In the meantime...

A new blog post is sooooo overdue. I know. It's been hectic now that I've been taking more challenging classes and (surprise!) applying myself. :)
So chew on this for a bit as I get a giant update prepared.

http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/Medical-Guide/Annual-2009/Good-Grief/

I broke it.

Well that was a quick two weeks!

I dropped my Biology class, much to my disdain. It was the right choice, though, since the entire first two weeks covered the Chemistry of biology. It's been years since high school chem so it was, well, terrifying. I'm going to take Chem during the first summer session, then Bio during the second session. So not all is lost -- more time to focus on Economics.

I went back to see the sports medicine doctor for a quick progress check for my wrist. She squeezed and pinched and it was awful. Two weeks after my accident and my hand was still noticeably swollen. After another series of x-rays, she concludes that I FRACTURED SOMETHING. More specifically, I fractured my Scaphoid bone. This little guy:

It's the most difficult one to break, and it heals the slowest. Of course! I've got a lovely white cast now. I've never had a cast, so it's been a huge adjustment. I am proud to report that I am still capable of doing dishes and cleaning the house. But that's probably because no one else will do those things ::hint hint::
I'll be going to an orthopedic doctor on M0nday to assess the severity of the fracture, but I'm fairly sure I'm looking at 6-8 weeks of slavery to the cast. It's not even cute. They didn't even have colors to choose from. Stomp stomp stomp

I started a little project on facebook today. In 1998, my father's brother published 2 massive volumes of all the descendents of William Palmer, the first Palmer to have immigrated here from England in 1638. It's crazy. He spent his life working on that thing, and there are probably thousands of Palmers in there, complete with mini-bios and some creepy photos from the late 1800's. I'm not completely certain, but i'm fairly sure that he died right after my father did. So starting from the back of the book (where the living people are) I searched for names on Facebook. At first it was completely fruitless, but then I'd find one person, view their friends, find the siblings.... etc etc. Even without being to view their profiles, I was able find the right people by simply looking for siblings on their friends list. I created a facebook group, and sent each person an invite. It's going to take time to grow, but I think it'll be fun to see the diverse bumch of folks descended from a puritan from England.

Tomorrow is Picnic Day! Elena is driving up from Berkeley and a good time will be had by all. I'm excited.

This post has taken me a good 30 minutes to type. I reaaaaally am tired of this cast. Uy.

Ba-gok!

Week one done.

As of right now, my Biology class terrifies me - in the sense that I am going to have to work hard. But it's also exciting to be thrown into a class in which I cannot simply recall things from high school or use my wits to find a way around going to lecture but still doing well in the course. Kinda nice to be making that sort of transition.

I'm taking a poultry experience course of sorts -- at least that's what I thought it was going to be. In all honesty, I signed up for it because it filled a gap in my schedule perfectly, is only 3 units, and seemed interesting.

Then I realized that this course is only open to 2 students, and the location is off campus... but close to home! It's about a mile south of the house, in an area that I hadn't yet explored. This is the bike ride:


On my way to the facility, I passed the UC Davis airport (it does exist!) and a few creepy, abandoned buildings. When I finally got there, it seemed empty. I disinfected my shoes and wandered around a bit. Eventually I stumbled upon the kitchen area, where my instructor was enjoying a bowl of chicken soup.
I immediately thought to myself, "You dedicate your lives to them, and yet you eat them. I'm glad you aren't a pediatrician!"

My first day was supposed to be an orientation followed by a tour of the facility, but since some chicken research people had called in sick, we headed to campus to clean chicken cages. "It's your lucky day!" she told me. I found myself decked out in scrubs, a lab coat, overboots, and a face mask. I really wish I could have taken a picture of myself because I looked like I was part of a hazmat team.


