Calling for volunteers

Not for a trip to hell as the cartoon might imply but rather to "hot" yoga. This Christmas Ian gave me a gift of 15 sessions at my favorite yoga studio and I am looking for volunteers to go with me in the first month or two until I get back into the routine of going.

I love yoga and I am really looking forward to getting back to it but right now I am pretty out of shape and I fear that I will get lazy and stop going. I am planning on going three times per week and ideally, I would be looking at either a Tuesday or Thursday night (7pm - 8:30pm) and then on Saturday and Sunday mornings (either the 8am or the 10am classes). In return for going with me, I would treat you to a beverage afterwards and the beautiful thing is that there are a ton of great bars and restaurants right by the yoga studio. Right across the parking lot is the Egg & I restaurant - great for brunch on the weekends, and within a block is the Herkimer, the VFW, and the BLB.

And trust me, you'll be thirsty afterwards. This is Bikram Yoga so it is 90 minutes of hard work in a room set at 105 degrees and 60+% humidity.

You can find more information at the website: http://www.bikramyogamn.com/

Purple

I have no photo but let me just assure you that what was just a pink/red bruise on Sunday is a lovely purple and yellow today. Very attractive.

Happily it doesn't hurt too much anymore so for all of you who worried that I might have broken a rib, it seems that wasn't the case.

Ow.

So this piece of 2x4 flew off of this table saw and hit me in the ribs. If you have never had a 2x4 hit you, let me just tell you...it hurts like bloody hell...and it is really scary.

I didn't want to expose any more of myself but here is half of the bruise--the rest angles up. Ouch, that is all I have to say.

I was working on my laundry room storage project and was cutting lumber for that and I think I was getting tired and careless. I decided the gods were trying to tell me that maybe I had done enough on the basement for a day. Here's my thing though, while the board only hit me in the ribs, my entire torso hurts and I've been exhausted ever since. I think maybe I tensed up at being struck and then crashed after the initial adrenalin rush.

I am lucky that it hit me flat rather than with the pointy end.

Happy Birthday to Me!

With the exception of the missing parking card, it's been a good day so far!

Margaret was the first person to call and sing happy birthday to me, then the Chad-Tara-Noah-Ellie-Caleb clan called with a rousing rendition, then Ken and Mary Jo...I'm still waiting on Greg but the day is young.

Ian was the perfect husband--made coffee and breakfast and brought it up to me as I was getting ready, tidied up the house, assisted in Schnuffy's drug regimen, and then went out and cleaned the egg mess off my car (I forgot to mention that the wretched houligans had also egged my car). He's so sweet!

AAAarrghh!

For the love of God! They broke into my car again...and Ian's...and again, I have to admit that to call it breaking in is a bit overly dramatic because it appears I left both cars unlocked (what can I say, I am slow and I did not learn my lesson the last time).

So I noticed it yesterday morning as I was leaving for work and I was pretty annoyed. I drove Ian's car yesterday and realized that they took the Garmin which really annoyed me (they didn't take the Garmin charger which is probably going to annoy somebody - ha!), and then as I drove my car to work this morning it dawned on my that they took the little card I need to get into my parking garage at work.

I just don't get these guys...last time they took the owner's manual for my car and I still cannot figure out why they would have any interest in that. This time they take my parking card...what, do the little hoodlums go to school at the U and want to park in the 19th Avenue Ramp?

The police came to the house last night to fill out a report and it was a little embarrassing to admit that I didn't really know when the "break in" happened. Ian was out of town for the entire holiday weekend and I hadn't left the house from Thursday at about 6:30am until Monday morning when I left for work. They probably were thinking that I was some crazy hermit lady.

While we were talking with the police, one of our neighbors walked by and asked if we were missing some CDs, because he had noticed a pile of them on the corner across the street. Sure enough, they were ours. So it seems that the little thugs stole our CDs but then upon closer inspection decided that our taste in music was so bad that they would just ditch them. Nice.

Last Night Ian & I Became Collateral Damage in an Epic Struggle Between the Icelanders and the Marines

The two groups were determined to demonstrate their supremacy in joy, celebration and hospitality at the wedding and reception for Erla Osk Petursdottir and Andrew Wissler, and we only barely survived the event.

Crimininy!! I hadn't realized that either of us had that much to drink but when they shut down the dance floor at 1:15am, it dawned on us that perhaps we had over imbibed. Of course, the moment I stepped on the dance floor should have, in itself, been proof that I had gone beyond my usual limit since only drunkenness would overcome my usual shyness of dancing in front of people. Still, we failed to heed this infallible sign and we proceeded to dance (and drink) for the next 2-3 hours.

At 1:15am, we decided--or rather, I decided, since Mr Barker was in worse shape than I, that we would secure a room and stay downtown. Next thing we know, it's 10:00am and we are going to be hardpressed to make it to Meredith's 21-Birthday-Brunch. The drive home was nearly my undoing as my stomach lurched and head threatened to explode with every seam of the concrete on the highway.

After a quick call to Chad to explain our sorry situation, I crawled in bed and didn't get up until a few of our fellow revelers rang the doorbell at about 1:30pm and after a brief chat and giving them keys to the car so they could retrieve their things which they had left there the afternoon before, I crawled back in bed until about 4pm. While I feel better now, things are not what I would call "good".

Let this be a cautionary tale to Meredith on her 21st Birthday! Be careful how much you drink at weddings between Icelanders and Marines!

It was a fantastic wedding, though. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, the families so welcoming, and good friends were everywhere! It was wonderful.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a Joke

Enough said.

Half a pack of cinnamon Dentyne, a handful of change, the owner's manual for a Dodge Caliber, and a 6-yr old iPod Shuffle that barely works...

My car was broken into today, although to be honest "broken into" is not the correct phrase since I probably left the car unlocked, as I am want to do. Bottom line...my car was messed with last night/this morning. I went out to my car this morning to leave for work and there were three CDs on the ground outside my car--which I thought was odd--and when I got in the car, there was stuff strewn about.

I'm thinking it was probably just kids but seriously, even if they are not honest-to-goodness criminals, my car must be a complete disappointment. The above-noted items, the ones missing from my car, are probably the items of greatest value. Although, I admit that I am a bit confused by their taking the owner's manual. It was in a little case, but it's not like it was a special little case, it was the one that came with the car.

They will probably be very disappointed in the iPod. It was the first version of the Shuffle and since I tuck it into the waistband of my running shorts, I think perhaps it has been exposed to a bit too much sweat over the years, and it regularly goes on the fritz and deletes all but one and a half songs--and almost invariably it is my least favorite one and a half songs.

Oh well. Maybe this will teach me to lock my car in the future.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

The new TCF Stadium at the University of Minnesota is open for business.


Yesterday, we had a staff appreciation day/stadium open house and we all got to crawl around the place. It really is pretty cool and seeing it does make me want to go to a game even though I don't think I have ever been to a Gopher football game before--not as a student and not since.

I feel particularly bonded to the team this year because one of my favorite students, Nick Stommes, is on the team and I was excited to see his official locker.

A Week of Doing Nothing

Ian and I are sitting here in the Wilmington, NC airport heading home from our very relaxing week on Topsail Island where we did just about nothing.

We met up with a bunch of Macalester alums to hang out at a rented beachhouse on Topsail Island---there were about 13-14 of us at any given time although people came and went throughout the week depending upon their work/vacation schedules.

The most stressful decision to be made on any given day was which swimsuit to wear and if we would hang out on the deck overlooking the beach, sit down on the beach and read, or get in the beautifully warm and clear water. We had a game involving tossing golfballs attached to a rope, onto a rack where each rung had different points. I was very bad at it--as I am bad at most things that involve tossing/throwing with any degree of accuracy. Ian, on the other hand, was quite good at it.

