Happy Birfday

Happy Birthday to my dad today! While I don't plan on visiting him, I will have an extra piece of strawberry shortcake in his honor.

And thanks to Tiffany for this; I couldn't quite write anything with substance without tears yesterday.

Someday, our babies will be cute

I just had to post this. About a year ago, Xav's mom was going through some old pictures and showed me a newspaper cut out of Xavier and his uncle back when he was a baby. Cutest. Thing. Ever. And look at all that hair!

Odds and Ends

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've posted an update and the peeps are asking. Here are my random goings on:

• The dissertation writing has renewed purpose and motivation. After asking to see a committee member's dissertation, I realize that by using a similar chapter structure, this is do-able and not nearly so overwhelming. It looks like I'll finish the end of May and defend sometime the end of June. Booyah.
  
• I'm still looking for a job, which is slightly frustrating. I have a phone (and final) interview with UNLV in about 15 minutes for a one-year lecturer position. Xav wouldn't move with me, but it would be a great chance to pad my teaching portfolio and Vegas isn't a bad commute. I'm hoping their posted salary was a serious typo, or it won't be worth it. Some possible plan B's: IBM Tucson (not a great chance - they're currently cutting back), a departmental post-doc (pay is crappy, but I/we wouldn't have to move and I could get more research published), working at Banana Republic. Okay, maybe not on that last one, but maybe. I do need more professional attire, and they actually have some pants that are long enough for me in 4" heels.
• A friend of mine, Dave, somehow discovered the greatest man-made food ever: Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. Xav and I both love this one and it's better than ColdStone, I swear. Somehow, there's still some left, tho probably not for long.
  
• Yay for friends and facebook and blogs. It has been great running back into old friends online. And really, I have to thank all of you for reading my blog and occasionally posting comments. I have crappy friends in Tucson and I love getting a blog comment from good friends on one-of-those-days... it makes everything all better. You guys rock.
• The extra house is clean and put back together. I'm showing it tonight to some prospective tenants, so I'm crossing fingers they'll love it and want to move in immediately. That extra mortgage payment hurts. (Dear Jill: I wish I had your problem. My tenants only stick around for a year - or four months - and then bolt.)

Well, I need to put my game face on and get ready for this interview. I'll update the above list as I remember things.

UNLV UPDATE: Ouch. The salary posting wasn't a typo. Luckily, they weren't upset that I took their time and they asked that I apply to their anticipated faculty position for next year. Yay.

yay lolcats

I love me some lolcats. They're wonderful distractions.

X marks the spot

What is your husband's name?
Xavier aka Xav, Xavo, Xavy, X., and "Patty's favorite" (Patty is my mom)

How long have you been together?
I borrowed his softball mitt Sept 14 2005 for an IBM softball league game (which involved a butt slap), not-dated until December 2005 (thanks to all of our third and fourth wheels!), started dating Dec 6 2005, purchased property together January 2006 (a timeshare in Hawaii - everyone come with us!), realized we were actually getting married January 2006 (this was more of a shock/denial for me than him), Xav asked the moms on Mother's Day 2006, we were engaged June 2006, happily married Sept 14 2006 - one year to the day after that butt slap.

Who said I love you first?
Xavier... to which I replied, "Uh, thanks... " Yeah, while I avoided eye contact. I think I hugged him, though - and then changed the subject. I knew I loved him, too, but was still rather traumatized from the first marriage and ugly divorce and falling in love so soon was NOT in my plans. Damn him. He's always right.

Who is smarter?
Xav. I do okay, but he's definitely smarter than I am in most things. He's even a better cook - though I do have the market cornered for baking. Thankfully, I married a man I can talk with about anything. Anything. And even if he's wrong (which he never is, dammit), it's still a very intelligent discussion. Such fun for my brain - but not always for my ego. Yay.

Who does the housework?
Right now? Hmmm... Xav probably. He's been great with the kitchen, even though we hardly use it. (We're both just too tired to cook.) I tend to vacuum more because Abby's shedding bothers me more. And I generally do the bathrooms. And clutter screws with my psyche, so I pick up most of the messes. Hmmm... and I've been dusting a lot. And then there's the garage I cleaned out. Okay, for now, we'll say I clean more. But only because I'm a neat freak and Xav spent most of his time fixing up the other house (which I also cleaned)... and really, because I'm desperately looking for things that need done other than writing my dissertation. (Like blogging.) When life is normal, though, we split about even, which is just heaven for me. He even does laundry. No, really.

