Maisy Jane

I think its only fair if I consider this a remotely worthwhile blog to give you the full story of how I got my new puppy. However, I have no additional pictures of her, since we're spending all our time learning how to walk on a leash, or cuddling.

Having my very own dog is something that's been on my mind for YEARS, decades even, and part of my motivation for buying my home instead of renting - I can do whatever I want. Including keeping pets, kicking out unwanted visitors, cleaning like I MEAN it, install a programmable thermostat, and God Forbid, actually control my own temperature. (Though I don't think I ever explicitly complained about the "heat & hot water included" from my old apartment, which mostly just mean that the heat was up allll the way allll winter and the only way to keep it under 90 degrees was to open windows and KILL TREES AND PROPAGATE GLOBAL WARMING)

Last week I found a shelter very nearby my house and applied to foster since they were so close. Take a puppy for a test drive, maybe? After my application was approved, even though I hadn't found a particular dog of interest on their website, it was time to start the process of interviewing Potential New Family Members. Also, I learned that that particular shelter only houses cats and its dogs are all in foster homes and I have to arrange individual meetings. Well that just isn't very efficient. So I started looking for other shelters. There was one about an hour from Boston which had a LOT of dogs on its website, and didn't give much information on each. Instead they encouraged interested parties to come to the shelter and meet the dogs, which is EXACTLY how I think it should work.

I went on Saturday morning, telling myself I was just going to play with them and see what they have "In Stock". Well there were no less than four adoptions underway when I got there, and the dogs were almost all different from the ones they had listed on the website, so the turnover rate is HUGE for this shelter, which could be good or bad. There was a huge number of puppies from two or three litters, all 12-13 weeks old, all Lab mixes, and then one bum-legged Beagle/Hound, a very overly timid Basenji/Husky (but she was WAYYY loud) and then a few larger, fiesty terrier mixes. The advantages of a puppy? Her experiences are all going to be with ME, rather than some mysterious former life causing unexpected behaviors.

Most of the puppies were busy wrestling with each other, since they were all distributed in 4 cages. When I stuck my hand through the second puppy kennel, there were three girl pups laying in the gravel in a pig pile. The one on top walked straight over to me, looked me in the face and layed her head in my hand, totally mellow, tail wagging, just wanting love. Then her two sisters came and jumped on her trying to get at my arm, and started chewing on my sleeve and such. I opened the door and walked into the kennel, and the same mellow head puppy crawled into my lap and tucked her head under my arm and stayed there, wagging her tail. After I was done getting jumped on by the other two, I re-read their cage info, and it said "Foster to Adopt available" So I had to ask what that meant.

It meant she had the black plague (a.k.a. Kennel Cough) and she was on antibiotics for another week and wasn't cleared for adoption by the shelter vet. So I would need to bring her back to the shelter in a week anyway. Sounds exactly like a test drive.

I was already wrapped around her little paw, though... I bought a crate, took her home (she snoozed in my lap for the whole hour) introduced her to Oliver, and then sent a few pictures out. She's totally mine. I already taught her how to sit and heel and go berserk over bits of hot dog (OK, she might have figured that one out on her own). When she meets new people, she says hi for a second and then comes right back over to me, she only gets up to pee once in the middle of the night and she doesn't whine anytime around me. She sleeps in my lap while I read or computerize from the floor. When I stand around the kitchen, she lays right behind me and calmly chews on the hems of my pants (and I walk on them anyway, so I don't really care) and occasionally on her toys. She's a Lab/Hound mix, and I was so smitten that I forgot to ask what sort of hound. Coonhound, maybe? I love her giant floppy ears. They're the perfect complement to Oliver's short stubby ones.

My only complaint is the horrendous separation anxiety when I leave for work. She's going to be a crate dog, and she's OK with that as demonstrated at night, but she is a total nutjob when she's not in the same room as me for more than 3 seconds. Even when I go to the bathroom and shut her in the hallway she barks. She's always calm when I get home (and I don't leave her in the crate longer than 4 hours, ever) so it may just be a matter of seeing me come home all week, or all month and knowing that I will be home soon. As a new "mom" I can't help but be worried and Google it incessantly while I'm supposed to be working.

