Requiem

Europe, Here I come!

So I am heading to Europe tomorrow for three whole weeks and so I thought I should make an entry before my trip. I am just about all packed. Pretty light this time which is quite surprising for me. I am sure it won't seem so light when I am dragging it around Europe but oh well.

I head out tomorrow night for Venice, actually to Amsterdam for a lay over then Venice. I will meet my mom and grandma in Minneapolis at the airport so we will be together on the flight over there. We aren't exactly sure how we are going to get to our hotel, most likely by a boat taxi or bus but it is a little unclear.

After Venice we are heading to Rome for a few days. We are planning to see the Vatican and tour the Sistine Chapel. After that we are taking our first train ride to the cruise ship port. We then will have a wonderful and hopefully relaxing ten day cruise in the Mediterranean. I am mostly looking forward to this part. I really love being able to eat well and relax. As well, I can't wait to see Barcelona; I hear great things.

After the cruise we will head to France. First we will rent a car and head to Normandy. We all want to go see the beaches and war memorial. Next we will head toward our hotel in a suburb of Paris near Euro Disney. I am hoping for more relaxation here as well as going to see the French Open. I think that will be incredible too. It will be amazing either way but it would be awesome to see someone famous play.

Anyway, that will be the end of our European gallivanting. I will then get to come home and see Greg! YEAAH :) But before all of that starts, Greg and I are going out with the Austrians to say good bye this evening. They are all leaving tomorrow too and we are all going out for one last bash. Anyway, I best be going. More European excitement to come.

Ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues

Well, its that time of year. The weather gets warmer, the excess clothing comes off and people come out of hibernation. Oh to be able to open the windows in the apartment. But alas, the Melrose is no dream home. However, the search continues for an apartment for next year. Lesley and I have narrowed down our two most important criteria: off street parking and kitties. We are hoping to adopt at least one cat this fall, as Lesley will miss Eva and Co. this summer because I will not have the mosquito job again. Lesley already has her eye on one of the cats at the Feline Rescue Shelter where she volunteers.

Ava (formerly known as Tamara) on a farm near Lake Shetek in Summer '06
Tiara at the Feline Rescue Shelter
On that note my new internship at the wheat lab has been going well. I have been putting about 15 hours per week in, and after the semester is over I hope to put full time hours in until classes start up again in the fall. I also just found out that I got approved for a UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Project) grant, which means that I will be putting in 10 hours per week in a different lab, studying the development of C. elegans, which is a type of nematode worm. The research sounds very interesting, albeit a bit over my head at this time as I am continuing the three year work of a graduate student who graduated last spring.

Lesley and I are both well, stressed out with the end of the semester but that is to be expected. Being done with classes will be welcomed, however it also means the departure of Lesley to Europe for three weeks. When she gets back her summer will be short lived as she is taking classes full-time this summer in order to graduate in the fall with me.