Hey there, 2014!

Another year gone by... another chance to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't think I made any resolutions last year so I can't provide you with any checklist of how I did, but instead I'll look at the highlights and lowlights of the year.

First, looking back at my blog posts from last January, I realized that one of the most notable improvements from 2013 is that I no longer live with mushrooms growing from my bathroom ceiling. Woohoo, it's the little things! Of course, there are still housing-related difficulties. Like, as I discovered a couple days ago when it was 4 degrees outside, my building's boiler cuts off automatically when the external air intake valve freezes. Talk about a terrible design feature. Building management had to bring in a space heater to warm the valve to keep the heat on. Any engineers out there who want to tackle that one?

Another winter lowlight (or should I say "high"light since we ended up with mountains of snow?) was winter storm Nemo. Ugh, I hate winter. But it was really fun to play in 2.5 feet of snow! 2014 is shaping up to be a snowy year, too, since it's only January 5th and we've already had three snowstorms of 6+ inches. A highlight of 2013 was in October when I finally convinced myself to pay a pretty penny for a pretty, warm, professional-looking winter coat. It comes to my knees and is super warm without making me look like a marshmallow--and it might be the only thing making winter bearable.

Beyond all, though, the worst part of 2013 was losing my sweet, almost 14-year-old puppy Maizie. I never even got to see her in 2013, since my last trip home was Thanksgiving 2012. It took me a long time to figure out how to write a tribute good enough for her. I still miss her cute smile a ton, and I laugh thinking about her zip-zip-zipping around the house.

In more bad animal-related news, my houseplants suffered a mealybug infestation in May. Although I put up a good fight, I still have two plants with mealybugs. I don't have enough window space to quarantine them all! But hopefully 2014 is the year of full recovery. I love my windowsill gardens, so I'm still fighting for them...

2013 also saw huge changes at work. I started managing projects, which proved (and continues to prove) to be a huge honor, responsibility, and challenge. Yes, I feel like 2013 threw an enormous number of management challenges my way, from inexperienced staff to tight budgets to tight deadlines to unexpected Congressional interest. I have no idea whether I'm a good manager or not, but I'm working on improving. And amidst all that management-related stress, I can use all the pats-on-the-back I can get, like creating a map for the National Climate Assessment last January.

Some of my proudest highlights of 2013 are fitness-related. I ran a 5k in 27 minutes in June, learned to paddleboard in August, and joined a gym in November. I am really hoping to keep up with these things in 2014. I think I'm a nicer person when I spend time outside and exercise away all that work-related stress. There is just something amazingly refreshing about running until you're sweaty and exhausted and have no energy to think about your mile-long to-do list. It's a great feeling. (And I'm writing this sheepishly after having skipped the Sunday morning ballet class that I wanted to go to in favor of getting a full eight hours of sleep today. Oops.)

The biggest highlight of the year was definitely my trip to Greece. I spent 10 days exploring the Greek islands with Colin, gorging myself on delicious seafood, soaking up the Mediterranean sun, and finally getting a glimpse into his lizard-catching life. I'm very happy that Colin has a couple years left in his PhD program because that means I can hopefully fit in one more trip to the islands to see him!

Actually, I might nickname 2013 "the year of the travels." In addition to Greece, I took trips to Georgia and Florida for spring and summer and Christmas vacations, Seattle for a wedding, Detroit for a bachelorette party and wedding, New Jersey for a wedding, western Massachusetts for Labor Day weekend, St. Louis for Thanksgiving, and Maine for a few visits with Colin's family (plus, of course, 10 or so weekend trips to New Haven). I love spending time with good friends and family, and I am so lucky to be able to afford to do so. I only wish that everyone I loved lived in the same place! I know that my friends' lives will be changing tremendously over the next few years with weddings and babies and grown-up financial priorities like houses, so I'm really grateful that we can take the time to travel to see each other now. Having friends and family scattered across the country is such a good problem to have!

So, 2013 wasn't perfect, but there was a whole lot of good stuffed in there with the less-than-good. If 2014 is about the same, that would be okay with me. May everyone have a happy and healthy new year!

