I forgot to say on my last entrey that we got our grades back and I got a 76. It' not bad but it definitely could've been better. The professor says that he does a curve at the end of the semester. Hopefully, my other grades will better than that one.

Yesterday my boss had asked to an experiment in which I would have to use morphine in 7 different concentrations, plus to those concentration adding another compound to see it's effect. Well, long story, I had to make like 14 different dilutions, plus I was having issues with other things and because of that I stayed in the culture room from 10am to 3pm, without a decent break. The longest break was about 20 min, in which I just rested. I didn't go to the seminar I was supposed to go, I couldn't cash my check and I didn't even have time to have lunch! It was horrible. Needless to say that as soon as I finished, I left the lab. but I have to count 15 slides in the microscope, which will take me days. That's what I get for being in grad school. *sighs*

On top of it all, I got sick again. Last week I had a stomach virus, going to bathroom every 30 minutes with diarrhea is not fun. So I think I have it again and it sucks!

Well, I went on the trip last friday and it was awesome! The only thing I regret is not getting in the water sooner!

Here how it went. We arrived at 8:30pm at the beach, and the tour guides gave us an overview of how to kayak properly. At about 9pm we were in the water heading to the mangrove canal that takes us to the lagoon. On our way there, I had made the mistake of telling my friend, Maria (who was going to be in the same kayak as me) that there were going to be iguanas on the mangroves so every time we would get close to one, she would scream at me to paddle the other way. lol The kayaking was so much fun. About half way through the channel, especially in the areas where the sky was completely covered by the trees, we could start seeing the bioluminiscence every time we paddles. it was gorgeous!!

About 20 to 30 minutes later we arrived at the lagoon and it was so beautiful! Every time we paddled, the water would light up. We couldn't see them very well, because there was a half moon, but as soon as a cloud would cover the moon, we could totally see them. After a brief talk about the ecosystem in the area, the tour guide said we were welcome to jump in the water and swim. I was a little hesitant because I had no idea how the heck I was going to get into the kayak from the middle of the lagoon where I didn't touched the bottom!! lol I imagined my self flipping the kayak over! lol Anyway, Maria, who wasn't planning to jump in the water, turned around and told me "should we go in?" and I said I don't know After much consideration, I said, "I go in if you go in" So she went in and I went in after her. It was an awesome experience! everytime I would kick my legs under the water, you could the fluorenscence from above. But that was short lived because about a minute later the tour guide screamed that everyone in the water should go their kayaks. :( I wish I would've gone in the water sooner!!

The kayak back to the beach was so much fun. It was basically a race which we won. :D
By the time we got back to the beach it was already 11pm. I was so tired and I got a cold the next day but it was worth it!! I would it again in a heart bit.

Now back to reality. *sighs8

Well, finally this week is almost over. This week has be exhausting. I took he test yesterday and i wasn't as bad as I thought it would.At least I didn't leave any questions blank, which is a good sign. I don't think I'll get an A, so I'm hoping for a B.

Today was a LONG day, we basically didn't stop, from 8:30am to 4:00pm, with a couple of free hours in between, just enough to get some lunch. I couldn't get anything done at work. My boss won't be happy.

I'm so looking forward to tomorrow night! I can't wait to go kayaking and swim in the lagoon. It's going to be awesome. I wish I could take photos. Well, tomorrow is going to be a long day, but it will be worth it in the end.

I've been sick since Saturday. Apparently, I have a gastrointestinal virus. Not fun going to the bathroom every 15-30 minutes with diarrhea, nausea and stomach ache. Not fun. But I'm feeling better now. :)

Next week should be pure torture. The workshop planned for the next week is about 14 hours in total!! And there's not that much dead time as we call it when we have to wait an hour or so for an experiment to run. Plus, there's also the test next week, which I would be studying for.

