We leave in a few hours for our annual White Lake triathlon weekend extravaganza.

I am doing the half-Ironman distance race tomorrow morning.. bright and early 7:20 start time.

1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling, 13.1 miles of running.

I am hoping to finish by 1pm.

But this year has been nuts and recently I've been having conversations with myself that are normally reserved for kindergarten playgrounds.

Play nice. Maybe you're tired and need a nap? Just do your best.

I am looking forward to spending a lovely weekend with all our dear friends who we've convinced that this is a good idea. It will be fun and I will finish the race in some reasonable time.

Or I won't. And that is okay.

(Picture above is from my first Olympic distance race, Wildflower. You can see me in my gray cap and blue goggles standing up amongst the mayhem and looking slightly terrified. The swim starts are still my least favorite part.)

(Our little fella is spending the weekend with a coxswain and her 6 female roommates. He is going to be in snuggle heaven!!)

He's a spooner!

Long conference all day on microRNAs and their role in cancer biology, diagnostics and therapuetics. Awesome, but exhausting. Followed by splitting a pitcher of margaritas with Deirdre and a couple hundred thrilled undergrads celebrating their last day of class for the year.

Best recovery?

Falling asleep on the sofa with a snuggly sweet little fella.

Awesome!

Puppy pics!

Hello. My name is Pilot. I am the newest addition to the family. Allow me to introduce myself.

I am pretty stoked with my new digs. I have more chew toys and rawhides than I know what to do with. I also have these fancy beds everywhere my dad got me. I cannot chew on them, despite my best efforts.

I spend my time either asleep, trying to get into as much trouble as possible, or out on walks where I am meeting tons of people and dogs. My folks hope I settle down a bit with the inside craziness, but I just have so much energy and there is so much to do!

Look at me, a tennis ball and a rawhide. This is the good life. Unfortunately, I am teething right now. I've lost a couple of molars already. Not fun. But these raw hides help, as does stale toast. Man, I love stale toast.

I really like to snuggle on people's laps and be carried around. However, I have no idea how big I am going to get, probably around 30-40 pounds. I need to grow into my ears! I have a cute pink belly with brown freckles and a pink and brown nose. Just like my mom!

I am no good at sitting still for pictures for this crazy lady. I just woke up, time to play. Fortunately, I sleep through the night like a champ and am gaining weight (which I needed to do, my brother and I were abandoned in a field). I go to the vet tomorrow for my last booster shots and then I get to go to the dog park!! So much to learn and experience.

Anyways, this is me at four months. I can't wait to meet lots of you soon!

Weekend Recap

Fantastic bbq Friday night on the new patio to celebrate the new pup. Ended up with about 5 dogs running around (Pilot was in heaven), a whole posse of people who were randomly connected (gotta love Carrboro) and our new friends from across the street (who will be wonderful friends of ours someday... love that feeling!).

Saturday was lots of playing with the pup and then heading to the bike shop. Trent came along to learn the ropes so I could take off at noon and go see Wicked!! Sheila got Becca and I tickets as a thank you for throwing her baby shower. We met up with two other friends and had a pre-show lunch at Cuban Revolution before our 2pm showing. It was great, I didn't know much about it before (except that Defying Gravity song gets stuck in my head from Glee!). A lovely day with good girl friends. Back home to close up the bike shop and home to relieve the puppy. Long walk for him, long run for Trent and I. He isn't quite ready for the running yet, but we are working on it. Raining night, cozy snuggling on the sofa watching Flight of the Concords.

Sunday we headed over to Weaver Street for breakfast, studying, and puppy snuggling. It is the best place to socialize a dog, I think. So many hugs from little kids! Ran into lots of friends (love Carrboro!) and stayed till noon. Trent went on a long bike ride with Stephen, Paul and Erik and the puppy and I napped and took our first hike in the forest (he loved it). Home to rest up for a bit and clean house, and realize that Pilot is losing teeth and teething, poor guy. Last walk over to play with Jersey and then home and to bed!

Lovely.. and no pictures to show today. Sorry! More pictures will come soon, promise.

