Settling into Gualala

Pictures speak words so here you go.

Last Monday I started working at the water company as an administrative assistant.  Soon I'll migrate more into assisting (maybe leading) projects but for now I'm learning accounting and the ins and outs of water service.

On my second day I got to use a type writer. The office manager rolled her eyes and me when I told her she'd have to show me how to use it.  

We have gotten two Oz Farm CSA boxes so far and both have been stellar.  The variety is amazing.  One night we had a salad bar of CSA goodies, to which I added non-CSA chicken, tomatoes, and dressing, along with some of Papa's apricots. 

The window replacement that was SUPPOSED to be done before we moved up here is obviously not done yet. It didn't even start until after our move and it's getting more and more extensive because of the discovery of extensive water and termite damage. It's been said that houses that are not lived in just die.  It's true.  I'm so glad John has decided to get this work done...I just wish it were already done.  This picture is the first room Dave and I started out in.

And this is a picture of the second room we were in (having had to move out of the first one). We finally retreated to the office since it was done years ago and won't be touched this time around.  Rooms that are not being renovated are being used for storage--remember this house was already furnished and we moved all OUR stuff here, too.  YIKES is right.

Dave was gone for 4 days to work on some final things at the Davis house. So I got to deal with a lot of this in the mornings and evenings.

I have canned, dried, jammed, and frozen so many gallons of apricots that I've nearly lost count. This weekend I branched out and made a birthday apricot pie for Papa John.  

Long days at daycare take their toll on Eddie Pie sometimes.  He sure loves his new daycare, though!

I took the dogs on a walk for our morning errands and got to pass by the Gualala Nursery's fun dino statues.

You can hardly see the Point Arena Pier through the fog in this picture.  I went down there after yoga this morning because I heard that there was a place to drop off non-redemption recycling stuff.  Indeed there is one and they even take cardboard--thank goodness because we have a teetering mountain of if it in our laundry area.

I have started doing yoga 3-4 times a week and I love it.  Honestly, I had no idea it was so much work.  Ouf.  It's deceptively calm looking but it's just the mind that is calm; the rest of the body is really working hard.  I'm also running a few times a week to replace the cardio I've lost from my Davis bike commute.  Running more than a mile at a time is still torture for me, but I'm hoping to increase it bit by bit, especially since Edward, Jennifer, Dave, and I registered for the Gualala River Run in October.

We've settled into the Gualala lifestyle quite nicely I think.  Besides the chaos that is the house situation, most other aspects have been sorted out, at least temporarily.  So far I'm 100% in charge of making all meals and driving Eddie to/from daycare.  Hopefully the commuting part will be shared with Dave in the future.  It's clear that I'm able to settle into my new routine and surroundings much more quickly than Dave is able to accommodate our presence; it makes sense since nothing much in his life has changed in terms of scheduling and stuff.  So my expectation that my life would not be easier up here, just more complete is manifesting itself so far, which is fine (just exhausting).

I've made a bit of progress on my first chapter and I aim to send it off to my professor by the end of this week.  Then I'll have to plunge into data analysis (the WORST PART of research in my opinion) for the next chapter.

Until next time...!

Buhbye PES Building!

Welp...I moved all my stuff out of my office on Monday night. Eddie came along because I promised him some show-watching time while I packed the boxes (and Dave wanted some Eddie-free time to pack the trailer).

I moved into this office in January 2010 when I returned from PELP/maternity leave. Eddie was a wee 4.5 months old then. 

This post comes to you via my old desk during a coffee break, which I'm using through the end of today. I have to complete a few more lab tasks (lignin and cellulose extractions plus some Costech tin loading) before we depart permanently for Gualala, but otherwise I'm done with the desk work for the time being.  We found out this morning that my PI did not get the department chair position he'd been fighting for, which is a huge bummer for him.  Us students, however, are a little (lot) relieved because it means his current focus on us will remain.  Whew.

Dave hauled my boxes of desk/office stuff up to the Coast House but in a few weeks I'll set up shop in the water company office.  I will write my dissertation at an abandoned desk in the corner of the seldom-used conference room and I will work in the water office one day a week.  It turns out that there are a few volunteer opportunities that I can fill too much time with, so I'll have to pick one or two and save the rest for post graduation (a couple of farms, visitor's center, library, school).

Me in the emptiness today...as compared to only two months ago.

And because I'm too lazy to write another post about it, here's a bit about Father's Day.

Sunday was Father's Day and I took some cute pictures of Eddie and Dave that evening.  Eddie had just given Dave a card from school and four lollipops--one of which Eddie declared was actually for himself. Ah, kids.

I LOVE these new Picasa gif's!

Where Mama Works

Goodness, it's the end of April.  And we're moving (by) the end of June.  Yikes.  I have a lot to do.  Even if we weren't moving I'd still be able say that I have a lot to do.  Not too much.  Just a lot.

It just occurred to me yesterday that I also have to pack up and move my school office stuff.  I'm planning on coming back 1-2 nights a week fall and maybe winter quarters (even though I'll be 'on leave').  I'll be couch surfing rather than living here in Davis--and I guess I'll also have to desk-surf in my building, too.  As is always the case there are more students than desks and I've been very lucky and grateful to have always had my own work space.  

Before we starting renovations on the Coast House and before we started packing anything at the Davis House, I took pictures of everything (inside cupboards and closets...everything).It's one way of documenting our life.  Hopefully Eddie and his future siblings will like looking at the photobook I'll (someday) make of each location.  

And for posterity, here's my work space as it stands now.  I've been at this desk since January 2010, when I returned to school from a quarter off of 'maternity leave.'  There are other pictures from January 2012 of my office in this post.

My desk area.  After I passed my quals in August 2011, I bought myself a new book bag (better than the hot pink backpack I used to use!).  Except it's really a diaper bag.  But the lady at the baby store said most of them she's sold are used as laptop bags by working mamas.

My wall of Eddie, crooked as it might be.  I actually hate it when pictures hand lopsided, but this wall jiggles every time someone enters/exits the adjacent men's restroom so keeping them straight is impossible. Plus, while sitting at the desk I can't see them anyway.

