Today I got an email with all our French Open tickets attached! Hooray!

The first thing I did was translate the entire ticket since it’s in French and I needed to know why all the tickets have my name on them when they clearly show an illustration of someone checking IDs. Turns out I just have to change the names online and they will be registered correctly in the computer when the ticket is scanned. Check.

My next challenge was to find a good seating chart so I know where we’ll be sitting. Apparently, the organizers for Roland Garros have something against straightforward information about just where exactly your seats are. I could only find zone colors, no mention of the other qualification, OB/NB, on the tickets.

After looking all over the official website and various other ticketing aggregators, I decided to just make my own seating chart (hopefully helping out a few other folks) combined from several maps I found.

Behold!

So now I know where our tickets are!

(Here you go, Mom.)

June 2, 2008 (2 men’s singles/1 men’s doubles) - OB, Row 20, Seats 4, 6, 8, 10
June 3, 2008 (1 men’s singles/2 women’s singles) - NB, Row 5, Seats 60, 62, 64, 66

I spent a good hour this morning looking through old photos trying to locate one from when Eric and I first started dating. Ah, the days before digital photography!

(we were just kids! 21-year-old kids, but still.)

Ten years ago we passed each other on campus, I was on my way to a party and he was heading home. I asked if I could stop by later and he said sure. We were just friends at the time, but I had a huge crush on him. Two hours later I was sitting in my friend Kerri’s room deciding whether or not to call, it was 2am after all. I called, he picked up, and we spent the rest of the evening on his couch talking.

It turned out that he liked me too. :)

Our first date was to the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts to see “Sewing Comfort Out of Grief: The Oklahoma City Children’s Memorial Art Quilts” and we held hands while admiring the old photography collection.

And here we are, many dinners of lobster ravioli later… happy ten years, Eric! ;)

A recent article on the American Association of University Professors website caught my eye with details of international scholars that have been denied entry, or in some cases, re-entry, to the US. While all the cases are troubling, the cases where the government has refused to provide cause for denial are the the worst. In an atmosphere of secrecy and silence it is too easy for government officials to abuse power in an already bureaucratic process. Accountability demands a measure of openness and a system of appeal, and we need to make it easier for people to visit and conduct business, not more difficult. Continuing with the current system will only lead to continued bad publicity and animosity toward Americans traveling to other countries.

We’ve been fortunate to have largely avoided delays in our travels this year - even our non-compensated delayed return from Halifax wasn’t too bad. However, plenty of other people have had horrendous problems from the airlines, and it doesn’t seem like any of the airlines really care to fix their problems. Due in large part to these indifferent attitudes people are beginning to push much harder for a federal passenger bill of flyer’s rights. If you’d like, you can sign the online petition urging this legislation forward. I think this is an important issue and I’m hoping that a version of it is passed in the near future.

I’m guessing that my grandmother was younger than I am today when this photo was taken… but today she turns 88.

I have many fond memories of my gram while I was growing up. We vacationed in Florida with my grandparents every year and as a special treat I would get to spend the weekend with them for my birthday which usually meant shopping at Water Tower Place (when they lived in the Hancock building), sewing practice, and eating lots of sweets. :)

She and I lived together in college as her condo was a mere mile from Eckerd. And even though we are separated by almost 60 years, we managed to become very close during those four years.

Through many boyfriends (me), a broken hip (her), and countless fights about laundry, we still remain good friends.

I love you, gram… happy 88th.

See photos of our wedding here.

Our one year anniversary of Riesling’s rescue was on August 12, while we were on vacation. A whole year. She’s such a huge part of our life now and at the moment is curled up next to me seeking protection from the faint thunder in the distance.

Eric and I had discussed getting a dog for years, but we figured we traveled too much and never followed through with the plan. When we moved to NC, I found a local schnauzer rescue and since that was one of the top hypoallergenic breeds on our list (I am, unfortunately, allergic to cats and dogs), I downloaded an application.

The extensive application sat on my computer desktop for several weeks and finally I took an hour and filled everything out.

The approval process took a few weeks because they called all three of our references and conducted a home visit. The volunteers who run the rescue spend much of their time (and money) to rescue these dogs, so they want to make sure they are placing them in an appropriate home from the beginning!

Once we were approved, I scanned Petfinder.com daily to see what new dogs came in and after only a week or so, “Tinkerbell” showed up…

She was only 13.5 lbs and scruffy as heck when the rescue picked her up. She lived with a 90-year-old smoker whose family put him in a nursing home and turned pup in because no one wanted her. She had just turned 5 years old.

She was at the upper range of the age we wanted but honestly? Her ears sold me. :) Both Eric and I emailed each other about her at nearly the same time, so we set up an appointment to meet her the following week.

She was just about the friendliest schnauzer I’d ever met and we fell in love with her instantly. Her foster mom, Kathleen, wanted to give her a little more time to recover from her spaying and hernia surgery, so we waited a few days to come back and get her the day after my birthday.

Having a pet when you are a kid and then having one as an adult (when you have to do everything) is very different. I’ll admit, it was tough at first. We had to develop a schedule and teach her the rules, but even though we only had her for a week before we had to take a sudden trip to Chicago, I missed her while we were gone.

Today, Riesling is a healthy and quite active 18.5 lbs. We are convinced that she is solar powered, as she rises with the morning sun and doesn’t slow down until the sun sets. Thank you, Ries, for making a wonderful addition to our family. (Even if you drive me crazy barking at squirrels, postal trucks, etc.)

I’ve decided to move the majority of posts about my artwork over to my brand new art blog.

Please check it out if you have enjoyed seeing my artwork pop up from time to time in this space. I’ll be updating over there as frequently as we do here with recent paintings, interesting sites, links, and news.

Not only does his auto insurance go down, he can rent a car!

Ryan, you will always be my little brother, no matter how old you are…

(my brother and dad circa 1985ish)

Happy 25th!

While I wouldn’t entirely credit “Mr. Wizard’s World” with influencing me to major in biology years later, I watched that show religiously on Nickelodeon. Cool experiments that could be done with ordinary items—I loved that show.

RIP Don Herbert, and thanks for giving us an entertaining look at science.