I rolled eggs and cleaned up chicken poop for 2 hours. I know this sounds like a terrible time, but I had fun. I haven't had much up close and personal experience with chickens, so I found amusement in the occasional "ba-gok!" sounds and egg-laying. I also learned that commercial egg-laying hens have a lifespan of 2 years, and then they are "culled". Gotta love euphemisms. These hens came from a commercial farm, but instead of getting culled, they were sold to the university for research. "How nice." I thought.
Then I found out that they were going to be culled in two weeks. So much for borrowed time.

So that was that.

I'm taking a stupid math placement test tomorrow, something that I've been putting off. I took this thing last summer and didn't pass -- because I couldn't remember squat about factoring polynomials and all those lovely algebraic details that you learn in high school. But I need to pass it in order to take Chemistry this summer... so not passing is not an option this time around.

But before I go, here's a delicious recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes
I made the Lime, black bean and rice version. I highly recommend it!

I believe I can fly... and land painfully.

I flew off my bike on Saturday afternoon.
I was riding past the pavilion on campus, where there were about 500 people attending some robotics convention thing. So I managed to weave in and out of people, and as soon as my path cleared, I sped up. Of course, I wanted to get the hell out of all the commotion. I entered a bike circle and there was someone on the outer edge of it, so without thinking, I swerved slightly left. My left pedal, meanwhile, was coming back down and embedded itself on the curb that lines the inside of the circle. This caused my bike to come to a complete stop...however, I did not. I took flight over the handlebars, landed on my wrists and belly (finally, it does something for me!) and because my feet were still attached to the bike, it promptly came down on me and landed a few feet in front of me. I laid there for a second, on the nice warm pavement, in a shock induced nirvana state. Do I really want to get up? The sun was so nice and warm.
Turns out that robotics convention was for middle- schoolers. I found myself surrounded by 20 pre-teens armed with band aids, good intentions, and too many questions.
"Can you get up?" "Can you move?" "Is your back okay?"
"Can you give me a second? I just flew off my bike."
"Sorry! Do you need ice?"
"Probably."
Some paramedics were nearby and bandaged me up and sent me on my merry way. It wasn't until I got home that things started to really hurt. I basically felt like I got hit by a bus -- everything was sore. I couldn't use my hands for anything, and I had unexplained bruises in weird places.

A few x-rays and many anti-inflammatories later, I am happy to report that nothing is broken... I'm just a little beat up. I've regained use of my right hand so I am not so dependent on Mark to open doors and bottles for me. My left hand is still badly sprained but I'll be good to go in far time. All that was lost was a little bit of pride and half of my big toenail. Lovely. The whole reason I was on my bike that day? I wanted to buy some delicious broccoli from the farmer's market.

Spring quarter began yesterday. So far, I am optimistic about my classes and am motivated to work my ass off. I suppose everyone starts the quarter that way -- but I intend to keep this mentality for the next few months. These grades are my currency, the salary I earn in exchange for attending school. I know that I've worked hard for crap pay... so the logic is that I should be perfectly capable of busting my ass for something much more important in the long run... right?

Tuesdays provide me some nice free time between classes to take a break and get some sunshine. My original plan was to continue the nap that I began in my morning Microeconomics class, but it's much too pretty of a day to close my eyes.

Off to class!

oh man oh man...

...Winter quarter GPA: 3.72

sweeeeeeet.

Heavenly Broccoli

I made the most beautiful broccoli for dinner tonight, and just had to share:

It was $2 a pound at the farmer's market, so not only was it delicious and so very pretty, it was also organic, local, and cheap. The holy grail.

I'm on spring break, which has been a lot of spring cleaning and sleeping in. Right now I'm going to sip some tea and watch TV... but tomorrow I'll be back here for a mid-March report. Danielle says I need to blog more often (like, when things are good) so I am going to get on that.

A sigh of Relief and the Smell of... cedar.

Ah, Friday. I'm finally sitting at the computer, wasting time and not feeling guilty about it. Usually I am sitting here, with some massive amount of homework to be done, yet I find myself chatting with Danielle, planning the classes I am going to take for the next few years, making grocery lists, reading up on health news, and generally being productive -- while putting off the task at hand.
But today is different. There are no deadlines. In fact, all that's left is finals, which are in about a week and half. That means I can enjoy my weekend and, um, put things off until next week! Hooray!

