A Day in the Life of Our Pets: Part One

As you might know, Sean and I have three fuzzy mammals (besides ourselves) running around our house.  Teddy is a five year old cocker spaniel whose favorite activities are....well, you'll see.  Gus is a four year old miniature beagle (meaning he will always look like a puppy).  He's an adorable handful.  Last, but certainly not least, is Zorro, our four year old, rather large cat.  He's a cat.  He behaves cat-like.

Obviously, we know that our animals can't talk, but that doesn't stop us from giving them voices or trying to guess what each of them is thinking on a daily basis.  

Today Teddy volunteered to share his story.

Teddy's voice is usually a cross between Dug (from Pixar's Up) and Mr. Narwhale in Elf.  

A Day In The Life of our Pets: Teddy's Story

Wake up at 4am.  Pooped in the bathroom.  Itched myself to sleep.

Woke up again at 6:15am with Sean when he went to shower.  Stared at the wall outside the bathroom.  Checked to see if I would get any dog food.  I didn't.  Went back to bed.

Woke up at 8:05am with Sarah.  Hoped she would snooze the alarm.  She did.  Woke up at 8:25am with Sarah.  Stared at her until she pet me.  

Followed Gus to the dog door.  Didn't realize he was going outside.  Didn't need to poop.  Made an abrupt U-turn, tripped Sarah.  

Followed Sarah to bathroom.  Whined when Zorro came out of the cat room.  Went into the bathroom.  Stared at wall.  Whined when Zorro came into the bathroom.  Stopped whining when he left.  Followed Sarah to the bedroom.  Followed Sarah to the bathroom.  Followed Sarah to the kitchen.  

Sat down, and got breakfast.  Checked to make sure Gus didn't leave any food behind.  He didn't.

Followed Sarah to the bedroom.  Followed Sarah to the bathroom.  Followed Sarah to the front door.  Watched her leave.  Whined.  Looked sad.

Laid on couch.  

Avoided eye-contact with Gus.  Followed rules of absolutely no touching.

Laid on tile.

Itched.

Laid on wood floor.

Itched.

Laid on couch.

Got up when Sean came home.  Wagged my tail a lot. Tried to get on couch.  Slipped.  Will try again later.

Tried to jump on couch.  Made it.  Stared at Sean.  Got pets.  Laid on couch.

Sarah came home.  Fell off couch in excitement.  Wagged my tail a lot.  Tried to get on couch.  Front legs made it, back legs didn't. Tried again.  Made it.  Stared at Sarah.  Got pets.  Laid on couch.

Got really excited because Gus was really excited.  Got excited to go outside.  Did NOT realize we were going running.  Pooped in the driveway to show displeasure.  We went running anyway.  Barked at a dog.  Have to protect the family.  There are lots of threatening dogs-dangerous dogs.  Barked at another dog.  Barked at a lizard.  Ran really fast.  Then, ran really slow.  Then, Sarah had to pull me.  Did not realize how far we were going.  To get a break, pooped again.  

Laid down on tile in house to cool my belly.  Too tired to get water.

Got up for dinner.  Ate dinner.  Checked to make sure Gus didn't leave any food behind.  He didn't.  Drank some water.  Ears got wet again.

Stood by Sean while he was cooking.  Stared at the floor.  Ate things that fell on floor.

Laid down by table.

Laid down on couch.  Gus stole my spot.  Didn't want to violate no touching rule.  Laid on floor.

Forced to go outside.  Pooped on the sidewalk.  

Got bedtime snacks.  Waited for Sean outside the bathroom.  Stared at wall.

Laid down on dog bed.  Itched.  Decided not comfortable enough.  Grabbed Sarah's clothes from closet floor.  Much better.  

Went to sleep on dog bed/ Sarah's clothes.  Snored.

Good day.

Life Lessons

1.  Do not smash your head on the dryer door.  It will make you cry.

2.  If the TSA officer asks, "Are those shoes?" don't think she is asking because she thinks they are cute [which they are] and respond, "Yes!  They're Tom's!"  She's asking because you went through the metal detector with them on and will make you go back through security.  [Also, your husband will laugh at you for months and months]

3.  When you say, "I hate getting new phones and having to get used to them" it makes you sound like an old person.  Even if they do have all sorts of new fangled buttons, commands, and make it impossible to find your text messages....

4.  If your father-in-law's motto is "the project is not complete until you bleed on it", have band-aids and first aid supplies ready when your husband works on projects.  It turns out that motto can be genetic.  [Stuff on our Etsy site, however, is guaranteed blood-free]

5.  Don't let your husband watch emotionally charged dog food/ insurance commercials on his own.  A lot of dog-cuddling will ensue.

