Anja and Jay are in Michigan :-(

This isn't a real Anja post, since I don't have any updates or pictures since she and Jay left this weekend. Jay has been away from Anja quite a few times for as long as a week for work, but we realized that I had never been away from Anja before now. It wasn't really planned that way, but what can you do when you're unemployed and can't afford vacations or childcare? It was pretty sad dropping them off at the airport, but she is having a great time in Michigan. The Cousins say she is "cute as ever" and "fascinatingly cute". Apparently they have been playing what Jay calls the gravity game, whereby Anja throws toys on the floor and Kai gets them for her. The other game, played by all, involves everyone staring at Anja and waiting for her to do something cute. Jay will be taking some pictures and video that I can put up next week. She's already spent some time at camp and had a sauna!

In other news, my job is fun. I've been growing very specialized bacteria in .9 pH acid with no carbon. They get their carbon from CO2 instead of organic matter like most bacteria and grow in a solution as acidic as battery acid - cool. They also are the main accelerator of sulfuric acid production in mines, creating acid mine drainage, a serious environmental problem. Our study site was the most polluting acid mine site in the U.S. and is now a superfund site. We don't have our technique perfected for growing the bacteria in the lab yet, but here's what my latest colony looks like:


I also just ran my first ultramarathon today, a 50K( 31miles). Here's a picture of the area where the run was:


As usual I am awed by the beauty. Too much beauty! It was pretty fun, but I think I've had my fill of that caliber of running for a while. I like it, but it's just so time intensive to train properly for something like that. I had to give up a full Saturday or Sunday each weekend just for a training run. Family time is just too important now. Real ultramarathoners get up at 3 or 4am to get in their hours of running, but I also think sleep is more important. So for now I think I'll stick to short fun runs and bike rides and hikes that Anja can enjoy.

Anja recovered from her cold pretty well before the trip to Michigan. Here's a video from last week when she was pretty sad and we were trying to entertain her. A search in You Tube for "kitty" and "funny" is all we needed:

First fever

Anja made it almost 15 months before having her first fever, which was today. She's had some runny noses in the past, but has never really been sick, or had an ear infection either. We've been amazingly lucky about that so far. She was a pretty good sport about being sick today, and still wanted to play, although she had trouble sleeping. Her fever reached 104 in the afternoon (I was in contact with her doctor) and here she is running around in the apartment with the AC on full and no clothes on. Except that she absolutely had to wear her shoes and her new backpack. She was much better by bedtime with her temp back down to 99.


Jay and Anja leave in a couple of weeks for Michigan. I won't be able to go since I don't get vacation for 6 months. I'm bummed, but more happy to have a job than anything. It does mean that Jay will be traveling across the country alone with a very active toddler while dragging a car seat. I picked up this cute backpack that she loves that also has a detachable "leash" on the back to avoid losing your kid in a crowded airport.

Bathtime

In case you missed it on facebook or flickr, here is something to make you laugh:

4th of July and Reading List Complete

I finally finished Anja's current list of books, you can see in on the lower right side of this page. I think these are all the books she has right now, although there may be a few under furniture or hidden somewhere around here.

I didn't take any photos of the fireworks, but for the second year in a row Anja slept right through them.


Here are a few recent photos from yet another beautiful part of Point Reyes where I have been running lately. On recent runs I've seen an osprey nest with chicks, many semi-tame deer on the trail, elephant seals, two different kinds of snakes and many lizards. This picture here is the trail to Arch Rock.


And this is the view facing south toward Bolinas from Sky Trail.


This weekend we went to Tilden Lake Park in Berkeley and Anja and Jay got to see Berkeley's campus (sorry no pictures of campus). But here is Anja sporting some new clothes from Grandma at the park, very stylish.


And checking out a ladybug with Daddy:


Also a video of Anja finding all the clothes that arrived in the mail from Grandma. She loves to play dress-up. She picks out a lovely flower dress/plaid shorts combo here: