How many dates can Liz squeeze into one afternoon?

Two isn't to ambitious, is it?

Date #1: 1400 hours. Cafe near MIT with a cancer researcher guy.

Date #2 : Time still to be determined, but it's "dinner," so that implies maybe 1800 hours. Or 1900 hours, to be more fashionable. In the North End (yummy Italian food!) with the ATF agent. That's Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for any non federalis who might be reading. Mr. ATF is probably to old for me, but who am I to turn down a nice dinner with someone who makes a disgusting amount of money and will therefore, buy my food? I also plan on having desert. But he will save $$ on drinks, since I prefer water. In case anyone thinks I agreed to a date because I wanted a free dinner, I am also looking forward to hearing ATF stories. It's not everyday that I get an ATF agent all to myself. And getting all dressed up for a night out in the North End is fun and I don't get to do it enough.

My New Zealand Quilt

My Mama posted a blog on her site about one of the quilts she made for me. Since I know Mama's quilting friends visit my site and Mama said she didn't have any digital pictures of the quilt she made me... I'll post them here.

The secret message that she quilted into the bottom border was, "Liz is my hero" and "Liz your mother loves you." It took me about two years, maybe three, to notice that the seemingly random quilty squiggles made words. She's very sneaky, my mom.

I love you to.

People who like Liz

Where to start... Well let's see (in no particular order)

1. Mama. It goes without saying that my Mom thinks I'm wonderful.
2. Dad. Always ready to help with whatever random puzzle I need solved. Computer? Car? Retirement planning? Camera?
3. Jim. My big bro, who always seems to have time to chat on the phone with me.
4. Sheena. Married to Jim. I really like her, so it stands to reason that she likes me to.
5. Jeff. The little brother. Although less of a conversationalist, I know he loves me.
6. Frieda. Married to Jeff. We haven't had much time to get to know each other, but she's sweet. Being sweet, she must like me.
7. Cait. My sister. I haven't heard from her in months, despite the letters and postcards I sent. But she's got her own problems and maybe someday she'll remember that she likes me.
8. Laura. She wanted me back in her life and I'm glad I'm there. Even if it's long distance.
9. Lauren. How I miss you! An excellent partner in crime fighting, I wish you were still here. I'll never forget those two guys in the stolen car we got... We need to go hiking together more often.
10. Shannon. She always has such good advice. So reasonable, so brilliant. She must be my most clear seeing friend ever.
11. MJ. So spunky, so energetic. My day is always brighter when she's around. She gave me her car and the most memorable Thanksgiving dinner ever (the car was memorable in a two flat tires at the same time kind of way. Not as good).
12. Ross. He says I'm a good person and he always did say so.
13. Kurt. He's brave enough to want to spend three weeks with me in Nepal! He must like me.
14. Mitchem. He teases me mercilessly. He calls me "Bunky." He's one of my favorite people.
15. Greg. He said I'm a good officer and the best female officer he's ever worked with.
16. Dave. He says he loves having me on night shift so he doesn't have to search the females. He treats me like an equal.
17. The Boss. He gives me leave and doesn't hassle me to much about it. He encouraged me to apply for the special response team. He gave me a good evaluation.
18. John. Busy down at FLETC, he still has time to return my calls and emails.
19. Amber. Going to law school and working, she doesn't have much time to hang out anymore, but we had a great time at my first ever Broadway show, "Little Women." I was so happy to find someone to go with me. She left John at home and we had a girls night out.
20. Steve. One of the greatest guys I've worked with. I got to visit him after he left the park service and went back to working for APD. They let me stay at their house and treated me like family.
21. Kathy. The other half of Steve. She always asks personal questions about my love life. Somehow, I never mind answering. She's a smart lady.
22. Peggy. She shared her little baby with me. I got to visit him in the hospital before he died.
23. Drew. My favorite person from my first Police Academy I still get Christmas cards from him and his family in Bethel, AK.
24. Kerry. Busy with her PhD, she still sends the occasional email and I enjoy hearing from her.
25. Gavin. My Irish po-po friend. I picked him up in Boston having never met him before in my life. But he was a fellow cop in need of a police supply store. I may have gotten lost getting him there, but he was impressed by the effort I went to and we still keep in touch.
26. Chuck. I went to his wedding and he sends me emails whenever he does something cool (like the first time he tased someone).
27. Charis. My old roommate from Valdez. She liked me as a roommate, even though I left her alone with the Kirby salesman and awoke to find a new Kirby in our living room. I felt bad for abandoning her, but she forgave me.
28. Bill. One of my current roommates. He must like me, he does my dishes when I forget them in the sink. I feel bad, but he tells me that I do stuff around the house so he doesn't mind.
29. Victor. My other roommate. He tries to help me with my Spanish and I try to understand his English, but he's always smiling.
30. Dave. A different Dave. He likes me, he wanted to help me get a job at Organ Pipe. I'm not a desert, drug/arms/people smuggling kind of Ranger. Though it sounds exciting, I have to think of my poor Mama.
30. My Bishop. Doesn't everyone's Bishop like them?
31. My Heavenly Father.
32. Jesus Christ. I guess these last two love everyone, so They're kind of a freebie, but I'll have Them here anyway because it doesn't matter what I do, They'll always be on this list.

