And, on a happier (and less medical-creepy note): here's a meme that's been making the rounds:

What I was doing 10 years ago:

1995. I had just gone through graduation in May to receive my Master's Degree, and I was beginning my doctoral work. I remember the summer of 1995 as being mostly spent entering data on Illinois prairies. When I look back on it now, it was a happy time - I had a purpose, I was working, I didn't feel like I was being pulled in fifteen different directions. I had a single goal, a single directive.

Five years ago:

2000. My first summer teaching. Taught half the summer, and then retreated to Illinois for six weeks to think over whether I really wanted to continue with this Oklahoma thing (obviously, I did). Drought summer - bad, hot, lots of grasshoppers, everything dried down and died. It made me sad - I think I was kind of borderline depressed the first two summers I was here.

One year ago:

Prairie conference in Madison. And hell, what is the purpose of a blog if you can't do this: What I was doing one year ago today.

Yesterday:

Taught. Wrote final exam review sheets. Dentist appointment. Spent the evening re-reading stuff on NPP and GPP for Ecology today. Read part of Tarka the Otter. Knitted.

Five snacks I enjoy:

Popcorn. GORP. Nuts. Hard-boiled eggs. Cookies.

Five songs I know all the words to:

All of them would have to be hymns; I don't know the words to many other songs. Well, I guess I know most/all of the words to "America" and "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "Danny Boy." I'm very much a traditionalist.

Five Things I would do with $100 million:

Invest enough of it that I'd have interest income for the rest of my life. Give a bunch of it to my church, to Heifer project, to Mercy Corps, to other charities. Buy up some of the nice undeveloped land in town and keep it natural. Buy some yarn. Buy enough Levenger "Book Boxes" to set up my guest bedroom and living room as library rooms for me. Pay for my parent's re-roofing of their house. Maybe set up a college scholarship fund for the youth group kids.

Five locations I would like to run away to:

My parents' house. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan. McKinney. Ireland. The coast of Maine.

Five things I like doing:

Teaching, knitting, reading, quilting, hiking.

Five bad habits I have:

I beat myself up over little things. I procrastinate when I feel like I won't be able to do a perfect job on something. I surf the net when I'm technically at work. I spend lots of money on stuff I probably don't have time to read/knit/sew. I like sweets waaaaaaay too much.

Five things I would never wear:

An entire ethnic outfit from an ethnic group other than one to which I can claim membership. A thong (either the kind that go on your feet or the kind that go on your backside). A skirt shorter than the top of my kneecaps. Daisy Dukes. A midriff-baring top.

Five TV shows I like:

Mythbusters. Simply Quilting. NCIS. the various Law and Order permuations. 30-Minute Meals.

Five biggest joys of the moment:

My knitting. My classes at school. The fact that in a little over a week, I get to see my folks. The fact that I have people I work with, and go to church with, who are good people that care about me. My house.

Five favorite toys:

Not really a gadgeteer, in the electronics sense. I guess I'd have to say: my sewing machine, my casein knitting needles, my push lawnmower, the Internet, my books.