Some Spring

My apologies Stephanie for not posting.  Will you forgive me for having some boring snow filled months and our internet down?  (Excuses, excuses....)  Let me just put here that Rachel is very talented at sucking her toes.  Stephanie - your slide show was awesome, it made me want to start planning our crown 9er reunion so we can all partake in the fun.  Wendi - I want to hear more about what you think of the culture and happenings out East.

So here we are on the second day of spring with fourteen inches of snow predicted.  Granted, as I write this we have only gotten seven, but more is to come.  I was watching the news and most Good Friday services as well as egg hunts have been canceled.  Additionally, as I was driving home from work I hit a stretch of ice on the highway - I had little trouble stopping but I saw the trailer of the semi two-hundred feet behind me slide out uncontrollably as the driver tried to bring his vehicle to a stop.  Knowing there was nothing but air between his vehicle and mine was a bit scary, but all was well (other than the three car accident in front of us).

 

(View from our apartment mid-storm)

I've managed to pick up several extra days working lately at various offices around town.  At one office near the UWM campus I met the coolest molecular biology professor.  We had a great conversation during his appointment and he explained his research to me.  He even invited me to his lab to see the photobacterium he works on.  Since I was so close I decided to go.  After finally finding the lab he showed me around and had already streaked my very own agar plate with Photobacterium phosphoreum - a bacteria isolated from the gut of fish find in Oregon.  We chatted a little while, talked about music and his daughter in son-in-law in the Twin Cities.  I then left and let my bacteria grow.  After one day if you took it into the dark it shone bright blue.  (Think blue in the same brightness and color as a blue glowstick.)   tried to take a picture, but it was in the dark - sorry.  You'll just have to take my word for it, it was awesome.  There are few things as fun as getting geeks together to talk about stuff they love - I know you are all jealous.

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(The Agar plate - this picture doesn't do it justice.)

Other highlights of the past month have included a visit from my Grandmother Pat.  I hadn't seen her in about six years and she had never been to Wisconsin before.  She finally got to meet Jason and we introduced her to the game of Catch Phrase, so good times were had by all.  The same day she visited I was able to get Jason and I tickets to the Milwaukee Ballet.  They were showing Shakespeare's "A Midnight Summer's Dream."  The set was amazing and the music wonderful.

  Grandma Pat

In February I took a bus for a day trip to the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting.  I was overwhelmed with what a huge convention it was.  I spent four hours walking the convention floor and didn't even get close to seeing half of it.  Think of that like Disneyland for Dentists, you wait in line to learn about the newest products, everything from toothpaste to lasers.  I then went and listened to a lecture on pediatric diagnoses, hopped back on the bus provided by a dental supply company to get home.

We are now approaching the high school musical season.  My sister and I caught the musical "Once on this Island" at one of the local schools.  It was between that one or Les Miserables.  Since Rachel hadn't seen either she decided we should go to one we have never heard about since we wouldn't have any expectations.  The students did a very good job and I will even say there were some outstanding performers in it and some very clever choreography.  It was also pretty fun to know that I had met some of the students in the musical as patients at work.  I'm really looking forward to settling down in one area someday; taking part of the community and supporting the people in it on a long term basis.  I feel like so much of my recent life has been hellos and goodbyes without much development in between.  At least we will be in one place for the next four years. 

 

It couldn't be anymore official that we are moving back to Minnesota.  I'm looking forward to it despite the cold that comes along with the deal.  The summers are amazing though and we'll be in back in plenty of time for the state fair.  My art class is going well, I am definitely learning lots.  I'm currently working on my very own composition, while it's not finished I think it's turning out close to what I had envisioned.  Here's another completed landscape assignment for your viewing pleasure.