Amy's Visit

So, on her way to NYC and Cooperstown, Ames stopped in RI for two days and we got to hang out. It was so much fun! I took her over to GSO (the Graduate School of Oceanography) at Narragansett and we went to Newport and did the Cliff Walk (sound familiar Mags?). We also toured one of the mansions in Newport called The Breakers. It's one of the most famous mansions in Newport, built by the Vanderbilts. It's 75 rooms, and it's only a SUMMER HOUSE. It's hard to believe people can be that obscenely rich. We also stopped by Beavertail Lighthouse and Beach, which was fantastic, because it was really hot yesterday afternoon, but because we were on the coast all these cool sea breezes were blowing over us. Plus, Amy could appreciate the rocky coastline, which is so very different from our sandy shores on the Gulf Coast.

I'm so glad Ames could come and see me while I'm still here. She took a train to NYC this morning, which was almost a major fiasco. Yesterday she called Dave to check in, make sure she had his correct address, etc. He asked which train she was coming in on, and she asked me the name of the train station. "Uh, Kingston Station," I said, confused, because, I live in Kingston, so, isn't that a dumb question? Amy immediately ducked her head, bit her lip and gave me a half smile, which meant she felt guilty about something. And then she said it. "Ummm......I may have done Providence....." Now why is this a big deal you ask? Well, Amy's train left at 6:55 A.M., and you're always supposed to get to the train station about 30 min before your train is supposed to leave. Also, Providence is 45 min away. Then add in the traffic of commuters into Providence, and the fact that you should get to busy train stations 60-90 min before your train leaves, and expect to wait in line. So, yeah, our leaving time kept getting pushed back, until we were planning to leave at 5 A.M. I uttered a few expletives, some jokingly, some not, which I won't put in this post. Meanwhile, the folks are driving up to Cooperstown as well with a UHaul to move their bedroom up there, and to bring me and Dave stuff from our rooms. So we call to see how they're doing and tell them the whole story. And my Dad, who knows everything, points out that Kingston is closer to NYC then Providence, so maybe we can just catch the train there. Can we call and find out? We call, and not only does the train come into Kingston at a later time, 7:16 A.M., but it won't cost anything to change the ticket, and the ticket itself is cheaper, so Amy saves some money! If only airlines could be so helpful, but that's another, longer story involving Amy's boyfriend. Maybe I'll post that another day....

Progress?

So I went out with the Cap'n Bert Monday morning, and we did trawl up some squid, roughly 12-20 or so, but I couldn't get any blood out of them! They're tiny compared to the ones I worked with in Mexico, and their internal organs are all clear, so it's difficult to distinguish some of the anatomy. I still haven't caught any squid by jigging, and I'm tempted not to go tonight, but I feel like I at least have to try, if only to prove to my professor that I AM still trying to get samples. I'm going out on the trawl again next Monday, and Brad should be in tomorrow or Friday, so I'm gonna see if he has any pointers about collecting blood. In the meantime, I'm reading over the comments on my proposal that I got on Friday and making more changes to my proposal. If I can't get enough local squid samples, I hear that they will be back in October. But I'm not sure if I can finish in December if I still have to do a couple of experiments in October. I'd have to have a final copy of my thesis turned in by early November, so I may be here at least a couple months into the spring semester, or for the whole semester, who knows?

On a happier note, Ames is coming to see me for a few days next week! She and J.D. are going to NYC for a week and she's flying into RI Monday night so we can have a couple of days together before she goes to NYC on Thursday morning. So I'm excited about that, although I have no idea what my work schedule will be like for those days, since the rest of the lab should be getting back with the truck next Monday. I'll probably have to do some unpacking, and then play around with my equipment for my experiments. Oh, since Amy doesn't have a blog, I'll update for her. Amy's roommate Julia has moved back home, so Amy and J.D. have found an apt and are moving in together this week. So good for them!

