Summer milestone

I'm off to a slow start today, but it's probably because I don't have to go to campus for the first time this week. My exercise bike is being delivered today between 10:00 and 2:00, so I need to go clear a good spot in the basement for it. I have teaching prep I want to work on, too. I met with my summer intern for the last time yesterday. They did their presentations in the morning and by today, most of them will have left town. I had a positive experience again this year and s/he did some work that I probably wouldn't have managed if s/he hadn't been here. However, it's not publication-ready work and s/he wrote very little that can be used right now. I need to do some additional analysis and think about some data issues before a paper would even be a possibility. I would like for him/her to remain involved, but it will be tricky when we both start classes. I co-advised a student last summer and that work was good, but still hasn't been published either. That student was busy with school when s/he went home and my co-adviser (who ended up taking the lead) hasn't put time into it either. 

So, I have a lot to think about for research. I have mostly been thinking about classes, though. This is the earliest I have prepared for classes (although I'm not anywhere near being ready yet). Partly, it's because we are going out of town right before classes start and I want to have things ready before we leave for that trip. 

Otherwise, summer is really winding down. It's almost August. The students will be back in a few weeks and my full-load semester will start (with classes every day). I have a new RA coming, too. I am very optimistic about him/her if for no other reason than s/he has no chance of being the disaster that I had last year. I hope.

Recipe for a tired, grumpy, day...

• stay up until 1:30 for no good reason*
  
• wake up at 6:00 for no good reason, then not be able to fall back to sleep**
• add a dash of PMS

*I was actually busy with cooking, baking, laundry, a LUSH bath, and critical TV watching, but didn't mean to stay up so late.

**I did doze off again, but don't think I slept more than another 45 minutes.

Getting in gear(!)

I'm just waiting for something to chill in the fridge (some chickpea patties that I'll be frying up), so I thought I'd check in. Guess what? I did actual work! I finished that paper review and have even been doing some class prep for this fall (and classes don't start for another four weeks!) My summer intern leaves at the end of this week, so I will have all of her work to dig through and think about after she leaves. Unfortunately, the results are not what we were hoping for, but we still had lots of p-values less than 0.05. It just means an earlier approach still appears to be a better idea.

By the way, is anyone else watching Hung on HBO? I love it. And True Blood was super disturbing that night. Yikes!!

More summer laziness

Sigh.

I haven't made much (any) progress on that rest of the summer to-do-list. I have gone in for necessary meetings this week, then come home right afterward. Today, I ran errands with D and H all afternoon and spent this evening feeling incredibly sleepy. I think my lack of exercise is not helping me feel very energized. I did get good news that I did NOT have a stress fracture in my foot, but it still hurts and I am not allowed to do any exercise that impacts it (even walking). I should start swimming again, but I am not feeling motivated to drive over to the U pool and parade around in a swimsuit (I have officially reached my heaviest ever). I also know that I will struggle to get there when classes start, since I am teaching five days a week. I ordered a recumbent exercise bike today, because then I will be able to exercise in the basement like I am used to. I am really excited about being able to read while exercising, too. I never felt comfortable reading on the treadmill, so I always watched movies instead. I think I'll be able to get a lot more reading in on that bike. While I wait for it to arrive, I should just drag myself over to the U pool and do some swimming. Of course, D will want to come and that will mean I won't get in much actual swimming.

Anyway, I need to start making some serious lists. I have decided I should just start in on teaching prep, since I can't manage to get anything else done. We'll see what I can do tomorrow. This weekend will be busy with D starting riding lessons again, going to a birthday party, and we have a going away party, too. I know I will be kicking myself in a few weeks and wondering how I managed to squander another summer. I am seriously considering taking next summer off and not even bothering to work. Of course, that is totally unrealistic considering that I am going to be doing some service work in June and still have summer salary from the Big Grant next summer. 

I'll get my act together at some point. I swear. Ugh.

I need a list!

Ugh. Every summer it happens. I go on vacation and when I get back, I have a really hard time getting back in gear. I now have five weeks until classes start (boo hoo) and nothing that really has to get done, but lots of things that should get done before my crazy semester* starts. We're going on another vacation trip right before classes start, so everything needs to be done in the next three weeks, really. OK, here's a list:

• Finish ms review that is due in two days (it will likely be late)
• Get things organized for fall classes (syllabi, reading packets, etc)
• Finish work with summer intern, or rather tie up loose ends before s/he goes home and ideally start writing a paper (I'm not terribly optimistic on this one, but we'll see)
• Have a few planning meetings with collaborators about proposal writing. One of these meetings is to review a declined proposal and consider our options. The other is a new collaboration and should be fun and exciting- especially since it could get me back into the area of research I was in for my graduate work (yay!)
• Attend another planning meeting in Capitol City next week. New venue should make it even more exciting (I won't be going to Big University campus this time).

I guess that's it. Something notably absent here is writing. Ugh. I don't have anything new to write beside the summer intern work (and that may be a bit premature still). I still have a paper that I put on the back burner an embarrassingly long time ago and meant to dig out and finish up. Maybe I can still do it. We'll see... 

