HAPPY BIRTHDAY?

Sunday was the birthday of the master's student with whom I work.  Her office mate and I decided to give her a GREAT birthday present: her desk and chair.  We were trying to figure out a way to kind of prank her and kind of be nice and this is what we came up with.  (I bet she can't guess what we got her!)  We were going to wrap her desk and all the trimmings in tin foil, but that has so been done. She isn't here yet, she was gone for the weekend, so I hope she comes in today! I'll update with the reaction when we get it!

REACTION UPDATE!

Unfortunately I was in class when Michelle came in, but she loved it.  SOO much so that it is still wrapped, including the chair as much as possible so that she can still work.  She has ripped a place for her legs to be and lifts up what seem like YARDS of paper when ever she wants to get into her drawers. I guess we got her just what she wanted!

THE NICEST FAMILY EVER!

So this weekend I taught the Gelmans.  YES THE GELMANS from Regis and Kelly fame.  There were many great things that happened, but really they were just fun.  There is one story I wanted to share though.  On the first day, Misha, the littlest one and I went to the little lift (see red circle) for a quick refresher.  Then we met the fam at the bottom of the longest lift on earth (blue circle).  Ok, maybe not on earth, but it is long.  About a quarter of the way up, Misha says... in the CUTEST voice, banging both fists on the bar, we should be skiing by now.  Then about halfway up, again with the banging and the exclamation.  Needless to say, we (namely, Laurie and I) got a lot of mileage out of that one!

Oh no, lex, is talking about the weather again! :)

When the radar screen looks like this:

THE CAMPUS WEBSITE SAYS THIS:

ALERT: The campus is closed today, January 28, due to severe weather. More details on closed and open services and events

So, stay tuned... I'm going to go snowshoeing today... there might be more adventures to report! :)

O GREAT!

I just read this snipits in an online article:

Drivers of Hummer SUVs were 4.63 times more likely to get a traffic ticket than the average driver, concludes a yearlong study by a company that helps insurers identify risks...But also on that most-ticketed list were the Subaru Outback and the Toyota Camry Solara and Matrix, three cars not known for great speed or expressing the rebellious nature of their owners.

So I get rid of one attractor for another! But what is this about "not known for great speed or expressing the rebellious nature of their owners?"  I thought Subaru owners went against the grain?  Oh and if you've driven a subaru lately, you would argue with the "great speed" comment; it was the first thing I noticed...vroom, vroom.  Thank goodness for cruise control! ;)

A Boston Birthday!

My mom flew out to Boston Friday night and left Sunday afternoon.  A rather short trip, but you only turn 60 once.  We spent the weekend in an old Firehouse in Cambridge and rode the T in on Saturday to see the sights. We did almost all the Freedom Trail, saw the Science Museum (and two shows: 3D sharks and roving mars) and several other sights as we walked all over Boston.  It was really interesting to see where so many historical events occurred and really fun to ride a subway again.  The "T" is really small compared to London or Hamburg, but still fun and convenient.  Here is a picture review: enjoy!

Here we are ready for sharks 3D!

(can you believe it: the two people who hate their pictures being taken the most in ONE picture! the moment was so worth it!)

Ok so I have a picture of this "calculator" if you will because of the funny/nerdy story attached to it.  As I was looking at it I thought, that is wrong.  It said we increase by one person every 14 seconds.  Some how that didn't seem right.  It was positioned right across from where we waited for the sharks movie.  As we waited, I "re" calculated it and as far as I'm concerned it is wrong.  I'm going to redo it all nice at some point to check my calculations, rather than on the back of a museum entrance ticket :)! I know... kinda nerdy... but totally ME! :)

Off Roading, Tremblant, new car and Wolves....intrigued?

