Guten Tag

Hi Guys,

Sorry I missed talking with you this weekend. I tried a Skype call but Amanda was offline, and I left Dan a voicemail. I know you are busy. No worries. I was just checking in.

Hey Dan, how is your knee? I hope it's doing better. I heard that this season's flu is pretty bad in the east coast. It's a good idea to protect yourself - wash your hands, stay away from crowds, get the flu shot, etc. Stay healthy! I can't wait to go root for you at your race. I'm counting the days!
Have you received your box? Let me know when you do.

The Catalina Cleanup event was all right. The divers didn't find it eventful - not much trash to pick up and very poor visibility in the water. Dad didn't even find anything to pick up. But he got to log another dive, so it was productive in one way. I didn't have enough time to really look around in the cool shops. I almost bought a nice ceramic jug shaped like a fish, but the color would not go with what we have. The shop keeper told me to check back with her, because there is a blue one in the line but sold out. Well, Dad and I are planning to go back to the island the second Saturday of March to join the USC person who observes and logs wild life activity on the island. We met him on this trip. He is a master diver, an electrical engineer, and has a multi-task, outdoorsy job at USC - interesting and loves to talk! I'll check him out online before going anywhere with him though.

By the way, Grandma visited and said hello to you guys. She is the same, starting a conversation with "I am better now..." Haha, it really could be worse like "I am worse now..." She said Megan is doing well but Nick still does not want to read.

I am almost done with the pre-doc application. Simona, my professor, has to finalize our activity plan, like which conferencs we'll attend and which research insititutions we will visit. She has to approve my essays (3) and write a letter of recommendation to recommend my specific research topic and admission to specific graduate program. It's all very flexible on the actual school and reserach I will attend and do, but at this point it must be clearly spelled out for this application. Now I know how you guys felt when you applied for scholarships and admission to school. I think it's a really good process to go through. Well, at least every Ph.D. out there went through it, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm willing to try. The process has taught me that one needs perseverence to get anything substantial. People who have to be quickly gratified miss out on meaningful things in life. I am happy to have the opportunity to try!

I miss you guys a lot! I love to hear from you via email, blog, or phone. It always puts a smile on my face!

Love ya,
Mama

By the way, we got a new Roomba - the third! Yes, Roomba II died not too long ago. He lived for a while; maybe the tank is too small or something. Algae grows very fast without one, so Roomba III has resumed the job.