finally, some NYC

this isn't all of them, but at least there are some... I'll get to the others later.

Flatiron building

Flatiron building and me.

Hearst Tower

Start of Central Park (South east corner, I think)

A view from within central park.

Another view from Central Park

Chrylser building (can you tell my husband is an architect ;-)?

Grand Central Station

Inside Grand Central Station

response rates

I know I'm not supposed to blog about work, and I know that what I'm about to say is probably not interesting to many of you, but I've got a sort of natural experiment going on with a web survey I am administering at 23 universities nationwide. In general, response rates to web surveys average below 30%. Social scientists like to see rates of 70-100% response in order for them to say that the respondents are representative of the population.

So, about 6 of our schools have closed the survey. The response rates range from 35%, 35%, 39%, 48%, 53%, and 88%. The incentives at each of these schools was similar- and in fact a school who made the incentive drawing significantly larger didn't have as good of a response rate as a school who held a drawing for a $100 check. I'm thinking there has got to be something with the culture at some of these schools, and maybe the size of the institution, but I am just totally shocked that one of the schools got an 88% response rate!

This is a methodological publication waiting to happen. I wish I knew what caused the differences in the rates.

busy-ness makes the person more productive?

I've had a theory- as have others, that the busiest people are the ones who are most productive with their time. For example, back when I was planning my wedding and writing my master's thesis there was something family related that needed to get done. I recall that I was the only one who put it on the list to do and got it done. It seemed like, out of necessity, I had become uber-organized and therefore was super productive with my time. If it got put on my list, it got done.

I'm hoping that something similar will work for me this quarter. The class I'm taking is already taking up way too much of my time, just for the reading. Let alone, I am supposed to be writing my dissertation proposal AND work at my job 40+ hours per week. Add to that the fact that the triathlon is about 16 weeks away and I need to get on a serious training regimen (that and I want to look good for my sister's wedding). So, I'm thinking that because I've got so much going on, I will be able to get all of it done because of the fact that I've got so much going on...I know it is a bit of a tautology (circular logic), but I'm banking on it.

Because the truth is, I'm not really willing to let any of it go. I want to do it all. Maybe I'm asking for trouble...

thanks

Thanks to all for my birthday wishes. I do appreciate it. I had a wonderful dinner at Ray's Boathouse and David made me a carrot cake (yummy!). I finally downloaded our photos from New York, but there were more than 300, so we need to go through them and pare them down to the best ones to post. That may take some time, so please bear with me.

I'm taking a class this quarter which will finish off my minor certification in stratification. I have agreed with the professor that my final project to be graded on will be my dissertation proposal. arghh! I can't believe I've promised to get this done in one quarter, while I'm working full time.

I'll let you know how it goes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZZY!!!

Happy, happy birthday, happy birthday to youuuuuu...
Happy, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!

Have a great day today! I love you!

David

too much work

This weekend David and I bought some boxwood bushes to make a hedge in our backyard and we shoveled out the grass that was in those spots and dug holes and planted the bushes. I need to take a photo to post.

Anyway- I think I did a little too much bending or something because my back is definitely sore from all that work. On saturday after all the digging and planting was done, I was seriously afraid I had done some real damage. But I woke up sunday to a sore back, and no additional pain, so I'm relatively pleased that I didn't hurt myself.

Happy Belated Birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday to Ann!

Some spring flowers to celebrate your birthday at the beginning of spring!

despicable

This is a despicable speech given by an Oklahoma state legislator. It makes me sick and it makes me want to do something. My good friend Jeremiah told me about it, and I want to tell you about it so that you too can do something.

Speech by Oklahoma Legislator

This is hate speech.

take your doggie to work day

Today I took Sam to work with me. I asked all my co-workers who would be here today if they were okay with it, and they all were, so I brought him in. I brought our baby-gate with me and put it at my door so people could still come and talk with me, but he couldn't get out of my office. I even had a co-worker who came into the office to meet Sam even though it was her day off!

