Work has been a nightmare this week. I think there have already been two days out of the past four that I have considered simply walking out the door and not returning. With only a month to go, my last nerve is barely intact. I can't wait to be a student again.

In other grumpy news, I'm so sick of being hot. I shouldn't complain--I love the summer like crazy. But my car's air is on the fritz, my apartment only has a measley air conditioning unit that's short-range and expensive to run, and I walk uphill 1/2 a mile to work every morning. By the time I get into the building, I have to go straight to the restroom to wipe off my neck and back...at 9 am! I think it'll "cool down" this weekend to the mid 80's and I can only pray that my parents have the air on at home.

Also, my family has unsurprisingly thrown together a last-minute familial Fourth of July celebration at my house. I few of my relatives are currently in the States from India and it just wouldn't be summer without a long weekend chock full of signing, food, karaoke, more food, more karaoke, and a lot of "adda"--the informal and elusive Bengali term for hanging around and chatting it up with friends and family. It's a pleasant synonym to Holden Caulfield's "shooting the shit." It should be fun and I'm looking forward to having company. Maybe everyone will be up for a day at the beach...?

Have a good one.

xoxox

Holy smokes, I've been a busy bee lately. I'm frantically trying to finish my project at work before I leave in a month, secure travel plans for July and August, and get cracking on some projects I've been meaning to get to this summer. Here are some noteworthy items of late:

1.) Cruise and D.C. tickets are booked! Josh and I will be heading to the capital city to visit AJ and Julia in two weekends. We'll also be basking in the Caribbean sun August 6-11 on our cruise to the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. I'm so excited. I'm in dire need of some time off and what better way to refresh myself before 4 arduous years of school than cruising courtesy of the federal government's loan money? I'm kidding!

2.) I made the most kick-ass vegetarian chili dogs this weekend. Granted veggie hot dogs are, in my humble opinion, the worst meat substitute on the market, I had no idea of their potential with a little veggie chili and some shredded cheese on top. The chili itself was so good that I caught Josh on two separate occasions shoveling a heaping spoonful into his face. Two bad I'm out of AA batteries: I wanted to post a pic of my mouth-watering homemade street vendor fare.

3.) One would think that a University that grosses billions of dollars a year could afford to air condition its primary recreational center. It's SO hot in the CCRB lately that I can barely even tie my running shoes without becoming dehydrated...let alone work out. Yeah, that's it...I'm not working out because it's too hot.

4.) I'm terrified of being in a shark attack. I've always been scared of deep water and now that two people were attacked in the Gulf of Mexico less than 72 hours and 100 miles apart, I'm shaking in my boots at the thought of splashing around like an injured sea lion in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean. If it has to happen, I just hope I lose a leg, not an arm; these hands are going to be my income in 5 years!

Okay, must run...while I still have two legs. Enjoy the day! :)

xoxox

*note to self: stop saying "holy smokes"

Whoa. I totally forgot I have a weblog. Maybe I should rethink becoming a mother...there could be some serious consequences to simply "forgetting" about my 2 year-old for a week.

Anyhow, I have a few thoughts to finish out this week (start, in terms of my weblog) and then I'll do the Friday Fiver.

1.) Pistons. What can I say? It's been an arduous and emotionally-draining post-season. San Antonio looked bad last night but Pistons just could not take the rock to the hole. I'm proud of our guys though and as one optimistic fan put it at Scorekeepers last night: "That's alright. We're going back to work next season. Workin' harder than ever." True dat.

2.) Why do people smoke? I think I inhaled more second-hand smoke last night sitting in our little booth at Skeeps than I have in my entire life. Imagine the look on the smokers' faces when they asked what kind of research I do. Oral cancer is right, kiddies.