There's a table behind me that Hannah and I share.  Here you can see the booklet of tattoos she bought for Eddie, my mason jar lunch, and a stack of quals study materials.  I find that I return to this stuff again and again--this week to remind myself of clay-organic matter interactions and clay elemental structure so I can (try) to explain my isotope results in the manuscript I'm currently working on.

This is the crap in my desk-height filing cabinet drawer.  This is a piece of office furniture that has mostly been replaced by cloud and hard drive storage.  I have very few papers filed away in this five-drawer monstrosity.  One draw is old and stuck closed (no idea what's inside), one contains actual files, one contains snacks and canned food for emergency lunches, one contains crap (see above pic), and one contains scrap paper.

I make a to do list on a Post It note nearly every day. These are today's.

Crap under my desk.  That cracked Tupperware canister is my footrest; rain boots and leather shoes for lab work; a stack of journals from last quarter's class that I can probably throw away because the students never came to pick them up; a blue bin used for class assignments.

More notes and my much-used stack of Post Its next to the desk. I bought coffee yesterday but since Eddie was with me I didn't have enough hands to actually get any coffee.  So I'll use it today maybe.

That reminds me...yesterday was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day--a tradition started in 1993.  I picked Eddie up after his nap time and we walked the two blocks back to campus.  We met my friends for a snack in the Coffee House and then went to the discussion section for my class.  This year (thankfully!) the other TA and I are sharing discussion teaching responsibilities.  Other years I taught all 3 sections each week; this arrangement is much nicer.  It was her week to teach but since the topic was insects of the forest I took Eddie so he could see the trays of mounted insects and the live Malaysian walking stick bugs that we borrowed from the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Eddie wanted to wear a skirt because I was wearing a skirt.  It was perfect for the insect class he attended, too, since it had butterflies all over it.

He rode on the lab cart on the way to class because the other TA asked me to bring it.

After the class, Eddie and I went back to my office.  He and my friends spent a while choosing and applying tattoos.  Two labmates happened to walk by and came into say to Eddie.  And of course they were game for getting tattooed, too.  

Jennifer, Jordon, Toby, and Hannah showing off their tattooes.  At this point Eddie was being shy and was out in the hallway.

Today

I don't know about you, but normally I'm positively itching to walk out the door the last day before vacation, a weekend, or holiday break.  Well, I was up until last year.  There's something about being fully immersed in a satisfying job that makes you actually want to keep working.  This week I worked as usual and even found myself offering to come to campus to work on some stuff for the course I'll be TAing for next term (a class about which I know practically--and theoretically--nothing).  Like, I wouldn't mind coming in on Christmas Eve to review the syllabus and website with the professor, who said she'd be working through the holiday on the course.  Crazy.

It helps that we were on vacation last week.  And by "we" I mean Dave and me.  No Eddie.  Although, we did invite Edward to come once we were there so while we weren't on a solo trip, we were child-free, which was quite nice.  I already posted pictures on Facebook and I have a Picasa album I can share with you if you like, just email me or leave a comment.  (After combing through and annotating 200 pictures I've lost motivation to write up a blog post about the trip at this point...but I will soon.)  The trip was amazing and I'm so glad we went where we did, for the reasons we did, and when we did.  The author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People advocates for time off to "sharpen the saw."  I couldn't agree more.  It was recharging, uplifting, relaxing...and calorific.  Mmmm, I love cheap eats.

So going to work this week was sort of nice; I liked getting back to my data, my samples, my plan.

My building, however, was dead.  I only saw people from two separate labs other than myself, all day.  My goal for the day was to pack 1/3 of my samples into tin capsules for total nitrogen analysis (something that should have been done in the summer but I checked the "carbon only" box on the form instead of "carbon and nitrogen" box...doh!).

So this is what I did all day...while listening to about 5 episodes of This American Life from 2001.

Even if I forgot to eat lunch, it wasn't a bad way to spend a rainy, freezing cold day.  And at the end, I helped my friend Danny water some stuff in the greenhouse before he drove me home.  Eddie was napping so Dave couldn't come fetch me and with the buses on break service who knows when I would have been able to get home.

The Mayan calendar ended today...but the world didn't end.  I thought about making some doomsday cookies to bring to work but I didn't have a flame shaped cookie cutter and as it turns out not enough people were at work to enjoy them anyway.

I hope everyone has a safe, fun, delicious, relaxing, and just-a-little-chaotic (too keep you on your toes) holiday season!  It's here!

Fall Meeting

Yesterday I presented my first oral paper at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting.
 

Back in August when I submitted my abstract, I'd only just finished collecting all my data from this analytical method I'd created.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to get enough data analysis done by December, but it seemed like a good idea to push myself into it.  So with my friend Garrett's encouragement (he's my cheerleader at school), I submitted my abstract for an oral presentation.  I've never done a talk at a conference before, only posters, and I've never been to this particular conference before.

I didn't have a good experience practicing my presentation in my lab meeting the week prior to the conference.  My labmates were silent, offering NO help whatsoever. So that left my PI and our post doc to give all the helpful and teasing advice that I could handle.  Ug. I left lab meeting frustrated because I felt like their constructive criticism was hidden amongst unnecessary teasing about my color scheme choices (which turned out to be the exact suggestions on the AGU website!) and giving me a hard time about how my computer's ghetto operating system is incompatible with the departmental projectors so my animation wouldn't work, leaving me to manually fiddle with the plots.  I should have been more prepared and tried the Power Point with the projector beforehand, probably, but they could have at least been a little more empathetic (or simply shut up and only offer feedback about the content of my presentation!).  Gah.  When Dave picked me up for dinner that night he could tell I felt defeated.

The whole weekend I stressed over the organization of the slides and the interpretation of my data. I gave myself Saturday "off" and didn't even touch it until Sunday.  Monday I reviewed the presentation with my PI, who gave me a thumbs up.

He and Garrett asked me who else was speaking during my session, and I admitted that I didn't want to know, lest I become more intimidated.  I was not as excited as they were that I was the only student presenting--and out of 8 speakers, 3 were invited.  Sheesh.  Talk about intimidation.

