Top Five

This post is inspired by two things: The movie High Fidelity, which is awesome and you must go out and rent if you haven't seen it, and not having anything interesting to blog, but wanting to anyway. I hope this at least inspires some comments! So, here it goes, five top five lists (enjoying the symmetry as much as I am?!)

Top Five Things that Really Grind My Gears:
1. the formatting situation on Blogger: why must I always battle with you when I want pictures on a post?!
2. the word "panties": please call it underwear, at least in my presence, because the "p" word is just like nails on a chalkboard and a sororiety get-together all in one for me
3. when someone (wonder who that could be?!) can see that you're busy or in the middle of something and comes up to you anyway saying "Hey, Patty. Do you have a second?"

4. not having any money: it's not even because I want to go out and buy a whole bunch of crap (although I would like a new iPod since mine died over the weekend and some furniture for the house since Alex and I only have a few pieces), but I would like to be able to go home more than once a year or take a vacation with my boyfriend where the only things on the agenda are lying on the beach, fishing, and snorkeling

5. living in a place populated with people who think for some reason that they are better than everyone else: I don't like snobby people anyway, but I fail to understand why a public university in Michigan that treats its employees like crap, its patients like nuisances, and its students like a waste of time has the right to thumb their noses at others

Top Five Favorite Quotes:
1. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

2. "Telling the truth is so much easier: every lie requires a lifetime of maintenance."

3. "Nothing that's worth having in life comes easy."

4. "Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

5. "Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." (thanks, Tricia!)

Top Five Dream Vacation Spots:

1. Australia: pretty much anywhere on the coast would be okay with me- I just want to be able to go snorkeling there and perhaps see a koala in real life

2. Greece: I have recently decided that this is where I want to go for my honeymoon (no one steal that idea!)

3. Ireland

4. Spain
5. Italy

Top Five Favorite Movies of All-Time:
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

2. Good Will Hunting

3. Dogma

4. Reality Bites

5. Home for the Holidays

Top Five Episodes of Friends

1. "The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel"

2. "The One with the Embryos"

3. "The One where No One's Ready"

4. "The One with the Nap"

5. "The One with the Rumor"

And just as Phoebe "invites you to count the colors of your room," I invite you to ponder your own five top fives :) Happy Friday!

My Commute (Pedestrian Rage)

For those people who have to sit on 217 on the west side of Portland, or find themselves randomly stopped near Chehalis on I-5, or for those poor suckers who have to get on the Beltway to commute from Baltimore to DC, I understand why you might have some road rage. Those are all very irritating situations to find oneself in (and situations I have experienced myself, so I know that they suck!) and you are justified if you spew explicatives at the other drivers on the road or even ride your horn when someone cuts you off and almost causes an accident as a result. The drivers in Ann Arbor (or all of Michigan, for that matter) have no excuse on par with any of the scenarios I just laid out and they are the most brutal drivers I have yet to encounter in this country (southern California included!). My question is why? Because you missed the light and will have to wait all of five minutes before you can go? Is that why you think you're justified in nearly killing me everyday on my way to work as I try to cross the street, at a crosswalk, when the little white man says it's my turn? Today, no fewer than three cars cut me off at the crosswalk and finally I started to walk in front of the fourth guy gesticulating wildly and saying something to the effect of, "what the fuck, it's my turn!" I am one step away from pounding on a car hood and yelling "I'm walking here!"

Needless to say, I think it's time for me to leave Michigan, don't you?! Well, I will get my wish soon enough. My last day at the lab is July 18 (long story short: I am being laid off ten days early because my boss can't afford to pay me- neat, isn't it?) and I think it is going to be the slowest 24 days of my life!

BBQ Season Kick-off

So, as you all are probably tired of hearing by now, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Between Katrin's visit, our trip to DC, and scrambling to get everything together to rent the house and fill out the paperwork for Alex's new job and Visa, we've been running around "like monkeys," as Alex would say. This picture of me at the hotel in Maryland last Sunday pretty much sums it up.

So, we decided that we should celebrate our victories by having our first barbecue of the season. When we got to our spot, someone was already busy in an activity of her own: this turtle was laying her eggs (I tried 27 times to get these eggs in focus, but I just don't think it's going to happen)!





