What I did turn out to be good at was boogie-boarding(sp?). By the last day I finally got the hang of it and was able to catch waves to ride all the way into shore, and it was fantastic! Too bad I couldn't have figured it out earlier.

We had a great time. It was an interesting mix of personalities and they were all great company. I had never taken a vacation where I didn't feel the need to do anything and, while I don't feel a need to do it often, it was definitely relaxing. At the beginning of the week, we were thinking that we would probably borrow one of the cars and take a little day trip to explore the Outer Banks to our north but the week just sort of flowed by and we never really felt motivated enough to bother.

I must say that 13-14 people--at least half of them being young men in their mid-20s eat a lot! It seems that everyday someone would go to the grocery store to stock up on massive amounts of groceries and within 24 hours we would be down to just about nothing. One day Ian and I decided to cook for the group and we chose spaghetti and meatballs because we figured that would be about the easiest but still it is a lot of work to feed that many.

From here we fly to Atlanta, then Chicago where we pick up Ian's car, which is there because he had been working in Rockford, IL for the 2 weeks prior to our trip, and then we drive to Minneapolis and we should get in at about midnight. Poor Ian hasn't been home since July 7th and that was only for a couple days since just before that we were in Montana.

Caleb Turns 4

For his fourth birthday, Caleb, my ultra-cute, cultra-cool nephew, decided he wanted to go to a Twins game so the family converged on the Metrodome on Friday. In attendance were Margaret and Meredith, Greg, Me, and then Chad, Tara, Noah, Ellie, and the birthday boy Caleb.

Seriously, it is ridiculous how cute this kid is. And not only that, he has the sweetest personality! All three of the kids are cute and they draw a lot of attention because they are cute, incredibly well behaved, and funny, but Caleb is special. I was watching the strangers around us watching him and they were all sort of smiling and mesmerized. I don't know what it is about him but nobody seems to be immune. Caleb is a big Joe Mauer fan and everytime Joey was at bat or got a hit, Caleb would raise his arms and do this gesture...what is that called? I don't know...



We had a lot of fun. The Twins won. The kids were in a great mood and very entertaining and the adults all behaved themselves. Ken and Mary Jo missed the festivities since they were on their big Alaskan adventure...or supposedly they were on their big Alaskan adventure. As it turns out, they only made it to Regina Canada before a number of small events convinced them to head back and reschedule the Alaska trip for another time.















Why is it that hotdogs taste so much better at a baseball game? Dome dog and beer...does it get any better than that?

Very Funny!

I don't remember what was so terribly funny, but clearly something was. Margaret, Ian, and I went kayaking on the St. Croix yesterday afternoon and it was a beautiful day for it. The water was a little low but we only got caught up on the rocks once and other than that it was pretty decent.

I wish I could remember what was so funny...


We saw a couple eagles--or maybe the same one over and over--during the afternoon. There were also a ton of turtles out sunning themselves, and Ian and Margaret saw a couple deer.

And here are a couple photos from our drive home from Montana. We stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Something-or-Another in North Dakota for a little break and it was beautiful. I love the Badlands. I think this is the greenest I have ever seen them.

Smith River, Montana - 2009!

We have just returned from our second annual float down the Smith River in Montana. I must admit that I was a little concerned that it would not be as fun this year as it was last year. You know how it is when you try something new for the first time and it is fantastic and then you try to repeat it but the next time around if falls flat...well, this was not like that. The Smith River was just as fantastic the second year as the first and a great time was had by all!

While the core of the group was the same--Tom and Devin, Ray and Jake, Doug, and Ozzie, we had some new faces this year and a slightly bigger group than last year. In the front row, starting with the guy sitting on the red raft, its: Ray, Jake, Ryan Palmer, Devin Palmer, Me. In the back, it's: Doug Bermingham, Ian, Tom Palmer, Mike Samuelson, Robert Samuelson, Danny.