Tuesday I recorded myself doing the presentation and watched the videos to see what I could improve upon.  Learning to speak more slowly is something I will always struggle with, no matter how much practicing I do.

Dave couldn't justify taking Wednesday off so I could go to the conference unhindered with childcare duties, so I had to do Mama stuff in the morning, drop Eddie off at daycare, bolt to the Amtrak station to buy my ticket, look for parking (scratched the right side of the van in the parking garage when I reacted to another car coming quickly into my side of the ramp), decide to park in a timed spot anyway and deal with a parking ticket, take BART from the Richmond Amtrak station, and then walk to the Moscone Center.  I wore travel clothes and changed once I got to the conference center, leaving me only an hour before my presentation (during which time I ate and uploaded my Power Point onto the server). Garrett and I chatted over lunch before I entered the session, where there were probably 80-100 people in the audience.

My talk went only "eh" on a scale of "I'm amazing" to "I suck" ("eh" being toward the sucking end).  I spoke too fast, was nervous for the first half, and then was hammered with 2 difficult questions (and 1 easy one!).  See, Julie?  If you'd learn to speak more slowly, then you'd take up more time and prevent the chances of having any time left for questions!  Lesson learned for next time.  =)  My friend warned me about a particular professor who would probably ask me some difficult questions, just to prove a point (that he's a badass scientist man), and indeed it happened.

I'm not happy with how my presentation went: I could have been a lot more clear in some cases, I spoke to quickly, and I don't feel that the awesomeness and implications of my method and data was felt by the audience. BUT--my personal goals for the conference were to a) present an oral paper just to say I've done it (and to practice the vital communication of findings, as all scientists should) and b) force myself into data analysis/synthesis to get the ball rolling on dissertation-writing.  So in those regards, my presentation was a huge success. 

Once my entire session was over, I met up with Edward who'd come in on CalTrain to hang out.  We got an early dinner at an Irish pub and then walked around for a few hours, sipping hot cocoa, looking at all the holiday decorations, and doing some window shopping. It was really nice to just wander around for a few hours, unhindered by the stress of a deadline or a whiny child.

The Starbucks near the conference center had a cute sign up for all us geeks.

I'd hired a baby sitter to pick Eddie up from daycare since I knew I wouldn't be able to get back before 5:30 pm.  So I texted him to make sure everything was going okay, and it was.

Garrett and I BART/Amtrak'ed back together, rehashing our experiences at the conference to each other.  Of course, our train was late so I got back to the house until after 10 pm, 30 minutes later than I had promised the sitter.  But the good news is that my car didn't get a ticket after all.  Woo!

So. I'm done presenting. I feel like I've done my piece--not that my PI has ever told me that I must present at conferences, but it's sort of implied.  Now the work really begins: to outline the dissertation chapters, visualize my data, write about the data, add some introductions/sweeping conclusions, format it all into a dissertation, and ring that graduation bell!  And that should only take a few weeks, right?  (Months...no, more like a year.)

But first, I have some relaxing to do.

Fire

Dave is certified to be a water tender or a bulldozer operator for Cal Fire.  He's never been able to respond to a fire when called previously because the fires were too far away or they were contained before he and his dad could get their equipment out there.

But in the last two weeks there have been two fires near Gualala.  The first one was a result of a logger falling a tree that hit a power line, which sparked a fire in some very dry brush.  Since Dave was on the bulldozer in the logging operation already he didn't have to travel at all.  Of course, at the point when Dave helped contain the blaze, it wasn't yet a Cal Fire issue.

Fireman Davie!

Then last Tuesday night, he and his dad were called by Cal Fire to help with a fire near Gualala.  Dave's shift was from 9pm-9am.  Whew.  He said it was too steep, dusty, and foggy to get closer than 2 miles from the fire so he had to sit and wait until someone needed water from his truck.  As of this morning, he said he heard it was contained to only 6 acres.  It's a small enough fire that I can't even find it on the Cal Fire website (and that's a good thing).

I've always had a goal of being on the volunteer fire crew up in Gualala someday...maybe once all my kids are in school.

Locked Out

While running my instrument, I always have the timer set on my phone so I know when a sample is done or when it is done reverse flushing (so I can start the next sample).

Just now, the timer went off, so I left the office and walked down toward the lab to set it up to reverse flush.

Since there have been a lot of office thefts lately, I've taken to keeping the door locked always, instead of just closing the door. And, since I've gotten locked out of the office a few times in the past, I am usually really careful to make sure I have my keys before leaving the office. They are on a lanyard so I can wear them around my neck. But they are heavy so I usually keep them in my back pocket (if I'm wearing something with pockets). BUT since I don't like to sit on my keys, I usually take them out of the pocket and set them on the desk when I'm in the office. Yes, I'm quite complicated. Normally I pat myself down while getting up to make sure my keys are on my body. But this time I didn't for some reason...so, short story long: I'm locked out.

The lab has a keypad so at least I was able to set up my instrument. On weekends there aren't usually any professors around, and they are the only folks with a universal key. Luckily, my friend shares an office with me and I know he's coming to work today (he's finishing his dissertation so he works every day).

So since I'm bored, I thought I'd blog via email on my phone. I cleared all the pictures off my phone last week (after letting Google + do auto upload and saving them to my Shutterfly account and laptop)...so I only have a few from the last week or so.

It was quite hot this week, so one night for dinner we simply had some slaw, raita, and reheated paratha for dinner. It was cool and delicious.

While walking to get coffee on Tuesday, I saw this squirrel all spread out on the ground in the shade. It was funny and I remember thinking, "I wish I could do that...it's soooo hot!"

I gave my students their final exam on Thursday night. It was a two hour exam, but I gave them an extra 30 minutes because I'm nice.

There were two students who are allowed double time because of disabilities. One of them didn't even need the whole two hours...while the other student used the WHOLE extra two hours. In fact, I had to make her stop at 10pm. Gah.

Shannon (my friend who is the grader for the class) and I graded the Scantrons yesterday and we are just about done grading their essay questions in the blue books. They didn't do so well on the Scantron portion of the exam so we will work with the professor to move the distribution a little.