In other news, Mrs. Socks is adorable. As I started typing this, she managed to squeeze her zaftig self under the desk and is sleeping at my feet... something that she's never done. It's extra cute since she's always refused to snuggle and has been the independent type all her life.

We also bought her a new bed from Costco... and it's fantastic. We kinda underestimated the size of it, though, but it seems to be working out just fine. It has cedar in it, so the house has been smelling of the lovely combination of cedar and dog farts. Like... a rotting forest. We're hoping the recent change from lamb to chicken based food will help. I'll be sure to update you on the status of the smell in news to come.

In real news, Diego is going to be a blood donor for the UC Davis VetMed Teaching Hospital. We took him in last week to have some blood drawn to see if he'd qualify, and today they let me know that his bloodwork was normal and that he's the universal donor type. The impressive part is that he'll be awake while he donates,something that I've never seen - we used to knock the dogs out when we'd take their blood at my last job. So that'll be fun to watch. (They said I could!) On a selfish note, he got $300 worth of bloodwork done. Yay on saving money! Also... every time he donates, they give away goodies, so everybody wins.

I've concluded that every quarter, there will be a class that makes me obnoxious. Last quarter, it was wine making. This time around, it's my nutrition class. I'm fairly certain that Mark avoids this topic at all costs because once I get started, I can't shut up. It's the product of having to read so many medical journals and clinical trials.. "Mark! We need to take more omega-3's! We need to eat this and we need to avoid that and did you know...blah blah blah" I mean, it's all good stuff, but I tend to get carried away.

I still can't believe it's March.
And I still love Davis! Someone pinch meeeeee!

Whaaaaat?

What the hell? I'm going to be 24 this month.
Although I'd love to put off the paper that i'm supposed to be writing by ranting and raving about how time flies, there is a much more important issue here:

March 19. Send gifts.

Back to work!

Writing everything down

I've been back and forth on whether or not I wanted to blog about my current weight adventures, mostly because in the past, it has been my goal to just lose weight and be done with it. Around this time last year, I was mildly successful; I lost like 15 pounds on a strict no carb diet. Soon thereafter, I lost my motivation, and then I started losing my hair. And then the weight came back... and to this day, the shower drain reveals that I'm still short a lot of hair!
Gone are the days where I can eat whatever I want and not worry about the health consequences. Add to that being tired of carrying around extra weight, memories of my father's heart related problems, and my current nutrition class, and I've got the perfect motivation to not just lose weight, but most importantly, to be healthy. You know, stick around here for a while.


A week ago, I began keeping track of everything that I eat. Everything. That, in itself, has been the best teacher of all... having the numbers right in front of me really helps me make better food choices. The sad truth is, almost anything that I don't personally prepare is either high in calories, fat or sodium. I cringe at the thought of the things that I ate before without even consulting the nutrition label, or paying attention to serving sizes!
I've been tracking my meals on livestrong.com (for freeeee!) and I've managed to convince Mark to do the same.
So here's the difference: I am not paying attention to my weight. Maybe in a month or so I'll report my weight loss, but for now, my priority is to get my cholesterol and triglycerides down.
I had blood drawn about 2 weeks ago, and I got my results back today. It's a wake up call, for sure. I'm not even into fried foods and I always avoid things that are blatantly terrible, and yet my was cholesterol was 227, and my triglycerides were 363... both on the high side. I'm posting these things here because it makes me more accountable to take control of these numbers and bring them down.
So in the ultimate disregard of my own privacy for the sake of motivation (ha!), you can view what I'm eating and how my little journey is coming along here: Food Diary

And that's the latest in the life of Michelle!
And now... what to eat?

Tour of California

We woke up this morning to crazy gusts of wind, rain and cold. It's the worst day to take a bike ride, for sure... but the Tour Of California started anyway. We skipped the idea of going downtown and simply walked down the street to cheer the riders on.
(You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Marky

People kept darting across the street when the cop had his back turned, much to his disdain.