The guest lecturer for next week for my RNA class wants to go a bioluminiscent bay in Las Cabezas de San Juan, in the northeastern part of the island, about an hour and a hals away. In case you don't know what that is, is a body of water that contains microorganisms that reflect luminiscence visible at night. And I'm so going!! We have to get to the area at 8pm and kayak to that bay. It's going to be awesome!! I love living here because I can go kayaking at 8pm at night in February. :P I meant to go there a couple of years ago, but the day before I got a BAD sun burn that I just couldn't bear to put on a life jacket. So I'm taking this chance and going. I can't wait!!

That's the only part of next week that I'm actually looking forward to. Too bad it's next Friday. *shrugs* Ok, Back to studying

Well, Happy Valentine's day!! Since I'm currently single, I don't have plans for today, except study, which I haven't done at all and the test is in a week. Yikes!!

Today has been a strange day. The assignment it was due today, after I had "finished it", I found out that I forgot to put in my sources as a references, which meant to go to the sites and find the information again so that I can at least put the link as reference. I finally emailed the assignment at around 2pm. Then I went to the bank to cash my check :P only to come back to the lab to count some cells.

I have eight slides to count and I had to stop after three and half, because I have a darn headache and I feel a little nauseous. I'll have to count the rest of them of tomorrow, which will be pure torture! I'll be all day in front of the microscope just counting and believe it or not, just sitting there, looking into the light of the microscope, you end up exhausted! At least I have my trusty iPod to keep me company during those strenuos hours. FYI, each slide has eight wells, and I need to count at least 100 cells in each well and see if the "ate" red blood cells or not. So if you do the math, that's 100 x 8 x 8 = 6400 cells! And that's if I don't over count, which sometimes happens because I don't realise I passed the 100 mark. yes, like I said, exhausting!!

I'm still at work and when I get home, I'll have to start reading the book. Hopefully my headache will have passed by then. *sighs*

Well, I'm not behind in school as I usually am. I finished an assignment that's due on Wednesday, which is unusual in me to be finished with something a few days ahead. But... The first for my Celular Molecular Biology class is in a week and half!! I'm starting to freak out because I haven't even read anything from the books! So I have to read that, plus study, plus deal with my other class and work!! I don't know what I'm going to do. I always pull it off somehow, but I don't want to get stressed out! Ok, I think I'm starting to get stressed out already. so I need to get back to reading on proteins. *sighs*

Well, It's been about a year and half since I posted on my LJ and it's about time I posted something about my life.

Well, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS degree in Biology last May and I started my MS in Molecular Biology last August. I'm still working with opioids until this May because my boss is retiring. I already talked with another doctor and I'm going to my thesis in his lab. I'm going to be working with gene that are associated with the regeneration of the digestive system of sea cumbers. I'm so thrilled to be working with sea cumbers but I only need them to extract DNA, nothing else. At least I'm going to be working with genes, which is what I wanted to work with.

Right now I'm taking two classes, in which one of those can really be two or even classes. I'm very busy with that class alone we still haven't gotten to the hard part, which is when invited professors from other universities, mainly from the US, will come and teach us something new about RNA and workshops with them which might last ALL DAY. Not fun!

Anyways, right now, University is my life. I barely have time for anything else, between classes, experiments for my lab and now those workshops. I won't even have time off, because as soon as my contract with my current lab expires at the end of May, I start working in June on my new lab starting to work towards a thesis topic.

Oh, and I'm into a LOT of TV shows, which are my escape from RL. They are Lost, Heroes, Gilmore Girls, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Amazing Race (once it starts), ER and others I just can seem to remember! lol

My last update was that I had a new dog, a puppy. Now he is a year and a half old and very active!! He can be a little stupid at times!! He is an outside dog, and as soon as we honk the horn of car, he comes running like crazy! lol That's a great way to call him, because if you call him by his name, he'll just look at you funny and walk away! lol ANd if he is beside the car when you honk the horn, he'll start barking at the car and even bites the tires!! So funny!! Anyway, here is a pic of him.






With the money I'm earning working at the lab, I bought myself a Dell Laptop 6400 back in September and I love it! I haven't had any problems so far and I hope it stays that way for a long time!! I also bought an iPod nano 4G silver and it's been so good with it! I can put in on while I'm working and time flies! It definitely helps me pass the time in between experimental procedures.