This particular place doesn't actually have grills, but Alex and I discovered these things (for two dollars!!!) at Meijer that have everything you need to BBQ even without one. We loaded two of these up with chicken, red pepper, and kabobs:
























I am staunchly opposed to melon in all its forms (it may sound weird if you're hearing this for the first time, but I inherited this from both of my parents!), but Alex and Buttercup enjoyed some cantaloupe for dessert...well, Buttercup seems to be in doggy bliss, but Alex looks less than impressed by its quality.

















We got lucky: no rain, despite what they predicted. Alex even caught two fish: a pike and a catfish. After that, we came home and watched Fool's Gold, which was actually a lot better than I would have thought.

I Enjoy

A little while ago, my friend Nicole suggested trying out this Mosiac Maker by answering questions and looking up a corresponding picture in Flickr. Since I finally have some time for blogging again, I thought I would give it a go.

1. What is your first name?
Patty- and apparently beef patties, raccoons, and these creepy "Patty" dolls are the most popular hits, which I was not a fan of. I am a fan of laughter, however, so I chose this one.

2. What is your favorite food?
Bread!- yes, with an exclamation point. Fewer things in life give me greater joy than mowing on a piece of chewy, delicious bread. I could go on and on about the wonder of this complex carbohydrate...but I won't.

3. What high school did you go to?
Milwaukie High School.

4. What is your favorite color?
Red- ever since I picked a red prom dress senior year of high school, I have been such a huge fan. It's so bold and fun :)

5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Christian Bale- this goes back to the days when he played Laurie in Little Women...anyone? Now that he's Batman, there's just no question.

6. Favorite drink?
"Bubble" water, as Alex (and now I) calls it- I used to think it was weird that he drinks mineral water instead of regular water or pop, but since returning from Germany, I can't get enough of the stuff! It's so much more refreshing than regular water and so much better for you than pop.

7. Dream vacation?
Australia- I will go someday, even if that means tranquilizing Alex so that he can survive the 18 hour flight!

8. Favorite dessert?
Chocolate chip cookies- this varies with mood, but it's the 'ol standby.

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Helpful.

10. What do you love most in life?
Being able to just relax- when the only thing I have to worry about is breathing.

11. One word to describe you.
Hopeful- call me optimistic or idealistic if you like (both of those words are accurate some of the time), but I really think that it boils down to this: no matter the circumstances, it is very difficult for me to completely give up. A little part of me is always holding out for the possibility that things will work out.

12. Your Flickr name.
I don't have one, but if I did, it would probably contain "Porta," my nickname from high school. It crops up in a lot of usernames I have for various accounts. When I looked that up in Flickr, a picture of the Porta Negra came up, which I saw when I was in Trier in December, so I thought it fit.

Good News!

I know most of you can probably guess what I am referring to by the title of this post, but Alex and I have some great news! This morning, he was offered the job at Johns Hopkins that he interviewed for on Friday and we are in the process of applying for this adorable rowhouse near Union Station in DC. I probably should wait until we know for sure and we both realize that it's not guaranteed, but these are some pictures of the place we want to live. Isn't it adorable???


The owner seems really nice- he is actually a Seattlite, small world!- and his family (he, his wife, and their son) is moving back to Seattle at the end of the month. In addition to the rooms pictured here, there is a basement with plenty o' storage, two bedrooms, these fun nooks off the back of one bedroom (on the top floor) and the dining room that can be used as an office, extra storage, etc. I am so excited to have a dishwasher and washer/dryer in unit again- I can't even tell you!

The property is being handled by a management company since they will not be in town, so we have to go through them, but Jeff (the owner) said that he wants us to live there as well, so hopefully it will work out. Phew- what an expensive, time-consuming, and stressful weekend we had! It seems like we accomplished what we set out to do in that time, though. Not bad for three days work!



I will write a longer post later, but I just wanted to update everyone on the breakthroughs :)

Katrin's Visit

This is Katrin, everyone. On one of her first days here, she rented a bike and checked out some parks in the area (one of the pluses of this town).

Later that day, we introduced her to the game of baseball by taking her to the batting cages, a favorite stop when we have Germans visit. Some of you may have already heard about my theory that Alex is going to bring baseball to Germany, one person at a time. So far, so good. All three of his friends from home that have visited have ended up liking it. Here she is in her swing stance.