We stopped at a different campsite each night and they were very basic sites--a firepit, clearings for tents, and then off in the distance, a latrine. The latrines tended to be away from the group and out-of-sight from the site but very exposed and just a toilet over a pit. They were pretty gross but the nice thing was that they were often in very picturesque locations. The photo above is the path to the latrine which is just around the corner to the right.
Here is the eagle that kept an eagle-eye on us while we ate one evening. We saw a couple eagles throughout the five days.
Ian, kayaking in our rented, inflatable kayak. They worked pretty well but since it was open and designed more like a canoe, you couldn't get any leverage from your feet or knees so you had to rely on upper body strength for everything. Plus it was a self-bailer so poor Mr. Barker was sitting in about an inch of water the entire time.

I used the smaller Dragonfly inflatable kayak which was designed much more like a standard kayak and nice and dry inside (until I nearly capsized it when I wasn't paying proper attention).

There are a lot worse ways one could spend 5 days...here I am lounging on the raft, re-reading my Sookie Stakehouse book, and soaking up the 80 degree, sunny weather.

Buuuurrrrp. Buuuurrrp.

I do very slow, rather pathetic burpees. At this rate, when I get to Day 75 and have to do 75 burpees, I'll have to start at the crack of dawn if I hope to finish by bedtime.

Of course, I did just do them in a skirt which makes it a bit tricker.

Endless Rain and Dreariness

As you all know, I have a certain fascination with The Plague/The Great Mortality/The Pestilence/Call-it-What-You-Will, and this seemingly endless run of bad weather (four days?) reminds me of the reports of bad weather surrounding the first outbreak of the plague in England in 1348.

For centuries, England had enjoyed quite mild weather. The climate was warm and bright enough to allow for vineyards and the country was able to support a wide variety of crops. Living was relatively easy and the population grew. Then the temperatures started to drop--an average of only a degree or so but enough to shorten the growing season and dramatically alter the success and bounty of the crops. 1346 and 1347 proved to be particularly cold and wet but nothing compared to 1348.

In the summer of 1348 it started to rain on Midsummers Day, approximately June 24th, and then it proceeded to rain everyday until Christmas. Interestingly, the first case of the plague in England was reported on June 25th--which, in such a superstitious time must have caused a great deal of speculation regarding its significance; however, I don't recall ever reading anything about that specifically. It was a pretty grim year for poor old England.

I am not suggesting that four days of Minnesota grey skies compares to six months of rain, disease, famine and misery, but I am mighty tired of the chilly dreariness.

Burp...

Today is Day One of the burpee challenge at work. I did my one burpee, although is wasn't very graceful.

This is NOT what I looked like....merely what I am aspiring to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M

I am beginning to regret my role as Russell Protector

That stupid bunny seems to have a death wish. Schnuffy only spends 30 minutes outside a day--wouldn't you think Russell could go hide someplace during that time? Nooooo....Russell likes to frolic right in the middle of the yard. Russell, like Hazel, is going to be pushing daisies if he doesn't wise up soon.

Speaking of daisies...I have a veritable forest of daisies in the backyard and they are lovely!

Russell-The-Rabbit is Alive!

I hadn't seen Russell for days and I was afraid that Schnuffy or some other form of evil had found him but he was out last night hopping around and eating my flowers. Schnuffy did try to attack him but I was able to intervene, and Schnuffy was once again incarcerated in the laundry room.

Mighty Marathoners

Yesterday, Meredith and Margaret ran the Minneapolis marathon in under 5 hours--congratulations!

My contribution to this was that I was at their house at 5:50am to give them a ride to the starting line downtown. While they spent the next 5 hours running around Minneapolis, I went to the bakery, the grocery store, the coffee shop, had breakfast in the garden, went to Target, went to Greg's new place to hang curtains, came home and cut back my massive lilac bush since the blossoms are gone now, took a little nap in the yard, took a shower, buried Hazel, and enjoyed a nice visit from Kiwi.

