Thurs., July 3: House Mouse Day!

I just would like to thank everyone for their comments to my blog posts. It is great logging into blogger.com and seeing them!

Everyone at Summit camp is assigned a designated "House Mouse" day. Today was my and Max's day. The House Mouse is in charge of making coffee in the morning, doing all the dishes, vaccuming, sweeping, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, washing the dish towels, clearning the countertops, and taking out the trash. Let's just say that those chores keep the mice VERY BUSY!...especially with 30 people in camp dirtying up dishes. We also have to try to keep up with our daily scientific duties. Being the mouse is definitely very tiring, and I definitely would never like to work in a restaurant kitchen!...I'm glad I worked other odd jobs in college like selling Cutco knives, counseling at soccer camps, and working at Hollister. Surprisingly there are a few good things about mousing: the mouse (or mice in our case) gets to choose the music (I made a very random playlist on my Ipod from LSU fight song, to T-Pain's Cyclone, to the New Orleans Second Line, to the Eagles, to Alan Jackson, to Pearl Jam) and it is a nice break from the science.

I am really wiped out from only averaging about 5 hours of sleep every night since I've been here and from walking in the snow (75% of the time it's not packed AT ALL) with boots that are too big.

I am glad that I House Moused today because the winds were about 18 or so knots throughout the day so we could not fly Nemo once again. The winds are suppose to decrease so hopefully he will be up and flying tomorrow. (fingers crossed).

One of my favorite things about Summit is there is not a television (well there are actually a couple, but obviously not for "television" but rather for movies). So I am getting to know a lot of people from all over the world who otherwise I would have never met. The group is really enjoying listening to everyone's favorite type of music, playing games such as Scrabble (I know it sounds nerdy! :)), and playing lots and lots of cards (my favorite!). I have learned new games such as Devyatka (a Russian card game similar Rummikub), youker, and three (similar to Gin Rummy but you can steal cards from people's straights and four of a kind). We have also played the old favorites such as "spoons" (which I won!!!) and gin rummy. It is really wonderful winding down for the night by playing some cards and visiting with all types of people. I am very thankful for the opportunity to come to Summit and the people I have met definitely are a large part of that.

Today for lunch: kosher chili dogs with sauerkraut, hashbrowns, pickles, salad, chili, fresh oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies (my favorite, Kathy the assistant chef made them for me!...another advantage of being the Mouse) and ginger and chocolate chip cookies.

For dinner: salmon, spinach salad with fruit, bacon, and egg, wild rice, zucchini with diced tomato (I thought it might be Rotel from the can. I said this outloud and nobody had ever heard of Rotel!!! (people from Florida, Toronto, Montana, England). I attempted to explain that you can put it in mexican cheese dip or spaghetti...still not a clue!!!). Tiramisu was for dessert.

Current Weather:
Temperature: 15F
Wind Chill: -2F
Winds: 23MPH

Smell-oh-Meter: 3.5...big jump today because I cleaned all day. I smell like chlorox...booooo :(

Everyone have a safe and fun July 4th! I have to say this will be my first "white" July 4th! Kind of weird that I've had more snow on the 4th than on Christmas!!!

Take Care!!! xoxoxo