That night, we had Mongolian grill for dinner -delicious!- which was a first for our foreign guest. The next night was fun at Comerica Park for the Tigers-Indians game. We had bratwurst at the park and stayed afterward to enjoy the fireworks, which the Tigers do after every Friday home game. I hadn't seen fireworks since New Years in Germany and I forget how much I love them (I am my mother's daughter!). Sadly, our decision to stay had consequences: our first encounter with severe rain and thunderstorms of the weekend occurred on the way to the car.

It was like movie rain, the kind that starts from nowhere and that the unwitting characters get caught up in. Yeah, that was us.

We went from this during the game...

...to this after the game (a little graphic, I know, but I really think you need to see this to appreciate how wet things were).

There were thunderstorm warnings throughout Michigan over the weekend, so we tried to hedge our bets and see some nice spots along the shores without getting dumped too early in the game. On Saturday, we went to Port Huron (little piece of trivia for you, that's the birthplace of Buttercup!), which was the first time for all of us to Lake Huron. It was such a nice spot: nice beach, not too crowded. We wandered farther north afterward and found the cutest little town, Lexington, thus reaffirming my belief that you find the best places when you aren't looking for them.

Here is the lovely beach at Port Huron and Alex and I enjoying it:

Here is the adorable town of Lexington:

On Sunday, we had planned to go to this great spot on Lake Michigan (St. Joseph), but there was over a fifty percent chance of rain pretty much throughout the state, so we decided to go to a metropark 25 minutes away so that we would be able to maximize our time before the storm hit. It was so hot out and the water wasn't that cold so I actually got to go swimming! So did Buttercup and man, did she enjoy the water. Eventually, the forecast caught up with us and we had to dash for cover. When the rain slowed, we packed up the car and went home, but it was a very relaxing afternoon (and weekend in general).

Look at how cute my girl is in the water!















I love this shot of Alex having a smoke and a laugh after we were forced to the covered area.









The next day, Katrin's last, she and I went shopping. She really wanted to get a sweatshirt from "the Aberfitch Crombie" (I tried correcting her, but not as hard as I could have cuz it was just too cute!). As it has become a traditional way of bidding German visitors auf wiedersehen, we went to the Crab Shack for snow crab that evening. As always, it's hard to believe it when our guests have to go. Even when they stay for two weeks, the time just flies. It's always a little sad for a while afterward as well, even for me, because it reminds us how few people we know here and how much we miss our friends.

Stress Alert!

Sorry to be leaving everyone hanging (I know you sit idly by Google Reader, waiting to hear more from me on this blog), but Alex and I have been busy entertaining Katrin and trying to arrange all the stuff associated with our trip out to DC (ride to airport, rental car, hotel, boarding B-cup, apartment viewings, job interviews- it's exhausting just listing all the things, not to mention mentally taxing even thinking about all the things on that list still to be crossed off!). I plan to post a nice entry this evening, showing all the fun things we did in the last week and chronicling our battles with the ever uncooperative weather in this wretched state. I just thought I would remind everyone I'm still here and that I still plan to contribute regularly to this bad boy, but that circumstances have prevented that from happening in the last seven days or so.

Which brings me to the title of this blog. Alex and I are stressing in a major way about finding housing that works with our situation. Our hunt is being complicated by several factors, including 1) accessibility to Georgetown is not optimal (to borrow a phrase from Tricia!) because no metro lines stop directly there, so locations even a little farther away inflate my commute like nobody's business; 2) even if we decided to live in Georgetown or surrounding neighborhoods, neither Alex nor myself are the children of Senators, ambassadors, or other officials who might be able to afford paying the rent rates found in this affluent little area of our nation's capital; 3) Alex's best job prospect at the moment is at Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore, which is about as far away from Georgetown as you can get and he's not really into the idea of driving for two hours each way just to get to work...he has been hearing from a lot of people in the NIH, which is in much more convenient Bethesda, but we don't want to be counting our chickens before they are hatched and Alex doesn't want to make a career decision based on convenience of commute; 4) even though she's like the cutest thing on earth, for some reason not everyone is warmed by the idea of taking in our adorable dog, Miss Buttercup; 5) since we have out-grown our small one bedroom apartment originally leased for single Alex and not equipped for me, Buttercup, and all of Alex's accumulated fishing accoutrements, we have been mentally compiling a wish list of all the features we want in a new place [second bedroom/den, DISHWASHER (since I am currently filling in for that appliance), washer/dryer in unit, a/c, etc.], which can be difficult to find on top of all of our other problems.

