The fate of my eggs...

...does not belong within the realm of anyone's moral compass but my own!!! This makes me SO FURIOUS:
Workers' Religious Freedom vs. Patients' Rights
If my religion were white supremacy, would that give me a right to deny services to all non-white people in my profession? If you don't believe in birth control, then don't work in a profession where your job description entails providing birth control! It's like a PETA activist being employed at Cabella's and then refusing to sell anything related to hunting! Or a Jewish person taking a teaching job at a Catholic school, and then claiming they shouldn't have to teach the lessons that contradict their faith! Yes, you should be free to believe what you want. But so should I, and I believe that birth control, and in some cases abortion, are healthy, important, and the morally correct thing to do with my body and my life. If anyone stands in the way of that, they are infringing upon MY religious freedom AND health, not just "patients' rights". And when the uterus in question is MINE, then the only morals that can be imposed upon it are MINE. Think birth control and abortions are immoral? Then don't take it or have one. I won't encourage you to or secretly stuff condoms in your mailbox. In turn, I ask that you not take my prescriptions away from me (there are pharmacists who DO that!). Don't you dare try to prevent me from doing what I think is morally correct for ME. KEEP YOUR LAWS OUT OF MY BUSH, BUSH!!!!!!

Orioles won on a SUNDAY!

Yes, it's true. Today the Orioles beat the Angels, the team with the best record in MLB, 5-2! Why is this so noteworthy? No, not because the O's suck in general. Because they haven't won a game over their last FIFTEEN Sundays! It was becoming like a curse or something. The more amazing thing is that they won with Garrett Olson as the starting pitcher (hahaha)!

The Phillies are losing right now, but it's only 5-2 in the 4th. Maybe they can pull out an amazing comeback like they did yesterday! Check out this line score:



Isn't that crazy? That would've been an exciting game to be at. I miss Citizens Bank Park!

Oh, sweet!!! Shane Victorino just smashed a 3-run home run to tie the game! Those Braves are going DOWN.

Madeline

This is an old picture of Madeline, but it captures her current spirit. Poor thing wants to go outside all the time! I've tried to explain to her that it's too dark and there are too many mosquitoes and I've showered so I don't want to put on more bug spray. But we were out in the backyard earlier this evening and as I was putting sticks in the compost bin, Madeline started trying to attack the sticks like they were string toys. Then I started throwing them, and she chased them, although they were a little too big for her to get her mouth around them (and she usually only "fetches" paper wads and broccoli stems). She's just like a dog, it's so funny! But what was really hilarious was the dirty little trick I pulled to bring her back inside - I ran across the yard, up the steps, and inside, waving a stick behind me, and Madeline bounded after me the whole way. She was kind of pissed off when I then threw the stick outside and closed the door :) Hmm, maybe next time she goes under the porch I can coax her out with a stick instead of cat treats! It's so weird, I've never met a cat as dog-like as she is.

I haven't mentioned the Orioles in a while because it is sad. They've been slipping further and further below .500. They lost to Toronto twice yesterday, and I am scared to check the standings. They are losing to LA now, but Jay Payton just hit a 2 run double, so now they're only down 5-3 in the 7th. Maybe they can do it!

Settling In

It has been over 3 weeks since I moved in to my first home (as a homeowner, that is), and I am settling in pretty well. I've even started hanging pictures and only have one box left to unpack. However, I'm heading into week #2 with a broken AC. It hasn't been too bad so far, but tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 99 F, which I think is the hottest it's been since I moved here. I was initially dragging my feet on getting it fixed. Now the problem has been diagnosed (need a new compressor), but not yet solved, as Steve the AC guy was gonna try to find a low-cost compressor from some discount vendor he knows. Low-cost would be fantastic, but I will call him tomorrow, as Madeline and I are getting antsy! On Saturday night I slept at a friend's house after a party, which besides being a great way for me to meet some lovely women in my new town, was also a nice respite from my tropical-feeling home. Thanks Carolyn! I may have to sleep under my desk in my lovely air-conditioned office tomorrow night! This is pathetic, I've become too used to modern creature comforts! I should remember back to the hot summer nights spent in my grandparents non-ACed homes.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my new, humble little dwelling:







I don't have many from inside, but I'll wait until I get everything bought/ unpacked/ put-away...and host a visitor w/ a digital camera (don't want to waste film on some ordinary rooms!) And here is the poor little garden I started. Actually, the marigold seedlings are coming up quite well, the mint looks decent, and the tomato isn't dead (bought the mint, tomato, and basil plants from the garden store). The basil is being thoroughly enjoyed, but unfortunately not much by me. Does anyone know of any good organic insecticides for sweet basil? I'm quite naive and new at this!

Blacksburg, VA

Andrew and I spent a day in Blacksburg en route to moving me out to North Carolina. We took a short hike on the Dragon's Tooth trail, which follows the AT for a bit. It was a beautiful day until the hike back to the car when it POURED on us!









These little raccoons must've known the rain was coming. That's probably what they were trying to tell us with all that chattering! They drew attention to themselves, and we saw them climb into their tree hole. I think I've only seen raccoons going through garbage cans or dead on the side of the road and never thought they were very cute, but these little guys sure were!

See this one climbing the tree:


And this one with his cute little face peeking out of the hole:

Newfoundland

I am terribly behind in my blogging, so much so that probably no one - except for Kate, Andrew, and my mom - is checking my blog for updates anymore :) St. Johns, Newfoundland was a really nice trip. I'm glad I was able to break away from the ASLO conference for a little bit to do some running, sightseeing, and hiking. Up by Cabot Tower you could see some remnant icebergs that had drifted into the cliffs (kinda hard to make out in this photo - remember my digital camera broke, and my old Minolta just doesn't seem as good). Anyway, the color of the water around the ice chunks was really pretty:



On the last day of the conference I slipped out early to do an out-n-back run/hike of the East-Coast Trail (http://www.eastcoasttrail.com/trail/). It was an overcast sky, but still beautiful scenery! I ran/hiked about 18 miles (including the 3 miles to get from the hotel to the trailhead). It was a good workout!










My attempt at a self-portrait :)