Ali’s Life

I have not been good about updating. Hmm. Well, it is summer now, which means the campus is quiet and big projects can be done. For my center, this means tearing down a wall and expanding the international tv and movie viewing room. It will be pretty awesome once it’s done, and I hope it will encourage students to hang out and watch foreign language tv more. I know that the comfy couches and relaxing space in the Asian Languages Lounge at Carleton got lots of students to sit and watch Japanese and Chinese TV and discuss language, so I guess I’m trying to duplicate that here at Gustavus.

In non-work-land life is going well. We found out a few weeks ago that we are having a GIRL!! There are some more ultra-sound pictures up in the baby part of the page, and the 16 week ultra-sound video is available on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d25WWUneoY

We are thrilled to be having a little girl. We are still doing the room in blues and greens with a dinosaur theme. It will be so cute. We have a name picked out, but you’ll have to ask me in person, because I’m not sharing it with teh internets yet.

At the end of May Ethan and I took a nice, long, and action-packed vacation. First we flew out to L.A. for the Star Wars Celebration IV convention, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original Star Wars film. It was pretty awesome. There were something like 40,000 - 60,000 people there each day,  but the center was big and there were lots of things to do, so the lines weren’t as bad as at Celebration III. I got to see and meet Carrie Fischer (Princess Leia) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO). And we bought a 2+ foot tall Yoda doll for Baby.

After 4 days of the convention, we took the 5th day in L.A. to visit with my friend Amy, who had been my roommate first term senior year. We went to Rodeo Drive (spelling??) and then to the beach. It was really fun, despite the sunburn and 3 blisters I got. Her family had us over for dinner and then took us to the airport for our red-eye to Boston.

In Boston we spent 3 days hanging out with another good college friend of mine, Josh (http://www.joshourisman.com) and his girlfriend Jessi. That was fun too. We got lots of good food, although it’s hard to be in a good Irish pub in Boston when you can’t have a beer. We left Boston on Friday to head up to New Hampshire for my cousin’s wedding. (I told you it was a long trip.) The wedding was nice, although my favorite part was going swimming at Connie and Nick’s lake home.

Anyway, that’s the vacation. I’ve been back at work for about a week now. We’re actually leaving again soon for a conference, but I’ll tell you about that once I’ve gone. In the mean time, take a look around the baby part of the page, as it is the most up-dated at the moment. Bye.

This past weekend was MiniCon, the longest running sci-fi convention in Minnesota. Ethan and I attended, and shared a room with our friends and fellow Carleton alums Matt and Kelly. Part of sharing the room was co-hosting a room party on Friday and Saturday night. We did a Firefly/Chinese theme, and served tea and Chinese snacks. It was fun, although tiring. I’m not used to staying up that late. I was also involved in two panels, one I was really on (Star Wars at 30), and one I just moderated (Raising Kids in Fandom). They both went well. The con overall was good, although I was really burned out by Sunday.

On Sunday Ethan and I left the con earlier than planned and met up with my parents and brother at the zoo. Then we went back to their house for dinner. Dinner was really good, so I ended up eating a bit too much, and regretted that on the drive home. hah. My own silly fault.

I think the stress of the con (mostly eating badly and getting not enough sleep) has taken its toll, and I think I’ve come down with a cold. Whee. Today is going to be a long work day, I think. I need a nap.

Well, the state tournament did not go well for my team. We ended up with a record of 0-2-1, which tied us for last place with Synergy (the team we tied). It was unfortunate and sad, but there’s always next year. Hopefully I will get to see my teammates for a golf and bbq party in May. Now that the hockey season is over my weekends seem suddenly very free. This weekend I am going to Matt & Kelly’s for a little party, but that’s all I have planned. It’s kind of relaxing. It’s good that I have free time this weekend, because I haven’t started on my Chinese homework for Monday yet. heh.

Last week Ethan and I went to Chicago. Ethan was doing a poster session at the EduCause conference and I was tagging along. I had never really been to Chicago before. I have driven through it, and I went to the out-skirts of Chicago for an orchestra trip in 9th grade, but this was my first time downtown. It is a pretty nice city. We had wonderful weather and a beautiful hotel, so it was overall very nice and relaxing. I got to see Yi, my good friend and roommate from college, and that was great. I hadn’t seen her since my wedding. We had a nice steak dinner then got drinks at this place with an amazing view of the city. That was definitely the highlight of the trip.

Now I’m back at work. Gustavus is approaching midterms, so things are a little busier than normal this week and next. The first week of April is spring break for students, but i still am working every day but Friday, which I am taking off so I can have an extra day at MiniCon (Minneapolis’s longest-running sci-fi convention). Last year Ethan and I took spring break off to travel to Japan, but this year we’re doing our main “vacation” after school is out, to go to the Star Wars Celebration IV in L.A. and then to Boston to visit friends, and New Hampshire for my cousin’s wedding. It should be a fun trip. I’m hoping to get a costume sewn for the Star Wars convention, but we’ll see if I have the time, what with work and class (I am still taking Chinese).

Well, that’s enough for now. Have a good weekend!