Operation Date Night: March and April

So, I'm a little late on posting our March date, but I thought I'd share it any way!! When I went to buy the tickets for the Ben Folds concert, the price had jumped from $25 to $55. I like Ben Folds and the NC Symphony, but I don't like them THAT much. :) So, we scrapped the concert and just went to the Peak City Grill instead. We didn't take any pictures, but the food was pretty delicious and it was pretty much just us in the restaurant (we went on our anniversary which happened to land on a Monday - 7 years? When did I get so old?).

And for April, we did pretty much the same thing! Ack! We're off to a bad start! Well, we were supposed to go strawberry picking and then come home and make jam, but our produce box had six quarts of organic strawberries for so cheap, I just ordered them. Unfortunately, the strawberries went bad before I could find somewhere with canning supplies in stock. It broke my heart to throw away 6 quarts of strawberries. But, that's what I get for wait to the last minute to find what I needed.

Any way, so for our April date, we again just went out to dinner. We went to a local place called The Chef's Palette. It. was. auh-mazing. The atmosphere was interesting. The walls were covered (I mean, literally COVERED) in local artists work. There were all different styles and subjects represented on the walls and made for some interesting dinner conversations. But the food was wonderful and fresh! Every bite was truly glorious. I think I'm going to to try to deconstruct their lemon poppy seed dressing from my incredible roasted apple, strawberry and candied walnut salad. Any way, it was nice to get away for an hour or two, but I was definitely ready to come back to the little one!

Well, I will promise that this next month's date will actually happen as scheduled and that we'll have pictures to go along with it!

 

False starts and frustration

Last night, I started having contractions at a fairly regular rate. I mean, I've noticed having braxton-hicks contractions for a while now, but these were gratifyingly 10 minutes apart for a solid couple of hours. Matt and I were taken aback and started a frenzied rush around the house. We hadn't put the stroller together, or installed the car seat yet, not had I packed my hospital bag. But for several hours, I had a secret hope that this baby was on its way, I didn't have to be induced and that I didn't have to pregnant all that much longer.

But around midnight, the contractions started being farther apart and eventually stopped. I went to bed, and woke up this morning completely and thoroughly exhausted. But I bucked up and got ready for church, only to have a few annoyingly intermittent and slightly painful contractions start back up. The painful part got my attention and I (being a first timer) got worried and called the on-call physician. She said it was probably nothing but the baby having "dropped" some (probably from last night's activity) and that her shoulder or something may be digging into my back. But unfortunately, there's not much they can do and as long as the baby is still moving around and my contractions are not closer together. So ultimately, nothing to worry about and don't come to the hospital.

That is the most frustrating thing I've dealt with this whole pregnancy: "Yes it's normal, no there's nothing that can be done about it". For the most part, I've expected to be uncomfortable and hormonal on top of huge, but I feel like I've had both common and uncommon symptoms of pregnancy that have impacted my ability to function on a daily basis. I can understand that being pregnant is a huge shift in for your body and that it takes some adjusting on your part to deal with all that comes with being pregnant, but why is there so little that the doctors can do when it comes to the aches, pains, bleeds, etc.?

And I'm frustrated that I am still pregnant after last night. I know my due date isn't until this Saturday, but I am done. I'm done with stupid things people say, I'm done with random people thinking that it's ok to touch my belly and I'm done with not being to bend over. And the worst part now, is that every time the baby moves, I think it's a contraction. Any slight change in pressure or sensation has me on pins and needles thinking I might be starting another episode like last night. It's seriously feels like I'm a race horse, in the gate and some jerk face is rattling the door to my pen just because I'll jump. It's completely draining me of all energy and is putting serious strain on my ability to react to things rationally. I just want to be done. 

If you want a good laugh

Try doing something you haven't really done since high school. Yesterday, I pulled out my oboe and thought I might play a little something.

HA!  

Note to self: Leave the past behind you, or it will make it impossible for you to open your mouth wide enough to stick anything in it, let alone chew.

Coolest thing ever! (Well, if you're into that sort of thing)

I recently reinjured my left knee (the one I've had surgery on) and my doctor is worried that I've torn my meniscus. In order to diagnose it, I had an MRI scan performed on my knee on Monday. Here are some of the cooler images.

I love that you can see the hole they drilled for the replacement ACL. I also don't love that I can see the incredibly thick layer of fat surrounding my leg. It makes me want to go work out for 3 hours.

