Random Thoughts on Friday while the PCR machine is running....

Yesterday was Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary....the first one since Dad passed away. As mom said "it wasn't a great day". Even 11 months out not a day goes by without me missing him. I am amazed at how strong my mom is.


We are going to Twins games all weekend because the Yankees are in town. Matt is very excited. He has one week of school left. I just hope he finds a summer job soon!

Karen caught my sinus infection bug. I hope she feels better soon. She has tons of work to do, so we can bond over our procrastination and both spend tons of time in our respective labs. Our poor kitties will not know who we are by the end of June.

Sad news, my parents good friend Jim Barron passed away from pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is such a terrible disease. I hope that all the groups working on it will come up with something soon. Unfortunately it will be to late for Jim. He was such a quite, strong man. He was a true friend to both my parents over many decades. I will never forget his laugh and all those New Years and Forth of Julys spent either at their house or ours. My love goes out to Diane, Jason, Alicia, and their spouses. My own family know exactly what they are going through right now. It gets easier to realize your loved one is gone, but you never really get over it.

Ok, enough of the sad stuff. I hope that everyone has a great weekend full of sun (in Minneapolis) or rain (Jamestown). School is almost out and summer is ready to begin!

It has been a hectic few months. Sorry for not updating more. With Matt coaching softball and me attending meeting is Chicago and going home for a weekend every spare second has been spent trying to keep my condo is some order. This weekend I managed to get ahead, ever so slightly. Matt is finally done with softball (0-7 record). He has about three weeks of school yet, so he is on the down-swing. Lab work is going as well as can be expected. I traveled to Chicago for 5 days at the end of April and won a few awards. The high did not last, as we are trying to write the paper and getting mixed signals from people. My other two projects are stalled until I figure out how to deal with the massive CO study. I could spend 15+ hour days in lab every day for the next five months and not catch up. Since I contracted both the flu AND bronchitis in the last month I have been doing about that (my vital capacity is not great enough to allow me to work out, so instead of hitting the gym I hit the bench). I still managed to lose 15lbs, probably being due to only eating soda cracker and broth for a week:)
The title of this post is due to the fact that over the next few weeks Matt and I will be hosting a few house guests. This weekend we had Jenny and Peter Dalsted. It was fun playing Wii with them. I hope they had a good time. Next weekend my mom is coming to town. It will be 11 months since Dad passed aways, and about a year since Karen and I saw him alive last. Not the happiest of anniversaries, but we will make some joy out of a bad situtation. I am just excited that I can get some flowers planted and get my front door painted. It looks weird because we had to replace the front lock after the old one jammed (locksmiths do not run cheap over the weekend....good bye tax refund!). The next week my Aunt Sherry (one of my two fairy godmothers) will be staying so she can attend a yoga retreat. Somewhere in that same week we will have Matt's mom, her guy, and Matt's Uncle Earl over as well! As you can see, don't expect too many updates for a while.

Have a great week! Until next time

YouTube - An Engineer's Guide to Cats

YouTube - An Engineer's Guide to Cats


My friend Matt sent this link to me. I find it hilarious. Enjoy!