WEEKEND UPDATE

So I went to Dallas this weekend to hang out with Jen and Aaron. I brought the new kitty I have acquired and she was adored by all!


I saw Star Trek in theaters with Jen and Aaron. It was the first movie I've seen in a really long time. The theater was awesome. It had tons on plush couches and even had matching blankets. The movie was awesome and it is definitely going on my Christmas DVD wish list!!

We also went to the Scarborough Renaissance Fair. It was really fun.

Today I woke up early to feed the kitty and then went to the UT library to try and find a prep book for my teacher test on the 6th but they didn't have any. So, I checked out some leisure books. Then I went to Half Priced Books to look for the manual ... they didn't have anything. So I had to go out to the Borders who didn't have nothing. So i went to Hobby Lobby and Target ... I got some new flip flops, nail polish, and a cheap doggy bed for the kitty ...

Anyway, I ended up getting the book off Amazon for about $45 ... I had a free trial of some upgrade on Amazon.com that would have the book shipped to me by friday for only $3.99 ... I hope it gets here on time. Also I hope I remember to cancel the trial before the month is up!!

I am going to start to "Books I've Read This Summer" list again ... here it is.

- Death Note 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Death Note 2 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Death Note 3 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Death Note 4 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Death Note 5 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

I know these are mangas but they are book length so I am counting them.

i have not gone to bed all night. i took a really long nap this afternoon and totally ruined my sleep schedule.

i read ...

- the mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stuart

it was really good and i think jen will really like it. i recommend it for the plane ride.

anyway, i didn't blog on jordan's birthday because i had my last final (both finals went really well, i think) and i have to drive home to houston right after.

but, jordan turned 20 on the 12th of december. it was stressful because of exams but it was probably fun for him ... except having to wash my dishes and helping me pack and everything ...

jordan and i did christmas early because i will not get to see him ... he got me some really cool stuff. i got one of those dingy bells which he just picked up because he saw it and it was cheap but i ended up really liking it and i think he regrets getting it for me because i like to ding it while he is playing video games ... anyway, i also got a box of chocolates, some cute christmas cokes, a really nice scarf i hinted at (meaning i told him where and what color) ... and i got a cute notebook, a really awesome pen set and step brothers will will ferrell ... i think that is all of it. i am going to feel bad if i forgot something. eek.

anyway, i got jordan lame stuff except a new playstation game that he has been playing non - stop and forgetting to eat or sleep.

well, i am off to surf the internet. i have a lot of cuteoverload and youtube to catch up on. good thing fart party is on break ...

so ... this summer i read 26 books and lost 13 lbs ... in the few weeks that i got back to austin, i put on three to five pounds. ugh. jordan feeds me too well.

today i wore my blue sweater to work and two buttons came off of it. i have the buttons in my pocket but i don't want to have to sew them back on ... argh.

also, i am bored out of my mind. i really regret reading all the fart party web comics in one day.

i finished some books this week ...

- matilda by roald dahl
- witches by roald dahl
- babyhood by paul reiser

i know ... the first two are children's books and the last one is just lame ... but i have no more library books and i didn't borrow jennifer's new twilight book ... i really should have.

hm ... i am hungry and have to pee but i don't want to get up and walk around because i am lazy ... last wednesday i was suppoesed to do an experiment but it turned out that they didn't have the right antibody that i was supposed to use so the experiment was cancelled ... i was so happy because that meant that i had no more work for the summer ... i was wrong. the antibody was ordered and it came in yesterday afternoon. so, i am doing the experiment now ... argh. the worst thing about the experiment is that the slides have to be incubated after each freakin' step for 30 to 45 minutes. it is annoying as balls ... can you tell i am incubating it now?

oh i finished a book ... 

- nineteen minutes by jodi piccoult

someone sent me a mini box of morning crunchies!!  they were delicious! 

book i finished ... 

