Second Week of February

February is already halfway over, which seems strange. It feels like the time is going by very quickly. On the one hand, I'm glad for that because I'm looking forward to spring, but on the other hand I don't like the feeling of time flying by.
I've had a small success with one experiment at work, which makes me happy. On the other hand, the major experiment is still not working. My PI sent an email to two of the postdocs this week asking them to help me. I appreciate help, but I'd already talked to both of them about this experiment and him sending the email just kind of felt like he was going over my head. I'm trying not to be offended because I want to finish this stupid experiment and move on. Whatever. I think I could really use a week off just to stay at home and rest a little, get some chores done and feel relaxed. We might get another major snowstorm this week so maybe I'll get another snow day.
I ordered more houseplants! I'm still waiting on my first two, but the gardener contacted me and is waiting until he can safely ship them in the cold weather. He's in Massachusetts so it makes sense that he needed to wait since they had a load of snow. Anyway, I ordered some more plants via Amazon, they have some companies that sell through them. I ordered a Blush Pink Aloe, which has pink leaves in the summer. Then I got a pink Rubber Plant, and a Tillandsia. Tillandsia is an epiphyte which usually grows on tree branches, so it doesn't need soil. They're commonly called Air Plants. I'm looking forward to receiving them and expanding my houseplant collection. Once it's warm enough outside I'll start my patio garden. I really like plants and gardening so I'm getting going on this hobby. Maybe once I'm done with my graduate studies and have a home with a garden, I'll get my Master Gardener certification. I think it would be a cool thing to do and I do like learning.
Dan and I had a night in for Valentine's day so we didn't have to fight the crowds at restaurants. We had pizza and watched Godzilla vs. Megalon because Dan hadn't seen that one before. It was very funny and it was really good to spend the day with him. Our one year anniversary was on the 11th. Since we aren't at the mega-romantic stage yet we didn't do anything super special, but Dan did come over for a while and we enjoyed some time together. Today was his last day at Walmart and his new internship starts next week. I'm very excited for him.
I've played a lot of Harvest Moon this weekend. I think it's a way for me to escape a lot of stress because the premise is living such a simpler life. Sometimes I wish I could just walk away from the stress of graduate school and science and just become a farmer. I'm sure that has its own set of stresses but it seems like something I would enjoy.

Week 3 of January

I  made it through another week! Actually, this week was alright, although it felt like it went very slowly. I may have gotten an actual result at work, so there might be some progress instead of just beating my head against the wall. That's how biology tends to be, lots of crap and then suddenly results. So having a result is a relief. Tomorrow is MLK day and it's a university holiday so I have it off, and that's nice because it's good to have a holiday.
It was so warm and nice yesterday, and today we have a couple of inches of snow. I forced myself to drive to Hyvee to prove that I can drive in the snow. I was very anxious about it since during the last snow storm I got stuck twice and had to call the cops once for help. There were some slippery spots but I managed to get there and back. I'm glad I did it but I'm relieved that I can stay home for the rest of the day. I ordered some pizza and the cats are all curled up with me.
I haven't done a whole lot else. I played a lot of Harvest Moon this week. I wish running a farm and having a life was as easy as Harvest Moon sometimes, because I'm really good at that lol. Usually I spend my evenings watching TV and playing video games. It's a good way for me to unwind after a long day. Yesterday I did build a couple media towers for my games and DVDs. They're kind of small, not so towering, but they work, and they were only 20 bucks. If I can get another one soonish I will so I have room to grow.
In health news, I've lost a pound since I went to the doctor. I'm using my fitbit to track my steps and caloric burn. I set the food tracker to tell me how many calories I can eat based on losing 1/2 pound a week (it's a 250 calorie net loss a day). So far that's worked. It's been two weeks and 1 pound gone. Hopefully it keeps going! I'm trying to increase my protein intake too, since I eat a lot of carbs right now. My doctor wants me to lose 4 pounds by the time I see her in the middle of February. I should be able to get close to that as long as I keep following the calorie count.

