This week I've spent a considerable amount of time compiling a list of important information/tid-bits for the new employee who is tackling my project after I leave. I've left her instructions on most of my experimental procedures and parameters, described the locations of some of my more elusive samples, and even bequeathed her my most cherised reagents. I realized today that I've been feeling heavy-hearted writing it because of its similarity to a living will--something I never thought I'd be writing when I was 22! I'm glad at least that my project is falling into capable hands. My supervisor is taking all of us out to lunch tomorrow for my last day and she made a point of saying that she'd "rather not celebrate Sonya's departure." It's good to be loved :)

Also, Tanya has been staying with me in Ann Arbor since Tuesday evening. It's been wonderful spending time with her and I'm now realizing how much I've missed our oddball sense of humor that, for the most part, no one else shares. My Dad pointed out that that we had only spoken in unintelligible half-sentences since the moment they showed up at my apartment--it's obvious we're trying to cram 10 months' worth of updates into a few days. I'm glad she's here and that I now have my lovingly-laugh-at-my-parents'-idiosyncracies-partner-in-crime back.

Finally, both Carrie and Shadi will be swinging through Ann Arbor tomorrow evening and I'm planning on catching dinner with them. I can't wait! I haven't seen Shads since last fall and we've both been so busy that phone-chatting has taken a back burner. Three cheers for another Friend Marathon reunion :)

That's all for now. Expect the Friday Fiver tomorrow and probably a humiliating story or two about how I choked up saying good-bye to my coworkers...even though I'll be in the same building as them for the next four years.

xoxox

This little traveler is finally back in Ann Arbor to finish out her last week of work. That's right--July has flown by and has been packed with fun trips and good friends. Suddenly, everyone at work is fighting over which of my reagents they can have after I leave in a few days, not unlike the scene in Cinderella where Anastacia and Druscilla rip their respective pieces from their stepsister's gown right before the ball. *sigh* I must admit that a little part of me is sad to leave my friends at work and I'm trying to rehearse my "thank you's" and "I'll definitely visit's" so that I don't turn on the waterworks like I always do when I leave a job.

At any rate, I had a fun time in Cincinnati with my EK girlfriends this past weekend (pictures are coming next week once I can use my home computer). The trip consisted of a little shopping, a lot of gabbing, some fabulous raspberry chip ice cream, and a lot of immature potty humor provided by my friend Christin and yours truly. Cinci was a lot younger and cooler than I thought it would be and we got to see my friend Melody's adorable house and new Prius! I want that little jellybean-shaped hybrid SO much...it's even cooler inside than I thought. Not to mention that whole "helping the Earth" thing couldn't hurt, either. My birthday is coming up ;) Anyhow, I digress.

I think that's it for now. TKP is back in the States and will be visiting me in Ann Arbor this evening along with my parents and will be staying until we head back to GR at the end of the week. I'm looking forward to the weeks of recuperation, relaxation, and home cooking ahead.

Cheers!

xoxox

Since I was gone last week, I'll do last week's and today's Friday Fivers for a double-dose of egotistical fun!

New Kids on the Block--7/15/05

1. Are you more comfortable being the new kid or the experienced one? Definitely the experienced one. I stayed in the Kentwood Public School system from kindergarten through high school graduation and was pretty scared of moving. This fall, I'm looking forward to being one of the entering D1's familiar with the city and the school here. I've already made a few friends from my incoming class by offering my help with housing/banking decisions and directions.

2. When is the last time you were the new kid? I haven't been the new kid for about 14 months since I started my job last May. Fortunately, I'm outgoing (but surprisingly shy, too) so that helps me adjust a little.

3. If we met face to face, right now, what would my first impression be of you? I've been told by new acquaintances all the time that I'm "bubbly" and I hope you'd like my bangs ;)

4. Who is the last person you said goodbye to? I said goodbye to Josh last night since we'll both be out of town this weekend. We parted ways so that I could pack and he could read Harry Potter into the wee hours of the morning.

5. Joey, Jordan, Donnie, Danny or Jon? Jordan. He just had the right stuff.


Pet Connection--7/22/05

1. Are you a dog or cat person? Always a dog person, though there is still some suspicion that Raja is actually a finnicky cat in a dog suit. Also, I've been begging Josh to get me a kitty and to get himself some allergy shots. Ain't gonna happen.

