it's spring!

Spring has definitely arrived here in Oxford. Even though I don't get outside much these days, I try to take it all in whenever I can!

Here's some pics...the daffodils and hyacinths started blooming about a month ago, the rest have been opening up just in the last couple of weeks...of course, there are many more lovelies out there, just not enough sunlight in a day for me to get out and take pictures of them. The spinach and garlic pic is also from a month ago - they've all definitely grown.

Sorry that a couple of pics are fairly dark - I don't get out until the sun is just about to go down. Also, not shown here are the trees that have leafed out - mostly small trees - but some of the big ones are starting to show signs! Yeah for spring!!

I'm really jealous that Cameron is planting our garden this year! Wish I could be there!

lapghan

One nice bonus to living in Oxford has been "Ladies Night", which has gotten me back into knitting and crocheting. I honestly don't know why I had put down my needles & hooks for so long! I'm having a lot of fun and get so excited to start new projects.

My first project was to crochet a lapghan for my mother's birthday.

I think the yarn was self-stripping, but I had it in so many pieces that the stripes don't go across the entire square. The picture doesn't really do the colors justice, but I think it gives you an idea. This is also the first time I crocheted an edging and it turned out really nice!

colon cleanse

One week ago today marked the final day of my 7 day colon detox and cleanse. (Don't worry, no pictures!) We know these things are good for us, but it is often so hard to fit this kind of thing into the schedule.

Overall, I would say it went as well as expected. It helped me accomplish my goal of cleaning out my system and restarting with a good diet. As for the detox part of it - I have no idea what to think. How does one know if they have had the chemicals removed from the cells of their body?

The 7-day program that I used, Revitalix & Detoxitech, allows you to eat - fresh fruit and veggies, maybe some nuts during the day, and a dinner of rice, veggies and a protein. The idea is to continue to have energy throughout the process instead of doing a straight-up fast. They even suggest you exercise. You do drink powdered mixes and take some pills throughout the day, but often as a smoothie or with juice if you'd prefer.

Cameron did some research before we purchased and thought this was the best product. Neither of us had time for a fast, but wanted something to reset our systems. Since doing the cleanse I have read mixed reviews about the product we used (which were not posted before we purchased). I may try something different next time; but really I have no complaints about this one.

Some of the non-gory details (and if you want more details, let me know I am happy to share).... Part of the point of this cleanse is to remain a tad hungry - not REALLY hungry, just a little bit hungry. It took my body awhile to adjust to that. I would say the better part of the first 4 days I was pretty tired. Now this could also be due to my long work days, but I was sleeping about 8 hours - more than I normally get. Also during the first few days both Cameron and I had leg aches. We were told this was due to a lack of potassium. Cameron added a banana a day and the aches went away. I had a banana a day and they didn't. Maybe I needed more? Also, for the first three days I would get a headache by late afternoon. It would generally go away after I ate dinner. I read that this could be due to a lack of calories. But maybe I was not drinking enough water. Cameron didn't have any such problems. Regardless of all the beginning aches, by day five I was feeling pretty good - lots of energy and none of the side-effects. This was also the day I switched from Revitalix to Detoxitech powdered mixes, so maybe the Revitalix was harder for my system. Who knows?!

Would I do it again? Yes. Has it helped? Well, it couldn't have hurt. The plumbing seems to work better.

I've gone back to the way I was eating before the program. My evening meals are just about the same as what they suggest for the program anyway. As for my day time meals, they aren't all that unhealthy, but some of the ingredients were not allowed during the last week: oatmeal, bread, nut butter, and caffeinated tea. I am also using this opportunity to cut back on the sweets. And an unexpected benefit? I have rediscovered my love of sunflower seeds. Yum!

spa treatment

That fateful wintry storm weekend that marked the end of February and beginning of March here in the South was actually quite a nice little break for me. Friday afternoon I made my way west through the driving rain and lightening, avoiding the traffic of Memphis by taking a more scenic route. The tornadoes were to my back and I thought I had made my way through the worst of it.

My good friends, Ellen & Dave, had a work vacation in Hot Springs, AR, and had invited me along for the weekend. I showed up that evening and we headed out with another couple to Cajun Boilers. True to the name they had all sorts of boiled seafood (cajun style) and I ate my first boiled crawfish. Five people devoured an entire platter of them in just minutes - it was quite the sight.

When I checked the news the next morning I found that they were predicting snow back in Memphis and Oxford. Sure enough, we turned on the t.v. and found that it was already snowing in Fayetteville.

That day we were off to the race tracks to watch jockeys and horses battle it out for first place. I learned all sorts of new things like how to place a bet, how to read a race guide, and what kind of awful beer people drink in such places. I won nothing and even my namesake, Nicole's Passion, had to drop out of the race. But the trip was not a loss! There were some beautiful horses and it was a site to see them run at full speed and cross the finish line.

