Trips

My parents left on their mission trip today. They were headed to South Dakota with a group from their church. They'll be there for a little over a week. By the time they get back home, Jason and I will be in Colorado for a very short vacation. We're meeting some friends of ours that we play World of Warcraft with. Colorado was the most central location for the majority of people and I believe there are about twenty-five people that are going to be there. We're pretty excited! We don't have solid plans as to what we are for sure going to do, but I'm sure we'll have a good time. And yes, we're driving.

New Look

Since Jason was getting tired of being razzed about his gray hair (...Matt), he decided he wanted me to help him dye it. We went to Walmart where Jason picked out a color (natural light golden brown, for all who are interested) and we dyed his hair. He looks more his age now and I think he did a really good job picking a color close to his natural hair. I think he likes it, but is disappointed that his hair grows so quickly and he will need to cut it in a few weeks.

He also rode a friends motorcycle for a little bit today as well. Since we don't have the money for a motorcycle right now, his friend said he could borrow it for a little bit. Jason wants to keep his lessons in mind and has decided it's much easier if he rides a motorcycle every now and then. I did get a some video of it. He had a really good time and can't wait for us to be able to get his own.

We also went to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good. There were quite a few things that were different or left out entirely, but it was still good. I've only read the 6th book once and it made me very emotional, so I haven't read it since. I'm trying to convince myself to read it again, just so I know what's different from the book to the movie. Maybe later in the summer.

Good Luck, Allison

Today was Allison's last day with the Chemistry/Toxicology section and her first day in the Virology section. She still worked with us in Chem/Tox for the day, but she's just moving across the hall. We'll still see her everyday, but we'll still miss her. (We're still going to blame her for stuff though!) We wish her luck in her new position! (That's what she said!)

Tough Times

It's been a really long and emotional week. Last Wednesday I was pulled into our department heads office. I was told that I was a good worker and that he didn't know what was going to happen with the "restructuring" that was planned for the diagnostic lab. He then also told me that if I wanted to apply to other positions in the lab, I was more than welcome to do so. Basically it was his way of saying my job isn't secure and that he wouldn't blame me for wanting to get out. That was the Wednesday my computer didn't work (and why I was so upset about it breaking down).

Monday was the all diagnostic lab meeting where our director ever so gracefully glossed over anything about lay-offs other than that they were trying to eliminate as few positions as possible and the positions that needed to be filled were going to try to go to the people that have already worked in the diagnostic lab. Clear as mud, right? We then had our section meeting shortly after that. (Monday morning flew by.) Once we got done with business, our section head told us our probationary employee (her last day of probation is Friday) will no longer be with us after this week. We all really like and she will be missed, other than all the work she did. So our lab of six technicians, the smallest one in the diagnostic lab, who was really short a person with six, is now down to five. She did apply for a job down the hall, so we're praying for her, but our workload just tripled.

I have updated my resume and have been looking at some positions, not just with Iowa State. I would like to stay with Iowa State, but I know the whole university is feeling the crunch, not just the diagnostic lab. Jason and I keep praying, and I still go to work. I'm working on a project that will hopefully bring more money into our part of the lab, but that's still in progress and may be a few weeks, if not months before it's fully operational. I just hope that my friends and family are doing well. I love you all!

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to wish my dad a very happy birthday! Enjoy your day!!

Up and Running

I have a functioning computer again, thanks to our friend Pete. He took the operating system off my old hard drive and worked for him at his house. Didn't work at our house, so we took the whole computer over. He found a worm and two trojans that have been on the computer for a while. He also found out the power supply didn't work. After switching the power supply out and getting rid of the bugs, it works! Thank you so much Pete! (He's getting his own batch of kringla. It's the least I could do.)

Technology. Isn't it wonderful?

So last night I came home and made egg salad. I put the eggs on the stove to boil and turned on the burner. I left the room and a little while later I smelt something burning. I had turned on the wrong burner and the burner cover over the on burner was starting to burn. I turned the burner off, put some cold water in the sink, grabbed the metal grilling tongs and put the cover in the water. Major crisis averted. Turned on the correct burner and started to cook some eggs.

I went to turn on my computer to start moving some files to a flash drive and to update some files. I turned it on and it won't start because of an operating system error. I call my friend Matt (Jason is still at softball at this point) to see what I should do. The computer wants me to put in the operating system disk so I look for it, find it, and can't get the CD-Rom drive to open. Matt walks me through changing the CD-Rom drive from my computer with his computer (not the first part stolen from it) and we start it again. The computer doesn't recognize it. Long story short, the hard drive from my old computer (the one I had in college) has gone bad. Seeing as it's an old hard drive in computer years, it will only work if it is plugged into a "master" cord. Once we unplug it from the "master" cord, it works fine. That's good! Except that all of our digital camera pictures, bank account information, resumes, and other stuff I use on a regular basis are on my old hard drive. At this point I have taken my computer apart roughly seven times, it's late, I'm hot, tired, and sweaty, and still have to wash the dishes. I deem this project over with for the night.