Impulsivity

Trent and I are not impulsive. I think it would rank about 123th on personality descriptions.

We are in graduate school... the ultimate un-impulsive lifestyle.

We have a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. And you should have seen the spreadsheets that accompanied that decision.

But this month has been hard. Our dear Sadie passed away. Our relationship went through a bit of a rough time. Our most lovely friend continues to fight an unfair foe.

So we've decided to let a little impulsive joy into our world.

His name is Pilot.

Trent went by casually to the shelter and fell in love with this little fella. I went in the next day, and he came home with us. He is a 4 month old hound mix, incredibly snuggly and makes us deliriously happy. Why not?

He is spoiled beyond belief already, and has already had breakfast and dinner with us at Weaver St (and been played with by all the cute free range kiddos in Carrboro) and studied with Trent at the coffee shop next to the bike shop. Our goal is to expose him to as much as possible and enroll him in every puppy class available. He is learning potty training quickly and is nearly 100% with "sit." Lots of work to do...

but oh goodness... nothing heals your heart like puppy snuggles.

Patio Madness!

I brought my camera to work today to finally upload pictures. So here's some more! After enjoying the successes of our awesome brick walkway (here elegantly sprinkled with petals from our pear tree), we were ready to tackle the back patio!

And it is awesome. Trent did an amazing job and a little teamwork plus a whole bunch of perfectionism resulted in my new favorite place. Here is a close up of the handiwork with our lovely new ferns!

The nearly finished product!! Trent was still working on the back wall portion, but this is pretty much it. Isn't it awesome?! Sadie thinks so. It's been getting lots of use, almost every breakfast and dinner have been enjoyed out there. Here are some examples:

Trent, Joel (with Eaden, the awesome 11 month old) and Paul enjoying a bbq out on patio, last Sunday afternoon.

Alex and I enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon while his parents get a chance to finally eat with both hands. I am in love with this little person.

Joel and Eaden taking a stroll around the big backyard. That's our fantastic shed which chickens will be living to the left of shortly. And our newly refurbished garden boxes that are will hopefully do amazing things this summer. Not patio related, but cute.

Friday night, neighbors came over, with Thomas to build a bean-bag tossing game for their elementary school. Patio provided an excellent surface for highly technical construction. Thomas (assistant coach), Trent, Dave and Kristen (left to right).

Thomas and Kristen drilling the legs. Of course, Trent figured out a way for the legs to fold down. Awesome. You can kinda see in this picture that we had extra stones that we used to connect the gate to the back steps to the patio. It is more loosely arranged, so hopefully some moss will get in there and grow!

Here is another example of the in-between area. I really like it. There was a lot of standing around watching other people (or taking pictures of other people) working, but great conversation and new friends is always fun!

Eventually, Trent had to bust out his skills to finish up the project as it was starting to get late and I had a 10 mile race in the morning. We finished the whole thing from boards to game in about an hour and a half. With lots of beers and conversation. Hooray for the patio!!

Excellent way to spend a Tuesday evening...

Snuggling with your favorite 10 week old. It was his mom's birthday (Sheila) and the first time he'd been left with babysitters. A little fussing but lots of good napping which more than made up for it.

Brace yourself for ridiculous cuteness ahead...

We even got some work done, Trent did a product review for his blogs about this baby rocker they sent us. Alex was a lovely model and seemed to enjoy it!

He was awake and chatting/crying, promise. It wasn't all snuggles and napping. But it was pretty darn fun. Happy Birthday Sheila, thanks for bringing this joy into our lives!

the best

Yesterday my husband woke up at 4:30 am to go to the boat house to work on rudders before his team showed up for practice.

They rowed hard and worked on last minute techniques for their big race this weekend.

He came home just as I was waking up. I took Sadie out on a walk and came home to find an egg sandwich with tapatio hot sauce and tons of cut up strawberries arranged in the shape of a hugging stick figure for my breakfast.

We got ready and biked to work together, enjoying our "commute" to chat.

He worked all day for the honors department, helping students apply for scholarships and coordinating scattered professors.

Back to the boat house for evening practice. I'd been thinking of how busy he's been recently and made a big dinner, jacket potatoes, broccoli, etc.