So, as you can see, Alex and I have gotten ourselves into a pickle, as only the two of us can do. Lately, I find myself often thinking of those wise words uttered by Bob Kelso: "Nothing that's worth having in life comes easy." Think good thoughts for us about finding something that tackles all these obstacles and stay tuned for a more fun blog about Katrin's visit :)

I'm Sorry...You've Been Bamboozled

Friends, anyone? Well, I am very new to the blogging world and apparently you can be "tagged," which means you must answer some random questions and post it on your blog. So, here goes:

4 things i was doing 10 years ago (despite your math, Nicole, ten years ago we were gettting ready to enter MHS):

1. Getting my braces taken off in time to start high school :)

2. Helping plan a baby shower for my friends and I's favorite teacher, Mrs. Schroeder (I just realized that that means Alisa is almost 10- weird!)

3. Getting ready to visit Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York on the junior high east coast trip (so fun!)

4. Um, this is difficult because my memory is pretty bad about junior high...

4 things i was doing 5 years ago:

1. Playing intramural softball and getting beamed in the outfield by a fly ball (complete with black eye...I looked like I was part of some sort of underground fighting ring)

2. Skipping Dr. Doyle's English class to go to a Mariners game

3. Experiencing a crazy heat wave (very atypical for Seattle) and complaining about the lack of AC in Xavier

4. Impulsively mass emailing my ENTIRE university in defense of some unfair comments made about me in our school newspaper by this guy in my dorm (I had no idea he harbored such animosity toward me, so it was quite the shock reading about it in the Spectator...in response I refused to be a spectator- hehe- and learned a valuable lesson about thinking before I speak/email/communicate with the outside world)

4 things i did yesterday:

1. Becoming a blogging fiend!

2. Experiencing a new wave of anger at my boss for not letting Alex take a day off while Katrin is in town, even though he's not taken vacation since Christmas

3. Meeting the infamous Katrin, Alex's girlfriend from his early college days...she had a conference in Chicago, so she decided to give A2 a lookover while she was in the area (hopefully she's not too bored while she's here)

4. Talking to my dad on the phone- it was so good hearing from him, it had been a while...I love the way we always end up waxing philosophical about politics and basketball

4 shows i like to watch:

1. Scrubs- so hilarious and silly, yet adeptly tackles real issues in medicine and life in general

2. Lost- it is the most original concept for a show I have ever seen and the way the writers get you emotionally invested in the lives of the characters (they are so well-drawn that they truly feel like real people)

3. Friends- one of the most quotable, rewatchable shows I know ("I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love!" - that gem is courtesy of Chandler, my favorite friend!)

4. Six Feet Under- it is artistic (each episode feels like a mini-movie), sad, moving, fucked up (there's no way around that description- where to begin!), engaging, addictive, and so many other things!

Well, there ya go! I don't have anyone to tag, so I guess that will die with me. Enjoy!

Pick Me Up

As I alluded to in my last blog (I'm a lil outta control at the moment, I know, but it's because this is all so new and exciting), today has not been the best at work. While I was working on the computer (actually working, not blogging!), one of the students who volunteered in the lab during the school year dropped by for a visit. She has been working at Mrs. Field's in the mall and she didn't know when I would be leaving for school, so she brought me this:

Isn't it cute (it says "Good Luck, Patty" for those of you with bad eyes)?! She also brought these irresistible mini cookies and ordered me not to share. So sweet! Thanks, Miss Fei :)

Countdown!

So, things have been trying (that's putting it mildly) at work for quite some time, as many of you know and today I was having kind of a bad day, so I have created a countdown of just how much longer I have to work in this place. Enjoy (it's at the bottom of the blog)!

I Love...

