And the Quantum Mechanics exam is over! No more tests or homework this week - woohoo! I'm going to get a head start on the stuff due after spring break, but still...

The Quantum exam wasn't bad - graduate Quantum is so much easier than undergrad, simply because we work strictly in abstract Hilbert space until we're ready to actually write down the wave function in function space. Basically, we're working with Dirac notation and matrices/vectors for 99% of the time. It's great! No crazy complicated WTF integrals that you get with Ψ*Ψ. Though we can't use calculators unlike some people... :P I wish we could though!

I hope no one's brain froze on that last paragraph. :D Anyway, the parents arrive for 10 days on Friday - we're really excited. It's been gorgeous here this week and I can only hope that it stays that way for next week. The daffodils are blooming and some of the flowering trees are staring to bloom, as well. The leaves are starting to peek out of their buds and there are tiny little purple flowers in the grass. I even noticed some dandelions the other day!

And I have a favor to ask of anyone who reads my blog... I'm frantically trying to find the 25th Anniversary Re-Release of the 1984 Rainbow Ponies:



If anyone happens to notice them around, could you let me know? I know some people (in the US) have seen them in KMart, but the nearest KMart is something like an hour away. I'm hoping they get released in other stores...

I've been getting some really cute and funny shots of the girls lately - I'll post those later when I can download them from the camera. I haven't had a kitty-centered post in a while! Well, I'm off to get some work done. Hope everyone in MN enjoyed the warm-up yesterday!

... due to my procrastinating about doing homework right now.



Hmmm... now I just need to decide which unicorn I am. G1 or G3? Oooh, maybe G1 Galaxy? Or Mimic? Perhaps G3 Whistle Wishes? Oh, I know - G1 Moondancer. Yep - that's who I'll be. :P



Unfortunately, this isn't a picture of my Moondancer. Sadly, my Moondancer is in Minnesota. :( But she's pretty, nonetheless. ;)

So I am done with the University of Minnesota. Finals are done, classes have been passed and all TA duties have been completed. Now I'm just waiting for that single piece of paper that will make everything official. :D The Astronomy Department held a lunch on the last day, which was pretty fun, all things considered. It gave me a chance to see everyone one last time and say "good luck" to some of my colleagues I may not see again.

We gave notice on our apartment on 11 May and by 15 May we had been told the management was going to show our apartment on 19 May. Umm... I really hadn't cleaned for the last month because of the craziness with school, so I was a little, um, aggravated that they didn't give us more time. So I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday cleaning my ass off. And we just got two more notices today that they will be showing our apartment this Thursday and next Tuesday. I don't like people coming in when I'm not here, but I guess I'll have to deal with it. Grrrr...

I've also been requested to blog about the My Little Pony (MLP) meet I went to in Wisconsin last weekend. Yes, I drove 3+ hours to attend a MLP meet in Wausau. But I had a lot of fun meeting other collectors and even made some money selling some of my extra ponies. My hubby was even more happy, because not only did I make some money, I didn't bring that much home with me. In addition to bringing back what didn't sell, I only got 4 ponies and 4 miniature (Ponyville) ponies. Oh, and a stuffed pony. :D Here's a picture of the group of us from the MLP Arena, a forum I frequent:



And just because it's shocking, this is what our hostess' dining room got converted into for the day:




This Thursday we're leaving for Oklahoma for the holiday weekend. We're finally going to get to see the city I've committed our lives to for the next 6 years. :D Though the pictures I've seen at the Oklahoma City website and OU's website paint a very pretty picture, especially of OKC's Bricktown. Anyway, we'll be driving down, so we'll be leaving early Thursday morning in the hopes we'll get down there by dinner time. We're staying with Jason's aunt (Lenore, but everyone calls her Noopy), who lives in Choctaw. She's taken Friday off, so at least we'll have someone with us who know her way around. I'm getting pretty excited - the more I hear about Oklahoma, the more I think I'm going to like it. Which I suppose is a good thing. ;)

On a couple of sad notes, we had to put my parent's dog, Kodi, to sleep last week. He got a spleenic cancer that we didn't even know about until it was too late. At least it was quick and he didn't suffer. I've spent the last 30 minutes looking through all my pics on my hard drives to find a a picture I can put up and find myself digusted that I don't have one. It appears that everything I have is on film - I really need to get a scanner. The other sad note is that my aunt, Carol, has been fighting liver and pancreatic cancer for well over a month now and was hospitalized last week. Although she improved and was sent home again, she has become increasingly ill and went back into the hospital tonight. Coicindentally, she has been placed in the same room where my uncle (her husband) passed away last December. For her sake, I hope this is the end. This is such an ugly disease and she deserves better. Here is a pic I took last holiday season:



I think that's it... I can't think of anything else and I think this has been my longest blog ever. I'll be blogging about our trip to Oklahoma next week.

Well, we're still waiting to hear from grad schools, though this limbo is getting rather tedious. Neither of us can think about applying for jobs, since we don't know where we'll be, nor can we make any plans in regards to living accommodations either here in MN or elsewhere. Argh!

On an up-note, spring break is next week! Woo hoo! I'll be doing some spring cleaning and organizing as a trip to a warmer climate is not an option, but at least there are no classes. Much organization of my MLP's is needed and that involves moving much of the Demon Nephew's (name borrowed from my hubby) stored items out of the way. Perhaps I'll get ambitious and re-organize my parents storage area, as Mom is still not supposed to lift heavy things after her surgery.

Hopefully the next posting will at least include some kind of update!

I think I got tagged just to make me update this thing... thanks, hon! Did you catch the sarcasm?

