and the vacation marches on

So much to relate. So much going on. So many good things. Where to begin? Alright, I'll start with this year's Thanksgiving celebrations, which were phenomenal (except the fact that my mom had to work ... so sad). So my Thanksgiving break started around 10:30 AM on Tuesday. Why, may you ask? Because the Chemical Engineering department here at Princeton seriously likes to slow things down after fall break (as I described in an earlier post). My thermo professor had to cancel classes all week last week (so Monday and Tuesday) because he had a family emergency and had to fly home to Greece (everything is ok now, though, so that's good). On top of that, my reactions professor decided that having class on Wednesday before Thanksgiving from 1:30 - 3:00 PM (my only class of the day) was a bad idea, so he cancelled that class a well. That left me done with classes for the week after math on Tuesday morning. However, I did not leave for home festivities until Wednesday evening. Here is how the chapters developed:

Chapter 1: Visiting Luc's friend in Manhattan

For those of you who don't know, Luc is a plasma physicist here at Princeton (also a first year) and is from Colorado, so he had no where to go for Thanksgiving, since home was too far away. I, being the nice person I am, invited him to join me in my Thanksgiving festivities, which he happily accepted. Before entering New England, however, we decided to stop in Manhattan, where a friend of his from Vassar (Malissa) lives. She lives in a super swank apartment in Morningside Heights (near Columbia). It was cool. We had dinner at this french restaurant around the block (and I had the best steak ... ever) then proceeded to check out some holiday sights in the city. Quite fun.

Chapter 2: Thanksgiving in Connecticut

Why Connecticut you may ask? Because my cousin Ben and his new wife Shawna wanted to host our family celebration this year ... and unfortunately they bought a house in Connecticut, although I suppose it is a bit better than Georgia (where they used to live). Anyway, for some reason monsoon season decided to visit us that day and the drive up from NYC, while not traffic-y, was very very rainy. I thought the car would flood. I thought I would be swept out into the Long Island Sound. I feared for my life. Despite that, we did make it, and quite on time too. My planning skills never cease to amaze me. Luc got a crash course in my family dynamics, as EVERYONE was there. Here was the guest list:

• Ben and Shawna (cousin and cousin-in-law)
• Poppa (grandfather)
• Brad and Jayne (uncle and aunt)
• Allan (favorite cousin ... oh, did I say that?)
• Andrew (cousin)
• Abby (cousin)
• John (dad)
• Martha (sister)
• Myself and Luc (um ... myself plus a guest)
• Anne (Aunt Jayne's mom ... so not related to me ... technically)
• Bobby (Aunt Jayne's brother ... also not related to me)
• Suzanne (Shawna's mother ... also not related)
• Greg (Shawna's brother ... flew in from some Midwest state or something)

So that's what, 16 people? It was intense. I am surprised Luc survived. Although, according to Abby, he's welcome at all family functions, even though Aunt Jayne uninvited him (meaning he was originally invited?) to Christmas because he was beating her at the card game. What else happened at Thanksgiving ... no punches were thrown during the card game, thankfully; dad and Uncle Brad passed out on the couch after a few glasses of scotch and turkey dinner (quite comical). The only other thing of note that happened was on the drive home in the monsoon (through eastern Connecticut/western RI). I almost rear-ended my dad. Oh yeah. I had to swerve out of the way. I was not going to stop in time. Thankfully nothing happened.

Chapter 3: Black Friday
So we didn't actually do any shopping of the sort. Instead, I took Luc on a tour of RI ... took only 3 hours (ha). No, we met up with a Mr. Brian Dowdell down in Narragansett at Crazy Burger for lunch (Mart came too). It was quite lovely. I miss Brian. He's a good chum. After that, we went out to hazard rock, this cool rock thing in Narragansett (on the ocean, of course). We clambered about and Martha was quite good in clogs. Hats off to her for being a sport. Then we had to drive by some sod farms, because Luc thought it was fascinating that we grow grass for commercial purposes in RI. Luc was so enamored he came up with a 3o minute story on the spot about the first sod farmer, Earl. His story telling skills are quite amazing.

After we made it back to Pawtucket (stopping briefly to show him Slater Mill ... as it is quite famous, right?) we chilled at home for a bit before .... SEEING CASINO ROYALE! Oh yeah. So good. Such a production too, getting to the theater. Originally, it was going to be myself, Martha, Sue an Steve going to the movies (since filming our James Bond movie with Sue and Steve in 1999, we have seen all Bond movies together). Then, I invited Luc along, since he obviously wouldn't have anything else to do while we went to the movies. Then, at Thanksgiving, Allan, Andrew and Abby found out we were going, so they wanted to go too. Brian also found out and wanted to go and he spread the word so as of Friday morning, there were 8 of us from northern RI coming and 8+ from southern RI. I suggested pre-buying tickets. I took care of the northern troops, while Brian was to take care of the southern troops. Upon arrival at the theater, as I was swiping my credit card to get our tickets, I received a call from Brian: "Hey Meg, I'm, um, the only one coming from down here, can you just get me a ticket?" No problem, or so I thought. The show was sold out by this time. Sorry Brian. I told you to pre-buy tickets. Can't say I didn't warn you. Ah well. We got there rather late ourselves. Even so, we did find 8 seats in a row ... in the front row. Oh yeah. But you know what, it was worth it. The movie was awesome. I recommend it to everyone.

