You can call him Doctor!

Since I've been off the grid since Friday morning, here's what I've been up to...

Friday morning, my friend/ labmate had his PhD defense and was successful and now we can call him Dr. Travis.

After his talk, I worked a bit and started a reaction until I left work about noon to take the motorcycle home, change into shorts and go to the Wallmarche to pick up the goods to make my salad that I was taking to the picnic. I ended up making an old family staple that we call "Aunt Bonnie's Salad."

"Aunt Bonnie's Salad"
bowl of leafy greens of your choice
as much as you want - shaved ham
onion powder to taste
garlic powder to taste
parsley to taste
apple cider vinegar
oil

Add everything in a bowl and mix. Ta da! An Amazing salad that is super simple and super yummy.

Here are a few pictures from the picnic.

Yes those are nerdy chemical symbols on the cake!

Nash group members

more Nash group members

After the park, a bunch of us went to a restaurant called South Fork that carries brews from a Pullman brewery. Since Travis doesn't drink, we celebrated for him. I ended up having a delicious glass of their House Ginger Ale! It had little bits of fresh ginger in it! Yum!!

I left early because I wanted to get in a run. I ended up running and meeting up with Laura who was house sitting and walking the dogs. I walked about 2 miles with her and then ran home for an overall total of 4.2 miles. Then I was a vegetable the rest of the night. Dateline was a rerun so I was a bit disappointed.

On Saturday, I woke up early and picked Laura up and we went to the Farmers' Market. I got some asparagus, cherries and my carb-y goodness again. I got away with only spending $15, I was proud of myself b/c I spent $12 just on carbs last week!

After dropping Laura off, it was time to locate my Old Navy bathing suit bottoms that I had bought I while ago (it only took 3 places in my house to locate them.) I have a black top, so I bought an all black bottom and a black bottom with multicolored anchors on it. I opted for all black with the first time out. I thought it would compliment my blindingly white body just nicely! I wore a cute orange boob-tube cover-up over my suit. I packed a bag of 2 towels, 2 different kinds of sun screen (spray and rub on kinds), cherries, my breakfast roll from the market, magazine and water bottle. I drove to Moscow and paid my $5 and was ready to get my bake on!

I met up with Erin who was already there and we got situated and had a timer set up for when we should flip. When we got too hot we took a dip in the pool. We dubbed this the 'Dip n Flip.' After about the second round we decided to take the tube slide. When I came out of the slide, I totally submerged and all I could think about was making sure I didn't lose my top!!! I was fully covered but think I had about a gallon of water up my nose. I was hoping that this would help battle the crap that was in there that I've been coughing and sniffling since Wednesday. It didn't really do much good b/c I'm still coughing on Monday.

I ended up lasting til 2:30 when I felt fully baked/exhausted for the day. Good thing I stopped when I did b/c I got burnt around the strap of my bathing suit. You know that area where your arms don't really reach? Yea. That area is where I got burnt. I thought the spray would have gotten there but I guess I need to be more diligent next time. I came home and fell into a coma on the couch watching sports on tv. I woke up hungry and ended up with Pizza Hut. I got a large stuffed crust supreme lovers pizza for $13! SCORE! After eating, my friend Melissa texted me that she and her hubby were out and I should join them. I met them at the local brewery and I guess they close at 9ish b/c at 8:45 they were brought their tab to pay. Then we moved on to South Fork and I had another Ginger Ale. I know! I'm a rebel! We chatted the night away but not too late b/c I had hopes of getting up early and going for a run.

On Sunday, I was very coughy and still quite pinchy from the sunburn and wasn't feeling like a run let alone a long run. I relocated to the couch and hung out and watched Wimbledon, baseball and beach volleyball. I got motivated about 5 and went to Walmart to buy fruit and stuff for my pasta salad that i'm making for a BBQ today. I came home, unpacked my goods, dropped some garden stuff off with Laura b/c she was having garden trama and then went to Melissa and John's place to watch Talledega nights with the Frenchies. Half way through, there was in intermission and pizza and bread sticks were made and eaten along with an apple pie that Mel made! It was a great night! I even painted my finernails! Woo!

I went home about 10:30 in hopes of getting up early and running this morning. That idea was thrown out the window when I was up several times in the night letting Heif out and then yelling at Heif barking (probly at fireworks that I didn't hear). So no 5:30 wake up call for me. I ended up sleeping in 20 mins and then got ready for work. I got some stuff done this morning and then I'm going to go home and get my stuff ready for my BBQ tonight.

Did you see any good fireworks over the weekend?

Were your pets freaked out by all the noise? Heif may be a big dog but he is a giant weenie when it comes to loud noises. I will probly just park my bean bag chair on the porch and watch them this year. That way I don't have to deal with the crowds or worrying about getting home so I can get enough sleep before going to work tomorrow. 

Happy 4th everyone!