I was really down on my med school applications this weekend. I worked on them on Friday, and realized at about 5:15 that EVMS had a deadline of 30 days from the time the invitation email was sent out. That was July 22, so I had already missed the deadline. NOOOO!! I couldn't decide what to do: send it in and hope they didn't notice? send it in with an explanatory letter? (I moved and then was sick.) skip it and save the $90 if they're going to reject me due to slowness anyway? I couldn't call to find out, because it was 15 minutes into the weekend.

That made me look through all my other apps to see if they had deadlines I was missing (they didn't) and check out a med student forum I frequent to see what other people did in my situation. I didn't get an answer to that, but I did find that apparently you're supposed to have everything - including letters of recommendation - in within 30 days regardless of whether there's a "deadline" or not. Well, that wasn't happening, since my letters aren't all finished yet. NOOOO!!!

So I was convinced that I was too slow and I wasn't going to get any more interviews and I wouldn't be accepted anywhere.

Things improved today. I called EVMS and they said the deadline is "not firm at all" so I went ahead and mailed my check. Also I mailed the UVa application. Then my boss offered to get me a really good letter and asked me how soon I needed it. While I was hemming and hawing, he asked if the end of the week would be all right. YES! Since certain other people took months. Then I heard back from one of my other recommenders, who had just walked my letter over to the career center. YAY!!

Since I was so worried over the weekend, then so much good happened this morning, I was on fire and I worked hard today. I wrote an essay and filled out most of the horrendous Duke application. Maybe I can finish it tomorrow in time for their suggested two-week deadline! And I have two all-but-finished apps, just waiting for me to fill in the name of who at work is going to write my rec (either my boss or his boss, which I guess would be cooler). Then I'll have 10 done. Go me!

# : 4:14 PM : :

There are more kitten pictures up. I was cleaning my purse, which explains the pile of change and the cat with her head in the purse.

The kitties were determinedly naughty today; they persistently tried to steal our dinners (Chipotle) until we gave in to curiosity and fed them parts we didn't think they'd like. Turns out, Max likes corn and they both like beans. Crazy, crazy cats. (To the animal-welfare folks, we fed them only about two kernels of corn and five beans total.) Now we want to find out if the Chipotle beans are marinated in bacon or something, or if our cats actually like beans.

They also fought valiantly against having their claws clipped and their medication applied, but the humans eventually prevailed there without too much injury. The SoftClaws will have to wait until tomorrow, though.

I also went suit-shopping today. I came home with three suits so I could try them on and take pictures and get feedback, since I couldn't decide myself. After trying them on again and discussing the issue for quite some time, I think I'm going to keep the Ann Taylor suit because I love it so much. The rest will have to go back.

# : 11:48 PM : :

I got a new website and put up all of my kitten pictures. Later on I'll install albums or something, but for now you can just click on the file names.

This is Tess, with the red collar, orange spots, and white socks:



And this is Max, with the blue collar, spotty back and tummy, and tough-looking face:



Eventually I'm going to move my blog over there too, but I think it wants a redesign to correspond with the new domain name, so that'll wait a bit.

# : 10:30 AM : :

OK, so I finally locked the kittens out of my room long enough to hook up the camera and download the pictures. Now is where my latent Luddite tendencies bite me in the butt, because I haven't got any software that can resize the pictures. (Even Paint - I don't have Office installed so it can't handle jpgs.) Therefore I must ask for your patience, both in waiting for these few giant pictures to load and then in waiting for me to resize the rest so you can see my kitties in all their cuteness.

Exploring the bathroom:



Playing with a toy:



Getting high on a catnip mouse:



Working on that weight-gaining thing:



More to come, I promise.

# : 10:18 PM : :

What's going on lately?

• Tess continues to improve. I have a large scratch on my arm from when she got scared while I was holding her. I think she might have figured out that the medicine helps her, because she's been really good the past few times. She opens her mouth and sucks down the medicine. She also meows for food and licks the bowl clean.
• In contrast, I'm sick. I woke up on Friday feeling miserable, with all the symptoms of mono. Today, I'm less achy and sore-throated, but still fatigued and appetite-free. I hope it's something that goes away fast.
• Work sucks.
• The other job is stressful. At training on Saturday I got a not-so-great review (due mostly to being ill) and one of the other students told me they fire people who haven't improved by the 4th session, which is Tuesday. So now I'm scared.
• Due to being constantly at work and sick the rest of the time, I haven't made progress on applications. I have two really tough essay questions. One asks for an ethical or moral dilemma I've handled, other than academic dishonesty. Well, I can't think of any dilemmas other than that, or relationship issues, and I am not about to write a med school essay about my love life. What should I write?
  
