All work and very little play

I will try to make this post more than just work related.

Work is starting to get really busy.  And as I watch the final years starting to write up, I am so beyond thankful I have been writing these past 2 years.  It looks like a chapter every 2 weeks will be submitted and if that's the case in a years time, I will be good to go.  I need to make some minor corrections before submitting it to supervisors, but I think it is going well.

Everyone in the lab has had supervision meetings the past few weeks.  Mainly to go over results and planning on thesis chapters.  My meeting was 4 hours long.  Not sure if that is good or bad, but from what I hear from one of my supervisors, it is very good.  They were very pleased with the 72 pages of results and the fact that there is a possibility of something new being discovered.  They were so pleased they gave me cell work for my final year.  Cells and I don't get along.  Dumb cells, keep dying on me.  Not really sure why, but one day they are there and the next they disappear.

I have also been asked to help one of the new PhD students get her project started... which means dissection!  I'll spare the details on what I was able to dissect, but it made me happy and I think my supervisors were pleased.  It's nice to be asked to dissect and teach dissection to people.  Plus I can proudly say, I am good at it.  May be awful at cells, but I rock at dissections.  Now I just need to find a job where I can dissect all day, every day....

I had my first poster (as a PhD student) in a conference.  It went well.  Not many asked questions about it, as I think the picture of the mouse seemed to move people away from my poster vs. bringing them to it.  But it was ok.  My poster looked good.  Maybe next time the mouse picture will bring more people, LOL.

And now I have another meeting this upcoming week.  I think it will be ok.  Even though I have missed a few days with the conference, I think getting there at 6 am to do some work makes up for it.  Yeah?  Maybe?

Outside of work... not much has really happened.  After my long meeting, 3 of us ordered pizza and watched Netflix in the office.   If you have not watched Kim's Convenience on Netflix, you are missing out.   We stayed at work mainly because there are really comfy sofas in the building lobby and no sofas in our flats.  But it was great fun celebrating that meeting being over.

I did have 2 sorority sisters that came to visit.  They were on holiday in Ireland and we met up in Belfast.  It was good to see them, as I haven't seen them for close to 10 years.  We went to Pizza Express (Seems to be a must while in Belfast, LOL) and did some shopping.  I took them to the mall where you can go to the top and see the whole city.  I introduced them to Café Nero.  I really wanted to try Tim Hortons, which I finally found near the end of the trip... but it took a while to find that (Also found Bob and Berts, so win win).

I started the Harry Potter book series.  Shocking I know.  Very different from my usual books of Holocaust, Medical, and autobiographies.  Started it about a month ago and I am about a forth of the way through book 4.  I have been reading them each within a week/week and half... but book 4 is long.  Meme would be happy, as she tried to get Zach to read them when they first came out.  Needless to say, he didn't and I was too stuck in my "I only read Holocaust diaries/stories"

The weather is finally getting cooler.  No more horrible allergies and I can open my windows!



Maybe I am a little bit Irish?!  The people in the shops always comment on how horrible the weather is outside, and I just say I love it!  (Well, minus the awful hot summer).

A placement student and I worked the Portrush Air Show STEM village.  Needless to say not many kids liked trying to put the anatomical model apart and back together.  :(  Oh well.  The student and I are both gluten free so we had a nice lunch at Bob and Berts.  It is great finally having someone else in the office that is gluten free.  Everyone else in the lab brings in cookies to share...  so it has been nice sharing goodies (mainly coffee trips) with her.

Not much of an interesting blog.  I haven't been doing too much, outside of work and reading. 

This tiny little town is really starting to grow on me...  :)

I love what I do.

I'll work my way backwards on this post... but first a rant about this awful weather.

