Catching Up

Hi everyone who reads this, sorry I've been away for a month. My old netbook was starting to take a dump on me, and my tablet isn't really good for lots of typing. And I've been too busy to sit down at my desktop and do nothing but blog. I've just gotten a new netbook though, so I'm back in business. It's an ASUS 1015e with windows 8. Windows 8 is kind of weird but the netbook is pretty cool.
It's been a very weird past month. Our lab manager announced two weeks before I went on vacation that he had gotten another job and was leaving. That leaves me as the only person working on the biorenewable chemicals projects. It also means that I had to take over the summer REU student and that I've become the de facto lab manager even though that's not really my job. Obviously this has made my stress and workload skyrocket. So far I'm doing alright managing everything, but I am definitely more mentally exhausted at the end of every day. I'm trying to go to bed earlier since I'm going into work at 8:30 now instead of 9-9:15ish. That is kind of working but I'm a night owl so it's hard to go to bed early sometimes. One of my labmates did get a Keurig coffeemaker from his mum and brought it into lab, so at least I can have a steady stream of coffee if I want it. That's pretty awesome.
At the end of June I went back to Michigan for a short vacation. I also visited my brother in Wisconsin. I'll make a separate post or two later with a bunch of photos. It was fun. I enjoyed being back home. I got to meet my parents' puppy Macduff. He's a collie and super adorable. We've never had a puppy before so it was neat to meet him. We also went to Belle Isle and visited their conservatory and the Michigan nature museum. They were both very cool and I'd never been to either even though they're both in downtown Detroit. It was nice to go somewhere new and to enjoy one of the nice parts of Detroit. Then on July 4th we set off fireworks. We only do the fountains that stay on the ground. I like doing those because nothing but sparklers are legal in Iowa, which is in my opinion pretty lame. Then my dad and I drove to Madison, WI where my brother lives. We hung out for a couple of days there. We went golfing at one of the municipal courses which was a lot of fun! I got a little sunburned but it was worth it. I wish I had someone to go golfing with in Iowa. I'm too self-conscious to go alone because I'm not very good. We also took a tour around Epic, where my brother works. It was a neat place. If I was a computer whiz it would be a decent place to work. Then it was back to Ames for me.
While work has been stressful, my garden has still been a source of relaxation. My tomatoes are growing; I'm hoping that they'll reach full size and start ripening soon. I'm really looking forward to fresh tomatoes. The basil and parsley are producing really well. I've put the chamomile outside to see if it prefers the warmer weather. I need it to flower because that's what you use for tea! I also started some lettuce seeds to grow inside. Some of the seeds have already sprouted! I'm really excited for lettuce too. I eat lettuce and tomato the most so if I could grow my own that would be awesome. Next year I might try green beans and strawberries too.