He gets home, but is dying to get a run in before he eats dinner. Of course, right before he heads out, a friend of mine from the bike shop calls. He's just moved here from Texas with his family and the moving truck arrived. They really need help. Of course, my husband is eager to help and decides to run there instead. We spend two hours hauling boxes and beds.

Finally home, we eat our now cold dinner. Immediately after, he has to go finish his Re-Nest post for today.

We get ready for bed and chat for few minutes before he is conked out. To repeat it all today.

Except this morning he made french toast.

I am so incredibly lucky.

Spring!

It is absolutely spring around here. Bright green new leaves, luscious dogwood blossoms, and my tulips will be fully bloomed by this weekend. Wearing my crisp new JCrew blouse and bright purple flats. Listening to Vampire Weekend (it is the anthem of this University, I swear).

I love spring.

Hoping to make a big batch of these sandwiches to take over to Steph and Linda's annual wine tasting party this Saturday! Grilled asparagus and goat cheese?!? Perfection!

Tunes

I've been listening to the new "She and Him" album (Volume Two) pretty much on steady repeat. Zooey Deschanel's voice is spring epitomized. Plus, she is adorable.



My favorite song is "Lingering Still". I am a sucker for any lyric relating to science. Though the message of "Me and You" hits me hard right now.

I got M. Ward's album (Hold Time) a while back, also awesome. Perhaps time for a spring mix cd. Anyone want a copy!?

Happy times

I am so lucky to have such lovely ladies in my life.

Goodness, they are a gorgeous group.

Such a fantastic day.

Erik's 40th Birthday Party

The day before I flew out to California, we were lucky enough to be invited to our friend Erik's surprise birthday party that his wife put together. It was out at the Rock Quarry Farm, a charming B&B right outside of Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, it was a bit drizzly, but we had a lovely afternoon under the tent, eating delicious bbq, playing with tons of two year olds, and toasting our dear friend!

Erik is a plastic surgeon, and one of our newly formed "tri-team." His assistant is a wonderful baker, and made a delicious cake for the shindig. He credits his triathlon training for being able to blow out all 40 candles.

Our gang! Trent, Paul, Erik's assistant's husband, Sheila, me, Amanda, Baby Alexander, and Stephen. Amanda and I took turns snuggling with the little fella all afternoon. He was a champ!

His wife hired the Big Fat Gap band, local bluegrass legends. The bass player did all the bbq cooking and helps run the farm as well! They were impressive.

But not as impressive as this act! Trent and I wrote Erik a song (to the tune of "On the Road Again"). I wrote the lyrics and Trent figured out the chords and we put it all together about 1 day before the party. But we had a blast. I can't sing, and we had no idea what we were doing, but it was charming and sweet and so much fun. Hooray for being broke and creative!

And doesn't that look on Trent's face make your heart go pitter-patter? No? Just me? Okay.

Our audience, including the birthday boy in his birthday hat. We were expecting about 10 people, and were shocked to see the big crowd. But it was so much fun.

Erik's son Hayden maybe wasn't so impressed though. Isn't he a cutie!

All in all a lovely day spent with good friends.
The rest of the pictures can be seen here.

SPRING BREAK

While not away from "school" this spring break, I certainly took the opportunity to learn tons of new things and have many many first. Lemme break it down for you.

Saturday: First time rowing a real scull. Awesome, and terrifying. I did a great job for about 30 minutes, until I got cocky and flipped over (a first!). I perched on the hull while Trent and Thomas drove the launch out to pick me up. Definitely fun, but quite chilly.

Saturday, later: First time coxing! I changed in to a hodgepodge of rowing clothes I found in the car and boat house and was relaxing in the sun when I got called into action by the amazing faculty adviser Bob. Not a person you want to let down! I ended up coxing a four, and despite my struggles with the new nomenclature, I had a blast. And no crashes! Thank goodness for a very kind and patient group of rowers. Home to our "almost no longer embarrassing haircut" dog and her roommate for the weekend, Mr. Jerz. We found them snuggling on his bed. Our girl is all grown up. Trent took me out to dinner at Whole Foods for a thank you and we watched a bit of the basketball game out before getting too exhausted and heading home.