Anyway, I think that's all for today. Hopefully I'll update more than once a year. :P

PS: I'm sorry to have this long entry but I have no idea how to hide this entry behind a link. If anyone knows, feel free to tell me how. Thanks!

It's been while since I last updated, so I figure it was about time.

Well, We got a puppy!!! It's a nice addition since our dog for 15 years, died last March. The puppy is a Schnauzer/Cocker spaniel mix. It will be interesting to see how his hair will grow. He is so cute!! He is only 6 weeks old.

Well, everything is fine at the University, except for the fact that I haven't been able to make a good cell culture. The first attempt, failed because I used the wrong medium for the cells to grow in. And now the second failed too because there wasn't enough cells to work with. So today (tuesday) I will make my third attempt on it, so you know what they say, Third time's a charm *crosses fingers*. I guess that's all for today. Ok, Now it's time for bed!

Well, this week has been a stressful week. Last week, Dr. Renaud (my mentor in undergraduate research) asked all the new people working at the lab that have seen how to do a cell culture to do them by themselves. So yesterday I started and everything was fine until I knocked down the medium I was using for the cells. That was only yesterday. Today I had to put them in the centrifuge ot recover the pellet of cells, to put them in small wells. Well, I found that my pellet was practically inexistent. And also, that yesterday I used the wrong the medium. I was supposed to use a medium that is used for human cells (the ones I was working with), instead I used one made for rats, not good. And also, that the medium I had put the in today, wasn't prepared. So I had to use the centrifuge again to recover what was left of the pellet. This time I recovered even less than last time, if that can be possible. And if that wasn't enough, after doing the count of my cells, I was cleaning the Hemocytometer (a slide used for counting) and it slipped from my hand and broke on the floor. That thing costs about $140!!! I was so embarrassed. It's good nobody got mad, because I was already feeling pretty crappy, so we had to order a new useing the labs credit card. Hopefully I will be careful next time I'm working there. Hey, It was my first time!

Well, I'm all caught with classes, at the moment anyway. I've started to work at the lab. Well, not exactly work, but I've watched the graduate student do her experiment, so that later I can do it by myself. But not just yet, I still do not feel ready to do it by myself. I really like working in the lab. I guess I'm just a science geek. *lol*

I had my first test on Thursday in my Sociocultural Anthropology class. I have no idea how I did, because I feel that I miss a couple of things on it. But I'm really regretting taking this class, because is just boring!! I don't even know why I signed up for it, but I don't want to drop it, because after this semester I'll only have five credits left to graduate. I don't want to have more, I deserve a break!!

Lately, I''ve been having a craving (no, I'm NOT Pregnant!!!) for Cereal. I went to the supermarket to see the brands and stuff and decided to by Trix. I haven't put them down since!! I'm even taking them in Zip lock bags to campus, so that I can eat them whenever I want. I'm weird, I know!! But in some way you are too!!!

It's been so hot Today!! I feel like I'm melting!!

And EJ, I know it was a couple of days ago, if not a week. But I'm sorry to hear about your Grandfather. My thought will be with you and your family. I know what you are going through, I only have one Grandmother left. If you need to talk, I'm here for you. *hugs*

Right now I'm on campus becuase classes started a week ago, and I'm already behind schedule!!! I'm taking Sociocultural Anthropology, which is a little boring. but a lot of work. We are supposed to read a different essay before each class, and yesterday I forgot to read the one that was assigned for today!! I so lost in class. I'll try to keep up later in class. I'm also taking Introduction to Biogeography. It's a very interesting class, specially when we start taking about the problems that Hawaii is having becuase of our beloved coqui. Zt can get pretty interesting and I'm really enjoying that class. I'm also taking Parasitology. It's a little bit on the boring side, but pretty interesting all the same. We started discussing diferent types of parasits. And right after that, we have the lab for that class. It's an hour and a half of class and an hour and a half of lab, one after the other, two times a week. It can get pretty exahusting.

