or I will let her out. About 5 minutes later she's back at the bedroom door, this time from the opposite side, crying to get back in. However David refused to give in so what do I hear from under my pillow? "Lilly, sshhhh!! Come here! Bad cat, quiet!", to which comes cat responds with a series of back talking cries.

This vicious cycle has put my nerves on edge along with the stress of class assignment I have officially had my first meltdown session of the year. I know, I know, freaking out over an abstract for a research proposal is not a big deal, but to me it created one of those "what the hell am I doing moments!". But don't feel bad for me, I am seeking my revenge on the cat by demanding affection from her to help me get through my feelings of self doubt. The person you should feel sorry for is my husband since he has to put up with me and the cat!

Oh well, gone are the days of peace and relaxation, onwards to next week!!

One week down 9 more to go!

Well I have survived my first week of classes. I must admit that I feel weight down by the pure weight or reading material, and literally weighed down by my book bag (ahhh... freshman backpack syndrome). Although the pace is fast its nice to think I am a tenth of the way through the quarter. Unfortunately, that also means 15 weeks of class material crammed into 10 weeks of class.