Last night was a "parents' night out" at Cassie's so we had all-you-can-ear sushi. It took SO long to get our food that we totally missed seeing Rock of Ages. Phooey. We went to the fabric store instead and bought the nylon strapping, heavy thread, and curved upholstery/quilting needles I need to repair the bike trailer. Eddie had a great time at Cassie's (as always). When we got home, we all had some ice cream before brushing teeth and going to bed.

Some nights it is just too hot and we're too tired to argue with Eddie about his preferred eating spots.

The night time low last night was only 62F so the house didn't cool down much, even with all the fans in every window. It was 73F in the house when we left this morning so I expect our AC has already turned on by now (it's set for 78F).  It's supposed to reach 103F today! Dave and Eddie have a bunch of indoor plans today (visiting me at work, going to Home Depot, Costco, and the tractor museum) after they playing at the park this morning. If Eddie can handle it, we'll go to the pool at 1, while my instrument flushes for 1.5 hours.

Working Weekend

After a 6 week (!!) hiatus, my instrument is back up and running smoothly.  The recirculating chiller broke after Picnic Day and after trying to repair it myself, watching my professor break it, and then having Dave try to fix that, I finally had to send it back to PA for repair.  Now that the whole instrument cluster is working again, it means I am chained to it during all possible working hours.  Except that I will allow myself one weekend day at home doing normal "life" stuff: shopping, visiting family, cleaning, hanging out with the doggies/garden/chickens, cooking, etc. (read: all the stuff I'd rather be doing on weekends).

So this past weekend, Saturday was my day off.  We went to Livermore to visit with my parents and so my mom and I could attend Tina's baby shower.

The shower was right up my alley: everything was scientist themed!  The decorations, invitations, and one of the games used the periodic table of elements.  I think my favorite part was when the hostesses put ice cubes into our drinks, which each contained a plastic baby: you had to yell, "my water broke!" when the cube melted and released the baby into the beverage.  I can't wait until Baby Boy Porter comes along in August!!!  Everyone knows that while I love all babies, I especially love the ones that are males, born in August, and have nerdy parents who love tinkering/home improvement/cooking/dogs/gardening/eating.

I left Eddie at home with my dad and his dad...they apparently had a fantastic time working on stuff in the workshop, going on wheelbarrow rides, climbing dirt piles, etc.

The original plan was for the guys to finish building the art easel my dad
made for the little guy.  But I guess they got side tracked with regular old
"hammering and nailing" (or doweling, I guess) in the workshop instead.
My dad is quite impressed with Eddie's hammering skills.  He's going to build him a
cobbler's bench next! 

My mom and I brought Subway sandwiches back to the house for dinner and later we had pie and ice cream with Gayla.

This was the best pie I've ever made: peach, strawberry, ollalieberry. Holy jeez it was scrumptious.
3 cups of fruit, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and a touch of cinnamon/nutmeg/salt for the filling.

That night back Davis a giant tree fell down in the park.  Lots of noise, no fans, and high nighttime temperatures meant I didn't sleep much at all.  So Sunday morning I sneaked out the house to go to work before anyone else woke up.  I chugged along at work until lunchtime, when the fellas picked me up so we could go to Home Depot and Costco.  My instrument requires a 1.5 hour reverse flush/cool-down period, which is nice on the weekends because it gives me time to hang out with the guys a little.

I was deposited back at the lab to do another sample while Eddie napped in the car with Dave.  After the 34 minute instrument time, I set it up for reverse flushing/cooling and we went to the pool for an hour.  Then we came back to the lab to do one last sample.  Dave rode my bike home in order to get dinner started while Eddie and I waited around until the sample was done.  It was set up to reverse flush again...but this time my friend, Garrett, said he'd shut off the gas for me since he was working late (I texted him after 1.5 hours to remind him).

While we were at the pool/lab, Eddie's teacher, Amanda, dropped off a hive of
bees into our garden.  She and her boyfriend, Tim, are moving into an apartment this
summer and won't be able to keep their bees (obviously).
We're thrilled to host more ladies in the garden: we already have 7 hens, what's another 10,000 gals?

Dinner was delicious grilled chicken sliders made on Costco's deeeeeeeeeeeeelicious pretzel rolls (Genius!  I'm definitely going to make my own).  After Eddie was in bed and Dave had driven away (tear), I got busy doing all the ironing and laundry folding I'd neglected the rest of the weekend--while watching America's Got Talent, of course.

I Love Dirt

Oh my goodness, how I heart this dirt-loving child of mine.

I bought him this shirt at the Soil Science Society of America conference in Pittsburgh, PA in 2009.  He was with me, as a wee 3 month old. Isn't it crazy that is nearly fits him now?

Showing off his handy dandy notebook...just like Steve has in "couscous" (Blue's Clues).

Livermore visit

Several months ago I was invited to participate in a high school career fair for girls interested in STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and math).  I'm not sure how effective these types of events are in encouraging students to pursue a college degree or career in these field, but I suppose it's at least a good way for them to learn how to talk to adults and whatnot.

Eddie and I took two days off last week to go to Livermore for this event.  Granted, it was only a one night thing, but it was a nice getaway for us to visit with some friends and my family.  It was especially nice since I left the dogs at home.

It was a pretty busy 24 hour adventure.  First, we had a leisurely morning of laundry folding, cleaning the house, watching some shows, and making sure the dogs and chickens were ready for us to leave.  Eddie slept the entire drive, which was awesome because it meant I got to listen to NPR instead of his movies (a person can only listen to Chuggington or Finding Nemo so many times).

Our first stop was to Alden Lane Nursery, where I used to work in high school and college.  I'd seen their post on Facebook that morning about half off on fruit trees since the weather was bad (to encourage people to come in a shop).  So I bought two cherry trees, one for us and one for my dad, plus some herb seeds.  My dad offered to start some herbs in soil blocks for me--I chose chives, tarragon, and oregano (plus dill and  fennel that we'll direct seed).   It was nice to catch up with my old boss, Brian, too. 

Waddo in a wagon.

It was overcast the whole time we were in town, which was a nice change from Davis where it'd been raining buckets for a couple of days.  I love the rain (we need it so much!) but it's just easier to play outside with Eddie when it isn't actively pouring.