- perfect match by jodi picoult

i went to chemistry lab today. then i took a nap. then i read. now i have to study. i can never really concentrate on things when i am excited. i am really looking forward to seeing jordan tomorrow because even though i have been mean to him and upset a lot, there's nothing better than getting to spend the day with him. 

oh! happy 20th birthday stacy! 

i finished a book yesterday. it was really good. i don't know what but i've been reading a lot of books about persians lately ... 

- veil of roses by laura fitzgerald

went to austin and signed the lease for my apartment. i just got back. i don't know how i feel about this new place because it has carpet and seems really small. ick. i miss my leon st. apartment. 

funny excerpt from the book of the day ... it's about a persian girl coming to america for the first time to live with her sister. she is 27 years old and she has decided to walk herself to her english conversation class ... 

she [the sister] hands me [the main character] an index card that has her address and cell phone number at the top. underneath are these phrases written in both english and farsi:

1. i am lost. could you call my sister, please?

2. i do not understand what you are saying. could you call my sister, please?

3. leave me alone or i will call the police. could you call my sister, please?

i don't know what i laughed out loud but i think it's because it reminds me of notes that my mom often hands me ... hahahaha

hi hi! i got home at 1:30 pm today! yay! anyway, didn't do much except go to the galleria to shop with jen. she got some nice victoria's secret stuff ... just sweat pants and a hoodie ... calm down boys. we had la madeline for dinner which was good. 

anyway, i'm not going to work for the rest of the week because i have nothing to do and it's a waste of gas to drive to galveston everyday. 

anyway, i finished another book ... 

- waiting for nick by nora roberts

also ... happy anniversary jen and aaron! yay!

i just realized that i didn't email my chemistry homework to my teacher yet. i MUST remember to do that when i get home because tonight is the deadline. i forgot to email the homework because i've been reading. i know i should be studying for the exam i have on saturday but i haven't been in the mood and i feel really well prepared. i will definitely start studying tomorrow. i will not bring any books to work at all.

i finished reading ...

- a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini

it was really good. it's by the same author of the kite runner. i never read the kite runner and didn't even know what a thousand splendid suns was about before i started. it was left in my mom's classroom and she brought it to me when the summer started because nobody had claimed it. good for me.

also ... i just want to say that it is almost 6 pm and i am still at work. boo.

so i am still working with facebook to fix my account. i have gotten my new checks which the bank completely messed up ... i wanted plain ones with my name on them in print. i got frilly ones with alternating designs of monet's water lillies, playful puppies, and seashells. they are disgusting. they were still free so i will just deal with them for another 100 checks.

i have been really upset with myself lately because i don't know how to do most things right. i am really frustrated and have been feeling really bad about myself because no matter what, i don't feel like i'm getting any skinnier. so i really upset myself on saturday night in dallas while i was waiting for jen and aaron to get back from the rancid concert. i started making a list of all the things that i hate about myself. it was terrible. i'd also had a really bad one-sided argument with jordan the night before about something so dumb that i don't want to blog about it because in 20 years when i come back and read about my life on this blog, i don't want to remember what i yelled at him about. i am sure i will still remember anyway because it was really mean.

also, the thing that i hate about jordan is that he can never just be mean to me when i am really mean to him for no reason. it makes arguing unsatisfying and makes me more irritated at him. afterward, when i get all my anger out, i feel bad and he just lets it go like it didn't matter. this makes me feel even worse and it has become one of the things on my list of things that i hate about myself and will never forgive myself for. i wish he would just hit me or refuse to talk to me or something. jordan also always tries to get me to tell him about what is bothering me and whenever i am done telling him, he always reminds me that i am so upset because i'm on my period ... even if i'm not on my period. then it just annoys me all over again.

i was thinking about putting the list of things about myself that i hate in this blog but i'm not going to because it is enough that i remember the things without having other people know them. however, i will say (and it has been a complaint before) that i hate the fact that i have no feminine training. it's not really my mom's fault because she never did anything girly and she turned out fine. but, it really annoys me that i don't have any make-up skills or fashion sense like all the other lanier and lamar girls that i grew up with. in middle school and high school i could just ignore it because i hung out with guys and they didn't care but as the years went on, i started feeling more inadequate because i started hanging out with girls more but i still convinced myself that i was a different type of girl ... one who knew about good music (because of my sister and aaron) and who was sarcastic and funny enough to not have to be pretty or feminine ...