Who sleeps on the right?
Depends on the house and the bed. I tend to sleep on the side closest to the door. In our current house, I sleep on the right. In our last house, I slept on the left.

Who pays the bills?
Bank of America bill pay. And Xav. Hallelujah for Xav and his bill paying. That is one thing I've thankfully handed over because my brain has been overworked.

Who cooks dinner?
Lately, Wendy's, Panda Express, and Pizza Hut. I know. It's awful for my waistline and my wallet. We're working on it - or at least talking about how we need to work on it. I just can't seem to muster the energy to think of what to make, let alone make it. Besides, this way I get to avoid the grocery store. (In case you don't know, grocery shopping is high on my list of hates. I'd rather scrub toilets. With my toothbrush. Or maybe Xav's toothbrush; I rather like mine.)

When we do cook, it's probably a 60/40 split with me doing the 60. As mentioned above, though, Xav is a much better cook. Yummy.

Who drives when you are together?
Usually X., but occasionally he just doesn't feel like it. And sometimes I miss having a stick shift, so I'll ask to drive us in his car. Wheeeeee.

Who is more stubborn?
I'll assume you all know me, and therefore, should know this answer. Me. Me, me, me. Poor Xav, he had no chance...

Who kissed who first?
Xavier kissed me first. And it took a bit of reassurance; I was scared to death.

Who asked out who first?
It depends. After the softball butt-slapping incident, I mentioned to a couple people I was hungry and asked if they (okay, he) wanted to come with. But technically, that wasn't a date. Xavier asked me out on our first real date. Heck, he still asks me out on dates. It's adorable and makes me so happy.

Who proposed?
Xavier. And more than once. We had talked about it... but then one day to make me feel more secure about the whole issue, he got down on a knee and asked me. Even before the asking of the moms and the ring. I'm pretty sure he asked me about once a month for a few months to assure me he wasn't joking around. It worked.

Who has more siblings?
Me. I'm the oldest of four and Xavier is the older of two.

Who wears the pants?
Both of us. Except for going to church - and then I'm generally a little resentful that I have to be in a skirt and heels.

The Last Lecture

The other night I was watching Super Nanny and noticed a trailer for an interesting Diane Sawyer piece about a Carnegie Mellon Computer Science professor and his last lecture on achieving your childhood dreams. He is a smart, kind, happily married father of three who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was only given months to live. Dateline showed clips from his last lecture and profiled him and his family.

I am so thankful I was watching TV that night. I bawled through most of the program, but it was wonderful, and I can't wait to go buy the book and watch his whole lecture.

• A look at ABC's television show here.
  
• CMU has a page dedicated to the last lecture here, which can be purchased or watched on You Tube.
• The book is available here and here.
  
• Randy's website is here.

The trailer for the ABC news special is here:


Please go take a look. I'm usually not one for sappy things, but this is worth it.

When it rains, it pours

Ever since I got back from SJ, I've been trying to get my conference papers written and ready for submission (due at 5:00p today). I was up very late last night working on my second paper before deciding to finally take a break and sleep - leaving me with the discussion section, citations, and formatting.

And this morning, my beautiful - and full of data - iMac died. Right in front of me. With the latest version of my paper and my citation databases and predefined formats.

Thankfully, I had emailed a copy to my advisor an hour or two before I stopped working for the night and I do have my data backed up, but it can't be easily grabbed - it has to be a full restore. So all I did today was stress and try to re-write what I had written, make a new citation database, and hack a references style sheet. (No, the style sheet isn't pretty. I'm hoping the reviewers don't notice the conference proceedings that look like journal articles or the books without a publishing city. Or that they yell at me in the review, but assign me an "accept with revisions.")

Somehow, I got the papers submitted, and with 13 minutes to spare. Booyah.

I'm having ColdStone tonight, and lots of it. You?

Husband of the Year

Apparently today is the day of a thousand posts. Sorry.

But I should point out that while I am here on campus working on this paper that needs written and submitted by 5:00p on Monday (tick tock), Xav is across town at my old house cleaning, repairing, and clearing. He has even had to rent a truck to haul all of their garbage to the landfill.

I feel so guilty... technically, it's my house... and honestly, I'd rather be over there doing manual labor than suffering through this paper. But he's so sweet to do all of the work. I'm a lucky girl.

Photos and trip stuff

Sorry.. I read my earlier post and realized I had promised more stories and pictures. (Oh, and I can't seem to get my paper written...)