Cold... but still excited!

Don't forget extra tires...

Here they come! aaaagh!

Is that Lance? eh? eh? I think it is.
*edit* That's totally him. Yellow and black helmet.

No mercy on stray toes... they were SO CLOSE!

Extra Bikes

And that was it!

It was all of like, 20 seconds, but still really neat. I felt like a little kid.


I LOVE DAVIS OMG OMG

:)

You can follow the race here

All over the place

My house finally sold.

It's a bizarre feeling; mostly relief, with a touch of nostalgia, and a tiny voice that echoes, "Now what will you call home?" But the lack of responsibility overrides this. How nice it is to finally not have to worry about a mortgage and all the lovely added expenses of being a homeowner. I'd love to own a home again someday, but next time, by choice.
So... I don't know. I don't have a sense of home anymore, at least not the way my peers do. My home is here in Davis now, but I still don't know where everything is, and I miss the mastery that only growing up in a town can bring. Visiting the desert will probably expose my true feelings about all this -- I mean, 500 miles is a very convenient buffer and I'm very much removed from it all.

Except I still miss my father these days. Every time someone says,"He'd be so proud!", it makes me happy for second, then I realize that yeah, he would be... but he's not here. As much as I'd like to use that as my motivation, he's not here, and there is no substitute for that deep bellied laugh and bear hug that I once relied on.
It doesn't bother me on a daily basis; in fact, it is a rare evening that I find myself with tears in my eyes. For the most part, I feel like just another student on campus... until I hear others referring to their parents. And because I am a freshman, I am surrounded by 18 year olds -- so there's a lot of college adjustment and parental involvement issues. Students that are legally independent yet so very very very dependent on their parents, whether they'd like to admit it or not. It's almost reassuring to know that I don't have to answer to anyone, and that my motivations to be in school are solely my own, without any external pressures or expectations. Then again, my father was not one to parent that way anyway, so with him dead or alive, I'd still have the freedom to find my own way in life.

Wait a minute... am I actually glad to be an orphan? God no. I'm just all the more appreciative of the dad I had. Some parents are friggin' crazy. And some of their kids are.. well, oblivious to life outside of school. It's kind of nice to be among them, to feel like a carefree student... with a smirk on my face. Anytime I feel like I've gotten a slow start, I remember that I'm already done with some of the most difficult parts of life.

On a much lighter note... The Tour of California starts tomorrow right here in Davis. Mark wants to go check out the crowd in the AM... then we'll probably come home and camp out on the corner, because the race route passes right by our neighborhood. Should be fun!

If I want to get up before 10 am, I'd better go to bed.

The consequence of going to bed late?

I lose my spot.

Ah, yes, Diego loves the bed. He's a pillow hog, loves blankets, and is basically much like a small child. There's a three part begging process to be let up on the bed, and he executes each step with great skill.

1. The Stare
This can vary from pathetic looking to downright goofy, depending on my mood.
My first line of defense: Avoid eye contact.
His response: Loud sighing/snorting.

2. The Heavy Head
Usually accompanied by one paw and loud exhales, he is clearly looking for the sympathy vote.
My second line of defense: "I'll pet you, but that's it."
His response: Shivering. I'm not kidding. He can make his teeth chatter. Loudly.

3. The Heavy Head to the Max
This simply involves getting closer, utilizing the stare from Step 1, and maximizing step 2.
Most important, though, is the addition of the wet nose to warm human flesh technique, which is not ignorable.
There is no line of defense for this.
His Response:

PILLOW.