[SIDE NOTE: Here's the top two Sean tear-inducing dog commercials in recent memory.  This excludes ALL animal shelter commercials playing songs about angels.]

1) Play.  It's Good For You.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNUdeXKd6QU&feature=relmfu
2) Travel Insurance.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk2B8988ws0

Gus cuddling post-commercial

Why I Miss Teaching 7th Grade

About a month ago I went to a local San Diego middle school and presented about my job and what I do as a biologist to seventh grade students.  A couple of weeks ago I received a large packet of handwritten thank-you's from the hundreds of the students I presented to (over the course of the entire day, mind you) in the mail.  


First, their teacher needs some serious props for organizing the whole thing and having them so prepared for my visit and taking the time to write me thank-you's afterwards (as a former teacher, I know she had to have read through ALL of them, just to make sure the content was appropriate).


Second, some, nay, make that many, of their letters needed to be shared.  I love 7th graders for their honesty (see the "funny" category),  how easily excited they are (see the "inspiring" category"), and for the random things they are curious about or want to tell you (see the "miscellaneous" category).  Most of all, I love how they remind me of how much I do love my current job, even though I really miss teaching.


The Funny
"It was cool to you that you came and wasted your time on us."
"I liked that we could walk in class and I learned many cool seal facts.  Your friend, E."
"Gracias for the awesome presentation (gracias=thank you)."  
"I hope you get to find the muscles you were looking for."
"Learning that you went to college in Texas made me interested."
"It was amazing like no lie."
"I had much more fun than usual in science."


The Inspiring
"I want to be a biologist like you."
"I very much appreciate you coming and telling us what you do in your life.  It actually made me second guess my career and become one as well!  I've never been so interested in seal in my life!"
"Thank you for coming.  You inspired me to be a marine biologist.  Now I know the difference between seals and sea lions."
"I kind of want to be like you.  It is a very interesting job and it looks like fun."
"I want to work with animals as an adult and you make that dream stronger."
"You are a big inspiration on me because when you came and started to talk to us about what you do, it gave a big impact on me.  When I get older I hope to grow up to be a marine biologist like you and study the elephant seal."
"P.S. I want to be like you when I get older."
"I loved how you seem so interested in all these types of seals.  That's really interesting how someone can love their job for not only what they do but for how you have fun."

The Don't-Fit-In-Another-Category

"I have a question: Do you speak Latin?"

"I personally liked asking questions the best because you answered a lot of the unanswered questions I had in my head."

"P.S. I'm going to SDSU too!"

"It would be cool if we went whale watching."

"Also, I was the kid who was asleep in class.  I'm sure you thought I was bored but I was not.  I was really interested in your knowledge.  I actually decided to go to sleep at 2:00am and then had to get up at 6:00am so it was my fault."

"Thank you, love you!"

The Pictures

I think the picture is of a skull.  Or a ghost.

Underneath the letter, R. wrote
"P.S. I'm from San Antonio, Texas."

Learning To Sew, Project 1

I used to know the basics of sewing with a sewing machine.  They were:

1.      Put fabric under the needle

2.      Push the foot pedal down

3.      Sew in a semi-straight direction

4.      If anything goes wrong, call Mom

These skills were used to create some real sewing gems, including a blanket made of mismatching left-over fabric, a lumpy pillow, and stunning outfits. 

An example of one of my many stunning outfits

However, I have not sewed anything in many years.  This did not seem likely to change until I received a Singer sewing machine this Christmas from my mother-in-law.  Upon learning of my gift, my mom bought me a book to teach me to sew—Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew, One Project at a Time.  The book is laid out so that you start with easy projects learning the skills you need in order to make the more complicated projects later on in the book.  In theory, I agree with this idea 100%.  In practice, however, I’ve discovered that I first have to make several boring projects before I can make fun things like throw pillows and skirts.

My new sewing machine

In Chapter 1 of the book I learned about the overwhelming number and types of tools that are used in sewing.  I bought with the items listed as essentials (such as a seam ripper, measuring tape, and a pincushion) but have not yet opted to buy the optional, suggested items (such as a cutting mat and acrylic ruler).  I learned that nice sewing scissors are expensive, which is why my sisters and I got in trouble when using them to cut construction paper, doll hair, and cardboard (although in our defense, the scissors did a really nice job on all of these).  Also, to my surprise, pin cushions are still in the shape of a tomato.  I now own a matching one to my mom.  I also picked out a blue and brown checkered flower pattern fabric for my first sewing project.

