The End of Week Number 2

When I last wrote I was just starting the beginning of my second week of work at Abbott Molecular. I spent a lot of my first week at work not doing much, but it definitely picked up during my second week, and looks like it won't ever slow down!

The rest of my week at work I was busy with getting some of my work done. Last week when I met with my manager, she gave me a big list of projects that I need to finish before the end of my summer internship, so I started work on those. First up: a listing of all of the AMD products and where they are used as well as their medical application. While it's pretty easy to get the information and put it together, next I get to make it nice and accessible, which will mean that I get to spend some time at my computer over the next few days playing with excel and powerpoint.

I have also been helping one of the PDPs (it's a rotational program for new hires into Abbott) finish up her projects before she rotates to a new post in just a few days. We're (and when I say we, I really mean her) analyzing data from our products to show that two similar products that are making different amounts of money can be transferred into one product to make more money. It's just a lot of data on an excel spreadsheet, so I am helping the PDP clear up the data so that it's easy readable for her to analyze. It's not hard work by any means, but it is something to do.

I went in to have a 1-on-1 with my boss on Friday, and she gave me another task to do! She said that she gave me this task because I'm 'sociable' -- which I was sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. For instance, does she mean that I am spending too much time not at my desk and speaking with the other interns, or is it a good thing because I'm making fast friends and getting to know people? Well, it was a good thing. She wants me to organize a visit for the North Chicago interns in a few weeks - which for any of you that know me know that I LOVE organizing events! It's what I've been doing with SWE for the past few years, and I enjoy being in charge.

On that note, I really enjoy all of the people that I am working with -- my group has some cool people, and it's small enough that I know that I will get to know them all this summer. Abbott Molecular is pretty small, but it is the fastest growing division in the company at the moment. They are even starting to add on more office space and rearrange the space they already have to accommodate the growth! My boss is incredibly nice. She took me to the fruit market with her on Friday, and then bought me lunch so that we could talk outside of our work environment. I know that I am going to enjoy working here.

Also! I got my first paycheck on Thursday. I have direct deposit so I didn't have that piece of paper in my hand, but I looked on Thursday morning and my checking account balance was significantly higher, which definitely made my day. I am now thinking that Thursday is going to be the best day of my week.

I haven't been doing too much this weekend. Last night Keith, Andy, and I visited some friends of Keith's in Naperville, which is about 40 minutes south west of here. We hung out, drove around Naperville, and pretty much were trying to do something different than just hanging out around the hotel. Today I got up, ate some breakfast (sometimes it is really nice to not have to cook at all -- but I miss having a kitchen most of the time), and then sat outside in the courtyard of the hotel and read my latest book "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Steig Larsson. It is so amazing! The storyline is so intriguing, and catches you in the beginning and holds you all the way through. My one tiff with it though is that it ended pretty much on a cliffhanger, and I guess I have to read the next book to figure the rest of it out. Thankfully, the last book came out about a month ago; I have a feeling that I'm going to need to place a Borders order soon =D


Tomorrow I might go into the city and see some sights, depending on the weather. I also need to get at least one load of laundry done, because Keith keeps pre-empting me in laundry room. Damn Keith...haha

So now I am sitting, hanging out with the other interns watching "Transformers" on TV. Nothing exciting going on Des Plaines, IL.

Lesley

Trips Into ChiCAgo, Lightning, Running Through the Woods, and MORE Crazy Weather!

An eventful, fun-filled, action packed three days! Well, kind of.

I seem to sit here and write when there's some crazy weather phenomenon going on, and so tonight is no exception. There was a tornado watch today!!! What? I have never a part of something like that! I really don't think there was any possibility of it hitting Chicago and Des Plaines, but it was crazy none the less. The weather was a bit windy all day, and then around 4 pm it got even more windy and dark and overcast -- on the longest day of the year, of course. Now there's a bit of thunder and lightning, so I'm assuming it will start raining again. This is so different from summer in California, it's nuts.

