House moving weekend!

Moved into my duplex this weekend, with the fabulous help of Kathy, Rod and Niko! It went faster than expected, and was way more overwhelming than expected too. To the point that i'm actually staying in the farmhouse at the DMC tonight, I needed the bed, internet and space without boxes. I leave tuesday for Boston to catch the early flight out to Juneau on wednesday, so there is really no hope of unpacking anyway (least of all because I have no furniture!). I didn't take many photos of the new place, here are some of cutie Niko though...:0)

Niko versus the lobster! I bought this for Barkley just before she was supposed to arrive. At the moment the plan is to try again for June for Barkley to become a Maine pup. 

Niko loves the snow!

Romping at Pemequid point - it was super chilly today!

Niko at the new pad!

Moving Up!

This is becoming somewhat of a theme, but it's been super busy again this week. And today, i'm moving house! Moving out of the Darling Marine Center and into a house in town - it's going to be so nice to have somewhere "off campus" to roost. Even if it's only for 3 days, as on Tuesday I drive down to Boston to catch an flight super early Wednesday morning to Alaska! Kathy and Rod have driven up to help me today, they stayed in Freeport overnight and will wander up here around midday to help the schlep. I'm so excited about seeing them, and having some help to move all these boxes!

And....it snowed again yesterday! I am truly loving the snow, though I admit yesterday was a bit much, as I really wanted to start moving boxes over. But the snow was the wet slippery kind and when I ran out to Damariscotta to do an errand at lunch, I was sliding all over the place, so decided it wasn't such a hot idea to move boxes around yesterday, so I packed up the farmhouse instead!

Here are some photos from the snow, i'll update on the move before I head to Alaska!

Happy Weekend!

Particularly if you're on vicodin....:0) The tooth pulling went well, very well as far as I can tell! Yesterday went super smoothly (thanks mostly to Chris and Gabby being awesome, putting me up for the night and shuttling me around!) and I really caught up on sleep in the afternoon! Minimal soreness and minimal painkillers today, even went into work and unpacked some boxes, started thinking of the next proposal (due tuesday) and went out with the Darling Marine Center ladies for lunch. All in all a fun friday! I can feel stitches in there which is a little weird, and am definitely on soft food for a while, but my hope is for it to be healed enough to get a dive or two in next week - it's just a week and a half until I head to Alaska, man that crept up fast! 

Hope you all have a good weekend!

All a whirlwind....

Wow, the last few days have been such a whirlwind. National Science Foundation proposals were due yesterday, and i've been writing one to go back to Alaska once the project finishes up there in September. I've been writing it with a collaborator, who luckily I like, because otherwise, this whole giving me text for the first time at 2am the "morning" the proposal is due is really not the way I like to do things.

But the good news is it's done. It's in. And I wish it had a chance, but with funding rates these days i'm totally dubious. Last night I had a nice beer, and took part in a local pub quiz which was a lot of fun. Then I actually slept for longer than 4 hours, the first in well over a week. On to other things, like another proposal next week, student papers I should have been reading, and the ever dreaded completing the Antarctic medical and dental.

So I found out last week that I need a tooth pulled, and am having that out tomorrow. It's actually not a huge surprise, i've known that tooth has been dead for a long while. It's not been causing any problems (it's one way at the back), but good 'ole Antarctic program says it has to come out, so come out it shall. My friends Chris and Gabby are kindly taking me in tonight and Chris is taking me to my appointment tomorrow (they're sticking me under, so no driving for me).

Fun fun fun. To look on the bright side at least I get to catch up with more sleep tomorrow.....:0)

Still diving!

Pics from the snow storm

It was certainly a big one, though maybe not "Colossal" like was predicted, but we did get a lot of snow! The weekend just flew by, but the good news - i've found somewhere to live! Yay! I'm going to sign the contract this afternoon, so by the end of the month, right before I head to Alaska, I can move in. It's not a long term solution (duplex in town), but I have to keep thinking that buying a place in a year or two is on the radar, so it doesn't have to be a long term solution - and until then, it's totally doable. It'll be so nice to be somewhere I can unpack - i've been living out of a suitcase since late October now, so i'm ready! 

Here are some pics from the storm. 

Some icicles hanging outside my apartment window.

The snow coming down - we had a good 1.5-2ft of snow on Weds. 

A break in the snow so I walked down the hill to my office to do some work and grab a coffee. 

Some equipment in the snow. 

Snow Belle wrapped in a blanket. It took 2 days to get her out of there! 

The Flowing Seawater laboratory in the snow. 

Looking down to the water. On Thursday we went diving again - #12 done - yay! 

I thought a little measuring was in order. 16 inches in the middle, over 1 meter in some of the snow banks. We've unfortunately had rain since, so there's now just a lot of slush around. 

Big storm is coming.....

Must be time to jump in the water again....:0) 

Seriously though, we're supposed to be hit with the biggest one yet tomorrow, so we're all battening down here. Did manage to get dive #11 in this morning though, and aside from some initial weight issues and a frozen regulator at the end, went pretty well. Just one more before I can get signed off. One more and a big ass exam and a first aid day on friday that is. Today was bloody cold in the water though, so i'm ready to be done with training dives!