Boo.

Little brother's adventure is beginning today - we packed him into a van this morning and sent him halfway across the country for grad school.

So, I'm the only sibling left, when we've been here for 10 years. I have hub, and he's a Godsend. If he weren't here, I'd be holed up with chocolate and reality TV all day.

But, it still doesn't make it any easier. This time, it's a bit harder than when our older brother left. Little bro is the baby of the family, and we're finding it hard to let him go. I know we'll survive, but it still sucks.

The (sort of) good news is that hub and I are going to visit his mother to deal with some house stuff. It gives me something to concentrate on.

boo. :-(

Deadlines.

I have to have them. No one ever gives them to me, and so I never set them for myself.

Which gets me into trouble. Every. Single. Time.

I need to get an introduction written. There's no getting around it. But, I told Hub this morning that I should've been an enzymologist (Warning! Geek joke follows). The activation energy required to get me actually, truly, honestly started is so huge, and gets worse every time, that I'm nearly paralyzed.

My brother's advice was concise - Concentrate. Eat. Sleep. Write. I just don't know if I have the energy to pull into 5th gear again.

I will have an intro written by Friday. It doesn't have to be perfect. Hell, it doesn't even have to be any good at this point. It just has to be written.

A knitting blog...

So, I'm thinking I should separate my knitting from my writing, and my writing from my knitting...

I've created ScientKnits, and we'll see how it evolves.

Vacation!

I spent a blissful three-plus days doing nothing work-related. I made three baby hats for the various offspring that are springing up all over the place, along with getting a huge chunk of the blanket done. We took the bus, and got stuck in traffic, so the five hours of daylight were put to good use.

I also got a bit of luxury for my tiny, but growing, stash... I'll take photos of it, and the hats, later.

Yay for 72 hour vacations :-)

Whoopee!

We've decided to take the weekend off and go to visit my parents!

The ironic thing is, we're going to get away from the pressure, but it's the pressure that's forcing us to go this weekend since there are no others available.

My little brother is moving to go to grad school in a couple of weeks, so there's going to be some frantic packing and sorting. His new place is furnished, so some of the family pieces he has now have to be returned to the homestead, and since they're leaving before the end of the month so the superintendent can tile and paint, we need to get the cleaning done ASAP.

The kicker is, as my parents are driving him halfway across the country, I'll be driving with hubby to his mom's place, because she's thinking of selling soon, and we have to take care of that too. We'll meet my parents in hubby's hometown, and drive back together.

I *do* have deadlines looming, but I'm sufficiently close to exhaustion that I'm not caring much at the moment. I told my lab manager that we'd be away, since she's also doing some tech work on my last project, and she gets to take a 4-day weekend to spend with her kids and husband. It was kind of funny - I told her that we needed the break, since we hadn't taken one since Christmas, and she said something to the effect of, "Yeah, if you don't mind my saying, you do look a bit tired." From anyone else that would be code for, "You look like shit." I know her too well, though; I could tell that she's been concerned about me burning out lately.

That's why as much as I need a change of scenery and a new lab and some new challenges, I'll really miss some of the people here. They're not just co-workers; they're family.

So, I'm off to think peaceful, calming thoughts so that the rest of the week, along with the weekend, is restful and productive. My peaceful place is actually back where we honeymooned; it's so beautiful and serene that it makes my blood pressure drop whenever I think of it:



(All images copyright E. Boudreau)