So a few days after having the MRI done, my doctor confirmed that I have torn it and recommended surgery to repair it. So once again, I'm having my knee cut open. My doctor assured me that the recovery will be nothing like what I went through with my ACL (thank goodness) and that I should be down for a week max. I've decided to wait until after our cruise to have the surgery though (because there's no way I'm limping around in the carribean) so I'll have to put up with the dull ache and sharp stabbing pains from sideways movement until November. I suppose it could be worse. I could've torn my graft!

This reminds me of a conversation that Matt and I had last night. Matt was talking about some games he had on his phone. It immediately made me think of my new favorite game on my phone, Speed Anatomy. I pulled out my phone and started playing. After a few minutes I noticed he wasn't paying attention to me any more and I put away my game. He then looked up at me with a stone cold face and said, "Nerd."

Halloween costume

Why is it that it is nearly impossible to find a cute, non-dumpy Halloween costume that doesn't make a girl looks slutty? I don't understand what it is with Halloween that makes girls think they've got a pass on that night to dress (and often act) as slutty as possible.
With Halloween quickly approaching (as well as our cruise which leaves on Halloween), I find myself frustrated that the only costumes I can find are "sexy"(insert profession here)s. Or, the costume is of a superhero which basically means spandex. I don't look good in spandex (who does really?) And let me tell you nobody needs to see that!

The other frustrating aspect (which is slowly becoming a non issue as I can't find anything!) is that Matt and I wanted to coordinate our costumes. All the couple's costume ideas are weird, creepy or dumb. Ball and chain? No thanks. Ketchup and Mustard? What the heck? Marc Anthony and Cleopatra? Boring! It's hard to find a couple that involves both of us dressing up. Matt had the idea of Dr. Horrible, but Penny is just in regular clothes. Perhaps I could cross-dress and be Dr. Who...

Any way, I write this in the hopes that anybody has a good idea for us. It would be great if the costumes were coordinated or related, but at this point I don't much care if it isn't. So far the top runners in our minds are:

1. Wolverine and Rogue - I know they weren't a couple but they're good friends. Plus, Matt can really pull off the beard and hair. It does however require an incredible amount of spandex on my part.
2. Dr. Who (Danid Tennant style) and his companion - I would love to do this one, but again, I would just be in regular clothes. Boring!
3. Christine Daae and The Phantom - I love this musical more than life! However, Matt's costume would be stifling, what with the shirt and vest and pants and cloak and mask...
4. King Leonidas and his Queen - Matt would not be naked at all, but again, he can pull of the beard. 

So, there you have it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I've been robbed!

No, really, I was robbed! Matt got a sweet reward from RedHat for doing a great job to the tune of 500 dollars at amazon. I know right!? Apparently, he saved the company he's working for from certain doom, so I guess it was worth it. :)

Any way, he asked me if there was something I wanted. I thought about it and decided on a Kindle. I have been going back and forth on the e-reader fence and I can see pros and cons for both, like a Kindle won't have that musty smell that old books have and it won't be as easy to flip through pages, but I can bring several books with me (including my scriptures which weight a ton) in one convenient package.

So, we ordered it on Monday and it was supposed to arrive at my parent's house yesterday, as I'm visiting them for two weeks. The driver delivered the package at 2:47. I went out to check at about 3:45 and it was gone. We thought maybe it was at a neighbors house, so I walked around and checked. My mom called her friends to see if they have seen anything, but alas, my kindle was no where to be found.

I called Fed-Ex who had the driver drop by our house to make sure he delivered it to the correct address, and called amazon. Luckily, because I had gone through a lot of terrible muzak on the Fed-Ex phones, amazon said they'd ship me a new one right away. It was pretty painless and the people I talked to on the phone were very sympathetic.

This morning, I filed a police report. It's the first time I've ever done that. Weird. And I did it online. Weirder. I chatted with Officer Ryan Phillips of South Jordan's finest about the details, and that was that. I doubt they'll find it, but both Fed-ex and Amazon suggested that I file a report.

I wouldn't think my parent's neighborhood as being sketch, but apparently we live on the outskirts of polite society (read dripping with sarcasm).

Vegas: A review of the ridiculousness and Stratta condemned

Let me just say the Vegas is crazy. I was on stimulation overload for the first few days. It is a lot to take in all at once. Especially at night. And especially on the strip. It was fun, but I think after a full seven days in Las Vegas, I needed a vacation from my vacation.

Don't get me wrong, our resort was amazing! The only drawback was they gouged you every chance they get. Which is not surprising considering the deals we got on our hotel stay. I think if we went again (which is likely to happen, but not anytime soon) I think it would be for a few days in the middle of the week. The weekend was crazy.