I know I said I was going to go to the International Museum of Surgical Science on Saturday, but I didn't....sad face. Andy and I still went into Chicago, but instead we met up with some other interns from Lake County who were in for the weekend and went to the Planetarium. Unfortunately, that's not one of the places where we get in for free with our Abbott badges, but apparently we do get in free to the Field Museum, the Aquarium, and the Art Institute, as well as a few other places, which of course we will have to check out because we are college students and we love free stuff! It was relatively easy to get into the city -- we took the hotel shuttle to the El station at O'Hare, and $2.25 and 40 minutes later we we in the Loop. From there, we walked by Navy Pier and along Lake Street (which runs along Lake Michigan). It was a really nice day, somewhat hot, but incredibly nice out and the view of the Lake was pretty amazing. There were so many people running and riding bikes there; everyone seems to love working out in Chicago, it was cool to see. About two or three miles later, we hit the Field Museum and the Planetarium. We met some people at the Planetarium, and spent a few hours inside. It was really nice inside; not sure if it was worth the money, but it was fun. Afterwards, Andy and I checked out my guide book and found a delicious diner about two blocks from where we were (Eleven City Diner on Wabash -- great food if you ever have the chance!). The food was delicious, the people were nice, and I left feeling so full I could hardly move. My kind of place! We then headed back to Des Plaines on the El and called it a day around 8 pm.

The next morning was Sunday, which meant it was my long run day (see Coach, I actually did it!). There's a bunch of woods across the street from where I am staying, so I figured there had to be a trail in it somewhere, which definitely sounded way more appealing than running along the streets with traffic, and would be much nicer on my knees and shins than concrete. After exploring for a bit, I did find a trail, which I took about a mile and half in one direction and then turned around and came back. I passed where I started and went about a mile further, and then came back about half a mile to my hotel. I did almost 5 miles altogether, which is the longest run I have done in....ever. It was a really nice run, through the woods and running with butterflies, dragonflies....and mosquitoes. I thought they only came out at night? Nope, I have about ten bites to prove that they just love me at any time of the day! Andy says it's reason to never go outside. But! The coolest thing that happened to me on my run was that I got about 10 FEET from a deer! I was running along, just taking in the view, when all of a sudden there was a deer to my left a little off the trail. I stopped suddenly, and so did the deer. I have no idea if it was male or female, but I continued to stand still for about a minute until it ran off. It was so amazing and beautiful.

After the awesomeness of all of that, I sat outside in the courtyard of my hotel and started reading for a good long time. I just started reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson, and if you have not read any of his books, I highly, highly recommend them. His first is "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", and is the first in the trilogy. The first was amazing in it's level of detail and research; and they take place in Sweden, which is different. The third book in the trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest", just was released in May, and I cannot wait to read it. I started the first book in mid May, and I had it read within about four days, which in itself is pretty amazing since I had so much homework to do, but also these books are about 700 pages long. But they just suck you in -- so, beware, don't start unless you have a lot of extra time laying around. I also just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Now, I just need to see the movie -- I had heard that I needed to read the book before I watched the movie, so I did. The book was really good -- it got into a pattern near the middle, which you can see if you read the book, but it was an interesting way of detailing that it truly is the journey -- or I guess, the road you take -- not the destination that matters.

Went back to work this morning, and I still don't have much to do. A lot depends on knowing a lot of the manufacturing areas, which requires this tour that a PDP was setting up for all of us interns. However, it had to be rescheduled due to a deadline being Wednesday for the PDPs in my department. So, for now, I am reading a lot on how to classify buildings and rooms, and hopefully it will save me a lot of work later on. I have a breakfast meeting tomorrow (I swear, these people love getting up early. And I don't.) at 7 am, but at least I get those hours. I am quickly discovering that I am not told to go home. My manager doesn't care too much about the hours I keep as long as I work full time throughout the work, and so if I put in a little extra time throughout the week then I get to leave early on Friday. I am not expected to be at my desk all the time, but I am expected to get my work done on time and done well. I guess this is what real life will be like, right?

Well, it just started raining, and there's definitely thunder and lightning now. I have heard more thunder and lightning in my one week here (One week down, 12 to go!) than I heard in the last year in San Luis Obispo. Weird, right?

This weekend is the Taste of Chicago kick off, and all of us interns are going to go down Saturday and gorge ourselves on the delicious food and amazing atmosphere. I am so excited it's not funny...we'll eventually go to IMSS, but the museum will be there, and like I said, I have 12 weeks to go. Oh! And I finally got some delicious deep dish pizza. It was here in Des Plaines, and I'm sure I'll eat better in Chicago, but until I have that opportunity, this was the best. It even had all of my fave foods -- cheese, pepperoni, and bacon. Holy Moly it was DELICIOUS (haha Susan, I win).