Sunday: First time finishing a patio! Gorgeous. Mostly Trent, but I carried heavy stones when required. Also went to brunch with a former lab mate and had an awesome picnic outing with 5 couples and 4 little ones. Lovely weather and good fun.


Monday: First meeting with my new female science mentor. Trent's new boss is an amazing female scientist (neurobiology/psychology) who has done it all, family, awesome career, dean of the graduate school. I met with her for an hour and discussed it all. It was SO refreshing and the start of what I hope will be a lovely friendship/mentorship.

Tuesday: First interview at a bike store! I am picking up some hours at a local bike shop on the weekends to help supplement our income (especially when Trent starts graduate school!). It is about two blocks from our house, owned by a microbiology professor and her partner, very laid back and fun. And I got the job. Hooray. Celebrated by first art class! Amanda and I headed to Toots & Magoo to learn how to make block print art. We carved our linoleum and pressed, and they are adorable. Pictures to come soon.

Wednesday: First time volunteering at the public health clinic. Carrboro has a free clinic every Wednesday night that is completely staffed by volunteers and students. Usually it is super competitive to work there, but since it was spring break, they were desperate. Trent has been doing public health advising there for a year (talking about self-exams, eating right, exercising) and I took vitals (height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, history and primary concerns). I was super nervous at first, but had a great time and it was fantastic to get to talk to and help so many people. Also sad about how many people need health insurance and were not going to doctors for terrifying things. Lots of hand washing!

Thursday: First time coxing an 8! After getting home, exhausted from the clinic, Trent found out that they were short a coxswain and he would have to do it if no one volunteered. Since I am the expert now... I was in! Totally terrifying. I was in charge of the varsity lightweight eight, and we were doing mock 2k races in Jordan Lake!! It was very early in the morning and super foggy, I am steering this giant boat, trying not to run into the four other boats while going incredibly fast. It was such an adrenaline rush. It was even a shore launch, so I got carried into the boat by my stroke. I felt like a real coxswain! I got the hang of it pretty quick, and had a great stroke who was SUPER helpful, and we ended up winning all the races. I got really into it, yelling out encouragments and such. I am still too nice, I kept saying good job and all this things that I later learned coxswains never say. Oh well. Adrenaline still coursing through my veins, Trent dropped me off at lab. Long day of work, finished by my first real hours of work at the bike store. I learned all about our bike brands (mostly Masi, Marin, and Surly) all about e-bikes (electric assist) and cargo bikes. The theme of the store is definitely incorporating cycling into your life as a legitimate transportation option, not really a super techie, high end, competition store. I had my first customer (helped replace a broken chain) and did my first store closing. Learning new things!

Friday: So far, nothing new. Which is kind of a relief! Got all my flies and cells into new homes so they will be happy while I am in California. It is a drizzly, but warm, day. Reminds me of Costa Rica. Trying to wrap up as much as I can before the trip, tomorrow is Trent's teams first real race, a St. Patrick's Day brunch at Deirdre's house and a surprise birthday party. Then Sunday, I am heading to California. Can't wait.

perfection

I need this dress. Seriously. I would probably wear it every other day. Every day if we are lucky...


I really need to learn how to sew. Since I am a brooooke grad student. And the proud owner of two tons of Pennsylvania slate to that is becoming our new patio. Which kinda trumps any dress purchases for a while.

Many pics of our latest weekend project to come...

SPRING!

Or close enough. This weekend was delicious. I spent about 80% of it outside, which is my favorite.

Highlights included:

1. Very lovely, lazy Friday night. Chinese take out, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, snuggling on the sofa. Good way to end a roller coaster week!

2. Up early to join the crew team for their "Triathlon." The events were a 4k erg test, two laps around campus (probably 5k total), and a lap and a half of running up and down the stairs of the football stadium. Fun to hang out with his great kids, fun to see them trying so hard and beating lots of the varsity rowers. Except for one overzealous freshman who clocked his head dashing out of the room and I had to do a little emergency first aid (man, head wounds bleed like crazy!). Trent and I were a team, he did the rowing part, I ran and did one lap of stadiums and then he finished the last half.. catching tons of rowers. Mean, I know, but fun. I haven't run stairs in ages, I am SORE!