In memory of Maizie

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. The evening after I wrote my last post, my family's sweet puppy dog, Maizie, had to be put down. I was heartbroken. After a few days of crying and missing her, I knew I wanted my next post to be a tribute to her. But between work, a trip to Georgia, and the recent Boston marathon explosions, I haven't had the time or emotional energy to write. I didn't want to just dash off a quick memory; I wanted only the best words to remember Maizie.

These are not them. I could write for years about Maizie and how much I loved her, and nothing would ever be good enough. So I am just writing something.

Maizie joined our family when she was about a year old, in May of 2000. I remember deciding that her "birthday" was May 26, but I no longer remember whether that was the day we found her or the day we brought her home (a few days later). The day she came home, Grandmother and Grandaddy were visiting St. Louis, and forever after, Maizie knew them as family, too. It didn't matter that they only visited every few years--Maizie still recognized them. And when she recognized someone she loved, she would bark, squeak, and run around like crazy. The frenzy that ensued whenever Rebecca or I came home from the airport in recent years was incredible. Maizie always recognized the sound of the car pulling into the driveway, and she would rouse herself from wherever she was napping and head towards the door. But then, as soon as we (the "visitor") called to her, Maizie would full out sprint to the door, barking and squeaking uncontrollably. She would briefly pause by our legs for us to pet her, wriggling with joy, before taking off to run circles around the house--as though she had too much excitement to contain in her little body, as though she didn't know how to bear the unexpected joy of being petted by too-distant loved ones. (She also did this nearly every time we asked her if she wanted to go on a walk. There was a lot of happiness and excitement in Maizie's life.)

Grandmother and Grandaddy took this photo on one of Maizie's first days in the family!

I always thought of Maizie as my best friend. We brought her home at the end of my 7th grade year, just a few months before Rebecca left for college. Middle school is a tumultuous time for most preteens, and I was no exception. I was suddenly an only child at home, and I was grateful to have someone to talk to, take walks with, and play with. Maizie and I went on long walks where I told her everything. Maizie didn't listen exactly (squirrels were way too distracting), but I talked - aloud, sometimes, or sometimes just in my head - about everything from frustrations with middle school social life and unrequited crushes to stress about which extracurricular activities to pursue and the college application process (during which I went from defiantly proclaiming I would not even apply to the school my sister went to, to falling in love with Brown one summer and applying nowhere else). Unlike many of my friends, I was never anything but excited to leave for college--but I quickly realized that the worst homesickness was actually missing Maizie. I wished I could call or email her the way I could my mom. In the years following, as I moved first to Ann Arbor and then to Boston, I continued to miss Maizie horribly. I never stopped thinking of her as my best friend, even if I only saw her a couple times a year.

Maizie and me on a walk at Thanksgiving 2012, the last time I saw her.

Sometimes I would ask Mom to put the phone to Maizie's ear so I could say hello. This confused Maizie, though, so we didn't do it often. Maizie seemed to recognize my voice, but just couldn't figure out how I got into that small piece of plastic. Mom said she would sometimes glance back and forth between the phone and the door, wondering when I was going to appear.

That technological mystery aside, Maizie was the smartest little dog I've ever known. She wasn't always perfectly well behaved, but I continue to think that some of that was her trying to outsmart us. She would masterfully sneak her cute little nose under our elbows to poke her head into our arms for a snuggle. (Sometimes she attempted this at the dinner table, which was really just her attempt to get closer to our plates, albeit disguised as cuteness. And sometimes she attempted this while we were sitting on the ground; she didn't seem to realize until she got into our laps that she was actually too big for a lapdog.) She became really good at standing on her hind legs, probably so that she could get closer to the dinner table. She loved to play fetch, and knew all of her toys by name. She invented a game ("zip zip zip"--she would race as fast as she could around the house, stopping only to be egged on by our clapping and shouts of "Zip zip zip, Maizie!"). She chased her tail. She also chased squirrels, and rabbits, and sometimes bumblebees, but she never cared about catching them. She sometimes helped sniff out Easter eggs during our backyard Easter egg hunts. She learned to sit down on the sidewalk before crossing the street in case of traffic. She would sit about one-third of the way up the front staircase and look into the mirror adjacent to the front door in order to get a better view out of the narrow sidelight windows. She even figured out that meals only appeared after she went outside, so when she was hungry, she would beg to go outside, play in the yard for a pathetic minute or so, and then come back in expecting to see a full bowl. Maizie's little manipulative self became most apparent, though, every time we took her to "camp." She would bark and howl mercilessly on the car ride to the kennel, totally inconsolable. (These car rides were the only times I felt less than loving toward Maizie.) She would launch a sit-down strike outside the door to camp, and then she would cling to our legs once dragged inside. Wouldn't you know it, though, the minute a cheery staffer took her leash and walked her around the lobby desk, little Maizie's tail would start wagging enthusiastically and she would trot off, as happy as could be. It was a perfectly executed guilt-trip, and she performed it for thirteen years.