Lesley

Weather in the Mid-West is CRAZY

As I sit here at my computer, I am staring out my window at the cracks of lightning that are playing across the landscape. I honestly don’t understand mid-west weather – it can change in literally a minute.

When I left work at 3:15 today (I hit 40 hours at 3 and I can’t work overtime, or so I’ve heard. I had two working lunches this week, so I worked 9 hours two other days), it was pretty nice out. A bit muggy, but it was sunny and not too bad. I actually was about to head outside to the patio to read a book when the weather just got absolutely crazy! All of a sudden, it got incredibly windy and there was a giant dust storm rolling across the construction site in front of me. A few minutes later, it started misting all over, and then suddenly, it began to pour. That was when our power went out and the lightning started. It’s mostly been pretty far away (the techniques I learned when I was about 8 years old for figuring out how far away the lightning is still works haha) but there have been some really close ones that have taken me by surprise! It’s also incredibly windy, but I guess one benefit of being on the fifth floor is that there’s no chance any of the surrounding trees won’t fall on my room because they aren’t tall enough.

I almost went running too, right before this! It would have been really scary to have been stuck outside when this started. At least in California you generally get a warning from the sky if it’s going to rain or something like that. Geez, mid-west, way to be surprising.

So, like I said earlier, I got off work today at 3, which now is probably a really good (or maybe bad?) thing because I would have been stuck at work with nothing to do if the power is out there. I’m living about a mile and half from work, so there is a very good chance that the power is out there as well. Thank goodness I had my computer plugged in and fully charged right before the power went out! I would read, but it’s too dark to do so.

And in the 15 minutes since I started writing this, the rain stopped! WTF. There’s still thunder and lightning though, and from the looks of it all of the buildings in my view have their power knocked out too.

I received my full assignment today, and today was also the first day where I didn’t really sit at my computer all day. I had a meeting with my manager in the morning, which was about a hour and a half going over what I’m suppose to do during my three months here at AMD (Abbott Molecular Division, for all you non-cool people out there *coughSUSANcough*). Like I said yesterday, I’ll be doing a complete parts assessment of the manufacturing division. I will also be interfacing with other departments to get utilities drawings made up, architectural drawings of each of the rooms, and ISO (International Organization of Standards) documents in place. So what I will be doing will be slightly tedious, but is a great way for me to learn the company, and is a great way for me to find out about all the different products that Abbott makes. I will also be doing some time studies about packaging and all of that fun stuff.

It’s kind of funny, because almost everything I am doing is either manufacturing or industrial engineering based; yet my department at school doesn’t want us taking courses in either of those disciplines because they don’t think that they are relevant to what we will be doing in the future. Guess not….

After my meeting with my manager, I had a “Bring Your Lunch and Learn” Intern meeting. Three of us interns conference called into corporate about “Volunteerism at Abbott”. It was interesting because it talked about the types of volunteering that corporate wants employees to do (like, you shouldn’t do Christmas Caroling because that’s not non-denominational) and different things interns could get involved in. The problem is that I want to get involved, but all of the meetings for these volunteer events are at Park, and there’s no way for us to get up there, especially for only a half hour meeting when getting there takes 45 minutes. That’s one disadvantage of being at AMD – we’re so close that we’re considered part of Lake County in terms of Abbott, but we’re not at Park so we don’t get to participate in as many intern events. However, it’s cool because there’s only 7 of us interns at AMD so we all have gotten to know each other and hang out all the time – you can’t do that with the 140 interns at corporate.

Thirty minutes later and the electricity still isn’t on – if it doesn’t come back on soon, this is going to be a really long evening. At least our doors still work, so I might go and visit the other interns here at the hotel so that I have some company.

Tomorrow – IMSS! (International Museum of Surgical Science), Deep Dish Pizza! And all other fun things Chicago has to offer.

Lesley

** About an hour later, my power came back on, which allowed me to post this for all you people =)

Is This What Real Work is Like?