P.S. her name was originally Colt. Which is not a real name. I tried MJ (like the redheaded girl in Spiderman!), since it was Halloween and Thriller was on the radio, but the neighbors said "oh, that's a cute name for him" even though she was wearing a neon pink leash. So I made it girly. Now she's Crazy Maisy, or Maisy Moo, and it just fits.

Going Big

So with this whole "New House" thing, I also decided to start some "New Hobbies" like fermenting my own hard cider/applewine, and getting a "New Puppy".

Here's Maisy Jane, a 12-week-old Lab/Hound mix that I adopted from a shelter yesterday:

Her dark coloring makes it hard to get her features show accurately (my very own little Basement Dog) but she has giant ears and the cutest little tiny face I've ever seen. She's already peed in the new house twice. And yes, she gets along just fine with Oliver, thought they're both a little hesitant around each other.

Where Did that 3 weeks go?

Well, I still haven't painted or hung any art or gotten a coffee table, but I've shopped and found my washer and dryer of choice, and also a dining room lamp that works with the rest of the existing lights (all of which I really like) even though I haven't bought them, yet. I did get my kitchen rolling and come up with a really great low-carb spice cake cupcake recipe and the best buttercream frosting I've ever had in my life, and also started fermenting a gallon of apple wine. (Most exciting video ever, right??) So the house is getting to feel like home. I also installed a programmable thermostat, so I feel good about myself. And I got a bath mat with a penguin on it.

Anyway, I'm gearing up now to spend a weekend in the White Mountains in New Hampshire with the rest of my lab for a "work retreat". And I know what you're thinking. That is SO MEAN. I've not missed a homecoming at Dartmouth since I matriculated, and now I will be less than an hour from campus, but I can't go? Blasphemy. Although one of our number got a seat in the very exclusive Obama Speech on campus and has been excused for an extra 3/4 of a day. Maybe I can somehow incorporate it into Teambuilding Exercises. Its only an hour, and we had to drive up there anyway so there are certainly enough seats in cars. I'll keep you posted. At the very least, the cabin has a hot tub and wireless internet. So I can play WoW in my free time.

First Post! (in the New House)

I closed and started moving on wednesday, moved on thursday, cleaned out the old apartment on Friday, and now I'm prepping for a mini-party tonight and the family to come check out the new digs tomorrow!

First thing to get unpacked: the XBOX and TV. Thanks, Joey.
Internet: installed this morning.
Fish and bunny: all alive and fully settled.
Feel good: feel great! though sore, bruised, and exhausted.

I'll start posting pictures when I stop unpacking for a minute to take some.

Two Things

I am home, safe and mostly sound, from Hamburg and I just wanted to throw this out there before I go to bed:

The Fish like their new tank (MIB saw that picture and was like "that tank is HUGE!" and I was like "but its exactly half the size of the old one...")

And the food in Deutschland rocks my face off.

Away I Go

Okay darling readership of 4 people (6 on a good day),

I'm leaving for Germany in a few hours, where I'll be both working and presenting research at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference. This is totally awesome and a big step, career-wise, for a little girl. I might also get to see a little bit of Germany if I'm lucky. The insane amounts of prep-work for this trip is why posting has been very light.

Well, OK. There's one other reason... I hinted at it a few days ago, but it was subtle so I'll say it again. Anytime in the last month that I wasn't doing the frontwork for this trip, I was flipping papers, faxing, and phone-calling to get the deal sealed on buying my very own Home Sweet Home. We close two days after I return from Europe. So things have been a little hectic in my life, and I have the stress acne to prove it.

That said, posting will probably continue to be light until October, but I'll try to keep the photo flow up over here with, maybe pictures of the inside of the conference hall? Why, just today I put up a bunch of pix leftover from my trip to the Adirondacks on Memorial Day with Erin...

Sneaky

In case anyone monitors card movement at MIT, they would think I am perfectly healthy. I don't drive to work more than twice a week, ever and when I do I go to the gym first thing. Ha. Ha. If only they knew I am actually cutting through the gym on my way from the parking garage to get junk food from the campus convenience store because its a shorter walk. But you only have to swipe the card to get INTO the gym, not out. Laziness WIN!

