Abe + Vampires

I just finished reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.  Though I had read his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I didn't know what to expect from Grahame-Smith.

This story quickly grabbed and held my attention.  Grahame-Smith effortlessly combines history and fantasy in a way that won't bore anyone.  The historical details were the most interesting part of the story, in my opinion, not vampires.  Hearing how Lincoln grew up, about his parents, how he was sworn in....  It's all very intriguing.  

Vampires provided action and, at times, comic relief.  Grahame-Smith has some crazy conspiracy theories regarding vampires in America....and they're all well thought out and fascinating.  This time in American history doesn't need vampires to be interesting, but they do add a bit of fantasy to it all. 


The movie is coming out this summer and I can't wait to see it!
 

UFO Help

My knitting buddy was kind enough to help me with a UFO....a baby cardigan I started in a class long ago but never finished.  Thankfully, the directions that had left me scratching my head were also cryptic to her, an experienced knitter.

We pieced together and stitched the front pieces to the back.  And that's as far as we got.  Thanks to the wonderful instructions, we had to do that twice.  Sigh!  By the time we were done, I was done.  I'll work on sewing in the sleeves by myself....which is almost laughable, but we'll see. 

I'm anxiously awaiting a sale at my local yarn store.  There is so much scrumptious stuff there!  I've started a baby hat with plans for another one...or two.  Now I just need my friends to have more babies!

I'm so glad to have a three-day weekend...  More time to knit!

Bygones

Have you ever been "friended" by someone on Facebook with whom you had a falling out at some point?

It's an odd feeling, being confronted with these people who I never thought I'd see again.  In our "old age" are we supposed to let bygones be bygones?  Are we meant to forget the past?  

Let's face it, Facebook is a narcissistic exercise.  It's about telling distant acquaintances all about our lives and spying on theirs.  And to be brutally honest, it's about comparing your life to theirs...and feeling superior or envious once you have. 

Sometimes our motives are true: I genuinely want to keep in touch with some of my "friends" and Facebook is the only way.  But oftentimes, our motives are selfish. 

Bygones can be bygones, I suppose.  I'm mature now, right?  Ha!

The Rose Garden

I finished my third book by Susanna Kearsley, The Rose Garden.  It was my favorite book of hers - a great read!

After the death of her sister, Eva Ward returns to their childhood summer retreat in Britain.  There, she tries to find solace in the memories of her sister.  Instead, she finds herself sucked into the past - the 1700s, to be precise.  Kearsley has a fascination with the Jacobite Rebellion and this book, like her others, focuses on that tumultuous time period. 


The main male character in this novel is particularly attractive - and a smuggler!  Eva finds love and struggles to come to terms with it...and with time. 


I loved this novel.  Kearsley has a magical way of weaving tales.  I hope she can keep this up because I want to read more!
 

Scanning Memories

I've had a little project going the past few months.  I've been going through our old family photos and scanning them.  Here are some observations....

-We're completely spoiled by digital cameras.  More than half the pictures taken in the '80s and '90s should be thrown away.  I can't tell you how many pictures of pets' tails we have...or blurry pets....or people's heads chopped off.  It's amazing really, just how bad the pictures are.  

1993.  Heads optional.

 -The quality of these pictures is awful.  Even with software to brighten, darken, straighten, crop, etc, a lot of pictures are still grainy, which is disappointing.

1988.  A blurry picture of my birthday cake.

-It's amazing just how much I'd forgotten.  One picture can trigger so many memories, a smile, and a "oh, yeah!"  

-There are not enough pictures of every day life, unless you count the everyday lives of our pets.  Ha!  This makes me so thankful that I found and am doing Project Life this year.  We're capturing little moments that would be lost forever now.  That makes me happy!

1989.  Our dachshund, Hans.  So many pics of pets!

-I was teased pretty mercilessly as a kid.  Heck, who wasn't?   And I can see why.  My grandmother loved to sew...and she sewed most of my dresses through elementary school.  The most exciting clothes I got were hand-me-downs from my half-sister.  Looking back, I wish I still had all those dresses my Granny had sewn!  


-In high school, I took the baggy style a little too seriously.  I was never really overweight, though I wasn't athletic, but I was determined to be covered up.  No wonder I never had a boyfriend!


-Sadly, I have very few pictures of my grandparents.  Since my grandmother had emphysema and was often on oxygen, she didn't like her picture taken.  But I have so many memories of her, and none of them captures on film.  


