I saw the Rogue Wave when they opened for Guster and Ray Lamontagne in Chicago a couple of years ago. They were good, but didn't really catch for me as a band then. Cut to the present when I've been listening to their song "Chicago X 12" in what could be described as an obsessive manner over the past couple of days. I would think coworkers would be annoyed, but luckily my music is drown out by the obnoxiously loud training going on in the nearby conference room.
There is the stigma of a single female growing old and having a lot of cats. Being somewhat allergic to cats and dogs (some breeds cause a worse reaction than others), it's really the combo of the allergy and not wanting to deal with poop that has kept me from becoming a pet owner. Instead, I have plants. Twelve to be exact with the latest addition. I was at Ikea in the kitchen accessory section when I saw the eggshaped container (Asker). The intended use is for the container to hang on a rack and hold silverware and such, but throw a dish underneath to take care of the drain hole and it makes a great small planter. I opted for a jade plant since it is slow growing. And no, I haven't named any of the plants (yet)...
The plural in the title is that I bought a new camera which was used to take the photo. As my friends know, I tend to carry too much stuff in my bag, including a camera. My smallest one isn't all that small or lightweight and while the iPhone can take photos, they aren't the highest quality. My very first digital camera which my folks gave me for Christmas one year was a Canon Elph (S100 I think). I loved that I could take the little but mighty (at the time) camera with me everywhere. So with that in mind, I picked up the Canon SD870 which is in the PowerShot/Elph line. Time will tell how I like it, but I know for sure that my back will thank me.
Well, I did it again. While there was a slight moment of hesitation, on Friday I had nearly 10 inches of my hair cut off. The timing was right with the Houston summer heat setting in. I had initially been growing it out for my brother's wedding which was back in January and since then, I just hadn't made an appointment for a trim knowing that it wouldn't be much longer until I had enough length to donate. The last time I donated in 2003, it was to Locks of Love. This time around, I'm sending the bagged ponytail to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Their required length is only 8" which with my layered hair, I figured would be a better choice as I wanted shoulder length hair after it was all said and done.
Will I do it again? Maybe, but for now I'm going to enjoy not having to wrangle tangles in the morning, get attacked by my hair at night, and performing surgery on the vacuum roller every other time I clean.
While I typically don't write about work, I spent most of the past week on a field trip to look at outcrops and road cuts in the San Juan Basin. Really, after taking a geology class in college I've never been able to look at a road cut in the same way. It's an excellent way to get some perspective at what is down below the surface of the Earth. As far as working in the industry goes, I've been fortunate to have fields that outcrop in the same vicinity. Although I'd gladly work a field that requires me to travel to Turks and Caicos or Spain like a couple of my coworkers/friends recently did.
The trip would be four days, ten people, and 3 SUVs. Monday morning we all flew into Albuquerque and loaded up to "drive" to Farmington where we spent the first night. And by "drive" I mean we would stop every so often to look at the formations that make up the basement rock to the San Juan Basin. Day 2-4 would be more of the same, but the formations would be ones we produce out of.
I'll be posting a few photos throughout the coming week, but I couldn't not post this one first. On Day 2, we had once again stopped along the side of the road on the way to Shiprock, maybe the Pictured Cliffs hogback? We had walked along the road to look at some of the cross-bedding and other such exciting geologic features. I was heading back towards the vehicles and looking to take a few more photos along the way when I saw it. All I knew was it was a fossil and when I pointed it out to my coworker Valerie she urged me on to grab it. It was a bit of a reach, but I soon had it down and was showing off my find. Evidently it is an ammonite, and quite an impressive one at that with quite the detail and 3.5" x 4" in size.
I realize that a crappy iPhone photo doesn't give it justice either, but it will have to do until I have time to do a better job. I also need to find someone to have it cleaned up and shellacked to preserve it. I should mention that I grew up looking for fossils, agates, yogos, and rocks. Dad even taught me how to pan for gold when I was a kid, so really, while I'm not a geologist, rocks are in my blood.