Yeah, I am def. not Irish then. :)  The month of June has made me feel like I was back in Texas.  Holy cow it is hot.  And people here said I should be use to this heat.  I kindly remind them in America we have a thing called air conditioner.  I am spoiled.  I like my a.c.  This 80 degree heat wave, very high pollen, sunlight till 11pm, and no a.c. can end ASAP.  I can't even wish to be back in Scotland as Dundee's weather is just as hot.  And this is the first of 8 really hot days.  Usually the lab is a nice escape from the heat and the on campus accommodation that is still running the heat, but no.  There is no a.c. there.  It's sad when you turn on the water bath to heat something up and it is already at that temperature.  I love going to the cold room.  I take extra time in the cold room.  It is freezing in there and it is amazing!  Looks like I am stocking up on ice packs.  If anyone things springtime in Texas is awful for allergies, please spend the month of June here.  I feel like I am in a room filled with grass, cats, and all of my other allergies.  Texas hay fever seems to have an end point.  This pollen nightmare is constant.  I had 1 bad allergy day in Scotland.  Here I have had almost 2 months.  What is with this?!  This is nuts.  And they don't sell benedryl here.  It is only used for short term sleeping issues and if you say you want it for allergies, get ready for the a 5 minute lecture from the sales clerk at the pharmacy (not even a pharmacist).  I need to move to an igloo bubble.

Today, a friend and I sat outside (shocking I know) and drank a beer and shared some potato chips.  Spur of the moment and both of us hate being outdoors so this was big for both of us.  But it was fun.
It was nice just talking (and sometimes not talking) and laughing, and not thinking about work and drama.

Tuesday, a few us went to Port Stewart for ice cream, and even the restaurants had no a.c., but the ice cream was worth it.   Well I have pictures, but it is not letting me post them.  Maybe the heat has affected my computer too.  Anyways, it was fun.  A nice way to celebrate turning 33.  The frozen yogurt peach was by far amazing!  On my birthday, I had a doctors appointment, but that meant good coffee from town!  :)  It has been a good birthday week.

This past weekend I got told I had surgeon like precision and dissection skills.  It made for a wonderful Friday and Saturday.  I like being known for my amazing dissection skills.  It truly makes me happy.  I think it is because I know I am good at it, I enjoy it, and I am being recognized for it.  I don't mean to brag, but I must say I kick ass at dissecting.  :)  And this is from the girl who in middle school refused to dissect the frog.

A few weeks ago, Prince Charles came to visit this university.  The university went into full lockdown mode, metal detectors, security, dogs, everything. Which meant, no one could enter the building until 8:30am.  I am usually in at 7am on my microscope days, so it was nice to sleep a bit longer. Some of us found out the time he was coming and stood outside with the staff and saw the helicopter land and saw him come out and shake hands.  I saw a Prince!  I was too far away to shake his hand but I got pictures.  And I was in the background photo of the BBC.  My 2 minutes of fame.  He came for the university's 50th year celebration and to plant a tree.

In June I attended 2 conferences and met a girl from Holland and a guy doing a project in Kinesiology and psychology combined.  The guys in stores have some fantasy pool (like March Madness, or Fantasy Football) for the world cup.  I decided to participate and drew a team.  The team I got is Tunisia.  If anything, I learned about a new country I am ashamed to admit I never knew about.  It has been 24/7 world cup talk in the lab.  This is how I feel every time they start talking about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESVjzf4FzyU   (I highly recommend the IT Crowd)  LOL.  Give me hockey.  I like hockey.

I also learned hair dryers are a seasonal item and only sold during the winter.  Mine broke.  All but one store told me they don't sell them right now.  The lady at the store I did finally buy one was shocked when I told her the 3 other stores told me it was seasonal.  Note to self, use that store more often.  What kind of crazy town am I living in that they only sell hair dryers when it is cold outside?!

For the majority of May, I was back in Texas.  Meme passed away :(  And although it was nice to get away and see friends and family, it was really sad.  I must say I have amazing lab co-workers.  The day she died, they took me out for milkshakes and to get my mind off of it and to not think about work.  They looked after my cells.  They are amazing.  Other labs in the building talk about how great it is we help each other out, and we do.  It is great.  We couldn't do it alone.  Meme loved hearing about my mice and my co-workers.  And she liked hearing about my islet tracing and dissections.  She liked hearing about the crazy things a co-worker said because his sense of humour is just like Papa's.  I liked skyping Meme on Saturday's and seeing how popular she was and telling her about the cool things I am doing.  She was awesome.  I think she would be happy to hear I left my flat for my birthday :)  and got to see a Prince, and have surgeon like dissection skills.  We had a nice celebration of life ceremony, with all of Meme's friends and family.  It was a memorable service and the pastor was amazing.  Lauren singing was amazing.  Murphie and I saw an Eagle at the end.  Meme would have liked that...she liked birds.  We had a nice remembrance event the next day where we had Meme's favorite foods and shared memories about each other and of Meme.  It was a nice, meaningful event.  And when mom and I came back from Florida, we had pizza at midnight...for Meme.