2. How many pets do you have? One, his highness Raja Palit.

3. What’s the best thing about your pets? Raja is the spunkiest, most unique dog I've ever met. He loves Indian food but then drags his ears along the carpet after dinner because it's too spicy for him. He falls asleep cuddling his Blue Bear and has the sweetest, most genuine pet personality I've ever seen. There isn't a better dog/cat-in-a-dog-suit around.

4. What’s the weirdest thing your pet has done? I think the whole "scoochy butt" behavior where he drags his behind around on the carpet using his front paws while sitting up. John once referred to it as Raja using our entire house as his personal toilet paper.

5. Plans for any more pets? Not in the near future. My apartment has a no pets policy (but I could sneak a kitty!) and it wouldn't be humane of me anyway to keep a pet when I know I don't have the time or resources for it. I'd like more dogs when I get my own place and I plan to name a big one Oso, Spanish for bear. The rest will have cool Latin names.

There ya have it. Two Fridays' worth of fun. Enjoy the weekend! :)

xoxox

I wrote this yesterday and forgot to post it:

Talk about serious weblog neglect! Well, I AM alive and well despite my 5 hour delayed flight home from Washington D.C. late Monday night. Despite a rocky return journey, Josh and I had a wonderful time with our pals Julia and AJ in the city. We did a lot of the standard touristy things like visiting the museums of American History and Natural History, the National Gallery, all of the monuments (FDR is by far my favorite) and the International Spy Museum, which was obviously awesome. I feel as though I learned some valuable information about my Dad's "real job," if you know what I mean. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you.

Ah-hem...anyway...Josh had already fallen in love with the city within hours of our arrival. D.C. is so jumping right now for young professionals and we had a blast hitting the bars in Adams Morgan on Saturday night with our crew. Not to mention my always classy cousin Shoma treated us to a fab dinner and a few cocktails in swanky Baltimore (insert sarcasm here) Friday night. Really, though--Shoms showed us a great time around a nice area and also put my party persona to shame when she slept less than 5 hours after going out and was raring to go for another 24 hour shift at the hospital after our night on the town. I could definitely take a few lessons from her seeing as how I've become a middle-aged prude. Finally, this trip just completely reaffirmed the fact that I love love LOVE public transportation! Every time I got on the Metro I couldn't stop raving about what an ingenious and socially sound invention it was. Not to mention D.C.'s system is only about 25 years old (Julia's fun fact of the day!) which makes traveling by Metro simply a pleasure. *sigh* I love big cities :) At any rate, pictures are definitely on the way even though it was so ridiculously humid in D.C. that my ordinarily polished coif was out of control the entire weekend.

In other news, I'm on my way to Cincinnati this weekend for the first annual rendezvous with my girlfriends from East Kentwood High School. Because we've all spread out a bit due to marriage, jobs, and school, Cinci seemed to be the most equally accessible city. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, sharing old memories, and seeing how we've all grown. Hopefully my hair will be a little more tame. Expect those pics next week, too ;)

Finally, hip hip hooray for my sister being back in less than 48 hours! I'm hoping that she'll be able to spend some time with my in Ann Arbor next week and then I'm going home for a week. I'm excited :)

Happy Thursday!

xoxox

Okay, I lied; I have two more quick things to say (surprise, surprise):

1.) I talked to my good pal Carrie on the phone yesterday for a while. It's been too long since we've chatted and it was good to hear about all that's going on in her post-college graduation world. We laughed about how abysmal we are at keeping in touch with each other but how neither of us are concerned that we'll ever fall out of touch. It's nice to have friends like that. We're tentatively planning a trip out to NYC again sometime this fall to visit my hottie Shadi...the third in the Friend Marathon trio and another friend I've been lackadaisical about calling lately. Thank goodness I have patient and understanding friends :)

2.) There was ANOTHER shark attack! This time it was off the coast of Galveston, Texas (where my cruise left from last year...aaaaaggghh!). It happened in waist-deep water and I'm simply terrified. My co-workers made fun of me today by saying that if I lose a hand, I could always become the first dentist to practice with my feet...thereby giving new meaning to the phrase putting one's foot in one's mouth. Ewww.

