We are officially one month away from being married!  I am SO SUPER EXCITED!!  I've created a wedding webpage, viewable here.  Please stop by and look around.  GooglePages rocks my socks!  Love you, kiddos!

Life is good.  Steven and I have adjusted well to living together, not that I anticipated any problems.  Our apartment is modest but when the sun is shining on our porch and I'm relaxing in a lawn chair with a glass of wine, it's the happiest place in the world.  I enjoy cooking in the kitchen, opening the blinds for light, keeping the hvac off.  I'm very happy here.

Steven and I spent the better part of yesterday getting settled into our new place!!  I'm super excited to be living together.  It's a nice flat- two bedroom with a deck overlooking a small lake, and beautiful vauleted ceilings!!  I'm so very happy with the way everything looks- I just need to unpack.  I forgot a bunch of stuff at my house; I'm wearing dress pants today because all my jeans are back at my parents.  Ooops!  Anyway, more later.  I have to run to class, then home to grade!  Cheers

I be glad when the weather decides what to do.  I did however enjoy the storms earlier this morning, but I'm unsure if there is more of that weather to come.  I just realized that I had a pair of shoes I bought today sent to this address!  Crap.  Oh well it's not like I'm moving too far away to just swing by and pick them up.  I am excited to be moving out with Steven.  It's a huge step for us and I think one that we could have taken a couple years ago if money was no object.  It was simply cheaper to live at home but now that we are getting real jobs (well Steven has one; I'm just clinging to the school) it's only appropriate that we get a place of our own. 

We will have to have a small gathering of friends over after we get settled in. :-) 

Back from California.  Learned a lot about NMR and other things.  I'm glad to be back, but I could use an extra week to get other things done.  Thankfully, I have two weeks vacation from work-- in light of all the extra hours logged pre-conference working.  So that gives me time to mail wedding invites and get all that stuff cooking.

I'm in lab today and everyday.  I've had half a diet coke and half a cup of coffee.  Nothing's working- I still feel really tired.  I want to eat, but I really don't know what I want.  I'm kinda blue today..... graduate school is making me nervous.  I've got so many options, some safer than others.  I could very easily stay here, have my education paid for, work as a research and as a TA .... BUT I may encounter the same teachers I don't like, and of course, the stigma of an inbred doctorate degree.  In academia, it's somewhat frowned upon if a person gets multiple degrees from the same university although with the recent rise in non-traditional students, this stigma is dissolving.  Many of my teachers and friends have dropped the "you could do so much better" line.  But I'm comfortable here, I like it here- the people are good, the research is rewarding.

BUT is it too comfortable?  I've complained about wanting to leave here for so long, and now that I actually have the opprotunity, a chance to be somewhere different, I'm shying away.  I'm worried about finding as good a research advisor as what I have here.  And friends, and a good TA position.  What if I move off and I'm miserable?  My profs assure me that I'm talented enough that all these worries are nothing, but I'm very very scared about leaving here.  If I stay, I am guarenteed a good job, a good lab posistion, and good education.... it's the unknown that scares me.

This isn't my decision alone, I've got Steven to consider too.  I know that we will make the best decision we can using what's available.  We will make scarfices if needed. 

I'm just really sad.  I don't want to run NMR in the basement by myself.........

I confess- I think I'm becoming a coffee drinker.  Since working in Goodson's lab, I've been exposed to the wonders of gourmet coffee, and now, I drink four cups a day!  Just one spenda packet, no creamer anymore.  I drink tea too when we make it.  Basically anything caffinated goes around here.

I've also taken strongly to the DE crosswords-- nothing else in the paper, just the puzzle.  Today I finished all but 8 clues.  I feel very accomplished.  Somewhere in this world, there must be a Bachelor's in Crossword.  I should look into it.

I've had to stay late today (again, as always on Friday) to make more samples that someone will run over the weekend.  Our conference is soon approaching, we need good data for the poster which means extra hours for me.  That's ok, I really enjoy being here and working in this group. 

Speaking of my groupies, I think some of us are going to hang out tonight-- like a calm before the storm, that is next week.  I don't know though.  I want to leave here soon though.  Ciao!

