Duke Photos

I promised photos from Duke. I found the campus to be just beautiful. I enjoyed having 70 degree weather for a few days and just soaking in the sun. Here are a few highlights and to find more go to my flickr account.

Friday 5

1. I just got back from Duke today, so I’m a bit discombobulated.

2. The faculty and student I met with were all really really nice. The campus was gorgeous and there were tulips blooming!

3. I ran into my Smith “big sister”, which was incredibly random.

4. I came home sure but confused about choices. I keep wavering and then going back to Chicago. I think I know my ultimate goals. I think that I will be writing a mission statement explaining why U of C is good for me.

5. I have busy several days ahead of me, leading up to Divinity Day at University of Chicago. Then, I guess, I’ll be sure.

Off to see a grad school

I leave tomorrow morning for Durham, North Carolina for the Duke visit. I’m excited to be in the south for the first time (basically) and feel the warm weather…although mid-to-high 70s will be a bit shocking.

And when I return, there will be pictures and better evaluated decisions.

Missed Friday 5, so how about Saturday 6?

I was too distracted by our March snowstorm to write yesterday…and I forgot about Friday 5. So, here goes a special edition of Saturday 6.

1. We had a huge dumping of snow in the midwest and Madison now has had 99.5 inches of snow this season. That’s a lot.

2. I leave for a quick Duke look-see on Wednesday morning. I’m interested in what North Carolina looks like, but I am leaning towards Chicago.

3. Today, we (Allison and I) took a daytrip to Milwaukee. We went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Miss Katie’s Diner, and the Mitchell Domes.

4. The art museum was awesome! There were some great modern art pieces especially, and the building has wings. I loved the matrix, which was a dark room with rows of hanging blue string lights. I also enjoyed the special exhibit, Foto, which was mostly photographs from Europe between the wars.

5. Miss Katie’s Diner has amazing milkshakes (I didn’t have my own but tasted Allison’s). But the rest of their food leaves something to be desired. I was excited about the fried eggplant, but it needed more flavor. My vegetarian chili was like a red vegetable soup with some spices. So, go there for the milkshakes. They might have good breakfast food though…

6. The Mitchell Domes provided great people-watching. Although it was incredibly hot, we really enjoyed the unusual flowers and trees in the tropical dome.

Taxes

Today I installed TaxCut on my computer and filled out all the info regarding my W-2s (yes, that is plural) and that one account that has stocks in it. And then I went onto my insurance website and downloaded all my medical expenses for the last year (read pharmacy) and put them into an Excel file. I have probably mentioned here before how much I love Excel, but it’s likely that it was a long time ago. I used to use Excel a lot a couple years ago when I was working at a REAL job that didn’t require me to even smell coffee on a regular basis unless I decided to visit a coffee shop myself.

Anyway, I knew enough about formulas and formatting and was pretty decent. So, here I sit, granted my brain is stuffy from the sinus infection, but I’m trying to add these numbers up and it takes me 5 times to figure out how to get the SUM in the right column and then the SUM of the numbers all together. I felt silly. And then, eureka, the blue box would expand (it’s likely that I could have made it expand all along) and I had it. I spend lots of money on medications. 10% of my income last year (and it was a small income) went to my allergy medications. Gotta get a cheaper pre-existing condition!

Friday 5

1. Still sick with a sinus infection and a fever. Why the fever? I don’t know…and the infection is making me miserable.

2. More grad school decisions have come out. Yes from U of Chicago with a half-tuition scholarship, no from Harvard. I did really well in the admissions process and am happy with my options. I have big decisions to make! I’ll be visiting both schools in the next few weeks. My pros-cons lists have been updated, but you will see that most thoughts are very superficial.

3. Spring is here! I thought that I would never be able to say that in Madison. But, I can see the street and the driveway. Lots of snow has melted and it’s over 30 degrees. We even had some rain this morning…

4. Last Friday, I chaired a Young Adult Havurah Shabbat Dinner. It was quite fun. The topic was “Justice, Justice, I shall Pursue” and Rabbi Laurie facilitated a conversation about the challenges of doing social justice work and it’s relation to Judaism. I was pretty out of it (four 5AM mornings in a week), so I just enjoyed the discussion. Oh, and I asked someone at a co-op to host. It went well and exposed people to a not uncommon alternative living situation in Madison.

5. I’m looking towards a weekend of sleeping late, working, getting better, laundry, cleaning, and movies (at home).

pause

Although I’m not the most avid blogger. I am going to take a brief pause…I have been experiencing lots of early morning shifts which are wreaking havoc with my sleep and I have a cold I can’t kick. I should be back in action by late this week.

On Saran Wrap

I know that in this day and age, I should be concerned about what covers my food. But, for me, plastic wrap/saran wrap still does the trick in the microwave. For this past  year, my sister and I had been using a box of Glad wrap. It was dismal–not well sticking or stretching. I was very unhappy with the results, but you have to get through the box or it’s just a waste. Besides, our favorite saran wrap was not easily obtainable, since it can only be found at Costco. Madison will not be opening up a Costco until this summer.

While in Florida, my grandma generously gave my mother two humongous boxes of 500 feet (each box) of Stretch-Tite saran wrap.  This saran wrap is amazing. When I used it for the first time to cover my TJ’s curry and tuna dish, I was astounded at the wonderful condition of the wrap and the food as it came out of the microwave. The food cooked better and the wrap stayed on clear and tight. What a beautiful sight! (I couldn’t resist)