as for research, I still haven't started working on the My lab perse, because I'm still unespirienced. But the graduate student there, is teaching to cultivate human monocytes to becoma macrophages in the lab, and I'm loving it. It's so interesting. I can't wait to start doing my own stuff. Well, that's all folks!!

well, it's 12:42am, I'm still awake, classes start today, and I have my first and only class today at 8:30am. I know it's late, but I'm not sleepy at all. I just hope I can get some sleep, even if it is five hours, becuase I don't want to repeat what happened to me in the first day of my secund year in college, where I couldn't go to sleep all night. I finally fell asleep at around 5am, to wake up at 6am to go to a class that started at 7am. It was a horrible day, because I felt like zombie all day. Of course, once I got home, I went head first to bed. after that year, I decided not to take any classes at 7:am and the earliest I would take a class was at 8:30 because I think that 7am is just to early for a class anyway. Well I was waiting for yahooradio to play my favorite song which is "Luz de Día" by los Enanitos Verdes. That song has me crazy!! I don't have the CD, but I'm hoping to buy it soon, so in the meantime, I'm still trying to catch it on the radio, That's all. It's 12:50am and it doesn't look like it's going to be played :(. So I'm leaving to see if I can get some sleep.

Well, not the movie, but my life. The day after tomorrow (thursday), classes start at my university *sighs* I'm having mixed feelings becuase I want to finally start my last year, but I don't want it to start because my free time and online time will be less. :(

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Dr. Renaud, who will be my mentor for this year of research. I was supposed to review a chapter of my Cellular and Molecular Biology class, but I forgot. *oops* I remember some of it, but not all, let's just hope he will not ask me questions.

Well, this weekend, i had to work Saturday and Sunday, and it was boring, because there weren't a lot clients(sp?) to promote the product (Huggies diapers and Baby products) to, which Sucked!! And, this are my last few days of freedom, as classes at my university start this Thursday. I'm not happy that they are starting, but I'm happy that I'm finally starting my last year as an undergraduate student. I'm so glad it's finally comming to an end.

Well, today I went to the main offices for the company I work for doing promotions, to drop by the materials which I used this past weekend. The office is at the bottom of a two story house, but the top story is the driveway, which means you have to go down the stairs outside to get to the office. So I had to go back up to get something I had left in the car, I guess I was in a rather hurry, but to go down the stairs, there is a step up and then you go down. So I apparently didn't raise my foot enough and it got stuck in that step, I fell foward down the flight of steps. I tried to stop me from falling by grabbing the railing (the metal things beside the stairs so people can, but since it had rained recently, my hand just slided with me, and kept falling face down. There was a guy that worked there, he was standing outside the door, and he said that he saw me going down the stairs, turned around, and the next thing he saw falling down the stairs. I was so embarrased!! I had a sandal, which flew and landed right beside the staircase on the bottom floor. And the worst part is that there is a security camera facing those stairs, and everyone in the office saw falling, and even another guy inside rushed outside to help me. I was even more embarresed!! But at least I wasn't hurt, it was more shock than injury. Since I had jeans, only my sheen got scraped and a little bruise in my hip, but that was it. I haven't fallen that bad for a really LONG time!!!

Well, my friend called to tell me that she is not going this week beucase she has a family visit this wekk, It sucs becuase I was looking forward to it. But oh Well...

Well, Today My friend, Marian, called me to intive me to Palmas del Mar Resort in Humacao, to spend the week there!! I'm so excited, I've never been there. And better since I don't have to pay the stay becuase her family owns a place there :D.

And next week also is the sign up for the August-December semester at UPR, so we'll have to come for a day here to sign up and then go back to Humacao, which is like an hour or an hour and half away. and Then the week after that (two weeks from now) I start my last year of Undergraduate studies!! Finally!! I'll finish my Bachelors Degree in Biology. And then I Hopefully will start Graduate Studies next year. But this also means that My GRE's are fast aproaching, and I need to start studying my ass off for them. Anyway, That's all for now. :D