Chapter 4: Back to Jersey
There is something to be said for having company on the ride back to New Jersey. Makes it much more interesting. We did do one spontaneous thing on the way home. We pulled off the highway and went to Friendly's for ice cream. Why Friendly's? Well, even though Luc has spent most of his life in Colorado, he was actually born in Boston and lived there for a few years. Now, his first name is really Jayson (Lucius is his middle name) and allegedly, his mom didn't know if she could spell his name that way, until she saw it on the name tag of a waiter at Friendly's. So as we passed a sign on the highway that mentioned the restaurant at the next exit, Luc commented on how he's never been to a Friendly's, even though that's how he got his name-spelling confirmed, so I got off the exit. Got two sundaes. They were good. Made the rest of the trip through Connecticut actually enjoyable.

So that was the Thanksgiving weekend. Now, my week just got better and better. I was a little sad going into this week, since it was going to be the first full week I'd had in a number of weeks. Wasn't I surprised when I walked into thermo to discover the professor was still in Greece and so there would be no class on Tuesday. Then, as I was ready to listen to another lecture in my reactions class, the professor said it was our last lecture (we have been having class 3 days a week instead of 2, so we finished all the material). Last lecture! That means I have no class on Wednesdays or Fridays for the rest of the semester (about 3 more weeks). So want to know what I did today? I got out of bed at 1:30 PM. It was glorious. I love my life. Couldn't be happier.

Oh, I should also mention that Naruto fillers are done as of February 2007. Things just get better and better.

im soccer champions

oh yeah. read the title. it's all there.

mission accomplished

In the words of Bob: "When did grad school become a vacation?"

Seriously though, it has. Between fall break and 80% of the department being in San Francisco for the National ChE Conference, our course work load has plummeted. It's great. I spend my days watching Naruto and playing intramural soccer (which we are in the finals ... maybe will get a t-shirt). Life sure is good. Let's hope it stays this way. I mean, this week consisted of only 2 days of classes due to the Thanksgiving holiday. And after that, not many more weeks before winter break. Fantastic.

In other news, (and the point of my title), I finally got into an eating club this weekend. For those of you who don't know what an eating club is, it is Princeton's version of a fraternity: super swank houses in which no one lives but throw ridiculous parties Thursday and Saturday nights. Now, these are primarily undergraduate establishments: grad students can't join an eating club, but I've tried on 3 occasions now to crash a party, and finally succeeded. Ah, and not only did I succeed, I got into the most prestigious of them all : Ivy. How did I pull this off, you may ask? I was with another grad student who is on the Rugby team at Princeton and knows a few undergrads who are members of Ivy. He was able to get one person in, so I ditched everyone else in my group (I know, I'm nice) for the chance. The verdict? You can dress them up, but it's still a frat party. Eh, at least I can finally say I got in one and can stop trying. I definitely feel too old for that scene. Anyway, that was the weekend and I am officially done with classes now for the week and cannot wait for Thanksgiving. Hooray!

google is taking over the world

So that wasn't the planned title of this post, but whilst signing into my blog, they suddenly told me that it's all new and to actually sign in, I'll have to use my Google account (good thing I already have one) because Google has now taken over http://www.blogger.com/. They never cease to amaze me. Eh, I'm all for it, as long as it stays free and has cool snazzy features (gmail really is the greatest email ever). Anyway, on to the real news I had to post:

Fall Break Partie Deux:

So as many of you know, I had fall break a few weeks ago, which was quite wonderful. Well, I came back from fall break last week to find out that most of my classes (all ChE classes) would be cancelled this week due to the national Chemical Engineers conference in San Francisco, where about 80% of my department is right now. Ah, this is wonderful. Oh, and on top of that, my German class was randomly cancelled tonight. Hooray for unanticipated 5 day weekends. I should also mention that I only have a 2 day week next week ... due to the fantastic holiday of Thanksgiving and the fact that my professor cancelled class on Wednesday. I love Ivy League schools.

Forever IM Runners-up:

Ever since I went to college I have been actively pursuing my career in Intramural Volleyball. My problem is that I'm waaaaaayy to competitive when it comes to IM Volleyball. I treat it like it is the Olympics and as such, I just really want to win an IM championship ... just once. I've made it to the finals like 5 times in my career. I'm the Michelle Kwan of IM Volleyball. Always silver, never gold. Anyway, last night, my GC Volleyball team made it all the way to the finals, and lost in a 3 game match. It was a good match though. I have scars to prove it (ok, floor burns and bruises). Oh, and I also royally screwed up my neck. I can't look left. Kind of tough. But as Baley said, just make 3 right turns, and I'm all set. It is feeling slightly better this evening, but if it's still painful tomorrow, time to pay a visit to University Health Services. Maybe I can see a chiropractor or something.

Ok, that's it. Those were my rants for this evening. Be sure to tune in next time.

in one word: amazing

So this week has been absolutely amazing. In so many ways. Fall break is simply the best invention ever. This week has involved 70 degree weather, trip to see a Broadway show, photography expeditions, anime watching, burger king feasting ... oh, and some homework too, but that's a given. I took tons of photos around the canal and lake on Thursday so you should be sure to check them out in the usual spots. I also uploaded some pictures from last week's Halloween party and Bierabend. You can now see that I have made a few friends. I'm being social. I'm quite proud of myself. All in all, feeling pretty good right now.