End of the Work Week, end of March 2012
Met up with Megan and her friend M. after work yesterday. They were apartment hunting. Met Megan earlier this week in upper campus.
Weather has been cooler...in the 30s to 50s Fahrenheit during the night to day. Was in the 60s to 80s during the day for the two weeks earlier. The bulbs (tulips) in my neighborhood, forsythia in front of my work building, and other flowers are up, due to this. Students were arriving in shorts and sandals in lab two weeks ago, and I advised them that that week (Population Genetics laboratory week) was okay to wear non-lab togs, but they should be advised that it would not be okay for the rest of the labs.
Ah, to go from Autumn into late Autumn, into Spring into Summer! That is what this last half year has been like.
Labels: flowers, friends, seasons, weather, work
Pittsburgh Children's Festival, Phipps Garden, Carnegie Mellon
After singing at noon Mass (which was celebrated by Fr. Tim Kesicki), Regina and I met up with our parents and chatted until the baptism proceeded. Dad, Mom, and I went for Mexican food in Fox Chapel.
Maureen and I went for a walkabout Oakland: first to the Pittsburgh Children's Festival, on to Phipps Garden, then to Carnegie Mellon University. We saw CMU Engineering grads having their photos taken on Hillman Library steps, passed the carousel and the tent, past a bunch of arts, crafts, and activity booths, including retired greyhounds. Then we went to the petting zoo---the pony looked exhausted!
On to Phipps Garden, where we perambulated, and we smelled the herb garden. Maureen admired the peonies. Her friend called whist she was admiring the peonies to discuss peonies with her! We walked past the Cut, then stopped at Wawa's office door. We visited the Randy Pausch bridge and admired the lighting. We walked the ramp at the Gates Center, sat outside Newell-Simon Hall, and went to Lulu's for Maureen's smoothie.
Time to think about dinner plans.
Labels: celebration, children, Choir, dining, flowers, garden, ice cream, Mass, Pittsburgh, school, walking
end of Week One, Summer Break 2010
Wednesday Mom and I went to an office to take care of administrative issues. Then Dad, Mom, and I had lunch at the Japanese seafood buffet on the way to Homestead.
Thursday, Marissa and her children and I went to the playground at the park. We then met William at the computer store and dined on Italian food on Bellefonte Street. It was delicious, and the waiter commented that we were the first group to sing "Happy Birthday" to the restaurant. We enjoyed two flavors of birthday cake and favors.
Today I mailed a ballot to New York---it will arrive with plenty of time for the counting.
I need to take care of more administrative tasks before the weekend starts: Something with the office on campus, faxing items downtown, and getting Maureen a plant for her sister.
Labels: Birthday, citizenship, dining, flowers, friends, games, organizing, Philippines
Auntie Chi and Kelly for Easter 2010
Auntie Chi and Kelly arrived Tuesday afternoon and evening, respectively, at Pittsburgh International (PIT). I did not see Auntie Chi until Wednesday night over dinner and fleurs of yellow Asian lilies and of blue lilies of the Nile ("it's not what you know, it's whom you know!") chez Mom and Dad's. Kelly and I caught up Thursday, as she was out with William Wednesday night.
Auntie Chi and I went out shopping in Oakland Thursday on the 71A line after my work Thursday afternoon. It was a glorious day of about 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. I walked parallel to Tiffany on her way home to Squirrel Hill as we passed St. Paul Cathedral, and we enjoyed the weather while chatting about how we are not that different from students, despite what they may think. Mom, Auntie Chi, and I chatted briefly until Auntie Chi and I went to Giant Eagle Market District for probiotic yogurt for my upset gut, bananas, and rice cakes.
to explain:
I've had an intestinal flu since Sunday. I think it's a flu, perhaps, because it started with aches, but I'm not convinced it isn't from something I ate. I'm just glad and thankful that it wasn't food poisoning (I got to explain the CBD to students and the vomit reflex in class this week, being animal anatomy and physiology week). It is NOT fun. Mom intoned Tuesday night, "You shouldn't eat much...No dairy nor fatty foods," etc. "have some tea, stay hydrated."
Next we took the bus (meeting Cassie, a former stock room person from work) to CVS, where we picked up Mom's prescription and I a double pack of electrolyte solution (fruity flavored this time!!)
Needless to say, we arrived home at about 19.30, well after when the Holy Thursday Mass had started. I was weak from working through this bug this week and from not eating regularly because of it, as well. Plus, I don't want to make my choir mates sick.
We had dinner (me, those lovely items I had purchased, plus sotanghon noodles). I hazarded a small taste of dark chocolate matzo that Kelly had brought from New York ("What makes this evening different from all other evenings...we have sweet chocolate matzo?") I drove William home and then Kelly, Mom, Auntie Chi and I stayed up to chat about Grandma, her stories she told and songs she sang to us, and Kelly's excellent memory of them...The real reason Kelly can't fit any more into her brain (Freedom Rock commercials, man!), radio play shows from the Philippines when Mom and Auntie Chi were young, in which the whole family and the hired help would sit around the radio, and how moms really don't get fun until the grandkids arrive.
So, I'm up early due to my gut's shenanigans, though the frequency and intensity of the urge and the quality/duration (well, you get the picture...)
I'm so fortunate it's not the upper GI flu my coworker S had earlier this week. She intoned, "My boyfriend gave me the Plague."