People who don't like Liz
1. Michelle.
2. People I have arrested. I don't think all of them hold a grudge. But some might. Not that I blame them.
3. Chris Silva. The crazy guy. I told him to leave because I didn't want to listen to his sad story. He said he wasn't doing anything wrong and I reminded him of the last time he'd been over when he threatened to take the BPD officer's gun. He got mad and I'm pretty sure he hates me. The dislike is mutual.
4. People who haven't met me yet. Which isn't their fault.

Now there may be A LOT of people in the last category, people who haven't met me yet. But since I haven't met them either, the ones in the frist group mean more to me anyway. And I know I've missed some. Like Wendy. I just remembered Wendy, who likes me. And of course there are my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My Granny to. My home and visiting teachers (it's their assignment to like me, but since they seem like likeable people themselves, I don't think they have to try to hard).

So I really should relax and not worry and stress to much about the people in the Anti-Liz category. The people that are Pro-Liz could kick their butts anyway.

On patrol with Tommy

Tonight the weather was so mild and it was so quiet and peaceful (and don't I need some peace today) that I got out of the office and the patrol car and walked around Bunker Hill at 3am.

Not much is out at that hour, and anyone who is gets a hard look from me. But Tommy was there, looking cute and lonely, so I sat down to chat. I have to admit that he doesn't have much to say, but I sure did. Tommy's a good listener and he likes me, I can tell. He thinks I'm a good person, or he wouldn't stay.

I got up to continue my patrol. Tommy normally doesn't join me, but he was lonelier today than normal so we patrolled together. We walked around the monument, looking down on the peacefully parked cars. I was hoping that someone would come along and break into one while I was there watching, but no takers tonight. My little sidekick and I walked around a while before I decided to head in. Tommy didn't follow me to my car, I guess he's got mice to catch or whatever it is that cats do at 3am.

The most "climbed" mountain in the world

Mt. Monadnock (oddly enough it's the brand name for my baton) is hiked more than any other mountain in the world. Mt. Fuji in Japan has similar numbers of visitors, but they have some kind of tram to the top, so I think a lot of people cheat.

I got up early this morning so I could make the two hour drive. I got off work at 0200, so getting up at 0830 was kind of a chore. But I didn't want my one chance at hiking for the week to be wasted. It's a two hour drive, but I managed to make it 2.5. I got lost trying to follow MapQuest directions through Somerville. It would've worked fine if they labeled the streets there.

Anyway, I made it and I still had time to hike to the top and back down in daylight. It only took 3.5 hours, and that was with a half hour break at the top for pictures. Monadnock is only 3,156 feet high, but the views are still pretty good. Why don't I have any pictures of the views from the top, you ask? Well, my new camera came with a memory card that holds 8, that's right, 8 pictures. So I used my 35mm once I filled my memory card.

