Shout out #13: snow shovelers

Ok, everyone knows it's cold out... like 0 degree windchill negative-might-as-well-be-pluto freezing cold out. Whenever it is really really cold in the winter I always think of my brother (a carpenter) or my brother-in-law (a plumber) working outdoors on some un-insulated building freezing their tails off. Today as I was walking to work on mostly un-yet shoveled sidewalks I was thinking how much it would stink to have to be out there for hours shoveling snow in the cold so cold I could barely warm up with 3 layers on and my soul felt a little iced over. Thank you to the maintenance crew at UConn, for preventing me from slipping on a sheet of ice right in front of 100 people, like I did that time my freshman year. I'm not sure the students appreciate you - and no one really has a way to thank you, but if I could I would give you a warm cup of hot cocoa. At the very least I'm sending a virtual hug.

Shout out #12: the last appointment of the day

Today I am grateful to my final student appointment of the day. Thanks for being flexible and coming in early so I could drive home before all the snow started. Sometimes students forget that researchers are people too... I appreciate whenever someone makes my hour long commute a little more bearable.

Shout out #11: barista

This thanks goes to the barista at Dog Lane Cafe for making me a killer cappuccino that was almost as delicious as those I drank in Spain. It was the best thing that happened to me today.

Shout out #10: UConn Rec - bodywise

Ok so as every UConn student and alum knows… the gym is shabby and about 10000000 years old. However, they have the most amazing fitness classes a gal could dream up. http://recreation.uconn.edu/bodywise/

From yoga to kickboxing to spin the instructors are top notch, enthusiastic and nurturing. They always help you work at your own pace while also encouraging you to challenge yourself. I can't believe I get all this included in my employee membership for $23 a month. Yes I have to work out with kids 10-15 years younger than me, but once I get past feeling old, I thank my lucky stars for the opportunity to really look forward to exercise each day. I also know how important it is to have a healthy outlet as a college student and after being at another school (not named to protect the guilty) which had a gorgeous shimmering new gym, but charged 50+ a semester for their classes on top of the already expensive gym fees - I say go UConn! Way to encourage the health of your school without breaking our fragile little piggy banks. Fitness shouldn't only be for the rich and pretty.

Shout out #9: gas station guy

Thanks to the funny cashier at the gas station we stopped at in Vermont last weekend. He rang up my order of one vitamin water as 279 pennies. I was trying to find a few dollars in my wallet but only had a ten and he said "it's ok 1000 is fine". I said "wow you make me feel so rich!". He said "wait until you get the change… seven hundred etc.etc…". It was nearly 10PM, I was exhausted and you made me laugh. High five gas station guy!

Shout out #8: Carl

This heartfelt message goes out to my brother… although he is not an avid internet user… maybe someday he'll get a chance to read this. It is also fitting that this is his birthday and I celebrated it by doing one of the things I love most, skiing. I owe this hobby to him but also much more.

My big brother is one of my heroes. He would visit often when I was little and if I saw his truck in the driveway on a Friday after school I knew it was going to be an awesome weekend. In the summer my brother took me on a lot of amazing trips like mountain biking in the northwest hills of CT. When I was about 12, through hours frustration with me falling on my butt repeatedly, he taught me to ski. He recently gave it up due to concerns about a previous arm-dislocation injury which bums me out, but I continue to be grateful to him for introducing me to something that makes me so very happy, if only once or twice a year. We also went to a LOT of action movies.

One of the amazing things about my brother is that he always encourages me to pursue my dreams even if they are a little outlandish. "Yeah, you should go for it!" he would always say. He would drive long distances to drop me off or pick me up from school or the airport. When I was 17 we went on a month long trip around the US by train together and if he hadn't taken the time off to be my chaperone I never would have had that chance. He took the time to hang out with me when I'm sure he had much better things to do than entertain a teenager. Carl isn't the most extroverted person (though he is friendly and fun to hang out with and even loves a good concert), so it meant the world to me that he was willing to do the main photography for my wedding this past May. His artistic ability has always impressed me, but more than anything I have been touched by his kindness and generosity.

My sister and brother at my wedding in May

Shout out #7 : Melanie

My friend Melanie is a former Counselor from my office. I'm hollering at her today (I have to holler, she now lives all the way in Georgia!) because she's such a good friend. Like if being a friend were a job she'd be paid starting 6 figures and eventually get promoted to CEO. Melanie is the sort of person that would book a flight tomorrow to check on you if your appendix burst. This is just a fictional example - but I bet she would do it! When we met we pretty much hit it off right away and even after she moved we've managed to stay in touch, though sadly less frequently. That's because we both really value faithfulness in friendship (and life in general I guess). I like that I don't need to call her 5 times before she gets back to me and I love that she'll drop me a line now and then just out of the blue.

Some of the wonderful things about Melanie are that she has a gigantic and generous heart but she also doesn't take *%$# from anyone! Well ok, maybe she will call and firmly but politely request what she wants but I appreciate that she can be such a calm, organized and direct person without being a square. She's the kind of girl-next-door I'm sure many a boy wanted to marry when they grew up (sorry dudes, she's taken!) and the sort of down-to-earth gal anyone would want to adopt as a sister. I'm so very lucky to count her among my best friends. Yay Melanie!