Haven't updated in a long while. School and work have both been busy. I'm freezing right now in Goodson's lab. The skin on my hands is sorta blue purple with the chill. It's raining too and hailing though in isolated areas. I want to go home but there's an AXE meeting soon and I don't have my car today. It's needs a new radiator which really really sucks.

See you later!

Today was my teaching assistant training meeting (although I've already had half a semester experience).  It was a good time- lots of funny jokes about lab safety though nothing can be more serious than safety.  I'm quite excited- this semester I will be responsible for TWO sections of CHEM 140b. 

Also, Dr. Goodson offered me a researcher job in his lab!!  Woot- the project is very interesting; we are developing iron oxide (rust!) based nanoparticles to be used in MRI imaging.  The nanoparticles are none toxic, unlike the galladium atoms used now which can over time cause liver damage, and show greater sensitivity in imaging resolution that galladium which means doctors will spot tumors more easily.  I will be responsible for sample and buffer preparations initially then later I will be trained to run the NMR and take readings.  I also will have to graph data other researchers provide me; that's right, I'm the Excel bitch!

Money = good
Research = fun
I am so excited!  Cheers!

          Certainly this is what drowning felt like.  The moment his body hit the bubbling, glowing water of Ryan’s pool, Chris felt reconnected to his body and was very aware of what was happening.  The water was inescapable, surrounding and engulfing his body.  He could feel every molecule colliding with the surface of his skin.  He thought to stop it, to freeze the molecules in Time but there were too many moving too quickly to focus his mind.  He wanted to scream but the water only flooded his mouth and throat.  He thought of air and which way the surface was, but the water was violently choppy and shining in his eyes.  He could see none of his friends through the water, but he was certain they too were experiencing the same sensations.  There was no up nor down, this way nor that—only glowing, bubbling water everywhere, in every direction. 

 

          There were voices, inaudible and blurry at first but then more clear.  And the light was growing more intense behind her closed eyelids.  Laura breathed and rolled her head towards the voices, attempting to pry her eyes open with whatever strength she had left.  Everything felt so long ago- had they in the basement or outside- her mind traced over the details of the evening, her eyebrows knitted as she tried to focus- why are my clothes wet, she pondered.  Her head ached and pounded, it felt like she had listened to the same annoying song over and over again- then she remembered the spell, the chanting.  She remembered the words that drew them into the water and into this place.  Her eyes flung open, she jolted upright and looked around the room.

          She was surprised by her surroundings as she quickly looked around the room.  She had been lying on a bed with a quilt thrown over her body, a soft feather pillow was damp from her hair.  Next to her was Steven, whose clothes were also quite damp, in a very deep sleep.  His chest was moving slowly and deeply with every breath, his face and muscles were relaxed.  She moved to nudge him awake but was startled.

          “You must be a telepath,” a man’s voice said breaking the silence.  Laura jumped back and looked at him as he continued with a smile on his face.  “I felt one of you breaking the enchantment.  It must have taken a lot of energy out of you.  Since your mind was tired, your will was the easiest to consume with my re-casted spell, bringing you here with the anticipated minimal side effects.”  The man’s brown eyes looked towards Steven and beyond him in another bed, Ryan, both apparently asleep.  “Your friends, well, we will have to see.  Please have a cup of tea,” he said with a smile as he poured two small china teacups on a nearby table.

          Laura realized her jaw had fallen open, which she quickly snapped shut as her body twitched to attention.  She remembered everything- the luring spell, the pool’s glowing and bubbling water, the screaming inside her head, then waking up teetering on the edge of the pool before hearing the enchanting words once again but then nothing but the darkness.  She didn’t remember falling into the water, but her clothes were evidence that she in fact did.  Remembering the tea, she slowly stood, walked towards the table, and accepted the tea as she looked into the eyes of the man.

          He was perhaps only just a bit over six foot in height, not lean nor husky, but healthy and of average proportions.  His clothes were a simple button shirt and trousers and plain leather shoes.  His face was kind but his expression somewhat judging as he also looked down at her.  Laura wouldn’t dare pry into his mind and in her weary mind, kept a shield at the ready should he try to pry into hers.  She wasn’t sure what to make of him, only that he was a powerful caster.  If he had wanted ill of them, he would have already taken the opportunity as they lay helpless and unconscious in his home, so he must not mean them harm.  He smiled at her and sipped his cup of tea; Laura mirrored his actions, assuming the tea wasn’t poisoned if he was drinking it himself.  The hot tea warmed the core of her cool, water soaked body.  “Thank you,” she barely managed as she cleared her throat.