3. Trent loads up with Adam and Thomas, and the start the drive up to Ohio to buy three boats from Murietta University. Which is amazingly only 6 hours away. I am still boggled by East Coast geography.

4. Home to shower and meet up with Amanda for an amazing brunch sitting in the sun. A little shopping around Carrboro before we decide that we are more Marshall's girls, so off we go. A new wallet (hooray, mine was dying!), new running socks, cheap sunglasses, and a springy tank top. I've decided it is definitely spring all the way.

5. Back home, and then realized it is just too nice of a day. Meet up with Amanda for a long, mellow, run in the forest. Finally. It had been too muddy in there to enjoy, and it was great to be back. Sadie loved it.

6. Definitely exhausted, I crash on the sofa and watch Olympics. Fortunately, Stephen and Amanda invite me over for a delicious curry dinner. Fun to catch up with another friend who is home from her Americorps experience teaching at a very poor school in Baltimore. Lots of discussion and a lovely glass of wine.

7. Finally to sleep! As best I can without Trent around. He gets home around 2 am, boats successfully brought home.

8. Was supposed to run with Paul at 8am, but fortunately he called to delay. Delicious sleep in, lots of coffee and egg tacos. Finally rallied to start working in the yard. Lots of trees trimmed back, hedges trimmed, garden beds mulched. I am so excited about getting the garden going soon. Dug out the perimeter of our new patio, Trent put in the wood forms and poured concrete on one edge. We will finish it with slate pavers. Should be great.

9. Paul shows up around 2:30 and we head out for the run. I am thoroughly exhausted, but still feels great to get out in the forest and enjoy the sunshine. Ran into lots of friends, which was a blast. Sadie was looking very hot and kept jumping in creeks and puddles.. so when we got home it was time for a haircut. It took FOREVER and may be the worst job we've ever done. I want to post pictures, but might give her a day to adjust or PETA might be after us.

10. Bath for Sadie, showers for everyone. Baked potatoes drowned in chili and cheese for dinner. Lots of Olympics and studying and an early night to bed! Fantastic weekend.

hooray!

You know what makes hours in the cell culture hood more exciting...


RADIO LAB.

Why did I not think of this ages ago...

Geez.

Whew...

Yesterday was a doozy...

Lab meeting was good, but I think I overwhelmed people with new data (which was equal parts awesome that I was that productive and sad that people are so used to seeing old data over and over and apparently don't pay that good of attention to me). Long talk afterward with the Boss.. All is good, but it was exhausting!

Lovely little lunch break with Trent, unfortunately he just had to listen to me kvetch.

Making travel plans for my trip to California in March. Thrilled to see family and friends, not thrilled about my darling friend going through such an ordeal. She is one brave trooper and I am so proud of her and happy I get to be there to support her.

Quick run home in the freeeeezing weather. I think I ran about 6 minute miles, I was so frozen. Change and back to campus for the memorial. It was beautiful, and so heartbreakingly sad. Lots of good things to think about and wonderful memories to share with her family and friends.

Picked Trent up from crew, home to try to recreate the famous salad. Almost as good as my teen-hood/Tyler's but I think drowning it in ranch dressing is key. And we had none!

Lots of Olympics, a comfy down blanket, and a big beer... and I was out.

Up early to lift with the crew team, motivated to be productive and happy and make today awesome. Absolutely dreaming of spring and dogwoods blooming.

Donating

Off to donate blood. My awesome O positive off to do some good.

I lifted weights this morning. I have a hypothesis this will help.

But we'll see...


Donate if you can!

You get to eat Skittles. Or at least that motivation works for me :)

Weekend recap...

Stellar. Just awesome. Including:

1. Fantastic dinner party at Boss's house. I love mingling with faculty and recruiting students. Can I just apply for a dean-ship and skip the whole professor track thing? A little too much wine, but sometimes the best conversations I have with my boss are due to this.. and this Friday was no exception. Left his house around 10 to find a light dusting of snow. What is with this winter? Debating about going out, but as soon as I got home I crashed and was asleep in 10 minutes.