This blog is especially for Susan, who apparently is so bored with her life right now all she wants to do is read my blog. Susan, I will do this only if you comment. Seriously. And Randi, cause she spent an hour on the phone with me tonight =D

I have now completed 4 days of work at Abbott Molecular, and I don't actually know what I am suppose to be doing. Well, actually, I know what I am suppose to do, but not how to do it, so there's a slight problem there.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I had a meeting with my manager and I learned what I will be doing for at least the start of the summer. I will be doing a complete asset analysis of the manufacturing process and labs in the division and then ordering drawings of the processes, and hopefully also figuring out how to better the processes. So, for the beginning, I'll be a professional counter....haha Great thing I've taken college level math courses for this, right? I think it will actually be a cool way to learn more about what Abbott Molecular does how to integrate myself with the process.

I also got to sit through my first meeting yesterday, and to top it off it was a working lunch. It was to learn more about 5S ways to make a work space more effective, etc. It was actually really interesting, and I got to meet more of the Manufacturing team. Some of what Abbott Molecular does is manufacture and package testing kits for machines that they sell to labs and then they also instruct labs on how to use these machines and testing kits in conjunction. Some of the things they test for are diseases like trisomy 23 (Down Syndrome) and other birth defects in the womb, and receive the results within hours instead of days. They also test for different strains/mutations of HIV-1, so that a more effective pill regimen can be prescribed. After reading through the site (about twice in the last two days), what Molecular does is really cool and kind of the perfect place for a BMED in Abbott.


Today, I got to head up to the "Park", aka Abbott Park, with Keith and Andy, two of the other Molecular interns (there's 6 or 7 of us all together), for an information session about the poster competition that we will be participating in. It wasn't too long of a meeting, but it was a nice change to get out of the office for a bit. I spent some more time learning about the PDP program that Abbott offers (it's "Professional Development Program"), which is a program for recent college grads that is a 2-year rotational program. I applied, and I hope I get an interview this summer for a job for when I graduate next June!

Ok, so Susan says I need to mention this stuff. I feel like my life is directly out of the movie "Office Space", at the moment (you know, when he says "I only do 15 minutes of real work a day"). I know it will pick up a lot real soon, but for now I do a lot of research and training of my computer at my temporary cubicle. I'm moving cubes in a week when one of the PDPs that I am working with right now transfers to a different location. I also sit RIGHT NEXT TO the copy machine, which always makes for some interesting talk I overhear. I also have a red swingline stapler -- life actually can't get any better, right? "I believe you have my stapler"; "Um, yeah".=)

Andy and I are going to head into the city this weekend to see some sites, because he's been here for a month and still hasn't gone in! I think some of his friends who are based out of Lake County are going to join us, because we're going to hit up the International Museum of Surgical Science! Oh man, I am so super stoked. We also plan on getting some delicious deep dish pizza. I'm also thinking of making plans to go to DC to see Gabriell for 4th of July...it would be so amazing to spend independence weekend in the capital!

As for my hotel, I get a room to myself, which is really nice. I discovered it's because I'm the odd girl out --- there's three girls and two boys who are staying in the hotel, so I was the last to get here and I get the single room. But most of the time, I hang out in others' rooms because we all just hang out together. We get free dinner four days a week, which isn't too bad of fare, and free breakfast every day, which so far I haven't strayed too far from my bagel and banana -- but apparently their breakfast burritos are delicious. I just never have enough time in the morning to actually eat a whole one.

So now, I'm off to bed because I would rather not fall asleep at my desk. So, Susan, I hope you're happy now, and yes, because I was so awesome with my red swingline, and my bosses were really impressed, so now I get to research cancer. Well, actually, help detect it, but you know, still cool. Haha.

Night everyone!

Lesley

Day 1 of Oh So Many...

Yesterday, Monday, started my first day of work at Abbott Laboratories. It started off pretty exciting at 7 AM (yes, Dad, that's 7 in the morning) when I was picked up from my hotel by a white limo. I got to stare out of the window at the towns passing by as I went from Des Plaines up to Lake County. There's a bunch of trees here -- way more than in California, at least off of the highway.

I spent from 8 am to 1 pm in orientation at headquarters. During orientation, we got an overview of the company, met some other interns, and got some sweet Abbott swag. I left with a duffel bag with "Abbott" stitched on it, and an Abbott water bottle. I also got my badge, which opens up doors for me :D literally.  There were about 30 of us there, and I would have to say that 25 people were from De Paul or Northwestern -- both schools in this area, so I guess that makes sense. There was 4 of us from California -- 3 from CP SLO, and 1 from UCLA. I met some cool kids, except I was the only one who is based at Des Plaines, so I won't see them too much.