I went home, went to Florida, back to Texas, and back here.  So many planes.  I did get to see friends, try some new coffee places, and see family.  It was great catching up with friends.  Spending the night with the kiddos, and getting closer to my cousins.  I learned one of my cousins shares a fascination of forensics.  :)  Truly are family.  I got names favourite aunt among the nieces and nephews since I braved the swimming pool that was freezing.  I got to see my brother who I hadn't seen in a couple of years.  It was truly a bittersweet few weeks.

Meme would have been shocked that I sat outside for an hour in this heat today.  :)  But she would have approved.  And it was with the friend that has Papas's sense of humor so it was nice.

So there we go.  An eventful, whirlwind 2 months.

In general, work is going well.  I did a cell experiment that worked the first time!  Yeah.  Def. prefer a scalpel vs. cells.  I am still writing, and doing tons of histology (islet tracing).  I like my project.

More dissection on Friday.  I was requested by the person to help.  😁  It will make for a good weekend.  Each time I dissect I try to speed up my time and accuracy.  So far I am accomplishing my goal!  Meme would be proud.

Till next time...stay cool and out of the heat.

Happy... Sunday

   

Happy Passover, Easter, and Sunday. 

Evidently, it is hard to find a photo that says "Happy Passover" in Irish, but I tried. 

Unfortunately, not a lot has happened over here. 

In February, Northern Ireland puts on a Science Festival.  Most of the events are in Belfast, so about 2 hours away so I never pay that much attention to it.  But as fate would have it, one of the speakers was a lady from England who is an anatomical pathologist technician.  So, I made the 2 hour journey.  Was the first one there just to make sure I got a front row seat. And since I was a few hours early, yes hours, I had lunch at Pizza Express.  The talk was held in a bar and she said it was so people could drink during the so-called "disturbing" images.  I took notes.  I was fascinated.  I loved it.  She started her talk with, "well, I do not like people...the living ones."  Ahh, my type of person.  She outlined her talk in the steps of an autopsy.  :)  I loved every minute of it.  I got to meet her and talk briefly with her.  She was impressed with my educational background.  I bought her book and she signed it.  She created a dating/networking website for people in the industry.  I joined for the networking aspect... but I never thought I would join a dating website.  It's called Dead Meet... Who knew there were others like me?!  It definitely made me 100% positive that for my future job, I need to be dissecting in some way.  I was told again today what a great dissector I am and asked if I would help dissect on Wednesday.  Happy Easter to me!  Of course I will help dissect!  Love it.  <3 

After the talk I went to see "The Greatest Showman" and loved it.  I have to say, it was 100x better than expected and better than "La La Land" (which I couldn't even get through).  People in Northern Ireland talk through the movies in the theatres.  I don't understand it.  And you can't stare at them to make them stop, because it's a dark theatre.  So, to cope, I thought of the lecture I just heard and her opening line...about not liking people.   But I do recommend the movie.  The music was amazing too. 

March has an event called Sports Relief.  https://www.sportrelief.com/  The community centre held a 2 hour Zumba class.  I have fallen in love with Zumba.  It was great.  The first song was an Irish river dance song (this was the day after St. Patricks Day).  The whole gym went straight into their little formation and on they went to move their legs in ways that I cannot.  And they just did in almost all in unison as if they have been rehearsing it for months.  I, on the other hand, had no clue what I was doing, how to move lower limbs like they were doing.  Luckily one of the last songs was a country line dancing type song... and that, that I could do.  That instructor had all types of music and dances, not just the traditional Zumba stuff.  It was a lot of fun and I wont a free class!  I cannot wait to go. 

That was about it for the fun part of these 2 months. 