Here I am at the half way point. A girl scout troop leader took my picture. Notice my full backpack. I weighed it after (so it was lighter from the water I drank and food I ate) and it was 15 lbs. It seems a little much for a day hike, but it is stuffed full of extra layers. It was miserably windy and cold in the parking lot, so I over packed.

The trail was pretty steep so my legs are quite sore as I sit here. Imagine how strong my legs would be if I could get out every week! I'd get legs like a Rugby player! Hmmm. Then again, while bulky, muscly, legs look good on Rugby players, I might look a little funny.

For those of you who don't know, last night my boss approved my leave for 3 weeks in March! I am going to Nepal. My friend Kurt is coming to. I'm quite excited about that since I usually have a hard time finding travel companions for some of my more adventurous schemes.

Part of my motivation for the hike today was to get in shape for hiking in Nepal. Although 3,156 feet won't get me in shape for the altitudes Kurt and I will be hiking at... it is a start.

My pets

So I got my new digital camera in the mail yesterday. I've already put it to work with these pictures of my babies.

I acquired some tadpoles this summer. It's taking them an amazingly long time to transform into frogs. I can only hazard a guess that spinach is somehow not as nutritious as the pond scum they would normally eat.

So far I have six baby frogs. It was a stressful first couple weeks with the little guys. We'd had a few cold days so I was unable to locate any appropriately sized bugs outside. The crickets at the pet store were far too large. I wasn't even able to attract any fruit flies in my kitchen by leaving food out! They're always around when I don't have frogs to feed... The frogs start out smaller than the nail on my pinky finger. Somehow I was able to keep those froglets alive. I found a small inch worm on one of my houseplants, I pulled the legs off the smallest crickets I could find at Petsmart, I caught two little flies that I found in the office and I brought them home, I did everything I could think of. Then Shannon said, "Why don't you just order some fruit flies? Surely there must be some place you can get them, people are always using them for research and school projects." It's nice having brilliant friends.

I was able to find wingless fruit flies (very handy since the lid on the terrarium is wire mesh). They're very tiny and even the smallest frogs snap them up.

I've had no froglet fatalities, despite their tendency to hop out of the cage when I'm cleaning. Luckily, I've kept a close eye on them. And now that I have the nutritious little flies to feed them, I won't have any die of starvation. My only concern is that the biggest frog will soon be able to swallow the smallest. I must diligently keep him full of crickets or find him another terrarium!

Clase de Espanol

Lately, my weekly Spanish class has been a source of extreme frustration. Why was learning German in high school so easy when Spanish seems so hard? Am I retarded? Why does everyone else seem to understand what the teacher is saying? How does everyone else already know how to put the sentences together? There were days when I wanted to stay home. The only reason I went was because I thought, "How many times are you going to try to learn Spanish before you actually do it?"

There was last year when I signed up for the class at the nearby community college. Then they told me I'd go to FLETC in November. The college wouldn't let me change the class to audit so I dropped it. Only to have FLETC pushed back to January.

There was the spring semester of 2005 at UAF. I was taking my EMT 2 class at the same time. Evenings spent at the fire station sticking my friends with IV's and massive amounts of studying left no time for Espanol. I learned very little Spanish from that class and I regretted wasting my money.

Countless audio tapes, CDs and textbooks litter my bookshelves. Untouched.

I've been so frustrated I decided I need to study. Once a week class isn't enough. In high school I had German class 5 days a week. So I busted out some of those CDs and I've been listening to them as I surf the internet, get ready for work, or clean my room.

In class last night we played Simon says, or "Simone dice." While my speaking (hablando) skills aren't very good, my comprehension is improving. I actually won the game. I was left standing at the end. It was a small thing really, but I needed the confidence boost. Learning languages is hard for me, apparently. Now I understand the guys in my bagpipe class who stopped coming. They had such a problem learning to read music. But if they had stuck with it, like Mo and John, they'd be doing so much better. So I'm going to stick with it. When I look at Mo's gargantuan fingers on the bagpipe chanter I wonder how they will ever move fast enough to play well. When I hear my garbled, strangled pronunciation of Spanish I wonder how I will ever speak well. But Mo and I will keep trying anyway.