Greg's place is looking really nice! We have to hem a couple of the drape panels and steam out the wrinkles, and hang a few things on the walls but it's taking shape and looking pretty impressive.

Mr. Barker's been in Alaska since Wednesday and it is awfully quiet with him away. He returns on Friday and I can hardly wait!

The Face of Evil

How can one tiny little cat be so demented?

Oh No!!

I have some sad bunny news. Shortly after writing about the bunnies, I noticed that Russell-the-rabbit was missing. I named the baby bunnies Russell + Hazel. Hazel because that was the name of the lead rabbit in the book Watership Down, and Russell because everyone who knows their local luxury paper and organization goods knows, Russell always goes with Hazel (Russell+Hazel in Edina).

Anyway, so Russell seemed to be missing and I feared the worst since Russell and Hazel did not appear to be the brightest, savviest bunnies in the world. Hazel was out all the time though and seemed to have lost her fear of me which was kind of fun since she would hop right up to me and she was adorable.

You will note, gentle readers, that I am referring to Hazel in the past tense. This afternoon I found poor Hazel's remains and I suspect that Schnuffy-the-devil-cat had a hand/paw in the evil deed. Yesterday while I was in the backyard, talking on the phone with Mary Jo, Schnuffy was tracking Hazel but I didn't think anything came of it...but it appears I was wrong.

I don't know why I didn't think Schnuffy was capable of taking down a very stupid baby rabbit since she has proven quite adept at taking down mice, and she's vicious with most humans. Still I was surprised...and saddened. Sure, I didn't like that the rabbits were eating my garden, but they were so darn cute and I liked having them around. Poor Russell and Hazel.

Caught Red-Footed!

Oh sure, they're cute! But don't let their cuteness fool you, these guys are doing massive damage to my garden. There are two of them plus their mother and they seem to have taken up residence under our deck...which is convenient for them because it puts them in such close proximity to everything yummy in the garden.

I must confess that I am a sucker for their cuteness. They're baby bunnies, how can you not love them? I actually took carrots out to them last night (organic carrots at that), but it appears that they prefer my little purple flowers to carrots because they mowed the flower down to the stems but didn't even touch the carrots.

I don't want anything bad to happen to them. I am not even sure I want them to go away--I actually like rabbits--I just want them to stop destroying my flowers and vegetables.

Evil Deeds Afoot in the Vegetable Garden

Something has been eating my vegetables and it is going to stop. The nasty little vermin have been going to town on my broccoli and cauliflower, but so far they have left my brussel sprouts alone, which only goes to prove that brussel sprouts are kind of icky. Mr. Barker likes them which I why we have them in the garden.

I'm going to have to replant and then build some sort of fence to keep the rabbits out. Of course, they aren't limiting themselves to the vegetables but have been going after the flowers also. Since I cannot really put chicken wire around everything, I'm going to have to come up with some sort of plan to keep them away.

I Love the Smell of Libaries

I was just walking past Wilson Library today and I confessed to Mindy that I always plan my walks around campus to go around the front of Wilson Library because that way I can get my fix of that library smell---the heady combination of ink and aging paper and leather and whatever else. There is something with the pressurization of Wilson that whenever the door opens there is a gush of air following and I try to coordinate my big gulp of air to coincide with the door opening....mmmm...

Mindy, however, does not seem to share my love of libraries because she thought I was crazy and used such words as "icky," "musty," and "gross" to describe the smell. What does she know?!

It's very nostalgic for me and reminds me so vividly of all my years hanging out at the old Carnegie library in Mankato and picking out books for the summer reading programs, and then working first in the new Minnesota Valley Regional Libary (fancy way to say Mankato Public Library), and then in the Entomology, Fisheries and Wildlife Library at the U of Minn, then the Forestry Library, and finally Walter Library. I spent a lot my my formative years smelling musty old books.

Today is commencement for the Carlson Undergraduate Program which was why I was wandering over to the East Bank and it was really nice. Every year I am amazed at how many students I have never met! I would have been one of those students back when I was in school, though.