Work is going well.  I am in the middle of 3 studies, one with a new drug.  We get a week "off" for Easter.  Basically, the professors and other staff get a week off and the university shuts down.  So, I will use my week to work with the animals and catch up on writing.  Other than that nothing exciting has really happened.  We did get some more snow in Feb/March.  And now the heat is starting to come thorough which means allergies.  The allergies here are just as bad as back home.  How many more months till winter?  ;) 

Hope all is well with everyone.  Hope everyone had a great Passover, Easter, and a good Sunday. 

New Year

Happy New Year. 

I started off 2018 with mom here!  Mom was able to come over Christmas for a whole month.  She attended the lab Christmas dinner and met my supervisors, friends, and other professors.  I think she enjoyed meeting everyone, and putting a face to the name.  :)  Mom also got to meet Megan and have lunch with here.  It is always a good time with Megan.

I had to be in the lab the first week she was here so she rested (despite what she says) and watched some Netflix.   We then started our 2 week stay in Scotland.  I sure have missed Scotland.  We started the time there meeting Helen for dinner.  It was so good catching up and having the French mojitos!  The next morning I dragged mom to Henry's Coffee.  I became addicted to Henry's when I was doing my Masters.  They have the best coffee, and back then they had amazing gluten free muffins.   Sadly the muffins were no more, but the coffee was still amazing!  It was so good meeting my old professors and hanging out with Helen.  We also got to have my coffee flavoured muffins from Muffin Break, so I say Dundee was a huge success in the gluten free department.  Tesco there also carries my gf flatbread that I love and cannot find anywhere else.  The city also has finally finished the bridge to Tesco and the University so that was nice. It was icy, cold, and some snow so we were both happy!  While we were in Dundee we travelled to the Glamis castle/Christmas market, Stirling Castle, and Broughty Ferry.  The Stirling Castle was my favourite, and better than the Edinburgh Castle.  Glamis had food trucks and I can now say I have eaten from a food truck!  There was one that did GF food.  Happy days!  We also had mulled wine, but that was not as exciting as my food from the food truck.  It's the little things in life.  We toured the castle there as they did a Victorian themed tour for Christmas.  In Broughty Ferry the castle is basically a pile of stones, but they were working on it so not much to see.  As we were leaving, I slipped on the drawbridge and landed on my bad ankle.  I had to buy some ankle boots to stabilize my foot, but had to throw away my tennis shoes, which was sad.  Needless to say my ankle is still swollen and sore.  Oh well...good thing I started PT for this foot a few months ago. 

Stirling Castle:


After Dundee we travelled to Edinburgh.  We took a tour from there up to the Highlands and Loch Ness.  We saw Nessie, a Highland cow, a goat, a bunch of sheep, and a red deer.  We had an amazing tour guide who was very informative and stopped if we wanted to see other things or take photos.  Loch Ness was amazing and being on a boat surrounded by snowy mountains was amazing and very cold.  I loved the snow covered mountains.  When we were coming back from Loch Ness it was -2 degrees (Celsius) so the tour guide stopped at an ice cream shop as it is a necessity to try ice cream at -2 degrees in December.  This was one of my favorite tours we have done in Scotland.  We also took a tour to the Rossylan Chapel, which was my favorite place (outside of Dundee).  The Rossylan Chapel was used in the DaVinci Code movie and it was stunning.  While in Edinburgh we also walked through the Christmas market, so many people!  But mom and I did by matching coffee mugs that are made from stone with a place for your thumb...and made from Amsterdam.  I love my mug!  We also took 2 haunted history tours.  The walking one, was hilarious and I would recommend that over the other haunted tours.  He does 2 tours and the one we took was amazing.  The bus one, was ok.  I fell off the bus step and injured the same foot, so I wasn't really interested in the last part of the tour after falling.  I was more concerned with my already injured foot.  Oh well.  One of the last days in Edinburgh, mom wanted to go curling so we did.  We took lessons.  I never paid much attention to that sport, but mom loves it.  And can I just be the first to say, curling is hard.  Who would have thought pushing a stone and sweeping a broom on ice was hard?!  I enjoyed it.  Mom on the other hand, loved it and was really good at it.  I liked pushing the stone, although I landed multiple times on my knee (other leg), and it was very bruised.  I hated sweeping.  If you ever go curling, wear knee pads...and maybe for your first lesson, don't go with mom.  Mom has some powerful stone pushing skills.  She was so good, she made me and the other sweeper girl fall.  Mom was just that good.  I would do it again, if I get knee pads first.  It was a fun night and I know it was the highlight of the trip for mom.

