It was mostly filled with orientation, faculty activities, and lots of getting things set up like my ID, parking pass, email, website for students to view the course, etc. I think I had a half day where I wasn't dealing with stuff like that.

The craziest part of the week is that my office wasn't ready. My office is the room where the vending machines were located. And for annoying reasons that had to deal with bureaucracy mostly, the vending machines were still present on my first days of work. The associate provost actually apologized to me and told me his own frustrations in trying to get it taken care of. Finally, on Thursday, the vending machines were moved into the hallway, my room was painted, blinds were installed in the window, and the floor was in the initial stages of being taken care of. I picked out furniture on Friday which should be delivered on Monday. I also get my computer on Monday if all goes well.

The enjoyable parts of my week included several things.
1. My department chair is exceptionally friendly, easy to work with, and understanding. She is also good about being organized. I suppose you have to be if you are a chair.

2. I had a very enjoyable set of tours of the campuses. Yes, two. I'd rather not go into it here. But suffice to say, there is some beautiful architecture on campus.

3. There was a faculty picnic that was very nice. It was a good social event where I began to get to know some of the faculty in my department. And some outside of the department too.

4. I have great neighbors (for my new office). Very helpful, welcoming, and kind.

5. Yes, I have a window in my office! It even has ivy peeking around the edges, which is really nice. Photos will be forthcoming once I get settled in and I can show you "before and after" shots.

I had a lot of great interactions with people that really energized me. All in all, it was a great first week. :-)

This heliotrope caught my eye when I was choosing annuals this year, because it was so intensely purple. It was also rather tall, which appealed to me.

Unfortunately, there was a period of time where it evidently didn't get enough water and kinda died off. You can see that some in the photo.

But I was really pleased when I went to take close-up photos and realized it had such beautifully star-shaped blossoms.

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and it is really good in large

Here is the pool from the other direction (opposite from my first entry). I took this from the water slide platform. We hung out at the farthest pool. Because of the way they are connected with waterfalls, we were at the lowest one in elevation. We always got a good table with a nice umbrella for shade. On the last day, we got one next to the music speakers, which was really great, since the music list they were playing was perfect.

That is Munchie, Trainwreck, and Dad hanging out by the bar stools as they watch the kids jumping off of and playing around the waterfall.

That would be Texas Seestor, Munchie, and Trainwreck hanging out in the pool.

A little out of order, but that is the sunrise photo I shot on the first morning. I walked out on the balcony, was pleasantly surprised at the humidity and the sound of the ocean, and was joyous that I caught the sunrise.

And speaking of mornings, this next pic is one of Munchie licking the cream cheese off of her breakfast bagel.

I guess she really loves cream cheese, as it turns out. And the funny thing is that the first thing she does when she gets a piece of bread, is licks it to see if there is cream cheese or butter on it. It almost breaks your heart when she gets just plain bread and you see her lick it and lick it, trying to find the cream cheese or butter. But it is so dang cute, you don't feel sorry for her for long.

Let's see, what other pics can I put up here...

This is a photo that Dad took of me watching the waves the night before the hurricane hit the area south of us.

And here is a photo that Texas Seestor took with her camera of the waves that night. My photos don't look very good. I was so busy taking these wide shots to encompass the feeling of seeing such a large stretch of rough surf, that I didn't really get good close-ups.

We hung out on the balcony for a while that night. I like this one of Munchie because of the railing, I think.

And here I am playing Super Mario Galaxy (at least I think that is what it was called) with the Wii on our one rainy day.

We didn't go to the aquarium, because there were tornado warnings around the area, but we stayed in and had a lot of fun playing games. I also played a lot of Mario Kart, which is a driving game. I really love driving games.

And while I am on the topic of our rainy day, I will mention that we really lucked out and our next day (which was our last full day) was nice enough that we hung out at the pool again all day. It was really terrific.

On our last morning, we walked down the boardwalk to the beach to see the state of the waves and beach. And then Texas Seestor and I went down the water slide 6 or 7 times! It was a blast and a great way to end our time there.

I know I'm skipping around some, but here are a couple shots of us playing.

And here was a moment when Munchie got so close when we were playing that she was standing on my hand. ;-) Actually, I think she might've been coming for my camera.

And I think I will end with this photo. In this one, Munchie is pointing out at the ocean and the birds and saying "See!" It is one of her favorite things to do.