in that last paragraph there was somewhat of a contradiction ... i mean if you know me, you would have read that last paragraph and say that the person i described was not me in anyway ... the thing is, i think that's how i am on the inside. i won't say that i didn't like shopping or buying dresses or getting dressed up but once i got out of the house, i always felt (and still feel) that the overall product that seemed ok at home in front of the mirror was somewhat off centered. it was never a huge faux pas that i was committing and i'm sure that most people would have thought nothing was wrong at all but i could just feel it. for example, if i were to be in a group picture, someone would later look at that photo and at first glance, notice nothing off. however, the second time they'd look, they would start feeling that there was something wrong with the picture without knowing what it was ... then with more study, they would point at me and say that i was the one who make the picture all funky. that's how i feel everyday. there's just something wrong with me.

anyway, before i got all off task with my explanation, i was going to say that i talked my mom into going to target a few times with me to look for make-up so that i could practice ... i am really embarrassed to be blogging about this because it makes me feel awkward ... anyway all the times we went, i didn't know what to choose and in what shade. it was really daunting because there are so many things that have all different names depending on the brand and some brands have more things than others. anyway, every time we went, we ended up leaving with nothing because i got too embarrassed in the aisle because some girl who knew what she was doing was looking in the same aisle and every time we would leave empty handed, i just felt worse because i couldn't use common sense and figure out what i needed ...

so, i ended up going on avon.com and looking at what they had ... i also looked on the internet for some 'how to' guides. i ended up shopping on avon's website because i felt more comfortable looking for a really long time and researching because nobody could see me and think about what a nube i was ... i got some loose powder in a translucent color that matches all skin tones, a make-up remover, and a blush bronzer compact. i got the translucent color because i am still too scared to get a color because i don't know how to match things to my skin color (especially online) but to make up for the lack of color, i got the bronzer because you can use it to build the color that you want. i think when i am more brave i will go to the mall make-up counter and ask the lady to find a color that matches for me. i haven't gotten my order yet but i'm sure it'll be here this week! also i had my mom take me to walmart last night and i got some cute brushes (that i probably won't need), moisturizing toner, and an eyeshadow palette.

i feel kind of dumb about all this but at least i am not sulking about this particular thing anymore and i am doing something about it ... i am still working on my weight which is the other thing that is really bothering me ... and i am trying to figure out ways to fix all the other things about my body and my personality that's been bugging me.

oh, i also finished another book ...

- the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky

i feel like that book is about me. every character is me.

finally it's friday ... that means no work for two days. also on monday, i am going to new employee orientation. it's so dumb because this will be the third time i go. the good thing is, it's a whole day of not sitting in the lab but getting paid for it and you get breakfast and lunch. the bad thing is, i probably can't eat most of the food there. 

i'm off to see jen and aaron tomorrow which will be fun. i am also taking kobe. i would feel bad not taking him because i know he like the dallas backyard so much. i also want to show my mom how high he can jump and how happy he looks. i wish i had a backyard i could give to kobe to live in. 

i'm going to my chemistry lab tomorrow morning before i go to dallas. it should be fun since i finally have somewhere i can make friends for the summer. i have a severe deficit of friends ever since me and jordan started dating and especially now with stacy out of the country. i miss having people. 

i finished a book today ...

- the boy and his horse by c.s. lewis

also, i've been slowly cleaning the lab this week. it is really dirty and not how a proper lab should be. anyway, i can only do it a little at a time and i can't do big things like sweep because it would draw too much attention to myself. i really want to sweep because the floors are so full of dust bunnies. it is so gross. also, the black counter tops are really stained with white gunk from chemicals. i know i could get the place looking good if only i didn't feel like i didn't have the right to move things around. it's not like i'm rearranging the lab to my liking. i am only moving things for a while, clean the area, then put things back. i don't think it's such a big deal ... but i don't want to be in the way. 

i am so sleepy and hungry. it is quite unbearable. i finished my alternative pre-lab for lab 12 and now all i have left is one section of reading and 15 problems to solve. then i can start reviewing for my test that is coming up.

i've finished another book ...

