A day in the life

The past three weeks have been fruitful, but relatively dull. As of this past Saturday I submitted my dissertation proposal to my committee. In two weeks, I'll present my ideas publicly and then the summer work starts pouring in . Life as a graduate student is sometimes really stressful, but it's the slow fun moments that keep me going. The following photos are from the past three weeks. Each event put a smile on my face.

Ryan is reliving his elementary school days by playing floor hockey with his physics buddies. He's in the red shirt with the white helmet about to swing his stick. Go Ryan! 

I wrote and giggled at the physics-nerds playing hockey from the balcony at the gym. Not a bad spot to work at 11 pm on a Tuesday night.

This is the first calf born on our watch here at our new home! Little "Stupify" (we didn't name her) popped out right before we went on our nightwalk to check on and feed all the girls. She was up and walking in no time and even found her momma's teat! Welcome to the world Stupify!

The duck eggs are still rolling in. They are keeping us full and plump :) Duck eggs are pretty fatty, but we can't resist eating them all. They are delicious!

Realignment and work habits

It's that time of the year for me where I have a ton of lab and computer work. Since I'm in graduate school that typically means I am either typing or sorting specimen for 10+ hours a day. So what has this done to my heart, mind and body???

1) Exhausted me to the core
2) Made me a professional procrastinator (hence this post)
3) Caused neck spasms!!!

The third point is why I'm writing today. Three weeks ago my neck cramped up so badly that I had to lift my head off the bed with my hand. After a lot of at home massaging I decided to get a professional massage to try to loosen up all my muscles. The fifty minute massage was well worth the money because I was feeling 80% the next day. Being an active (overly spastic) person I pushed my luck the next day by playing racquetball against myself. After three swings, yes only three, my neck cramped back up and I could barely turn my head. I slept in a bed by myself that night to try to minimize the number of obstacles I have to curl around in the bed (two dogs and a big immovable boyfriend), but I woke up the next morning unable to lift my head with my neck once again.

I went to school for our lab meeting and was convinced by my advisor (it's nice to have an advisor that cares) to go to the doctor ASAP to get some relief. Seven minutes later health services took me in. The doctor poked around for a little while and then stuck her finger in the small muscle nodes right at the base of my skull. These muscles, little did I know, are what enable you to tilt your head front to back and side to side. As soon as she touched the muscles my eyes teared up. I had no idea I had reflexes like that!

She prescribed me some muscle relaxants to alleviate some of the pain, but also suggested going to physical therapy for weekly massages and electrical stimulation (both of which have helped tremendously). She also taught me a great trick for all you long straight necked people out there...sleep without a pillow. Growing up I remember chucking the pillow mid-way through the night, but I always thought that was just one of the weird-o things I did not really a useful one. Low and behold sleeping flat has alleviated more pain than anything else. I'm a no-pillow convert!

Honestly, it was a bit hard to get comfortable the first night because I'm typically a side sleeper, but once I settled onto my back I was off in dreamland with a perfectly aligned, low stress sleeping position. Of course I still have to navigate around the two dogs and immovable boyfriend to get comfortable, but I guess I choose to have so many bed obstacles :)

Now when I wake up I feel rested and with a more flexible neck! Just like in the old days (see below).

I also wanted to give a big shout out to both my parents. You two have been inspirational and so loving in the choices you made in the past few years. I truly hope I can be as loving and kind as you are to Louis and I when I have children. I sure love you both!!

Waving goodbye to winter

Spring is on the horizon. We are so looking forward to starting our garden, riding bikes without gloves, and exploring all the NH swimming holes. This sunset was a nice conclusion to winter (or at least I think it's on it's way out :)  ).

Quack Quack

 Three cheers for us! We officially have all of our belongings at our new home. Today, after 5 hours of prying, loading, sliding, and cleaning we moved our enormous duck coop to our house. So now our ducks are safe and sound in our new yard.

We're planning to buy ~10 meat chicks in the next couple of weeks so that we can raise our very own backyard dinner. Yum!


Ryan rebuilt part of the coop during this weekend's snow storm. What a trooper.

Ito ready to explore our freshly snow covered backyard.

The pups love to put their faces under the snow. I think there are mice under there :)

They'll do this for hours.

Our fresh supply of wood to fuel the fire. It arrived just in time. We were nearly out.

Snow walk pic.

I still can't get over how nice it is to sit in front of the fire after a long day. A special thanks to Mom for sending us the beautiful wool afghan that she knitted. It goes perfectly with our eclectic color scheme.

Living the dream

All tuckered out from an afternoon of playing with Cynthia and Mia. These brothers really know how to dog-pile.

When we need firewood not even 35 mph winds and snow will stop this guy from going outside.

I, on the other hand, am sitting comfortably in front of my computer & heater.

Reflection

Today I found joy in the love my dog, Ito, gave me when I got home from school. My six year old pup came bounding to my feet as he usually does when I opened the door. After letting his sidekick out of his kennel, we took them both outside to romp around. Ito hasn't been off leash very much here at the new house...there are two many cows around and the road is relatively close....but on this occasion I thought I'd test his listening skills. With two feet of snow still covering the yard, Ito bounded out into the yard at full speed. He ran in a large circle around the fire pit and came right back to our arms. It was evident that his happiness for being "free" and with us was flowing through his blood.

Ito...you make me smile everyday.

NEMO & Moving

I thought I'd share what a combination of moving and the winterstorm Nemo has done to the family. 

The wood stove fireplace has kept the entire house toasty the past 24 hours. Three cheers for this upgrade! In our previous home we were waking up to 30-40 degree F temperatures; now we have a 70-80 degree room and the rest of the house is a comfortable 60 F.

Exhausted from the move. Lots of snuggles in front of the fire.

Clyde has the best spot. He's living the dream!

Once the winds from Nemo die down we plan to get outside and play in our fresh 2 feet of powder. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!