All in all, it was a wonderfully fantastical fabuloso vacation. :-D

I've always liked lantana. I particularly enjoy the multi-colored blossoms that cluster together on a stalk. In fact, last year I posted photos of the lantana that grew in containers on our deck.

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That is all for now. I keep meaning to post more about my TX trip, but I never quite put aside the time to do it. I will soon, though.

In other news, I got my ticket for So You Think You Can Dance (touring show) today. We had a password to get tickets by presale. I'm actually farther back than I was last year when I didn't have the presale option. So, it must be getting more popular. I'm in row 11 (last year, I was in row 3). Maybe being a little farther back will be better for seeing more of their feet when they are half-way back on the stage. However, I probably won't be able to get the kinds of pictures that I took last year. (Note that I've had 193 views on that set!) I guess I'll just have to see.

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!

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.

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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.

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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!

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.

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?

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.

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Happy Independence Day!

I took these fireworks photos off of my back deck. They aren't really spectacular by any means. But they are the first ones I have ever taken with this camera. Sometime, I'll have to figure out the settings on my camera that I should be using a bit better. But for now, these will do to remind me of the experience.

I was able to get those 2 because the people who were shooting them off back by the lake had some that were one after the other in about the same spot. So, even though there was a delay on my camera taking the photo, I got some shots of fireworks. You can see one going up and getting ready to explode while the one before is still fading away.

I had a lot of fun watching the different fireworks. I've never lived somewhere where so many people shot off big ones that really look beautiful in the sky. There must have been about 7 different sets that I could see from our deck. It was really cool.

In other news, I've been doing well walking this week. On the day when it was hot and muggy, I walked back and forth in the shaded part of where I walk. It is probably about 0.25 miles, so I did it several times until I hit my usual 40ish min, 2.5-3 miles distance. I have now worked through my 4 walking music mixes and have tweaked a couple of them when I ran short on songs or when the song was too slow.

Not much else happening. Lab work, home, reading, TV and movies.

Oh, speaking of TV...
... there is a friend of a friend of SeaQueen's who is on the reality show I Survived a Japanese Gameshow. I think it is on Tuesday nights at 9:00 eastern/8:00 central. It was hilarious. The participants had no idea what they were getting into, they just knew they were going to be on a reality show. They didn't know they were going to Japan, that they were going to be competing for $250,000 or anything. It is definitely more interesting knowing to watch out for a particular person.

And did anyone else watch the NASA special on Discovery the past few weeks? I thought it was really well done. Of course, HB and I have always been fascinated with space flight and NASA, so we were particularly enthralled.

See ya' later!

Here's what I did: I took 3 songs that were the "perfect" pace on my original walking mix, I calculated the beats per minute (bpm) by listening to the song and tapping a key to the beat using this great website. And lo' and behold, they were 125, 126 and 127 bpm. I also calculated that one song that was almost too fast for me was 138. And thus, my range was born. 120-124 for slightly slower. 125-127 for perfect. 128-130ish for really-cooking power-walking.

And now, the list. It is huge. But I am typing it out here for posterity. And in case anyone comes along looking for songs for walking at a certain bpm rate/tempo. (like I had done, using google)

Warm-up and cool-down songs that I just like even though they are slow - very random/mostly new, or really old songs that I've always liked:
80 Celine Dion - Taking Chances
90 Marie Digby - Say It Again
90 One Republic - Stop and Stare
92 Crowded House - Better Be Home Soon
103 Rascal Flatts - Life Is a Highway
109 10,000 Maniacs - These Are the Days
110 Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
115 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - I Won't Back Down
117 Crowded House - Something So Strong
118 Steve Winwood - Roll With It

Moving into songs that are a tad slow, but good for variation:
120 Elton John - Sad Songs Say So Much
120 Five for Fighting - 100 Years
120 Maroon 5 - Not Falling Apart
120 Sheryl Crow - Soak Up the Sun
121 Bob Seger - Night Moves
121 Corrs - Even If
121 Corrs - Radio
121 Dixie Chicks - I Can Love You Much Better
121 INXS - Suicide Blong
121 Shania Twain - When
121 Sting - Fortress Around Your Heart
122 Corrs - Summer Sunshine
122 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
122 Dixie Chicks - If I Fall, You're Going Down With Me
122 Dixie Chicks - Tonight the Heartache Is On Me
122 Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing
122 Gladys Knight - I Got To Use My Imagination
122 Phil Collins - Sussudio
123 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Who'll Stop the Rain
123 Depeche Mode - World In My Eyes
123 Dixie Chicks - Goodbye Earl
123 Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
123 Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop
123 John Cougar - China Girl
123 Shania Twain - Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
123 The Beatles - Get Back
124 Bob Seger - Old Time Rock and Roll
124 Dixie Chicks - Tortured, Tangled Hearts
124 Faith Hill - If My Heart Had Wings
124 Martina McBride - Love's the Only House
124 Shania Twain - Love Gets Me Every Time
124 Shania Twain - I'm Gonna Getcha Good

