We made it to Port Aransas and are having a wonderful time.

The day we arrived, we had time to go to this pool and check out 4 of the 5 pools. I also went down the 2 slides. The closed one is kind of spooky because it was black inside, but the open one was a lot of fun.

That first night, we went to the hot tub too. It felt sooooooooooooo good. And they have so many hot tubs that we almost got to have it all to ourselves!

We've spent most of the time at the pool. Specifically the one that is on the lower part of the picture. I took that picture from the restaurant, BTW. I am unable to upload more than one or two pictures while I am here at the condo. It took at least 20 min, if not more, in order to just do that one photo. I'll have to do more once we get back to Texas Seestor's place.

We went to the beach a couple of times. Most recently, we went to the beach to see the crazy surf that is stirred up because of hurricane Dolly. I don't know if anyone has put 2 and 2 together, but at one point, we were predicted to be in the northern part of the potential path. Now, it is south of here, and we are just getting rain. So, we are glad we had a few really good weather days. And really more pleased that we aren't in the path and had to evacuate.

I've been having a ton of fun with my niece. I've played with her a lot, but most noteworthy is that we played in the pool for a really long time yesterday. Well, long for her. She usually only makes it about 30 min before getting too tired. And we were out 40 min and I had her for most of that time. It was really a great time.

I also played with her for a couple of hours this morning. She really likes to play chase or follow. Fortunately, there is a really good loop of hallways around the condo, which is just perfect.

The best part is when she reaches for me to hold her. She really adjusted to me on the 2nd day. I don't know how much she remembers and how much she is just comfortable with new people (or if I remind her of my seestor), but it makes me really happy.

I've been so busy with her, or with just laying around in the pool, that I've barely been online and haven't read my book at all. But I Have taken lots of pictures (of course). I'm looking forward to uploading them.

It looks like with today's rain, we are going to go to a local aquarium. I always love aquariums and evidently my niece really likes to look at the fishies too. She is really into pointing and saying "see!" ;-)

Can you tell I'm enamored? :-D

Talk to you later!

Posted by danielle at 11:23 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

The flowers on my deck have really been healthy this year. I am slowly starting to figure out from year to year what grows best in this climate and spot around the house.

As time goes on, I will probably post this photo again and describe/give you the names of the other flowers.

I really like how the purple centers of these daisies were complimented by the other purple flowers nearby. It looks more impressive in person.

and in large

I finally realized that I should use both of my black bedsheets to create a circle of black area. This allowed me to get this shot.

and in large

Well, that is it until I get to TX. Most of those pictures will end up private on Flickr, unless I take some from behind. Maybe I should specifically do a few of those. Anyway, I fly out tomorrow. I expect to be around here and there, because doing things on the internet is enjoyable for me, so I will include it in my vacation. :-)

See you later and have a good weekend!

Posted by danielle at 08:50 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

I saw this at Ern's and then at Jenski's and felt compelled to try it out and see what was created by wordle from my blog. I had to ask HB what my RSS feed was (silly me). I kinda wish I'd done it before I wrote the itching post, but well, there ya go; I can't change it now unless I delete the post and then put it back up.

I like that the words "camera" and "photos" are big. I don't think that the size of the word is based on frequency in your blog or anything like that, but it is still cool.

Posted by danielle at 09:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

So, on Monday when I was out walking I felt this pain on my arm. I looked down and had this big ol' bug (black fly? horse fly?) chomping on me. I eeeeked and slapped at it and it flew off. Then, probably 5 min later, it was back! Since then, the 2 spots have been itching like the devil. I think it is time to buy some anti-itch/burn ointment with lidocaine in it. ugh.

That, compiled with the bird that attacks me near my half-way point is enough to keep me from walking.

I have actually altered my route lately and moved my half-way point shorter so that the bird doesn't attack me. Of course, with it being hot, I am pretty much walking back and forth in the shaded section lately (the bird is on the sunny/hot section). But still. Damn bird.

Speaking of itching and flying (well, in a round about way) I'm also itching to fly away on vacation.

Just found out today that I have to do one more pain-in-the-ass experiment before I leave. This is to teach a grad student in the lab how to do it - for posterity. This would be the experiment that I was optimizing for 3 months and that took me 6 months more to actually get the data that is in the paper. That would be a total of 9 months out of my 2 years here. All for one figure in a paper. That would be ONE, numero uno, figure. Not two, but one. one.

I sound grumpy, don't I? I think itching for a night and a day is getting to me.

Flowers will be on Friday. I actually took a whole ton of close-ups yesterday. So, I'm good for a couple months or more. :-) There, something to smile about.

That and, can you say vacaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaation?

Posted by danielle at 05:29 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

I'm happy because in a week and a half, I go on vacation to TX!

In the meantime, I am doing things in the lab to wrap up my work. I've made sure there is an index in the front of each lab notebook. I found the best experiments and put them into a summary sheet. I photocopied and organized data that will be followed up by a grad student in the lab. I updated all of my protocols, including how to make solutions of different drugs. All good stuff.

I do this, because it is not only getting time for me to leave (last day Aug 5), but my experiments have been a bust. So, I don't have much else to do with my time that is related to lab work. I have been prepping lectures for my new job here and there too.

Posted by danielle at 11:27 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)