My sister's 24th birthday is tomorrow, April 28th. Here is an email she sent to my parents and me earlier this morning:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I just wanted to wish YOU a happy birthday. Yes, tomorrow marks the 24th anniversary of the day on which you were blessed with your glorious first child. Congratulations. Though you were first time parents, I think you did an excellent job. What an exceptionally talented, impossibly smart, and stunningly beatiful child you've raised. I think there was another one after that, but who's keeping track?
Anyway, happy 24th. I am truly the gift that keeps on giving...

your daughter,

Tanya

Unbelievable. Too bad I haven't forgotten the time my dad uttered under his breath that he'd "give [his] firstborn" for a set of new golf clubs in a store window. Ha!

I'm feeling ridiculously exhausted today, I'm not sure why. I thought I'd scribble down (neatly in list form) some quick thoughts before I call it an early night:

1.) I found a five dollar bill on the floor at the gym yesterday and stared at it for 3 full minutes debating whether or not to pocket it. It was approximately 4 feet from the lockers and easily could have fallen out of one so I considered placing it on top of the lockers for the owner to find. I then figured that it most likely wouldn't get back to the original owner and I'd probably be laughed at if I turned it in to the Lost & Found. Ultimately, I pocketed it because it just made sense and because I really like fivers. I felt guilty when I used it to buy a bag of trailmix today however.

2.) I saw a hilarious bumper sticker this morning fashioned to look like a campaign sticker that read "Republicans for Voldemort." Ha!

3.) My mom is coming back to the States next Monday, 5/2. I'm taking an extended weekend at home to help my dad be the welcome wagon and to frantically clean the house before she gets back. I bought a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs for her (she loves em) right before Easter and hid it from myself in my desk drawer so that I could save it for her. I'm glad I can break into that this weekend. Oh the sacrifices we make for those we love.

4.) I signed up to take a spring fitness class at the CCRB called "Butts & Guts." Embarassing and slightly clever. Hopefully it'll get the job done.

5.) Speaking of job, I'm sick of working. When's the next national holiday?

6.) My plant has finally bitten the dust. After months of careful attention and mornings spent adjusting my blinds to give it just the right lighting scheme, it simply could not recover from the first night I drove it home when the wind chill was -10 degrees. I'll chalk this one up to illness or lack of robustness rather than my black thumb (Josh, when I killed the bamboo he gave me as a present just five months after my birthday: "Isn't bamboo supposed to last, like, centuries?").

7.) Go Pistons.

That is all. Nanoo Nanoo. Goodnight.

xoxox

Here are (finally!) some cute pics from my Daddy's table tennis tournament two weeks ago. He was victorious in BOTH the singles and doubles tournaments and made me one proud daughter. As my sister put it, I'm lucky my flash was fast enough to catch the lightning-quick moves of The Calcutta Kid!

Adding to his collection. Go Daddy!

The Champ after his victory

Dominating in Doubles

Smashin' it home

When the cat's away...

I've been the only one in the lab so far this week and with the exception of some initial feelings of loneliness yesterday morning, it has been fab-U-lous. It's not that I'm not doing my usual workload, it's just that the incubation periods during which I usually desperately attempt to appear busy have been--dare I say it?--somewhat relaxing. If my P.I. (research supervisor) knew that was the case, she'd flip. Too bad my fun n' freedom ends after today.

At any rate, it's absolutely gorgeous outside today and I fear that I'm becoming spoiled by this unusually nice Michigan April. I'm thinking about picking up some new rollerblades this week; I've seen some great deals at MC Sports but will most likely shop around a little before I make any big purchases. Josh thinks Dunham's will be a good shot as they "always seem like they're teetering on the brink of going out of business." We'll see.

I think I'm heading over to Arbor Brewing Company this evening to celebrate the last day of classes with the School of Public Health students. One of the student groups of which AJ is el presidente has organized a little end-of-semester extravaganza at ABC complete with appetizers and fountain drinks (woo-hoo!). Per AJ's executive order, Josh and I are honorary SPH students and are invited to come tonight....and who am I to turn down a presidential mandate (or free snacks)?

