Mystery solved

So, the main aerial shot of "Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital" in House is actaully Frist Center, equivalent to the UW HUB. Actually, you are seeing the backside of Frist, the lower floor is dining, and if you look to the building to the left of the "hospital"/Frist, that is McCosh Health Center, yes, Hall Health...

Jury is still out for the aerial shot of the river and bridge - we're currently thinking it's the Lake Carnegie and the bridge is a part of Washington Road... still need to investigate further...

Though, I guess I could google or wikipedia this and someone would tell me the correct locales.

***Edit: it appears that I am most definitely right about Frist - you know Wikipedia is the ultimate source of needed knowledge...

The weather's broke

okay... it's snowing... not sticking... but there are definite white flakes falling.

come on now... it's October...

I know that I'm in New Jersey, but still...

First day of being a Tiger

I survived the first day and I think I'll go back. Not too bad so far.

The day started out with the HR Orientation (aka, turn in your payroll forms, listen to all the policies, learn about the benefits available, etc...) but I got to watch an information video about Princeton - a brief history of Princeton to be exact. I learned about the history of the campus during the Revolutionary War, the key presidents of the university, and learned that that aerial scene of pretty buildings and lawn with what looks to be a dirt track field in Fox's TV medical drama "House" is actually a shot of campus (since all the doctors of House work in Princeton-Plainsboro hospital - yeah, that's fictional - first clue: since when did a hospital look like that on the inside?)

Afterwords I got to go get my TigerCard, which I can put PawPoints (yes, PawPoints) on for buying food on campus, opening doors, accessing the library. UW has prettier cards, but then again, I'm bias, but at the same time, I did not look orange on my student or staff id...

Anyway, then I got to find my way over to the E-Quad to eventually be shown my work space. Now brace yourselves, my lovely UWAA friends - I HAVE AN OFFICE!!! AND I DON'T HAVE TO SHARE IT!!! (as of right now, there is a second desk in there in case they run out of space). Only bummer right now is that my phone line is currently in the office next door, so if my phone rings, Roxanne will yell at me to say that it's ringing for me to run over and grab it (I'm sure you can relate to this headache Kristin). Though, I have to say, it seems foreign to work a day at a computer and not have to be there to answer a phone - doesn't seem to be a problem that my phone is in the office next door right now.

So, as of right now, I have an office, computer with login and email, and starting the task of organizing all the info coming in for the annual report (two volumes) for NSF saying where the center is in the research. And tomorrow I get to be a friendly face for high-schoolers checking in and wondering where the bathroom is for an event tomorrow (this is reminicient of my first day at the UWAA. Only thing is is that I have to learn what to do in the afternoon so that I can take care of it for the same event Thursday since the coordinator of this event has to leave early on Thursday... ahh, the start of the "catch-all" title in the job description...)

Guess it's time to Huskify the place - nobody there to tell me that the colors are all wrong.

:)

Dawg gone Tiger

Well, the news is now official as Princeton HR has finally contacted me, but I won't be getting the formal letter for a couple of days.

I have a job.

I will be working at MIRTHE (Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment, which is under the big umbrella known as PRISM (Princeton Research Institute for the Science/technology of Materials), funded by a huge NSF award, located in the E-Quad, not too far away from Andrew and his studies, which will be kinda nice. Find a life on campus and maybe catch lunch every now and then with the boy. I will be the "Office Coordinator," and as I understand it from the day of interviewing for the position is the person who is the catch-all, doer of all things that everybody else can't do. Main tasks that I hear is website updating, keeping people on task, event coordination (booking rooms, caterers, etc), and all basic office upkeep (filing, copying, errands, etc).

I will be starting Monday, first with a 3-hour orientation with HR.

So much for the life at home quilting...

Fully moved...

Well, the last piece of the puzzle has been placed. The car is now registered in New Jersey and has NJ plates, which I must say are really boring - they're yellow. No more pretty mountain riding with us, but at least I have the plates for memory sake. The Elantra doesn't look right any more and the plate number is wierd. I liked URV...

Registration in NJ is different - if you are financing your car (which Andrew is), then you have to send paperwork to the lien holder for them to release the title to NJ, then you get a call to say that they have your title so that you can then go in to register the car. After registering the car and getting your plates, you then get to drive over to the inspection center and wait forever to have them figure out if they can use their new OBD technology or have to emission imspect the old-fashioned way (which the guy working on our car had to do). At least it's two years before we have to do that again.

Also finally got the new parking validiation sticker for Princeton's campus, and Parking Services now has the new plates.

Dangit - I'm definitely a New Jersey resident now. However, I will always be a Seattlite and Washintonian, and I will forever a Dawg that bleeds purple.

Opinions please!