OK...back to work.

Pretty Blue Box

Ian got me the nicest gift for my graduation! I must admit that it is kind of nice to get a pretty blue tiffany box in the mail.


He got me the "Crown" key which is the second from the right in the photo and it is lovely. Much more delicate and pretty than the picture but truly lovely for its simplicity.

I love the Big Guy--he's very thoughtful and I am very lucky!

Pomp & Cirmcumstance

Yeah! I have completely finished the MS-MOT program and we had commencement last Friday. I hadn't been to a college commencement since Ken's back when I was about three so it was kind of fun.


Margaret, Kiwi, and Ian were there to observe the momentous occassion which wasn't even all that long. Of course, it wasn't too long because we MOT-ers didn't stick around for the Master of Arts graduates or the PhDs---we left right after the Master of Science grads walked across the stage and we bee-lined it to Sally's for a beer.




The whole thing was quite nice. The MOT program had an extremely good turnout (32 out of 33 at commencement and 33 out of 33 for the dinner reception) and the reception was really nice. Mike Siegler (part of my study group) was voted to speak and he did a really nice job. I had a wee-bit too much wine, but heck...how many times does one graduate with a Masters?

I arrived at work this morning to find that my co-workers had decorated my office door to celebrate and commemorate my graduation--although I must admit that as I was walking up to the door I mistook the little graduate cap decorations for bats and couldn't figure out why they had decorated my door with bats. Just goes to show that a Master's degree is no guarantee of higher intelligence.

Goldy

Margaret's comment on my last post reminded me of another thing I was thinking about during my 5,300 step walk around campus...

I love Goldy--everyone knows that I love Goldy--but really I don't feel like a Golden Gopher, despite my 11 years here. I love this place but I wasn't one of those people who thought that college was the greatest time of their life and I wasn't really into school when I was here. I liked it but I wasn't gung-ho or anything. Now that I have a better understanding of what all takes place here, I am really impressed with what the U has accomplished and I am proud to be a part of it, but I still feel a bit like an outsider.

Maybe I am just too conservative and this place is just too liberal.

But, seriously...wouldn't you think that after 11 years, two degrees, two full-time positions, and three part-time positions that I should feel like I am one of them? I would say that I am just not one of those people that ever feels truly connected but I did really, truly feel connected to Neuron Data/Blaze Software/Brokat Technologies/HNC/Fair Isaac so I know that I can.

Regardless, you have to admit that Goldy is pretty damn cute!

This is the most beautiful place in the world!

I just took a rather late lunch and decided to walk around campus. I am being a nerd these days and wearing my pedometer, and most days I have a hard time getting past 6,000 steps but I am trying to get over 10,000. Today I was hovering at about 4,000 and it is absolutely beatiful weather, so I decided to see if I could get a couple miles in. Which brings me to the title of today's post: This is the most beautiful place in the world....or at the very least, tied for the most beautiful place.


I was walking across the Washington Avenue Bridge with the Mississippi River below me, the campus spread out before me, and the Weisman Art Museum (which is growing on me...I know, I know...I used to describe it as a piece of crumpled tin foil tossed up on the river bank but...it is a rather beautiful piece of crumpled tin foil) positively shimmering in the sunlight. It really doesn't get much more beautiful that that.

Walking around campus, it really struck me that it really hasn't changed much in the 26 years since I first came here as an undergrad transfer student back in 1983. Having said that I was shocked to see that they have torn down the "temporary" science classroom and are rebuilding on it's site. The temporary building was probably there back in Ken's time--it certainly wasn't new when I had Chemistry there back in '84 or so.


I was also thinking that I have spent 11 of my 46 years wandering around this campus. First as a student, then as staff working in the library, and now 5 years at the Carlson School.

I'm Home!!!!!

Here I am---it's 10:30pm, Schnuffy is curled up on the chair next to me, Kiwi is across the table studying for his GMAT test which he takes tomorrow, and I am so delighted to be home. If only Mr. Barker were here, everything would be perfect. Alas, though, Ian is in Argentina and will not return until Sunday.

