Natalie Portman actually pregnant not just fat ....

My husband just burst into my room ala Kramer style saying "Natalie Portman actually pregnant, not just fat...." and then swung right back out again.



This of course is even more entertaining when I think back to the time that he and his roommate stole a giant cut out of Natalie Portman in one of her Star Wars get-ups and put it in their family room to admire for a good year or so. Let's just say my husband's taste in decorating has since improved. (Not that I don't think that Natalie Portman is attractive, I just don't want a life sized cut-out in my family room!)

BTW - that rule of thumb also applies to giant checks, they are also a no-go for family room decorating. Seriously it took years for me to convince Eric to take that thing down.

Things that are awesome ...

So our brother in-law's brother bought us "The Book of Awesome". It's basically a book that just lists things that the author likes that the general public would also generally agree with, thus quickly falling prey to the book. Things like:
- Sleeping with one leg under the covers and one leg out
- Multitasking while brushing your teeth
- Reading the nutritional label but eating it anyways
- etc....

Now my first thought is that these aren't so much "things" that are awesome but rather choices that we make that please us greatly... but that's beside the point. Anyway, my husband has been excited all week because he read the one that said: the tabs on the saran wrap box. Yes, apparently there are little known tabs on the ends of the saran wrap box that if you push in will hold the saran wrap tube in place so that it doesn't fall out when you pull to get out more wrap. Genius. Well kinda genius, the tube doesn't roll quite as nicely as you would hope, but it does stay put. Who knew?!

Anyway, at this point the marketer within would like to do a special shout-out to the people at Saran who have clearly done a fantastic job at branding, such that I refer to all plastic wrap as saran wrap. (although some could argue that this is truly to the detriment of the brand because I now view all wrap products as the same, essentially making Saran wrap a me-too product .... but I digress)

Anyway, happy wrapping ....

101 Postcards!

"80 Postcards for Adolph" has been a huge success. My parents were amazed by the response, and completely delighted throughout the year by the influx of postcards! You blew the target by a solid 26% - with a grand total of 101 postcards!!!! Thanks to all that participated, you have truly helped to make this year an extra special birthday for my dad!

To top off the celebrations we are living it up at the Bellagio in Vegas! Tonight we are headed off to see Cher - and tomorrow either David Copperfield or a Cirque show (still to be decided). Can't wait!

After the celebrations we will send out a summary of the postcards (e.g. farthest traveled, most postcards, etc.), so stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Adolph!

Why do all my vacations involve rain pants?

Well I'm super excited because today is the first day of my vacation!!! I feel like it has been a long time coming - I can't wait!

And what do geophysists and consultants do for vacation you ask .... well, nothing says summer vacation like going to see where techtonic plates divide! Yes, we are headed to Thingvellir, Iceland.




A few reasons for going to Iceland aside from the extreme excitement of seeing the techtonic plates move at 10cm / year:
- Eric's lab went last year, but he missed out because of a wedding and our move to Boston
- It's only a 5 hour flight from Boston, and I was booking our trip right after flying 6 hours to San Francisco for work for the day! So this seemed like an attractive flight option.
- It's pretty cheap to fly to compared to the rest of Europe or South America (which were our other likely options)
- I want to try walking on glaciers in crampons

And so now we have started packing for the trip. We're planning on camping for most of the trip so the packing is a little more intense than usual. And this is when I started to ask myself .... why do all my vacations involve rain pants!?!??!



Rain pants aside, I'm still super excited - so stay tuned for some sexy rain pant photos from me and Eric scaling glaciers!

And you thought we couldn't get nerdier.....

As Eric's PhD qualifier gets closer and closer, I've started to notice that our "nerd"-dom has been increasing. Here are a couple of instances that I think you might find very amusing (and/or incredibly nerdy)



1. Eric and I were mulling over the fact that we are complementary opposites on something (although I can't remember exactly what we were talking about) - a ying-and-yang some might say. But instead of going to this classic adage, Eric said, "I'm like Cosine and you're like Sine; square us and add us together, and we make one!"

2. Eric was on the couch practicing deriving first principles of various geophysics equations, while I was busy making myself a drink. I asked him if he was interested in a drink, and he said no. I responded with "Good thing, I don't want you drinking and deriving!" Badda bing!

Conquering fears and wearing skirts

This week was our first sea kayaking course and it was fantastic! Now we've taken kayaking before.... about 5 years ago, we took a white water kayaking course; but I must admit I am not really an extreme sport kind of person, so it wasn't really for me. Also, that was when I discovered my fear for being stuck under a kayak. Basically, we were practicing T-rescues, and instead of being rescued I ended up stuck underneath my kayak flailing about, gasping for air, yelling when I could, and basically panicking. Since we were practicing rescues, it didn't occur to me that I could simply take of my kayak-skirt and get out of the kayak. Needless to say, once I was actually rescued I was very shaken.

Here's a pic from 2003 of Eric and I white-water kayaking.


So, when I read that intro to sea-kayaking involved practicing rescues, I was somewhat worried that I would have to flip myself upside-down in my kayak. I was resolute that they couldn't make me, and I wasn't going to do it.

And so of course, after a mere 10 minutes of paddling, our instructor decided that the weather was perfect for learning how to exit and rescue. Eric, our fearless leader, volunteered to go first (such bravery!) I was still firm in my decision that I would not flip myself upside down in my kayak, until the instructor told us that we weren't allowed to wear our skirts if we hadn't practiced getting out of our kayaks with the skirts on. (For those who are unaware, the skirt basically protects your lower body from getting wet as you kayak - a fair amount of spray occurs when kayaking and you can get quite wet)

And so I did it. In lieu of getting wet in the future, I flipped my entire body (and kayak) upside down into the water (and didn't drown - another positive for the evening). Yes.... I'm a hero! ;-) I was proud of myself all night!

So all it all, it has been most fantastic! To make it even better we get unlimited kayaking for three weeks with our pass - so look for us if your strollin' down the Charles River!

Druid inspirations

Tada - here's my druid creation!





As I was putting the last few stitches on the hood, it occured to me that if he was red, he would look a little bit like little red riding hood.... and well .....






Not sure what I plan on making next ... probably slides... many many slides ....

Also upcoming this week, our first sea kayaking course - antics likely to follow!