Proposal, potlucks and planning...too much to do!

Finally, I finished my proposal yesterday and sent it off to my committee to read before my meeting tomorrow. I'm also done with the eels (for now) but it looks like I'll be collecting snails and fish on Friday or Saturday (weather dependent) so I won't be getting much time off during the holidays...at this point, I haven't taken a day off in 2 1/2 weeks anyway...who the hell envies the life of a grad student in biology?! I'm not complaining though...having my proposal, and therefore my research plan, laid out gets me excited about my project and I'm realizing how much I should already be doing...3 years is not very long to fit it all in!

I did go to a potluck/party on Friday at Sabine's, one of the postgrads who's office is next to mine. I had a fabulous time! And it's such a small world - my friend Rachel showed up...Sabine is friends with Rachel's soon-to-be flatmate. We ate, drank beer, played SingStar on PS2 -ha! I sang, duets with this total cutie, Careless Whisper by George Michael and Suspicious Minds by Elvis (my mom would be so proud) and then sang Avril's Complicated with another girl - and ended up dancing when I was trying to leave. Some pushy German guy asked me for a ride home, when I was saying I was leaving he actually took my dish out of my hands and grabbed and pulled me to the dance floor - god, I was annoyed! - but of course then Sabine's flatmate wanted me to dance so to avoid dancing with the "hands-on" guy, I jumped in the middle of the circle to dance...he wasn't so grabby once I was the center of attention! Then on the way home he wanted me to drop off my girlfriends first, I told him no. Do pushy men really get any where with women?

I felt another earthquake! 10pm monday I was sitting on my bed - working on my proposal - and it sounded like thunder and everything shook, even Anton, the cat, picked up his head. But again it only lasted a few seconds. It was a 4.2 only 25 miles away!

Got my hair cut for the first time since moving! I'm loving it...similar to what Maggie would do and similar price! The stylist, Andrew, also owns a tour business and gives historic, ghost tours in the evenings...they sound fabulous!

I'm looking forward to Christmas and a couple of days off!! Deanna has the house all decorated. Weird having outside Christmas lights when it's light out 'till 9 something. We have a live tree in a pot that she's used for a few years now...we decorated it a week or so ago. And it's surrounded by heaps of presents for me! Every one must be feeling sorry for me 'cause I'm "all alone" on Christmas! I can't wait to open them all! Finally Deanna got a box of presents today so they aren't only for me any longer. On Christmas Eve I'll be heading to a potluck/bbq at one of the post-docs in my lab and on Christmas Day I'll be going to an orphan Christmas, that I am now in charge of organizing - how the new girl got that job is beyond me! Not sure what's up for New Year's - thought I might go camping and to Queenstown with some friends but as I'll be collecting snails and fish before that, I don't think I can take that many days off....so am looking for something to do around town...