  The other one is supposed to be about an accomplishment I'm particularly proud of, and I'm having a tough time thinking of one there too. I might write about my senior project, but it's not actually something I think of much, so it seems kind of odd to claim I'm especially proud of it.

# : 10:48 AM : :

I started training to teach for [test prep company] this week. It's pretty interesting. My training class has only five people, and they're all nice, and the trainer is good at his job. The out-of-class work is killing me though. They gave us teacher's editions, and we have to prepare about an hour's worth of lessons each day. It takes a lot longer than I thought it would, then I get into class and find that my prep was still insufficient. Teaching physics and general chemistry is quite a bit different from teaching programming, it seems. But overall my evaluations have been good except that I need to put in more key words (like MCAT and Test Day) and plug the company's other services more. That doesn't bother me; being a better teacher than corporate shill isn't a bad state of affairs.

The training is wearing me out. Four hours every other day, with about the same amount of prep work the in-between days. Then I get home and my kittens are so happy to see me, I have to play with them for a long time, so I haven't been sleeping enough. And now I'm getting sick - sore throat, stiff muscles, fatigue. I hope I'm not catching what Sneezy has!

# : 10:15 AM : :

Sneezy is getting better! I have forced several doses of penicillin into her, and last night and this morning she was begging for food, shoving Snugglebutt out of the way, and tearing around the house play-fighting with him. She also doesn't snortle as much now. But she's still super-cuddly.

Hurray for healthy kitties!

# : 10:02 AM : :

I'm watching a lot of Olympics coverage, since I actually have a TV now unlike during the last several games. The last time I followed the Olympics must have been while I was still in high school. So it's weird to see people approximately my age competing - I was especially struck by that last night, watching the men's swimming team celebrate after winning the gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay. They're college kids! I could have had class with them! They seem so normal!

On the flip side of that, the female gymnasts look so tiny and young! But what I want to know is why does half the US team look like junior-high cheerleaders? Heavy eyeliner, glittery hair and makeup, (badly) over-plucked eyebrows... I think it's nice that they try to look cute, but you'd think someone would encourage them to look a little classier while representing the country.

# : 3:05 PM : :

I took my kittens to the vet today. Tesla has pneumonia! Poor baby. And they've both lost weight. They eat whenever they want, I swear! So Tess had to get a shot at the office, and I have to give her more antibiotics twice a day (amoxicillin - the pink bubble gum stuff) as well as eye drops. And now I'm feeding them canned food twice a day, in addition to the dry food that's always out.

I think I'm going to have to separate them and watch them eat, because this morning when I gave them a can of food, Maxwell dug in but Tesla didn't. She was hilarious, actually - she sniffed her side of the dish and didn't eat it, then she saw Max enjoying his food, so she pushed him away and took his spot. But then she sniffed and didn't eat again, then pushed Max away from his new spot. Poor Tess. I think she can't smell very well with her little stuffed-up nose, so her food isn't appealing, but she is hungry so she wants whatever she sees Max having.

This weekend I'll post pictures. Actually, I think I'm going to start a separate kitten blog to avoid letting this one get overrun with cuteness.

# : 2:27 PM : :

My birthday weekend was fantastic!

Eric came in on Wednesday night. Thursday I worked then we went out to dinner and watched School of Rock (a fantastic movie).

On Friday we went kitten shopping! First we checked out a pet store, but they had only one pair of cats. Then we went to a shelter and there were whole rooms full! We got sucked in by a rambunctious pair of black babies, but decided they were too high-energy. On the way out of that room, another kitten came to the front of her cage and mewed at me, so I had to pet her. Her brother came up too and played with my fingers. They were incredibly cute, so we took them into the visiting room and played a little. We were pretty sure they were the right ones. Then the girl (we were calling her Sneezy, because she was) started to hiss and growl at the boy, and she took her toy under the bench and growled at anyone who tried to take it away. Four pounds of ferocious sneezing kitten! I thought it was cute, Eric thought it was scary. So we put them back and visited a bunch of other cats. There were some other really cute ones, but no more sibling pairs, so we came back to Sneezy and her brother (Snugglebutt) and they were so happy to see us! Sneezy wasn't angry anymore, and the worker said she had never seen her growling, so we decided she must have just been able to smell the other cats in the visiting room. I think the kittens were so happy when we decided to fill out an application for them.

Then Friday night we went out to Flat Top Grille with a bunch of people from work. I'd never been there before, and I think I might like Mongolian Barbecue better (it's the same sort of thing) but it was fun, and I liked that I could make my bowl into soup. Also, their brownie sundae for dessert was delicious.