I promise that's all. Adieu.

xoxox

Just a quick hello and then I must run. I leave early tomorrow morning for D.C. and will be pretty frenzied tonight after work trying to get all of my laundry finished and my stuff packed. I'm also frantically trying to finish my book before I pick up my copy of the new Harry Potter when I come back to Ann Arbor on Monday--I don't like reading two books at once. I don't think I'll have an opportunity to do the Friday Fiver tomorrow so rest assured that I'll put it up on Tuesday. Try not to get too down about it over the weekend :)

Finally, a biiiiiiig Happy Birthday hug and kiss go out to my puppy Raja. Although he turns 12 today (an eternity in human years!), I don't know a more energetic and personable pup. He's certainly aged gracefully but can still run around the neighborhood with the best of them when he gets loose. May his days spent basking in the sun and playing with Blue Bear be many.

Ciao!

xoxox

Oh, one more thing: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series, comes out this Saturday, July 16th. I'm so geeked (in more ways than one, apparently), I can barely contain my excitement! My Mom thoughtfully suggested that I reserve my copy in advance before the mad rush begins this weekend. Good thing I already reserved my copy in January. Muhuwahahahaha!

Hiya. Things are back in full swing after my fun weekend away. Josh and I had a great time camping with our EK buddy Christin, her boyfriend Bob, and their friends near Chelsea. Bob has a boat and we spent a leisurely Saturday tooling around the many lakes in the area and taking turns tubing. I chose the sit-in-the-middle-of-the-tube as opposed to the hang-on-with-your-arms-for-dear-life position to lower the risk of getting flung off (and having to bob in deep, murky lake water until the boat comes back to pick you up--shudder). I did a pretty good job of holding out even through some choppy water :) It was really relaxing and even though I ate waaaaaay too many s'mores, I had a great time. I took a few pictures that I'll post soon.

The plan for this week is to really go pedal-to-the-metal at work and then jet off to D.C. early Friday morning. I can't wait! Josh has never been to the nation's capital and we haven't seen Julia and AJ in a long time. I'm really looking forward to our trip out there and to taking public transportation. We'll also be spending a night in Baltimore with my cousin Shoma (a.k.a. Sho-love) and hitting the town there. I won't be back in Ann Arbor until Monday night so it will be (another!) nice little trip.

Three other items of note:

1.) My sister will be back in the States Saturday, July 23. She's coming in a little earlier than anticipated and I couldn't be more thrilled. Even though I have to work until the 29th, I'm really looking forward to seeing her.

2.) Cruise tickets came in the mail yesterday. Yahoo! I was starting to get down about our trip for some reason recently but my excitement has been reinstated. Hopefully this time Josh and I will be able to stay away from the Bingo (b-b-but you could win a free cruise!)

3.) I bought my first gallon of lactose-free milk last week and let me tell you, it rocks my world. It tastes exactly like real milk but doesn't upset my stomach. I was kind of confused as to how they could make lactose-free milk but then I saw that lactase enzyme had been added as an ingredient...brilliant! For those of you unfamiliar with biochemistry, that may not mean anything but I think it's awesome. Even though it's expensive, I'll definitely opt for this more lactose-intolerance friendly version in the future.

Okey dokey, gotta run. It's about time for my mid-morning Fig Newton break. Have a great day.

xoxox

A forlorn Friday Fiver:

1. How did you learn about yesterday's bombings in London? I switched on the television in the morning to check the weather. I fleetingly saw the breaking news headline "London's Olympic bid celebration halted" and was surprised that the French would be so upset and immature as to thwart their rival's joy. It wasn't until I rode the elevator up with my Japanese friend from the lab next door that I heard there had been explosions in the city.

2. Do you have any personal connections to the area? I have never been to London and don't know anyone that lives there. My sister sent me a cute picture of herself inside of a cherry red phone booth taken when she was there in 2003, however.

3. Do you use public transportation? Once in a while, I ride the UM buses and now that I'm a big girl, I take the subways and trains if I travel out of town. It's unnerving to think that terrorism has infiltrated life in this way.

4. Have you ever let threats of terrorism change the way that you live each day? To be honest, I was scared to fly after September 11 for a short time. I feel that the best way we can stand in solidarity against terrorist acts is to encourage understanding and diplomacy in our lives and to not buy into a culture of fear.

