Life's Little Moments

Life has a funny sense of humor some days when it gives you moments to reflect when you least expect it.
Things in my department have been a little crazy this week. Some labs moved to the new building and other labs are trading places. My lab houses some of our equipment in a cold room in another lab which is one of these labs involved in this moving mess.
Today I was in the cold room starting an experiment. I went to leave after setting up my run and found a problem. I couldn't get out. Unbeknown to me, the movers had put a table in front of the door of the cold room without checking to see if it was occupied. I was stuck. I didn't have my phone and my yells failed to bring anyone to rescue me from my predicament. This is what I get for not taking a real spring break.
So I settled in to wait to be rescued. At some point my lab mates would realize that I was gone, right? During my hour and twenty odd minute wait, I had the opportunity to think about a lot of stuff. I thought a lot about the odds that it would be me that got locked in with the HPLC. Some of my friends are going to die laughing when they hear about this. It's like my inventory job all over again.  Inventory Girl meets her arch nemesis again. At least it wasn't the biology department's closets or the rattlesnake room.
I recently read an old Ensign article by President Monson called Treasure of Eternal Value. A section of that article has been on my mind for the past few days:

"Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.

Professor Harold Hill, in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, cautioned, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

There is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today, and to live most fully today, we must do that which is of greatest importance. Let us not procrastinate those things which matter most." 

I can't tell you how many times I've told myself, I'll do that when I'm married or I'll do that when I have my PhD. I'm not bad at doing some things, but I do put some things off. So sitting locked in a room, I made a goal. I will to the best of my abilities quit putting things off that I can do today. Of course there are some things that have to wait till sometime down the road. But I won't stop myself any longer from doing things I enjoy even if it's hunting down the Einstein statue in DC and spending a good chunk of time taking pictures. (You may laugh but I did this last week with my good friend, Ryan. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from him.)

Since I had some time on my hands, I started a list:

1. I'm going to take a trip in June when my classes end. Virginia Beach here I come!

2. My windowsill and I are going to become great friends as I make my way through my reading list that I've put off for years and the stack of journal articles and notes that never seems to end.

3. I'm going to make a pilgrimage to the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont in the fall. And as a bonus, I will get to see the fall colors on the way there.

4. I'm going to eat a piece of Smith Island cake at least once before I leave Maryland.

5. I'm going to slow down and stop and smell the roses every once in a while...

or whatever this flower is on the tree outside my apartment. Spring is here!!!