time flies...

Sunday was lame, at least I'm pretty sure it was because I can't remember what I did (if anything).


On Monday two new people came in to work, Nate and Molly. Nate had worked in this lab about 2 years ago and Molly is the daughter of another PI here at the VA. Unfortunately, because the VA HR system is whack technically neither of them were supposed to start, but because they'd have to wait another 2 weeks to start then we decided to just get them in. Nate worked upstairs with Joe getting his animal training on the computer and I hung out with Molly in 49 (the animal building). We mostly just talked and I described her summer project (videorecording) and then we practiced using the camera on a few mice. It was nice having new people in the lab, it's a good distraction from the mundane everyday sit around and overthink things that I usually do.


After work I went over and picked up Sybylla and we went over to the Highland area in Saint Paul (just right across the river). We first went to the infamous Half Price Books, where I did in fact purchase 2 books (an Anne McCaffrey book that I'd never heard of and Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind). How much did I pay for these 2 books you ask? Less than $5. Yep, I get the feeling this store is going to be dangerous for me. It was close to me spending $80 on 4 seasons of House but I managed to resist the siren call. After that we headed over to Chipotle and ate dinner (yummy chicken tacos and chips) and then over to Petco. I looked at the rats there but they only had male ones and I'd want a female. Or two, I'm thinking 2 female rats might be better. Then dropped Sybylla off at her house and raced home to catch the season premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It is my guilty pleasure and I love it. Spent the rest of the night pretending to do laundry and watching TV.


On Tuesday at work I learned that Pat wanted Nate to do the coring for the mouse cell injection surgeries we had planned. So the guy who hasn't worked here in 2 years gets to do "real" surgeries whereas I'm still only allowed to do practices on dead mice. Fair? Nope. Make any sense? Nope. So Tuesday was spent using our old mice from who knows when to let Nate do some practices before we did real surgeries on Wednesday and Thursday. In the afternoon I escorted Molly upstairs for her to do her animal training and then I spent most of that time messing around on the internet reading MSN news stories. At the end of the day (~4pm) Joe asked me if I would take out all 49 individually housed mice and check for limping. I was so mad! Here I'd been sitting around all afternoon waiting for something to do (and yes even asking if there was anything I could do) and he waits until the end to give me a project that would take about 2 hours to do. Not to mention it would be pretty pointless... but I digress. I respectfully declined.


After work I went home and did some more laundry. I also attempted to clean my room a little and made a delicious dinner of a scrambled egg, cheese, and bagel sandwich. This is when I learned I had hardly any food left. Later my friend Nathan came over and we went for a walk and then watched Zombieland. I like that movie, it's pretty hilarious.


On Wednesday we did cell injection surgeries all morning and for a good part of the afternoon. It's weird doing it with 4 people now instead of just Katie and I, there was a lot more down time and I kept letting my mind wander. Never a good idea (at least never since April 14).


After work I went grocery shopping. Bought probably way more stuff than I need but hopefully I'll start making my lunch again (like sandwiches as opposed to the Easy Mac I've been packing nearly every day). Brought it home and then did more laundry (it sounds like I was doing laundry a lot but really I just kept switching it once and then forgetting it for a full day so it's just been a long drawn out process). Then I got ready for and went to kickball. Our favorite crazy rules lady umpire was back and it was a pretty close game for awhile. We were winning 2-1, then winning 4-1, then winning 4-3, and then our team kicked it into gear and scored 6 runs in one inning. So the final score was 10-3. I didn't do so great, but I did manage to get all the way to third in one of the innings. Jordan was stuck on the sidelines in the camel costume, but I think he had fun as well.


Thursday at work was pretty much literally a repeat of Wednesday, so I won't bother talking about it. After work however the fun started. First, my mom called me at work to let me know she was driving up to the cities that afternoon to pick up my paternal grandparents from the airport (they flew in from where they live in Florida). She wasn't sure she'd have enough room in her VW Beetle so she wanted to swap cars with me, which I thought was awesome. Anyway, after work I went home and showered and started making a taco ring. I was going to the infamous potluck that I'd heard so much about when Alaina and Amanda were still working at the VA (Alaina's potluck stories were lunchtime favorites). It was getting late and I was wondering when my mom would show up when she finally did with grandparents in tow. They got to see my messy house, meet my roommate, and see my car. But it turns out they managed to fit everything in the Beetle so they didn't need to swap. They headed down to Rochester and then I packed up the taco ring and headed to Alaina's. I got a little lost but ended up being early anyway, only the famous "frenemy" was there with Alaina and her boyfriend. I then had to help give Amanda directions as the party filled up. Lots of people were there, and it was a little intense but really fun. The taco ring disappeared rather quickly (yay taco ring) and it was just great to get out, meet new people, and of course hang out with the A-team. I miss them!!!


Today work was pretty slow. I helped Molly with her videorecording stuff and then had a meeting about people installing a fire alarm system in the building. All 6 of us went out to lunch which was nice and then spent the afternoon looking at cells etc.


Unfortunately on my way home I sort of ran into Tom... which means that I got home and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. It also doesn't help that today happens to be the 11th again... hence the title of this post.

Time flies when you're having fun, it also happens to fly when all you want to do is slow it down or go back and relive the past.


Blah.


Well now I'm about to head down to Rochester for Sara's graduation, hopefully that will be fun.