In Chapter 2 I had to learn how to turn on the machine (check—easy, peasy), thread the machine (check—been there, done that) and wind the bobbin (wait—what?).  Apparently, I had always relied on my mom to do the winding the bobbin thing, so it was a brand new adventure.  After making a huge tangled mess of thread twice, I finally successfully wound my first bobbin and was ready to move on.

In Chapter 3 I learned all about different types of fabric.  I also learned that you have to use an iron a lot in sewing—and I can now distinguish between pressing (lifting the iron up and down) and ironing (moving the iron in a side-to-side direction).  I don’t like either.  Also in Chapter 3 I was instructed to make a sampler of the different stitches my machine can do.  Realizing that my particular machine has 99 different stitches, I decided to sample a few of my personal favorites.  The first sampler had to be thrown away after it got stuck in the sewing machine, and I had to wrestle it out through pulling and hacking with scissors.  The second sampler was much smoother.

My second sampler

Finally, in Chapter 4, I was ready to start my very first sewing project as an adult (drum roll please): “Fancy napkins with mitered corners”.  Now, I know I give off the impression of being very fancy and formal, but I only use cloth napkins at nice restaurants.  Therefore, this project did not capture my imagination.  But, the author insisted that I needed to learn the skills of stitching in a straight line, mitering corners, pivoting, and edge finishing.  So, I stitched in (semi) straight lines, mitered corners, pivoted with ease, and finished the edges, and I am now the proud owner of four very fancy cloth napkins. 

The final product!

The author also assures me that I will never go back to paper napkins again, but since Sean and I rarely use napkins anyway (and when we do they are paper towels), I’m not convinced.

Next project: Picnic place mat with bias-bound edges.  

An Evening at the Opera

Last night Sarah and I went to see the Moby Dick opera at the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego. Through a very generous donation to SDSU, Sarah was able to get us seats in the Mezzanine for just $5 a ticket. We also attended a short talk before the play about how the opera was created and some of the nuances of the music and the arias.

The speaker mentioned that, since Moby Dick takes place on a ship, all of the songs and accompaniment crest and trough like waves. I feel like this wave metaphor translates nicely to how the evening went.

When Sarah told me that she bought us tickets to the opera, my first thought was “Why me!?” I have to admit that most of my preconceived notions of opera were based on television shows – images of rotund women belting out songs in a foreign language come to mind. As the evening drew closer, I warmed up to the idea of, at the very least, getting dressed up nice and taking my wife out for some culture. I’ll admit, when we were in our fancy clothes, standing in the theatre lobby, I was excited.

The lecture before the show was an added bonus. I know very little about music and even less about opera, so it was nice to have somebody knowledgeable explain the subtleties. I now know that Moby Dick, the opera, is very Puccini-esque. It was also a new experience to see San Diego’s opera going sub-culture (to be a member, you must have white-hair). At this point, I was very excited about the opera, and I distinctly remember telling Sarah that we should go to the opera again sometime.

After the lecture, the same generous donation that paid for the majority of our tickets, hosted a small reception of gourmet appetizers and desserts for the SDSU students and their dates. There were meatballs, cream-cheese filled filo-pastry, peanut chicken, caprese skewers, a lettuce leaf with goat cheese, brownies, and appropriately whale cookies. I was completely sold on the opera – style, culture, and delicious finger food!

The first 15-minutes of the opera were incredible. I was very impressed that these performers were filling this enormous concert hall with no amplification. Then I realized that they were singing when they could have just been talking; saying something as simple as “Raise the sails!” takes 40 seconds.

As it turns out, I can only appreciate great singing for 15-minutes at a time, which is why I like musicals, but not opera. I am sure the rest of the graph is self-explanatory.

Harry Potter Land!!!!

A life dream came true for four of us the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We went to HARRY POTTER LAND in Orlando, Florida!!!  [For all of you Sean fans out there, Sean unfortunately is not a part of this story.  That just means I'll have to go again with him!]


The four of us:
Jessica: Lab mate at SDSU, dear friend, and Hufflepuff House
Luisa: Teach For America friend, flew in from Delaware, Gryffindor House
Samantha: Former SDSU lab mate, dear friend, Hufflepuff House
Me: Goofball, enthusiast extraordinaire, Ravenclaw House

Ready for this life experience to begin!!!

From the parking lot at Universal Studios, we could see Hogswarts castle!  This meant that I wanted to run the entire way there.  This was not actually possible (something about having to buy tickets first).

Can you see it?  Can you see it?

