I get by with a little help from my friends..

An entire month. Thirty days (more or less..). That's a while already, and it went by quite fast. During this time I didn't do much, really, I got an apartment, furnished it to a reasonable degree (I got my TV yesterday, no more watching Hulu on my 13" laptop), passed the written driving test (behind-the-wheel test next week, I hope) and started working, a bit.. I guess my main realization is that you should never take friends for granted (When I say friends, I also mean family). You see, I've known most of my friends for years - some of them I know longer than I know myself. and I pride in having friends that are hard to replace (not that I'm trying to)..
Which brings me to now - as I settle it, the void in between not working full time (I will in due time, and I will complain about it, I promise.. now I'm excited at the prospect) and finishing everything I had to do to complete this move is getting bigger. That's the void friends usually fill with a lot of fun and happiness (and support). I've been in touch with my friends over the phone and online, but it's hardly the same... I've started to meeting people around here and they're really nice and helpful. but it'll take a while until I feel comfortable calling them for nothing and just going for a beer (should be easier than I think)..

So I need to fill my free time..  and rather than studying, reading papers or textbooks to feel more comfortable with my work, I'm looking for other things to do. So I got myself a pair of bicycle (I'm free again, I have my favorite mode of transportation) and I'm trying to start running again (not working in the mean time.. I keep postponing). But I fins that I keep resorting to watching TV and cooking/baking.
I've always liked cooking..but my repertoire was always a bit limited and I feared baking. Baking is an amazing thing, in my opinion. it's the most basic skill one should have - make your own food (and it smells great - like home!). So, out of boredom, I made cookies. I must admit, I loved it! It was simpler than I thought, and even kindof exciting (since I didn't know what to expect). but I ended up with ~50 cookies. So I'm trying to portion, but I will probably (hopefully not) be fat by the end of this postdoc. I will start bringing leftovers to the lab.. My next hurdle was bread. I actually wanted to make bread before I wanted to make cookies, but for some odd reason, I could not find dry yeast on the morning of Christmas eve.. weird.

Anyways, I made bread just the other day. Bread in the states (the stuff they sell in grocery stores) is just not good. So I resorted to making my own.. first I thought I'd buy me a break maker.. but it's just not as fun (and expensive.. seems like a waste when I have this wicked oven). So I made whole wheat bread - I admit, it wasn't perfect, but it was great! and I hope its the first of many.. and I need to cut down on other carbs..


Happy new year! good luck with life and research and everything in between..