Sabbatical

My branch went out for Happy Hour last night to celebrate the fact that one of our fellows graduated from her MPH program. Due to the rain, we (the fellows) did not think that many people would show up. But surprise surprise! A lot of the PIs and tenure-tracked fellows (are they still called that?) showed up! It was a lot of fun. A lot of gossiping, teasing. And its cool when that happens ‘cos I’m so used to everyone being in ‘professional’ form, I forget that everyone is well, human, and likes to hang out and have fun too! I can’t wait for our planned “Some Like it Hot” night.  One of the other fellows actually got the official mojito receipe from the Hotel Del!

I recently completed reading a chick-lit instead of doing more important and pressing things like finding someone to write me a referal letter for residency, completing my MSPE questionnaire or start studying for the boards. Sorry! But I was in a mood, a weird kind of mood where you are agitated, bored, etc but too wired up to do anything useful. Anyway, I picked up the Shoe Addicts Anonymous in the BN on the row.  I liked it from the title since I thought it was going to be all about shoes. The other fun thing about the book is that it is based in Bethesda (my temporary residence) and the surrounding DC metro area.

Anyway, its basically about a group of women, all with their own problems, who meet on a Tues night to swap size 7.5 designer shoes.  The leader (or rather person who started the group on Greg’s List–> heh!) is working 2-3 waitressing jobs, has credit card debt and other assorted debt up the wazoo. Basically the bank manager has to call her about overdrawn accounts (although it turns out he may have had an ulterior motive), electric companies are pissed at her because she doesn’t pay her bills, etc and she still owns several pairs of designer shoes (most of which I had to google and which, even if they are bought on sale or used, still cost more than my brand new pair of designer-knockoffs which were also bought on sale). Another is a (possibly) overweight woman who is agoraphobic on Weight Watchers, is a sex telephone operator (apparently you make a lot of money just to talk and not all the guys who call want phone sex either…they just want to talk!) and has sibling issues and buys shoes because according to her, it doesn’t matter how fat you get, your shoe size remains the same! The third is the wife of a politician,an ass of a husband who cheats on her and blackmails her as well but still wants her to get pregnant so they look like the ‘perfect american family’. The fourth is a girl from West Virginia who isn’t a size 7.5 but pretends to be so that she can join the group and get out of the house where she is the nanny so that her bully of a boss can’t get a hold of her, doesn’t understand the draw that these women have to Louboutain and gawd knows what else but will go armed with a list of designers to Goodwill to find (hopefully) decent looking designer shoes that were donated so that she can attend these meetings.  Somehow, they all manage to sort out their problems.

Anyway, its a fun read.  I wonder if a) i can start a shoe addicts anonymous too b) i should consider doing the phone operator thing to earn some much needed cash.

On second thoughts, probably not. I just don’t think I have that kind of mental stability!

If you know me well, you know that nothing makes me happier than chocolates, especially rocher chocolates. Ferro Rocher cholates. With the nut in the middle. Surrounded by chocolate. When I was younger, my mom would buy the 16 box ones only when they were on sale or if someone was coming back from Europe (they taste better in Europe for some reason).  And then all three of us (my sis mom and I…dad hates chocs) would savor them for about 2 weeks. Opening the box and eating them one at a time and really really slowly as if they were made of gold.

well, the problem with the 3 pack ones is that…well, its only 3 of them. And so readily available in the cafeteria downstairs. And so I’ve been eating them, almost religiously, everyday for the past couple of months.  Most of my ‘grocery money’ has been spent on chocolates. They are still as delicious as when I was a kid. And no, having them everyday has not made the magic go away. But I also realise that a whole in the wallet coupled with an expanding waistline is not the way to go. I need to cut this habit out or at least reduce it the same way I’ve been trying to reduce my expensive Starbucks habit (it actually has its own entry in my budget!)

sigh.

One of the PIs in my lab asked if I would like to review a paper with her today. Naturally I said yes.  I mean, its something new. I’ve never done it before. Actually, I’ve never written a paper before (and now I’m writing one) and I figured it was a good idea to learn how to review papers too, if only just so I know what people do when they are reading my paper. But its kinda scary though. I mean, a group wants their results published.  They worked hard get to the writing stage and now whether or not it gets published is boiling down to someone like me reviewing it.  I”m actually kinda scared. 

In response to Krystal’s May grocery challange, so far, I’ve spent $11.88 out of my budgeted $50 for the month. Mostly on eggs and meat (which were on sale this past week). That said, I also have a lot of food from last month lying frozen in the freezer. And I’m expecting to be fed for almost a week in the third week of May (hence the smaller budget). Its too bad I now actually will have to buy my own beverages because all the free meals in this program have just ended But its ok. I’ll live.