He did well. He whined a couple of times when I left the office for the bathroom or another office, but he mainly just hung out, got petted by my co-workers and laid on the floor. I'm think it might be possible to try this again another day. I already asked my boss if she would be okay with me bringing him in and she said she would be. She wasn't here today, so I'll have to bring him in on a day when she is here and see how things go.

cute sam story

Last Night Sam and I went for a walk around UW campus. On the front steps of the Hub building is this statue of a Husky. The Husky is our mascot, for those who don't know. I wanted to see how Sam would react to this big bronze dog. BTW- this dog is about double the size of a normal dog.

So, I walked him up to the dog, and let him have a little extra leash to go where he wanted. He was tentative, but walked up to sniff the Husky's bum. I had to laugh. Even though it isn't a real dog, he was treating it like a real dog. After he sniffed he seemed to get scared and backed away quickly on the leash. He really really wanted to get away from the big dog. So we walked away, but he kept turning around to look back at the Husky. We just kept walking.

Crested Butte Skiing

We had a great time in Crested Butte this year, on our annual ski trip. Unfortunately Em and Mel couldn't make it, but we'll party with them soon enough in Boston ! They had record snowfalls and in town the snow was piled up to the bottom of the second story of houses!


Here is a view of the surrounding mountains. This is not Crested Butte mountain. I have pictures of it at the end of these pics.


We are ready to go!


Jodi and Matt look ready to take on the mountain! And boy did they! I had a hard time keeping up with them.


This is a lunchtime picture of Dad and Suzanne. Too bad the light was streaming in on both sides of them or this photo would have been better. I think Dad was happy to be taking a break ;-)


Gotta take off your gloves to look at the map---boy do your hands get cold fast that way!


Dad's enjoying the ride on the lift.


Jodi and Matt at lunch on the first day of skiing. Lunches were relatively inexpensive compared to other places we've been.


Me on the second day.


This was the day before we left. They had these ice sculptures all around the base area. From the first day I saw this one I wanted to take photos with it. Finally on the last day I got my photos!

I made David pose too!

Jodi coming off a nice fast run.


And here begins the series of photos of Crested Butte mountain. It was so pretty from where we were staying and from down in the town area, that I took lots of pictures of it.


This was on the first day of skiing- it snowed overnight and continued snowing lightly until after lunch.


This is the classic view of the mountain. The way the apex sort of tips to the left is how Crested Butte's abstract logo looks .



From the town area before sunset.

Happy Birthday Jodi!

It's your birthday!

Have a good one!

photos of sam

Sam really likes to look into the mirror in our bedroom. This was after a long walk.

One night after dinner.

My two boys--aren't they cute? Both are hams!

My two sweeties.

dog psychology

I've got a question for all you burgeoning dog psychologists....

Every time David and I hug and Sam is in the same room, he barks at us. Almost like he wants us to separate. When we do separate, the barking usually stops.

What is going on here? Is this a possessiveness thing?

so much stuff

Yesterday David and I compiled a bunch of home improvement things we had bought but not used. We went through our 2007 and part of our 2006 receipts to find the receipts for these items so we could return them.

At Big Box 1 and Big Box 2 they told us they didn't need any of the receipts we had searched for because the purchases were over 90 days. I should have realized that! Many of the purchases were over 300 days old! So they gave us merchandise credits. Can you believe that we had about $300 worth of stuff just sitting in our basement, not being used? I can.

the dog ate my homework

No- really. Sam sort of ate my homework. We have been keeping sam in our basement rec room during the day while we are gone. Yesterday we came home and a whole expanding file folder was strewn about the floor. This is an expanding file folder with articles that are relevant to my dissertation. Front pages of articles were gone. I'm not sure if they were eaten, or just mixed in with the general loose papers that were on the floor. There were other casualties of the day, such as my folder with receipts, and a couple of CD's and their cases.

I didn't have the energy to go through the paper stack last night to put papers in the right places. I'll have to do that this weekend. In fact, I'm not sure why, but after dinner all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and read. So that is what I did. And then I went to bed at my new bedtime (9pm!). I can't believe I go to bed then, but I haven't had a problem falling asleep yet. I need 9 hours of sleep and so going to bed at 9pm and getting up at 6am gets me my nine hours. I'm still tired in the mornings, but not as much as when I go to bed at 11pm.

