Umstead Trail Marathon

As you can see from my March 3rd post, last week began with enough snow to close down schools and lows around 11F. But the week ended much differently, weather-wise. On Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. it was bright and sunny with a high temperature of nearly 80. It was a beautiful day to be outside...except for those of us running the Umstead Trail Marathon. I've certainly done long runs in temps this warm, but I've never raced long in such conditions. Well, I guess there were those two Mahomet half-marathons, but at least they were flat and over with in a couple hours!

I actually have no idea how I was able to finish in 4:39:47. That's 10 minutes faster than I did LBL last year, and Umstead was way hillier and hotter (LBL had snow, but heat is even worse), and I was just as poorly trained. I started worrying about whether or not I could finish at mile 11 - ELEVEN! My stomach felt like it usually does at the end of a marathon, where the thought of another gel makes me want to barf and nothing seems to quench my thirst. The Gatorade on the course tasted really concentrated, which was good - it's sometimes watered-down on race courses - but I still had trouble staying hydrated. My friend had salt tabs at the mile 21 aid station (thank you Mickey!). I've never used salt tabs before, but the way I was feeling I figured they couldn't hurt! It's hard to tell if they actually helped because I still felt lousy the rest of the race, but maybe I would've felt even worse without them.

Anyway, I don't have any pictures from the race itself, and if any get posted on the website, I probably won't re-post any of me here, because I am sure I looked awful. I got splotchy sunburn and my arms and back still ache from my hunched-over, trying-not-to-collapse running form. But I do have a picture of my...handmade frog award! In this race they give awards to the top 15 male and 15 female finishers. Somehow, I just made it - I was number 15!



Also, all finishers got a pint glass:



And our goody bags had some of the best schwag of any races I've done. Socks perfect for Sandra Cooke, Ph.D.:



Gels, chews, lotion, organic lip balm, and a body glide sample:



Speaking of body glide, I have never used it because I have NEVER had major chafing issues...until this marathon. Andrew says I've been lucky. But I am worried that it means my thighs have gotten fatter! Anyway, I am totally gonna be a body glide user from now on (but I'll also try to slim my thighs!)

And then of course, the technical race tee-shirt:



Also, the post-race food was pretty good - veggie and chicken burritos, chips, fruit, oreos, and more. So all in all, it was a good race. Besides the usual soreness (and chafing and sunburn!), my left foot hurts today, but it's better than it was yesterday. So hopefully I'll be able to start AND finish the LBL 23K this Saturday!

Kitty weed

You all know I love cats, right? So hopefully you don't consider me cruel because I think what this man did is hilarious rather than abusive.

Snow Day!

We actually had a snow day on Monday! 2-3 measly inches is all it takes for Duke to cancel classes. I was mostly cozy and productive at home, but I did take a couple walks around the neighborhood. Here is my snow-covered street (well actually the snow-covered vegetation bordering the street):



I thought my neighbor's snow-covered trees across the street looked really pretty:



My house doesn't look that exciting - I need to get a shrubbery! (but not too expensive, haha):



I walked through Northgate park near my house. It wasn't as pretty as I thought it'd be - the snow was melting pretty rapidly - but this little creek looked kind of nice:




This March snowfall caught some of the flowers off-guard. My daffodils aren't blooming yet, but lots of my neighbors' flowers were. I saw quite a few snow-covered blooms on my walk. I should have gotten a close-up shot of my next door neighbor's flowering bush - it's in the picture to the right of my house - all the egg-yolk-yellow flowered were frosted with snow.

Speaking of flowers, Andrew's mom gave me this lovely pink bouquet for my 30th birthday:

Scariness

I did not listen to Gov. Bobby Jindal's speech last night, nor have I read any of the recent articles about him. But the recent headlines and news radio snippets I've heard that mention "Jindal" and "President" in the same sentence are quite scary, if for no other reason that this. That crap will only pull our nation backwards on the educational and science trajectories, when we need to move forward.