Maizie waits patiently before crossing the street.

Maizie keeps an eye on the neighborhood from her favorite spot on the stairs.

It's sad to think about life without Miss Maizie. There are so many memories that I never want to fade--the soft, silkiness of her light brown ears; her thick, furry tail that hinted at something other than beagle heritage; the sound of her bark and squeak; the way she seemed to smile when she was excited. The stories here are just the tiniest fraction of what I love and remember about Maizie. I could go on talking about her for ages. Maizie was a loyal and loving dog who only ever wanted to be close to her family. I'm thankful that she always seemed to remember me, despite me being so far away for so long. Maizie sure wriggled her way into my heart, and I only hope I wriggled my way as deeply into hers as well.

What a cutie! We're going to miss this little beagle.

I'm still here...

My devoted readership (hi, Grandmother and Grandaddy!) has pointed out that I've been slow to update my blog. In fact, I've had multiple phone conversations lately that went something like this:

Reader: Hi! How are you? Wait, don't tell me... you've been busy at work.
Me: Yes, very busy.
Reader: I could tell because you haven't written anything on your blog in a while.
Me: Oops.

So, yes, I have been very busy lately. The last five weeks have been a nonstop frenzy of deadlines and deliverables. I finally got around to counting how many projects I'm working on the other day, and the answer is ELEVEN. Only two of those have not required anything of me in the last five weeks, and seven have had major deadlines.

I saw a facebook status update a couple days ago that made me want to laugh and cry because it is so true. I paraphrase: have you ever gone to remove the mascara from under your eyes, only to find that there's no makeup--that's just how you look these days?

Anyway, I finally made it through what I think (and hope!) is the worst of the crush. I still have several more deadlines during the next month, but several other projects are now on hold. (I think I only have five that actively demand my time now.) I also have a few *fun* things planned between now and Christmas, so hopefully there will be more blog entries soon!

In the meantime, though, here are the fun, non-work things I've done lately:

• Going home for Thanksgiving--always one of my favorite things! And bringing Colin with me, which was very fun.
• Playing with Maizie, who is still the cutest dog in the world.
• Hanging out with good friends from high school, some of whom I hadn't seen in more than two years.
• Going to see the last Twilight movie. It was just as terrible as you'd expect.
• Talking to four friends about their respective upcoming weddings. FOUR. Am I getting old, or what?
• Sleeping in until after 9:00 this morning, eating breakfast in bed, and planning to wear pajamas all day.

They will change the world

I love working on really cool projects (that also happen to be really fun) for really important people (who also happen to be really nice). Today was one of those days when I felt so important by association. 

I had just settled down at my desk, wondering what task to tackle first on this sort of slow day, when the principal that I would love to work for, Jim, stopped by. I've tried to convince everyone that I should work for him since pretty much Day 1, but so far it hasn't stuck. I'm told that "I have fans" and my current supervisors don't want to give me up. That's nice. :) But it hasn't made it easy to transition onto his projects. So, he stops by and immediately starts asking about the photos on my cubicle wall. I point out a couple from Botswana, several from the Gulf of Mexico, and one of my dog Maizie (who he says is adorable - or something along those lines; I don't remember, but probably he didn't use the word "adorable"). At that point, I realize that only two people have commented on my photos since I started ten months ago, and anyone who says my dog is sweet-looking has already won me over. He also comments that I have traveled to some pretty cool places (this from the guy whose job takes him to Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe and everywhere in between).