- the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe by c.s. lewis

oh, i forgot! this morning i got stacy's postcard from italy! it sounds like she is having a lot of fun eating gelatto and sightseeing. the postcard is really pretty and the stamp is really vintage looking. i mean american stamps are all colorful now. i remember when i was little the stamps were in a kind of dull-looking ink ... anyway, that's how italy's stamps are.

   

in other news, i talked to my sister yesterday and she said that she and aaron are thinking bout taking a trip this summer and if it all works out alright, i get to go to dallas for the time that they are away and babysit their house and their dwight. i am pretty excited. she also said i could come visit for a weekend whenever i like (except this weekend because they are going to a rancid concert). anyway, me and jen talked for a really long time since we hadn't talked since the summer started. anyway, we were talking about the movie baby mama and i was trying to explain to her why i like amy poehler the best out of all the women on snl and i was trying to describe this skit that she does with horatio sanz ... anyway i found the video ...

it's hilarious and that's why i love amy poehler. end of story

plee to jordan ... please take me to see baby mama soon ...

apparently everyone decided not to show up to work today. i wish i got that memo.

i had my first hcc chemistry lab this past saturday. i woke up at 7:00 am so that i could leave the house at 8:00 am and make it to my 9:00 am lab ... i thought that the campus was really far away and i wasn't even sure that it was the right campus because the location wasn't posted very clearly on friday night and my professor never emailed me back. anyway it took 15 minutes to get there so i was 45 minutes early. so i waited there at room 310 of the katy westgate campus. then when class started, the professor announced that the lab was chemistry 1411. i am in 1412. anyway three or four people stood up with me and walked out to try and figure out where to go. we all went downstairs and looked at the listing and we were listed at room 310. anyway, i ended up calling hcc main campus to ask them about the mix up and they said that there was no lab time listed for us. at that point there were 7 students who had no idea where to go. eventually after 15 minutes, we decided to go back to room 310 and ask that professor what we should do. when we stepped out of the elevator, we saw a whole bunch of people with our lab manuals having a class in the lobby. apparently hcc didn't give us a room ...

it turns out that our professor was out of the country and was getting back saturday afternoon and she sent her husband to fill in for her. it was so dumb. we sat on the lobby floor and he asked us the lab review questions that we were supposed to do. nobody would answer so i ended up being the nerd who answers everything. then there was this asian guy who wanted to show me up and tried to correct one of my answers but he was totally wrong and i called him out. i know i shouldn't have but he was sooo cocky and he was wearing lime green roos. he was really dumb. anyway, we got out 2 hours early and this girl who i talked to while we were trying to figure out the room situation got my number just in case something happens next weekend. while i was giving her my number, the asian boy walks over and tries to somehow inject himself into the situation so that he can get our numbers too ... he had his cell phone out and everything. needless to say, he didn't get our numbers.

i kinda like hcc chemistry because it feels like a high school class and not college. the people seem so much nicer and not so into themselves ...

since i got off early, i had time to go shopping before i met jordan for my first astros game. i went to katy mills mall and got some shorts and while i was there all the girls from my chemistry class were there too ... i guess everyone had the same idea.

so ... on to the astros game ...

jordan got tickets before he met me and they were only $7 each ... who knew they were so cheap?!

minute maid park is so pretty and parking was really easy because we got there 2 hours before the game started so that we could watch batting practice. jordan knows everyone who works at the game ... concession vendors, security, ushers ... anyway, there was this guy named ed who is like the head of consessions and right when he sees jordan he goes "hey man! i haven't seen you all season! where you've been?" and jordan goes "i've been at college at ut ... this is my first game back." and then ed goes "well ... you know the drill." apparently the drill is jordan picks up whatever he wants to eat and then doesn't pay for it. it's pretty cool.

