Relay for Life

I participated in my first Relay for Life over the weekend and overall think it was a great experience. The weather was only real downer to the event- it was in the low 90s, sunny, and HUMID. I managed to walk about five miles over the day and night. I'm sure I would have walked more if the weather had been nicer. D walked over six miles! I was so proud of her. We planned for her to camp out at our site with some other kids, but I ended up taking her home at 12:30, because she couldn't sleep- I didn't realize the music would be going ALL NIGHT!

I cried several times during the Relay: the survivor lap, when they read the names on the luminaria (I had bought one for my grandpa who died in 1991 from brain cancer), and I think again at the closing ceremony. The Small College Town event raised a lot of money this year, and I was happy to be part of it. A friend started our team because of another friend who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I agreed to participate because of ALL the people in my life who have had cancer. It was really inspiring to see all of the cancer survivors there in their purple t-shirts and hope that our friend will be one of them next year.

I so need this....

OMG ponies!

More of the same

I have been feeling depressed the last couple of days*, but can't really blog about it. Don't worry- nothing has happened- I'm just feeling low. I don't think anyone can tell I'm depressed, though. I am usually pretty cheery around other people, but when I'm home and just thinking, I feel sad. Hopefully, this weekend's Relay for Life will put things into perspective. Although, I always feel like I am being a selfish loser when I get depressed, because I really have no right to feel this way. I'm tired of taking D to doctor's appointments and just want her to be better. The physical therapy at home is just torture, because her arm hurts and she whimpers through every single exercise. It's really hard to get her to understand that building muscle is hard and is going to hurt. She's in good spirits the rest of the time, though.

Anyway- just checking in to fill your day with sunshine. Hopefully, I'll be out of this funk soon.

*I would love to go crawl back into bed and just cry this morning, but everyone is home and I have get ready for a meeting at school.

Not a great day.

This post title applies on two levels: 1) father's day is always a reminder that my father is not a nice person and felt it necessary to "disown" me for marrying someone with dark skin, and 2) today (and this weekend) has been pretty crappy. 

H got home on Friday afternoon, which was very nice for all of us. We took him to dinner at a favorite restaurant and he went to bed before D. Then a thunderstorm knocked out our electricity for about 12 hours (before 2am to after noon Saturday). It was a bit warm with no fans or A/C, but not too bad- just more of an annoyance than anything else. I took D to the ER today, because her elbow looked bad. The wound has healed over, but she bumped it pretty hard yesterday and a big blister formed over it. The doctor drained it and took a sample to culture. She also prescribed TWO antibiotics- one 'regular' one and another in case she has MRSA. We have to wash it a couple times a day and keep it covered. And follow up with our regular doctor this week. The ER visit was not quick of course, but at least I don't feel like an overly paranoid parent (although I'd rather that nothing was wrong with her!). She starts physical therapy tomorrow to get her arm strengthened AND we have to get in to see the orthodontist because the wire came off on one side. 

So, nothing serious, thankfully, but I am more than a little worried about the elbow infection. It has closed up! Weeks ago! I don't understand how it could have gotten infected. Ugh. I realize there are worse things that could happen, but this elbow saga has been going for more than a month now. And I have PMS. And I'm ready for D to be healthy again. I am ready for this summer to take a different course. We go on vacation in a couple of weeks, so hopefully that will be a nice change of scenery. 

I am trying to get back into exercising, which has been good AND I am doing Relay for Life next weekend. I am trying to get geared up for that- I've never even been, so I am looking forward to it. D was going to come for part of it, but now she can't be out in the sun (one of the antibiotics) and we may just have to skip that... I'm off for a LUSH bath now and maybe a beer.

F---.

I so feel like writing a rant about the grad student who was a total disaster this year, but I think it would be in poor taste. S/he defended her/his proposal today and is off to Home Country for field work (that I sincerely hope actually gets done). I will bite my tongue (fingers? since I'm typing?) about another issue, but if you really want to know, send me an email. This student has caused me nothing but grief, and wasted a year's worth of my grant funding- and I have NOTHING to show for it. I really hope my new RA in the fall will be good...

Happy Loving Day!

If you've never heard of this holiday or wonder what it's about, this blog post sums it up very nicely. It seems especially fitting to think about the discriminatory laws this country has had in the past, when we have similar laws on the books today. 

School's out!

Yay! My baby is free from the mean teacher and has completed third grade! We are going to Major City Museum Center today. I packed a lunch so we don't have to eat their icky food court-style food. I have meetings tomorrow, so this will be a fun break for us. And did I mention that H heads home a week from today??? (He won't be here until Friday- it's a 24-hour trip).

That is all. 

Day in the sun

Am I pooped! Today was Field Day at D's school, so of course it was 80s and humid (thankfully some clouds rolled over occasionally to provide some relief!). I was there for the whole two hours doing activities, then stayed for the picnic lunch. D was able to do about half of the activities with her sling on, but sat out some others. She is over playing at a friend's house for a couple hours now, and I am just in no shape to do anything but sit here. I just watched last night's Conan O'Brien and can't bring myself to do anything else. I doused myself in sunscreen this morning and wore a big hat, so I think I avoided a sunburn, but being out in the heat just wears me out.

I've been thinking about some of the comments from yesterday's post about summer working and think I particularly like EcoGeoFemme's idea of planning small chunks of work time, rather than trying to work a full day. I always like making lists and scheduling my time, but just can't seem to get organized this summer so far. I will try easing back into better schedule- I should really get back to getting up early and working in the morning for a few hours, then I won't feel so bad if the afternoon ends up a wash. I also want to get back to more consistent blogging. I am in touch with a lot of you on Facebook these days, but it just doesn't provide the same kind of outlet for writing that blogging does. I have also started blogging under my real name- it is work-focused and links from my professional website, so I am sticking to work-related topics. It will be interesting to see how keeping two separate blogs works out- will I stick to more personal things here (I'm not writing anything personal over there) or will I end up with some overlap on the other blog? We shall see.

I better go unload the dishwasher- D will be home around 5:00 for an early dinner. I have to take her to a Relay for Life meeting tonight (I am going to accompany our team captain) and want her fed before we go.  If you know me IRL, check out the work blog- I am kind of aiming it as a way to elaborate on my work in more detail than you would find in a CV, but also include more of the day-to-day things.

Summer frustrations

Ah, summer. No teaching. Small College Town is peaceful and quiet except for the few students around taking summer classes and coming for freshman orientation. My days are generally unstructured and full of possibilities. And that is my major problem. I ALWAYS have trouble motivating and being productive in the summer. I think the endless stream of days ahead of me just lulls me into a sense of infinite time. "I can do that tomorrow! Or next week! Wouldn't it be better to just clean out this closet or watch a movie?" And that is just during the time that D is still in school. She has her last day on Wednesday, then I am really screwed. Not that she needs constant attention or supervision, but a day-long stretch of uninterrupted research time is just not feasible (OK- I'm just making excuses). But I want to do things with her, while we are both out of school, so I am distracted by making plans for those things. Maybe, I'm just lazy. Who knows, but summer is a time that I never seem to be productive and it's a shame.

What are your strategies for staying focused in the summer? I could use some ideas, because after seven years in this job, I still can't figure it out!