We've wined, we've waited, now it's time to celebrate 2016

[hippyscientist]

11 minutes ago, Neist said:

Well, look on the bright side. When you move to the US, whatever you're allergic to might not be here. It might take years for new allergies to set in!  

One unfortunate consequence of being active in the outdoors is that outdoorsy people tend to develop more severe allergies. Boo.

True, when I was at camp I had no allergies. 

If anyone wants to come do my research they're more than welcome? I'm going slightly nuts over here. BUT I just found that my advisor has a whole page written about my research on his website! That's kinda cool - my photo, mini CV and all. Quite a fun little surprise. 

[savay]

I have moved!! And packed everything! And used ALL OF THE BUBBLE WRAP. And now, I won't see my things until September in Seattle -- but it feels good to have that part done with.

I'm back on the east coast and I concur, Allergies are THE WORST. I forget how much mine act up back here, it's awful.

@jlt646 whoa, with the kouign amann! I used to make a bunch of croissants from scratch when I was a teenager (also to zen out), but I honestly cannot recall how I ever had the patience for lamination. Do you watch the Great British Bake Off? In the pasty episode of series 5 they have to make kouign amann and it was ROUGH. Due to moving and being at my mother's house we now have way too many eggs and I've been thinking of making some pavlovas with my new found unemployed free time. I'm open to some other egg-heavy suggestions!

[Cat_Robutt]

@savay You could always make an angel food cake and custard! That uses ALL the eggs.

@hippyscientist What do you take for your allergies? We've been cleaning lots and it's kicked up my childhood asthma (darn) so I've been taking DayQuil and flonase. blech!

Thank y'all for the makeup tips! I bought some primer for painting my face which is just like primer for painting a room I guess, and some waterproof things, and some clear lip liner so lipstick stays on....and it's working pretty well? I think.

Our 5k went well! There was one dude who ran it in 16:40. WOW what a baller! I ran it in 38:50. Nothing super, but also see childhood asthma above. We did it, though! 

Also it's HOT. Where we were in Los Angeles it was in the 60s and 70s. Here? 101, 98, 103. Great time to test out how waterproof this makeup REALLY is. 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I know that my relationship with my dad could be worse and that people go through a lot of pain caused by their parents. I still wish we could have a nice relationship.....

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

@Cat_Robutt High of 57 here today!

Also, @Need Coffee in an IV there's nothing wrong with wishing for a better relationship. Just because others have it worse doesn't mean anything.

[rhombusbombus]

Spending the first night in my apartment in state college. 

My mom gifted me with some furniture for my bedroom. It looks like pinterest!

My roommate is bringing some furniture with her for the living room and it is hideoouuusss. But its free so who am i to complain. Its def not ny aesthetic 

[MarineBluePsy]

3 hours ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

I know that my relationship with my dad could be worse and that people go through a lot of pain caused by their parents. I still wish we could have a nice relationship.....

I frequently wish this about both of my parents, but then I end up exhausted.

42 minutes ago, rhombusbombus said:

My roommate is bringing some furniture with her for the living room and it is hideoouuusss. But its free so who am i to complain. Its def not ny aesthetic 

Well get  your creative juices going!  Can anything be slipcovered?  Would decorative accents such as a tablecloth, vase, plants, art, odd paperweights, etc make it tolerable?

[marycaryne]

5 hours ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

I know that my relationship with my dad could be worse and that people go through a lot of pain caused by their parents. I still wish we could have a nice relationship.....

People having it worse is no reason for you to not be able to wish for a good relationship with any family member, especially a parent. People having it worse doesn't mean you aren't allowed to feel. It's like saying "people have it better so you can't be happy about xyz." It's ok to be disappointed and upset by your current relationship with your dad regardless of what others are going through.

And for what it's worth, I wish I had a decent relationship with my parents (especially my mom) as well...particularly one that was genuine. It's a sucky feeling. I'm sorry you have to feel that way too.

[hippyscientist]

6 hours ago, Cat_Robutt said:

@savayWhat do you take for your allergies? We've been cleaning lots and it's kicked up my childhood asthma (darn) so I've been taking DayQuil and flonase. blech.

I have prescribed stuff called fexofenadine (all the medicine names differ between here and the US so I'm gunna figure out what the active ingredients are). It's wonderful but sitll only partially works.

@Need Coffee in an IV dude parents are tough. Don't feel bad about the relationship you do have - be grateful you have a relationship at all. But that doesn't mean you can't complain about it!! Also nothing wrong with striving for better. Are there particular issues that you could address with your dad that might make it easier?? Without getting into details on a public forum, I didn't speak to my dad for a length of time, an event brought us back together but we still have a very tempestuous relationship but have a 100% honesty policy. Families are complicated and only the members involved know what's happening, and even then they don't necessarily know everything. 

@rhombusbombus you've moved in?! Whaaaaat?! At least you have a little sanctuary in the form of your bedroom. Furniture styles is one of the many many many reasons I've decided to go room-mate less. My housemate just got back from a week away in the middle of the night and was slamming doors and being super noisy. Cannot wait to move in to my own place.

