Done!

Alright, I think I have now posted everything that has happened these last two months. Yay me! I guess now I deserve some yummy coffee, right? Right.

Thanksgiving with Billie and Rod in Lincoln City

I think I've mentioned Billie a few times (she's the owner of Maggie, the little spaniel that Pepper adores). Billie used to live right across the street from us. Unfortunately (for us, not for them) Billie sold her house here and Rod sold his condo in Portland, to finally buy a new house for both of them. They found a great one not too far away (about 10 minutes driving) on 2 acres. Gorgeous! I'm happy for them, but I will miss them nevertheless.

Anyways, this year they invited us to join them on the coast where they had rented a house for Thanksgiving week. How could we say no!

After arrival, Billie, Rod, Jan, Mag, Pepper and I headed out to the beach for a nice long walk. The weather was actually kind of nice (and that after a lot of rain and high winds only a few days ago). Pepper and Maggie had a blast, of course.

 

Maggie then found this rock. Looks harmless, right? Just a tiny puddle around it, right? Well, she found out that that puddle is actually quite deep (she LOVES to swim, so she had a blast). Pepper, on the other hand, does not enjoy swimming that much. But he had to follow his girlfriend to sniff out that rock! So he walked casually up to it, and -plop- down he falls into the water. What a shock (for him!). We were laughing of course, and he was utterly confused. Poor bugger. He made it up on the rock eventually (again, following his girl who had discovered a somewhat dry path to it). 

Love the ears :).

After all this water, he had to RUN (in his goofy style with legs flying all over the place). And every time Maggie got close to the water and the puddles (and sometimes jumped into them) he hit the brakes. Not again! Haha.

 

When we got back to the house the turkey was almost done. Billie's sister, Terry, and a good friend of theirs, Maryann, had been watching it and preparing all those tasty dishes. So good! I especially loved the turkey and the sweet potatoes.

 

And after dinner we headed to the beach one more time. This time, Terry and her dog (forgot her name :( ), and Maryann and her two dogs Bianca and Sienna joined us as well. It was so cold, but the dogs had a blast. We even met yet another one (as if 5 dogs wasn't enough ;)!), an cute Italian Lagotto (they're bread to find truffles!).

After the walk we cuddle up in front of the fire place for a while before Jan and I drove back home. What a great day!

Rain and more rain!

The rainy season is (finally?!) here. After a glorious fall this year, I guess there is no denying it...
When I headed home from work on 11/19 I found the parking lot like this:

I'm glad I had parked my car sufficiently far away from this mess!

Another "awwww!!" post

Over the last few weeks we have developed an evening ritual. Jan and I make dinner, then take our plates upstairs and cuddle on the couch while watching "The Murdoch Mysteries". George usually cuddles up on my legs and Pepper on the couch between us. They usually keep some distance (and Pepper can be quite jealous, so I always make sure that he doesn't bother George). This time, however, they were really close and enjoying each other's company. Love this photo!

NW-AMO meeting

The NW-AMO group is a group of small colleges between Portland and Salem (and OSU). We started this group about a year ago with the idea to create a community of faculty and students who  are interested in atomic/molecular physics and optics. With two meetings every year (poster session in the fall, talks in the spring), we try to stay in contact as good as possible.
Here are a few photos from this year's meeting:

 
 And the posters from my students:

That's my Jan:)

Jan got the Doug Strain Award this year, the highest award that ESI has! So proud of you :)

New Webber group

And Pepper had a blast. (He doesn't always come to these meetings, but when he does, he sure does get a lot of attention :).)

Halloween

My colleagues are so creative!

 

Nathan, the living slinky, and David, the... yeah I don't know exactly what that was!

My contribution: Bow on Pepper. 

And one of our students got creative too! Meet: The physics pumpkin:

Ouch!

In mid November Pepper stepped into a wasp! I had no idea at that time, of course. All I saw (and heard!) was a very loud yelp and Pepper standing on three legs and refusing to put any weight on the right front paw. He was off leash on some grass when it happened (I was about to throw the ball and he was excited to chase it). So I didn't really see what happened. I checked the paw, didn't see anything. But he was clearly in pain (and this is a dog that can usually take quite a bit of pain). 

I tried to get him back to my office, but at some point he refused to walk and just lay down on the ground. His paw was swollen to about twice its normal size. Poor doggie! 

After about an hour or so he was walking pretty much normal again, and after a good 5-6 hours the swelling was also gone.

Let's start with - Yum!

Gosh, I love the farmer's market!

 

Time flies....

... when the semester starts up again! I promise to upload a few more photos over the next few days. Stay tuned!