-I have an awful memory, especially for names.  When looking at all my birthday parties across the years, I recognize the faces of my friends, yet I have no idea what most of their names are.  How depressing!  


I'm so glad to have these pictures more accessible.  There are so many good memories there.

Summer Blues

It's summer.  Let's not dance around the subject.  In Texas, it's summer...in May.  Yay.

I cannot believe that we skipped right over the 70s and have been steady in the 80s for weeks now.  One can only hope that last year's 80 days of 100+ temperatures is not repeated.  That was a fluke, right?  Surely.  

Every year, I dread summer like the plague.  The only redeeming factor is that campus is less busy and fewer students loiter about.  That means, every so often, I can leave for lunch - a small blessing.

This summer offers something new, though.  A baby!  My best friend just had the cutest little girl!  I'm hoping to spend a lot more time with her!  I'd never thought to see my friend as a mother....but she's great.  So much better than I'd ever be!  It's heartwarming to see.  

And a baby to knit for?!  Great!!  

Hunger Games

I wanted to read The Hunger Games before seeing the movie.  Since I got a late start on the book, I'll be seeing the movie on DVD.  

Everyone told me they couldn't put the book down....but I could.  It took me at least a week to read it.  I guess I have more going on than everyone else who couldn't put it down.  I thought the premise was good and unique, though perhaps a bit violent.  

However, the writing was awful.  I realize this is young adult fiction but is that really an excuse for bad writing?  The romance was a bit too contrived for me.  I couldn't really see the attraction Katniss had towards Peeta; she was way too smart for such an uninteresting, unimpressive boy.  

Personally, I'd like to know more about Panem and the war that led to the hunger games.  Perhaps I need to keep reading the books for this. But I must admit to not being too motivated to keep reading.  We'll see how the summer goes. 

Change

My boss of six years is officially gone, his office  vacated. 

While I'm glad to be done with the endless packing his departure involved, I'm really sad to see him go.  He is such a likable guy; I know his presence will be missed.  It's a pity, too, that his last year on campus was spoiled by petty department politics.  (To get a laugh out of academic politics, you should read Straight Man by Richard Russo.)  I tend to hold on to grudges, but after seeing what harboring grudges will do after 10, 15, 20 years, I think I'll just forget most of them.  Too many people suffer from such petty immaturity.  

And so I look now to the arrival of my new boss....which means unpacking boxes.  Ha!  At least I'll have over a month to rest up.  Hopefully, too, I can mentally check out of work to concentrate more on my writing.  

Yep, my goal for the summer is to get re-immersed in my writing.  I can't wait!

Stomach Ails

I've been MIA this week because I've been sick.  Sick during the week of our anniversary, sick during the final week of my boss' move.  Sick.

Let me just say that stomach viruses are awful.  I wished for death many times on Tuesday and Wednesday, especially at night when my stomach hurt so bad that I was writhing in pain, my body covered in sweat.  I can deal with a lot of pain (I think most women can), but this just about got the best of me.  

When my symptoms had not abated after three days, I broke down and called the doctor.  My biggest fear was appendicitis....or gallbladder.  During the physical examination, the doctor was able to mostly rule out the appendix; I had absolutely no pain on my right side.  But I got blood drawn, just in case my white blood cell count was up.  In the end, it was concluded that I most likely have a nasty stomach virus that's going around town...one that can last up to seven days.  Er, seven days?  WTF?!

I'm doing much better today after an almost uninterrupted, blessed night of sleep.  And this comes none to soon as my boss really needs me today.  

And it's so good to back amongst the living!

A Blessed Year

A year ago today, I married my best friend, Mr. Higgins.  

It feels like our wedding was yesterday....or five years ago.  The year has gone by so quickly....but not so much.  I remember the day of our wedding so vividly.  The entire weekend was so perfect, it was like a dream.  And the past year has seen so many great things happen; we are very blessed.  

Thank you, Mr. Higgins, for bringing such happiness and love into my life!

Manual Labor

A short break from the cruise pictures...

We're in the final weeks of packing up my old boss.  He has to be out of the office by next Friday.  To say I'm sick of boxes, sick of packing and unpacking, is an understatement.  I've moved homes four times in the last six years.  I'm tired of the entire process.  So, it's a bit of an insult to have to do it at work.  I didn't sign on for this.