Eddie played with the neighbor's grandson, Jack, for a while.  Jack kept asking me, "Why that kid in the dirt?" I posted this on Facebook and said that it was composted manure.  Turns out it was actually just soil. 

...however, this pile IS manure.  Composted manure, but still manure.  and boy did Eddie love it.  See his cute sweater?  He'd just received it as a give from Kateri. 

Somehow, I managed to convince my parents to put Eddie to bed that night.  Originally I was going to have to attend the career fair, come back to bed the babe, and then meet my friends for a late night snack downtown.  But Donovan and Kateri really wanted to meet up, too, since Donovan was only in town that night.  My folks have never offered to bed Eddie before, which is fine.  He's super easy to put down as long as you follow our set routine (dinner, play, bath, teeth, PJs, books, bed).  Not having done it in 25 years, I think they were just a little wary of their own energy.  Haha.

Anyway, so I got to change plans to meet up with the Joneses at Shari's for "pie shakes" at 9pm, followed by meeting my high school buddies for more treats at 10:15pm (same place). 

First, I went to the career fair.  It was at Granada, in the student union.  Each of us "professionals" was assigned a table with another woman. I was paired with a bioterrorism lab manager from Sandia.  She was nice, but BOY did she stink at talking to young folks about her job.  They'd glaze over and she's just go into more and more detail about it.  At one point she had no one to talk to, and she stood there listening to me talk to some shy teens.

Me: Hi, I'm Julie.  What are your names?
Them: "So-and-so" and "Such-and-Such"
Me: Nice to meet you.  What year are you?
Them: Sophomores.
Me: Great.  So that means you're in...chemistry?  And you'll take physics next year?
Them: Yes!  And maybe AP chem the year after.
Me: That's great!  Do you know what you want to study in college?
Them: Uh. Science?
Me: Ok...what kind of science?
Them: What?
Me: Ok. When I was your age, I thought there were only a few types of science: chemistry, physics, biology.  But it turns out (as you'll discover when you're in college), there are actually many MORE types of science.  There's biology of viruses, biology of humans, chemistry of food, chemistry of synthesis (like to make cosmetics and medicine and plastics and stuff)...and once you're in graduate school you'll be AMAZED at how many MORE choices there are.
Them: Really?  Wow.
Me: Yep. And what's really cool about science, is that it gets SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING as you go from high school to college to graduate school.  Mostly, because you get to choose what specific classes you take and there are so many to choose from.  So if you ever find your science classes boring or hard, trust me: stick with it.  I promise it will get more interesting (and easier since it'll be more interesting) the higher and higher you go with it.
Them: Yeah, it's sort of boring right now.

And then I went on to tell them about how I wasn't the best science student in high school, but not because I didn't try.  It was because science and math were just harder for me to grasp than it was for other students.  But I didn't let it stop me.  I just worked harder to get my Bs and B+s.  And that once I got into college and got to take more interesting classes, I fell head over heels in love with the subject that I chose (environmental chemistry) and I grew to love the challenge.  I explained that because it was challenging for me, I feel like it made me a better scientist compared to many of my classmates.  (Whether or not this is always true, I don't know.  But I like to think it is true most days.)  My final advice was that they should choose a career or college major based on what's interesting and a little challenging to them--my experience is if you choose something that is easy, you'll quickly lose interest in it.

When the two students moved on to the next table, the Sandia lady turned to me and said, "Wow, that was really good advice."  I'm not sure what she thought she should have been telling these students--the specifics of her research?  I doubt any of them cared or even understood what she was talking about.  Not that I didn't talk about my research--I brought a baggie of compost and one of nasty, hard soil (and I miiiiiiiiiiiight have offered to let them smell how delicious the compost was...most of them smelled it only after I did and after their moms did).

Once the event ended, I went to Shari's and got a pie shake with Edward, Donovan, Kateri, my mom, and Gayla.  Edward had been in the east bay that day for work so he made a point of sticking around to see us, too.  (My dad was left with sleeping Wadamus.)  Okay, what's a ?pie shake"? It's a piece of your favorite pie blenderized with ice cream.  It is amazing. 

It also happened to be "pi day" (March 14 = 3.14).  The waitress said, "Isn't that weird?  It's National Pie Day!  Who knew there was such a thing?"  She obviously didn't get it...but we entertained ourselves by bragging about how many digits of pi we each knew (Donovan knows 10, I knew 26, and Edward knows like 43!  What a show off!).  It was super fun to catch up with everyone.  I hadn't seen the Joneses since New Year's.

Robby, Tina, and John showed up just as everyone else was leaving.  We stayed there and had some actual food.  My salad had rotten lettuce in it (which I first tasted and didn't see, unfortunately) so the waiter removed it from the bill.  Robby and Tina are expecting their first baby boy in August so we spent a lot of time talking about labor, etc.  At least John got in on the conversation when we'd exchange stories from our own child/babyhood.  I was not surprised to learn that John was born tall and skinny.  Haha!

The next morning I made breakfast for us Levie Bowers.  It was still just overcast so we got to play in the backyard some more.

My dad and Eddie made a ramp for rolling an old bowling ball into some traffic cones. Redneck bowling!

Eddie "wuves" his "Gwan Pa" so much it's ridiculous.

My dad showed me the progress he had made on a beautiful redwood worm bin (it was my Christmas present).  I can't wait to get it up to our house!  I checked my worms yesterday and some of them were trying to escape because they are too crowded in the Rubbermaid tote in which they currently reside.  This new bin is plenty big for all of our family's veggie waste so I won't even need to have a compost pile (which will be nice since Taters like to dig into the pile for snacks...ew.)

Yes, it looks a bit like a coffin...

Lucky for me, my mom took Eddie to feed the horses and goats across the road while I packed up the car to depart.  Packing the car with Eddie's "help" is totally possible, it just takes much longer.

Who needs pants when you're feeding the animals?  Not Eddie Pie!

It was a quick trip, but a nice change from our regular weekly routine. 

