The Reading Journal of RMS

The Jesusita Fire is still burning, but the winds last night were calmer than expected. If the winds pick up again tonight, our friends' house will likely be in the path of the fire, which is nerve-wracking. But a lot of progress on the fire has been made -- it's certainly less smoky here than it was yesterday -- so we're crossing our fingers and toes.

So, a few other tentatively good things going on:

1. We leave a month from today for our trip to Denmark! When we were planning the trip, I had been a bit nervous about how I'd be feeling, since I'll be about 5 months along then. People had told me that the second trimester is a breeze, but that's different than experiencing it myself. Anyway, given how I feel now, I am looking forward to the trip with no hesitation! My energy levels are back to normal, and I don't think I will have trouble maneuvering with my belly, or anything. (My belly is definitely at the point where I'm always conscious of it, and it slightly affects how I sit. But it's not at the point where people will immediately guess that I'm pregnant.)
   
   
2. And oh, my conference in Italy begins two months from today! I am curious as to how I will feel when I am six months pregnant. Whatever. This should be good motivation for actually doing some damn prenatal yoga.
   
   
3. I'm not sure I fully understand the focus of the Trifter website, but an article on Mt. Popa used two of my pictures, with mostly proper attribution. (I have to check Creative Commons to see if my name should be listed there, but I'm generally not bothered as long as there's a link.) Anyway, nifty!
   
   
4. Things might improve for the Penguins now that they're playing at home? Oof.
   
   
5. If you like sports, TV, and smart women talking about those things -- as I know many of you do -- you should listen to Play Ball, my SIL's podcast!
   

Right, back to work. (What? You mean it didn't end with the defense?)

I am such a sucker for the Olympics!

1. I've scoured the NBC Olympics site, but cannot find a place to complain about the West Coast tape delay. Any of you have any leads? I mean, what, am I supposed to avoid Facebook and Twitter and the entire internet so I can be spoiler-free? Just air it live! We manage to survive when it comes to football, so why not air the Olympics live? Plus, I'm out of practice in staying up to 12:30 a.m. to watch sports.
   
   
2. Is NBC actually showing us more sports and fewer stupid profiles this year? Or do I not notice because I have a DVR and fast-forward through all the crap?
   
   
3. I like gymnastics, but I swear the commentators are going to give me a stroke. So far, the most annoying comment (which I can't quote directly, as I can't find a video of it online) was from the women's team prelims, where the commentator was talking about how the Romanian team used to be singularly focused on their routines during the podium exercises. Now, apparently, they also chat over the chalk, and the commentator found this "sad". Yeah, I'm sorry that they're not little gymnastic robots anymore.
   
   
4. Although watching the American men try to figure out if it was mathematically possible for the Germans to beat them, at the very end, was hilarious.
   
   
5. Whose idea was it to invent synchronized diving?
   
   
6. I totally judge athletes by their behavior at Michigan hockey games. So I love Jake Long, who came to quite a few games, stayed for the whole game, and I think even did the Bullwinkle dance. Michael Phelps came to a couple games, but sat there and texted the whole time (like a hockey girlfriend). Boo!
   
   

Back to work, so I can watch more Olympics tonight! Whee!

This has been a good weekend so far, except for football-related things:

1. A high school friend of mine came to town yesterday (she was visiting her mother in L.A.). Hooray! We had a lot of fun just wandering around and hanging out -- not enough time to go to a winery or the Mission, unfortunately. Of my group of high school friends, I would not have necessarily guessed that she and I would have remained in close touch. We weren't particularly close in high school, and she got married and had kids right after college, while I . . . didn't. But we had a good time yesterday. Although, at one point, she asked me if I had made some crazy jello thing with gummy bears, or another silly snack, and I had to remind her that I don't have kids, and thus any crazy jello concoction I make is likely to have vodka in it.
   
   
2. The eeee! and I have made a lot of progress in organizing our place, in anticipation of my parents coming in two weeks.
   
   
3. My parents are coming in two weeks! Hooray! That should be lots of fun. Oh, I hope the weather is good.
   
   
4. We watched American Dreamz on Friday night, which was very amusing. The timing of it was perfect, what with it being primary season and American Idol season. It was a ballsier satire than I expected -- especially playing the terrorist training camp for laughs -- so I really enjoyed it.
   
   We then watched L.A. Story last night, which I was less impressed with. Maybe because people have talked it up, or maybe I just don't like Steve Martin's writing, I don't know. And maybe I was expecting something more satirical.
   
   
5. OMG Michigan hockey!!!!!
   
   
6. Our washer is still not fixed, so we are still doing laundry at the laundromat. Argh. Luckily it's only three blocks away.
   
   
7. A bunch of my cousins have suddenly joined Facebook, and have thus found my pictures (although I guess I would have emailed them eventually). And one of them wants to get prints of a few of them to frame and hang up in his house! I am especially flattered by this because I think him and his wife have the coolest house, and in general are among the most stylish of my cousins.
   
   
8. I think I actually have to root for the Patriots in the Super Bowl. At least I am no longer surrounded by New England sports fans.
   
   
9. Thank god this is a three-day weekend, because I have gotten nothing done this weekend. I am finally working on one of my thesis papers again, though, so progress is being made!
   

lsugaralmond started a lovely meme of listing ten things that have made you happy recently. So, my ten things:

1. I made tasty, fresh salsa with my dinner tonight.

2. Hockey season has started! And we have awesome seats again this year. Yay!

3. I got a puck at the game tonight. Hooray! Granted, it's because it flew into the stands and hit my arm, but I now have an official Michigan puck!

4. I bought a pair of shoes today with a minimum of angst.

5. The eeee! and I are trying to avoid unneccessary chemicals, and use more environmentally-friendly cleansers. So when he had to deal with a slow-draining tub, instead of buying Drano, he bought a snake (which at $7.50 is cheaper than the Drano) and got rid of the clog that way. It works better than Drano, and no nasty chemicals. This makes me happy on several levels.

6. I'm reading Heat, by Bill Buford, and it's a lot of fun. I love nearly anything that gives me a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes, and adding Italian food into the mix is even better.

7. A bunch of us went out on Friday night to celebrate a grad student's recent wedding, and it was a really great time.

8. Seriously, the eeee! is awesome. I start talking about eliminating high-fructose corn syrup from our diet, and the next thing I know he's snaking drains.

9. I have recently decided that I quite like my nose. It's kind of big for my face, and is kind of bulbous at the tip (this picture best shows how darn big it gets at the tip. Or maybe this one is better. anyway), but it's unique, and if I think that my brother's nose suits him well, then why can't mine suit me?

I'm sorry. That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about my nose.

10. On Thursday, I leave for a trip to Santa Barbara. Okay, so that's in the future and maybe doesn't count, but hooray!

I tag everyone, because I like reading happy things. Yay!