Maybe I'll Start Selling My Eggs

I am trying to maintain as much of my savings as humanly possible right now (and for the last several weeks) to pay the closing costs on THE HOUSE I'M BUYING THIS MONTH. However, the stars have aligned against me and I find myself wheedling away at that pot in the most infuriating ways:

My windshield broke FOR THE FOURTH TIME SINCE I'VE OWNED THE CAR. A rock hit it. FML. And I need new tires. However, these are things that I haven't actually done anything about yet, but the costs are pressing. Insurance will be due in November, as well.

My fish tank developed a crack in its base this weekend when some construction accident in the building shook my wall enough to break the tank and it's light bulb, and knock several pictures off the wall. (This has a plus side to it - I got a new, smaller tank that will be much easier to move when the time comes)

I ran out of blood sugar monitors.

I am going to Germany on a work trip. I'm not sure how this whole "expensing" thing works but my credit card is definitely going to take a hit. I already had to pay for the conference registration...

Paul's birthday present went on sale, and I couldn't pass up on that. Even though his birthday is not for another three months.

My bi-annual payment to the chumps who run the World of Warcraft server is due.

And last week, the main logic board on my computer fried itself. And the computer was only like 2 months out of warranty or something like that...

Either the universe doesn't want me to be a homeowner or it wants me to go completely bankrupt in the process. I'm pushing for the latter. I want my own washer and dryer!!

Wherein we vent

Grad Student: "Well, this has to be done soon because I leave for Europe next Friday."

Me: "Wait, that means I leave next Friday, too!"

GS: "See? There just aren't enough hours in the day."

Me: "I think I just peed my pants a little bit. We are not happy. The collective 'we'. Lots of anger in this room right now."

Other researcher (doing solidworks): "WHERE THE HELL IS MY MIDDLE STEP? I SEE IT! ITS RIGHT THERE!! SO WHY ISN'T IT IN THE PICTURE???!!"

Admin: "Fuckin' beets. I hate avocado salad. ...Oh, sorry, y'know 'when in Rome'..."

Medical Necessity Dictates...

Erin is trying now to rebuild the bones in her elbow, after several weeks of physical therapy. The doctor says she needs a lot of calcium at every meal. I remember from my health-food-aspiring-vegan stint several years back that there is more than milk which contains a lot of calcium, so I googled it.

Calcium Content

We're thinking dinner tomorrow will be strawberry rhubarb pie with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. For dinner. My diabetes will just have to suck it up. SHE NEEDS THE CALCIUM.

Fun Internet Toys

I discovered tinyurl the other day and tweeted about it. A friend showed me a similar trick. The link to my photo blog is now, officially:

http://www.freakinghugeurl.com/refer.php?count=4&url=VjFaV2IxVXdNVWhVYTFacFRURndUbFJVUWt0a2JHeHhWR3hPYTJFemFEQldNakUwWWtaSmQyTkljRnBoYTNCeFdrWmFjbVZWT1ZsVlZEQTk=

Band-Aids for Broken Bones

A few weekends ago I drove a grand total of just under 700 miles to different points in the northeast with a long list of things to do and people to see, but it occurred to me that I didn't have any trouble staying awake while driving despite the fact that I wasn't sleeping well because of the stress buzz. In fact, I haven't had a problem driving ANYWHERE in the past 4 months. And I've gone at least 300 miles almost every single weekend. I hate to admit this publicly, but this is HUGE. I used to have trouble staying awake while driving in trips as short as 45 minutes unless it was first thing in the morning. Before this year, you could bet a lot of money that I would fall asleep at least once in ANY lecture. You might have found me passed out: on random couches, on desks, under desks, on tables or floors, in the race cars when parked, on computers, laying on a grassy hill at a concert... I was a napping CHAMPION. Once at my internship last summer I had a mid-afternoon meeting in a tiny room around a tiny table with FOUR people, and I fell asleep in my chair. I was 50% of the presence representing our company in that meeting.