After orientation and lunch, I was picked up by my manager and driven down to Des Plaines so that I could meet people and find my way around and start actually working! I swear, the Des Plaines office is SO COMPLETELY CONFUSING! It's a giant square with a lot of hallways that are all of the same colors, so I have gotten lost so many times, it's not even funny. I spent the rest of the day meeting people, finding a desk (which I am moving from in a week when that person leaves, so I get to move again!), getting a computer (again, will change when I move), and just generally figuring stuff out. I found out that I will be doing Manufacturing Engineering, which is definitely not what I thought I would be doing, but I have high hopes for it...I think it will be exciting.

Later in the evening, I met Andy and Keith, two of the other interns who work at Des Plaines with me but in different divisions. There's 7 of us interns on site, and only 5 of us live in Abbott housing.

Today was my first real day of actual work, and I spent most of it reading manuals about manufacturing and risk analysis. I'm sure I will be doing stuff with quality assurance and all of that fun stuff as soon as I get all of the basics down. Amanda, the girl who's desk I will be taking over when she transfers in a week, took us interns to lunch at Culvers, which apparently is big in Wisconsin and just moved to Chicago. Their claim to fame is their custard, which I tried and must say is very delicious.

Geez, real work is tiring! I have been super tired the last two days, and so I hope to get a lot of sleep tonight. I've just been hanging out in my room tonight while it rained, and there was thunder and lightning. It's so weird when it rains here, because it's still really warm, unlike in California. It's suppose to get all nice and nasty and hot in the next few days, which will be really awesome when I head into the city this weekend for lots of fun in Chicago. I went for a run on the treadmill in the tiny gym here -- I still haven't found a pool to swim in, I'm hoping to find one soon. If not, I'll just do a lot of stationary bike and weight lifting.

I'm looking forward to getting into the nitty gritty of work -- I'm sure in a few weeks I will be begging for the days when I had nothing to do! I just feel weird when I don't have any work to do because it looks like I am not working at all!

For now, I'm off. It's 9 pm here, and I am honestly ready to go to sleep.

Lesley

Hello from Illinois!

Hello from Illinois! It's about 8:15 pm here in the Central time zone, and I've been here in Illinois for a total of about 4 hours now.

I finished up finals just fine on Thursday, with my two hardest back to back, but done! I spent Thursday night having out with friends and playing the longest game of Apples to Apples I have EVER played, going on three hours! I got up early and left Friday morning to drive up to home in the Bay Area, usually a three and half hour drive. Well, everyone must have been going home, because it took me about 4.5 instead -- but it worked out, because it was a nice day out, so once it was stop and go I cranked up the music and down my windows, and enjoyed the sunshine.

This weekend is "rodeo weekend" in Livermore, which is a BIG deal. To some people. Like KK, who came home with Jason for our "almost annual" Rodeo party (we have breaks every few year due to the fact it's the same weekend as graduation). We had a bunch of fun, had a bunch of people over. Mom made homemade sangria, and there was soda, beer, and other drinks (I think there was some moonshine there, just saying), and lots of bbq.

Woke up this morning at 6 so that we could leave for the airport at 7, to make my flight at 9:30. Made through everything alright, and by the time I made it to my gate it was time to board, so all the waiting around in line worked out! I had gotten a direct flight to O'Hare, which was really nice.

Did you know that O'Hare airport is named after Butch O'Hare, a pilot in the Pacific during WWII? Well, his dad was the accountant for Al Capone during the prohibition years, and was the one who went to the FBI and IRS with his tax evasion -- some say so that his son, Butch, could get into the Naval Academy. Just before Al Capone was supposed to be released from prison, the elder O'Hare was gunned down -- most say by Capone's men. Fun fact for everyone!

Abbott is taking really good care of me -- they arranged for a car to pick me up from the airport and bring me to my hotel, and then there's a car to take me to work tomorrow morning as well. I am living about ten minutes from the airport -- there really isn't much here in my area of Des Plaines. From my window, I can see a construction site and the tollway -- super exciting.