Today, I'm off to another late start since I am still in the vicious cycle that is keeping me on West Coast time. I have to go to campus to meet my student this afternoon, so I will likely just do more organizing and planning (and cleaning up my messy desk) this morning before I go in. I hope I can still salvage these last few weeks!

*Teaching five days a week

Random Bullets of Crabbiness

• We're home. We got in yesterday evening and went for a nice dinner on the way home from the airport. Upon arriving, I spent an HOUR cleaning up after our cat sitter (teenaged neighbor who I am paying). This involved: the steam cleaner, vacuum cleaner, swiffer mop, broom & dustpan, and completely changing out the cat litter for a fresh batch. Yes, that is how I love to spend my time after arriving home from a trip. Some of the cleaning is not anything that I would have expected her to do, but even the cat dish and spoon were left in the drying rack (supposedly clean) with dried bits of cat food on them. And bits of cat barf/poop/food on the carpeting. And something smeared around on the wood floor in the kitchen (in an apparent attempt to clean it up). And lights were left on in the house. I must remember not to have her do this again. Sometimes I wonder if my expectations are too high, but this was pretty awful.
• I am feeling exhausted this afternoon. I fell asleep on the couch, which is NOT going to help me adjust back to EDT.
• My mother sent me an email telling me that my rosacea looked worse this visit (maybe because your house is too damn hot??? and it's hot outside??) and that I should go have laser treatments like she did*. I am SO TIRED of being offered unsolicited and unwanted advice about my skin. Yes, I know I have rosacea. Yes, I know that you can have laser treatments for it. Yes, I know that there are skin medications for it- I've tried them and they didn't help. It's not really anything that bothers me that much- I know what the options are and I choose NOT to use them. Why is that so hard for people to understand. I feel like it's the same as telling me that my nose is too big and I should have it fixed. Or that I am overweight and I should go on a diet. Or that I should start coloring my hair because I have some *gasp* gray! Really? I hadn't noticed how I look. So. Irritating. If you find my skin annoying, DON'T look at it!!! I even had a friend at work that told me about how she had laser treatments and I should, too. Ugh.
• My foot seems worse. I walked on it on vacation. Quite a bit, even. I was wearing super supportive shoes** with an orthotic, but I can tell that it's not good. I go back Wednesday morning for a follow-up and I know he's going to put me in a boot. Maybe I'll still be wearing it when classes start. So much for getting back into walking this summer. I'll have to start swimming or something, but that can be tricky, since the campus sports center shuts down at various times in the summer. Joy.
• To end on a positive note, the weather here in Small College Town is unseasonably cool and lovely. I have some fresh produce from the farmer's market to cook up for dinner (pesto with green beans, corn on the cob) and it's the weekend, so I can ignore work for another couple of days.

*She also thinks that I should have bunion surgery like she did, even though mine is not severe and I can choose to wear shoes that don't bother it.

**They look like you have them on the wrong feet, because the inside is so built up to avoid over-pronation!

On vacation...

We've been in Adopted Home State for the past week, visiting family. H and I took a lovely side trip to Scenic Coastal Town to celebrate our 10th anniversary, too. It was really fun to spend time away just the two of us- something we have almost never had a chance to do. D stayed with my mom while we took our side trip and they had lots of fun, too. D had a manicure AND pedicure (I've never even had either one!) and they went to a local theme park, too. I'm looking forward to getting home, though. We'll be there tomorrow evening. 

Gloomy 4th of July

I don't mind, actually. We have no plans, so it isn't spoiling anything for us to get rained on today. I do feel bad for people who were planning to attend the outdoor music and fireworks event in Major City, though. Bummer.

We are just hanging out at home, spending a VERY lazy Saturday. H went for a run on the treadmill, but I have been sidelined by a foot problem. I think I must have injured myself at Relay for Life. In hindsight, I probably need new running shoes- I only walk in them, but I've had them for over three years now. It might have been the combination of the heat wearing me out quicker, my old shoes, and a concrete surface that did me in. I'm wondering if I could have a stress fracture, although it's not very painful. I kept waiting after the weekend to resume my usual treadmill walking, but after walking around the zoo on Wednesday, my right foot was really sore (I never made it to the treadmill). It hurts if I pull my third toe up, but not the others and it was sore yesterday after doing some shopping. It just seems like any kind of fracture would be more painful than this, but who know. Whatever is wrong, it's not great timing since we are headed to Adopted Home State next week for our family visit/anniversary trip and H and I planned to do some hiking on our side trip without D. I'm sure I can do some walking, but I don't want to overdo it and make it worse.

In other news, I am somewhat out of my funk, but still feeling like I am just doing too much thinking about life in general. About decisions and my age and time running out for certain things. I'm having a constant internal struggle that causes my mindset to shift almost daily (or hourly!) I don't know why I am driving myself crazy like this, but I can't help it. Ugh. I am looking forward to getting out of town for a while and having a change of scenery. I am also looking forward to celebrating ten years of marriage to H this month. Our side trip from my mom's will be only our second trip without D ever- and the first trip without her was to a conference! If you know me on Facebook, watch for pictures in the next few weeks.