Old friends, food, and CHEESE!

This weekend, I made my first of many trips from central Iowa to Madison Wisconsin. It was not before I had lunch with a couple of friends from Missouri. Tom, Alberto and Natalie were all in the area for various reasons but we got together for lunch on Friday with a couple of Tom's friends. It was a nice time to catch up although I will see them again this weekend... but it is always good to see (and hear from) friends from grad school.

As for the road trip to Wisconsin, I think I shuffled through my entire ipod... I just wasn't in the mood to listen to anything in particular and I sort of have ADD when it comes to music. Once I got to Wisconsin, I relaxed at home for a while but we made it out to see the movie 'Knocked Up.' It was pretty funny, not as good as 40 year old virgin but it is definitely worth seeing. Then we had some burgers from Dotty Dumpling's Dowry.

Before I headed back to Iowa, I wanted to pick up some cheese to take to lab (and keep for myself). We went to one of our favorite cheese and produce stores. I got some great cheese.. butterkase and gouda.. but I had to laugh at this sign.
I always thought it was a little crazy that they actually play those commercials in Wisconsin!

Rickey

The news arrived today that Rickey Henderson has been hired to the coaching staff of the New York Mets. You know, the team that knocked the Braves out of the top spot in the NL East last year. Man, how I love it when someone beats up on anything coming out of Georgia. But I digress...anyway, it did get me thinking about Rickey in his heyday. I don't really remember his best seasons in the early 80's when he made stealing over 100 bases in a season seem routine, although I think he came close to those stats in the late 80's as a member of the Yankees. I do remember how he made it look so easy though. Whenever he was on the bases, the game changed. Suddenly, the batter didn't seem nearly as important as Rickey leading off of first, just daring the pitcher to throw the ball. If there was ever a time that it would be relatively easy to be a major league batter, it must have been when Rickey was on base. He was so distracting to the pitcher that the batter must have had better pitches to hit.
In the late 90's as Rickey's performance began to decline, so did the art of base stealing. Everyone seemed to be caught up in the power displays of McGwire and company that stealing bases and stretching base hits into extra bases seemed to disappear. Everyone was trying to hit the ball out of the park. Heck, Nike even had a memorable commercial back then starring Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux trying to hit it out of the park. I believe the commercial was called something like "Chicks Dig The Long Ball".
If Rickey was best know for his prowess on the base path, he was almost as famous for talking about himself in the 3rd person. Always something like "Watch out, Rickey's going to steal second". I tried finding some quotes online, but the best I could come up with comes from just a few years ago when he called the San Diego Padres GM to let him know that Rickey still wanted to play. "This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball." Classic.
I don't know what Rickey Henderson will be like as a coach. I'd like to think that he might be a good influence on some of the younger players on the team. He's been a "special instructor" for the past couple of years in spring training, and he's been often attributed to the improvements seen with Jose Reyes, the current shortstop and leadoff hitter for the Mets (not to mention the major league stolen base leader). The Mets also have a few young guys coming up that could certainly benefit from that kind of instruction - especially Carlos Gomez, who I hear is even faster than Reyes. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Hopefully it will be better than Rickey's stint with the Mets as a player around the beginning of the decade. That didn't go so well. I think the end was in 1999, when during the playoffs against Atlanta, he and Bobby Bonilla were playing cards in the clubhouse rather than associating with the rest of the team.
Finally, I came across a funny little article on ESPN's page two that I think epitomizes the personality that is Rickey Henderson. Enjoy....

friday Feast number ???

This one is actually from a couple of weeks ago but I never answered it and I don't like today's questions
Appetizer
How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?

2- engagement ring and wedding ring

Soup
What is your favorite instrumental song?

I don't know the name of it but the song at the beginning of Field of Dreams.. I LOVE french horns.

Salad
Who has a last name that you like?

me

Main Course
Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.