Lilly Ledbetter, again

Here's a great op-ed piece from the NY Times on Lilly Ledbetter and other women who have fought to end gender discrimination in the workplace.

Lilly Ledbetter

Since Obama was sworn in, nearly every day has been - as a friend of mine remarked recently on her Facebook page - "like a liberal Christmas". Today, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act into law. Lilly Ledbetter filed a lawsuit against her employer, Goodyear, after she discovered she had been paid less than her male counterparts, but her lawsuit was thrown out because it was filed more than six months after the discrimination occurred. The Act makes it clear that the 180 day statue of limitations begins with each new discriminatory paycheck. I think that the 180 day statue of limitations is still too short, but at least it is now clear that it begins on pay day, not on the day the pay was agreed upon.

Of course, all Senate democrats voted for this Act, but it is especially noteworthy that all female republican senators also voted for it, whereas only one male republican voted in favor (Specter).

Homemade Minestrone

I don't usually cook with meat, but last week I got inspired after thumbing through the Joy of Cooking, and I decided to roast a chicken. Then this week I was about to throw the chicken carcass away when I stopped and thought "hey, I should make stock!" So I did, and the chicken stock actually turned out pretty well, so from it I made minestrone soup:



It is not too bad, if I do say so myself. I put in almost twice as many macaronis as the recipe called for (you can probably tell from the picture) because I like a lot of pasta in my minestrone. I also put in twice the fresh herbs, and a little less broth than the 10 cups the recipe said, so it is quite flavorful.

So. Today begins the last week of my 20s. I am slightly bummed, because I feel like as long as I'm 20-something I can still pretend I'm a kid sometimes. But it's gonna be hard to feel like a kid when I'm THIRTY. I was boosted a bit this morning by some lady at church asking me "how school was going", and when I mentioned I teach at Duke rather than take classes there she said "oh, you don't look old enough to be teaching!" (I've had this conversation with at least 4 people at church, and it always makes me feel better). So I guess as long as I don't look 30, maybe I can get away with continuing some of my 20-something habits. Like wearing a short skirt. According to some magazine or something I read somewhere once (Glamour? Washington Post fashion column?) only women under 30 should be wearing short skirts. At 30 you've supposedly reached some level of maturity that is above the teen/collegiate/20s-look-at-me-I'm-so-sexy look of short skirts. Well, that's a fashion rule I'm gonna break because my legs are too fabulous to not show off once in a while!

At last

After 8 long years, the abortion football has once again been thrown. Obama has repealed the Global Gag Rule. An excellent start in the process of undoing the damage of the past 8 years.

Women in Science

Two posts in a day, how 'bout that! Yesterday's New York Times had a great article on the problem of female shortage in the sciences. The article mentions that "President Obama might be able to change things significantly for young women in science — and young men — by signing an executive order that would provide added family leave and parental benefits to the recipients of federal grants, a huge pool of people that includes many research scientists." Wow! As a young woman who anticipates (well, hopes) to be seeking tenure and raising kids at the same time, I think that would be fabulous. This article states our plight quite well:

...expecting a young woman to sacrifice her reproductive fitness for the sake of career advancement is simply too much, and yet the structure of academic research, in which one must spend one’s 20s and early 30s as a poorly compensated and minimally empowered graduate student and postdoctoral fellow, and the remainder of one’s 30s and into the low 40s working madly to earn tenure, can demand exactly that.

Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night.

Snow!

I love snow! I really do - I think it's pretty and peaceful (although my opinion changes somewhat in treacherous driving conditions). I thought that moving to North Carolina meant no more snow (or least not enough snow to ever cover the ground), but looky what Madeline and I saw out our window this morning:



Yay! I wish I had some cross-country skis (it's just barely enough, I think), but running in it this evening will be fun, too. Hmm, I hope the other Godivans show up for our East Campus run! It is possible these southern folk don't feel the same way I do about running in the snow.