Okay, so I know that I have a few faithful readers out there somewhere, and here I am soliciting your opinons and comments. I am currently stuck in how to lay out the second block style and I have a couple of choices.

Here are the options as rendered in paint: Rendition via fabric to mimic that shown in paint:

Please tell me if you like the option on the right or the option on the left. I will not say which way I'm leaning yet so that I don't cause you to lean one way or another (but luckily Andrew is leaning the same way I am!) Please keep in mind, there are several ways to lay out each option in terms of which light or dark fabric used, but I hope to lay it out in an even mix. Also, I will be quilting it via machine and ties. Each block will have the "diamond" dip-stitched and there will be a tie at the corners of each block and in the middle (probably with a cream-colored yarn).

Disclaimer: cameras and computers don't exactly pick up the colors of the fabric, and both blocks actually look better on the table in person.

Looking forward to your comments!

Update...

It is cold. And the heater here sucks. And we can't put space heaters in the place here - they're banned like the George Foreman Grill at the UW dorms... Guess I need to bake more (the oven heats up the place nicely :) ), but then forget about trying to shed those pounds that need shedding...

Other good news to share, but I will post about that once it's official. Maybe you all can guess what it is.

Still missing Seattle and everyone there. Definitely did not help when Andrew and I could catch the UW Homecoming game on TV (yay for satelite and getting VS). I didn't really watch much of it because it was sad to watch, but it was nice to see that it was a pretty day in Seattle and there are still cranes in B'vue.

Am I done interviewing?

So, Tuesday I had an interview, and today I completed that interview...

Tuesday I met with MIRTHE, which is a part of PRISM, which is a science/technology insitute at Princeton. Originally I was scheduled to meet with three people, and it ended up being seven, basically, everyone on the team. Can I say, exhausting? Never before have I interviewed with so many people for a position, especially an administrative position.... The same day after completing those interviews, I recieved word that I needed to contact HR to set up an interview with them, which of course included testing of basic knowlege on Word and Excel - felt like going through a temp agency having to do that. Sounds like the test went well, they said I scored well, even though you get asked to do things you have never though you'd have to do and you can't use your keyboard/right-click mouse short-cuts.

I guess all of this is a good indication, but who knows, there might be a candidate as qualified as me that they like better.

Oh, I guess I should elaborate on the job. Job posting calls it a Department Office Support III position, and people in MIRTHE called it "Office Coordinator" and I actually like "Office Coordinator" better. This person basically does everything that everybody else can't do: basic office tasks of copying, filing, errands; updating the website; some event coordination (to what extent, I'm not clear even after asking); etc... Sounds like a happening job at least, lots to do and I get to talk with people at 5 other universities while in this position - oh, and I get the opportunity to travel to conferences as well (do the grunt work, and everyone else is there, so why be at Princeton alone?)

It's been an interesting experience, first having a lot of apprehension of whether or not I want the job, figuring out that it's just me still adjusting to the area, and me just not having the self-confience that I can do what they are asking. I'm finally more at peace about the situation. Though I will say, I'm not holding my breath for the job, but if I do get it, I will most likely take it - work would be nice and they seem to like me...

Eh, we'll see what God has planned for me...

Got work?

Princeton called with regards to an application I sent in. Have an interview starting at 9:30 and get to meet three people... Let's cross our fingers!

Step two of quilting: sew cut pieces together...

Okay, this is more of "part a of step two," as I have more pieces to stitch together. "Part a" detailed to take my large and medium squares and sew them together accordingly (light on dark) twice down the diagonal to create new squares with triangles (more precisely, draw the diagonal line and sew a 1/4" seam on both sides of the line, then cut apart and iron). Quilters are so crafty in figuring out the most efficent way to sew triangles together!

You may be wondering why the larger squares are arranged how they are - step 2b is to sew these four squares into a bigger square to create that diamond of color - so I arranged them as to how that bigger square will look. In the end, that square will be a 12" block. All the blocks to the left will be sewn with smaller squares to create other 12" blocks. I guess I'll give a new picture update as the 12" blocks are together...

And update on the iron front. I did a bit of research, and no matter what iron you go with, there is a chance of it leaking. Therefore, Andrew took me out to buy my coveted Rowenta Professional (Merry early Christmas to me!) I must say that I'm really happy so far. The weight of it is excellent and I feel like it's operating as it should be (in other words, very reminicent of my mother's old iron). One thing that I did learn about irons from this whole debacle is that they can be picky about the water you use. Technically, Rowenta handles tap water, but if it's treated heavily, then the iron will clog and thus LEAK. That might have been part of my previous problem, that and that I bought the previous iron as a discontinued model on clearence and from the get-go it did not work as well. So, moral of the story - don't buy a clearenced iron and use Brita water. So far the Professional is happy with Brita water :) And Niecie is happy as well - an iron that works like it should - finally!