2. Up early for cleaning extravaganza. So much vacuuming (under the sofa with a furry dog is a terrifying scene), cleaning all the windows, scrubbing the kitchen floor (lots of muddy paw prints). It was very satisfying.

3. Had to head to campus to present a poster to the recruits. Was NOT looking forward to this, but it ended up being really fun and motivating to hear the students be excited about my work. Seems like a nice group of kids, hopefully we get a lot here this fall.

4. Home for a quick change before meeting up with the running group. My Boss, Tri Prof, Paul and I met up for a 6 mile run. Sadie was thrilled to have a herd. Chilly, but I felt great and had a blast.

5. Back home, to continue the cleaning extravaganza. So much laundry. I love it.

6. Out to the Station to meet up with our most hipster-tastic friends to watch the UNC vs. NC State basketball game. UNC has been pretty terrible this year, but we managed to win finally! Hooray. Off to dinner at Tyler's where I had this salad that reminds me of my high school dates with April at this awesomely cheezy 1950's diner downtown(that I am forgetting the name of....). We'd both get the same salad and now I am officially obsessed that I found it here.

7. Over to Weaver Street for hot chocolate (it was SO cold) and then heading to campus to see The Shipment. Fun to see a play.. but not our favorite. A lot of berating about racism.

8. Post-show, we were ready for some rowdiness. Over to the undergrad crew house!! We spent the rest of the night with them, bar hopping, crowded underground dives, alumni rowers visiting for the weekend. It was kinda a blast. Such nice guys, and one crew girlfriend who really likes me... which is awesome.

9. Finally home, late night. But not too late for a frozen pizza and 30 Rock re-runs. We truly had the whole gamut of events on Saturday night!

10. Up to breakfast in bed from Trent, along with some sweet homemade valentines. Love it. We took Sadie on long hike in the forest. I found all sorts of fern allies to bring home and Sadie loved playing on the frozen puddles.

11. I headed out for grocery shopping and quick stop by lab while Trent got on the bike trainer. Home to do some more cleaning (the fridge is spotless) before we switched and I got on the trainer. Thank goodness a friend gave us the entire first two seasons of Dexter... I can spin forever if watching tv! Trent replaced the window above the kitchen sink (5 windows down, 6 more, plus the big one, to go!). I made all sorts of food for the upcoming week. Showers and an amazing nap.

12. Up to get fancy and head to Durham for dinner. We went to Dos Perros and it was FABULOUS. Legitimate Mexican food. We felt like we were back in Isla de Mujeres where we got engaged. We split a guava martini that was amazing, guacamole and ridiculously good empanadas for starters, and then Trent had cabrito (goat) and I had this amazing mole amarillo with maza dumplings and tons of veggies. They were out of the chocolate pot de creme dessert, but that was probably for the best.

Home to a clean house, lots of good food for the week, a full tummy, and a heart overflowing with love. Not too shabby.

Happy Weekend

Here are my weekend plans:

1. Hosting a dinner party at my boss's house tonight for incoming recruits. Always fun times.

2. Making these carrot cake whoopie pies. Gracious...

3. Making lots of gorgeous figures of my data for lab meeting on Wednesday, and not procrastinating until Tuesday night.

4. Spending more time with my favorite newborn, Alexander. He is absolutely precious, and such a mellow baby. Nothing makes the world more lovely than holding a new friend. We brought over a big LeCru of my mom's world famous chicken soup last night and I fell in love. Troubles!

5. Clean house. Yuck. Laundry, kitchen, the works. I am in the mood for a scrub session.

6. Lovely Valentine's dinner out with the husband at a fantastic, authentic, Mexican restaurant in Durham we've been dying to try. I need some mole and nopales!

7. Hopefully some long runs/bike rides. I need to get ready for my upcoming half-Ironman!!

Emotional week, doing better. Thanks for all your kind words. Focusing on the positive and counting my blessings. We are all so fortunate!