[hippyscientist]

So I'm getting treatment from a variety of people in the clinical application of my research area of interest and it's SO COOL! Being able to see the theoretical principles in action in my own body & being able to explain my injuries using my knowledge combined with the clinicians expertise is so exciting. Being able to have intellectual conversations about stuff that I can't in the office because my current university doesn't focus on the clinical side of things. It's so interesting. Do any of you ever get to see the "real world" application of your research area (broadly)? 

[sjoh197]

3 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

So I'm getting treatment from a variety of people in the clinical application of my research area of interest and it's SO COOL! Being able to see the theoretical principles in action in my own body & being able to explain my injuries using my knowledge combined with the clinicians expertise is so exciting. Being able to have intellectual conversations about stuff that I can't in the office because my current university doesn't focus on the clinical side of things. It's so interesting. Do any of you ever get to see the "real world" application of your research area (broadly)? 

This has always been interesting with my personal research interests. In my field... a lot of stuff is real world application. 

But it's been really hard trying to explain to non-academics what I do, why anyone actually cares about it, and why there is any real world application. 

[sjoh197]

I've been working on a new pair of sheep feet. One foot down... another to go. 

 

[Apogeee]

13 hours ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

I know that my relationship with my dad could be worse and that people go through a lot of pain caused by their parents. I still wish we could have a nice relationship.....

Hang in there. There are some difficult people in the world. The weird thing is that we miss the difficult ones when they're gone, too, even though we did our best with them. Just keep on doing your best, while respecting your own boundaries. You won't regret it.

[jlt646]

3 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

I've been working on a new pair of sheep feet. One foot down... another to go. 

 

Ha- I have the same cat tree. 

Those sheep feet are super cute, also!

[Cat_Robutt]

19 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

Spending the first night in my apartment in state college. 

My mom gifted me with some furniture for my bedroom. It looks like pinterest!

My roommate is bringing some furniture with her for the living room and it is hideoouuusss. But its free so who am i to complain. Its def not ny aesthetic 

At least your room is cool?

8 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

I've been working on a new pair of sheep feet. One foot down... another to go. 

 

THOSE ARE ADORABLE!!!!!

 

@Need Coffee in an IV *hugs* family is a weird thing...we get told we are supposed to or should have happy family relationships, when in reality sometimes...we just don't get along. Family members can be the best and worst of humanity. My pard would love to have a great relationship with their mom, but...their mom is not a nice person, and trying to have a 'close relationship' would cause my pard a huge amount of emotional trauma. We're here if you need us.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

@sjoh197 those slippers are literally the cutest... how long do they take to make?

AND WHY AM I SO FAR FROM AN IKEA

[sjoh197]

42 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

@sjoh197 those slippers are literally the cutest... how long do they take to make?

AND WHY AM I SO FAR FROM AN IKEA

It took me about 2 days to make that one and I'm about halfway through the other foot.

[Danger_Zone]

On 6/8/2016 at 7:14 PM, Need Coffee in an IV said:

I know that my relationship with my dad could be worse and that people go through a lot of pain caused by their parents. I still wish we could have a nice relationship.....

Like other people have said, there's definitely nothing wrong with wanting to improve a relationship. Just because things could be worse does not mean that you shouldn't feel like things could be better. Family relationships are really tricky and complicated. I can't say I've known what you've done through, but I've had a lot of ups and downs with my family. I love them but I do wish things were easier with them.

@sjoh197 Awww that's a really cute sheep!

[MarineBluePsy]

So its a really bad sign if nothing is working right, right?  I've seriously just had it.  HAD IT!  I feel like having a fit, an actual adolescent style fit like Curly Sue with those itchy tights!  I'm not going anywhere.  This whole moving across the country for grad school has to be the stupidest idea I've ever had, clearly evidenced by the fact that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and my attempts at fixing things aren't working.  Geez I've failed as a grown up and am now going to commit to my decision to forget the whole thing by eating massive amounts of Taco Bell in the closet and watching whatever trashy reality tv I can find on hulu.

[hippyscientist]

1 hour ago, MarineBluePsy said:

So its a really bad sign if nothing is working right, right?  I've seriously just had it.  HAD IT!  I feel like having a fit, an actual adolescent style fit like Curly Sue with those itchy tights!  I'm not going anywhere.  This whole moving across the country for grad school has to be the stupidest idea I've ever had, clearly evidenced by the fact that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and my attempts at fixing things aren't working.  Geez I've failed as a grown up and am now going to commit to my decision to forget the whole thing by eating massive amounts of Taco Bell in the closet and watching whatever trashy reality tv I can find on hulu.

Oh wow, I'm so glad you wrote this. I ended up having a meltdown on the phone with my mom the other day because life is just too much. Give yourself a night or two of being a kid and eating junk food and just having that tantrum! Then pick yourself up and resume responsibility. Other than that I have very little advice, except sympathy, I'm in the same boat and so *hugs*. Last night I hit that wall so I bought a childrens ice cream from the ice cream van and went and played in the park.

