Quick update

So very busy getting ready for field season in the lab. Always seems we oceanographers prefer to go out when the weather is nicest! But I have been thinking that I have acquired some unexpected skills so far in life. Below are 5 of my most un-looked for, yet most handy skills :

1. I can plumb almost anything given some tubing (any size) and a couple zip ties. Hedgehog Guy and I once plumbed our overflowing toilet to the sump pump during a flood using a brick, a beach towel, and a garden hose.
2. I can pack efficiently. Our whole lives in 9ft of trailer space going across the country and not a single dish, glass, picture, or piece of china broke.
3. I can make amazing towers of drying dishes. Seriously.
4. I can select the perfect-size container for left-overs. Saves on dishes.
5. I know how most office furniture is put together and can fix or repair it. Thanks Dad!

What are your most unlikely skills?

Back on the Bus!

Hedgehog Guy is away at his departmental retreat today with the Prius. So I got to ride the bus!  The weather is surreally beautiful, so the walk is pleasant and scenery is green.  It felt sooo good to be back on the bus.  But I do miss Hedgehog Guy's company...

His absence has been felt in other ways.  In a 5 minute span while trying to make dinner, I had to (try to) kill two spiders, and I grated my knuckle (for the 3rd time in 3 weeks) into the pizza cheese.  The spiders' appearance elicted a very girlish scream while the grating brought a very un-girlish curse.  I think I am going to have to turn cheese grating, like frying bacon and grilling hamburgers, over to Hedgehog Guy.  

Tomorrow (June 9) is the date set for my good friend Bernadette's baby to be induced.  Wish her and her family luck!  I know I shall be thinking of them.

Birthday!

Ugh, I am not very good at blogging. I often work on the computer all day, and then turning it on for fun at home just doesn't seem like fun.

Regardless, I came one year closer to being grown up (whatever that is) last Friday. I have been feeling pretty old lately - lots of grey hairs, can't lift full 50L carboys on my own anymore, the new fashions in the stores repulse me (the 80's died for a reason...), and the "kids" on campus really seem like kids. Hedgehog Guy took me shoe shopping (bless him) and out to a wonderful dinner on the shore during my birthday weekend. Just what I wanted.

I am not big on birthday parties. But the other post-doc in the lab had his birthday a couple days before mine, so he had the labbies over for a party the night of my birthday. I was not too sure about going, but we had a great time (we are so anti-social!). Below is video of the cake that Jessica graciouly made for me and a video of Renat and I's cake serenade. My cake has a virus on it (lol) and the name Heather Summers. This is an allusion to the fact that I'm almost the exact opposite of a former post-doc in the lab whose name was Christian Winter. So the opposite of his name would be Heathen Summer... You get the point. Hope this year finds everyone with many happy returns on their birthdays - especially Hedgehog Guy's sister who shares my birthday!

New Camera

My blog has been decidely lacking in pictures since our camera died (before Christmas).  This weekend, we finally replaced it with a Flip handheld video camera.  This is not your father's camcorder!  Thank goodness!  

Prepare to be inundated with Hedgehog Dog pictures and vidoes.  Beginning now.

And finally me in the kitchen last night doing dishes and cooking...  Hedgehog Guy said it was my "natural" environment, which earned him the evil eye.

Last weekend

Hedgehog Guy says it has been a long time since I posted, so...

Last weekend we put work aside and spent some time outside the house.  We finally have had some good weather which makes exploring easier and lots more fun.  I think we have realized that everything here is just beautiful. It is so different for us to live somewhere with mountains and water for a background rather than rolling prairie lands. 

On Saturday, we all (even the dog) went for a picnic lunch and a hike at Lighthouse Park in North Vancouver.  The views of the shoreline were really impressive. You can climb out on big granite rocks about 30ft above the bay and see kelp fronds and tide pools.  The trails run through an old-growth forest of Douglas firs, some of which had trunks that Hedgehog Guy and I together couldn't reach around.  Hedgehog Dog loved it - rocks and slopes to climb on.  It was a first time for us on a trail like that with him.  We are so sheltered!  

Sunday afternoon we drove south to Langley and tried out a local winery - Domaine de Chaberton.  Along the way, Hedgehog Guy remarked that the country looked just like southern Pennslyvania where we became first enamored of local wines.  The scenery to the south is almost the opposite of that in the north - low rolling hills, rich black delta soil, fields, and farm animals.  The winery was ok.  The wines were good, and all had the "finished" qualty that we have found lacking in several store bought wines lately.  But they are not Va La.  Sigh.

We drove home a different way, hoping to encounter another winery.  But all we got was lost, honked at, and almost side-swiped.  So much for an idyllic weekend ending!

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom is pretty amazing.  She is hundreds of miles away, yet she always seem to be there for us.  Here's just one example.

Last week we had some yummy maple sugar biscuits.  Hedgehog Guy commented that they were perfectly shaped circles, which is a rarity for my biscuits.  I responded that yes, I had used a biscuit cutter this time.  Hedgehog Guy said, "Oh, we have one of those?".  "Yes, four of them, of different sizes, my mom gave them to us."  Hedgehog Guy gives the thumbs up sign.  Yeah, she is a supermom, always looking out for us.

Emma's Wedding in Victoria

Yeah, so I have a new group of friends in my labmates. They are pretty awesome - somewhere between crazy and hilarious most days.  This weekend we all (6 labmates + 1 department co-worker) traveled on the ferry over to Victoria Island for the wedding of our youngest lab member, Emma.  Below is a picture of Renat, Jessica, myself, and Caro on the ferry.

The ferry ride was a bit surreal, the Prius on a boat is a bit hard to imagine, but the wedding was gorgeous and a lot of fun.  We rented a hotel room for the night (7 of us in one room...) so that we could stay for the entire reception.  I knew that Emma had us pegged when we were the closest table to the bar AND the dance floor.  The ceremony was based on Saxon traditions with Angelican overtones.  Emma and Stephen "rang" us out of the church by ringing the church bell as we exited.  It was lovely.  This is the group before the wedding and then at the reception with Emma.

The reception took a bit to get started since we had to wait for the couple and bridal party to complete the pictures.  But, that just gave us time to drink all the champagne punch.  The buffet was amazing.  I started to load up my plate on salad and then realized there was veggie lasagna!  Very yummy, even the roast beef with horseradish smelled great.  The brides' mom made everything - the bridesmaids dresses, the cake, the invitations, the chair covers, the tablecloths- and did a wonderful job.  She is definately a super mom.  

We started dancing about 9pm when the band arrived.  Lots of swing and classic rock.  We were sorry they left at midnight!  Here's a funny picture of me teaching Kristina to swing (I was not a very good teacher...)  Can't wait to go back with Hedgehog Guy and Dog for a vacation day.