But more about where I am staying! I get a whole room to myself!! How amazing is that? It's a "King Suite", so it's more than just a regular room. I walked in, and right in front of me is a living area with a couch, chairs, a table, desk, tv, and mini bar. There's a nice bathroom, and then a bedroom with a King bed, dresser, tv, and chair. It is so sweet! I've already started making it mine -- unpacking clothes, setting up my books along a desk, and all of that fun stuff.

Tomorrow morning I start bright and early at 7 am! I am going up to corporate headquarter in Lake County for orientation, and then I come back to Des Plaines in the afternoon to get oriented and all that fun stuff. I am really excited to start work!

Lesley

Almost Last Lasts

One final down, and two left to go! It's been really hard to concentrate on studying when I have things like cleaning and packing to do. And it's just always really hard to concentrate on studying for finals. I had my biotransport phenomena final this morning, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have biomechanics and biophysiology back to back on Thursday evening, which is going to be a blast since they are my hardest classes.

I have almost finished packing, and I can definitely tell that I have WAY too much packed, and I keep adding to the pile. I'm going to have to go through this again tomorrow and take some stuff out.

There are definitely benefits to having friends all over the country. One person that I met when we lived next door to each other on study abroad in Paris two summers ago lives in Illinois -- and has told me apparently the best place in Chicago to get deep dish pizza. Ellen, I will be forever in your debt =D

So here I sit, once again procrastinating studying, while listening to the new Glee soundtrack and playing around. I really have to buckle down! I filled out the rest of my paperwork today for my job, all stating that I was a US citizen and therefore could actually work for a company in the US.

About Abbott -- did you know that Abbott manufactures products like Pediasure, Pedialyte, Ensure, and Myoplex? I didn't know that! They also manufacture a bunch of devices for laboratory diagnostics, medical optics (Complete Solution for contacts...used that at some point in my life), and diabetes care, as well as all of their biomedical products like stents. They also are based all over the world -- perfect for my future aspirations of being an ex-pat! 

This time next week I will finished with my second day of work. I've been hitting up some of my favorite places in San Luis Obispo is preparation of not having them for three months....and the fact that I really don't want to go grocery shopping for three days worth of food. Bali's yogurt....delicious. And I went to my last running practice this afternoon -- don't worry, Coach, I'll run in Chicago, I promise! I'm up to 2 miles on my shorter days and 3-4 miles on my long runs now, hopefully that'll get longer by the end of the summer.

So, now I guess I am finished procrastinating even longer. G'night everyone!

Lesley

Just Finals Left!

Seven days and counting until I leave the Golden State for the Land of Lincoln (or, according to Wikipedia, the Prairie State). But first, finals!

I have finals in three of my classes --- Biotransport Phenomena, Biomechanics, and Biophysiology. This quarter has been a tough one, so I am really glad that it's coming to an end. In a way, it was both a help and hindrance that I knew I had my internship to look forward to. It was a help because I had a goal in mind to get to, and a hindrance because I started getting lazy and didn't want to work on homework because all I wanted to do was leave! It was so hard to motivate myself sometimes; like last night (a Friday), when I didn't have class but I had two assignments due...and my friends were doing celebratory margaritas. As much much as I wanted to join them, I had a lab to finish :(

I leave for Chicago in a week! I started counting down over a month ago, so it's so surreal that I'm in the single digits now. I'm starting to compile a list of places that I am going to be touristy at and visit when I am in Illinois. Here's what I have so far:

International Museum of Surgical Science (I'm such a biomed)Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (Mom, I'm saving that one for when you visit)
Magnificent Mile
Navy Pier
Sears Tower Skydeck (It's GLASS!)
The Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Science and Industry
Wrigley Field

And I'm sure the list will keep growing. I probably need to get a tourist guide. Also, in Des Plaines, where I will be living, there is the original McDonald's. I'm sure going to go to that.....

My list of things to do before I leave keeps getting longer. Finish school, pack, get last minute items (like bug spray. How could I have forgotten that the first time through?), buy some books to keep me entertained, and it goes on and on and on!

But, for now, I'm going to go sequester myself and do some studying on what happens to be the most gorgeous day we have seen in San Luis Obispo all year. Of course it's the weekend before finals. Figures.

Lesley