On Tuesday, I came to work, opened my office door, and found my entire floor covered in old files, meant to be recycled.  I'd told my boss not to worry about the recycling, that I'd take care of it.  I did not mean for it to be discarded so haphazardly that I couldn't get to my desk, let alone pull out the chair.  I threw a minor tantrum, kicking the papers across the room and cursing.  Thankfully, only the custodians were here to hear me.  One of the nice ladies came to get my trash and asked about the papers.  When I told her, she said, "I'm sorry for you."  So am I.  So...am....I.

I'm trying to not think of moving the new boss in, later this summer.  I'm really trying to not think of the remodeling that's supposed to take place for our building in a few years.  Good grief!  

I want to do the work I'm meant to be doing at work.  Not manual labor.  

St. Kitts

This was our second time to St. Kitts - a lovely island that is not as built up as St. Maarten or St. Thomas.  On this day, we ventured to the extreme tip of the island to Cockleshell Beach.

The main reason we wanted to spend the day at Cockleshell was the view it had of Nevis.

We spent the day on the beach with this view.  Pretty cool, eh?  We thought, surely, the clouds at the peak of Nevis burn off at some point during the day.  But the didn't.

Interestingly, there was a brush fire going on in the hills behind us the entire day.  None of the locals seemed alarmed so we tried to adopt the same attitude.  By the time we left, the fire had scorched several hills.  And, later that evening, when we left the port of St. Kitts, we could see the fire still burning.  It's still the dry season in the Caribbean.  Hurricane season is, naturally, their wet season.

St. Maarten

Next up: St. Maarten, the island that is half French and half Dutch.



We were here in February, on the Dutch side.  This time, we headed to Orient Beach, on the French side.  We got some chairs and an  umbrella and enjoyed the view.


 
A rain shower dampened our spirits so we headed back to the ship.  






There was a Disney ship docked with us here.  Though the idea of being confined to a ship with tons of kids and tons of Disney characters is just about my worst nightmare, it was a nice looking ship.



After a swim in the pool, we headed to lunch.  We sat outside and this was our view.  If only our meals in Texas had this kind of scenery!

 

Virgin Gorda

We docked in Tortola for the day and our destination was The Baths at Virgin Gorda. Above, the nondescript entrance to The Baths.


After hiking down to The Baths, you're met with this spectacular beach, Spring Bay.


In The Baths, you walk through huge rocks that have formed passageways, pools, and coves. There were some really tight squeezes in these passageways, but you're rewarded with some breathtaking sights.


These stairs don't look difficult to tackle, but when you're wet and the stairs are wet, they're tricky.


Once you're through The Baths, you get to enjoy this beach, Devil's Bay, which had the clearest, most perfect water we saw on the trip. Not a bad place to spend the day!


We hiked some trails around Devil's Bay and found some smaller, rockier beaches. Just lovely!

If you're ever in the British Virgin Islands, you must get to The Baths!

Serenade of the Seas

This was my fourth cruise and the first time to sail on a Royal Caribbean ship in a class other than Voyager. This is a class of ship that is one step smaller than Voyager class - Radiance class. She is named Serenade of the Seas.


Ironically, our next two cruises will be on Radiance class ships.


I thought I would notice a difference between classes of ships - that I could tell it was significantly smaller. I could tell but I mostly noticed other things. Like how much more elegant this ship seemed with more wood paneling and graceful lines. The Centrum - above - was the heart of the ship.


The Solarium (the adult pool) is really cool on Serenade. It has a retractable glass roof - convenient since this ship used to go to Alaska. The Solarium is like an oasis - very nice!


One of the biggest differences between the classes of ships is that Radiance class ships have outside dining. Awesome! We spent a lot of time out here, watching the ports come and go.


The only real place this ship felt smaller was on the pool deck. Having only one pool here - usually overly crowded - made the space feel a lot smaller. The ship itself seemed much skinnier.

But, overall, Serenade was a very elegant ship. I'm glad I'll get to sail on two more ships in her class in the coming year or so.

Travel Madness

Our day, last Friday, April 7....

2:30 am - wake up.
3:30 am - leave for the airport.
4:05 am - park car at the airport, catch a shuttle to the terminal.
5:00 am - pick up McDonald's breakfast to eat on the plane.
5:45 am - plane leaves for Miami, on time (thank goodness!).

