All y'alls are so spoiled. New garden and kitty pics on Flickr.

After taking off last week from work, the garden is mostly planted. All that's left is broccoli and cauliflower, which I might just put off until next weekend. I transplanted my corn sprouts yesterday, then when I got home from work today an animal had dug up most of them : / I then sprayed some chemical rabbit/deer repellent around the beds, but I suspect it's actually a cat. There were some cat droppings in a pile of dirt, and I saw some footprints nearby. There are two skittish roaming cats that I see around every couple days. But what would a cat want with corn? Then again, Jibblin does eat corn on the cob. Whatever it was didn't destroy every single sprout, though, so hopefully the chemical can turn things around. If I had more motivation and was willing to spend more money, I'd get some sort of cage to protect them until they're big and strong.

I'll post a pic of my corn and lettuce sprouts soon (it's dark right now or I'd go photograph them).

Know what's fun? Take a clove of garlic, stick it in the ground pointy side up, and water. They grow super fast (mine are 6" tall after a week), and in a couple months I'll have heads of garlic instead of the cloves I planted. And they were just normal garlic from the grocery store. I'll post a pic of the garlic, too.

So I finally went back to the office today and worked on my manuscript. It was actually easy and quite fun- "writing" my discussion section consisted of cutting and pasting sections from my grant proposal and maybe writing a total of 4 or 5 sentences for transitions. I also fussed with my figures a bit. All that's left of my rough draft is an abstract, then I can take another couple days off until my advisor gets back from Maine to read it. I'm torn between feeling like a total slacker and being super proud of my accomplishments of getting the grant proposal and manuscript done. I don't know, it just seems too easy. I like this whole "do the work once, reap the rewards multiple times." And remember, if this gets published, it'll count as a thesis chapter!

Speaking of easy, Ryan stunned his SCUBA instructors by only getting 1 question wrong on his written test yesterday. Seems most of his class got 15-25 wrong. In fact, after one person answered the same (multiple choice) question wrong a couple times, the instructor said, "I'm going to leave the room for a minute. Why don't you ask Ryan about it." Ahh, it's good to be in the 99th percentile. Btw, Ryan and I aren't having kids unless I have a major change of mind. But wouldn't they be smart if we did?

Ryan insulted my cooking last night, so I did what any self-respecting woman would do:

Haha, no. That's the start of my vegetable bed. It finally stopped raining after three days straight of it. No rain all summer except for brief thunderstorms, then 3 days nonstop right when I have the urge to garden. Anyway, rather than removing a large square of the yard, I'm putting a 3' bed around one side of the house (the other side is driveway and the back has a cement patio), then a 10' long bed along the fence in the backyard so my green beans and peas will have something to climb up.

Grem, being a girl and all, obviously wants to help with the wedding planning. Why else would she have borrowed one of my program ribbons?














More cute kittens on Flickr.

I have a fever, and the only prescription is more...

plants! I've been bitten by the gardening bug. Something about those peppers set me off. And harvesting fresh basil and mint has been great, too. The whole idea of eating stuff that you grow yourself is neat. I did go to the Ag school, after all. Now I've got plans to make several more veggie beds in the backyard and side yard. I also ordered a dwarf citrus collection (mini lemon, lime, and orange trees that grow in pots) and 3 mini blueberry plants. Not all of those will fruit next year, but hopefully some will, and the rest will follow in 2009. The citrus trees get brought in during the winter and will make nice part-time houseplants.

Seeds I bought/ordered online:
Sweet Corn
Snap Peas
Lettuce
Spinach
Mixed greens
Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Turnips
Garlic
Watermelon
Honeydew

With the exception of the watermelon and honeydew, I'm going to try planting a little of everything else for a fall crop. The melons have a long growing season, so I'll save them for next year. I think it's mild enough here to grow everything else provided I start ASAP. And the cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauli, brussels) and turnips actually like cold weather and taste best after light frost. So, come end of October/early November, hopefully we'll be eating fresh veggies with dinner every night.

