Emuzines

Happiness is…

…spending a night playing games with Nik and some of our oldest friends, in the birthplace of our relationship (the Rhoades household).

…devouring a meal of some of the best Mexican food LA has to offer (Pachanga), balanced on my lap while cruising down PCH and rocking out to KLOS.

…spending a relaxing day knitting with Martha, chatting with Justine, Dad, Nana, and Nonno.

…spontaneously remembering favorite LA food and drink spots, then going to them right away.

…see above…drinking a Coffee Bean vanilla latte during said games.

…coming home to a happy and sleepy Logan greeting me at the door, and following me within an inch of my body around the house until bed.

…knowing that I get to spend the next week and a half with some of my best friends and my family.

…also knowing that I get to go home to Nik, JoJo, and some incredible people who have quickly become the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for.

Quick post. I received a very, very good grade on my statistics midterm and I am so proud of myself. It was a tough one. Let’s just say that if there were A+++s, I would have one!

Things are also going really well at work. Finishing up an article draft, and finalizing my coding scheme for my own project. Sally and I ran through some videos using it today and it went really well. We also have an analysis plan in the works thanks to an incredible research scientist who helps me out a lot, Greg.

I’m heading to LA tomorrow and I am super excited. Lots of good plans, and I’ll get to spend some quality time with my mom, Mandi, Logan, Danny, Melissa (a frequent reader–hi!), and Mark. Happy!

I spent last weekend in L.A.  Technically Logan-sitting, I fit a ton of fun in with some of my favorite people.  Unfortunately, Mandi and my mom were in Amesbury, so I didn’t get to see them…but I had an activity-filled weekend, anyway.

I got in very late Friday night, after a horrible Super Shuttle experience which kept me driving around LAX for an hour after midnight.  On Saturday, I got my nails done (I only try to fit in the very important things), and then had some relaxation time with Logan.  When Noah was up from his nap, I met up with him and Mark at Polliwog park.  We fed some ducks and gigantic fish, and played with Noah on the playground.  We ran a lot and tired everybody out.  Seeking some quiet, more conversation-allowing sit-down time, we headed to Mama D’s for dinner #1.  After that, it was dinner #2 with Gabriela…unphotographed, but great as always.  I had my beloved Caprese salad at Lazy Dog, and we laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Sunday saw breakfast #1 with Melissa at Le Quotidian (the best coffee in the world…), with a surprise additional goodbye visit by Mark.  Breakfast #2 took place at Eat at Joe’s with my dad, Martha, and Justine, and the remainder of the afternoon was spent cuddling some more with Logan.

The weekend was over quickly, but wonderful.  It left me utterly exhausted but somehow refreshed, and thankful for the great people in my life (including my mom, who wasn’t there, but left me roses and all sorts of preferred foods and sweets and drinks, and a toy to give to Logs!).  Another weekend in paradise.

I love when people comment on my posts (and I thank Melissa and Annalise for commenting frequently).  Please comment if you read (this includes Memere and Nana!)!  :)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hi!  Lately, I have been more buried than usual in work and school stuff.  I have a genetics midterm on Monday, which I decided to devote all weekend to getting ready for, so I’ve had to do a lot of work for my other class ahead of time, to clear out the weekend (for fun and excitement, like MAOA, tetO, housekeeping genes, and stuff like that).  Well, this was designed as a post to talk about exciting things, and that was quite sarcastic (although I admit I really do enjoy the genetics of autism), so here are some things I’m excited about:

Nik found this for me: http://www.scrapncube.com/  I doubt I’ll go with that company for a scrapbook area, as it’s really expensive, but I thought it was so sweet that he found it for me!  Once we get a house, my scrapbook stuff will have a home besides shoved into closets and on high shelves out of reach.