Finally, today is Ben and Jerry's Annual Free Scoop Day until 8pm so head on over to any B&J and pick up some free ice cream. Props to Carrie for reminding me...via text message, which I NEVER get. I was waaaay excited (about the message AND the ice cream).

xoxox

Better late than never they say. My fab pal Stephanie turned 23 this past Saturday, April 16. A new age to go along with the shiny, new M.P.P. she'll be able to add to her title in a few short weeks :)

Happy (slightly belated) Birthday, Steph!

Ouch...I've been bitten!

...by the Travel Bug, that is!

And boy, do I have it bad. The weather has been beautiful, I'm two weeks short of reaching my one-year anniversary as a working stiff for the University, and my plans for the fall are all set...so what am I waiting for? I'd love to just blow this research popsicle stand and divide my time over the next four months between home, the beaches of the Mediterranean, and the various metropolises of Europe. I'm dreaming of brushing up on my Spanish or donning some good walking shoes and simply exploring a new place.

*sigh* As much as I love Ace Deuce, I suddenly feel as though the city is suffocating me and that I need to get away. I realized that I've now been living here continuously since the fall of 2002 and I think Ann Arbor and I could use a small break from each other before I dive into another four years here. I'm not thinking a major move or anything, just some quality time spent elsewhere. I've been doing some research on summer fare specials to Europe and trying to shuffle around my calendar a little. I'm planning on working until the end of July (these days, I've been toying with the idea of the end of the third week of July) so that I can have three weeks to relax and travel before school starts the 22nd of August. However, the end of summer in some parts of Europe is scorching, Julia said that, for all intents and purposes, Italy shuts down for the month of August, and the funds just simply aren't there. Right now, I envy my friends who are working and living at home because 60% of their income isn't being sucked into the black hole that is Ann Arbor rent. *sigh* again.

At any rate, I'm trying very hard not to get discouraged. I know the moons have aligned and I have the rare opportunity this summer to travel a little using some of my air miles and feel obligation-free. I just feel so inexperienced and poorly-traveled that I don't know where to start besides feeling overwhelmed. I don't want to get ripped off by a travel company but I don't want to get mugged taking the cheap route, either. I'm trying to adopt that Palit spirit of somehow making it work...I just wish someone else was making it work with me.

xoxox

Hip hip hooray! It's sunny, it's Friday, and things have definitely been looking up for me this latter half of the week. I had a great day yesterday. I:

1.) Had a long and very productive chat with the owner of our rental company. He completely empathized with our situation regarding our immature neighbors to the north and has taken appropriate action.

2.) Had sushi. I'm only ever truly in the mood for sushi when it gets above 60 degrees outside so having it yesterday was sort of like a springtime celebration for me.

3.) Saw the Groove show. Groove is an undergraduate percussion performace group whose show I saw last year and liked a lot. This time I took Josh to see the Stomp/Blue Man Group-ish show. It was fun and they tossed neon necklaces into the audience like the overpriced ones parents never buy for their kids at carnivals and fireworks shows.

4.) Bought these hilarious vegetarian buttons from local, independent designer Henrietta Fahrenheit in Nickel's Arcade. One says "Steak is Wack" and the other says "Veggies are Dope." Ha! I had a good laugh about those and definitely picked up pairs for myself and my sister.

5.) Was looking around in Border's before the Groove show and picked up Jonathan Safran Foer's new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, read the first two pages, and in a very uncharacteristically-Sonya move, decided to buy it then and there and read it. It was then that I noticed another woman grab the same book and run excitedly upstairs. I had heard clapping earlier but just wrote it off as some up-and-coming rando author doing a book signing. Josh and I finally ventured upstairs to find out it was none other than Jonathan Safran Foer himself doing a reading. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay and get a copy signed so I'm planning on going back today to pick up a signed copy.

Whew! A lot of excitement for one day...and it isn't even the weekend yet! You know, I never truly valued the feeling of a weekend until I became a 9-to-5er--these days the thought of two completely uninterrupted days to do whatever I please (one of which will be 70 degrees!) brings me to a state of profound bliss. Actually, I don't think using the term nirvana would be an overstatement.

Happy Friday :)

xoxox

I haven't been around much lately no thanks to Comcast -- our cable and internet have been down since Friday and I must admit that I'm getting antsy not being able to check the weather and my bank account every morning. Hopefully it will be fixed by tomorrow afternoon.