High time I found a hobby, and this one should pay for itself. Pics of my beds once I can get out to make them- it's been rainy the last 2 days.

In other news, I met with the photographers and florist. Both the photographers were awesome and really nice, so I feel bad turning one down, but I'm going with the cheaper one. Actually, ones! We get 2 photographers for the price of one, which is also a plus with the company I selected. They also came to our house for the consultation, which I thought was quite considerate and showed that "personal touch." Sounds like Weggies flowers are going to be reasonably priced as well, although I won't have the $$ quote until tomorrow, probably.

I saw today that US News and World Report has Penn tied for 5th place in their college rankings. For a brief moment I was like, "Yay, moving up in the world! I went from #13 (or whatever Cornell is this year) to #5." But then I was like, "Whoa, what the heck? Cornell is way better than Penn!" College-wide rankings are pretty much useless, but I would be interested to see rankings by department, which might actually mean something. I have a feeling that Wharton and the med school are pulling the rest of Penn up. Oh, and this one bio TA...

There will be no exponential increase in kittens at our house. Choco and Grem have been snipped. Choco recovered very quickly and was back to kneading us in the middle of the night. He weighs over 6 pounds now. Grem, who only weighs 4 lb 9 oz and had the more invasive operation, took it a little harder. She was quite sleepy and disoriented last night and was still not quite herself this morning. I expect she'll be fine by the time we get back from work, though. Poor Grem- they shaved her lower belly. All that fluffy white fur gone and replaced with a bald spot.

That reminds me of a funny conversation that happened about a year ago.
Ryan: "Come here, I think something's wrong with Jibblin. He's got these weird bumps on his stomach."
Cat: "Those would be nipples."
Ryan: "But there's more than two!"

Wedding planning has finally been moving forward. I have appointments with two photographers and one florist (Weggies!) this weekend. Ideally I'll have contracts for both by next week. I also bought supplies to make my own programs since I was in a crafty DIY mood the other day. Of course I won't be able to make them until way in the future when the ceremony plans, officiant, etc have been finalized. But shopping for craft supplies is fun (as I'm sure Liz would agree).

The next two weeks will be me putting together a manuscript for publication. Shouldn't be too painful since I'm just reworking my grant proposal. Getting some of my thesis research published this early will be a big step in the right direction. Then classes start in early September. They shouldn't be too stressful for the first month or so, but then I start my comprehensive exam (3 take-home big essays), which should leave me with very little free time. That's why I'm trying to get the big-ticket wedding planning taken care of soon.

Twas a fairly low-key weekend for me. We saw Bourne on Saturday, after rewatching the first two movies on Thursday and Friday nights. I love love loved the ending. Normally I don't like action movies much, but the Bourne series is great. He's so sneaky smart! Yesterday I painted the banister and did other miscellaneous chores while Ryan was at SCUBA class. His partner is a thin 20-something redhead. Hmph. I do chores while he frolics with his dream girl...not fair. Know what else isn't fair? At present, Ryan only weighs 5 pounds more than me. Boy is 6'1! Hmph. I need to start sneaking bacon grease into his food.

I've started selling my possessions on Craigslist for extra wedding money. My first sale- $90 for the dehumidifier that's just been sitting in the attic since we moved and don't need it anymore. Cha-ching! Next up: me and Ryan's old cell phones (got someone interested in mine for $20) and one old formal dress that is too big. No, I won't be rolling in the dough or anything, but I like tangible gains. Like the $90: boom, just paid for Ryan's ring. He's getting a titanium one- not only are they super cheap, they're durable and a "manly" metal. I've seen plain titanium ones for as cheap as $40, although he wants one with some contrasting-finish insets.

Yet another money-saving scheme- tonight we're going to get a BJ's membership (like Costco, but with pervier name). With only two of us we probably don't need the jumbo sizes of perishable things, but we can freeze some food and can also stock up on nonperishables. I'm one step closer to becoming my mom, hoarding a year's supply of food from Costco in the back room and two years' supply of toiletries in the spare bedroom!

