Can I get an Amen!?

Honestly I thought this week was going to suck. I was dreading the start of the school year. I feel like I am taking on a lot - I want to defend my thesis (which is nowhere near done) by the end of October, I am taking a class that is so difficult that one of my very intelligent coworker's wife half-jokingly threatened divorce if he ever took another class like it, I am working about 10 hours a week on writing website content for the department, and I am still volunteering as editor of the AGU newsletter. So I literally thought my life was about to end last Sunday as I prepared to begin the semester.
But ... this has been a really great week! For one thing, I decided to take it easy while I still have the chance and before my class gets really busy. But also, a lot of really great things have happened this week. Most importantly, Chris got a job!! We are both so relieved - him more than me, I am sure. He was tired of being unemployed. He got laid off in January, but I have really been amazed by how well we have gotten along since then. I think it has tested our faith, but sometimes that was the only thing that kept me from completely stressing out. I feel very blessed - we have been okay financially, we have been able to go to Hawaii(!!) and Moab, and now Chris' new job is a step up from the old. So, thank you God!!
Another wonderful thing happened today (knock on wood) - my model is running! I have been very frustrated by it. Every week, I get myself psyched up to work hard and start getting results, but so far all I've gotten is a month's worth of -infinity for my simulated climate (temperature, rainfall, humidity, radiation, all of it crap!!). But this afternoon, as of 3:00 when I left school, the model was humming along quite happily. How wonderful!!!! I have been waiting for this moment all summer, and I think my frustration with the model has tainted my view of everything else - making things seem frustrating and overwhelming. Oh, please, let my results be reasonable so I can finally start doing earth science research and leave all this miserable computer science behind me!!
It has been a fun week for other reasons. On Saturday, Chris and I hiked up 13,911 ft. Mt Meeker with some of my friends from the department - Nick, Levi, and Matt. It was the hardest mountain I've climbed!! A mile of it was about as steep as you can get without needing ropes and climbing gear. It was tough, but the view at the top was amazing!! I also have had a few fun rides. On Tuesday, I competed in my first cyclocross race. This is kind of a mix between mountain and road ride (leaning toward more of the mountain side). I was the only one in my division and it was really hard and hot (96!), but I had a good time and would like to do it again. I even got tips from Georgia Gould, who won the women's pro national mountain bike series this year and came in 1st in every race in the series!! I also rode yesterday and had a great time. It is so nice to ride when I don't feel like I have to do anything for anyone other than myself.
Well ... I am encouraged by how well the last few days have gone. I hope I can continue to be productive without overdoing it.
I think I should go to sleep now. Chris and I went to a party tonight. It was at the house of some of my fellow grad students - in the class below mine. It was entertaining. Lots of drinking. We don't go to parties where people do keg stands, but I guess it's fun every now and then (we didn't of course, yuck!). Well, of course I did enjoy a few drinks ... which is why I would now like to go to sleep. Drinking used to make me want to act crazy, now it just makes me want to sleep! :) Goodnight!

Flash Flood!

It doesn't rain very often here in the Fort. So 3-5 inches in 2 hours seems like quite a lot! I'll start at the beginning ... I stayed at work until 7:00 tonight and was going to ride my bike home. It was sprinkling a little when it was time to go, but I talked to Chris and he said it was pouring at home - just 3.5 miles away. When I went outside, I saw basically a wall of rain and lightening about 2 miles from my department.
Luckily, my husband loves me and came to pick me up. We enjoyed dinner with our whole house shaking every time it thundered as the storm moved right over us. It is just kind of rare for us to get severe storms on the west side of Fort Collins, so we were kind of excited. We decided to drive around and look at the effects of what the NWS called a 100 year flood.
Mainly we saw the Spring Creek, it went way beyond its banks in several spots. There is a trail that follows the creek and I have no idea how deep below the water that trail was but there was no sign of it. There were a few places where the water was about mid-calf level in the roads. Chris got out and helped a girl push her broken-down car out of one flooded area.
Oh, in the picture notice my 2nd favorite bagel place in the background. I was planning on going there tomorrow morning, should be interesting!
It is still raining at our house but very lightly. Our yard is very soggy and there is a pond in the green space behind our house, but we are safe from any flooding. Apparently our house is on a 1000 year flood plain, phew! I probably would not find all of this so interesting if it rained more often here, or if I were not a weather geek.
Anywho, time for bed. Goodnight!