The last few weeks

Wow, now with a few minutes to take a breath here is what life has been up to in the last two weeks.

• Desiree came to visit two weeks ago and we had a great time. More than anything I really enjoyed having time with such a close friend, to be able to talk and vent about things. I have met some great people thus far, but am still lacking close friends right now; hopefully time will provide a remedy.
• Vicki and Erik got married!! The whole trip was a ton of fun and I had a blast hanging out with everyone, especially the pre-wedding night conversations in our hotel room and late night call to Vicki. The ceremony and reception was just perfect. The weather was wonderful and just the right amount of people to make it a really party. I'm sure the Illinois crowd helped with that.
• Marissa spent the night for the first time this Friday. We went to dinner, caught "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and made her parents some cookies the next morning. She was a pleasure to have and did great with sleeping. We were a little worried that a bedtime she would become homesick and I'd be making a late night drive to Grand Blanc. She fell asleep fairly quickly and while falling asleep and fidgeting, she sat up, looked at me, crossed her hands, and said, "um, Tina, we need to talk." I asked what was the a matter, and she replied, "you need to scoot closer to me."
• I'm signed up to go on a long weekend cruise with Beth/Jake and company in April to celebrate their 30th birthdays - looking forward to it.
• Having a DSW within the city limits of where I live may not prove to be the best thing for my check book, thankfully it is all the way on the other side of town.
• I saw someone getting road head on a Friday afternoon on I75 driving north somewhere around 4pm; they were not being subtle.
  
• I broke down and bought a parking pass for work. Just under $60/month! At least the garage is covered.
• I am in need of a good wine tasting event. I have yet to find much around here that is not uber fancy and $50-60/person. I haven't found anything like the Saturday tastings at Corkscrew or SunSinger, let alone the charity tastings Krannert has...I need to work on this, my wine rack is getting low.
• I miss talking about science. One of the strangest things about the new lab is there is not too much conjecture and bantering about science. People do not really challenge one another at lab meeting; people don't really say much at all.