VIVA 4 days...

and counting!!  The mental preparation for a 6-night AI trip is pretty minimal.  We are psyched that friends will be joining us, and excited to meet any other fun people who are at the resort when we are (that's one of the more fun things about this type of trip - the people!).  Well okay, and being honest, the food and drink are pretty high up there as well, in terms of things that we look forward to as we prepare.  So I thought it would be appropriate to post a few photos of food/drink that other vacationers have posted online...savoring the thought!

EPM: All about the food

Our vacations are primarily about relaxation and food.  Well, ok, mainly food.  The fact that an all-inclusive resort allows you tons of choices in the realm of food makes it very appealing to the Chai household.  I found some awesome photos of EPM resort foods - but this most recent one takes the cake.  I love amazing room service breakfast foods!!  7 days to paradise!

conversion never felt sweeter

Over the course of my life, I have dabbled in Macs and PCs, always quick to choose the most convenient option at the time that I needed a computer.  As I learn more about operating systems and internet junk and system performance, I find that the world of Mac is sexy, sleek, and seductive enough that I'm willing to throw my PC-love (specific to statistical software packages that always are developed more quickly for PCs than Mac) out the window.

And yesterday, all those thoughts came to fruition when my loving husband presented me with a fabulous gift of a MacBook Pro (15'').  It is the most gorgeous machine I've ever owned, and will most certainly receive the love and attention it deserves.  Here are a few photos of my new baby...and believe me, she'll have a name at some point in the near future.  :)  

Sand Flea War

During our wedding trip to Mexico last year, I was the lucky recipient of a number of insect bites that left enormous welts on my back, arms, and legs.  I didn't know exactly what these were, and quite frankly didn't care too much about them until we got back to the mainland and I noticed how very ugly they were.  After some searching, I decided that I must have been bitten by 'sand fleas' (ew!).  According to my research, they only bite certain people in certain settings - totally random - and 'sensitive people' are most likely to be affected.  Great.  

If you're in the mood for prevention, and are heading to a beach vacation this fall, keep these things in mind:

1. Step 1
   Try to avoid the beach after it has rained. These moist, cooler conditions seem to put the fleas at their friskiest state. Give the area a chance to dry and warm up a little before venturing out.
2. Step 2
   Wait until mid-morning to early afternoon to go the beach, as the cooler early morning hours are a favorite time of these little mites.
3. Step 3
   Give your body a good coating of insect repellent before heading out. Check the label to make sure that the repellent works on fleas and not just mosquitoes.
4. Step 4
   Put something between yourself and the sand before sitting down, be it a beach towel or lawn chair. The reason sand flea bites are commonly located on the backs of the thighs is because this is the most exposed and accessible area when sitting directly on the sand.
5. Step 5
   Wear longer shorts if there will be direct contact with the sand. Board shorts work fairly well. Be mindful of the calves and ankles, however, as they are fair game as well.
6. Step 6
   Reapply the insect repellent if the beach party continues after sunset. Biting insects tend to get a second wind when the evening sets in.

Read more: How to Prevent Sand Flea Bites | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2083810_prevent-sand-flea-bites.html#ixzz0vff1pCbC

Found: CUTE suit

 Barreling toward Mexico...T-minus 12 days and counting...and of course, that last-minute freak-out hits.  "I'm going to be there for 7 days and I have...2 swimming suits?  Ack!!"  This always leads to a harried internet search for reasonably-priced and reasonably-styled, modern swim gear.  Not too easy when you can't try it on.  And this year, I was determined to get a swim suit skirt.  Tricky business, that is, with my other requirements in place (the cute, non-grandma look is somewhat hard to find with a skirt bottom).  But triumph emerges from the land of JCrew!  (and at 30% off, who can say no? not me...)  I got both pieces in 'bright eucalyptus.'  Does anyone else have recommendations on sweet suits?

The man who shaves in his truck

I have sucked at contributing to the blogosphere lately.  I have also become increasingly disturbed by this man in a red Chevy truck who passes me every morning on my way to work.  And every morning that I see this man, he is shaving his face.  In his truck.  While driving.  "Sir, do you know why we pulled you over today?"  "No office, because I wasn't speeding...but hold on a second, I missed a section of my neck, can you move away from the mirror for a second"  This is completely ridiculous to me.  Not only is it a hazard, similar to putting makeup on in the car, or texting while driving, but it is also downright GROSS.  My whole creepy-crawly-skin feeling about this can be summed in one question: Where does the hair go?  


In other news, we depart for our Mexico anniversary vacation in only 17 days, 19 hours, 36 minutes...yessssssssssss.

EPM Photo of the Day

Can you believe it?  Two in one week??  Shock!  Awe!! 

