2-8-09

Stacey picked me up from the airport in Oklahoma City and the first thing we did was go to the laundomat to dry clothes. What fun.

Then we went to the grocery store and I spotted fry oil for sale in Norman, OK. We passed up the tempation to purchase some. I took her out for dinner in the evening to celebrate her birthday week.

2-6-09

Today was lovely. I was calm for the first time in weeks. "Margin" my old doctor called it. He always said I needed to make margins in my life for things like nice walks and naps and long dinners. Well, I worked this morning getting ready for my trip tomorrow to Oklahoma for another job interview, and I worked part of the afternoon too, but it was at a nice slow pace- not feeling that rushed and panicked feeling I've been living with the past month. I'm looking forward to my trip. I've got the job talk done, the lesson I'm doing done, and I turned in the revised Chapter 4 on Friday. There is still a great deal of work to do, but this is a bit of calm.

Can you find the moon? It's in there.

2-5-09

Ewwwww!!!!! Yuck!!!!! I have ants!!!!! I HATE ants!!!!

2-3-09

I took the time today to capture the last little bit of snow left from our brief snow shower. It looks like a flower on the azalea bush! Today I thought about my friend Martha, who died a year ago today. Her photo is still smiling down on me as I work each day.

2-2-09

Had to rearrange my desk today to account for two computers running simultaneously and an extension at the left for paper piles. This is crazy. I've never sat so long in my life. 9-9 most days. Good thing I have a nice chair, thanks to my dear husband!

2-1-09

Today was all about cell phones. I donated the old Motorola on the left to a woman on Freecycle who needed it for her daughter. It was 5.5 years old and not worth much. I SOLD the middle one through eBay because it is only 6 months old and I had to pay a fee to break my contract with Alltel so I could receive the GIFT on the right from my mom, my new iPhone. Also, today I found out that someone on Freecycle is going to give me a phone that should work with AT&T so Squirt can have a phone because he LOST his brand new one he got for Christmas two weeks ago. Crazy Squirt.

Dan dragged me away from my dissertation long enough to go for a walk today. Here are a couple iPhone pictures. The old coal tower near the tracks downtown, a creepy place. Then I spotted a snake coming out a crack in the sidewalk. Dan thought it was a baby copperhead. Creepy again. Anyway, tomorrow I have a meeting with my advisor about my dissertation. It's coming along. Coming along.

1-31-09

My friend Moonie made this for me. Isn't it wonderful? I think it sums up the first month of 2009 quite well. Beautiful work of art. She claims it's easy... but I think she's brilliant. (She had some help from www.wordle.com)

1-30-09

Just FreeCycled this desk that Aza had all through middle and high school. Her room is looking like a guest room now. So sad. It's hard to see them grow up and move away. It happens to us all, I know, but it's hard. We put all her things in a box. A box. Where did the time go???? Where did my three babies go???

1-28-09 evening

We use my iPhone to check the weather at every town in front of us, and it looks like once we get to Huntington it will improve. We plow on. The snow turns to sleet, the sleet turns to rain, then the sky clears and by sunset we are nearing home on dry land. 10 hours. The trip home was a harrowing 10 hours. I hope it was worth it.

Blue Ridge Home

1-28-09

Dan scrapes the window so we can leave early this morning. It's raining and freezing.

By the time we get out of town, it's snowing.

Eventually we get in a traffic jam and sit in the car for an hour on empty. We see a guy playing football outside.

It's snowing like mad and we are hungry and nervous about the weather.

1-27-09

The 2.5 day interview is over and we can't leave town because of the ice storm. We have a beautiful suite at the Hyatt and are just waiting for the storm to subside. The interview went really well.

1-25-09

We left this morning for a 6.5 hour drive to Lexington, Kentucky. That night we had dinner with the chair of the search committee and his wife. She ordered chicken and waffles, which I just had to take a photo of! My big day is tomorrow- Here I am all dressed up my evening dinner.

1-20-09

My friend invited me to go downtown with her and her daughter to the theater to watch the inauguration in hi-def on the big screen. It was like we were there, up close. It was a a nice, brisk day and we had a good time. No headaches. I was sure I'd get one with the crowds.

Our downtown mall is so nice. I doubt we'll ever find anything like it anywhere.

1-18-09

We took Aza out to Sticks for her birthday. Not the fanciest place in the world to take a girl turning 21, but it was good food and we had a nice time.

1-17-09

Aza is home for her birthday weekend. 21 years old tomorrow!

1-16-09

Shopping at Sams never fails to surprise.

1-15-09

Today was awesome. First, I made a list of everything I needed to accomplish in the next month. Then I sent an email out to my committee members requesting their availability for my dissertation defense. After several hours of playing with schedules, I got a call from the lady at the Rotunda who reserves rooms. Within an hour I had a date and time and room. Victory! I am defending my dissertation on March 16th, two months from tomorrow. To celebrate, Dan and I went on a very cold and long walk where I took this picture with my amazing iPhone. Then we took Squirt and went out for dinner at my favorite pizza place. Today... was... awesome.

1-14-09

OK, this is embarassing- but this is the state of my dungeon. It's a royal mess. I'm buried in papers and piles of stuff. So, this is the BEFORE photo. After I clean it up, I'll take an AFTER photo. Now that I've turned in Chapter 4, gotten two interviews lined up, set a rough date for my defense, and accomplished a myriad of other academic leaps, I can put on some music and clean up this place. Count down: 8 days till LOST!!!!

1-13-09

Bavaro Hall, or what will be Baravo Hall, as seen from the 2nd floor window of the former chairman of my department at school. He has a pretty good view! I met with the statistics prof today and got a good thumbs up on my number crunching. Tomorrow I turn in Chapter 4 and the outline for Chapter 5. I had a productive morning working on an NSF proposal I've been invited to be part of. Pretty cool stuff going on in the professional chapter of my life.

1-12-09

Messing around with my "productivity tool" while lying in bed after a
somewhat productive day. I went to a lecture and workshop on college
teaching this morning then worked on chapter 5 all afternoon.

1-11-09

Dan and I went for a nice walk around the residential neighborhood
near UVA today after Aza left for school. We saw a house with
chickens! Chickens, right there near grounds.

1-10-09

This photo of Sophie was taken with my iPhone. It's truly amazing the quality that comes out of that little thing. And it really enhances my ability to take photos when I'm out on the go... without my entire cadre of lenses and such. But I've been doing a lot of staying at home lately. The dissertation is #1 on the priority list and I'm writing Chapter 5- so the end is in sight.