Unfortunately, once we got there, we decided that we should try to keep our food costs low, which meant not trying some of the buffets on the strip and nice dinners at the resort, but we did manage to find one gem while we were there, which I will proceed not to talk about at all (later my friends).

So, on our anniversary, I had brought a killer pair of heels and decided to find a killer outfit to go with while I was there. I got this gorgeous dress from Banana Republic at the outlets (can I get an amen for some great outlets!?) I wish I had a picture of us all dressed up for the evening, but it's on Matt's phone. :( We had tickets for The Phantom of the Opera that night and late dinner reservations. We were almost late for Phantom because my hair and make up took too long, but we got there right before it started. I was thoroughly enjoying it until I got a good dose of the Phantom. I am planning a dedicated post to this monstrosity, but let me just say that I did not have a good time.

After the show, we walked back to our hotel and had dinner at a Restaurant called Stratta.

It's supposed to be an Italian place in the Wynn which is attached to the Encore (which we stayed in). Any way, we had gotten several glowing remarks about how wonderful it was and decided that where we would celebrate our five years of marriage. I had made a reservation but we still had to wait fifteen minutes for our table. And fifteen minutes on growing blisters (because that's the price for wearing killer heels and walking in them all over creation) was not pleasant.

After we were seated, our waitress started completely ignoring us, only showing up once every twenty minutes or so (I actually checked). Our food was slow to come and at this point it was very late and I'm very hungry. And the food was lackluster. It could've been that our waitress was incompetent and absent or it could've been the copious amounts of smoke pouring in from the casino. Or it could've been the fact that the restaurant offered no privacy or atmosphere whatsoever.

Whoever designed it should have been fired. The restaurant was on the corner of the casino and a very popular thoroughfare through the hotel and was open to it all. I suppose if you wanted to eat dinner but still "be a part of the raucous action" in the "see and be seen" atmosphere of Vegas, then mission accomplished boys. And it was so dimly lit that you couldn't appreciate the style of the place, which from the publicity photos looks amazing.

We were seated cheek by jowl in that place with no privacy and the noise! Oh! the noise! I could barely carry on a conversation with Matt because of the noise. And since our food took three years to come to us, and me being so hungry, I had filled up on their bread and cheese so that when my meal came I took three bites and couldn't eat any more (I know this was my fault but I was annoyed because our room didn't have a fridge so I couldn't even take it back and eat it later so I felt guilty about wasting food). Not that I would've wanted to eat more than three bites any way. I make better pasta at home.

And after all of this, the bill was over a hundred dollars for the two of us. I was pissed. But not being one to make a scene, pouted until we got back to the room. So, in all, our anniversary sucked big time. And I'm sorry about the rant (I didn't plan it) and I'm surprised if you've made it this far into it. But after expecting five star cuisine and five star service from a five star resort, forgive me if I'm really disappointed at having a one star experience.

Image courtesy of www.royallyflushed.com and www.lastheplace.com

Killing time, among other things

Right now I'm in the middle of an assay. I've finished all the hard parts and now I just have to wait for certain time points to collect the data. This assay in particular is call a DPPH assay (DPPH stands for 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl, or really long name for a "stable" free radical). I'm measuring total antioxidant capacity of grape extracts. And since I'm killing time and free radicals, I'm going to explain how it works and what I do!! Fun, no?

So a free radical is a type of chemical molecule that is technically unstable. It has an unbalanced positive charge and will steal it from anywhere it can get it. In your body, it's your cells (which creates damage). Over time, if free radicals aren't "quenched", if could lead to things like cancer, or so they say. The quenching occurs when an antioxidant (which has an extra negative charge) donates an electron to the free radical's cause. It then becomes chemically happy and won't cause any further damage. Photo courtesy of www.knowcancer.com

There are lots of different kinds of antioxidants and there are other assay that measure specific ones (like when I worked with the purple sweet potatoes, one assay I used was a total phenol antioxidant assay). The DPPH assay is a measure of all antioxidant capacity. And in the assay I've been running lately, I've been measuring green tea, black tea, EGCG, red grape extracts and white grape extracts. The grape extracts I've been specifically looking at are Nobel and Carlos which are popular in wine making (which is where we got our extracts).