I want to be there NOW please.

EPM Photo of the Day

And now that the world is settling a bit again...I can get back to being ridiculously excited about the Mexico trip 2010.  EPM here we come!

Procrastination, made eas(ier)

I absolutely love to procrastinate.  At the same time, I hate the physical and mental consequences of procrastination. 

For example, right now I'm just sitting here grading student responses.  Obviously NOT because I am writing this post, but I am SUPPOSED to be grading student responses.  It isn't that those responses are boring, or difficult to read/grade; it isn't that there is absolutely nothing rewarding about grading; and it isn't that I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open (I exercised tonight so I still do have some energy, amazingly).  The art of inattention to the task at hand is just MORE rewarding than doing what I should be doing.  I can't even completely say why.  It just is.  I'd rather admire the nice background I finally found for this blog; or read about random peoples' crap on Facebook; or listen to this very cool version of Over the Rainbow that my Genius found inside my iTunes (which is now combined with my husbands, so the library has 11,867 items as of right now).  It's beautiful and I'd rather dream about being over the rainbow, where there is no grading to be had.  Sigh. 

EPM Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day: The X-Lounge

EPM has an on-beach nighttime lounge where you can bask in the beauty of the beach as the sun sets and falls into the ocean.  It is uber-modern with white couches and tables, bar service for as long as people are around, and ambient lighting once the sun has departed. 

So...you think you want to change your name.

Well, I agreed with the husband long ago that I would indeed change my name.  My previous college-aged women-libber self would not have gone along so easily (I dragged her kicking and screaming) but it was pretty important to my husband, and the more I thought about it, it would make life a little easier, especially when/if children join our family.  So, I thought, cool, I'm going to change my name.  A few months after the wedding I stopped by the Social Security office, ready to change my name.  Either I was completely dazed or they messed up - but I came out with the name (first) Mindy (middle) Joy (last) Dahl Chai.  I then ventured to the dreaded DMV, where I again received an identification card with (first) Mindy (middle) Joy (last) Dahl Chai written on it.  I didn't really recognize any issues, that is until my husband opened the letter containing my license from the mail and exclaimed 'Dahl Chai? I thought your middle name was going to be Joy Dahl!'.  Wow.  I honestly - truly - had not even recognized this until he said that.  I felt like a complete idiot.  Am I that mentally busy (is my cognitive load really that high) that I didn't see this? 


Then, topping it off, we visited Sports Authority to get me an annual fishing license.  Using my driver's license, the dude behind the counter only entered my 'first' last name - Dahl.  The husband gave me that look 'see, I told you people would get confused' - when all along, I agreed with him and never wanted 2 last names.  Wow, what a ride.

Today, I re-visited the SSN office, and the DMV, all in about 40 minutes.  Thank goodness for small towns on a Thursday mid-morning.  And the biggest issue?  They made me re-take my license picture, which had finally been a good one.  Meh.

A Photo a Day

I am becoming increasingly excited for our Mexico 2010 trip (94 days to go!), so I decided to pull down a few photos of Excellence Playa Mujeres (EPM) resort and make a collage for my computer's desktop background (dork, I know).  Then I thought - I should share these fun photos with the world!  Maybe this will even convince a few more of you to come along to EPM. 

This pic was taken inside the resort; they have 'pools' that form a kind of river around and through the property, with bridges that go over the river.  Apparently you can grab a pool floatie and glide around the resort at a leisurely pace. 

Rest your wings my butterfly

I love listening to Josh Groban while I grade student responses and papers and exams.  There is a significant link between music and various events in my life.  For instance, in graduate school, while I wrote my comprehensive examination responses, I listened to to Enigma over and over and over again.  Josh Groban creeped into the end of the comps process, and then continued while I was writing my dissertation.  I know every word, every transition, every key change in those songs.  And most of them were learned subconsciously, because technically I was multi-tasking the entire way through.  Hopefully I'm still pretty good at multitasking and am grading student work fairly as I continue to listen.  ;)  Only 1 week to go this semester, and then I get a 4-week break before summer session begins.  I'll be teaching a class at LCCC and UW again - both online - this summer session, for only 8 weeks (versus the usual 16-week semester).  Then, I get another 4-week break in August before the Fall semester starts.  The more I do this teaching thing, the more efficient and effective (hopefully!) I become.  It's pretty exciting stuff. 

