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.