storms!

i love storms. last night we had rain, hail, thunder, lightning and a tornado. traffic lights are still shut down all over the city and roads are blocked off because of trees that fell. basically the road looks like a garden came through and hacked at every bush and tree in sight and then just left the scraps for someone else to clean up later. we also lost power several times last night. i went to sleep initially when the power was off and woke up a little while later to my bedroom light turned on and an odd silence. when you get used to sleeping with an ac unit on, the silence when it is not, is weird. i turned my ac back on three or four times last night because we kept losing power.

the weather before and after storms is also pretty neat. i was cold last night pre-storm, and it was very overcast. this morning, the air is cool and smells good (still not hawaii pre-/post-rain, but i digress), and it is very sunny. oh wait. i spoke too soon. it was sunny 30 minutes ago, but now it appears to be getting overcast again. alas.

yesterday was my last day of work before my ride. i work with some pretty cool people, so it'll be a bummer not to see them for a few months...but i don't have to go to work! i didn't really get to celebrate this yesterday because i had a long meeting almost immediately getting back to austin about summer ride logistics. i think the take-home message from the meeting was: weird stuff is going to happen and there's not really anyway to prepare for it. great? i revert back to earlier statements i've made to people that this ride will challenge everyone participating in a way they need to be challenged. for some people that will be just to ride everyday and for others it will be to lead their peers in some activity or another. i am looking forward to it. back to the celebrating though, after the meeting a couple of us went to a (very) late dinner, and shortly after that the storm happened. so really i celebrated by watching mother nature flex her muscles. it was impressive.

i suppose i also celebrated the night before my last day of work too though. my boyfriend finished his last final and i wanted to take him out for sushi to celebrate. so we got all dolled up and went out on the town, if you will. as it was a tuesday night, i didn't think (neither of us thought really) that we'd need a reservation. we showed up at uchi (http://www.uchiaustin.com/) and were told the wait would be an hour and a half. we looked at each other and decided that was unexceptable (i'd just gone running and he hadn't eaten in awhile--two really hungry people = bad combination). so we went to eddie v's (http://www.eddiev.com/) instead. its a seafood place (inland, i know), and the food was amazing. we were seated around 8:15p and the place was packed. in the next 45 minute or so people started leaving and it quieted down. i'd recommend going for a late dinner if you go because its a bit more amenable to, well, talking with your dining companion(s). the restuarant is kind of expensive (especially if you're a student), but if you're looking for good seafood and/or celebrating something special, i'd recommend it.

i'm getting my poster printed for my conference this afternoon...and then i'm really done with big things related to school and research that needed to be completed before june 1. yeah!