Saturday was kitten day (also my actual birthday) - we went to PetSmart and just went up and down the cat aisles, picking out whatever we thought the kittens might like. It was like Christmas! We needed a little nourishment so we went to Eden Center and got pho for lunch. We were the only non-Vietnamese people there, and it was delicious. Then we picked up the kittens!

They were all sitting in their carrier on the counter, looking everywhere. They didn't even complain about being crammed in there. (Actually, they're so small there was plenty of room.) When we brought them home, we blocked off the hallway with a bookcase, so they were confined to the bathroom and laundry room and hallway. Then Sneezy jumped over the bookcase, so we got out some leftover moving boxes and built a higher wall. It was so much fun making friends with them. They were scared at first, but when I got down on my stomach on the floor they came over and purred up a storm.

I had to tear myself away for the evening, though, because Eric took me to see The Producers at the Kennedy Center for my birthday! It was hilarious. We went to Old Ebbitt for dinner afterwards and felt like real Washingtonians. A wonderful birthday evening.

The kitties were so glad to see us when we got home that I felt sorry for them and let them in the bedroom for the night. I didn't sleep that well, since they alternated between sleeping on my face and tearing around the room, but it was crazy cute. In the morning we kitten-proofed the rest of the apartment and let them roam around.

My original birthday plan for Sunday was to go sailing with a bunch of friends. That looked iffy, since there was about zero wind near the airport (DCA). So we cancelled our reservation. Then we decided to drive down to another marina and rent kayaks, and the wind picked up! So we did get to sail after all. Though we got stuck on a sandbar at first (we went to the right of the wrong white buoy) the sailing was pretty good. No one had a watch, so we accidentally came back about half an hour early. Then we went to my apartment and played with kittens before going out to dinner. Thanks to everyone who came to my birthday celebration - it was so much fun!

I also took off work yesterday, and Eric and I just had a lazy day at home with the cats. Now of course, I'm back to work and everything's piled up, plus I'm training for my new job tonight and Thursday evening, so it'll be a busy week, but the weekend was all worth it.

# : 9:42 AM : :

Archives got broken during the Cox-caused outage. They're fixed now. Thanks Tim!

Nothing thrilling is going on in my life, except I'm diligently writing essays for med school applications. Would you like to know why I want to attend a particular school? Or how I see my career in ten years? Or all about the ethics of stem-cell research in 1000 characters? I didn't think so.

Oh, and it's my birthday this weekend. I will be a wise and ancient 23.

# : 2:31 PM : :

I just walked into the kitchen at work and found two of my coworkers cleaning the microwaves. I asked them why they were doing this (we have cleaning staff) and they explained that one of them had cooked corn which turned into popcorn, and while cleaning up that mess they decided to clean the other microwave too. Ignoring the female weirdness that is the compulsion to clean things that don't need cleaning, I remarked "I didn't know regular corn exploded in the microwave -- COOL!"

They laughed at me for being "such a scientist" and I came back to my desk and found Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments for your reading pleasure. Probably I shouldn't do any of these, as I don't own my microwave. Also I like my skin without burns or shrapnel cuts. I wish I still lived in the dorm, where the microwave was open to all and there was a steady supply of fearless young men who could be convinced to do dangerous things.

I might have to microwave some Peeps, though.

# : 6:00 PM : :

After the Cox fiasco with my web site, I've decided I need to get my own web space and move my blog. So I'm trying to think of something clever. I don't particularly want to just register my name, because I like having some amount of anonymity. (It's not like I think no one can find me, but I don't know that I want it to be as easy as Googling my name to find my blog. Maybe that's silly.)

Anyway, so I was thinking about making a pun on my initials, since they almost spell a word. Freshaer.com is taken, but .org is available. That is kind of cute. Or aerport.net. Cleartheaer amuses me, because it's funny-looking. I could do this all day.

On the other hand, perhaps I should avoid the obvious puns (as if I could) and think of something a bit cleverer. Any suggestions?

# : 1:53 PM : :

I really like my new apartment. Its minuses are: smaller kitchen, less-pretty fixtures, single bathroom, no balcony. So I was a little skeptical that I'd like it as much. But it turns out that those things are balanced out. The kitchen has tons of cabinet and counter space, the refrigerator opens in the correct direction, the plumbing all works, the faucet handles are easier to turn, there's a laundry room, and though the place hasn't been remodeled very recently, the quality is better (meaning the doors all shut and there aren't holes next to the door frames). Also the layout is more sensible - though the places were pretty similar in size, the walk from my old bedroom to the kitchen was about twice as long because they had weird hallways.