I hate to say this, but there are some movies that simply need to be seen at the movie theatre, despite the high costs of a ticket these days, and Iron Man is one of them.  It was your classic blockbuster movie filled with explosives, hot men and women where the good guy always wins.   Going to the movies is always a treat for me mainly because I don’t like going to the movies alone and to find someone who wants to go at the same time to the same movie can be difficult.  Anyway, Iron Man was fun.  Robert Downey Jr was good.  I’ve always liked him as an actor, especially when he appeared in the smaller budget films, where I thought he truly shined. And I always thought it was a shame that he got into all that trouble. But I guess he’s a great example of one guy who did his time, and was able to get back on his feet (Lohan, Hilton all don’t count.  They were hardly punished. If anything, it was a bit of a media circus designed to get them even more attention!).  And Gwyneth Paltrow was so cute (even though I really didn’t think she exerted too much of an acting effort there) but I did enjoy the chemistry between the two leads and I thought it was nice that they gave her some (not much but some) sort of backbone, at least enough to answer her boss back! But dang! Those heels! They looked at lesat 4 inches high and she ran in them. How she managed to do that without breaking her ankles is totally beyond me.  But the movie had some great lines.  Really liked the way he treated his robots like human.  Overall, a good movie. Laughed harder than I thought I would. And I think its great that the movie really doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

Really looking forward to the Incredible Hulk and Dark Knight AND Indiana Jones.  Woo-hoO!

So I’ve never been one for keeping records.  I never keep track of my money.  I normally always use only 1 credit card so that when I pay the bill and its higher than normal, than I know I’ve been a really bad girl and I have to cut down.

Well, I made the decision to track how much I spend for the month of May.  And will probably do it in June too when the program ends and I will no longer have ‘free food’ just so I know how much I am spending.  And let me tell you.  It sucks. Its tedious and it sucks

The European embassies had an open house yesterday so I thought I would check it out.  Unfortunately the day was hot (talk about a summer day!) and the lines were long so I didn’t really go to all the embassies but I did hit up the Latvian embassy (had to do it for the Russian Princess), the Italian embassy, the Netherlands and the Luxumberg embassy.  Its too bad I missed the Greek embassy though, I kept hearing on the bus how good the food was! 

I was a little disappointed with the Italian embassy.  It was a new building, modern architecture.  But I guess the reason why I’ve always been so enarmored of the houses on Embassy row is because they are all have history. Yes, the building looked cool, and the inside of it looked like a modern theatre.  And the walls were hung with original italian paintings but somehow the atmosphere was … well, cold I guess.    I did however enjoy the Roman column heads (I don’t really know what they are called but I’m guessing)

I did however learn some fairly interesting facts about the Netherlands.  For example, gay couples can just walk into their town hall to get married! How cool right? 

So LJ and I broke up after V-day.  My first V-day in years. It was perfect. And then it … well, it just ended.  I was upset, naturally. But we wanted to remain friends. And I worked hard at it. Really, I did. But everytime I saw him, I wanted him.  I wanted him to hold me, to kiss me, to stroke my back and to cuddle up with me and tell me that everything is ok.  It wasn’t ok though.  We were over simply because I’m not a citizen here. And then when I came back from SD, we started hooking up again. No strings attached. I can do this I thought. I mean, I’m human. I merely need my physical needs fulfilled. He is my friend, so that fulfilled the emotional part, right?  Well, I was wrong. He refuses to kiss or cuddle up with me.  To him, kissing and cuddling is something that couples do, something that means something. When he said that … I felt like he was breaking up with me all over again. Deep down, I know he is right. Perhaps I was trying to hold on to something I never had in the first place.  I wanted him to love me. But he never has. He cares for me. And I think that’s all I’m ever going to expect from him.  I’m not sure this whole friendship with benefits thing is going to work out.  At least, not now.  I think we are better off as friends only.

I decided to take a break from the office and work from home today. Working from home gives me the added advantage of being able to start (and even complete!) some house chores that I did not finish (or start) over the weekend (mainly because I was too busy erm, lazing around).  I actually completed my laundry today. Unfortunately, I’m still workingo n my paper. Sigh.  It feels like the paper will never be completed.  I’m still stuck on the first paragraph.  ARGH.  But I guess this beats being in the office. Except now I really have to finish it by tonight!  sigh. A 9 to 5 day is not an option.  Nobody cares when you start (or end) as long as its done.  Won’t it be cool if I was disciplined enough to finish this early so I can have an early day?  Too bad I suck at writing. *pout*  But I guess this beats having to walk in the rain back and forth from the shuttle stop.