Getting into the best paced songs for my walking speed (14.5 to 15 minutes per mile)
125 Commitments - Bye Bye Baby
125 Good Charlotte - I Don't Wanna Be In Love <-- one of my new favorite songs
125 Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin'
125 John Mellencamp - Rain On the Scarecrow
125 Shania Twain - Man, I Feel Like a Woman ** This was one of the original songs **
125 Shania Twain - Up! **This was one of the original songs**
126 Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice
126 Corrs - Dreams
126 Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself
126 Gary Numan - Cars
126 John Mellencamp - I Need a Lover
126 Kelly Clarkson - Gone
126 Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
126 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
126 Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
126 The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (There Is a Season)
127 Commitments - Take Me To the River
127 Corrs - Irresistible
127 Corrs - Breathless **This was one of the original songs**
127 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lodi
127 Dixie Chicks - There's Your Trouble
127 Phil Collins - Both Sides Of the Story
127 Sting - All This Time
127 Supremes - Come See About Me
127 Train - Respect

Crankin' On
128 Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
128 Corrs - Angel
128 Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me
128 Huey Lewis & The News - She's Some Kind Of Wonderful
128 R.E.M. - The One I Love
128 Sheryl Crow - A Change Would Do You Good
129 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Up Around the Bend
129 Cranberries - Dreams
129 Ongo Bongo (wasn't this Oingo Boingo?) - Weird Science
129 Shania Twain - Rock This Country
129 Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
129 Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On
129 Three Dog Night - Joy To the World
130 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
130 Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
130 Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun
130 Genesis - Invisible Touch
130 John Mellencamp - Shy
130 John Mellencamp - Rumble Seat
130 Martina McBride - Safe In the Arms Of Love
130 Shania Twain - In My Car (I'll Be the Driver)
131 Coldplay - Clocks
131 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
131 Ronettes - Be My Baby
131 Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In
131 The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
132 Doobie Brothers - It Keeps You Running
132 Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
132 Erasure - Breath of Life
132 Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
132 Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
132 Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
133 B-52's - Love Shack
133 Elton John - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
138 Shania Twain - What a Way to Want To Be **This was the original crankin' along song**

So there you have it. A sampling of my music tastes. Or at least, the ones that are the 'right' tempo for walking.

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These flowers were in a bouquet that was in the lobby of the church for the Variety Show. Since I had my camera and all, I couldn't resist taking a photo. I also took some pictures of the irises that one of the singers brought in (she is the one dressed in a kimono, if you look at my recent pics on Flickr). As a side note, she is an opera singer who performs with the Met in NY, among other places. Anyway, I guess irises are her passion, so she brought in a bunch. But my pictures all look like crap. Since they were in a bouquet, they are a little smushed together and just don't show off the beauty of them. But I did like these purple flowers.

As another side note, the powerpoint presentation I put together for the Variety Show has been well received. I am actually going to show it during coffee hour off of a laptop in the lobby. I've learned how to loop it and found a song to play during it through iTunes. Gotta love computers.

Hope you have a good weekend!

Note, I've walked 2 times this week and am hoping to get in more tonight and this weekend. We'll see how I do with that.

I put pictures on my Flickr account of us performing. Since they show our faces, they are marked private for friends and family; so, you'll need to log in to see them. They are pretty much what you'd expect people singing with microphones to look like....
... but you can see my fishy dress. And my jewelry (bracelet and earrings) that I bought on Saturday (the day of the performance) to go with my dress.

I was also the official photographer for the event. Yes, me in my dress and heels. Not quite the usual photographer outfit, but much more fun, I thought. I got assistance by someone so that I could have pics of me singing with the group. I gave her a brief lesson and away she went! I've had a lot of fun tweaking the lighting on the photos and making a powerpoint presentation of the good ones. I even put captions on all of the photos in the presentation that lists the people, the name of their act, and the original creator/performer of the piece. :-)

This photo was taken through our front window. So, not as ideal as if I'd gone outside, but for some reason I didn't. I think because I wanted the angle that I usually see from the house.

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