The trip ended well. The Saturday before we left I went on the day trip out to Malacca and it really changed my opinion about Malaysia. I didn't really like Kuala Lumpur--the Petronas Towers are spectacular but in general, the city had a vaguely sinister feel to them and I never felt completely comfortable there. Malacca on the other hand was really interesting and pretty. I was thinking that it was going to be more of a town, but at 500,000+ residents, it really is much more of a city. That being said, though, it still feels small--it doesn't have skyscrapers or a financial district and it does have a lot of history.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to see everything but we got to see the church where St. Francis of Asissi was buried (before they carted his body off to Goa), graves dating back to the spice trades, and its old city center which is very colorful and vibrant. The old part of town is served by bicycle taxis which are decorated with bright and elborate flower arrangements. It is beautiful and charming to see a whole row of these lined up.

That evening we took another trip out to Kuala Selangor out near the coast and there we saw the most delightful silver leaf monkeys! They are smallish monkeys named for their black/silver fur and leaf-eating, vegetarian tendencies. We brought fresh beans to give them and clearly this is a favorite for them because they swarmed us. I'll admit that sometimes animals that get a little too eager can kind of unsettle me but these guys just seemed playful and fun. I really liked them--they would come up to you and put their hand on your arm and try to take the beans right out of your hand.


After the monkeys, we went to dinner at a really local place on the river and had a perfect view to watch the sunset. Since they are so close to the equator, the days are pretty much split into 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night--and it doesn't seem like twilight lingers and sunrises and sunsets are pretty short. The restaurant was great--very come-as-you-are and no frills in regards to the decor but the location was beautiful and the food was delicious.



After dinner, our last stop was the fireflies which swarm the river and light up the bushes and trees surrounding the water. It was so peaceful to be floating along the river in silence watching the fireflies twinkle, and it struck me as amazing that we were all so amazed by it. When you consider that the effect was not unlike a Christmas tree twinkling with lights, and we just take that for granted, then why would we be so capitvated by this. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that we all were captivated.

Oh my goodness, it's hot!

The heat and humidity here is amazing! And unlike Singapore where I was freezing cold from the cranked up AC more than I was warm from the outside temp, here they believe in keeping the AC more reasonable. That part is actually nice---I'm sitting here in my hotel room quite comfortable in a tank top despite the fact that I have the AC turn up to high. In Singapore, I turned my AC down as low as possible and still had to wrap myself up in the duvet while I was working on my computer.

It is hot outside, though. Whoa.



Yesterday, we went to the Batu Caves in between visits and climbed the ~280+ steps to the see the Hindu temple. It was actually quite interesting and my favorite part was that there were tons of macak monkeys just hanging around.


It probably wasn't the best activity to do between meetings since one tends to perspire a bit when climbing ~280+ stairs in 95 degrees and 95% humidity. Oh well, I get off the bus when I'm told and do what I'm told. When we got back down we had a nice refreshing coconut...although to be honest, I didn't find it that refreshing. Rajesh, my classmate was kind enough to let me try some of his, and while the liquid was OK, the pulp was just slimey.


Later in the afternoon we went to the Royal Selangar factory where they make really lovely pewter items. It was a slightly different visit from our others but it was really interesting to learn about how the market has changed, how they market their products, and how they recently developed a new metal.

Tomorrow, I am participating in the trip to Malacca and then to Kuala Selangar. Malacca was once the hub of the spice trade and I am really looking forward to seeing it. Kuala Selangar has more monkeys and swarms of fireflies and should be interesting as well.

I am so looking forward to going home! Everyone is counting down the days now, and none more than me since I have been gone a week longer. The only thing that makes me sad is that Mr. Barker won't be home when I return! Sure, it will be nice to be back in the fuzzy, loving arms of Schnuffy, but what's the fun in being home if Ian isn't there?