Tour to the Highlands:

While in Edinburgh, they had no Henry's so mom and I had to find a different coffee place for breakfast.  There was this cute café (with amazing coffee) that has some gluten free food, but it was all fresh and organic.  But they take all of their left over food from each day and give it to the homeless shelters.  Reminded us of Mike and his Union church/café.  The world needs more places like this. 

St Giles Cathedral


We left Edinburgh to travel to Glasgow.  Now, the first time mom and I went to Glasgow we weren't impressed.  This time, it was amazing!  People were so friendly.  We had Tim Horton's coffee (Yes, Canadian coffee), muffins, and hot chocolate from a TARDIS.  We didn't plan much for Glasgow but did see Jumanji 2!  It was amazing!  As we were leaving we saw Jamie Oliver's restaurant, but didn't have time to go.  Well, all the more reason to go back. 

Glasgow Christmas market:


Scotland, I love you!  I am ready to go back!

Then we came back to Northern Ireland.  No more snow, ice, or falling.  We went to Derry/Londonderry in the pouring rain.  We met a family from Texas, of all places.  They were nice and stationed (Army) in Rammstein.  Lucky.  We went to Portrush, as I treated mom to a massage for Christmas.  And we walked into Coleraine multiple times.  Sadly, it is not as exciting as Scotland.  But my favorite coffee place in Coleraine just started serving GF breakfast (And without egg!)  Happy days.  On the way back one day from my gf French toast mom, Shruti, and I saw this rainbow that was so strong in color that the colors changed the houses and trees below.  The picture doesn't do it justice:


But you can see the colors on the roof.  Amazing. 

Mom and I celebrated Christmas and we were able to skype family.  Zach came home to surprise the kiddos so it was good to talk to him too.  And can I just say my Christmas gift from Zach and Lauren was by far amazing! 


Now, what brother and Sister in law would send a blanket, let alone have one made for their sister that has the bones on it?!  Mine!  And a hand carved turtle.  Happy Natalie!  My blanket is so warm and I love it.  I am a nerd. 

On boxing day we did some shopping, and the accommodation held a pizza party for those that were here... Free pizza...who could say no. 

We ended the holiday with a trip to Bangor, where we had some food from Sudan and just a good time hanging out with a friend and his family. 

This was a trip of international foods: Indian, British, American, and African. 

The last night we stayed in the Europa in Belfast.  It was a highly bombed hotel during the troubles here.  And a fancy hotel too.  We saw the fish of knowledge and St Patricks church. 

Sadly, mom is back in the states.  No more watching Big Bang Theory and singing with theme song, no more watching Say Yes to the Dress or Come Dine With Me and laughing at random things... and no more unburnt food or dishes being done.  I loved that part.  But I loved having mom here.  It's more fun with mom here. 

So that was December in a cliff notes version. 

I am now back at work and have mice once again.  This set of mice, like my music playlist of Pink, Imagine Dragons, and other pop music.  And today, none of them jumped or tried to escape.  I think singing the songs to them helped calm them.  :)  But ask me about them in 2 weeks and we will see if that is still the case.  They were all good today.  And I can proudly say I did today all by myself in an hour.  In the past when I did animal work I had someone with me usually, but if I did it alone it took about 2 hours.  I think I am getting better.  It also helps having non sexist mice that like the quiet and music I can sing.  I enjoy the animals.  If you would have asked me that a year ago, I never thought I would.  As I usually panicked and ended in tears over those mice.  Now, I prefer to be down there with them.  Maybe if my cell work ever starts to work, I would prefer that.  Oh well. 

I started to read more, not just articles but fun books, for one of my New Years resolutions.  I am halfway done with the book I started on New Years.   

Well, that is about it for now.  Things haven't been too exciting for January as of now...except for well behaved mice.  :) 

I hope everyone had a good holiday season and a happy New Year!  I hope 2018 is a good year for everyone. 

Cheers