new reality show for bravo

i've been pretty hooked on watching project runway and shear genius on bravo. i just like seeing what the designers and stylists create. unfortunately, i have to sit through 40 minutes of drama while they create their designs/styles and then at the end 10 minutes of judging and elimination. so all in all, there is 5 minutes of the show that i really care about.

then, it hit me while i was watching the show and nat was working on his conference paper! i could make a reality show about the drama of publications! i mean, really, each grad student goes through just as much drama as any one of the shows--fighting with advisors or co-authors, stress and panic that you won't finish on time, seeing the process of how a paper unfolds, late nights of working to get your experiments done, etc. for judging, who can be better than the reviewers of the papers? i mean, simon on american idol has nothing on the reviewers. they can be brutal! unlike the current shows, there isn't a real "winner" b/c some of the accepted papers have pretty bad reviews. in addition to the reviews, the judges argue among themselves of what papers to accept. yes, i do think that this should be the next reality show. does any one want to join me? :)

to go or not to go

nat has a conference in the bay area yet again. :) and again, i'm debating on whether or not i should go. my other option is to go see my parents down in houston. i think of all the times that nat has been away, i've either had one of my parents stay with me or i go to my parents. ok, that's not true, one time, i actually toughed it out in town. :) but why tough it in town, when my parents are offering to get my tickets with their frequent flyer miles? :)

anyways, the last time, i got excited about going to the bay area to have them meet sean. but then, i thought of the logistics, and i whimped out. i think that's what's making me whimp out again. where is sean going to sleep? what if he cries at night? what about all the stuff he needs for eating? is this going to mess up his weaning? in my mind, it's one thing to inconvenience your family with all the baby gear and some crying (which usually isn't so bad), but it's another to inconvenience your friends; especially friends with kids. what to do, what to do. :P

new computer

well, after years of nat's not-so-subtle hints, i'm thinking about getting a new computer. i'm running out of hard drive space (i mis-partitioned it, thinking the OS and programs would only need about 7GB), and in recent weeks i've battle freeing up space. also, my poor computer sounds like it's working pretty hard at times, which nat feels is unacceptable.

the other reason i'm thinking about possibly getting a new computer is because i think i'd like the mobility of a laptop. our study, where my computer currently is, is an off-limits space for sean b/c of all the cords lying around. it would be much nicer if i could just quickly send an e-mail with a laptop instead of either 1) battling sean while he's in the room or 2) having him cry b/c i'm out of sight.

before i get a new computer (i know i could reinstall my current one, maybe i'll do that first), there are 2 programs i'd really like to get--microsoft office and adobe photoshop. fortunately, nat is still at uiuc, so he can get a discount for these programs. :) yay!

do you have any suggestions for a laptop? i don't need the fastest or fanciest one out there--though i would prefer one that was light and had a lot of hard drive (i think most are sufficient for what i need). i do want a windows computer*.

* i know i know, i'm a CS major, how could i want a windows. well, it's what i prefer to use, and i'm not ashamed to say it. :)

crash

i broke the side view mirror to my husband's car this morning while backing out. :P there's a costly mistake that i hope not to be making again.

cupcakes of catan

that's right, i said CUPCAKES of catan. :)

the name of the wind

i just finished reading the name of the wind by patrick rothfuss. as many of you know, i read youth and teen fiction, and this fell underneath that category. it's very well written, and it isn't too dark (and for me, i really like very clear good vs bad books). the book ends with a very obvious lead in into a sequel. the only problem is the sequel to this book isn't coming out until 2009. that means i will have probably forgotten what has happened in the first book when it comes out next year.

alas, i needed to blog about it, lest i forget next year. :)

where to go?

a lot of people have been asking nat, "when are you going to graduate?" which is then followed by "what do you want to do? where do you want to work?" answers to all the questions are pretty much "we don't know" and we'll see what we get when nat applies for jobs. :)

thinking about where we're going to live next has made me think about our next house. i've come to the realization that i don't want a house much bigger than our current house. i'd like maybe one or two more bedrooms, a bathroom, and an eating area, but not too big in square footage. why? so i don't have to clean as much. i realized that with a smaller house, cleaning the house is very do-able. in fact, if i wanted to do dusting, mopping, sweeping, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, i could probably do it in 2 hours or less. if i had a house the size of what i grew up in, i think it'd take me a few days to clean. with that sized house, i can understand why stay at home moms have to make the choice between a clean house or taking care of the kids. i like doing both, and nat and i like it clean. with a smaller house, i think it'd be more manageable to keep it clean and take care of the kids. at least that's my hope.

surprise visit

my friend tony called me on friday (i think) to let me know that he was in st. louis. my first response was "are you coming to visit?"* to which he responded most likely, and it'd be sunday.

well, tony did come into town today with his girlfriend katherine, and we had a fun time just hanging out and getting dinner. now he's driving back to st. louis, and then next week heading back to california. i don't know when the next we'll see each other again. hopefully soon! :) maybe next time tony will be a bike racer and have smoother legs than me. :)

* i must say i wasn't too surprised that he was nearby b/c we never really talk on the phone now unless one of us is visiting the other.

my boy is 1!

i can't believe it, but my little boy is 1. he turned 1 yesterday. i can't believe it's been a year already. sometimes it goes fast, sometimes it goes slow. yesterday was a "oh my goodness, time flies so fast" day. i can't believe in a couple of years, and i'll be one of those soccer moms. :P

i guess i thought i'd always be one of those young and hip moms, but i don't think it'll be true after a few years (and possibly/hopefully) and more kids. and no, i'm not pregnant. :P