At any rate, last week was perhaps one of the worst I've had in a while. I ended up staying late at work three different days (including Friday), I missed Gilmore Girls on Tuesday, and to make a long story short, we had to call the cops on our ridiculously loud neighbors at 2:15 am Friday. Being immature and drunk, they retaliated at 4 am by jumping VERY loudly and dropping heavy objects on our ceiling. I didn't get to sleep until after 4 and woke up at 6:20; needless to say, I was quite cranky on Friday. I could keep going with the complaints since the neighbor situation has (unfortunately) since escalated, but I'm pretty tired of thinking about it at the moment.

In a more optimistic vein, I had a nice weekend. I'm thrilled that the weather is getting nice and I certainly got to enjoy it a little bit. Friday night Josh and I listened to an astronomy professor give a talk on large stars (like the sun) and their impact on the universe. We then went to the Angell Hall Public viewing night and planetarium show put on by the U of M Astronomical Society. Yay! I love space and it was fun to see Saturn, Jupiter, and binary star systems through the telescopes and the current spring constellations over Ann Arbor at the planetarium. We also ran into Emily and her boyfriend Bill which was a pleasant surprise :)

On Saturday, I headed out to Northville to watch my Daddy play--or should I say dominate--in his table tennis tournament. The Calcutta Kid did not disappoint and he ended up winning both the singles AND doubles competitions! I have some great action shots to post later so keep an eye out for those. It was fun to watch my Daddy play and I can see why he's a pseudo-legend; maybe he should've gone easy on them so they invite him back next year! The rest of the weekend I just enjoyed the sun and hung out.

Monday is now officially over and I think I'll be hitting the hay. I'll probably e-ruminate about hopeful plans for a Eurotrip for this summer (and the impediments I'm facing!) in my blog tomorrow so check back then. Have a great week.

xoxox

Hiya bloggers. Long time no see. Basically the weekend, the sunshine, and my post-Daylight Savings Time malaise have kept me quite busy these past few days. Here's a quick update:

1.) My circadian (Latin for "around the day"-- brilliant!) rhythm sure has taken a beating this week. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but "springing ahead" one hour seemed to do a few days' worth of damage. Hopefully I'll realign by tomorrow. It doesn't really help that the concept of Daylight Savings Time has always eluded me (in addition to time zones, the stock market, and lunar eclipses for that matter), so not only am I dreadfully tired, but I don't really understand why I'm dreadfully tired! Oy!

2.) My fortune cookie from dinner at Szechuan West last Friday read: You will always possess a charm and sense of humor that attracts others. Yay! :D

3.) I spoke with both my Mom and sister at length today for the first time in a while. I'm excited for my Mom to be back in the States in a few short weeks and it felt so nice to speak with both of them. Hopefully I can get some quality Palit-time in before I hit the books in August.

4.) I chronically buy shoes a half size too small. I'm just now realizing that all but two pairs of my shoes are the wrong size. No wonder I love wearing flip flops so much. I can't afford to replace my entire shoe collection (and how am I supposed to simply get rid of my red Chuck Taylors?!) but I think I'm doing some serious pedo-damage here. What to do?

5.) My father, Bobby "The Calcutta Kid" Palit, will be playing in an Indian table tennis tournament this weekend and Josh and I are gearing up to see the man himself in his element. Although I've shockingly never seen TCK in action before, legend has it that he plays a mean game of ping pong...barefoot. I'll definitely be posting pics.

6.) CBS's made-for-TV Elvis movie airing May 8th? I'm there.

7.) I've recently become quite addicted to online shopping. Never having been a fan before, I'm just now realizing that indefinable thrill of expecting and later receiving a package. In my defense, I'm not purchasing any big ticket items and my shopping is strictly of the most non-addictive variety (meaning non-Ebay). I'm not going to lie, though, and pretend that my little heart doesn't skip a beat when I track my packages online.

8.) Finally, my family and I are deeply saddened at the news of ABC newscaster Peter Jenning's diagnosis of lung cancer. I've literally watched World News Tonight almost every single weeknight (and most weekends) with my family since as far back as I can remember and Peter Jenning's mellifluous voice and careful delivery have become so comfortable and familiar to me that it throws off my entire day when a replacement anchor steps in. I truly hope that his battle with cancer is short and victorious. For me, this is just a somber reminder of how rampant cancer is and how important and applicable research like that which I am doing truly is.

*sigh* Well, I'm all numbered-listed out. Sweet dreams tonight.

xoxox