3.) Once again, I'm salivating at the thought of my Mom's Food Network-inspired cooking as of late. Even though I was only in G-Rap for 24 hours last weekend, the woman made me homemade chow mein, homemade lasagna, a mango smoothie, peaches halved and filled with crumbled almond biscotti and whip cream, and a salad made out of a quarter head of lettuce filled with bleu cheese and cherry tomatoes. I'm sure I forgot some others, Mom, but rest assured that they were all wonderful and appreciated. Seriously, if you're in town, stop by my house and try some of my Mom's cooking...otherwise I'll have to be rolled out of my front door next time I visit.

Okay, I thought I had a lot more to say but I'm drawing a blank. _________________ (haha, get it? I kill me!) Anyhow, without further ado, here's this week's Friday Fiver. Again, send me your answers so that I know there is somebody out there in cyberspace who actually gives a rat's ass that I have a weblog:

1. What is your favorite action movie? So, does this new genre of superhero movies count? Because if so, I'd definitely say Spiderman II. As for a more traditional action movie, I'd say The Rock or Speed, both 90's classics.

2. What is the worst movie you've ever seen? Definitely 1999's Simply Irresistible with Sarah Michelle Gellar. It had something to do with magic cooking and I seem to remember the camera cutting to a close-up of a totally random and irrelevant crustacean. Oh, also The Skulls.

3. Do you prefer comedy or drama? Drama. At the risk of sounding incredibly pretentious, I find most of the popular comedies banal and lowbrow (with the exception of Pixar and Wes Anderson films).

4. Recommend a good tear jerker: I cried for half an hour after the credits of Philadelphia rolled. I also had to wipe off my neck after seeing my favorite film of the year, Million Dollar Baby.

5. What movie are you looking forward to seeing soon? Well, I can't wait for Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire to come out in November naturally. I'm also interested in seeing The Island this summer because I love love love Scarlett but maybe I'll just rent the DVD.

Alrighty, there you have it. Welcome weekend and enjoy the sunshine (and blazing 105 degree Fahrenheit heat index today in Ann Arbor)!

xoxox

Live from Ann Arbor, Michigan...it's Sonya's Friday Fiver! The title of this Friday Fiver is "R-E-L-I-E-F," an acronym for the five questions. Here we go:

1. RE: your future. What lies ahead? If I would've gotten this question 7 months ago I would have burst into tears about my uncertain future. Fortunately for my sanity, I've been accepted to dental school here at the U and will be starting this August for 4 years. In the near future, I foresee a trip to the beach this weekend ;)

2. Listen: what can you hear? Blissful peace and quiet--a nice change from the TV constantly being on at my apartment. The ventilation system is quietly whirring around me. I love white noise.

3. Inner peace: Do you have it? Nope. I'd like to, though. I'm working on being less anxious.

4. Every once in a while, someone surprises you. Who did most recently? Hmmm...I rarely get surprises even though I love them. Come to think of it, I've never had a surprise birthday party or anything. *tear. I guess most recently, Josh surprised me with a bunch of tulips at the beginning of spring.

5. Friends can come and go. Who has come into your life, and who has left? I have stayed in surprisingly close touch with most of my friends from high school and have been fortunate to keep gaining new friends with each year of college. I try very hard to stay in touch with the people that I care about even though I'm not always the quickest about calling back. This year, I'm so happy that our geeky UM science friend group has grown closer: AJ, Hal, Julia, Ben, Josh, Me, and Solomon. I've had a blast with them the past 10 months :)

Wow. That Friday Fiver was borderline depressing. Well, I am happy that it's Friday and the Pistons played awesomely last night. Send me your Friday Fiver answers if you get a chance.

Enjoy the weekend.

xoxox

Maybe I shouldn't have cursed the heat so soon--it's getting chilly again here in Ace Deuce (a local Ann Arbor nickname...get it?). I might have to wear--gasp--long sleeves tomorrow! I just don't know about that.

Anyways, I can't believe my life has become so dull that I must resort to discussing the weather in every post. Oy. I'll try to spice things up a little tomorrow with the Friday Fiver. Thanks to my sister for sending her personal Friday Fiver to me from across the ocean via commenting ability. What a riot. Summers have always been so different for the two of us: while I was perfecting my tan (okay, insert obvious joke here about my year-long tan) and working at the likes of Old Navy, she was working on her search for the perfect article about nuclear arms stockpiling. Hmmm...guess who's the cooler sister...