Also, I'm reading this really good book by Maeve Binchy called Quentins. The book goes back and forth between Ella's life and the stories of people who are associated with the restaurant Quentins ( the owner, workers, customers, etc.) It's interesting, I think Mags and Caitlin would really like it.

New Roommate

So the roommate search is finally over. I had like 5 people who were emailing me off and on, and then all of a sudden, all 5 emailed me this week, and every single one of them wanted the apartment. Today I met Daniella, who will be starting her Ph.D at URI this fall. She seems nice, she's smart, and she's going to start renting the room in July, even though she won't officially move in til the end of August. She's gonna leave some stuff here in July and maybe spend a weekend or two, but basically she'll be paying to live in the room, without actually living in it. Awesome!

So that's one thing off my mind. I'm a little worried about my research. Apparently, I missed the "run," which is when tons of local squid swim through Newport and it's super easy to catch them. I had no idea they were so plentiful for only a week, or I would have been out there every night catching them. As it was, that was the first week after classes ended, and I was exhausted, because I had been working from 8AM til Midnight for a month. So I'm pissed that I missed the opportunity to easily catch squid. I've gone jigging every night this week, but no luck. On Monday I'm tagging along on a trawl of the bay, and the captain said they caught some squid this week, so hopefully I can get some on Monday. I know they won't be in the best shape after being in the trawl, but they only need to be alive long enough for me to weigh, measure and slice them open to extract blood. Everybody keep your fingers crossed for Monday morning, because I need about a dozen squid to get enough blood for one sample.

Back in RI

Well, my nice little vacation is over, I got back in RI last Thursday afternoon. Going home was great. It was a very fun, very busy week. I spent a couple days in Huntsville hanging out with the folks, plus Mike and Ames were there. I also spent an entire day watching Law and Order SVU and sorting through crap in my room. I'm a terrible packrat, and people are looking at the house now, so we're all trying to figure out what stuff we want to save, what should be trashed. I didn't have time to do much work, so sometimes mom calls me and asks about stuff over the phone. :) By the way, the whole retirement plan has changed. My folks are going to retire soon, but they're not ready to retire up to Cooperstown all year round. Instead, they're going to get an apartment or small house in Alabama, and spend summers and fall up in Cooperstown, and winters and spring in Alabama. Best of both worlds, really. I mean, winter in NY is nicer, with the snow and all, but my folks are too old to start shoveling sidewalks and rooftops, so winter in Alabama is better for them.

Ames and I drove over the Birmingham and had just enough time to change before picking up Angela, Mauro and Luca from the airport and heading to the rehearsal dinner. I hadn't seen Luca in at least a year. He's 2 and 1/2 now! He's huge, toddling around and talking. I remember when he was born, it doesn't seem that long ago..... The next day we all went to the zoo, since 3 of Amy's friends have kids (and they're all only a year older than me! So crazy.....). The zoo was fun, although we were there a bit longer than all of us anticipated. The wedding was beautiful, as was the reception. Plus the band was great. For the first half of the evening, there was a girl as the lead singer, and every now and then I'd glance over at this table, where this nerdy guy was just sitting by himself, watching the band and all of us on the dancefloor. I thought that was odd. Until the guy got up for the second half of the night and sang all the funk songs. He really got into it, too, it was awesome. The girl singer sat at the same table, and I think there was some sound equipment near it, so they were both probably doing something important when sitting at the table. I wish I'd gotten the name of the band, someone said they were just some local Birmingham band.

On to Tuscaloosa. I had so much fun hanging out with Whit. She showed me T-town, which is a combination of college town and scary back streets you shouldn't walk down. I also met Whit's friend Sarah, who is Tully Brown's cousin (small world!). We had tons of fun just hanging out, playing on the internet, watching random TV shows that none of my other friends would watch, and drooling over Supernatural episodes. There was also a night that involved vodka shots, but I don't think Whit wants me to talk about that. ;)