          Laura’s eyes traced back to Steven’s body and she grew concerned again.  Just beyond him, Ryan lay in a similar state.  Chris was no where to be found.  The man must have sensed her concern, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “I assure you I mean you and your friends no harm.  They are asleep and will awake when their minds are ready to do so.  Please don’t be frightened.”

          “I’m alright, albeit a bit shaken up, but where is Chris?  And who are you and where are we?  What happened?” Laura could feel her mind spark again- must have been the tea.

          He pulled the curtain back from a window nearby.  There was a small lake outside, and on the ground was Chris’s lifeless body, soaked as though just pulled from the water.  It appeared as though a woman was leaning over his body, perhaps listening to his lungs.  “Is that your friend, Chris?  He was quite strong willed and fought strongly- nearly drowned himself but I got him here.  He will need lots of rest, but he will be fine.  I promise you.”

          “What do you mean he nearly drowned?  You pushed us into the water,” Laura mentioned as she squinted to look through the window- was it even glass?  What year was this anyway?

          The man smiled and swelled his chest with pride, and his eyes brightened with excitement.  “The spell is of my own design.  It is used to conjure people from other times using water as the transport medium.  There’s a strong enchantment on the subject to ensure that he will approach the body of water mindlessly and feel no worry as he falls into the water and is pulled through its depths and towards the new time location.  To correct your statement, I didn’t push you into the water, you rather walked yourself into it. The subject awakes in the water having arrived at the new location unharmed but weary from the travel.”  The man was obviously quite proud of his achievement in thaumaturgy which was quickly shattered with Laura’s comment.

          “Don’t you think that’s kinda creepy?  All the mind control and near-drowning!  People have wills, you know.  You can’t just summon someone up without them knowing about it.  It seems unethical to me,” Laura said looking back at him.

          The man’s pride turned into snobbery and anger; it was clear she had stuck a chord.  “It works fine when people allow the spell happen, to let the words calm them into submission, but your friends decided to fight against it…. especially him.  It’s is own damn fault he nearly drowned.  Not mine.”  He pointed towards Chris, who was being drug into the house by a woman. 

After allowing the curtain to fall close, the man took a breath and looked into his cup.  “It seems odd to me that a novice would so adamantly declare what she finds unethical,” he said returning his teacup to the table and removing the cup from Laura’s hand.  “Especially since at the moment, I hold all the cards.”  There was something about his words and actions that made her uneasy, especially as he wrapped his slender fingers around her shoulders and began to walk and steer her towards another room.  “After all,” he continued, “you’ve only had your powers for a few months at most and you can’t possibly understand the ethics of magic.”

          She tried to turn back, she saw the woman lay Chris next to Ryan on the bed, but couldn’t see Steven as she was forced down a hallway.  She could feel her heart racing, his fingers tightly clutched to her shoulders.  He leaned his mouth closer to her ear as he pushed her down the hallway.  “Let me teach you the first lesson: do not express your disapproval of a person’s methods when that person is more powerful than you because chances are, he’s not afraid to use that power over you,” he said as he shoved her into a smaller, windowless room with a simple bed and wardrobe.  “Now, change out of your wet clothes and meditate on what has been said.  I will be back later.”  The man slammed the door and locked it.

          At first, Laura stood with disbelief at the highly unexpected direction her conversation had taken her.  She took a few breaths to calm herself and concentrate.  The room was dark, candlelit and wooden.  How far back have we gone?  The wardrobe was filled with simple shirts, trousers, and a couple of longer skirts.  The fabric was soft and hand woven.  As she wandered through the offerings of the wardrobe, she also wondered how her friends were doing, hoping that they wouldn’t spark the man’s passionate anger as she had.  She also wondered who this man was and why such a powerful magician would need to summon four so-called novices if he was so powerful himself.

          She sat on the edge of the bed, in unfamiliar clothes, in a time unknown, in near darkness contemplating their position, and sometime later, in the back of her mind, she felt Steven coming to consciousness.