At check in, the very nice lady got us onto an earlier flight from Miami to San Juan. Our ten hour layover was reduced to two. Yay! On top of that, she forgot to charge us the baggage fee. Awesome!
9:00 am - land in Miami.
9:15 - 11:00 am - I work on....work. Yes, unbelievable.
11:35 am - flight leaves for San Juan. I spend it all working on a massive spreadsheet. I'm such a dedicated employee!
2:05 pm - land in San Juan.
2:40 pm - arrive at and check in to our San Juan hotel.
3:00 pm - walk to the beach (see below) and then to a Walgreens for various supplies.


4:15 pm - sit down at our favorite restaurant in SJ...order our first pina coladas of the trip! And eat way too much.
5:30 pm - back to the hotel to relax. Exhausted! But, wait! I finish my spreadsheet and email it to my boss. Work is now done!
8:30-ish pm - go to bed. We'll sleep for ten hours straight.

The fun begins the next morning!

Wake Up Call

We leave for our second cruise of the year on Friday. In other, somewhat random, news, there were a lot of storms in DFW on Tuesday. Perhaps you heard of our tornadoes?

This morning, at 4:45am, my phone rang. I didn't get to it in time and dismissed the call....until Mr. Higgins' phone rang. He answered his, to be informed by American Airlines that our flight to San Juan was canceled. W...T....F.

We got up - 45 minutes early - to get on the phone with AA. After 45 minutes on hold, when every good and worst case scenario had already run through our heads, we finally talked to a representative. She was super nice considering it took her an hour to get us booked on different flights. But at least we're on flights.

We're leaving at an hour of the morning that I'm still not fully capable of processing (it's so early) and will then have to wait ten hours in the Miami airport for our flight to San Juan. Our first and only concern: luggage. What do they do with checked bags for ten hours? Perhaps we should check them only to Miami and re-check them to SJU later on?

I love vacations. I love to travel. But there are always variables....like tornadoes. Here's hoping this is the only hiccup in our trip. It happened last time - we sat on the runway for three hours - and will hopefully be the same, and work out, this time.

Fiber Fest

My new knitting friend and I went to the local Fiber Fest on Saturday. I'm so glad we did! This fiber, of course, is not the kind you eat; it's the kind you knit. Yarn!

I hadn't been in four to five years so I was super excited to have someone to go with this year. And boy, had the fest grown since the last time! It was about four times bigger! So much yarn!! Our favorite booth was a locally grown alpaca yarn company. Have you ever felt alpaca? There's nothing softer! I spent way too much on a skein...and could have bought a lot more!

I also bought some bamboo, which I adore. How do they get bamboo so soft?! I avoided further temptation and was amazed that I stayed exactly within my yarn budget. Yay! Such a good day!

Umbilical Cord Hat

Pattern: Umbilical Cord Hat by Jennifer L. Jones (in Stitch n' Bitch)
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted
Needles: US 7 and 8 circs, US 8 dpns
Made for: Baby Juliana
Time to completion: 3 days
Cast on 72 stitches for a bigger baby!

I needed a simply, quick hat to make for a 2-month old. I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks...only to be a bit disappointed in the color. Oh, well. It feels good, at least! And I learned something new: how to do an i-cord. It seemed strange but was super easy and came out great! I love - successfully - learning new things!

As Mr. Higgins and I plug our way through season six of West Wing, I've been knitting every evening this week. It's amazing how much more productive I feel at the end of the day! I've even been making progress on this project from long, long ago.

It was a good knitting week!

Candidates

It looks like the decision of my future boss has been made. Of course, I had no input in that decision. However, I think the right person is getting the job.... Unfortunately, I don't think that person is going to be the easiest person to work for.

This entire selection process has been a nightmare from the very beginning. Then, after the candidates were decided, we found out the hard way that some were never really prepared to move and fill the position. Why then, pray tell, did you apply for the job to begin with?! They wasted our time and their own by pretending to take this job search seriously.

In a time with so many people out of work, this makes me sick. It also undermines a tedious search. Here's how it works.... An academic department posts a job. Applicants apply. A committee narrows it down to about 20-25 candidates who are interviewed for half an hour at the annual national meeting. After those interviews, they narrow it down to 10-12 candidates. The entire faculty decide to bring 3-4 candidates to campus for a 3-day long interview process. This interview is not fun for anyone; it's grueling, especially for the candidate. After this, the faculty vote on who gets the job.

This entire process takes a year. So, you can imagine everyone's frustration when one - or a few - of the final candidates never really wanted to move to assume the position. Arg!

And now I have to move one boss out and another in. Fun times.