Shout out #6: Kaitlin

Today I shout out to my co-worker-now-friend Kaitlin who makes my day on a regular basis. One of the many things that rock about Kaitlin is that whenever she walks in the room her face lights up as though you just told her some amazing news or that she's seeing you dressed in a wedding gown for the first time. This exalted expression is generally followed by a "Hi how ARE you?!". Her enthusiasm is totally contagious (in a not annoying or fake way) and always turns my frown upside down.

For Kaitlin her friendliness is a pretty key skill since she in one of the counselors on our intervention project. We could have the grumpiest of disgruntled students and basically two minutes after meeting Kaitlin they're totally at ease. She's training to be a School Counselor and I'm confident she's going to kick butt at that - if she's half as fun as she is in our college office, I'm sure younger kids adore her. She also has an air of calm confident I appreciate since I'm super-duper-anxious most of the time. I can be totally freaking out about my to-do list and she'll just say "let's break it down - we've got this" and poof! It's all good... Kaitlin also manages to appreciate the finer things in life, like classy clothes and fine food with out being one bit pretentious which I think is super cool. I can hear her voice in my head when I talk about pastry or cheese saying "oh my GOD isn't it SOOO good?!" as though she died and went to heaven thinking about soup.

Finally, she went with me to my first ever UConn basketball game (which I admit with embarrassment should have happened like 10 years ago) and it was awesome. :)  *high five*

Shout #5 : my mechanic

Today's holler goes out to my mechanic Kopec's auto, owned by Chris Kopec. For a while there when my car was breaking down like… every other week… I was a little skeptical about these guys, but they have earned their keep (and everyone knows I just have the worst luck with vehicles). Not only are they super nice and treat me like family, but they pretty much let me swing in after or before hours for a quick check of whatever ails my baby (a.k.a. my piece of junk but love the butt-warmers so-I-keep-it Subaru). They also never charge me for looking into something until they actually order the part and complete the work. I know that sounds standard but at one point Trey spent the better part of a full day dismantling my dashboard to figure out why the AC wouldn't turn off - discovered its probably a computer issue - reassembled everything and said "eh… just unplug it until you're ready to fix it - that'll save you $ this winter". So for a whole day of a pain-in-the-rear job and no charge, I say hi five. The shop also cares for some adorable and incredibly friendly stray cats, and anyone that does that deserves a hug.

Shout #4 : Susan

My kudos today goes to Susan, an admin assistant at my office at UConn. Susan rocks because she's one of those people that says "let me know if there's any way I can help you" and actually means it - and when you take her up on that help she really IS indeed helpful. Ever since I started my new position two years ago, Susan regularly says hello to me in the hallway or break room. She's always friendly and welcoming and makes me feel like she actually cares about my answer when she asks how it's going. While all the staff in my building are pretty cool, Susan is the only person that never makes me feel like I'm burdening her, even when she is swamped. I know she has a tough job and juggles a lot each day - so I'm very appreciative of her hard work and sincerity. Thanks for always brightening my day!

Shout #3 : Wendy

This one goes out to my friend/colleague Wendy (currently a professor at the New School in NY), because I saw a pretty picture of her on Facebook which reminded me that she is awesome and it has been waaaaay too long since we hung out. The first thing one may notice about Wendy is that she has massive personality in a petit package, but please don't call her cute or pick her up and hug her like a rag doll. She can probably kick your butt. I would put my hard earned money on it. That is because she is a fantastic dancer; an impressive athletic feat! Wendy also gets the cool card for excellent taste in food and liquor. She gives solid advice on personal and professional topics without sounding like a school marm. She is smart as a whip. I love the way she defends underrepresented research topics and admonishes the overabundance of fads that sound more "sciencey" than they really are. Thank you Wendy, for being a leader… and for making conference attendance fun. Rock on sista!

Shout #2 : Jen

My second holla goes to my colleague Jen for saving my behind (with regard to work) on several occasions. Jen is incredibly smart and very prolific. When I see the list of pubs on her CV I want to cry because I don't know how I'll ever get a job in this market with someone like her as competition. Ah yes, but keeping things positive… Jen rocks because she's not pretentious about her brilliance. Need help with your data analysis? No problem. She puts explanations into straightforward terms and doesn't waste any time. We share the same down-to-business philosophy about getting things done efficiently and avoiding "busy work". I also envy her massive attention span. She can walk into the office and be working on a journal article or analysis within 5 minutes. Me… I need to drink coffee and read the news for about 20 before I can get going. Now just in case I made Jen sound boring, I want to add that she has a great sense of fashion, a friendly demeanor and never seems judgmental. If we didn't live 1.5 hours apart I'd totally make her hang out with me.

Shout #1 : Ian

My very first shout out goes to my friend Ian, who is inadvertently responsible for me shouting at y'all. (We were discussing ways of being more positive, and self-reflection through writing, which sparked my shout out idea).

