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.