It's been a long time since I last Updated this, well, here I am, finally. First, I went to the HBP midnight release party in Borders here in San Juan and I had a great Time!! I wish you could've been there, Amaris!! Anyway, I got my book at around 12:15am, and started reading until like 4:30am, I woke up at around 9:30 to get ready for the wedding of my mothers Coworker. We left at around 12:30 to San Sebastian, a small town about two and half hours away, it's like my mother says "en el culo del mundo" which means in the bottom of the earth. It's not that it's far away, it's just that to get there, you have to take very small roads through the mountains. I tried to read in the car but I just couldn't because I get headaches every time I focus my eyes for long periods of time inside a moving car. I know, it's weird, but that's just me. The wedding was beautiful, the bride looked amazing and the groom was gorgeous. We had a great time there. We left at around 10:30pm because a friend of my mothers, the one we followed to arrive safely without getting lost, was having an allergic reaction and didn't feel good. So we left and since it was dark, I decided to read some of the book with my cellphone light. I kept hitting a key on the cellphone to keep it lighted, I know, I'm pathetic. We Arrived at around 12:30am to 1:00am at my house, and I just started reading until I couldn't stay awake anymore and I woke at around 1:00pm and continued reading through it until 8:00pm

My thoughts on the book. I absolutely LOVED it!! Even though I was crying during the last two chapters, I thought It was Amazing!! I loved Harry and Ginny!! I can't wait for the next book!!

This weekend we went (my family and me) to visit my grandmother, my dad's mother, in Mayaguez, which is in the western part of the island. We hadn't seen her since she came back from Miami about a month ago. And Yesterday I received a call from Aunt(my mother's sister in-law) telling me that my other aunt (another uncle's wife), a cousin and two of her grandchildren were in Puerto Rico and were dropping by her house to see the family. I was really excited because it was more than seven years since we last saw them, and we hadn't met any of the kids. We had a great time catching up, but the down side is that Neither they nor we, had any news on my uncle's whereabouts, we thought we knew where he was living, but My mom, my uncle, and my visiting aunt, went to the house to find it abandoned, and we have no idea where he could be. The last thing we heard of him, was that he had cancer. But We don't know anything more, Hopefully we'll find out soon where he is and how.

Well, My birthday was pretty good. I spent with my family and friends. I got a CD that I wanted and a face cream that I needed and some money. It was really good.

Now, on Saturday I went to the beach with my family. We went to Luquillo becuase it's the beach that I like the most in Puerto Rico, apart from Culebra, but that one is to far away in an anothe island. Anyway, there was alway kayaking where you rented a kayak for about a half hour, but I've never done it. Well, yesterday we did, me and my brother. We went I LOVED it!! I didn't get tired at all, and it wasn;t as difficult as I thought it was. Anyway, Apparently, DUMB ME, forgot to put sunblock below my knees!!!, SO i'm not burned at all, unless you look below my knees and see a red patch skin below it. It hurts very bad, put it's not nearly as bad as last year, were I burned my back side pretty bad, becuase I went snorkeling without any protection in Culebra. It was horrible, I couldn't even wear a bra. I hated it, so I learned my lesso, but aparently not enough!! Now you remember when you go to the beach, put sunblock an everypart of you exposed bodies, or otherwise, you'll end up DUMB me, with red patches under you knees. *hit own head*, yeah I deserv it. *bowshead in shame*

Well, I decided today to update my journal. There hasn't been anything out of the ordinary. Well, my mom went out of town yesterday (Tuesday), and she comes back on Thursday, July 7th, my Birthday BTW. I don't know what I'll do that day, I guess just go out with my family, that's what we always do. I'm not going to the camping trip becuase one of my friends is started her masters this summer and has a test this friday, and the other friends there were going are not going to go. I don't want to go to a trip for three days where I only know one person out of the bunch, So I decided to stay home this weekend.

Actually, I should be studying, becuase Dr. Renaud, The Ph. D. which I'll be doing my research this August said to freshen up on cellular communication, which is the area of his research. But I haven't been doing that. I've been to excited for HBP to come!! Less then 10 days!! I can't believe the day has finally come. The day the release day was announced, it felt like such a LONG time to wait. But now I can taste it!! I can't wait!!!