Summer Top 5

As I continually find myself procrastinating, I realized I can't wait for summer. Talking to Jacki I decided to also make my own top 10 summer list.

1. I can't wait to see my boyfriend Joe this summer! He is in Georgia for the military so I am going to fly down and see him sometime in June. I miss him a lot and am already counting down the days until June.

2. Not having school obligations. I am so ready to just work and relax. No more nightly homework to fret over.

3. The warm summer air. I am ready to enjoy all the summer warmth has to offer me including late night runs and flip-flops.

4. Boating. I am hoping to have a few nights or days when I can enjoy the fun of boating. I know I won't be boating as much as I did last year, since I worked on a lake, but it will still be on my summer to do list.

5. Living in Cedar Rapids with a lot of my college friends. Many of my friends are going to be up here this summer and I am looking forward to relaxing with them at night.

Weather and Headaches?

Experiencing random headaches that seem to come out of no where, I started wondering what could have triggered this sudden pain. I never used to get horrible headaches like this, so I couldn't pin point any old triggers. Plus I didn't feel like I was too stressed out, and I definitely was not stressed when they started. When talking to a friend about the sudden occurrence of the headaches, she suggested that the weather changes could be the root of the problem.

When l researched this phenomenon, I found multiple news articles all citing the same study of 7,054 patients who suffer from headaches triggered by weather changes. The study followed these patients over a course of seven years and documented the weather changes within 48 hours of the headache.

The study's conclusion from the article Weather and air pollution as triggers of severe headaches from neurology.com on March 10,2009 was that "Higher ambient temperature and, to a lesser degree, lower barometric pressure led to a transient increase in risk of headache requiring emergency department evaluation." No connection between pollution and headaches were found in this study.

Since the day I got my headache was rainy and bleak then turned sunny and warm, I am fairly certain this was the cause of my headache. The morning had a low barometric pressure, which correlates with the stormy weather. Then the sudden change of temperature and pressure around lunch triggered my headache to come on rapidly. Even today the temperature has increased and the cloudiness has drastically decreased over the course of the day, and my head has a small nagging headache.

Trying to determine what I could do to prevent this type of headache I came upon no good solutions. I guess I will just hope mother nature cooperates a little more.

Q: Why does Minnesota have more than 10,000 Lakes?

A: Because it never stops raining.

From the time I crossed Iowa's northern border around 5:00 pm Friday until my return on Sunday afternoon, there may have been half an hour without precipitation. My friend, Katie, and I spent the weekend with friends at the College of St. Benedict & St. John's University in St. Joseph. To reach our destination, we drove through rain, mist and fog- then we sat through two hours of Minneapolis traffic as cats and dogs came down around us.

Six hours and one missed exit later, we arrived  at the college. We liberated ourselves from the confines of Katie's car, agreeing ice cream and coffee were necessary antidotes to our exhaustive travels. As we wobbled around, trying to regain our land legs, we noticed we were facing one more form of precipitation we hadn't yet encountered: snow.

It wasn't everywhere, but coupled with the slick ice patches, the snow was slightly defeating. I cautiously maneuvered my way through the rest of the night and went to bed in hopes that Saturday would bear more inviting weather and temperatures that weren't akin to sub-arctic permafrost.

When I awoke, the gray skies were nothing to be excited about, but as the day progressed the heavens cleared, letting enough sun peek through to capture some scenic photos. We trekked down to the frozen lake, watching as more adventurous people slipped across the surface, then we walked up to the crest of a giant hill and watched the now-clear sky radiate fiery reds and brilliant purples as the sun set.

The sunset was enough of a reward that I didn't even mind the ominous clouds of doom that bade us farewell the next morning when we made the long drive back to Iowa. Instead, my mind wandered between counting the raindrops on the windshield  and the infinite numbers of lakes, ponds, streams, pools and puddles that separated me from golden cornfields and sunshine.

Flood Recovery Articles

As I was looking through articles on Gazette online.com to link to my flood recovery article. I came across a lot of facts that I did not know. I found out that Obama had canceled his visit to Cedar Rapids as to not detract from the police and firemen helping with the flood effort. I also learned that President Bush came to see the flood devastation.

I was surprised by the plethora of spelling and grammar errors within the articles I looked through. I never thought a local newspaper would have so many errors. Could it be because it is an on-line instead of print source? Or should that effect quality?

One awesome website that I found was about flood stories. It is an interactive site were you can submit your own flood story, post pictures, and view videos of the devastation. Check this site out!