At any rate, I had a great night's sleep again last night after taking that stinky root and working out really hard every day this week so far. I had taken a tiny hiatus from the gym but am feeling good now that I'm going again consistently. The other day I could have sworn I was on Candid Camera because a man who closely resembled Mr. Kotter (from "Welcome Back Kotter") in referee-striped shorts and a too-small tank top was gyrating and thrusting his hips in the stretching room in such a way that would most likely be considered illegal in a few states. Now, I've seen some gym-goers doing the wildest and most painful looking yoga stretches possible in that room before but this guy was doing what is best described as a Napolean Dynamite-esque performance. You'd better believe my head was to my knee while I was stretching my hamstrings so that he wouldn't see me laughing.

Okay, I should get back to the research scene. Ugh. The only thing I'd like to be researching right about now is tropical destinations for my cruise...

xoxox

Last night was the best night of sleep I've had in months. I gulped down three capsules of Valerian root (a smelly herbal supplement that apparently makes you sleep soundly) and read The New Yorker for 15 minutes before hitting the hay way early at 11:32. I can't remember waking up once all night and opened my eyes just minutes before my first alarm rang at 7:11 this morning. Ahhh, bliss. I can't wait to go to bed tonight in anticipation of beautifully deep, restful sleep. That is, of course, assuming the Pistons win game 3 against the Spurs tonight. I doubt I'll sleep soundly if we suffer another loss.

Sleep or no sleep, things are going well lately. My time in the lab is slowly coming to a close and I'm training some new people who will be taking over my project. We just had a new post-doc come in from Japan and I'm teaching him some of the techniques so I've been having a blast helping him better his English. For example, we learned and then used "coincidence," "viscous," "farmer's market," and "clumsy" all in the last few days. He says I'm the best English teacher he's had and that I should consider (though I doubt he used the word "consider") teaching the international students/post-docs at U of M. Yay! Maybe I'll give it some thought :)

Also, I'm trying to get the ball rolling this week on scheduling some fun summer plans (yikes! It's already mid-June!). I think Josh and I will be camping with my EK friend Christin and her boyfriend Bob one weekend in early July, my other good EK girlfriends are trying to set-up a girls' weekend in Cincinnati for the end of July, and I'm looking at plane tickets to somewhere *maybe* for next weekend. The big August trip will be my project for this week. Not to mention that my big sis will be coming back to the States at the end of July so I'm simply thrilled. The next two months will be busy busy busy so catch me if you can!

Have a great evening and go Pistons!

xoxox

Awwwwww yeah. It's FRI day and payday to boot--I'm thrilled. And in celebration of Friday, I've picked up a new fun Friday activity to add to my blog. Some of you may remember when I answered the weekly Friday Five in my blog a little over a year ago (see archives). That site is long since gone, but I've found a new one (non-creatively named The Friday Fiver) with five fun questions to answer each and every Friday. I want to hear your answers to the questions too so email me or write comments! Here goes:

(I'm going to cheat just this once and answer last Friday's questions since the questions today are kind of weird)

1. Have any exciting summer plans? If by exciting you mean working in the lab until the end of July...then heck yeah! Actually, I'm looking forward to maybe taking some small trips out to NYC and DC to visit friends, hitting the beach, and having three luxurious weeks off before school to take a vacay with Wanton and who knows who else!

2. What's the best summer vacation you've ever taken? Summer has never been a big vacation time for me since we're blessed here in Michigan (remember that series of words...I'll never repeat it) with beautiful beaches.

3. Would we be more likely to see you lounging by a pool or out water skiing? Definitely lounging. I hurt myself pretty badly the first and only time I ever water skiied at Danielle's cottage. But rumor has it that my dad is a pretty good water skiier...are you surprised?

4. Will you be putting on a swimsuit this season? Most definitely. That reminds me that I only have 7 weeks to get my best little beach bod into shape. Yikes!