Happy Birthday Carolyn!

To my wonderful friend in MO-town..Happy Birthday!

Have a great day and I hope you have a wonderful birthday weekend!

Happy Birthday Will!

A round of cheer to David's Dad (Will) who is celebrating his birthday today!

Happy Birthday!

more on sam

Here are two photos--one of Sam and one of his toy we call "the republican". they are the stars of the video posted below.

get the republican!

In case you didn't know what my political affiliations are, you will soon know after watching this short movie of Sammy.

pilates

Somehow the gods were shining down on me two weeks ago because David came home with a gift certificate for 5 private pilates session at a local pilates place. He didn't have to buy it, because it was given to his boss as a gift and she gave it to me! How lucky, right?

Well yesterday I went for my inaugural session. She put me on about 4 different contraptions (machines) and we went through a series of movements. I'm a sore today, so I'm worried about how I'll feel tomorrow. I'm really hoping that this will be a great way to build those core muscles to alleviate back pain, and keep it from re-occurring. The private lessons are pretty pricey, but they also have semi-private lessons (which are only somewhat less pricey). In order to be eligible to take their mat classes (much cheaper), you have to do 15 private or semi-private lessons. So, I'll have 5 knocked out when I finish this gift certificate. Assuming I continue to like it, and think it is helping me, I'm going to have to figure out how to keep taking lessons to get to the 15.

5K

Just a friendly reminder that for 2008 you are allowed to put up to $5,000 into your IRA. This is an increase from 2007. So if you've got automatic investing going on- don't forget to increase your amounts (if you are able). $416 and change per month!

swim again

Yesterday was supposed to be a run/walk day on the training schedule. Instead I went swimming with one of my co-workers who is also doing the triathlon. Today another co-worker wanted to go swimming, and I brought my suit, so I'm going to go again today.

Today I want to focus on my form and technique. I'll be helping my co-worker with her technique, so hopefully I'm doing it right ;-).

And then tomorrow, I have my regular swim date with a colleague. I think I'll need to take thursday off from swimming for sure. And I may need to go buy some shampoo for swimmers...I don't want my hair getting dry and green :-)

Happy Birthday David!

Happy Birthday to David today!

Here's to having fun in the wild,
having fun with one's self and being cute and goofy,
and to having new and exciting experiences every year!
I love you sweetie!

I almost forgot....
your chocolate cake and Ellen's Eggs Mornay are waiting for you!

tree photos

Awhile back I mentioned that we were swapping our 2 Ash trees that pretty much died for other trees. We got some Arborvitae and a maple. Here are the photos of them after we planted them. Suzanne reminded me that I had not posted any pictures of the trees. I totally forgot. here they are! The house next door is now almost completely sided and all the windows and doors are installed.

update

I feel like I have no time since we adopted Sam! So sorry to have not posted in awhile. He was neutered last thursday and I think he is just about healed up. We left his e-collar off last night and I don't believe he was trying to get at his belly very much. We also distracted him with a peanut butter filled Kong toy so that probably helped. He wasn't allowed to go for walks longer than about 15 minutes, so needless to say, his energy was overwhelming during the other times. The vet gave us sedatives to help him calm down so he wouldn't injure himself/tear his stitches, but those didn't seem to kick in for about 2 hours!

We are trying to make sure he knows we are the leaders in the house. We've been watching Cesar Millan DVD's and read his books, and now I'm reading another book on dog communication called "The dog listener". The author shares some things in common with Cesar, but others she does very differently. I'm only 1/4 of the way through, so I'll let you know what I think when I'm done.

training has begun

I've decided I am going to do the Danskin triathlon again. And this time, I have gotten a few of my co-workers to train with me for it. That was one of the things I learned last year...training is much more fun when you do it with other people. That and you are more likely to do it when other people are counting on you.

So, I worked up a training schedule which began on monday. It currently has us doing 3 days of training a week, and focusing mostly on the run and the swim. I'm quite excited to have a group of people to share the Danskin experience with. I really hope that everyone will actually end up doing the triathlon.