I was in a normal okay mood this morning on my way out the door. I stopped to look at the plants on my way out and noticed lots of blossoms on our bell pepper plant. I went in for a closer look, wondering if we need another pepper plant so it could get pollinated. Then- WHOA! There are four almost full size peppers hiding under the leaves. They blended right in- sneaky! Then I was in a great mood, beaming with pride for my peppers. I think I might incorporate them into dinner this week.

Holy crap! Check out this crazy cat lady!

Oof. Well, the grant proposal is 100% finished. My advisor thinks I have enough data from the summer to get a publication out of it. I said I'm taking a couple days off first. But yeah, what else would I do to keep busy before classes start? Snuggling kittens 24/7 might get a little boring.

Speaking of kittens, they're going in for their "snip-snips" next Wednesday. I hope they don't start hating us afterwards.

I'm picking up on the wedding planning. Next up is finding a photographer. I can't believe how many have "packages starting at $3500" and up. I've seen as high as a $45oo minimum. I realize they put in a lot of time after the event and have expensive equipment, but really, are they making $150K/year? I've found a couple promising websites in a somewhat less stratospheric price range, but have to see if they're available on our date.

Whew. Wrapping up my last Maine trip of the summer, and it's been a busy one. When I last left you, I was eating gooseberry pie and lobster. Ryan and I stayed on the island for another day and a half, going for hikes and seaweed sampling. Then we went off island and camped in Acadia National Park for two nights. It was nice- campfire with s'mores, tent, etc. On the day in between we were very active but ate like kings (or at least I did). In the morning we went on a bike ride on some dirt roads in the park. For lunch I had some very yummy corn and lobster chowder. Then we went for a hike.

Now, if you looked at a map and saw a 1.4 mile trail marked "very difficult," what would you think? Me, I'd think, "They're probably warning old people and families with children that it's not appropriate for them. Anyway, 1.4 miles is nothing, I could handle anything that short."

Well, I did handle it, but it was quite a strenuous affair. It wasn't so much a "trail" as a recommended route up and over boulders and rock faces. I did the math afterwards and calculated that on average it was a 16% grade. That's a little deceiving, though, since it flattened out quite a bit at the top. Parts of it were much worse. So we made it to the top and my face was bright purple, as it usually is after strenuous exercise. There's a road to the top, so most people drive up. Fortunately there's also a concession stand at the top, because those poor people must be so thirsty and hungry after driving all that way! Needless to say, I felt far superior to all of them.

So after that we were quite sweaty and gross, but the campground didn't have showers, so we went for a quick dip in a lake to wash off as best we could. Then we went out for dinner. What do you think I ordered? Think hard! Nom nom nom... lobster! But not just lobster- there was a fixed price special: cup of homemade clam chowder, whole steamed lobster, steamed clams, rice, veggies, blueberry pie, and coffee. I traded most of my pie with Ryan so I could have flourless chocolate torte instead. Blueberry pie is good, but chocolate is better. It was an amazing meal.

The next morning I dropped Ryan off at the bus station in Bangor, then headed back to the island. See, I have this big (13 pages single spaced) grant proposal due in final form by Wednesday. So I worked on that a lot Saturday and Sunday, broken up a little by going out for field work. Woke up early today to work on it more, sent my advisor a draft, then went out for my last field work of the season. More working on it tonight, driving home tomorrow, then going in to the office to finish it up on Wednesday. Whew.

The somewhat awesome thing about this grant proposal, though, is that it counts as my "prelim," or my demonstration of qualification for PhD candidacy. I'm actually way ahead of the game since most people take their "comps" (comprehensive exam) first, then get around to the prelim in the second half of their second year. My comps are this October and November, then I can defend my prelim a few days later if I wish. Then I'm a bona fide candidate instead of just a grad student. The department really likes students to advance to candidacy fast because they don't have to pay our tuition and benefits then (the college does). All that goodness is in addition to the possibility of actually getting the grant, which could potentially support me and all my work for the rest of grad school (awesome to get, of course).