CHICAGO!  I wanted to go to IMFAR, an autism conference, but I also really wanted to spend Mother’s Day weekend with…well…my mom!  It happened to fall on that weekend, so I invited my mom along.  We’re extended it into a nice little trip and we already have lots of really, really exciting plans.  We’re going to see Mary Poppins, eat at great restaurants, go to Navy Pier, and go on a dinner cruise.  I am beyond excited.  And I keep forgetting about IMFAR, which is also something that really makes me happy.  Sally says I’ll be presenting there next year, so I better get ready!

LAS VEGAS!  This is coming up really, really soon.  I am going to meet my mom, Aunt Debbie, Memere, and Pepere there, like we have been doing every year for…3 years now?  Nik isn’t going this year, so it’ll be a girl + Pepere week.  Great food, a show, the spa, and Vegasy stuff.  As you can tell, food and good company make me very happy.

HOME!  I am going home in 2 weeks!  It’ll be a very, very short trip, but I’m happy about it.  Mark and I are going to take Noah to the park to feed ducks, I’m going to go out to dinner and a hopefully girly movie/illegal sweets with Gaby, and have breakfast with Melissa.  Should be a nice, quick trip.

VALENTINE’S DAY!  Nik and I cooked in last year, so we’re going out this year.  We wanted to try something new (although, most things are new up here for us, still).  We have reservations at Ruth’s Chris.

DENVER!  This is happening in April.  The primary reason for the trip is another conference, but I’m going with David, Abby, and April.  We’re going to have a lot of fun together!!  I am more than lucky in meeting these friends.

Finally…relaxation…I’m giving myself the night off.  So off I go to eat lasagne and watch a movie!

Melissa wrote me a letter (thank you!).  In it, she noted that I handle stress and change serenely, and that if she was doing what I am doing right now, she’d have written lots of “oh my gosh I’m so stressed out” blogs.  I thought, huh, maybe I’m not honest enough in my blogs.  I do, as explained earlier, try to actively ignore the negativities of my move.  But I have had moments of sheer terror (ok, fear…intense fear), I walked into Nik’s room last week, burst into tears, stamped my foot like a 4-year-old denied chocolate (or me as a 25-year-old denied chocolate), and cried, “I don’t wanna move!,” and I have had a pretty consistent stomach ache.  Whew.  There it is.

However, I DO feel pretty serene right now and I’m ready to begin my studies.  And I am happy that my perfect school ended up being in California.  I remember considering such places as Baton Rouge and Albany and other northern New York cities I can’t even remember now, and THAT was pretty scary.  Then I walked into the MIND Institute and met with my future mentor.  It just clicked into place.  She is an icon in the autism field, brilliant, friendly, available, and wonderful.  She is enthusiastic about autism and research and even about ME.  She had all these great ideas for me and planned out my involvement and, heck, she brings her dog into work on the weekends.  As I was leaving she said that she hoped to meet my mom one day, and offered me a job.  I left, stunned, and said to my mom in the car, “I think I have a grad school, a mentor, and a job.  At THIS PLACE!” (it’s gorgeous and, risking further bragging, reputable).  It was just perfect.

I’ve mostly given up on my obsessive fear of forgetting something I’ll desperately need the moment I arrive.  I am armed with toilet paper, Clorox wipes, detergent, and soap.  I am less stressed and finally get Nik’s point that…Katie, we can buy it when we’re there.  I *am* a little nervous about the drive, not breaking down or anything, but about the sheer boredom of it.  I have not done that drive without being a sleeping passenger.  I don’t even GET how I can drive so far as to use up my whole tank of gas and more.  That’s a lot of minutes sitting in the car, awake.  So everyone, please feel free to call me tomorrow afternoon.  I would desperately appreciate the distraction.  And Mom, I’ll call you when I get there.  You can call me after your classes, too, or at lunch.

I took a great picture of JoJo frolicking through our packed stuff tonight (she used Nik’s pile of clothes and brand new suit as a springboard to jump onto the couch).  But, alas, I have packed my camera cord, and I can’t post it.  Lots of pictures to come of moving and settling in.