Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Highlights from the Hiatus

During my hiatus from this space, I did do some interesting stuff. Here's a smattering:

* I got a grant. A small one, to be sure, but still. I wrote the proposal all by my lonesome, sent it in, and voila, it was funded. I gather it's a fairly competitive thing, so it makes me feel good. Of course, I haven't started the research yet, and I may be singing a different tune when that happens....

* I got a graduate assistant. Starting in Fall of 09, I have a doctoral student to assist me in my teaching and research, which is very timely considering the grant (see above). The GA is a former student of mine and I think we will do quite well together. She'll be helping me teach my junior-level class in the fall, so that next fall she can take it all on her own. Next fall, I'll be teaching a doctoral course of some kind... happy dance!

* Slogger retired. As of the middle of May, he is officially unemployed. His retirement was a bit earlier than we had planned, but after his heart attack, I am MUCH less interested in him working. The job tended to stress him out, so we're hopeful of better health and strength as a result of retirement.

* Facebook ate all of my leisure time. Well, you already knew that.

There is some other potential good news soon to be announced (no, I am NOT pregnant. Much too old for that!), but I don't want to jinx it, and it's not quite a done deal yet.

In the meantime, here we are, sitting at a campsite in 95 degree heat. We're in the shade, and there's a nice breeze and low humidity, so it's ok. Looking forward to the sun going down, though. We've been out camping and touring the country in our new little trailer for the last month and a half -- we're on the homeward side now.

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