Some of the ways I tried to address this over the years were:

- playing my iPod into one ear during class (this had to be done discreetly)
- bringing my computer to classes where it was welcome
- engaging in other activities during class like writing letters, balancing my checkbook, doing homework for other classes, etc.
- unhealthy amounts of Red Bull (sugar free and regular)
- using the buddy system (friend notices I'm out and kicks my chair)
- eating (I have NEVER passed out with food in my mouth. food is exciting)
- for driving: Books on tape, and I sometimes I'd fast-forward through the slow chapters
- also driving: conversation (on a cell phone. I know. Lock me up.)

The initial thought was that "You're in college, you work hard, no one sleeps well." That's actually fairly incorrect, though, I'd be in bed by 11 and up by 8am almost every day for at least two of those five years. But I still wanted my afternoon naps every day, sometimes twice a day, with no more than 3 hours of class (6 if I had a lab) in a given day. After college it was "Well you didn't really take a break between work and a super stressful job at a startup company." Ok, maybe that's fair. But then when I was unemployed and sleeping roughly 16 hours every day, it finally got diagnosed as depression. Which fit decently, since I was also losing vast amounts of weight, was constantly sick and had horrible insomnia (because I had to wake up to pee every two hours at night). Not to mention the unemployment in the start of the economic downturn. But I have never been hopeless in my life. Overwhelmed, maybe, but never not in control of my own body and mind. I agreed, since I didn't know what else it could POSSIBLY be, but it was weird and never sat right with me.

When I was finally diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in February and put on the correct treatment, it was a slow, steady trickle of health coming back to me - almost imperceptibly because of the surreality of the whole situation. I started sleeping through the night immediately. I stopped craving gallons upon gallons of water. I gained the weight back, which showed at follow-up doctor's appointments. I stopped getting sick (though I was ready with the antibiotics-distributing doctors on speed dial, and loads of sugar-free cold remedies). My hair slowly stopped falling out in handfuls in the shower. I went off the anti-depressants and didn't bat an eye (although I did notice that I could really hear and feel music, again after a few weeks). After about 2 months, I looked at my MIT employee ID photo and it made me sad, how sick I looked, so I got a new one.

But only now have I noticed that I'm not tired during the day or while driving. I just don't need naps. And I work 8-9 hour days, many of them non-stop. But even on the slow days I keep myself going without trouble. I get through three-hour meetings without a single yawn.

After YEARS, I have finally discovered my permanent solution.

Happy Birthday To Me (yesterday)

My booty thus far includes: a vegetable & cheese party, working late on a friday, getting my purchasing offer on a house rejected, a cookbook for diabetics, and a 2 hour shopping spree at EMS for Paul's upcoming 2-month cross country road trip to study rocks. And a dinner and a nice sweater from the "in-laws". That was very nice, though - 3 whole courses!

UPDATE: The night after my birthday, I got an awesome bout of food poisoning.

Sorry, Readers

I'm currently working a deep, thoughtful post about diabetes. And working one some other REALLY BIG stuff that I can't talk about until its set in stone and notorized. It might have something to do with moving sometime soon. And the sky is falling, on and off, at work so I haven't been doing much with my pictures. Which is a bummer because we just got into using the flash inventively in my photo class. In the meantime, here are TWO new pictures of The Sarge, for your ogling.

The Woes of Growing Up

"Ew, you stink. Go take a shower!"

"And use soap this time!"

"Are you guys sure its not just my B.O.?"

"Um, B.O. is washable. With soap."

"I thought you could only get rid of B.O. with deodorant."

"Go get in the shower..."

Dartmouth Summer v 5.0

For all my Dartophile readers: It is Paulie's Sophomore Summer! And I have finally made time in my busy schedule to come spend a weekend with him and *shudders* sleep in a frat house. It also happens to be Parent's Weekend, so I've met a few "fellow adults" and when they realize I'm just visiting, they ask if I go to another school, and I tell them "No, I graduated from here two years ago" and then because they noticed I'm with Paul, they assume I must be his older sister. Well, on the upside at least this means we keep our PDA to a healthy minimum. There've been BBQs galore and the weather has been gorgeous and I know exactly what I want on the menu from any shop we walk past, and basically, Its good to be home.