Second week of January

Sorry about the lame post titles, but I'm not feeling particularly creative and I hate leaving something untitled. Anyway, this week was about the same as last week except that I was at work all week. I still haven't gotten any good results from either of my projects and it's getting frustrating, but there are a few things my PI suggested that I'm working on. Hopefully I get some data soon, because it's really obnoxious to have nothing work. It definitely makes it harder to be motivated to want to do anything.
I still haven't unpacked everything from my vacation, although it's mostly done. Oops. I guess I need to make that a priority for the upcoming week. I also want to buy another bookcase-I'll probably do it tomorrow-and put all my DVDs and games there since they are overflowing the two tiny ones I have in my living room right now. The two little ones will go upstairs and become Lego display cases. I've put all my Christmas Lego together and my Black Pearl one, and I want to get a bunch of them rebuilt. I just have to have somewhere to display them where the cats won't knock them over or steal pieces from them! I really enjoy building Lego; it's very zen and calming for some reason. Plus I have a bunch of Harry Potter ones that I want to put back together.
Other than that, I've been playing lots of Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. Harvest Moon is one of my favorite game franchises. I've almost beaten the newest Paper Mario game too, but Bowser kicked my ass the last time I tried to beat him so I'll have to change my strategy.
I actually caught the cats cuddling last  night! They stopped as soon as I noticed them, but it actually happened. I knew they were friends but just didn't want to admit it. Right now they're sleeping on the bed, not touching, but almost!

Well...

Things have gotten a little weird at work. I can't really talk about it right now, but it's entirely possible my job could be moving from Karmanos to University of Michigan. I don't know much else at the moment.
In other news, I took the GRE today and got a really good score. The subject test is next month. Hopefully it will also go well.
I finished Tales of Symphonia over the weekend. As I expected it was really good, and to no one's surprise I cried at the end. Why is it my favorite character is always the one who leaves/has sad endings? I guess I just like antiheroes. So now I'm playing Animal Parade again, as well as Sunshine Islands on my DS. I'm waiting for Grand Bazaar, the next Professor Layton game, and a PS2 game called Shadow of Destiny. That will probably be my gaming docket until Christmas.

More video games, job thoughts

I finished the main storyline in Star Ocean 3. All in all, it was a fun game. It had a decent story, although a bit hackneyed, and it was entertaining. The voice acting made me cringe though-I'm glad I decided to turn it off for all the parts that I could. I did a couple of the optional dungeons but decided I had enough and turned to another game I never finished.
So this week I started for the second time Tales of Symphonia. It's another huge long epic RPG involving saving the world and all that jazz. Lloyd and Colette are just as irritating as Fayt and Sophia, but Kratos makes up for it in spades. I'm trying to get used to the battle system because I have less maneuverability than I did in Star Ocean on the battlefield, and not having a map to complete is oddly weirding me out. But otherwise, so far so good. I did crack and order a strategy guide for this one though, because I know it's a huge game and I'll miss a million things on my own.

Other than that, my life has been fairly dull. Work has been very slow, since people are going on vacation often and we're in between experiments. I have been studying for the GRE, which I'm taking in September. I also decided to apply for the PhD in Microbiology, not the MS. Working in a lab for almost a year has helped me realize that I do want to do research, and that I'm good at it, so I'd rather just go for the PhD at Iowa State. I'm pretty sure I'll get in, but I'm still nervous as hell about it.

Star Ocean

I was in a weird mood this past week in that I wanted to play a super long epic RPG game, so I started over my Star Ocean: Til The End of Time game. I had gotten to almost the end of the first disc a couple of years ago, found myself way under-leveled, got bored, and stop playing. I started over because I couldn't remember exactly what I was doing. Anyway, I'm rapidly approaching the place where I left off last time, and I think I'm in a slightly better position now. At least enemies that I remember having lots of trouble with aren't an issue, and I still have a lot of extra places to complete before having to go back to the Urssa Lava caves where I was stuck last time.
Anyway, it's a good game. I enjoy it. I play with the voice acting off, though. VA annoys me in general. Some of the cut scenes are unbearably long too. I know they were trying for a big sweeping story, but when I need to eat dinner/go somewhere/etc, the last thing I want is a 15 minute cut scene. But whatever, I can live with it.
I'm really going to try and finish the game this time. Then I might check out the other installments in the Star Ocean universe, if I can get my hands on them and if I have the system to play them on.