But when there are two humans on the bed, there really isn't any room left for an 80lb doberman. But he tries anyway. The thing is, he has his own bed at the foot of our bed. Mrs. Socks has no problem sleeping there -- she's a bear when it comes to sleeping. Diego, however, goes through the same process every night.
He takes his spot on his bed, and we turn off the lights. A few moments later, footsteps. He goes over to Mark's side and nudges him. "GO LAY DOWN!" is the usual command. Footsteps again... he even walks over his bed, giving us hope that he listened to Mark. Sure enough, the steps continue over to my side of the bed. But his approach is slightly different when it comes to his mother; he puts his nose as close to my face as possible. Imagine now, complete darkness -- and a giant dog breathing ever-so-quietly on your face. I hold still and try not to laugh as he puts his nose on MY EYE SOCKET. Where did he learn this?? "GO TO BED! GO LAY DOWN!"
And, like a sullen 4 year old, he makes the 5 ft walk to his bed, turns around 47 times to find the perfect spot, and plops down with a loud, disgruntled sigh.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Socks sleeps.
And she farts... loud. Like an old lady should be entitled to.

Mid-January Update

I do these things to crack myself up. If it makes you laugh, then it's even better.
You can make your own Shepard Fairey-ish Obama poster here.

So... here we are. It's almost the end of week 2 of school, 8 weeks left, and I am on top of everything. Everything. It's fantastic. Last minute, half-assed schoolwork is now a thing of the past. I've come to realize that I could have done better last quarter, and should have. For now, I will just blame it on having to get used to school again. You know, I had to get back into the routine. There. I've made my excuse and I am sticking with it. One excuse is acceptable. Excuses are what get you into trouble. My first quarter was more about learning non-academic things, like "how to bike in the rain" and "where the hell is my next class?" Also... where not to eat on campus, when to get free samples from the bakery, and how to avoid crazy LaRouche-ers on the quad.
So I'm generally happy about it overall. And now that I've exhausted my excuse, I am doing a lot better. So far, doing well is more choice than ability.

I'm biking a minimum of 6 miles daily... my legs are so buff, but sadly, I have not lost weight. I've noticed that I'm a lot hungrier than I used to be (hence my lovely poster up there) so I'm going to assume that it is a result of my increase in activity. So... perhaps I am consuming all the calories that I burn, and without any sort of deficit, the weight is staying on. I've got a doctor's appointment later this month (hallelujah health insurance!) so ideally I'll be getting a complete checkup, something I've never had in my adult life.

I'm considering volunteering at the UCDVetMed hospital because I need to be reminded of what my goals are. I've had a lot of "What do I REALLY want to do?" moments since I've started school, because everything I am learning is interesting to me (except linguistics. okay, it is interesting and I see why it is important, but... I couldn't handle it. I love you Danielle.) So then I wonder: people medicine? law? vet school? art history? (just kidding!) I think that being around animals again would surely get my heart back into the right place. There's just so much to do.... what do I want to be when I grow up? I suppose I don't really have to decide. I'll just get the grades that will enable me to have many options to be decided upon later. It's a very productive form of procrastination.

So for now, I am trying to come up with a nice weekend adventure to take advantage of the 3-day weekend.
aaaaaand that's about it. Life is good.

Thank goodness..

...December is over. I made it, I made it, I made it.

I think the secret to not being miserable over the holidays was to finally drop the expectations and hopes of recreating the holidays as they once were, before the deaths, when there was a family, when it was happy without any effort. And of course, having moved out of my childhood home made things a lot easier; the echo of my father's laughter is not audible 500 miles away. I am now able to start my own traditions instead of relying on the Christmases of past, something that I am looking forward to doing from now on.

I am a little regretful that I didn't track my progress on here... I've just been absent. Part of it is my own need to grit my teeth and get through everything completely before finally looking back, and part of it is the fact that my little sister has been here for the past week and I've just been off the computer. She flies out Sunday morning and i'll be back into my routine on Monday.

I was hoping to write about all the things that have been going on for the past few weeks, but I can't remember everything. Okay, here's my excuse: There was a lot of traveling, a lot of emotional ups and downs (but, as I mentioned, far less than usual) and lots of sister-entertaining... and today's day-long headache. Combined, these things have caused some memory loss. I really should go to bed.

I'm thinking a December Recap in Photos might do the trick.

I am going to read this tomorrow and laugh at how all over the place my writing is.