For those of you out there who do not enjoy following the news, lack the discipline to subscribe to the New York Times or even to scan the headlines of CNN.com, or just want another way to be informed about the world, I think you should give National Georgraphic a lookover. I randomly bought one at the grocery store a couple of months ago because I was intrigued about the cover story, "Inside Animal Minds," so I decided to buy it on a whim. Not only was the article I was initially drawn to extremely interesting, but I was also fascinated to learn about how smelters are polarizing the nation of Iceland (do any of you reading this honestly know anything about Iceland?!) and how Bhutan is slowly incorporating technology into its way of life and the social impact of this transition (to be honest, I had never heard of Bhutan before!). Not only are the articles informative and extremely interesting, but the photography- OMG (an acronym I normally disdain). I think what makes it so great (besides all the reasons I just gave) is that it brings to light regions, people, issues, etc. that do not get attention in mainstream media, as well as covering stories of which you may already be aware. Stupidly, I have been buying it off the newsstand ever since, which has got to stop (a year long subscription is only $15)! So, you should look into it, is the point!

Mama to Michigan!

I have been gearing up for my mom's visit to Ann Arbor for a couple of months now since she booked her trip way in advance. Still, I never got over being excited because 1) she's my mom and she's coming into town (hello!) and 2) I never thought she'd make it to Michigan because I complain about living in Ann Arbor so much that she wasn't exactly thrilled to hop on a plane for four and a half hours to check it out. She is on a long list of people who promise to come visit me in DC and have little (well, let's be honest, no) interest in making a trip east before then.

Things started off a little shakily, with my mom and Mark (my stepdad) not bothering to ask us for directions to Ann Arbor from the airport, getting themselves lost, and almost missing our (that is, my mom and I's) pedicure appointments. We quickly rebounded by arriving in the nick of time here. My mom said it was the best pedicure she'd ever had (it was a Mother's Day present, so hers included a peppermint wrap, paraffin, and some other bonuses as well...I couldn't afford to give myself the star treatment as well, so I went with your basic pedicure), so I considered that a success! After that, my mom and Mark met our puppy, Buttercup, for the first time, much to her excitement, before heading out to dinner and microbrews here.

I was proud of my mom and Mark for getting up relatively early to make the fairly long drive (about four hours) to Benzonia, MI near the Lake (Michigan, that is), a remote (that's polite, really) location selected because it's near a spot where the Platte River feeds into the Lake. Last year for Memorial Day weekend, Alex and I went there and it was unseasonably warm- we happily swam in the juncture where the two bodies of water meet- and it was also an ideal fishing spot for my boy! Alex and I had checked beforehand to see what the dog policy was here because we wanted to be sure we could take B-cup along, so we went to our little spot on Saturday (Mom and Mark stayed behind to take a nap)...only to find out that 1) they don't allow pets beyond a certain point- the point we were interested in going- because it is a nesting area for some bird species (if you actually clicked on the last link it specifically says that pets are allowed from the Platte River Campground to Lake Michigan- exactly where we were!) and 2) that the water was freaking cold and that only a few fish could be spotted. Oh well, Buttercup was very well-behaved while I read my book and Alex found out that he couldn't fish there.

We got back to the hotel, only to discover that Mark was intent on watching the first game of the Stanley Cup Final, thus thwarting my plans of watching Indiana Jones at this drive-in movie theatre (although, to be fair, I highly doubt my mom told him I had wanted to do that...and I seemed to be the only one intent on making this a reality).



The weather in the month of May had been pretty lame, with temperatures in the fifties for a shocking amount of time, but a reprieve was rumored to be on its way: the forecast was in the seventies, with mostly clear skies for the weekend. Well, as usual, the meteorologists in the Detroit area managed to keep their jobs despite being completely wrong. As we finally ventured out to the Lake, after being delayed by rain, the winds changed and dumped us again. After about five minutes on the beach. Literally. Oh, and this spot that Alex and I had been to our first summer in Michigan (the water looks like the Caribbean when the weather cooperates!) doesn't allow dogs near the sand dune we wanted to go to either. Yay. So, we cut our losses: Alex went fishing on the Betsie River and later we all had dinner and margaritas at the Roadhouse, a cute Mexican bar and grill near where we were staying.



Alex and I hoped that we would get one last shot at enjoying the Lake by stopping in Frankfort, which is known to be a bit more tourist-y than where we had been so far, on the way home, but for reasons I won't get into, we ended up driving straight back to A2. We checked out this burger joint my mom and Mark had seen on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives called Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger. It was delicious!



So, although our trip was not the beach-bumming, fishing experience Alex and I had hoped for, it was soooo great to see my Mom and find out that Buttercup + long car rides = no problem!