           

we went and sat behind the astros dugout and watched the players practice and jordan has stories about all of them. once jordan got hit in the face with a ball and the player ... i don't remember which one ... felt so bad that he gave jordan his bat along with a big bag of ice. anyway ... there were these two kids who were really annoying and when hunter pence came around to sign things for the little kids they didn't want to move so they just started shouting for him to come to where they were. apparently pence thought that the prepubescent screams of an eleven year old boy sounds like it's coming from me so he nodded at me.

anyway ... the game was fun ... a little slow and the astros lost but all in all it was enjoyable.

after the game we went to house of pies which was delicious and we had dinner and shared a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie. it was great but our waitress was foreign and a bitch.

sunday was really boring. i woke up, read a book, took a nap, watched half of game 2, talked to jordan and went to sleep.

books i've finished ...

- angels and demons by dan brown
- the magician's nephew by c.s. lewis
- the sister of my heart by chitra banerjee divakaruni

also, i have finished another book.

- my sister's keeper by jodi picoult

the ending is kind of obvious but all in all it was a good book. also it made me want to call my sister and thank her for not needing any of my organs.

the entire utmb campus smells like one giant fart today.

other news ... another great weekend with jordan. this time his younger brother, tyler, joined us for the mall, a movie and dinner. we saw this suspense movie called the strangers with liv tyler and scott speedman in it. it was scary. i had to sit in the theatre with a kung fu grip around jordan's arm and my hand clasped on my mouth so i wouldn't scream. it was definitely worth watching. maybe more appropriate for a redbox rental but i think seeing it in the theatre made it scarier.

anyway after the movie we walked around deerbrook mall for a couple of hours then went to the pool supply store so that jordan could pick something up for his dad. the pool store was fun. they had a giant pool inside the store that was filled with really cold water. it was delicious feeling. they also had this crocodile head in the pool that floated around so that it looked like a read croc resided in the pool.

after the pool store we went to the potatoe patch. the building looks as if it was originally a funeral parlor that was converted into a restaurant. jordan has been telling me about this place for weeks. apparently, it has the best rolls ever and they throw them to you instead of handing you a basket when you sit down at your table. the good thing is that the rolls are always hot out of the oven ... the bad news is that if you want a roll, you have to catch it. i had a tiny piece of a roll that jordan caught and a muffin, which is also fresh baked but you don't have to catch it. i don't think that the restaurant actually specializes in potatoes but i ordered a baked potato anyway and it was delicious. my favorite thing about the patatoe patch is that they have this appetizer of fried green tomatoes and fried okra. i've never had fried green tomatoes but they were delicious and i think they are my new favorite craving food.

after dinner we went to half priced books. there was a little black boy who was really cute who went out of his way to open the door for jordan. as he held open the door, he goes "there you go man!" then he follows jordan to the cd section and tries to start a conversation with him but jordan didn't notice so the boy meandered off to find his mother. the good thing is that i found the chronicles of narnia for $10 and the last two lord of the rings books. i ended up spending $18 on all three books. then we went to best buy to try and use my $50 gift card with no avail and then we went to petsmart and target. then we went home.

all in all, a fun saturday but much too short. i'm starting chemistry at hcc and they have saturday lab sections which means that i won't be able to make plans with jordan until after noon ... shouldn't be a problem.

sunday was less eventful. i read three of the books that the librarian at hspva found for me. then i got a headache.

books that i finish on sunday ...

- jemima j by jane green
- the undomestic goddess by sophie kinsella
- can you keep a secret? by sophie kinsella

i also finally put thurman into his big fish bowl which makes him very happy but he almost died in the process because he decided to flop around in his jar too much during the cleaning process and flopped into the sink. but he is now alive and well and well-fed. i am also going to start training kobe to be a nice bunny. whenever i wake up in the morning, i can hear him jumping in his cage and when i get the the bathroom, he is on his hind legs waiting for me to feed him. last night i fed him his pellets out of my hand and he ate it! it was pretty cute feeling his tiny tongue. also, the tiny hammies have taken to tunneling even more ... i think it is so that they can avoid me at all costs. i have not picked any of them up in a while because i know that they hate it.

things that i had to do at work today ...