5. If you could say something directly to the person or group responsible for this tragedy, what would you say? I don't know about what I would say directly to those responsible, but I think it's important for all of us to remember the words of John F. Kennedy:

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

xoxox

I've always associated heartburn with middle-aged bowlers after an indulgent night of chili cheese fries and beer but believe me, I was truly suffering last night from a severe case of acid reflux. Was it the balsamic vinegar-marinated portabella caps I made for dinner or the post-9pm Diet Coke I had last night that fueled the burn? Either way, I'm feeling the effects hardcore today and am popping Zantec like it's Pez. Ouch.

At any rate, I've been so busy lately that I haven't made it anywhere near a computer to post. My Fourth of July weekend was fun as is to be expected when my family gets together. I can't believe that my aunts and uncles (some of whom are seniors) seriously kicked my ass when it came to partying last weekend. It was me who turned down wine because "it gives me headaches" and again me who had to finally succumb to droopy eyes and bodily exhaustion at 3 am two nights in a row...an hour before the rest of the clan hit the hay. On the last night, I managed to sneak into bed at 12:30 and was reprimanded--reprimanded!--the next day because I couldn't hold out any longer to chat it up and contribute to the karaoke songlist. I guess I have a long way to go before I can adequately represent the new Palit generation.

Also, the summer fun rush has begun and I'm getting so wrapped up in preparations I'm forgetting to have fun! Trying to book plane tickets, arrange meeting times, get directions, and coordinate time off of work has left me exhausted. After all that work, now I have to go camping, go to D.C., Baltimore, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Massachusetts before the summer is over! Whew! Actually, I can't wait; all of the chips are starting to fall into place and I should have some great pictures and fun stories to share over the next few weeks. Mmmm, that reminds me that I should pick up some chips for camping this weekend.

Have a great afternoon :)

xoxox

Helloooo Friday and helloooooo long holiday weekend! Here are a few quick thoughts and then the Friday Fiver. Special thanks to Emily, Tanya, and Katie whose comments reminded me that I am e-loved :)

1.) Josh and I made bruschetta, tried a new wine, and played "speed chess" last night (his suggestion, not mine) where every move is made in 15 seconds or less. Now, I'm not a competitive person but I will admit to being slightly miffed when, after I took his queen in less than 8 moves, he slighted the game instead of acknowledging my strategy by saying: "See, that's the thing with playing fast like this. You make mistakes you wouldn't otherwise." E-excuse me? The nerve!

2.) Last night we also pontificated on the celebration of Fourth of July. I concluded that even though I am on the brink of becoming an ex-pat thanks to the current administration, I have a deep and unwavering reverence for the principles upon which this nation was built. This country was conceived on notions of freedom from persecution and defiance of empirical entitlement. The founders of the United States felt so passionate about civil liberty that they crafted a dynamic and impressive outline for them in the Consitution that has only been amended 27 times in 230 years. This Fourth of July, I plan to celebrate the true, original spirit of America--a spirit that embraces political dissent and critical thinking and creates a discourse around them. Although somedays I've already moved to Sweden in my mind, I'd never really forsake the freedoms and foresight for which the United States truly stands.

Okay, it's F-F-friday Fiver time! The title is Lets Talk About Debt, Baby:

1. Who do you owe? Oh boy, this one's a doozy considering I just got approved for $46,000 in loans for my first, yes first, year of dental school. Basically, by the time I'm done with school, I'll owe the government my soul and my first born but hey, who's counting?

2. Does anyone owe you? I don't think so.

3. How many credit cards to you have? I have three credit cards, two of which are active. I despise spending money that I technically don't have--I actually feel kind of sick when I use my credit card. I only use them to purchase plane tickets and most recently to book our cruise. Yahoo!

4. Do you care about national debt? Of course I do! And everyone should. There doesn't seem to be much accountability for fiscal callousness in this country anymore. Did anyone see that ABC News story on the new, multi-million dollar "border protection" cameras? At any given time, 10-25% of them aren't working. New cameras are being purchased...for 2.5 billion tax dollars. Ha!

5. Would your friends be surprised if they accidently saw the balance in your checkbook? No. I'm meticulous about my spending and I think that's pretty consistent with my personality. I'm no cheapskate (and I don't skimp on groceries or medication, Mom and Dad!) but I have to think about my credit and financial future. I might be buying a practice some day! *shudder*

Fun! If you feel so inclined, send me your answers...you have a three day weekend to write them :) TGIF!

xoxox