So exciting! Here is my first house experiencing its first snow (with me as homeowner, that is):



I don't own a snow shovel yet, but I think it'll be okay. The snow on the sidewalk is starting to melt already. Here is my neighbor's holly tree with berries and snow:



Here, I was trying to take a picture of the little sweetgum balls with snow caps:



I decided to stay home today and watch the inauguration. Two things that made me happy today: snow and the fact that BUSH IS FINALLY OUTTA THERE! Good riddance, too. I might leave my "Bush's Last Day" bumper sticker up for a while longer, just to prolong the celebration that he's GONE.

Haven't blogged in a while!

To the 3 people who actually check my blog every few days - sorry I haven't blogged in a while! I had a merry Christmas, did you? One of my Christmas gifts was, once again, a digital camera! Yay, now I can post recent pictures of better quality than the one above (that was taken w/ my minolta film camera - it's just not that good). Although, I've only used my new gift a little, so far. Need to put a bigger memory card in it, and my big memory card is somewhere in my closet. So anyway, here are some more pictures from the holidays - pre-digital camera.

Madeline looking creepy:




A red-tailed hawk that my cousin and I got really close to at Thanksgiving:





Life is good - I promise to write a more interesting post later!

Cute Couple

Excellent, excellent opinion piece. Excellent.

Thank you Olivia Judson! Dr. Judson, a darling, talented evolutionary biologist at the forefront of her field and author of "Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation" (one of my favorite books) has written an outstanding article on the Bush administration's assault on science. Amen! Also, I really must read Shulman's book that she mentions. This looks like a good book, too - I love the cover!

Hopefully the economy and war will not completely distract Obama from this important task of restoring credible science to government.

Reason #463 Why "Abstinence Only" Education is Stupid

Read this.

Raleigh Marathon

Here's a belated race report for the Raleigh Marathon! We dragged ourselves out of bed at 4:45 am, which was somewhat eased by "falling back" an hour and our 9:30 bedtime, but was still a bit tough. But I'm glad it was a 7 am start time, because by mile 20 it was getting quite warm for us middle-of-the-packers, and from that point on the course had almost no shade refuge. So here's me, Madelyn, and Kate a few minutes before the start (thanks Marathonfoto!):



Kate and Madelyn did the half-marathon, and both did very well! As I mentioned before, I finished in 4:05 - not the sub-4 I had hoped for, but I underestimated the hilliness, even after studying this elevation map:



See those big hills at miles 5 and 13-15? I powered up them, feeling strong and still maintaining a sub-9:00 pace. I only slowed down a little at the 17-18 mile hill. I was feeling way over-confident and trying to guess how big my PR would be. Then the course left the lovely shade and soft dirt road of Umstead State Park - we turned a corner and were suddenly on a concrete sidewalk heading uphill and straight into the sun (miles 19-20). I didn't hit a wall or anything, but just could not keep up my pace for the rest of the course - even on the slight downhill from mile 22-25. Mile 25 was awful - it doesn't look like a big hill on the course elevation map, but it sure felt steep and way longer than a mile (as mile 25 usually does). So I revised my goal to 4:05 and finished in 4:05:24. Not too bad I guess. So here I am within a few tenths a mile of the finish. See my Obama '08 shirt? I got lots of compliments on that! And no heckling!

The Land Slides Further

Check this out:

Obama adds symbolic NC victory to White House win

Obama had won North Carolina! It's the first time a democratic Presidential candidate has won the state since Carter won it in 1976. Isn't that crazy? That's crazy! In a good way of course! It makes me proud to be a North Carolinian. So that means Obama has 364 electoral votes to McCain's 162. GOPs, we CRUSHED you!!

To change the subject, Connie has asked for a race report - yes, I will post one later. In a nutshell, it was a tough race but it went well - ran a 4:05 marathon on a very hilly course.

Landslide Victory!

Hooray for President-Elect Obama!