Then he asks me to help with a small task. After he spent five minutes complimenting my dog and my travels, I would have agreed to almost anything, but honestly, I was sold from the minute he said hello. It didn't matter how busy I was with other work--to work on his projects, I would work overtime.

The project I was helping with, as it turns out, had a lofty goal. Jim had been selected as a lead author of the sea level rise analysis for the 2013 National Climate Assessment and I would be helping him with a small piece of that. And, while Google searching his role, I realized that the earlier version of this report, back in 2000, was directed by Rosina Bierbaum, the former dean of SNRE for whom I worked last year (and one of 21 current science & technology advisors to President Obama). She is now a Convening Lead Author (more important than just "Lead Author," apparently) for the climate adaptation portion of the 2013 report.

I am totally floored. I work for such impressive people, and they will change the world! If anyone can set the path towards a more sustainable, more equitable future, it's Rosina. And an accomplished principal who can take a few minutes from his busy day to comment on a young associate's photos deserves the support of communities across the world. And since I helped teach Rosina's class and contribute analysis to Jim's work, that makes me important by association, right? Twenty years from now, maybe I'll be on the next generation's list of impressive people as well!

Happy Earth Day! Re: puppies and snakes

Mother Nature is crying on her special day in Cambridge, so since I can't spend the day outside, I'm sitting by my windowsill garden poring over photos of my favorite animal and her favorite "animal"--Maizie and Solomon Snake.

Although Maizie is nearly 13, I still think of her as my puppy, and the photos below show that she doesn't necessarily act her age, anyway. But poor Solomon is a bit worse for the wear. (He used to have two heads. He has gotten by with only one for years now, but even that one is a bit chewed.) Happy Earth Day to all of Mother Nature's creatures, whether furry, fleecy, or otherwise!

Snake! Fetch! Oh, yes, please!

Nom nom nom.

Dog vs. snake: dog wins!

Dead snake. Tired dog.

Thank goodness for the invention of the cell phone camera! Maizie is suspicious of cameras, but when I turn the volume on my phone down and the flash off, she has no idea that I'm snapping photos :)

Basking in the sunlight. Ready for playtime, round 2?!

There are few things cuter than a wriggling puppy!

What a sweet girl.

 

Vacation!

Lately, any time I talk to family or friends, they want to know what I've been doing with myself now that school's over. What have I been doing? Well, let's see: reading, sleeping in, eating popsicles, picnicking, jogging around Ann Arbor, cooking. In short, vacation.  :)

How many years has it been since I had a real summer vacation? While in college I always had summer jobs or internships that I considered "fun" rather than "work," but still, I had forgotten how incredibly glorious it is to do absolutely nothing!! Ah, the days of summer camp and trips to the beach and lazy days reading book after book after book. (More on my reading later.)

I'm sad sad sad to have to leave behind the world of automatic summer and winter and spring vacations, though I must admit I'm pleased at the prospect of nights and weekends without homework. (Shoot, even if I don't get off work until 7, that's still fewer hours a day than school required! Just don't tell my employer...) Anyway, in case I ever forget what vacation's really like, here are a few photo reminders of my wonderful summer:

Root root root for the home team! Go Cards!!

Despite her black fur coat, Maizie inexplicably loves sunbathing. More than me!

My favorite beach in Florida!

Complete with thatched cabana for beachgoing during the heat of the day.

Watch closely and a dolphin will swim by any minute...

Sun, sand, surf --> summer. Hello world!

Awwww cuteness

I was informed that my last post was too depressing, so here's something to cheer us all up: 

The prettiest girl in the world, my dog Maizie!  At 11 years old, she still runs around and tugs at her toys (and my heartstrings) in just the same way she used to as a puppy. 

And in other news, it's supposed to get up to 40º today.  I guess Mother Nature has some sympathy after all.

Thankful for...

friends, family, my dog Maizie, warm blankets, clean laundry, shrimp cocktail and smoked salmon at Thanksgiving dinner, and a legitimate excuse not to do much schoolwork today.

Enjoy the holiday, everyone!

Do They Need a Dog-Sitter?