The cable still doesn't work. I got a new cable box yesterday, but that (unsurprisingly) didn't fix the problem. So now I have to pay $19.99 for someone to come out tomorrow and do an indoor install. I don't quite understand this; there's clearly cable inside the apartment because there are cable outlets, so I don't see what the guy is going to do. But hopefully he'll have some magic tools that will fix it, because I want to watch Queer Eye tomorrow night while I'm unpacking.

# : 11:33 AM : :

You might have noticed that this site was down for a few days.

When I called Cox to have my cable disconnected at my old apartment, they disabled my entire account, including email and web space. Because, you know, if I'm not watching the cable TV I must not want to have my web site up or be able to receive email!

They promised it would be back when my cable was reconnected yesterday. Which was sort of true. I had to call and have the password reset, and it originally appeared that they'd deleted the entire account this web site is under, but the nice lady on the phone was able to get it all back, so I didn't end up losing anything.

So my email and web space are back. But the cable still doesn't work, even after three calls to customer service. They claim my cable box is broken, which I doubt because I can't connect to the internet either. Personally I think they failed to properly activate the cable. Luckily, there are a couple of unsecured wireless access points around here, so I can still feed my internet addiction.

# : 11:00 AM : :

The move is almost complete. We packed and sofa-shopped on Tuesday. Then yesterday we packed more in the morning, picked up the U-Haul, purchased my new sofa, loaded up the truck, signed the lease and got keys, made the maintenance staff remove their dumpster from the loading dock, and unloaded the truck. All before midnight.

The couch saga continued:

When we first looked at my sofa (on Tuesday) the salesgirl told us that all their floor models of sleeper sofas were 20% off, because they were trying to get rid of them. When we came back to buy one, it turned out that she was mistaken, and only the one we didn't like was on clearance. They told us we could have 20% off if we ordered one (for delivery in 4-6 weeks) or pay full price for the floor model. My parents were all "oh maybe we should just wait" which freed me up to play bad cop and insist that they honor the price they had quoted. Eventually they called the vice-president of the company who authorized them to give me 10% off, which I accepted. I was so proud of myself for negotiating.

Here's my new couch:



I think that's it, though the trim on mine is close to the sofa color, and the feet don't show.

We were really scared it wouldn't fit into the apartment. My nice new across-the-hall neighbor helped my dad shove it in, and my mom and I got assigned the duty of unsticking the plastic wrapping from everything it got caught on (hinges, door knocker, door knob...). It did, however, eventually fit. I haven't lounged on it yet, but I took one of the cushions to sleep on the floor and I can assure you that that was very comfortable!

I'm a little bit sad about leaving my old apartment, because it was so big and pretty. Of course there were good reasons why I left (the management being primary), so I think I will probably be happier in the new place once I get used to it. And burn some candles, because there is a weird smell, probably due to cleaning products.

Now I just have to unpack all that stuff!

# : 9:08 AM : :

Today I went to my work picnic and had fun. I know that "work picnic" and "fun" don't belong together, but this one was really enjoyable. I think it was the lack of softball games.

The picnic was at my boss's house, which is gorgeous - I was thinking "man, I should keep working here, maybe eventually I'll be able to afford something like this" but then I snapped out of it. Most of my coworkers have little kids, so there were many short people running around. There was also a pony. Yes, there were pony rides at my work picnic. Apparently another coworker has a horse farm, so when he heard about the picnic he offered to bring his kids' pony. I didn't ride it, because I felt kind of bad for it having to give so many kids rides in the heat, and I believe I was the only adult who was under the weight limit (it was a small pony) so I would have felt stupid. But the kids looked really cute on it.

In general, the kids were really cute. There was a 2-month-old baby girl, and I got to hold her a lot because I was the only childless person who really liked babies. She was darling. The oldest kid there was a boy about 12 or 13, firmly in tough-guy territory. He saw me holding the baby and asked if she was asleep. I said no, and offered to let him hold her. He was so excited - he couldn't believe he would get to hold the baby! So I helped him hold her and man, that was the cutest thing ever. I love watching teenage boys with babies. They are so sweet and careful.

I also had fun watching the rest of the kids play in the pool. One fell in with his clothes on, and I lost all of my adult cred by laughing my ass off. It was funny! You would have laughed too.

...

I did a fair amount of work on packing, though you can't really tell because the mess has been replaced by trash bags. I still have a lot to do though.

While organizing, I ran across my flute, which I don't think I've played since high school. I thought I'd take a break and play a few songs. Unfortunately it turns out that I suck. I mean, I was never very good, and it's not like I thought I'd be able to pick it up and play at the same level I did in 1998, but I didn't know I'd be so bad! I can't even play a full octave. The strange thing is I don't remember being that bad when I first started; I wonder if my orthodontia messed up my embouchure. I'll have to play around and see if it comes back.

# : 10:41 PM : :