Jason had come home in the middle of it, before I re-tore apart the computer. Once we got the computer to actually operate, he decided to get on-line to World of Warcraft to see if some of our computer friends are on. They aren't, but does get some help from some of the other computer people that play. This is the point where I decided it's late so I start washing dishes and getting ready for bed. Jason works on it a bit more and finally gets a hold of our friend Pete. Pete has seen this problem before and can help us recover some of the files on the hard drive. It's going to be a long process, but fixable.

This morning, when I got up and out of bed at 7, we had no electricity. It came on again sometime before I had to go to work and was only off for about an hour. So it's been a great 24 hours. I get to look for a new computer while I'm still looking for a new dryer.

Anniversary

It was just a year ago that I started working at the vet college in the VDL in chem/tox. It seems like I've been there forever. Not because it's a bad job, but the other lab techs there welcomed me into their "family" and made me feel at home. It's been wonderful working with these people. They make it worth going to work! Jason and I celebrated last night by going to La Fuente for supper. Hopefully I'll get to work here for many years to come!

Full House

This weekend we had Matt, Pat, and Adam down. We had a really good time and laughed a lot. Saturday night, our other friend Pat and Adam's friend John came over for supper. (Great Plains pizza. Soooo yummy!) We had quite the room full of people. It was difficult to get around the table to the kitchen. (Our living room isn't very big and we don't have a dining room.) It was almost like playing musical chairs.

We did have a lot of good food though. I made blueberry crumb bars, which was a new recipe for me. They were delicious! The sweet corn people were out on the corner as well. They haven't been able to be at our corner since they are putting in new street lights, so it was a wonderful surprise when I got home Saturday that they were out. We grilled brats for lunch on Saturday, and had the sweet corn. It was really good. They are supposed to be done with the construction for the street lights on Monday, so hopefully we'll see the corn people more often after next week.

Raspberries!

Our raspberries are ready! I don't get very many at a time, but it's a start. Here's how many I had today. I think I'll just end up freezing them until I have enough to do something with. There are a lot more red ones out there, so hopefully I'll have enough to make something soon.

Jason finished the door downstairs. It's a little too wide, so it doesn't close all the way, but we don't have the right equipment to get it so it will fit. We'll just have to put that project on hold for now. Zara can't open the door, and that's all that matters.

Jason also decided to shave off his beard. This is only the second time he's done that since he and I have been together. Doesn't he look nice? He was in the middle of talking to me when I took the picture, but he still looks good. I don't know how long he'll keep it like that. Maybe most of the summer.

Zara has been having a lot of fun being able to run upstairs. Jason and I let her run around up there for a little while during the day. She loves sitting in the south window and watching the birds in the trees. Her favorite thing to do is bolt up the stairs and turn and look at you at the landing. She looks at you like "aren't you coming with me?" She does run back and forth up there so it's good exercise for her. She likes to be chased too since there are quite a few hiding spots up there. She's really good about not getting into any of the fabric or the open box of yarn. I guess birdies are much more interesting.

Happy Fourth

The fourth of July was somewhat uneventful for us. Jason worked in the morning, and I woke up with a major headache. I took some stuff to help it and went back to bed, meanwhile it rained all morning and well into the afternoon. When it had stopped raining, we grilled Iowa chops and zucchini packets on the grill as well as hot dogs for Matt. We played games until 2 in the morning. (We completely missed the fireworks, but could see the traffic for a couple of hours to get out of town.)
While I was sleeping, Zara had brought down one of her mousies and put it by my hand. She laid down and batted at it for awhile before I realized it was there. I don't think she liked that we slept in until 10, but we were really tired. But, all in all, it wasn't a bad holiday. It's sunny today and still cool. Not July weather at all, but we'll take it.

It Floats

My dad has been building a kayak. He got hooked on kayaking during his and Mom's trip to Alaska. So much so that he decided to build one. This past week, he finished it. I'm not sure how long it took him, but they went to Alaska last August. They got it out of the basement and sent it on it's maiden voyage sometime this week. Every time I go to visit, he wants to take me kayaking, but we usually don't have the time. Maybe Jason and I will find a weekend to go visit and learn how to kayak. (We won't mention the time before Dad took his homemade kayak out. Something about lots of water.)