I thought I'd catch some of you up on some of the more exciting recent events. Besides working a ton and having fun, there are some exciting details:

First, after the Christmas/New Year's working marathon, a friend and I went up to Canada for a little R and R and to get another friend who is from there to bring her back to Amherst for the Spring semester. Well, for Christmas my mom got me a Garmin (which I affectionately call WOH-VA.... as in Elmer Fudds dog, rover!) I put in the start and end (mount snow and Lavel, a small city outside of Montreal) and got the directions. I faithfully followed them at first, since I had asked for the shortest route I thought i should believe it. Well, let me tell you. In New England, the "shortest routes" include dirt roads. The following two pictures are from the dirt road we ended up on in a State Park that had only been maintained by SNOWMOBILES! Good thing I had a car that would go that way. But it was SUPER fun and really pretty. So, while it added time (not the fastest route) it added excitement and fun to the trip right from the the beginning!

The first full day we were there (there meaning Tremblant) we walked into town and while crossing this really narrow bridge saw this beautiful waterfall.  With all the ice formations and the ice mist on the trees it made a small little fall seem so pretty and majestic.
                                                                                                                                                                          

These are pictures of the village and the mountain from afar.  The mountain actually has some great pitches on it and great bumps and the village is like a little bit of Europe in North America.Finally, to the good stuff from the trip.  Besides a great day of skiing on Monday, Tuesday was the real adventure.  All weekend we had been talking about climbing up a hill behind the multimillion dollar home we were staying in.  Well, we had sort of discussed going Tuesday before we left, but as we went to sleep we said we were leaving at 9 and I knew that the hike was out, at least with one of the friends I was with.  If I had discussed it with the other I think she would have been up for it, but i didn't; I was tired.  But when I woke Tuesday morning I thought, HMMMM? I could go right now, and let them sleep and I'd be back in time to go at our scheduled time.  SO I got up, got dressed, went to my car to grab my snowshoes, and headed up the hill.  IT was about 600 and I had snuck into the other bedroom where my friends were sleeping to grab my friends camera (successfully pulled that off) because I didn't take mine on the trip.  I was intending on getting a beautiful sunrise picture.  So I decided to follow some deer tracks up the hill, thinking they would find a nice way up I could manage.  This hill was pretty steep so I thought I'd use them as pathfinders.  I got about 5, 6 minutes into the hike when I actually stopped and looked ahead of me.  At which point, I saw three bodies, each with four legs, walking just at the ridge (about 100 yds) ahead of me.  I moved around trees, peering as well as I could to get a better look.  Then, all of a sudden I saw a BIG BUSHY TAIL pop up on one of them.  I admit it, I thought they were deer.... the deer I was following, maybe?  UNTIL, the tail.  I then hid behind a tree, hoping to "disappear" for a bit so the WOLVES would continue peacefully up and over the ridge.  Peering around the tree a few moments later I noticed eyes.  It was not quite light yet and in the Eastern Canadian forests it is hard to see between the trees, so I had to take a longer look.  Then I noticed, they had TURNED AROUND, and were walking back down the hill!  So, needless to say, I "high tailed" it out of there.  Sliding and scurrying down the hill to the house as quickly as I could without arousing more interest.  I was never scared because all I was thinking was get to the house, get to the house.  I did get to the house, but not unscathed.  Since i was taking a more direct line to the house and not meandering they way I had climbing up, I had to take a few risks; like jumping over fallen trees.  I was successful on all but one attempt; but it only takes one!  My snowshoe went into the snow tail in first and my shin came down on top of it.  Leaving a wonderful bruise and scrape.  Unfortunately, that is my only memory of the wolves: no pictures :(!  But every time I make a turn in skiing now i remember those silly wolves, and probably will for the rest of the season.  :)

So the trip to canada was the last road trip for Jeepers.  Yes, we have finally parted ways.  We had to go to the car hospital three times in 6 weeks and I just couldn't afford that anymore.  So, with the generous help of my mom I have a new baby.  I'm still working on a name, so if there are any suggestions????  It is just almost perfect so there isn't too much character yet to help with the name... but that is a GOOD thing! :)