Grr...

So, sewing is now put on hold, as I have come to an ironing stage. Typically ironing is not a problem for me, I deal with it, and ironing seams down to the dark side is no big issue. The issue however comes from the fact that my ROWENTA iron, yes, ROWENTA, drips practically all the water I put into it. Oh, and I should mention that the water leaks out of the auto-off indicator light that is on the handle, and when I have the iron sitting upright, that leak drops down onto the power cord. Can we say hazardous? My ironing board cover now has a lot of water stains on it too...

Looking at new irons, coveting the Rowenta Professional, at joann.com, I am now finding out that ALL ROWENTA IRONS have this DRIPPING ISSUE!!! Apparently the standard no longer holds to the name.

What happened to you Rowenta?

I guess that even though I could not adjust the heat setting on my old iron (it was my mom's previously), I should have kept it. It at least didn't leak and ironed really well - nice and heavy.

Anybody out there with a different brand of iron that they love? After years of saying Rowenta is the best, I now know to spend less of my non-existant money elsewhere for an iron that does what it's supposed to do - make water into steam and make fabric flat (yeah, this one also has issues on making cotton fabric flat...)

I know that there's Black and Decker, Sunbeam, Shark, et al... currently leaning on really looking at the Sharks since that's a name in the steam industry.

Any product reviews from your experiences would greatly be appreciated...

Now, if only I had a job so that I could finance this new iron... le *sigh*

Step one of quilting: cut all the material for the top

Okay, I should actually back up and write the background to this quilt, so here it is in bullet-point format:

~ Pattern - "White Chocolate" found in McCall's Magazine, August 2007

~ How it was discovered - online, killing time at work, looking for quilt kits, and found the quilt at a shop in Texas

~ How it was obtained - drove to King County Library in Bothell and spent the few cents to copy the pages seen in the pic

~ How the fabric was financed - funny story really... After finding the pattern and that the magazine was nearby in a library, Andrew encouraged me to run off to the library right after work. Thing I didn't know was that he got his quartly bonus and he was buying time to find me something sparkly. I got home shortly after him, pages in hand, and he said what he was up to but didn't find anything. So, instead he spent the money for the something sparkly for me on fabric, at Pacific Fabrics nontheless... and he helped pick out the fabric. Such a romantic... :P Apparently I like the gesture of fabric more than the gesture of jewlery...

Though, I should note that it would have been cheaper to order the kit from the shop in Texas, but at least I got to pick out the fabric myself, and okay, it's not exactly "white chocolate" (it's supposed to be in various whites, creams, greys, tans, golds)

Now we're all moved and I'm jobless, so might as well make the quilt for our bed, you know? Keeps me from going out shopping. Though at least the JoAnn's near me keeps me from wanting to buy fabric - just give me a week of work there and that store would look A LOT better... I just won't have time to work with the customers...

Anyway, as you can see, there's a lot of squares. I bought a lot of the tan floral with hopes of being the anchor (fabric that dictates the color palate) for the quilt. The quilt pattern dictated "light" and "medium" prints, which looks more like "medium" and "dark" as I don't really like pastels. I chose three fabrics for each category. You may note that my anchor fabric is being used as a dark even though it has a tan back, but that print has the green and burgandy seen in that category. For the lights, I have a green/purple marble that has various contrasts (should have shown it in picture prior to cutting) and correlating green and lavender prints. There are two fabrics which have not been cut, and those are the backing and binding fabrics - figured I'd get the top sewn first. And that's right, the leafy-pattern print that looks like it's a lot of fabric there is the backing - nine yards worth... at least that bolt had the necessary yardage and happy pricetag... plus it fit into the leafy theme I had going for my wedding... afterall, it's the queen-sized quilt to go on the bed that I'm sharing with my husband. That's right... no more sharing a twin sized quilt once this one is done!

More picture postings will come as move forward with the quilt :) Hopefully the colors will come out better in picture as they are sewn next to each other...

She has a power drill and figured out how to use it!

Finally, after a month I have finished the decorating of the new place, and therefore I have finally taken some pictures. Sorry for the delay, but it took forever to hang things on the wall and I had to make some curtains for the kitchen, office, and for the windows on the doors... and you know me with having an opportunity to sew...

First I should note the size of the place: it's a two bedroom apartment, approximately 670 square feet, so it's kinda hard to get everything in a photo.

To see the pictures, please visit our photobucket album here (blogger/picassa has issues with uploading how I like to upload...)

Okay, now I can finally work on my next project - queen size quilt for the bed. All the fabric has been ironed and appropriately folded, now time to cut all the pieces.

... and next week I can get crackin' on that finding a job thing again....