That evening the weather was bitter cold (even for the Michigander in me) and the streets packed with race track revelers, so we got take out from Cajun Boilers and spent the evening cozy in our 1980's style hotel (which was a senior home for a bit a couple of years back, then a hotel again).

The next morning we went to get the Hot Springs experience. The town is named so because of the natural Hot Springs popping out of the Ouachita Mountains. The water bubbles up at 118 degrees F and needs to be cooled down for bathing. I guess back in day, Hot Springs was a retreat for the wealthy to come and get healthy soaking in steamy baths and wrapped in hot towels. Al Capone was one of the most famous of the frequent visitors. (And apparently Hot Springs is also the "boyhood home" of Bill Clinton. They seem quite proud of this fact.)

Bath house row was charming, which was a nice change from the rest of the city - a good part of which is pretty rundown. A National Park runs right along the back side of the historic bath houses, complete with views and trails. We were also fortunate that the bad weather was behind us and the sun was slowly making it feel like spring again.

Of course, a trip to Hot Springs is not complete without a trip to the spa. Ellen & Dave treated me to "the works" which included a hot bath, sauna, hot wrap, shower, and massage. What a package! This fine deal was in a historic hotel, The Arlington, whose bath house is circa 1920. It was a great treat!

As I was soaking it up in Hot springs, back in Memphis they were digging themselves out of 8 inches of snow. Fortunately Oxford only got a couple and anything that hit pavement melted right away. My drive home was clear. (So glad I didn't have to travel the day before - there was a 16 hour traffic jam on the freeway right after it snowed!) I even made a stop at Whole Foods in Memphis to procure some goods for my upcoming colon cleanse! (And that is a story for another day.)

chasing the insanity away

As you might have noticed, it has been awhile since I posted my last blog. I could give you a dozen excuses, but the bottom line was this - I was busy. The kind of busy that borders on "insanely busy"... and right now I hanging out in the eye of the tornado.

So what have I been doing? Glad you asked! Mostly I've been working. I spent the later half of February making "plants with leaves" out of acrylic rods, wire, contact paper, and a little glue to hold it all together. Initially my plan was to make 850 of them for my experiments. After I got several days into it, I realized that to hit that goal I would be making plants for the better part of 6 weeks (that would include evenings and weekends). I despaired. After a short bit of panic, I knew something needed to change.

After some debate, I decided to ditch a couple of experimental runs and just make the 280 plants needed for my low density experiments. I had come to terms with this decision and then began talking to my advisors and colleagues. The one responsible for my time here at NSL suggested we pay someone to make them. I was skeptical that anyone would want to get paid so little (relatively) for such a time consuming job that I needed to have done in just a couple of weeks. It was going to take an army! But lo and behold, he found a couple that was interested. They are probably busily making plants for me as I type this.

Having the rest of the plants made is wonderful! As I finished up the last of my stack of 300 just yesterday (as well as cutting up something like 6000 more "leaves" for the plant-making pair), I felt a huge sense of relief. I can't imagine if I was facing another 550!

Since I cannot do without something to despair over, I then set to the task of worrying about my next set of experiments. When measuring the velocities within the plants, I now had "leaves" to contend with. There were some thoughts on what to do about it, but I hadn't tested any of the methods. The main concern, as always, is about time constraints.

Time - let's take a minute to think about me and my crazy self-created deadlines. I am thousands of miles away from home. Despite a trip home for the holidays and a whirlwind conference trip in the beginning of February, I haven't been home since the end of October. That's a long time. Both Cameron and I are ready for me to be back home. So I looked at my schedule and thought, "If I worked every day after I received the rest of the plants, when could I be done?". I gave Cameron the date and he bought a one-way ticket to fly out and come drive with me on my way back to Oregon. This is one time constraint. Then there is another - that there are only so many hours in a day. When I start an experiment I have to finish it, no matter how long it takes. I know that without any plants it takes me 8 hours for one set of tests and nearly 10 for the other. Each time the plant density goes up or the leaves get added on, that is more time in the lab. So my goal is always to make the sampling day as smooth as possible.

Okay, back to my story...I was worried about how long the measures with the leaves was going to take me. If things didn't go just right I would have a very long day. The worse part would be that it would only the beginning of 4 sampling weeks of the same type of measurements - i.e. all very long days. Ugh. But alas, my despair was short-lived because the next day I got it all worked out and I'm well on my way.

Now that I've got these big things sorted out, it is on to the next task. I need to write a conference proceedings manuscript in less than two weeks to get to my advisors for review. The final draft is due on the 30th. Yikes! I am certainly going to need a vacation after all of this!

By the way - I did get one break in the last month. I went to Hot Springs, AR, for a weekend visit with friends. Of course this happened during the weekend it snowed down here! More to come on that soon!