I finally got approval to move onto the next bit of my research! This is going to take ages too but I'm over the worst anality (I hope). I'm also really looking forward to the days where waking up at 5.30am isn't considered normal. 6.30 sure no problem, but 5.30 is a little absurd.

[MarineBluePsy]

7 minutes ago, hippyscientist said:

Oh wow, I'm so glad you wrote this. I ended up having a meltdown on the phone with my mom the other day because life is just too much. Give yourself a night or two of being a kid and eating junk food and just having that tantrum! Then pick yourself up and resume responsibility. Other than that I have very little advice, except sympathy, I'm in the same boat and so *hugs*. Last night I hit that wall so I bought a childrens ice cream from the ice cream van and went and played in the park.

I finally got approval to move onto the next bit of my research! This is going to take ages too but I'm over the worst anality (I hope). I'm also really looking forward to the days where waking up at 5.30am isn't considered normal. 6.30 sure no problem, but 5.30 is a little absurd.

Heh my mom doesn't even pay attention when I'm talking about her favorite subject...her.  I can't count on her and never could.

I don't think a night or two is going to cut it.  I'm exhausted and fed up.  I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm not even excited anymore.  If I have to hear one more time about what an amazing opportunity this is and how lucky I am I'm going to stab someone with a fork.

So does this mean your research is back on track and everything will be done in time for you to leave the country?

[hippyscientist]

1 hour ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Heh my mom doesn't even pay attention when I'm talking about her favorite subject...her.  I can't count on her and never could.

I don't think a night or two is going to cut it.  I'm exhausted and fed up.  I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm not even excited anymore.  If I have to hear one more time about what an amazing opportunity this is and how lucky I am I'm going to stab someone with a fork.

So does this mean your research is back on track and everything will be done in time for you to leave the country?

We're here to vent to. I know I'm lucky with my mom and I'm so grateful for her. It does help to vent just let it all out. Doesn't matter how silly or monumentous the issue, having a good old cry and rant is awesome at times. You said it - you're exhausted and fed up. Classic burnout symptoms. Try to take some time to look after you (I know sometimes easier said than done). Have a bubble bath, treat yourself to a manicure (if that's your sort of thing), lock yourself in the bathroom and cry in the shower while listening to Celine Dion.... you know? Just allow yourself to feel crap. Is there someone you feel comfortable enough to go to and just ask them to be a shoulder? Metaphorically and/or actually. We all know on here that it's not luck to get into grad school - we've all worked our butts off for this opportunity and know htat the work isn't going to stop there. That's okay. It's normal to feel like this. Just try to not let it consume you. Find that sliver of good in the crap. Sorry I have no idea if this is helping but it's the stuff I've been concentrating on recently to get through this really stressful bit (honestly I've aged about 10 years in the past month - I've got grey hair and I'm 24!!!). 

 

Research is still off track but it's turned the corner into getting back on track. We'll see. I'm not going to be happy until I've got my data but I allowed a small celebration last night. I've got a conference tomorrow and a lot of travelling to do between now and then. Just time - I need a time turner.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

6 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

I don't think a night or two is going to cut it.  I'm exhausted and fed up.  I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm not even excited anymore.  If I have to hear one more time about what an amazing opportunity this is and how lucky I am I'm going to stab someone with a fork.

So does this mean your research is back on track and everything will be done in time for you to leave the country?

What went wrong? Because when I was in the middle/end of the moving process, I felt the same way. It gets better. 

[sjoh197]

6 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Heh my mom doesn't even pay attention when I'm talking about her favorite subject...her.  I can't count on her and never could.

OMG... this had me cracking up.... although in a sympathetic and understanding way. My step-father was like this... as is most of my extended family. I stopped speaking with my step-father years ago, and my mom divorced him very shortly after. I am lucky that my mother and father are both very friendly and caring. 

I know its not nearly as bad, but it kind of hurts my feelings that none of the three grandparents I have or other family have asked me anything about grad school. I'm the only person on my dad's side to ever go. And I will be the only person in the entire family pursuing a doctorate. At least my mom is in academia and we can talk about it a little. I'm just excited and have no one to talk to about it except my partner... who is inevitably tired of hearing about it lol. He is a very good listener though. 

[Neist]

@sjoh197, those totally look like Lamp Chop. Anyone know that show? Might be too young of a crowd here.  

8 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Heh my mom doesn't even pay attention when I'm talking about her favorite subject...her.  I can't count on her and never could.

I can't comment on a lot of points, but I can comment on this one. I think relationships like yours with parents are as common as they aren't. I don't think I've ever had a meaningful conversation with my parents in my entire life, nor would I feel comfortable asking for their advice now, or possibly any time in the future. As a direct result of that relationship, I'm pretty incapable of offering meaningful advice myself, so I just thought I'd like you know that I'm sorry your week is going badly, and I hope it gets better.  

We're here to help if you need it, even if it's simply supportive.