bobby and kate

the love of my life!

 

 

 

White Christmas

I just got back from a wonderful white Christmas in Colorado.  It was so great to see my family and friends and to enjoy each others company  for just a little while.  And for now, I'm back to sitting in shorts and a tank top with the fan on. 

 

We spent the time eating Greek and Italian food (thanks to Don and Daddy), playing Elizabeth's new Wii, catching up on stories, enjoying the snow, and opening up some wonderful gifts!

 

Bobby and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful place to come back to.  And we will follow Gertrude Stein's famous quote "America is my country and Paris is my hometown"  but change it just a little...

"Florida is my state, but Colorado is my hometown"

 

"Christmas Time is Here, Happiness and Cheer"

Only 3 more days till Christmas!  It is my favorite time of year.  I love everything about it, the music, the smells, the traditions, and the sparkling lights.  

It is such a magical time, especially Christmas Eve.  It begins with a candlelit service at church, where we all get to hold a little white candle.  It is such a peaceful and beautiful sight to see all the little flickering lights and the glow around everyone's faces.  It is so quiet  and I know everyone is thinking about the real Christmas gift.


My favorite Christmas Eve service was when we stepped outside the church and it started snowing!  It was so beautiful with the tiny flakes floating down and the yellow tint in the sky.

When we get home, we eat lots of good food, drink egg nog and cider and sit around playing games and laughing.  When its time to go to bed there is always an excitment in the air, even though we are all grown up!  As we head off to bed, our tree and all of its glory sparkles its colorful lights in the darkness.

Now we will go to bed and wait for Santa.  I don't really remember the day I stopped believing, but I still love the story and the idea of such a magical night. 

"How does Santa make it around the ENTIRE world in one night?" 

"What happens if there is no snow for Santa's sleigh?"

The answer of course is Magic!

Only at this time of year do we let ourselves get carried away by the sounds and feelings of Christmas!  This year I get to spend Christmas back home with my family and I am looking forward to enoying a peaceful, sparkling night.

Is this sanitary?

Today I was working in the lab, sorting through animal bone, pottery, and lithics and I came across a few objects I just wasn't sure what they were.  So without thinking twice, I licked them. 

You may think that this is an unsanitary practice in a "museum" setting.  And ingesting 1,000 year old dirt may cause some stomach issues.  It actually is quite shocking that I do this seeing I won't share any sort of utensil or glass, even with my twin sister.


However, it is an amazing and very scientific test.  In order to tell if something is bone, it will stick to your tongue.  If it is a lithic or some other mysterious object it will not.  I did know someone to lick a piece of coprolite thinking it was bone... (for those of you who don't know, coprolites are fossilized animal poo).  It did not stick to their tongue.

So if you are ever walking by an archaeologist or collection manager and they are sticking objects in their mouth, don't be alarmed, it's perfectly normal.

Christmas in the Everglades

It is almost Christmas and I am counting down the days until I can go back to the beautfiul winterwonderland of Colorado.  Until then we have found a few ways to make it more Christmas-y here in the ol' swamp

THPO Holiday Card--notice the Santa Hats and that it is very apparent that no one helped to arrange us...

I spend about 2/3rds of my time at work in the lab with my laboratory manager.  We share the space with two of the exhibit guys and the conservator from the Museum.  Being in the Holiday spirit we first decided to dress up Vlad.  He is Santa's little helper this year.

Working with Exhibits also allows you to take awesome Christmas pictures because they are so good at photoshop!  We decided to go for the 80's glamour shot look.

From Left to Right: Stephen, Greg, Katy, Vlad, Me, and Cory

Merry Christmas from the Everglades!

Our friend the frog

Bobby and I have a new friend, well our one and only Floridian friend for right now! 

We are still deciding on a name for him.  Every morning he greets me as I leave for work, hanging out on the front of the house.  Sometimes all I see is his little head peeking out from the shutters around the front door.  And he is usually there when I come home from work, staring at me with his beady little eyes.

I'm sure our neighbors think we are super weird because every time we see him we get really excited and the first time we saw him we took about 30 pictures of him.

Luckily for him, we don't like fried frog legs.

Slow DOWN!!

This weekend Bobby and I made our usual trip to the grocery store at the most non ideal time, Sunday afternoon. We apparently like to punish ourselves. As we were making our way through the crowds of people and whiny children I realized that Floridians drive their grocery carts just like how they drive their cars.

Driving in Florida has been the biggest adjustment I have made here. I’m either getting yelled at because I’m already going 10 miles/hour OVER the speed limit (which apparently just isn’t fast enough) or I am stuck behind someone going a whopping 10 miles/hour. Generally the residential speed limit is 40 mi/hr, which in Floridian definitions means at least 60mi/hr. I’ve always learned that you have to drive in the right lane on the highway unless you are passing, but I’ve now applied this law just driving to the grocery store. Who knew that the minute you get in your car you have actually entered a NASCAR race?

On the other hand, you have all the elderly folk still driving at the age of 95. Lets just say their definition of the speed limit is to go at least 20 mi/hr under and to make sure they swerve and don’t look before they change lanes. But don’t assume all old people drive like this. There is the occasion that I have been passed by a red sports car who has flown by me at 90 mi/hr and when I catch up to them at the stop light I look over and see a little old couple sitting in the front seats. Really?

This is basically my grocery shopping experience. Everyone grabs their carts and as soon as they walk through the sliding doors THEY’RE OFF!! Bobby and I were walking down the canned vegetable aisle when all of sudden I could hear the wobbly tires of a cart quickly approaching. Within a split second a man had whipped his cart around us, just in time to stop right in front of us and cut us off at the green beans. I’m so glad he was able to get to them fast enough.

The next aisle was even worse. We started to venture down it but it was blocked by at least 4 elderly couples who had left their carts in every direction and were wandering up and down the aisle trying to read the labels. We had to take a detour.



I'll just continue to try and stay out of everyone's way, especially when deciding which deli meat to purchase.