revelling

salmon creek falls

the last couple of weeks have been filled with revelations that my dissertation research is actually coming together (i think there may be a light at the end of this tunnel!) and that i have been so fortunate to work in an amazing place. i had a committee meeting a couple weeks ago that helped to spur many of these revelations. i have been working like a fiend in the lab for the last 3 months to get data together for this meeting. it wasn't until i actually started looking at the data a few days before the meeting that i realized the degree to which things are falling into place. for the last three years i have been collecting samples and data with the hope that something cool would come of it all, but i wasn't sure that moment was going to come...until now. i have to say that it is a pretty cool feeling. i just got back from three hard days in the field and am excited about the rest of the field season rather than dreading it. my assistant kate is home from kenya and working for me again this summer...it is great to have my right hand lady back. our dives were beautiful but soooo cold. the temperature at depth was a mere 47 degrees (no amount of peeing in your wetsuit can keep you warm in that water)!

yesterday we celebrated mother's day with pete's family in oakland. almost the whole extended family lives in the bay area so they are able to get together for lots of occasions throughout the year...it is nice. last weekend we celebrated pete's 31st birthday with the traditional 'motor monkey birthday ride' and a nice dinner out.

earth day

happy earth day! this weekend rounded out a busy week of grant writing, data analyses, and sample processing (on a machine that i have a love-hate relationship with). yesterday was a day for monterey bay aquarium associated fun. i am a mentor for the student oceanography club, which is a club for 6-8th graders around the area who are interested in the ocean and conservation. we have a theme every month that our meeting and field experience revolve around and april was tide pooling month. we took our 50 kiddies into the field yesterday to play in the intertidal. one girl was really excited about all the different kinds of algae out there so i got to teach her about the different ones we saw. i know i am a science nerd, but it was fun. last night the aquarium hosted its annual dinner for all their volunteers. if you have never been to the monterey bay aquarium, you should make an effort to see that amazing place. but it is a whole new level of wonderful when you get to eat yummy food in front of any exhibit you want to (think of giant tunas swimming in front of you) and decadent dessert trays are set up in nearly every corner of the building. AND despite the fact that there are still a lot of people in the aquarium, very few of them are running, screaming children. it is kind of a fancy shindig so i asked pete to wear a tie and i put on a dress and lipstick. a good time was had by all.

because I am awful at email and am afraid of the phone...

Cassie-dog ready for wilderness adventures on her new leg!

So...this might seem kind of lame, but i am turning to the powers of mass communication to try to keep you all updated with happenings on the west coast...or wherever i might be.
I am currently in Corvallis, Oregon, at Sunnyside Up cafe trying to write a grant proposal that is due on Monday and failing miserably. I drove up to Corvallis on Monday so i could process a bunch of water samples in my old lab. We just don't have the lab space or the set-up in Santa Cruz to do the processing down there. The drive is long, but it is a good excuse to come back here to see friends and get my running fix in Mac forest. Spring has sprung here...the trees and tulips are in full bloom and it is beautiful. Today was the first day without liquid sunshine...a good reminder of why I am a happier person all year long in California. I am heading home tomorrow and not at all looking forward to the long drive home. Or the snow that may be falling in the Siskyous...