- split vero e-6 cells
- check on endothelial cells
- finish second overlay for plaque forming assay
- clean water bath

i am done with everything except the last one because i have to wait until everyone is done using it for the day. i can do it at 3:00 pm. surprisingly, this is the highlight of the day.

other things that i did at work ...

- finish book from yesterday
- start on new book
- the tiniest bit of accidental sleeping when nobody was around
- call hcc to figure out their what all the symbols mean in their course listing
- wait on hold for 15 minutes
- call ut for a transcript
- pay a unheard of $10 for aforementioned transcript
- eat pizza lunchable
- blog
- text boyfriend
- talk to the new post doc
- tape my shoelace where it started to fray because the aglet peeled off
- draw black circle around new bug bite

so ... during this blog post, i was interrupted by the new post doc named madori.

madori is japanese and about 30. she is really pale has black hair that is always pulled back into a half-ponytail with little wispy bangs scattered on her forehead. she rarely talks and is never in the lab because she refuses to work on anything that my dad asks her to do because he is not the highest one on the lab ladder. she is actually kind of dumb because my dad is essentially in charge of everything because dr. peters is never here because he isn't that healthy and is always behind on things. anyway, before today i never said anything to madori. every time she comes in, she has a notebook in which she writes down what everyone is doing. it doesn't bother me because i always get my work done and everyone knows what i'm doing anyway. anyhoo ... today for some strange reason (possibly boredom) i decided to initiate a conversation with her. i asked her which part of japan she came from and that started a long conversation about where i go to school, where i live when i am on break, siblings ... that led to my parents ... what language do we speak at home, what do we talk about on the ride to and from work ... that then led to what experiments i'm doing ... and so on. by the end of the experiment i had evaded so many questions that i felt like i just underwent strenuous police questioning ... also at the end of the conversation she stated that she saw my name on a paper that my dad had published ... it was in an accusing tone. then i said that i worked at the lab for 2 years prior ... implying that i earned it. i don't think she believed me because she then said "oooohooo ... you are very beneficial to be kent's daughter." what do i say to that?! i still do not like her which is weird because i have never met a japanese person i didn't like ...

... until now ...

other madori facts that i have learned ...

she offended the other japanese post docs because she asked them their salary. dr. peters doesn't want to talk to her in person because he doesn't know how much conversational english she understands. she is from a small northern town in japan where it snows a lot. she has one sister who is 6 years older and who has two children. every time someone says something, in order to buy time to figure out the appropriate english response, she goes "oooohooo" in a slightly melodic and annoying fashion. she bobs her head too much. she uses a pen that had four ink colors contained in it. she uses a notebook that is not standard size. she lives in galveston. she feels old because "aunts are not young" but wishes "like all other japanese people" to young forever. she has an annoying laugh.

that is all. i will add the description of the other people in the lab shortly ...

also, i've finished more books. i recommend both.

- eclipse by stephenie meyer
- the straw men by michael marshall

so i haven't been to my blog in a while and all the text looks funny. i set it a real long time ago so it would look really cute and tiny but now it is all huge and 1980s giant computer text! i have no idea how to fix it so whatever.

i am working again and it sucks balls. since i am working, that means that i have a ton of time to sit and do nothing at all. i don't have my laptop because it hasn't been fixed yet so all i do all day is read. so far this week i have read ...

- the amber spyglass by philip pullman
- the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring by j.r.r tolkein
- twilight by stephenie meyer

i am now reading the hobbit because it was the longest book on my bookshelf that i could find this morning that i had not read yet. i am almost out of books. in fact, i AM out of books. so if anyone has anything to lend me, that would be great.

in my last blog i kept had a list that i got online called the big read and i highlighted all the books that i had already read and i tried to read all those books. i have no idea where that list is anymore but i shall recreate it for this blog eventually ... i really regret getting rid of my last blog ...