5. If you could take a summer vacation anywhere, for 3 weeks, where would you go, and why? This is actually an issue this summer because I don't want to travel anywhere that's going to be ridiculously hot in August (read: most places). I'd love to see Alaska or parts of Northern Canada (penguins! sea lions! seals!) when it's comfortable weather outside but one can be sure it's exclusively the 70 and over crowd on those cruises. I guess even if it's hot in Jamaica, the ocean is right there, mon!

Yay! That actually got me a little excited for the weekend and summer. Send me your answers too and have a wonderful fin de semana.

xoxox

It is hotter than Hades here in Ann Arbor and I can't take it much longer. Far be it from me to complain about warm weather (I do so about cold Michigan weather for 10 months out of the year) and my sister was quick to remind me that the average daily temperature right now in Bangladesh is well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It's just that my fan ain't cutting it, the air conditioning is too expensive to run constantly, and I have to wear lab-appropriate things all day long (i.e.~ no sandals, shorts, tank/sleeveless tops, or anything else that would contribute to my comfort on 90 degree days). Not to mention my weird and sudden sleep deprivation issue has quickly become severe. My body literally shut down today at work and I feel asleep briefly three separate times while sitting down. The heat probably isn't helping either. Boy, a lemonade sure sounds good right now.

Anyways, just thought I'd check in. TGIF tomorrow. In my opinion, the weekend and these rainstorms can't come soon enough.

xoxox

p.s. ~ My Mom asked me not to post this but all bets are off when it comes to my parents' idiosyncrasies:

My post-Memorial Day weekend post referred to my weekend as semi-gluttonous, meaning I indulged in the "deadly sin" of excess. My adorable Mom mistook this as an insult for the wheat products in her cooking...i.e. gluten. I found out later that she had tried with all her might to find less grain-based recipes to make for me when I was in GR this past weekend.

Tanya--we need to get started on our book ASAP! :)

Oy. Long time no blog. And the situation is only going to get worse--our cable and internet were mistakenly cut off a week and a half ago and since I was going to cancel them anyway at the end of June, I'm sans blogger access from my pad for the rest of the summer. My posts may be few and far between for the next two and a half months and I can't make any promises about pictures. *sigh* Try not to get too broken up about it.

At any rate, I've certainly been a busy little bee lately and have been working two jobs these past few weeks since I consider intently watching every Pistons playoffs game a job unto itself. Way to go 'Stons for our awesome Eastern Conference win last night against Miami. That was a close one with a 74-74 tie with only 4 minutes to go in Game 7. Whew! I'm thrilled we pulled it out. Finals, here we come! :)

Another reason to be happy: Josh and I joined a last-minute, whirlwind trip to Chicago with my parents this past weekend and got to spend oodles of time (and probably too much money) at Ikea just outside of the city. I got some great cheap decorations for the apartment and my bedroom and will be powerdrill-weilding all weekend long. The more little projects I take on, the more small home improvement ideas come to mind. Granted it's a home-on-loan, but a little modification never hurt anybody, right? :)

Finally, I need some encouragement to not get lazy on the job now that summer is here and my plans for the fall are finalized. Believe me, it's no easy task dragging your sleep-deprived, underpaid carcass into work every day when there are literally only 8 weeks to go and no reason for promotion. Unfortunately, my European fantasy is carrying a pretty hefty price tag this summer and after careful consideration (and quite a bit of sticker shock after looking up airfares to Paris, Zurich, Rome, and Amsterdam), Josh and I have decided that another cruise might be in order. For less than the price of a plane ticket to Europe, we can take a 7-day, all inclusive tropical trip we won't feel guilty about. We'd love some company so if you're remotely interested and have some time between August 1 and 20, let me know! (yes, Mom & Dad, that includes you).

Well, that's enough for an update for the time being. It's supposed to get up to 90 degrees in Ann Arbor today! I think I'll get some sushi for lunch to cool down. I heart summer.

xoxox