Back to Mexico 2010

In a slightly sporadic move, we decided last Sunday to return to Mexico in August 2010.  In my head, the excuse was 'well, it is our anniversary, and the prices are just so low in August...' - when really there is no good excuse.  The notion of 'needing' a vacation or a break from general life stuff has always been lost on me, which is probably why at the ripe old age of 30, I can't even sit still long enough to watch a whole movie.  This is a sad fact that my husband is attempting to help me overcome.  So back to Mexico it is!  We'll be staying at one of the resorts that was on the original list of wedding resorts, but at the time was in a price bracket that concerned me (in terms of our guests and the cost of the ceremony/reception).  However, this down economy must be doing something 'right' because now we, and some of our friends, will be going for 6 nights of glorious all-inclusive pleasure!  Excellence Playa Mujeres got great reviews on Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com) and was actually once owned by the same company who built our wedding resort (Secrets Maroma Beach).  So we have good confidence that we will have excellent (ha) food, service, and accommodations.  I am personally excited to have NOTHING to plan or pull off (a wedding, for instance) and to get to just enjoy myself. 

Julie and Julia Inspiration

(A Mindy Post) Last night I watched almost all of Julie and Julia (with 30 minutes left I remembered that the dogs were at home alone ALL DAY and probably up to naughty business, so the movie will be continued).  First the first time in a great while I actually felt inspired by a movie.  

This probably seems an odd choice for an 'ispirational film'  - most people would look to something like "The Blind Side" for that.  But, since early January, I have been cooking - actually cooking - something I have never truly done before.  I pay attention to ingredients, weekly fliers at local grocery stores, I actually read my Cooking Light magazine (to which I have been subscribed for over a year), I ordered Real Simple magaine, I installed 3 recipe finders on my iPod touch, I print recipes and then use them - and - I organized my pantry.  I now buy canned tomatoes in bulk and large packages of meats (which are then broken down into useful sizes in ziploc bags and frozen) from Sam's Club, and try to plan weekly evening meals for us (and even friends sometimes!).  This is an entirely new way of looking at the world of food.  I have transformed from "I'm not a cook, have no interest" into "I can completely manage this and practice to become better, and enjoy it along the way."  I think Christopher quite likes it too (except that one night of beef pot pie....ugh....). 

The film Julie and Julia inspired and reminded me that most people, in most cases, can do anything if they are motivated and use their skills with purpose.  It also reminded me that people are multidimensional and quick to forget about the other important pieces of their lives when they find something new to enjoy.  I didn't feel like the movie developed the character of Julie's husband very well at all, but his actions were the most poignant to me in terms of a lesson. Love your food and your projects, but love your people first and best, always.  More to come on the topic of food, love, cleaning, pets, and randomness. 

We don't "Do" Hallmark Holidays

My husband has informed me of this fact, and in general I do agree. Why put a ton of money and effort into something that was misconstrued throughout the ages, only to be turned into another valiant effort of consumerism in America in today's world? I found some very interesting information regarding the actual history of St. Valentine's Day, and thought I'd share it here - not only because I like to be informed with evidence and truth, but also with varying interpretations of the same thing.

"Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, Valentine flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.

Be My Valentine

Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.

During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

Cupid

The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards."

Fascinating stuff. I'm not sure whether I'm happy or sad that we no longer use stoning and beheading as punishments for particularly stupid people, but I personally do not with to further contribute to the amazing amount of profit that the Hallmark card company brings in each year due to this evolving holiday. It isn't that I don't appreciate some love-showing... just not only on one day of the year.

(source: http://wilstar.com/holidays/valentn.htm)

Where to go from here?

After a long, stagnant few months (at least in terms of our bloggosphere presence - nothing about the past few months has been actually stagnant), the Chai family is reappearing on the scene.  Here's a quickie recap of our Fall09 and early Winter10 months:

--->We got married - twice - within 29 days (well, three times technically, but that's a story for another day...).

 --->Christopher quit his job and started working in a research lab at the University of Wyoming.

--->Chai Photography stayed busy with family photography and wedding photography.

--->Mindy continued teaching classes at LCCC and UW. 

--->Mindy continued enjoying her job at the Department of HEalth.

--->Christopher took the GRE in anticipation of applying to psychology Ph.D. programs in 2010. 

--->We spent Christmas in northern MN with my (Mindy's) family.  We drove there and back, with the schnauzers, straight through.  We were reminded of why we don't do this every year.

--->Christopher applied to graduate schools for Fall 2010 entry.

--->Christopher received word that he will be interviewing for at least one school in February.

--->Christopher found the joys of ice fishing in Wyoming. 

 --->Christopher and Mindy started discussing when they will start expanding the family (TBA). 

--->Mindy began picking out paint colors for the interior of the house, which has been white for nearly 3 years because we weren't sure we would stay in Wyoming.  Now, we could be here another 4-5 years.  

Whew.

Testing, testing...

What?  New look, new ideas, new topics?  Yes!