So I'm supposed to come up with five odd things about myself. But I have a secret - I filled out something like this on a forum thread earlier this week. So, ha! Except I had to come up with six things, which are:

1. I'm an astrophysicist. I'll be graduating in May with 2 BS degrees in Physics and Astrophysics. I plan on going to grad school to get my PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics. My current research is finding a way to accurately predict the mass and density of a galaxy. OK, so maybe this isn't so odd, but it sure is a conversation stopper!

2. I have screwy digestive system that even the doctors are boggled by. I get sick if I eat beef, pork, celery, certain types of onions or anything with a high saturated fat content including cream based sauces and frosting. I have a whole long list of things I can't eat. Huh

3. I am a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan. H-u-g-e. Almost every movie or TV show we own is sci-fi fantasy. I got hooked when I watched the Original Star Trek with my dad when I was 10 months old. No joke - I have a picture. The first movie I ever saw was ET, the second was Star Wars and the third was Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I go to conventions when I can and even own the Klingon Dictionary. Yep - certified geek.

4. I listen to wide range of music - Classical, New Age, Oldies, Light, Metal, Irish, Scottish... you get the picture. I absolutely hate rap and hip hop and stuff like Britney Spears and American Idol.

5. My husband claims that my cats have an unhealthy obsession with me, but the opposite is most likely true as well. They are my children.

6. My mother and grandmother got my sister and I our first ponies in 1983 (FF Butterscotch and Cotton Candy). We have collected them ever since - I had well over 200 as children and that collection has grown to over 1000 combined.

And I'm supposed to tag someone else. Out of the sheer kindness of my heart and the fact that I know the Spitzer proposal deadline is tomorrow, I'll spare astro_babe and tag my BIL.

The actual temperature right now is -11 with a wind chill of -32. *blinks* It's February, for crying out loud! Isn't this supposed to happen in January? *shivers* I'm dying to go out Target-hopping because I haven't been able to get my hands on the new Valentine ponies that are exclusive to Target only, but geez! I'm not sure I want to venture into this and I'm pretty sure my car will just groan at me. As a co-worker of my hubby once said "This is the craziest thing I've ever been a part of!"

I'm still waiting to here from grad schools. I'm thinking that I should look into appyling to Oklahoma, Montana and possible Michigan State since those deadlines are later in February. But that means more money and more time spent on applications... School is busy, but not nearly as much as last semester. My Modern Astrophysics course is going to be a lot of work, but great experience using observational methods. I've never had the opportunity to do any observational work before, especially using professional software, so although it's going to ge frustrating it will be quite rewarding in the end. That is, if I can make it through lectures with our prof! I want to strangle him because I think he could be making the lectures much less confusing and easier to understand if he would stop spazing out and going all over the place. But at least I have a life-saver in the form of a wonderful friend who's helping the undergrads through - thanks, astro_babe! *hugs* We so owe her copius amounts of drinks after this...

So, I'm off in the attempt to bake and warm up the apartment. Hope everyone from MN is staying warm!

At last I have a week without exams. No joke - I'm marking this week on the calendar. Not that the homework-go-round slowed down by much, but the exam-go-round stopped and allowed me to get off for a while. Between homeworks, exams, teaching and GRE's, I've been remiss in all forms of communication unless forced to speak into the ringing phone. I apologize to all!

The hubby has started working his second job, so we see very little of each other outside of the groggy mornings or the rare evening when he's not working. Although, to be fair, even many of those evenings are spent with me at the kitchen table studying and him writing. I hope come winter break that we'll remember what the other looks like. :D The cats aren't too happy with all the changes, but they're learning to adjust. Read: they spend evenings vying for my attention or settle for any part of their bodies touching me, which is why I've taken to doing homework and studying on the couch so there's room for all.

Halloween came and went with little fanfare, minus the small meditation circle on the day itself. Hopefully, Thanskgiving will be involve more events, but not any drama. Too much to ask, I'm sure. My sister has a bee in her bonnet about Black Friday, so I have a feeling I will be treking in the cold to stand in line in front of Circuit City at 3 AM, waiting for the doors to part at 5 AM. Must find the sleeping bag and many warm things... She'll be at Best Buy, so I must come up with ways to entertain myself without a computer for help. Alas, I have no ideas.

I'm not sure how many are aware of my closet childhood obsession, My Little Ponies. Yes, I collect them. I have the ones from the 1980's, a few from the late 1990's and the ones that are currently in production. So, I suppose I'm coming out of the closet. The hubby rolls his eyes, but deep down I have a sneaking suspicion that he doesn't mind so much since he let's me babble on incessantly... Anyway, what's the point of this, you ask? Well, Hasbro (aka Hasbroken) likes to have "exclusives" sent out to different stores, some of which we don't have here. For example, I was finally able to get my hands on 2 winter baby ponies only sold at a chain called Meijers just a few weeks ago. Another example, Hasbroken released a playset last year and there was a different exclusive pony depending on where you bought it. I got the set with the 2 cute little baby ponies from Toys 'R Us (TRU), as the set I really wanted was at Costco, to which I do not have a membership. OK, so now I'm rambling... The reason I'm spending all the time explaining is two-fold: 1) I might get a bug up my butt about getting a pony that may not be available to me, but might be avaiable to someone I know, and 2) if for some reason I end up with multiples of some stuff, I am open to giving it to another pony lover, such as any nieces, cousins, daughters... So that's why. :D I really would love to make someone's eyes light up, especially around this time of year. I usually buy a few estra ponies and include them in Toys For Tots and things like that, but it'd be fun to actually see the eyes...

OK, so I've really rambled today. :D See what having no exams does to me? Though, beware! Quite a few of you will now be getting actual, real emails...