Wow. IN, FL, OH, VA, CO, NV, NM?!?!?! Wow! This is amazing. Now us liberals can get to work with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright to implement our radical socialist agenda! (just kidding, CG - do you realize how ridiculous you sound now?) In all seriousness this is a really exciting time in our country's history, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. He's definitely got his work cut out for him.

Man, Phillies winning the World Series, Obama and other dems winning office...this is shaping up to be the Autumn of Sandra Cookie!

PHILLIES WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ARE THE 2008 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself!!!

Let's go Phillies!!!

Monday night was a letdown, but at least it wasn't a loss. I am SUPER-EXCITED for tonight! I don't want to get my hopes up too high or jinx them...but I can taste a World Series victory!

Reason #893 to keep that ignorant bitch away from the White House

Someone on the ECOLOG listserve alerted us to this bit about Palin dissing fruit fly research. Here is the link to another blogger's post. Apparently she has no idea how important Drosophila research is for human genetics. Still, even if this were not the case, the fact that she thinks that funding for biological research is an "earmark" or a "pet project" really frosts Sandra Cookie's cookies!!!! Of course, she's a creationist, so what was I expecting?

Here are some quick facts

Click the link above. These are the sorts of problems that most Republicans ignore or won't fix because it's "too much government intervention and money". But just leaving it up to your precious free market isn't gonna fix these things. These problems ultimately affect us all as a nation, and thus as a nation we need to address them.

Equal Pay

I've gotta respond to CG's comments. He wrote: "But don't you think a woman that isn't pregnant is more valuable to an employer than one that is?" and "shouldn't women who choose to forgo pregnancy to focus on their career reap some reward (better job/pay) for the sacrifice they make?"

ABSOLUTELY NOT. Not only should men and women be paid equally for the same work, but parents and childless adults should also be paid equally for the same work. To "forgo pregnancy" does not necessarily mean you are going to be better or more productive at your job than someone with kids. In my field (biological sciences) I know male and female professors with children who manage to teach, publish, and get grants funded at the same (or even higher) rate and quality as professors without kids. So why would you pay them differently? Sure, it is true that there are scientist-parents who may have a brief "hole" in their publication record because of those 3 months they took for paid paternity/maternity leave. Unfortunately, this may affect their ability to get tenure or get grants funded (but fortunately many institutions are becoming more understanding of this). However, it should in no way whatsoever affect their salary!

In academic interviews it is against most institution's policies to ask if a candidate is married, has kids, is planning to have kids, etc. These policies are in place precisely because of the attitude you revealed in your comments in the earlier post. You cannot discriminate against someone based on these factors! And this is why it is best for an institution (or any place of employment) to have equal paternity/maternity leave policies - whether they hire a man or a woman, the possibility that that person will take parental leave is the same. You cannot decide against the woman because "she's a woman of childbearing age, so she'll probably take maternity leave". And actually, you cannot discriminate against men of childbearing age for the same reason either. I can understand the perspective of an employer who is short-staffed and needs someone to work full-time immediately with no extended leave on the horizon. But that employer has to realize that the possibility of extended leave is always there and is unpredictable. You never know if and when a employee will get cancer, have an accident, etc. and need an extended leave of absence. This is why you just have to hire the best candidate for the job and not discriminate based on perceived likelihood that a person will take parental, sick, or disability leave. Actually, I know a woman who, in the few years after landing her tenure-track position, had both cancer and a baby, and has still managed to stay at the top of her field.

All that being said, sure, it is possible that parenthood takes its toll on a person to the extent that their job performance suffers. But this is just one of many factors that can affect a person's job performance (divorce, chronic illness, depression, etc.) And that's why the only factors that should determine someone's salary or whether or not they get hired are their resume and job performance NOT their gender or family status.