I figure I will end up doing 4-5 days a week of training, but it will be good to have set times to workout with others. Monday we swam for 15 minutes, and tomorrow we are supposed to walk for 25 minutes or so. We are all going to be working our way up to running for 30 minutes at a time, so our plan gradually inches up the amount of running time as part of the walk/run combination.

If there is anyone who does not live in Seattle but wants to come visit and do the Danskin triathlon with us, just let me know and I'll get you started on the training plan.

snow for sam's birthday

snow's a pretty good birthday gift. Sam seems to really like it. It got so cold here tonight that it is snowing.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today Sam turns 1!

So...when does he stop being a puppy?

lost a slipper

Actually, I didn't lose the slipper, it was half eaten by the new pooch. Okay- maybe not half eaten, but chewed up enough that I can't wear that pair anymore and had to throw them away.

I've been exhausted this week. David and I have been trying to switch off half days working at home, and I've had to get up an extra hour to hour and a half earlier to get Sam his morning walk. I generally enjoy getting out there in the morning, but this is much earlier than I am used to, and I'm still trying to get Sam into a pattern and get him used to behaving when putting on his collar and leash, so the preparation for the walk can be trying.

We also took him to the vet this week. He has an ear infection (which we suspected), and he got his rabies shot done. Now we have to schedule an appointment AS SOON AS POSSIBLE for his neutering. I really really hope that the neutering has some effect on his energy level, as they say it does in some dogs.

new pooch

We have some good news. Yesterday, David and I adopted a dog. He is a Golden Retriever and he is almost one year old. Unfortunately, he hasn't been neutered yet, so we'll have to do that soon. His old name was Macchiato, but we changed his name to Sam/Sammy. Here are a few photos of the new guy.

He is a bit more rambunctious than I was led to believe. The owner said he was starting to calm down--but if he was more energetic before, I can't even imagine it.

The owner also said she thought that he was full size, but I sort of think he may grow more. We'll need to take him to the vet so we can see how big he really is. His paws still seem to be pretty big for his body--I guess we'll have to see.


He knows sit pretty well--but that is the just about the only command he knows well. He can do lay down- but only with some coaxing.
We also found out that he is a slobber-er. He likes to hang his tongue out of his mouth quite a bit too.

reunited and it feels so good

Great, Fabulous News!

They delivered David's bag to him this afternoon at the house. Everything was still in there that was packed from Florida.

Including the Skyline! Thank you Ann for the offer to replace it if it was gone forever. That is very sweet of you, but I'm so happy that they had the chili still in the bag and it wasn't pilfered. Maybe the bag carriers don't know that it goes for $5 a can on Ebay ;-)

wow...my blog's been around for awhile

I started blogging May 26, 2005. That is 2 years and 7 months that I've been blogging. Holy cow. My how time flies.

someday when I'm super bored I'll go back and re-read all 442 entries (yea right).

lost luggage update

We have a promising lead. They think they found David's bag in Sacramento. It did have someone else's name on the white sticky tag--no wonder it went to the wrong place. We *should* have it back by the end of this week, and then we can see if all of our stuff is still in there. If one can of my Skyline Chili is missing- US Airways will hear it from me! (Just kidding).

more photos

Mom, Jazzy and Steve


Alex, Jazzy and Beki (Jazzy got tons of attention this christmas)

Mom and Steve making Goetta! The goetta was soo good. Steve and Ann brought a few pounds with them from cincy.

Grandma and some of her granddaughters (em missing)

Grandma and her children

Me and David

These photos were taken by Ann- which unfortunately means that there aren't any pictures of Ann...Hopefully when Steve downloads the photos from his camera we'll have some of Ann too.

a few christmas photos

This christmas we spent some time in Florida. Here are a few pictures from our day in Mount Dora.
Everybody is ready for some window shopping and regular shopping.


Taking a break from the shopping.


Posing...


More posing....


So happy coming out of a store.

Arriba! Ole! Grandma had fun trying on the hats at the mexican restaurant.

The town square in Mount Dora was all lit up with lights, as you can see above.