After buying our tickets, we quickly wound our way through Dr. Seuss-land (which would have been a lot cooler if it wasn't between us and HP Land).

Directions to Harry Potter from Seuss Land

And, finally, FINALLY, we were there.  Diagon Alley in Hogsmeade lay before us in all of its wintery glory!

Outside of Hogwarts!

The first thing you see when you walk in is, of course...

The Hogwarts Express

And the shops of Diagon Alley!

We pretty much ran from one store front to another (starting with Zonko's).

The girl had eaten Puking Pastilles!

The Owl Post, complete with owls!

Luisa entering Honeydukes!

Outside the Three Broomsticks, where
we of course had lunch!

The inside of the shops was, if possible, even more wonderful!

Wearing our respective house colors

Inside Zonko's Gift Shop

Honeydukes with its amazing candy assortment,
including blood and acid pops (which I'm holding)!

We saw both the Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang students perform...

The strong Durmstrang students

The lovely Beaubaxton students

and even got to meet them!

After exploring Hogsmeade, we ventured up to Hogwarts,

A sign pointing the way

Jess and her butterbeer leading the way!

which was, of course, magical!

Dumbledore's office guardian!

The Mirror of Erised!

A room of moving, talking pictures!

We drank butterbeer,

Jess's commemorative mug

tried out wands

Sam holding the ELDER wand

Testing whether or not the want chose us (this one didn't)

(in some cases buying a wand),

Luna Lovegood and I have the same wand
(even though no two are exactly alike, obviously).

rode broomsticks, 

I think I chose the wrong size broom...

and ate delicious Bertie Bots Beans

and disgusting Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans. 

And, when the time (eight hours later) came to go, I did not handle it well.

"I don't want to go!"

But, then, neither did Luisa!  (Ignore the fact that I'm in both pictures!)

Expressing our extreme sadness at having to leave
such a magical, magical place!

While it was very bittersweet leaving the Wizarding World to return to the Muggle world, I know that as a true wizard, I'll be back (hopefully with Sean too next time).

Library Shame

It might be shocking to some of you, but not very many esteemed engineering graduate schools also specialize in marine (mammal) biology. One of the rare exceptions is Oregon State University, which has an excellent marine mammal program and a respectable mechanical engineering department. With all that (both of the criteria satisfied), how could Sarah and I not apply to OSU?

The application for OSU was unlike any of the other applications I filled out that year. Most applications can be completed entirely online – transcript requests, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation are all submitted electronically. Apparently the state of Oregon exists in a space-time paradox where it is perpetually 1993 (just like that movie Groundhog Day, where coincidentally it is also perpetually 1993). The OSU applications required that I go to Trinity and pick up a transcript in person, then photocopy (not scan) it twice, then mail (not fax and definitely not email) those copies to the admissions office. If I recall correctly, their online application was only compatible with Netscape Navigator.

I used to love watching the animated logo.

Being lazy, as I am, I did not want to stray far from my apartment to make the already inconvenient photocopies. I racked my brain for minutes before I realized that there is probably an old Xerox machine at the library down the street. The Tobin Library was maybe two blocks away from my apartment, and while I had never been there before, I was exactly right that like every other public library, it contained an old coin-operated copier.

See?  The library really is not very far away.

I thought that the library would probably be empty on a Tuesday at 4pm, but instead it was filled with preteens. Apparently the Tobin library is where Garner Middle School students go after school until their parents come to pick them up. With all the adolescents talking and yelling and loitering and using the computers (some might have even been reading) the librarian was completely swamped, so I decided I could find the copier on my own.

The Tobin Library information window conveniently covered Garner Middle School.

As I wandered through the shelves, I soon realized that I was being followed by a guy dressed in a white shirt and black pants. He couldn’t have been a day older than 18 and as I rounded the next corner I got a good look at him. He was extremely skinny, had a patchy mustache, and his shirt indicated that he was “Library Security.” On the scale of intimidating security, where the secret service is listed as the most intimidating, library security is the complete opposite end of the spectrum. This guy’s job is to protect books that the library loans out for FREE.

The intimidation scale.

I remember thinking, once I’d found the copier, “Why is that guy watching me? Do I look like I am going to steal some books or something?” Then it dawned on me – I was a single adult male in a library full of unsupervised children. Worst of all, since I couldn’t find the copier right away, I had been lurking in the shelves! I was that SKETCHY GUY!! How do you explain to a security guard that you’re not really a creep without sounding like more of a creep?

Once my copies had finished, I quickly left the Tobin Library never to return again.