It's Been Awhile...

.... and now I have Staind stuck in my head. Not bad, not bad.

Lots of stuff going on as the semester winds down.

*I have a second member on my committee. Just need one more and I'm good to go!

*Ecology, while I love that it's discussion based, we still have assignments that are assigned and graded before we actually go over the topic. Not sure if that's a good system. It's definitely not turning out so well for my grade. Sigh.

*Lots and LOTS of scientific paper reading going on.
- Mini literature review next week in Ecology. I hate that the topic can't be related to my research but on the up side I got to read a lot about kelp forests in the Channel Islands and Santa Barbara area. Makes me miss home.
- Outline with 10 references for our paper (due at the end of the semester) due next week in Chem Ocean. I had to change my topic because I realized that Chem didn't have the ridiculous nothing-related-to-your-research requirement like Ecology. Therefore, I'm researching the beginnings of my thesis! I like double dipping.
- Final essay in Ecology DOESN'T have that requirement. So. Double dipping again. YAY!

*Two more weeks of lab to go. This past week was over Plankton and I was so excited because I actually know a lot about plankton. My kids were excited to actually see stuff instead of thinking about it in the theoretical sense.

*We finally had a Halloween without studying. We carved an awesome pumpkin. Sadly, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters, so this week in labs I asked my students quiz questions and if they answered correctly (hell, if they even tried) they got candy. AND I made vanilla almond butter cookies with my Halloween cookie cutters. They were delicious and didn't look like blobs, which was the main thing.

*It's finally feeling like fall. It's overcast and a bit chilly and I can wear jeans without sweating.

*George and I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival last Saturday and ate ourselves silly on good food. My goal for the day was to find the cheap version of Arwen's sword from LOTR to add to my collection. Alas I did not find it. Oh well. It's probably better for my credit card (WHICH I FINALLY PAID OFF) that I didn't find/buy it.

*It's November. That means WEDDING PLANNING BEGINS. ohgod.

*It's November. That means Christmas stuff is out in full force. Blech. I feel bad for Thanksgiving. It always seems to be skipped over. I want Thanksgiving decorations.

I'll update more with TA stuff later.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!