Marielle

Ang and Ryan had a baby, Marielle, and I got to hold her. Isn't she cute?

This is getting a little ridiculous

I made guacamole on Tuesday, and there is still hot pepper oil from the jalapeno on my hands. Now, I made guacamole last weekend, the same way, and had no problems. This time, I maybe handled the seeds a bit more, and wasn't as aggressive in trimming out the white part (which I learned is called the placenta...ew). Apparently that is where the capsaicin resides.

I didn't know I had actually acquired the oil on my hands until I went to take out my contacts Tuesday night, and my eyes burned. And teared up, and I generally wanted to claw them out. There was much hand-washing with soap and water and googling to find out what might help get it off. Apparently alcohol could be tried, so a quick wash with vodka and I called it good.

Wednesday morning more burning. Intense burning. I thought I had done serious damage to my eyes. I rinsed with rum this time, thinking my classmates may think I have a drinking problem if I show up smelling like a mojito, but oh well. The worst part is that the only way I can tell if it's still there is by sticking my finger in my eye and seeing if it burns. Rum didn't help.

Then I remembered I have latex gloves in my backpack from school, left over (but unused) from an oral mechanism exam I did. I donned the gloves and finally got my contacts in. Someone recommended milk, so yesterday I soaked my hand in milk. No better. So I'm still using the gloves to put my contacts in and take them out, but this is getting a little ridiculous.

This is where I leave you

Last night I went to bed early, 9 PM. It was downpouring, making the living room a few decibels too loud, given the rain on the skylights. Plus, I had a good book. So I stayed up late finishing it, and like any good books simultaneously wanted to read it all the way to the end, but also knew that meant I would soon be finished with it. Tear.

This is where I leave you was a book I don't really remember picking up, other than that I remember getting the recommendation from NPR books. The thing about the book is that it's about some incredibly hard stuff (affairs, divorce, infertility), but is done in a way that doesn't make you want to claw your eyes out (Revolutionary Road style). In fact, I really liked Judd Foxman, the protagonist.

Somehow, Jonathon Tropper lets you really get the gravity of what the characters are facing, but also lighten it up with humor. At times the characters lean toward caricature, but not often enough to really bother me. They do fight a lot, I will say that. Like physically punch each other out.

Anyway, if you need a little relationship drama (who doesn't?), I would highly recommend it. Or if you want to read about a family sitting shiva.

Class

I'm in the second week of my second summer class, Craniofacial Anomalies. Today we heard 14 presentations on genetic and other syndromes that include craniofacial disorders. All I can say is this: It is a miracle babies are born without craniofacial anomalies, and if I ever have a baby, I will be paranoid.

Sore

When I was in California last week, I missed my bike. I actually thought about it at least 3 or 4 times throughout the week, wishing I had it with me so I could ride a bit. That's weird.

Tonight I finally got back on it despite some wind, and it was great. Not quite as great on the middle miles where the wind was blowing hard, but still great. Only about 20 more miles and I'll have ridden 300 so far this summer.

I also played kickball tonight with people from church, and it was really fun. I was maybe not the worst player (there were 2 eight year old boys playing), and even made a couple of catches. I think mainly I was afraid the ball would hit me so I caught it, I'm not sure.

I do know that after a 14 mile ride (after missing my bike for a long time!) and an hour and a half of kickball, I will be sore tomorrow.

Must Read

I would never have picked up A Dirty Job on my own. But, I joined a summer book club, and already missed the first meeting...so I thought I had better make sure I make it to the second one.

And I loved the book.

Describing the plot would just make it sound dumb, and anyway you can read that for yourself. Here's why I liked it--Charlie is an interesting protagonist. And there is an amazingly interesting cast of supporting characters, including someone named Minty Fresh. The book is clever, somewhat plot driven, and although the ending was somewhat unsatisfying to me, I would highly recommend it. Who wouldn't want to read a book about Death? (I wouldn't, but having read it, I'd recommend you do)

Skymall

I should be going to bed. Actually, I should be in bed as my alarm is going to go off at 5:45 AM tomorrow, and that is early.But going to bed before it's completely dark just seems wrong. And, there are some very disturbing items in the Skymall catalog that must be discussed.

1. Sperm ShoesI'm not even really sure what to say about these. Other than why, oh why, do they have a sperm on the side? Seriously, why? Because of sperm's athletic prowess?

2. Giant Chair
This I just do not understand. It looks so...uncomfortable. The poor man's feet aren't even touching the ground.

3. Mermaid Fins

Weirdly awesome, for every girl who ever wanted to be The Little Mermaid. When I first saw them, I thought the girl in the middle was the mom. Which would have been weirder.

It's late, and everyone else is long in bed. But I wanted to say how grateful I am this week for old friends. Situations have changed, I've moved away, but it's still amazing to be able to talk about everything and still feel comfortable enough with old friends to rummage around in the fridge.

Barbecue at John and Donna's

Annabelle wasn't quite sure who I was after having not seen her since Thanksgiving (she quickly warmed up to me)

John, the grillmaster

A lovely dinner and night in San Jose

Things I Learned from Eclipse

Here's what I learned from the movie Eclipse last night:

1) Vampires carry backpacks from The North Face, and they also carry ginormous tents up gigantic rocky mountains, when a smaller tent really seems much more practical.

2) Vampire families do an excellent job of color coordination, and their wardrobe would make a great winter collection for some designer. Also, when preparing for battle, they don only gray and black.

3) If your boyfriend is a vampire, and you are camping in a ginormous tent from The North Face on a rocky peak and it is snowing outside, you will become hypothermic. You must have a wolfboy to keep you warm. Wolfboys are also good when you get sick of hiking because they can carry you everywhere.

4) If your boyfriend is a vampire, you will no longer have any interest in doing any activity outside of laying down and staring into his eyes, sitting down and staring into his eyes, or standing in a group of people while staring in his eyes.

5) Edward and Bella wear the same lipstick color (Sarah McQ noticed this too).