THE EXAM

Warning: looooooooooong post ahead!  I started this back in September and just now finished it.  I wanted to have a complete record of the experience of preparation, execution, and celebration (such as it was). Most students will tell you that they don't remember most (or any) of the questions asked during their exam. Maybe the were so overwhelmed that they couldn't remember or maybe they chose not to remember because it was a bad experience. Mine was a good experience and I know that in the future I'll want to remember what exactly happened.

Ah, the qualifying exam.  I'm glad it is behind me, but it still doesn't seem like it is behind me. Not that I'm still dreading it or anything, but it wasn't a painful or traumatizing experience like I thought it would be. For so many years I was used to saying, "I still haven't taken my exam." And now I won't have to say that anymore.  Woo!

My workspace in the office I share with three other students.

Here are some pictures of my big ass QE binder, into which I filed all my notes according to subject and sub-subject area:

I should have weighed this thing, it was heavy.

The key for me was organization (and lots of tabbed dividers).

And here are examples of my notes. And yes, these are very basic concepts--if you hammer those down solidly, then understanding bigger concepts is a cinch.

 

 

 

A week before the exam I wrote myself a little note (in purple chalk) on the back patio while I was playing out there with Eddie. I answered it in pink the morning after the exam when I checked on the chickens.

Two days before the exam I made a batch of flashcards for each of the "major" things I figured I'd need to know: extraction schemes, plots of isotope trends, enthalpy equations, types of chemical bonding, etc.

The night before the exam we went to Costco for some shopping and to eat pizza for dinner. Later, I had Dave quiz me using my flashcards. Remarkably, he was able to decipher what I'd written on the cards and correct me when I was wrong. For someone who hasn't take chemistry since high school, that's pretty amazing!

After that, we watched something on Netflix. I checked my phone for emails before hopping into bed. I had one from a family friend of the Bowers, wishing me luck the next day. The email ended with, "if you're reading this tonight, STOP, and go to bed! It is late!" Indeed, it was nearly 12am.

The morning of the exam was leisurely. I took a shower, made omelets for Dave and I (he'd dropped Eddie off at preschool earlier), did the dishes, then got dressed. I got to my office, dressed in the only pair of black slacks and sleeved non-t-shirt that I own.

I texted Jennifer a picture of myself a few days before to see if she approved of my outfit.

I handed the sack of snacks and bottles of water to my friend, Yumi, so she could set them out for me--in some departments it is the norm for a student to provide refreshments for the faculty members during the exam; in my department, however, it is considered "bribery" so a friend usually pretends to provide them instead.

My labmate, Garrett, whisked me away to coffee once I was sure I had my laptop, charger, projector, laser pointer, etc. all organized in my backpack. He promised we "wouldn't talk science" so I wouldn't get nervous. HA. We started talking about our home renovation projects, our adorable kids, stay-at-home mothering versus working parents with daycare, etc. But then some of his colleagues from one of his research projects walked by...and when he introduced me to them, he mentioned my imminent exam (like an hour away at this point). So of course I had to explain what I was studying, blah blah blah. Sigh. It was only then that I really became nervous about the exam. Logically, I was fine. But my nauseous stomach felt otherwise.

I'd packed a small, calorie-rich lunch to eat an hour before the exam. I knew from my three-hour long practice session a few week prior that I would get HUNGRY and tired by the end. But of course, I was too nauseous to eat much.

All too soon it was 12:40pm so I went into the room I had reserved to set up my laptop and projector, get out my laser pointer, and arrange the set of new dry erase markers I'd brought from home (how embarrassing would it be to realize all of the markers already in the room didn't work?!).

At 12:55pm people started arriving and chatting with me and with each other. Once everyone was there, it all began.

My committee chair, Randy, asked me if I had a preference for the order in which each professor questioned me. I said I didn't--but what else was I supposed to say?  "Please have that professor go last and that one go first." It'd have shown my nerves and my expectations about the difficulty of each person's questions. Anyway, next he asked me to step out of the room while they discussed a few things. So I sat in the hall for a few short minutes, and then he invited me back inside. He asked me to begin by telling them all a bit about me: who I am, how I came to be at Davis, etc.

I knew he'd ask this, so I had written something out the night before and saved the document as "Who I am.doc." Isn't that hilarious?

I am a CA native, raised in the Bay Area. After high school, I received my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Saint Mary’s College.

After graduation, I worked as a “field chemist” at an environmental consulting firm where I managed hazardous waste and chemical inventories for public school districts. While working there, it became clear that I needed to extend my education in order to do something more—I needed more intellectual stimulation and to be in a situation where I could always be learning new things.

For graduate school, I was interested in applied chemistry programs. I’ve always been interested in tangible processes. The Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry graduate group here at Davis fit the bill perfectly.

I entered UCD as a PhD student in the fall of 2006. During my first year I joined the Claassen lab, which sparked my interest in thermal analysis and soils and regenerated my life-long love affair with compost.

After a series of economic and family related issues, I decided to change to the Horwath lab between my third and fourth years where I have continued to study compost and thermal analysis.

The interdisciplinary aspect of this graduate group suits be well—I enjoy taking classes from many departments and learning about other fields of science from my classmates. As you know, UCD is a land grant university, whose mission is to spread new information to the general population and there are programs on campus that help researchers do that. One example is the John Muir Institute for the Environment’s “environmental leaders” program, which I joined a few years ago and have learned about translating scientific results to laypeople.

I’m still not sure what I’d like to do when I grow up—but it will need to be a position where I am constantly learning new things. (Teach, cooperative extension, etc.)

Everyone was smiling and nodding the whole time. At the end, my first major professor, Vic, asked a clarifying question: "So Julie, you said you entered UCD as a Ph.D. student, right? Were you always a Ph.D. student?" Knowing Vic's supportive, fatherly nature toward me, I knew being completely honest was okay. I explained that I had switched to the masters track at one point due to "the economy, my pregnancy, and family medical issues" but that after I returned from maternity leave I realized that completing my doctorate was something I really wanted (and that it was a now or never situation).  I got bigger smiles and a silly "ta da!" type hand wave motion from my committee chair that I could begin my presentation.