The Obamas are getting a dog!!  I mean, we knew that already, but now they're really almost getting a dog.  And Michelle Obama can't believe the amount of attention the future First Dog is generating.

Why not? I wonder.  Everyone loves puppies.  Even if you're a cat person, you still probably feel a little "awwwwww" run through your heart when someone mentions how two little girls who wanted a puppy for the longest time are finally getting a dog.  A best-friend-forever to run around with, roll on the floor with, shout and bark and make a wonderfully loud ruckus with, and to curl up with on cold, dreary days when nothing seems to be going your way.  

The idea of a new dog for the Obama girls lets me relive my own favorite dog moments.  I remember standing in the pound peering through cage after cage, searching for a dog that "looked right."  I remember calling everyone I knew in the first grade to let them know that I HAD JUST GOTTEN A DOG!  I remember the long walks, the one-sided heart-to-heart discussions, the endless games of fetch and the games where I fetched and Maizie watched.  

Everyone needs a dog, in my opinion.  Okay, I realize that not everyone likes dogs, some people are allergic to dogs, and some people just can't stand the thought of walking it and feeding it and cleaning up its messes.  Cats could substitute, I suppose.  Maybe.  But imagine, wouldn't the world be a better place if everyone could count on the unconditional love that a dog provides?  If everyone had someone to listen to them without ever complaining or getting bored?  If everyone had to learn the give-and-take aspects of a close relationship, as in, you rub my tummy and I'll gaze adoringly into your eyes as you keep talking.  Or, you feed me every day and give me a treat now and then, and I'll meet you at the door after school with my tail wagging so hard that I wiggle with excitement.  

Yeah, everyone needs a dog.  It's a responsibility-teaching, stress-relieving, happiness-making commitment.

That's why I'm so excited about the First Dog.  I admire the Obamas immensely and think they have two of the cutest, most well-behaved girls on the planet, but I think that their life is about to get 100% better with a dog.  I just hope they aren't too disappointed that the best dog- Maizie- is already spoken for.  

25

For several weeks now, a chain letter has been circulating on Facebook.  The premise of this letter is that you make a list of 25 random facts about yourself and share it with 25 friends.  I usually ignore these types of letters without reading them, but this one seemed interesting.  I've had so much fun reading random facts about my friends that I wondered what 25 things I might come up with.  What 25 things should the world know about me?  Well, I'm not sure these are the most relevant facts about myself, but they are the first 25 I could think of.  They seem to fit the "random" criteria quite well.  

So here you have it:  25 random facts about me, Claire. 

1. I can crack every joint in my body, although I sincerely wish I couldn't. 
2. My favorite color changes just about every week.  Today it's sky blue.
3. I listen to my favorite songs on repeat. 
4. When I'm stressed, I either dance by myself in front of the mirror or color a picture with crayons. 
5. Sometimes I also have serious conversations with my teddy bear, named Annabear. 
6. I cut my own hair. 
7. I've petted a cheetah and a lion cub. 
8. I tap dance and juggle at the same time and performed in a circus in high school. 
9. I despise shopping!!! ... except for dresses. 
10. I know a lot more about sports than you give me credit for. 
11. My only cousin is actually a step-cousin. 
12. I plan on having three kids so that my sister's kids will have some cousins. 
13. I'm incapable of staying awake on long car rides.
14. I want to be Michelle Obama. 
15. I'm terrified of alligators. 
16. Also minorly afraid of the dark -- I have glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling at home. 
17. When my puppy is frightened by thunderstorms or fireworks, she jumps onto my bed and crawls under the covers, even though she's not supposed to. 
18. I love anything made of pesto, tomatoes, and cheese. 
19. I don't watch TV.  Never have.  Don't bother asking if I've seen the show. 
20. My favorite kids to babysit for are the children of a gay couple and are named Will and Grace. 
21. I do fifteen push-ups every day, just to make sure I still can. 
22. I'm horribly awkward in high heels. 
23. I have a glasses fetish, and yet I also apparently have better-than-20/20 vision. 
24. I've never been able to donate blood. 
25. One of my lifelong goals is to travel to every continent, except maybe Antarctica, plus Central America and the Middle East.