In regard to the comment that a woman who isn't pregnant is more valuable than one who is, I look at my own place of employment. I am NO MORE VALUABLE to my employer than the two female teaching fellows currently expecting babies, or the male teaching fellow whose wife just gave birth last week (congratulations Jon and Celia!). Our supervisors at Duke University evaluate us only according to how well we do our jobs, not whether or not we take parental leave, an option open to all of us teaching fellows. It is unfortunate that not all employers practice such non-discrimination, and even more unfortunate that there are politicians do not support this mindset.

Economists' Policy Group for Women's Issues

Jesus Christ, it's 2008! Why haven't we made more progress? See this grade report on McCain and Obama. I absolutely do not understand why BOTH candidates, actually, do not have more As. But McCain and Palin's views here really top everything. They truly disgust me. Even our goddamn president voted for the VAWA. WTF???

Make my autumn!

I will consider autumn 2008 a success if at least 2 of these 3 things happen:

1. The Phillies win the World Series
2. Obama wins the presidency
3. My proposal gets funded.

Let's go, Fate, 3-for-3!!!!

Told you

Thanks for finally making your views loud and clear, Gov. Palin. But if you truly believe that traditional marriages are the foundation for strong families, then why don't you support a constitutional amendment to ban divorce? Or to ban unmarried women from artificially inseminating themselves? Or to require that widows and widowers with children must remarry as soon as possible? Or to require that heterosexual couples with children must get married? Because all of those amendments seem just as logical as banning gay marriage.

I am sure my gay friends with children (as well as those without) take great offense at you implying that their families are not strong.

Are you anti-abortion?

If so, you should read this article from the Washington Post. It's quite interesting and makes several noteworthy points:

• "Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, which calls for a 'consistent ethic of life' on such issues as poverty and capital punishment, argue that economic policies may be the most effective way to combat abortion by providing social services, such as affordable health care, for pregnant women." I COMPLETELY agree with them. The way to reduce abortion is not to criminalize it, but to address the root causes of the issue: (1) why do unwanted pregnancies happen and (2) why do women choose to abort their pregnancy. Similarly...
  
• Douglas W. Kmiec, an anti-abortion scholar, argues that "that overturning Roe v. Wade would not end abortion, and that the bigger priority should be addressing 'the economic and cultural and social circumstances that force women to believe that they must make a choice against life.'" YES, once again I completely agree that overturning Roe v Wade would not end abortion.

I found the article somewhat heartening. It is nice to see that there are some anti-abortionists who understand that being "pro-choice" or "pro-life" is not simply a position regarding the Roe v. Wade decision. There are so many factors in our society that influence the amount of abortions that occur. Certain politicians may say they are pro-life, but at the same time they may promote policies that increase the number of unwanted pregnancies (e.g., abstinence only education). When you increase the number of unwanted pregnancies, it's a good bet that you'll increase the number of abortions, too. I wonder if, despite George Bush's pro-life intentions, his policies actually indirectly increased the number of abortions that occurred compared to if he had not been President. Think about it: Roe v. Wade still rightfully stands, thank God, but we've had huge setbacks in the number of poor women with access to affordable health care/ health insurance, the way we educate our young people about sex, and socioeconomic factors that influence whether a woman thinks she can afford a child.

Long story short, if you are pro-life you can go ahead and VOTE FOR OBAMA with a clear conscience!

Yaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Phillies are the 2008 National League Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 down, 47 to go!

Hooray! This just in:

Conn. High Court Rules Same-Sex Couples Can Marry

These things take time, but they do happen and will continue to happen. Some day, even Texas and Alaska will be on board, and anti-gay and anti-equality policies and laws will be seen as old-fashioned and narrow-minded.

Also, regarding this issue, I was very disappointed with how Joe Biden handled this question in the VP debate. Yes, I realize that there are virtually no major party leaders that support a constitutional amendment to allow gay marriage. But Biden's and Palin's attitudes towards gay rights and issues differ in significant ways. Check out this Human Rights Campaign video:




In other happy news the Phillies beat the Dodgers 3-2 last night! I'm calling for a Rays-Phillies World Series with the Phillies going all the way!