So I stepped through the presentation, answering questions as they arose.  Of the five committee members present, three knew every last detail of my project by heart and the other two just didn't care.  They were there to moderate and test me on my general soil science/compost chemistry/thermodynamics knowledge.  I think it took me about an hour to get through the presentation.  My last, "thank you" slide also included two personal pictures and I explained why I included each of them.  It made everyone giggle a little.

Me in 1985, quite dirty after a day of sifting compost with my dad, asleep on the grass.

Eddie in 2010, wearing a cute shirt given to me by a friend. Hopefully he will also love compost someday as much as I do!

The chair asked me if I'd like a bathroom break, which I gladly accepted.  In the hall I saw a specialist from my lab, who gave me a thumbs up on my way to the drinking fountain.  I went back to the room and opened the door to find the committee have a gab-fest and laughing their heads off.  One of them shooed me out the door and said they'd let me know when I could come back inside.  Oops!  I didn't get the impression that they were chuckling about me, but just blowing off steam and hanging out.  My impression was actually that they weren't taking the exam as seriously as I was...which, I suppose, is perfect.

Once I was back in the room, the chair told me that he would have Professor V start (a biological engineer who works on composting projects; I'd never taken a class with her so I wasn't sure how "deep" or hard her questions would be). I admit that I was nervous and that I was worried that I'd embarrass myself in front of everyone.  (I think my biggest fear during the whole exam prep and actual exam was that I'd turn out to be an idiot.)

As it turns out, the questions Professor V asked me during our pre-exam meetings were much, much more difficult for me to answer.  She asked, "Why is doing PLFA analysis better than doing some other type of microbial biomass assessment...like nucleic acids?"  I answered by saying that I wasn't familiar with nucleic acid analysis/extraction, but that the benefit of PLFA is that these membrane-bound compounds are rapidly destroyed when microbial cells die so when extracted, they represent only the living biomass.  She was nodding like crazy and then answered the rest of the question for me: "Right, things like nucleic acids remain in the system even after the living cells die so you end up over estimating the size of the biomass."  I thought to myself, "Jeez, that was easy.  I hope she asks me a harder question." Her next (and last!) question was equally easy and I was honestly quite disappointed.  She just wanted me to list each of the compound types I expect to be combusting during each of the two exotherms on my plots (which I had laid out a few times during my presentation and in my proposal).  I figured she'd contest some of my explanation and make me realize I was totally wrong.  Instead, she wanted to know why cellulose would have a higher estimated combustion temperature than simple sugars.  At first I just said it was because the cellulose is more complex so there are more intramolecular bonds that needed to break.  She wanted a little more than that, like what bonds and why.  So I drew glucose (as simple a sugar as they come) and then realized she wanted me to talk about all the hydrogen bonds between all the glucoses (which make up cellulose). 

Next up was Vic.  Ah, Vic.  I knew he'd be fun.  At this point I can only remember one of his questions (but I saw that he had a list of about 5 at the time).  He pulled out a paper with one of my thermograms on it (the heat flow through a compost sample that had been heated from room temperature up to 1000C).  He said, "Okay, so let's pretend I'm a scientist who "does chemistry" a little different than you. Let's pretend I decide that you've done YOUR work wrong and your plot really should look like this." And he shows everyone how he's redrawn the middle of my plot so the whole thing is one giant exothermic reaction, instead of two. I laughed a little because I knew where this was going (we'd had this conversation many, many times).  He wanted me to explain why his answer was wrong and why my plot was right (two exos instead of one). That was easy since I could use the mass loss to prove that there were at least two (and possibly three) classes of compounds reaction in that temperature range that each seem to produce their own thermal response to the applied heat.

He did ask one more question, but now I can't remember what it was...but while answering it he cut me off and said, "That's enough. You know your stuff.  I have no more questions." And he pushed his list away from him.

Then Randy, my committee chair had his turn to ask me some questions.  I had taken an awesome class called Biogeochemistry from him my first year.  It was a catch-all course about soil and water and the atmosphere and all their interactions with each other.  He pulled out a map of the USA's soil organic matter content. He had me explain why about 10 different locations have a given soil organic matter content (and the answers had to do with vegetation type, rain or snow fall, certain organic compounds (like terpenes), mean annual temperature, etc.).  It was a super fun question (because I knew the answers) and I wished it had been longer!  Then he asked a few soil physics questions like, "Which has a higher field capacity--sand or silt--and why?" (Answer: porosity due to particle size.)

Next was Will, my current major professor.  Ah, Will.  Whether in an exam, at a lab meeting, or having a personal meeting in his office, his questions always confuse me.  Not necessarily because they are difficult but rather because he's not good at phrasing his questions.  Often they sound more like statements instead of questions so you don't know whether he's asking something or just setting up to ask something later.  First he asked me to list each of the major plant compound types (cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose, sugars, proteins, lipids) and then asked me to estimate the percent of total mass for each one. That wasn't so hard but I went slow to make SURE that my numbers added up to 100.  Then he wanted to know which would have the most heavy carbon in them (C-13, as opposed to the much more common C-12).  So I sketched out a diagram from my notes that very roughly outlined the biochemical pathway of these compounds and then added an axis for C-13 enrichment. He was fine with that.

Earlier, in my presentation, I had shown some "very, very preliminary" isotope data.  He wanted to know why each of the exothermic regions had certain values, given the biochemical pathway thing I'd drawn previously.  Some of the numbers (well, the order of the values) didn't make sense.  I reminded him that the analytical method doesn't capture individual compound types, but rather compound classes, so there was sure to be some overlap and that the blending of real (but unmeasurable) values could lead to the measured values that we see in my novel method. 

Next he wanted me to explain something about nitrogen availability to microbes versus plants (based on something I'd said during my presentation).  I can't remember exactly, but as I started to answer I decided to draw out the nitrogen cycle so I could step through my answer.  I guess he didn't want me to take the time to draw it out so he told me to stop!  I asked him if I could keep drawing it because it would help me to see the cycle, so he finally let me.  And thank goodness he did, because I recall not really knowing what he was actually asking until I had finished the diagram--and then it clicked.  Whatever the question, I realized that my statement in the presentation had been backward so he accepted my corrected explanation. 