Star Wars.. pretty much any of the first trilogy (as far as I can remember)

Dessert
Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.

cringe, cotton balls (its a long story)

Welcome to Iowa

Today was moving day. I have to say it went pretty well but we didn't really move a whole lot and I think we may have picked one of the hottest days of the year (at least so far). We made it safe and sound. Jason will drive back to Madison tomorrow and I will start my new job on Monday. I don't have any exciting thoughts, stories, or recipes to share right now (although I have many to catch up on later). It is nice to be back in Iowa, it has been 7 years since I have called it home (it would be better if Jason were calling it home as well). Of course my sister handed me a request for Grand Jury Duty the within an hour of walking in the door.. just my luck!

We had dinner with Nathan, Heather and Ella at a Mexican restaurant in town that was quite good, although it always bothers me that they bring out the food almost immediately after you order it.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to make fun of the Iowa motto go ahead but you should take into account that before "Fields of Opportunities" it was "We Make You Smile."

Happy Birthday America

I can remember when I was a kid in my hometown. The Fourth of July meant one thing.. candy. There would always be a parade with lots of candy. The holiday meant hanging out on the town square and enjoying the day with the others in my hometown. There would usually be some form of entertainment. I can remember one year when someone was singing the national anthem, I was there with Jamie, I think... if it wasn't you Jamie, I'm sorry. We were both singing along. I knew at that time I wasn't (and was never going to be) a good singer, although I can sometimes carry a tune, the national anthem is probably one of the hardest songs to sing. But Jamie and I sang our little hearts out along with the music. Until this older woman came up and tapped us on the shoulder and told us that it was so disrespectful to our country to sing like that. I was so embarrassed. My grandma knew who she was and told us not to worry about it but I can still remember the red nail polish on that first finger in my face. I wasn't trying to insult our country. At that time in my life, the US was perfect in my mind. Of course, I still had things to learn about government and international politics. Weren't there kids around doing much worse things than singing off key?
Today I am sure that I will hear Ray Charles' "America" and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" and yes, the National Anthem about 100 times. Will I sing along? Sure.. but in my car with the windows up or quietly under my breath. Would I tell some kids to stop singing along because they are being disrespectful? No way.

If anyone is interested in more pictures from last weekend, you can see the wedding pictures here and more Breezy Point pictures here.

As for our plans today... I seem to be a little under the weather. However, I think we will make an afternoon game of kickball with our softball team followed by a BBQ and of course the fireworks. Happy 4th of July everyone!

Holiday weekend

Jason and I have had a busy weekend. We traveled to NY for what was supposed to be 5 days. As an earlier post mentioned, we arrived on Friday instead of Thursday. It cut a little into our relaxation time, but we have still had a great time.
On Friday we came in and I went shopping with Natalie for a dress to wear at the wedding on Saturday (there is nothing like last minute shopping!) and Jason relaxed. Then we went out with some friends and left the next morning for a wedding in White Plains. Sunday we headed to meet Jason's parents, brothers and other extended family at their beach house at Breezy Point. It was beautiful outside and I only got a little sunburned... I must have forgotten to put sunblock on my right foot! Then it was time for a relative's 65th birthday party and 4th of July fireworks over the bay (the bay is on one side of the island and the ocean is on the other). I will post more pictures when we get home. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Just a picture of all of us at the birthday party.

Old job

For those of you that don't know, I have accepted at new job at Iowa State that starts in about a week. The last week or two have been pretty stressful at my current job. I have been trying to wrap things up and write some papers to give me a better chance at getting a permanent job later. I have learned alot at my current job both about science and general workplace observations. Last Thursday, my lab had a going away party for me. My boss grilled out in the atrium of the building (there was no fire hazard, it is an outdoor atrium, others brought food, beer, and wine and we ate and chatted for a few hours. I received a
Wisconsin Badgers beer mug which has been signed by all the people I worked with.

I have finished most of my lab work now and I had hoped to be done and take next week to prepare to move. However, I think it will take me a couple of days next week to tie up loose ends and notes and organize all of my samples to be put away. Then I can turn in my keys and move on to my next lab. I would say it is a sad but exciting experience.