So my trip started in Tucson with a connection in Phoenix. If you remember, the ride from Tucson to Phoenix was all over the place. I'm very surprised I didn't lose my lunch. After the crazy flight and the mean US Airways gate agents, I decided to upgrade my ticket to first class for $100. I know, I know. I probably don't have an extra $100 to blow right now, but the rest of the trip was on Microsoft and I desperately wanted to get into San Jose in one piece and feeling well enough to study. Oh, and the flight was full and I was stuck in a middle seat.

Best $100 spent ever. I need to be rich so I can fly first class: that's where US Airways spends all of their customer service spirit. I ended up sitting next to a nice guy from ASU who's working on some very cool IT projects with Apple. I was in awe when he pulled out a new MacBook Air and he let me try out the keyboard on his new Blackberry (I'm considering a switch from my Treo). Apparently not everyone from ASU is evil. ;)

This leg of the flight still wasn't great, but it was hard to complain with an endless supply of ginger ale, interesting conversation, and views like this:

Once I landed, I did dinner with Brad and Laurie and Tyler and headed back to my room to study. Friday was full of (dread-inducing, soul-sucking) interviews that made me thankful I spent these two days finding out how much I would hate that job before actually accepting a potential offer. No offense to Microsoft or the team I interviewed with; it's just not for me. Then I flew home... and once again, US Airways didn't disappoint. Lots of turbulence and lots of ornery, disinterested employees. Note to self: never flying US Airways again.

My brain hurts

So... the Microsoft interviews went well, but by 1:00pm I was fairly confident that if I actually had to do the job I was interviewing for, I'd gouge my eyes out. And even with all of the positive feedback I received from each interviewer, it looks like they're looking for a statistician (which I long ago told them I wasn't). Luckily, the hiring manager likes me and seems to think I'd be a good addition to Microsoft... and after asking what job I'd really like to do, offered to forward my resume to the usability peeps. Um, wow. I think it helped that I solved the puzzle, but I wasn't expecting such generosity. Thanks, Sushil!

And now... my brain continues to throb. I have to get two papers submitted to a conference by Monday at 5:00pm PDT. I have one pretty much done (just formatting remains), but after talking to my advisor (and co-author) on Wednesday, I have to completely re-structure the second one. Ugh. I'm hoping the spaghetti in my brain can un-tangle.

In the meantime, I'm hoping Xav will buy himself a winning lottery ticket so I can just quit and have babies. Ah, life without the stress of billz and work and tight dissertation deadlines. (Though I've heard pregnancy makes your brain stop working for a year, too.)

Not a fan of US Airways

I'm finally in my hotel room after a painful day of traveling and a fun dinner with Brad, Laurie, and Tyler. But before I actually start reviewing some material for my interview with Microsoft tomorrow...

US Airways sucks. Like, a lot. Xavier had a horrible ordeal with them back in October when we met up in DC. I always wondered why he refuses to use his free ticket with them. Needless to say, now I know. Their attendants and gate agents are mean, ornery people who are constantly irritated that you're getting in the way of doing their jobs. My flight from Tucson to Phoenix (ugh - I didn't plan my travel) was a roller coaster and the gate agent in Phoenix was beyond rude when I checked on seat availability for my flight into San Jose. (After all of that rocking and rolling, I was fairly confident that a middle seat in the back of the plane would result in a very sick Nicole.)

I almost wonder if this is Microsoft's form of hazing... :)

For my next post: my upgrade, my seat mate, and cool pics from the plane. I'll (allegedly) find out how the interview went sometime on Monday, and I'll let you know when I know. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well wishes.

Grrr

Why is it that stressful things seem to happen when you're already stressed?

For those of you not in-the-know, I'm currently working on my dissertation, writing two conference papers (submission deadline Monday), preparing for an interview with Microsoft on Friday (flying out Thursday afternoon and flying back Friday night), and generally trying to keep life in order (e.g., laundry, chores, etc).

So imagine my internal groaning when I went to my house to get the keys from my early-exit (before the end of their lease and without a 30-day written notice) tenants. They didn't even show up and when Xav and I walked in the house, we soon discovered they don't take care of their things as well as I do. In two words, it's trashed. There are holes in walls, motor oil stains throughout, and even missing baseboards. It's filthy. They stole a shelf bracket, curtain rods, a ceiling fan, shower heads, towel rods from the bathrooms, and outlet/light switch plates, among many other things. I mean, seriously - who steals light switch plates?!

So... now we need to get the house fixed up so we can get it rented out, and ASAP. If any of you want to come help clean... uh, you're crazy. But if you know of anyone that wants to rent a cute and soon-to-be fixed up house on the SE side of Tucson, lemme know.

And thanks to Tiff for making me smile. :)