An Excercise in Deliciousness

In lieu of actually studying, I made lemonade.

And won.

Vanilla lavender lemonade (adapted from this recipe), also known as Operation HOMEMADE LEMONADE

1 plus 1/2 cups sugar
1 large sprig of rosemary
1 medium sprig of thyme
8 - 12 sprigs of lavender buds (still on the stems)
1 vanilla bean
6 lemons
water

1. Make a simple syrup by simmering 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup is hot.

2. Add half the sprig of rosemary, half the lavender, and one or two stems of thyme to the syrup. Split and scrape the vanilla bean and add both the beans and pod to the syrup. Set aside to steep while the syrup is cooling.

3. Wash lemons and slice into rounds. Place them in a large bowl and sprinkle with the remaining cup of sugar. Use a wooden spoon, mallet, masher, or other implement of smushing to squish the lemon slices and sugar until you've got liquid collecting in the bowl. When the lemon slices have been thoroughly smushed and just about submerged in the liquid, add five cups of water to the bowl and stir. Add the syrup to the bowl once it's reached room temperature. Stir after adding.

4. Store in glass bottles with the rest of the herbs and maybe a few slices of lemon.

ETA: If it's too strong for your tastes, add another half cup to a cup of water. I'd actually suggest this if you're not going to be mixing anything into it.

Scant millimeters from burnout

Taking Bio 213 and Chem 263 at the same time was not my best idea. The closer we get to the end of the quarter, the more I feel like I'm taking four or five classes rather than just three. Sure, they total to 17 credits, but that's my usual load. I will be so glad when tomorrow is over. My unknown identification with be complete and just require justification. My biology exam will be done and depending on how I do, I may not take the final. My archaeology exam will be over, but that's a cinch. I'll be able to focus on projects and memorizing reactions. The biochemistry stuff is fun, but trying to remember all the organic stuff as well will be a bitch and a half.

I'm looking forward to not really caring about protists (except in the abstract) again as soon as tomorrow's exam is over.

Heh...

Approximately nine months later, I finally come back. (Not that anyone's paying attention...) But in the past nine months, I've reworked a lot of my academic and career goals as well as worked out plans for just about everything that got changed.

Now, my general plan is to transfer winter quarter of next year to a four-year university - most likely UW - and major in biochemistry. If I can swing the classes and if I feel confident enough in my capabilities I will be double majoring in physics as well. Recent occurrences have made me realize how much I missed physics and have also made me remember how much I loved it when I was in high school.

Following graduation, I will hopefully be entering into a graduate program. The preferred program is in bioastronautics through MIT-Harvard HST's Medical Engineering/Medical Physics doctoral program. Of course, that's shooting for the stars with the GRE scores required, but if I miss that, I'll have no problem getting into any of the other programs I want. My other option for bioastronautics would be at University of Colorado, Boulder. I'm hesitant to go to Colorado but who knows. Of course, these aren't the only programs I'm looking into, but they are the ones I want most.

Back to the present, I'll be starting my final quarter of organic chemistry and biology in just over a month along with archaeology. Which will be an interesting change.