So in my assay, I make up a solution of DPPH. I put quotes around stable earlier because the inherint nature of free radicals are to be unstable, but DPPH has a known, measurable and linear quenching in the presence of Trolox. So I make a standard curve with the trolox and DPPH solutions. I also make up different dilutions of my grape extracts and add DPPH to them too. I let them incubate in the dark for 90 minutes, taking spectrophotometric readings at 30, 60 and 90 minutes. After I've taken the readings I create my cruve (which is actually a straight line) and compare the values I received from the spectrophotometer (also known as the absorbance) and see where they fall, if at all, on my line. If I've diluted my samples enough, they should fall on that line and then I can tell you how much trolox my sample is equivalent to in quenching DPPH.

Neat, huh? Ok, so I know most of you haven't even made it this far and I'm sorry, but I don't have much else I can do right now. I suppose I could've been blogging about the state fair and the candle I entered into the crafts competition, but I didn't think about that until after I had written this whole long entry. Oh well. I hope to find out if I one anything soon! Look for my candle in the hobbies and handicrafts building (after you get some ice cream at the NCSU Dairy Bar)! It's a white pillar candle with green leaf images stamped onto it and brown ribbon at the top and the bottom of the candle. I hope I win!!

And exhale...

I have finally finished this semester!! I think the worst is over as far as classes go. And you know what? I got a B in biochem! I'm not sure how I managed that, but I did and I'm ecstatic! I've never worked so hard in my life for a class. I'm just so relieved that I won't have to retake it.

The one downer of the day though, was that I ended up with a C in my sports science class. Here's the story. About two weeks ago, I had my last test in biochem. On that same day, I had scheduled my sports science test (because I'm taking it as a distance education class). I missed my appointment at the testing center because I was studying for my biochem test that night (which I ended up acing!!! YEAH!) . The way the class was set up, you could either take all 5 tests and if you felt satisfied with your grade, you didn't have to take the final. So, I just decided to take the final. I checked my appointment for the final and saw that I had scheduled it on the same day as biochem. I wanted to spend as much time studying for biochem as possible, so I rescheduled my exam for Thursday. So, last night, I was checking to see if any of my grades were posted and I saw that one had been posted for the sports science class, even though I had yet to take the final. I immeadiately checked a syllabus (which didn't have any dates on it) on the course website and then remembered that he sent out a specific syllabus for this semester in an email. I checked it and it said that we needed to have taken the final by the 28th (a Tuesday). My heart sank into my stomach and I immeadiately wrote my professor and email explaining all of this and continuted to study for my final. I wake up this morning and my professor tells me that because he's already submitted the grades, there's nothing he can do. I'm just glad that I did weel enough on my tests and my paper that a zero test grade didn't bring my grade down to failing!! Grrr.... I'm still really mad about it though.

Photo courtesy of www.icanhascheezburger.com

Any way, so now that I am done with classes for this semester, I am going to hit up a bunch of things on my list, namely getting my house in order so that I can photograph it to share with the world. :) I'm looking forward to a very productive summer. How about you?

Four years? Seriously?

As of March 19th, 2009, Matt and I have been married for four years. Crazy, I know. I can't believe it myself. But, the date of the marriage license does not lie. And you know what the sad thing is? I forgot. Ok, ok, before you all jump down my throat I would like to say that I hadn't completely forgotten. I knew it was coming up soon and I kept thinking about it, because Matt had been hinting that he had something planned but he wasn't going to tell me what it was. But on the day of our anniversary, it totally slipped my mind. But, in my defense, I really didn't feel well. I had a migraine and when Matt came home, I was sitting on the floor because it was the most comfortable spot I could find that didn't make my head want to explode. Sweet thing that he is, he gave me a hug and and said, "Happy Anniversary."

The next day, Matt revealed his surprise: got got tickets to see the North Carolina Symphony!

That night, we went to dinner and then on to the symphony. The concert was pretty good. The program was as follows:

• Anatol Liadov: Kikimora
• Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

I really liked the first piece and the Tchaikovsky. I could have done without the middle one. It was really abstract with no clear melody. Call me old fashioned, but I like a good melody. Any way, we really had a good time.

I was thinking about all the things that have happened over the past four years. I've learned I should not be involved in snow sports, had surgery as a result of a snow sport, went to Australia, got a cat, Matt went to both Britain and India, got in to NC State, bought a house, and welcomed three new nephews. It's been a pretty busy four years.

Photo courtesy of www.unc.edu

Things I suck at

After having reviewed several of my older blog posts, I have decided that I suck at proof-reading. I think I would be a terrible editor and it's a good thing I'm not an english major. That is all.