Labels: biology, celebration, family, flowers, Grandma, health, Holy Thursday, radio, shopping, singing, St. Paul Cathedral, tea, thankfulness, transportation, visitor, work
Halfway Finished Grading, Fall 2009, Parties
I finished ~>halfway grading all my exams tonight. Maureen and I met for smoothies and to see her photos from Lauren's graduation. Karina and I went to Jen and Bri's Christmas party, where we enjoyed the company of Lisa from Jen's church women's group and Svetlana and Igor, as well. I attempted to learn an additional Russian word, bringing my vocabulary to less than a handful of words.
Jen would not let us leave without the bulbs "white paper" that she handed to us, as well as some munchies for the cold weather days and long days of grading.
Karina and I went to Squirrel Hill to Ann's place, for her birthday party. We met her husband outside the apartment and Karina deftly played the game Chancho, both winning and losing a single round (imagine that!). Mlle. Chancho enjoyed her place on the top of the heap, Hannan awoke to our raucous laughter, and we all tiptoed out of the apartment to the cool night air and the clear night sky poured full with stars.
Labels: biology, Church, flowers, international culture, stars, work
Nothing Was the Same
I just finished this week Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir, Nothing Was the Same. She is currently Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.
Her book addressed her life with and without her now-deceased husband and the joyous times they had together, as well as their battle with his cancer, and her ensuing throes of grief and despair from the loss. Definitely an interesting read. She contrasts her grief with the moods of the depression she has experienced.
~ ~ ~
I found some quotes from the book particularly interesting to share:
from "Mourning and Melancholia":
Hope can find a place in a mind missing love. It cannot find a place in a mind taken over by depression. In grief, one finds the absence of a life, not life itself. In depression, it is otherwise: one cannot access the beat of life.
from "Fugitive Dyes":
I had often said to my patients who were struggling in the wake of mania or suicidal despair: We are each an island. It is your task to bring to your own island what you need to live long and well: love, beauty, diversion, friends; work that sustains; a meaningful life. Look at Maui, I would say: everything was brought in by man, insect, bird, or wind. It is your life; it is short. Treat your island with regard. Do not let it go to weed; do not give it over to anyone else. Understand the possibilities. Know the dangers. Keep away the ungenerous and unkind.
~ ~ ~
I have had two students who have lost family members this past week. I found myself listening to their stories, then quietly saying, "He's at peace now," or "She's at peace now" to them, as well as reminding them to tell their lab partners of their loss (they may be surprised to find that their lab partners are accepting, accomodating, and human about their situation).
Labels: accessibility, color, encyclopedia, farewell, flowers, friends, health, meditate, moving, read, sleep, work
Niagara and Toronto I, August 2009
Mom,Dad, and I travelled to the American side of Niagara Falls (which is a New York State Park and the oldest state park in the United States), visited the visitor center, went to the observation deck (outstanding) and to the Maid of the Mist,
where we saw the American Falls,
other Maids of the Mist, and a view of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. We enjoyed our picnic lunch from the disabled parking spot, where a cool breeze blew and there were multicolored hydrangea in full bloom.
We continued on to Toronto, where Uncle Alex and Auntie Baby live. Colleen, their apo, was visiting and we had our merienda. I took a nap, and Allan, Sonia, and their family had arrived as well as Christie and her family. We all dined together on Pinoy food.
After dinner, we took group photos, and Allan shared his thoughts on what to see. I decided I wanted to see many things that are part of their life in Toronto, and some touristy sites, too.
Labels: automobile, Canada, citizenship, family, flowers, ice cream, international culture, New York, photos, Pilipino culture, reunion, travel, visitor, walking, water
Home Physical Therapy
Margie arrived early today, and we did
(lying supine)
leg adduction (with pillow by my legs) 20 reps
knee curl ups (with the coffee can) 20 reps
heel slides (with a plastic bag) 20 reps
"snow angels"/leg abduction (with a plastic bag) 20 reps
straight leg raises 10 reps
(lying prone)
knee curl ups (oo, the knee feels that!) 20 reps
(seated)
knee swing-ups leading into flex that heel/ankle 20 reps
Then we walked to St. Paul Cathedral, where there was a funeral, so we went up the easternmost transept steps, looked in, then went to the parklet to relax.
Labels: exercise, flowers, neighbors, St. Paul Cathedral
Saturday in the Octave of Easter 2009
Forty-six hours until my friend S. and I meet again! (Gee, it's been almost twenty years!)
Today I arose before six AM and did laundry, dust, take out the trash, shred old bills, and clean out the refrigerator. Met up with Maureen to get shortbread (and a Penguin cakelet for Karina) at our fave bakery, then we headed to McKnight Road for cheese & cherry blintzes and a Dutch baby with strawberry sauce for my birthday celebration. We then headed to JC Penney, Tiffany's, the Chef store, Kate Spade, and Nordstrom's for shopping/window shopping. We shopped for groceries at Giant Eagle and at Trader Joe's. I went home to relax for half an hour and then to write the above notes. What a glorious, beauteous sunny day!
~~~
21:00
At 18:00 Karina, Maureen, and I met on the steps of St. Paul Cathedral to hear the gist of Karina's journal slide talk (due on Monday), to go for a walk, chai and coffee at Starbucks, and to enjoy Karina's "87" Penguin cakelet. We went for Tea/Chai Masala at the Indian grocery store, and chatted in my parents' lobby over the PAMS Inaugural Ball book. We also discussed dyes vs. indicators (over hydrangeae).
Labels: dining, flowers, friends, shopping, St. Paul Cathedral, tea, walking
Forsythia
The forsythia are in full bloom in front of my building. I am so happy that spring is finally here. Daylight/dawn starts before seven o'clock.
Labels: biology, flowers, seasons