Science and the Election

During Friday night's debate when McCain once again mentioned the "$3 million" (it was actually more) grizzly bear DNA study as a pork-barrel, waste-of-money, ear-marked whatever, I thought "you've got to be kidding me". First of all, $3 million is nothing. My research group in grad school received NSF grants totaling almost $3 million to study the effects of UV radiation on lakes. I wonder what McCain would say to that! Probably that my Ph.D. was a waste of the federal governments' money. Probably "who cares about lake ecology?" And if he's elected, I'll bet he'll slash the NSF budget just as Bush did. And in contrast to this, did anyone else note that during the debate Obama actually said "We've got to invest in science and technology." I realize that in light of the economy, etc., science is not a priority for most voters. But it certainly is for us scientists, and I think it is crystal clear where the candidates stand on science. That McCain actually declined to answer 18 science-related questions from the prestigious journal Nature speaks for itself. As an ecologist I of course was quite interested in the candidates' responses on evolution. Obama's response: "I do not believe it is helpful to our students to cloud discussions of science with non-scientific theories like intelligent design that are not subject to experimental scrutiny." I could not have said it more clearly myself. McCain's stance on evolution, according to Nature:

McCain said last year, in a Republican primary debate: "I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also." In 2005, he told the Arizona Daily Star that he thought "all points of view" should be available to students studying the origins of humanity. But the next year a Colorado paper reported him saying that such viewpoints should not be taught in science class.

Okay, at least he finally acknowledged that creationism does not belong in science class. Of course, his creationist VP doesn't feel the same. I also found it interesting that Obama's science and technology advisers are actually, um, scientists, whereas McCain's science advisers are a couple of CEOs, the former secretary of defense, a former CIA director, and a former NSA adviser.

I change my mind!

Sarah Palin's abortion stance isn't so bad after all! Now if only McCain could make the same offer.

For biology teachers

The "Discovery Institute" (for some reason I feel they deserve quotes around their name) has been distributing a document to students entitled “Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution". The National Center for Science Education has compiled a set of responses to these questions to aid biology teachers whose students try to challenge them with these questions. I think the NCSE did a good job, but I still wonder if these students will just end up confused, or will refuse to admit to anything that they view as contradicting their faith, no matter how sensible and compelling the evidence is. The NY Times recently published this list. Also, the article that accompanied this list I found quite interesting but also troubling. I can feel Mr. Campbell's frustration.

This reminded me of Lehigh University's Michael Behe. When I was in grad school there, I often heard him referred to as an "embarrassment". I thought I'd check his webpage to see if he's altered any of his ID content (he hasn't). And Lehigh's Biology Department has stated clearly and succinctly their view of his views.

Tomato score: Squirrels 8, Sandra 0

Andrew was here last weekend and brought his digital camera, so now I have pictures to post! Nothing too exciting, but I did want to give an update on my little "practice garden". Occasionally I have an alert, squirrel-chasing guard cat:



but Madeline would have to be on duty 24/7 to keep the little thieves away. They have gotten at least 8 of my tomatoes, but the hearty little plant is producing more, so I must do something to protect them!



After Andrew left I built a chicken-wire fortress around my tomato plant. So far it's working, and my tomatoes have grown noticeably! Also, my marigolds have begun to produce flowers! This was after Andrew and his camera left, though, so I don't have pictures (I am still clinging to my broken digital, hoping somehow it might just start randomly working again). Also, my basil is being eaten less by insects and more my me. The mint is flourishing as usual.

Here are some pretty purple flowers from the side of my house. I've seen these all over the Raleigh-Durham area. Does anyone know what they are? I am awful with plant ID!



Andrew, I wonder if the large red and black beetle we saw was a type of carrion beetle (that's what it looks like in my Peterson insect guide). Do you remember it looking like this?

What a great sentiment...

...from my favorite comic strip, For Better or For Worse (it takes place in Canada):



Some day, our country will reach that milestone, too.

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 :)