Bee Balm

My (and Lucy's) first venture in creating herbal remedies seems to be a success! A bee balm ointment we made 3 years ago was used for the first time today on my mom's bug bites. She said that it actually made the bites less itchy. Lucy, we are on our way!


"But I told you where the leg was."-Cotton Hill

A paper contains facts

Since I have been home, one of my jobs is to run downtown to the grocery store to get anything that mom has forgotten (or get the paper). As a result I have been able to see the headlines for Weekly World News for the past two weeks. The headline last week was "Quit smoking forever by having your lung stapled." But this week was even better : "Special Report from the Gates of Hell! Avoid Damnation! Learn Tricks Even the Devil Doesn't Know! ( if there is a Special Report from the Gates Hell don't you think that Devil would read it?)". It must be so fun to work at Weekly World News. You can basically write whatever you want without worrying about credible sources.

"You know I don't sign any document issued by a government institution." - Dale (who else?)

It's time to embrace the contraction

I know I haven't posted in more than a week, but I haven't really been in the mood. Plus on Monday and Tuesday I was busy reading the last Harry Potter book (which was good except for the unnecessary epilogue!). I haven't heard from the companies I interviewed with last week yet, so I am still waiting and continuing to search for jobs. I have a part-time job at Purdue with makes me less anxious about finding a job immediately. My mom is out of town for a reunion with her friends from high school so Scout( my sister's dog) is sleeping upstairs with me while my mom is gone. Scout usually has to go outside at about 6am and usually she will start barking when she needs to go. This morning she tried a different tactic which was staring me awake. It was quite a shock to wake up and have her nose about 6 inches from my face.

"Luanne, you have a weakness for a certain type of man. You are drawn magnetically back to the trailer, back to the sticky ooze you escaped from." -Peggy

Don't be a giant snapping turtle

I had two job interviews this week, one in Madison on Wednesday and then one today in Michigan. My interview on Wednesday was for Covance, which is a huge company that does a variety of biological and analytical work. I interviewed for an assistant study director. The company is building a new lab out in Arizona and so there will be hiring more people. I would really like to work Covance because the people that I met were really nice, there is a good possibility for advancement and there are labs all over the world (including England!). My other interview today was okay, but I was less interested in the company especially compared to Covance. It was smaller and less organized (plus it was a little scary because I walked past all the animal rooms and it felt like I was in a World War II bunker). I should be hearing from both companies in the next two weeks as well as looking for other positions.

"Aliens impregnated mom, that's a given."-Joseph Gribble

Accepted

I submitted my final thesis to the graduate college on Friday and then spent most of the weekend either packing or worrying that I forgot to format something correctly on my thesis. My mom came over to Iowa City on Sunday afternoon. We went out to dinner at Bob's Your Uncle Pizza Cafe (which is actually where Rachel, Mom and I went when they moved me in two years ago, so it bookended nicely). I had this really good Buffalo Chicken wrap, which I took half of back to my apartment and Mom made it her snack during Miss Marple. Then on Monday we packed the truck and my blazer (in the pouring rain) and drove back to the farm. And there waiting in my inbox was the email that proclaimed my final thesis has been accepted by the graduate college.

COACH SAUERS: Eat mud! I said eat it! Eat it!
BOBBY: Coach, I think I swallowed too much mud.
COACH SAUERS: Take a salt tablet.

On a roll

I have another interview in the next two weeks in Madison. Now that I have two interviews lined up, I feel a little bit better about finding a job. I had an hour long phone interview with the company this morning and then the interviewer decided to recommend me for a longer interview with 2 managers and a human resources person (that should last for about three hours). And now I am working on writing a paper to be published. I am almost done with formatting my thesis. I should be submitting my final thesis on Friday.


" I use my survival training every day. Being alone in the woods prepared me for being alone everywhere else." - Bill

At last

Today I took my last test as a graduate student. Finally! So now, all I have to do is finish the formatting changes on my thesis and prepare a paper to be submitted to a journal (and move out, show some a slide staining technique, and have a phone interview) all in about 3 days.

Hank: Bobby, the Blue Flame of Valour Award is the highest honor that the Texas Propane Association can bestow on a living member in peacetime. Show some respect.

Make-up

I meant to write this post a week ago, believe me! Last Monday, I had my thesis defense. It went better then I imagined (and I imagined the worst!). The defense lasted about an hour and half, with about an hour's worth of questions. After I was done I drove to the farm immediately to celebrate with my mom and dad. They took me out to dinner (where I had a good pear pomegranate martini in celebration). And then on Tuesday, I went over to Newton County to do some 4-H judging. The Fourth of July was very low key but it did include watching the director's cut of "1776" on Turner Classic Movies (although I could only get through about 2/3 of it, it started at 10pm. ) More about my second visit with Silas, my first time canoing, and making bug cakes in the next few days! By the way, it is official hot in Iowa, the temperature today: 100.

BOBBY: Why do we need toilet seat covers?
PEGGY: One word: Tennessee.