no rest for the stressed

i currently have this image on my desktop...it came from National Geographic...cool, huh?

my life as a fish girl has been a bit rocky as of late. i have been told that the first year is the hardest. went to see Golden Compass yesterday, Mom's birthday, and it was good. they played with the timeline from the story, but mostly what happened, happened. some major things were left out--like the ending--but i guess that means that we have to see the second movie, huh?

i am reading like i have never read before...i have read some serious "foundation" articles and a ton of info on estuaries and their functions. i have read about the history of cod, oysters and now striped bass and then Chilean Seabass (toothfish) (they are yummy, but overfished)(duh)(smile). good books and all but a TON of reading. i am taking my comprehensive exams soon (January 7-10)...this should be a time of stress, but i think i will probably be too pooped to be too stressed, but i am not sure...we shall see.

there is a big, bright yellow dandelion in the yard, and temps are in the 70's!! holy cow! the birds are still thinking that it will be snowing soon, and who knows, that may happen tomorrow...gotta go get more bird food soon, and feed the "chickens" (you know, anything that diverts you from what you NEED to be doing). speaking of chickens, i made the neman marcus cookies a few days ago, if you have the recipe, try it, they are great!