I mean, You should still invite me to parties...

Last Saturday night found me reunited (however unhappily) with the dense little hell-hole that is New York City. Its a love-hate relationship. I get around very well and I love Dalia - who I stayed with - and had a lot of fun with her, but let's just leave it at the fact that in ONE day, I acquired $80 worth of parking tickets and drove home with a giant, practically unremovable, Neon Yellow sticker pinned to my driver's side rear window that said "THIS VEHICLE IS IN VIOLATION OF NEW YORK CITY PARKING REGULATIONS. BECAUSE THIS JACKASS DIDN'T MOVE HER CAR, WE COULDN'T CLEAN THIS STREET FOR THE SIXTH TIME THIS WEEK." Thanks, New York. No, really. I've made it 4 years without a single sticker besides a parking permit on that car, and it was about time I had something screamingly obnoxious and "If you can read this, you're a douchebag" in tiny print on the bumper is a little aggressive.

(Says the girl who BLATANTLY tried to hit a guy in a bar that night)

I went to an engagement party, happening in the far back room of this bar (So I'm in NYC, AND in a bar. Shoot me now), and managed to happily converse with a few people from college I haven't seen in a while. It started to get late, and the bar started to get a little crowded, so we all decided to move on. I was not up for "clubbing" so I just followed Dalia and her boyfriend like a lost puppy. A rowdy lost puppy. And this total jackass who was trying to move back into the packed barfront while the group of us tried to get out (and make more room for him!) just could NOT wait for us. He shoved the two friends in front of me into a table on his way, and that was enough for me. As soon as he squeezed past me, I punched my elbow as hard as I could in his direction. In the tight crowd, he wouldn't have known who did it or that she did it on purpose, and I would have been separated from him by the time he realized it anyway. Perfect plan. Except the guy behind me (we'll call him Balls) decided to give the asshole some leeway and hung back as I pressed forward. So the asshole slid right past me and into Balls' space and I swung and missed into an empty hole in the crowd, right where Balls caught me in the act. And laughed at me. Hard. And suddenly I wasn't feeling quite so angry anymore.

I still would have loved to hit the guy, though. Those of you who don't know me well should know this: I get some SERIOUS Crowd Rage. Don't be like me, kids. Its a fine line between "serving justice" and "arrested for assault."

Hidden in a email full of De-motivational Posters

You all should know by now how much I appreciate data and its presentation. While this looks more like a custard to me, its still brilliant! And it makes me smile.

Obligatory Photo Reel

Max, ready for his close-up.
Max, who prefers a firm mattress. Porcelain, even.
Max, after a heroin overdose.
Max, on a disco dance floor.
Max, giving me a rash on my face.
Max, believing "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" was a true story.

Seems like a good excuse to Me

Just last night in my first class (creative lighting in photography...I'm psyched) the instructor was talking about how Boston is the fastest city in the world based on people's walking speed, number of times people check their watch, and some other weird things that had me head-tilting like a puppy a little. I mean, OK, I certainly move at the speed of light but based on the number of times I get stuck behind people, the rest of Boston does NOT. His point was this: Photography is about what you SEE. So we're all going to have to learn to slow down and LOOK around. I might prove to be his most stubborn student, in just that. He said some other stuff about how this class is going to blow all of our perceptions about "how light actually works" out of the water, but come on, dude, I work with lasers and in the Solar Industry. I could probably teach him about how light really works.

And getting off the plane this morning in Milwaukee, almost all the way in the back, with ONLY carry on luggage (oh my god, Paulie, you'd be so proud of me. It ALL fits in my messenger bag, but I brought my backpack just for kicks anyway) and Benny Benassi making love to my ears, I may or may not have blatantly cut off two ladies with strollers, some old people, and a bunch of young people with rolling suitcases. And, if like my instructor suggested, someone just asked me "What's the hurry?" my answer would be "BECAUSE THAT'S THE BEAT OF THE MUSIC AND I STILL CAN! NOW GET OUT OF THE WAY!"