Ian is a fellow-academic (currently doing plant-biology research at Dartmouth University) with whom I can share discourse about the finer points of analytic frustration, pathological procrastination and occasionally what-to-make-for-dinner. Beyond being an all around great human-being, Ian gets a shout out for being one of the few people I know to constantly take up the challenge of examining his own life and working toward self-improvement. Every year he seems to take up a new skill, step outside the boundaries of his comfort zone and demolish obstacles along the way. This year he ran his first half-marathon, raised a ton of dough for a charity in the process, and is currently teaching himself programming - whoa! Applause to you my friend, for your bravery. You can find his blog about surviving academia and other smart stuff here.

The Daily Shout Out

I'm trying to work on thinking positively (continuously - it's not really new or a "resolution"... just an ongoing effort). I was having a chat with a friend tonight about trying to stay motivated and all the little things we do to move forward with our jobs... the cold weather etc.etc. He mentioned my last blog post and how it seemed like I had had a great year and I said "yes - looking back it seems fantastic, but in progress I really felt down a lot - isn't that strange?". He reminded me that retrospectively writing about your past in a positive light can be uplifting and help one to feel better over. So I thought... well heck, I know a small way I can do this every day!

I'm constantly thinking of people I want to thank for doing a good deed or bringing some light to my life. Or there are certainly people that just make me happy to be around. Each day for the rest of the year (starting tomorrow because I'm still too-jet lagged to write anymore tonight) I'm going to give a shout out to some person, group or entity that I think deserves a holler. Woohoo!

The Bucket List Year

Michael and me 5/25/2013

Well, this blog seems to be turning into a once or twice a year affair but I generally find that is a reflection of how much I have going on and in that sense this may have been the fullest year of my life. In May 2013 Michael and I were married. I had hoped we could put the brakes on a grueling schedule after the wedding but that never happened. However, looking back I see that this year I made a point to do and finish so many things that I have put off for so long. I am actually in awe of all the things I experienced - so I will call this the year of the bucket list.

Acadia - Maine. 5/2013

This year I listened to a LOT of books on CD during my long daily commute to and from work. While the drive is draining at times, I realized I've probably read about 20 books this year which is pretty amazing considering in grad school I read maybe 3 books total (for pleasure) over the course of 6 years. I am grateful for this. Maybe the biggest influence on my thinking this year has been a book I read on habits. In conjunction with a book I read last year about willpower, I feel optimistic about becoming a stronger, healthier, smarter, and better person. I also try to keep in mind that the process of self-improvement is a never ending journey and though I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all the high expectations I set for myself, I look back and realize I've made it a long way up the metaphorical hill I am climbing.


I started the year off in a bit of a funk in the cold slump of winter with a foot that was all but useless after surgery. I felt like I would never get back to my old routine... but slowly I pulled myself together and got back to exercising. When I was back on my feet in March I could barely run a mile but I started slowly and by August I ran my first 5K race in several years. For Michael it was his first. We also spent more time running with a very fun group which I have enjoyed thoroughly and has been a strangely wonderful source of motivation for me.

Hash House Harriers - Oct. 2013

 Another thing we took the time to do was make a few road trips and to catch up with family and some old friends this summer. We went to New York City because Michael had never been and I really wanted him to see it. The other trip was to Burlington, Vermont which has been on my bucket list for a long time.

The lake in Waterbury, VT - August 2013

 

The hardest thing I gave up this year was my time as a volunteer math tutor at our local library. It was a very fun and fulfilling thing to do but I recognized that if I was going to commit to regular exercise I had to say "no" to something. I still miss it and I feel guilty not helping to push my student forward, but I had to accept that I'm only human and can only do so much.

Running to the top of Peaked Mountain, Monson, MA 11/2013

 This fall at my job we finally closed our study to new participants, so over 500 students later I will finally get to focus on data analysis and research publications which is both exciting and scary. 

To close the busy year I fulfilled a promise and plan that has been on my bucket list since about 2006. That year I promised my nephew Christopher, who was failing Spanish and felt that high school coursework didn't teach him anything important about the world, that I would take him to Spain if he got an A.

Eventually he did but at the time I didn't account for the fact that I was a broke graduate student who's life was dominated by research, exams and theses. Finally this year I decided we really need to do this - for who knows what next year's adventures will bring? 

Me and Chris at the Arc di Triumf 12/2013

So off we went to Barcelona, Spain for the weekend after Christmas and jetted back to the US just in time to ring in the New Year. Although our Spanish was a little rusty we made due enough to order beer, get directions and not offend too many Spaniards. I couldn't imagine a better way to end the year. We had a blast!

I know 2014 will be another big year for me, for Michael and for friends and family. I am trying to face it without too much fear and anxiety since at the moment we don't even know where we'll be living 6 months from now. I want to keep making my health a priority and I have learned that doing this means getting organized and taking my massive to do-list one step at time.  

There's one big trip left on my bucket list and that is to visit Yellowstone National Park. Buckle up 2014 - here we go!