I'm home!

Yep, I'm back in Raleigh for the week. I meant to post again before now, but oh well. Guess I didn't get bored enough last Sunday, though I don't actually remember what I did. Oh that's right - my parents came to visit! Yay! They were down in Gainesville helping my sis close on and move into her new house, which I will also be living in. So they stopped in Aiken on the way back to see where I was spending my summer. I didn't see much of them since I had work, but they took me out to dinner Sunday and Monday nights. Sunday was some fancy little cafe and I had an amazing salad with smoked trout and roasted peaches. All the other dishes were too salty. Monday we went to TakoSushi which is a half Mexican half Japanese place. Most of their dishes are one or the other, but a few are fusion. We just got sushi and a raw tuna appetizer. It was yummy. Afterwards we bought some funky sodas and candies at the Old Aiken Market. Mom found this spiced apple soda that she really liked and we got some super spicy Blenheim ginger ale. Don't inhale when you drink it or you'll be sneezing and choking for several minutes.

As for work, Candice and I managed to make it through the 75s alive on Monday and Tuesday. It actually wasn't quite as bad as we had imagined, but the chaps were definitely a life saver (but they made us SUPER sweaty). A few patches were jungle-like and we couldn't make our way inside, so we may see some edge effects when we analyze those samples. The rest of them were at least semi-navigable, but I definitely got a leg workout stomping down chest-high blackberries. There were also lots of BIG spiders to look out for, and they always seemed to make their webs in the best pathways. Yuck. I don't really have anything against them as creatures, they're just super creepy and I'd rather not be near them. I walked through a few webs, but luckily they seemed as eager to avoid me as I was of them. Don't you love it when things work out that way?

We spent Wednesday collecting additional samples from 52 for Julian's project. Thursday we went out with sweep nets to catch bug samples for the isotope catalog side project we're helping out with. Every damn time I looked in my net there were either green spiders or green grasshoppers. And while everything else was in a hurry to get out of the net, these guys were just chillin. So annoying. But we got a lot of samples anyway, though I bet a large number of them are duplicates. All of these days worked out so we could sample half the day and then sort the other half. On Friday, we were just planning to sort, but after talking on the phone with Julian and Dr. Levey Thursday night, I learned we needed seed samples for the isotope catalog. So I called Candice and told her, and she informed me that her hair appointment that was supposed to be Thursday afternoon had been postponed to Friday morning. It took every ounce of control in my body not to yell at her. And I seldom yell at people. So I went out by myself Friday morning to collect seeds and more bugs, grumbling the whole time. Candice showed up to count ants at noon. And I have to rely on her to help me write a publishable paper.

My last weekend in Aiken was a bit disappointing because everyone was out of town. I had ice cream on Friday with a few people, but my Saturday and Sunday were spent packing. No one showed up to ultimate on Sunday which was quite depressing. But I had Beck to talk to =). On Monday I drove to SRS for the last time to say goodbye to folks in the office, then to transfer the frozen bugs and berries from my freezer to the freezer at the research campus. Got back home, put all my stuff in my car, cleaned a bit, and got on the road around 2. Made it home around 8.

Now I'm unpacking from SC, packing for the Netherlands, semi-packing for college, and trying to fit in some fun times and relaxation before I leave Sunday. SUNDAY! I'M FLYING TO EUROPE TO SEE BECK ON SUNDAY! I'm excited, in case that wasn't obvious. I saw the 3rd Mummy movie on Tuesday with some friends. It had Yetis in it. I want one. On Wednesday I went to play ultimate at Hat League, but that didn't work out too well. About 2 points in, I attempted a layout but my toe got caught in the grass so it was like a flying trip which resulted in me landing hard on the top of my right knee. The rest of the night my knee hurt like hell and I couldn't really bend it, which was worrisome. This morning it's a bit better, still sore and stiff and a little swollen, but more mobility. I'm hoping it's just a severe bruise, but I may end up seeing a doctor just in case. Hopefully, whatever it is will heal by Sunday... Anyway, back to packing and whatnot.