And then he said "You know the Maillard and Browning reactions..." and his voice trailed off.  I thought, "Crap, is that a statement or a question?"  I didn't say anything so he said it again and I realized it was a question.  I admitted that I know of those reactions and that I did learn them in organic chemistry and again in his soil carbon class years ago but that I couldn't remember them.  "Not even the gist?" he asked.  I think I said that I know they have something to do with protein and sugar and that they occur in soil and are what makes toast taste caramelized and delicious compared to untoasted bread (now how's that for fumbling?)  He asked me to draw the reactions.  "I don't remember them at all and I can't draw them for you," I said probably a little too firmly. After an awkward silence he shook his head and said, "Yeah, okay. I'm done asking questions."

I know that sounds awful, but that's a totally normal conversation between us.  Him not being clear, me not understanding what he wants, and one of us eventually realizing we need to look something up (or that it isn't important to the issue at hand anyway).

Last to question me was Joy, the administrator of my fellowship at the time.  She immediately said, "All right. I want to go back to something Will asked you."  I glanced at the whiteboard where I'd draw out those diagrams during Will's turn. And I hear her say, "Now just back up."  So what did I do?  Yes...I'm embarrassed to say that I did actually back up.  As in, I took a big step backward.  I was so ready to do whatever they wanted me to do that I took her literally.  I can laugh about it now, but it was embarrassing.  She wanted me to give another explanation for my "very, very preliminary" isotope values (around -30 ‰). I didn't know exactly, but she egged me on until I realized it was because my reference gas value was, in her words, "plucked from the sky."  

Next she wanted me to discuss whether my compost system was open or closed from an isotope perspective (answer: open since the respired CO2 is able to leave the system through holes in the jars during decomposition). She wanted to know what effect that would have on the residual substrate delta values (the compost material left to decompose in the jar).  So I explained about how delta values are calculated as a ratio of ratios and that there is a linear relationship between delta values and % C-13 within a certain enrichment level.  I also drew a graphical comparison of open versus closed systems' product versus residual substrate delta values.  While explaining all this, she eggs me on to realize that the region in which using open versus closed equations matters is not within the scope of my experiment (I'm not using materials that are that enriched).  After that she said she was done asking questions.

At that point, Randy told me that they'd like to have a few minutes to talk while I waited outside.  So I grabbed my water bottle and sat on the couch in the hall.  After about 5 minutes Joy asked me to join them inside.  I walked in and Randy said, "Congratulations, Julie.  You have passed."  He explained that I should "work with Joy to brush up on my isotope knowledge" and that Professor V wanted me to take a decomposition course with a particular professor.  Everyone shook my hand and then Randy gave me "the" form with his signature, proving to the Office of Graduate Studies that I was "qualified."  Woo!  He told me I'd have to pay a $90 fee to the accounting office (seriously?!) and then submit the forms to Grad Studies to make it all official. I looked at the clock and it was only 2:20pm. I finished 40 minutes early!

Once everyone left I gathered up the juice, water bottles, cheeses, and berries I'd brought (I mean my friend brought...) and then returned the projector to the main office.  Then I texted my brother with "Woo!!!!!!"  I went back to my office and got a reply text of "Does that mean you passed?"  (Duh.)  I walked into my office just as Will was walking out.  Garrett jumped up from his desk and said, "So...did you pass???"  I looked at Will, who shrugged and smiled and left.  Garrett said that Will told him to ask me if I'd passed.  As soon as I said, "Yes!" Garrett and I walked downtown to get a much needed drink (and food...I was starving since I'd not had lunch due to nerves).  I called Dave and Edward to meet us at a Thai bar and restaurant.  It was hot on the walk so I took off my sweater blouse thing and just wore my camisole.  Trashy, but I did NOT care at that point.

We got to the bar and Yumi was already there waiting with tables.  She took my driver's license and went inside to order us some drinks.  About a minute later she came back out with a disappointed look on her face.  The bar tender realized that my license was expired (back in March!) and therefore couldn't give me a drink.  Phooey.  So I said I just wanted a coke and some food, I was starving.  Since it wasn't 5 yet they weren't serving food.  Ahhhhhhhhhh, agony!  About that time Dave showed up and then Edward and Jennifer, too.

My hunger disappeared for a few moments when I suddenly saw my DADDY walk into the bar!  It was awesome, he came up as a surprise.  Edward and Dave were working all afternoon on hiding it from me and figuring out a way of getting him to the bar without me knowing about it.  Having my dad in a bar is one thing, but having him there when HE got to have a beer while I did not was just plain weird. I was literally counting down the minutes until 5pm, when I promptly ordered some appetizer plates.  Later on, the Schwinds came by with their twins...it was nice but also sad since they were moving the very next day.  

I'd rather not post these pictures here because they are terrible, but I want my future self and kids to see a picture from this day.  I was so tired and hungry and mentally worn out from the exam that I look awful (and sleezy in that camisole!).

Eddie spent that night with Cassie so we could go out to celebrate.  Normally your major professor will take you out to dinner, but Will had to take care of some family business instead.  He told me he had to go pick up his mother's ashes (!!). It had been a year since she passed away and the funeral home needed him to finally come pick them up. Later I checked my email archives and saw that my exam was exactly one year after her death.  Gah, I felt bad that I didn't realize earlier--I would have scheduled my exam differently if I had known.

So Dave, Edward, Jennifer, my dad, and I went to see The Help that night.  It  had just come out so the theater was packed full and we had to sit in the front row, meaning we had to lean our heads way back to view the screen.  The movie was great, even in that crappy position, so I imagine it'd be even better seen from a normal vantage point.  After that we decided to get some food, but since it was late our only option was Applebee's.

It wasn't until two months later, a full month after Dave had taken his water distribution exam that we got to have a celebratory drink.  We went on a date during one of Cassie's "parents' night out" events to an Asian noodle bar and got some amazing ginger cocktails. 

Overall, the exam was a good experience.  The fear and anxiety was highest before I ever set the exam date, and then it steadily dwindled down to nothing as I studied and got myself and my notes organized.  If you're about to take your exam and are worried, trust me: childbirth is way, way, way more work. And you can opt for an epidural when in labor. Unfortunately, you don't get one during your exam.  But trust me, you won't need it.  =)