I just got a new nephew and I am so excited! I can't wait to go to the Twin Cities and actually meet him!

I really wanted to feel him kick before he was born, but he would stop moving when I put my hand on my sister-in-law's stomach. But now he can't avoid me anymore!

By Wednesday morning everyone was very clearly exhausted. I felt bad for people presenting then. I made it to morning sessions and then lunch, and I think to the session after, but I was almost incapable of focusing on anything. So me and a couple Wisconsin students and my academic nephew from Illinois all ducked out shortly before the end and ( Read more... )

I woke up and once again found my Swedish buddy at breakfast. One thing I will miss about not attending conferences so much is the people I have met from around the world ( Read more... )

Monday was when I needed to present everything at the conference: my lightning talk, my conference talk, and my poster. It was also the day when I felt the most vaguely horrible, which was unfortunate. But I'm not sure it made much of a difference ( Read more... )

Sunday morning I tried to sleep in, but no luck. I was so tired it was hard for me to get motivated and out of bed... but I wasn't sleepy ( Read more... )

Despite my exhaustion, I was wide awake at 6:30am. Stupid time zones! I was supposed to meet another grad student and my advisor at the hotel lobby at 8am, but I arranged with the grad student to meet at 8:30. But we forgot to tell our advisor... he was a little annoyed (but not much, since it was out of character for me to be late ( Read more... )

On Thursday morning I caught a 5:15am taxi to the Madison airport. From there I flew to Detroit. I had heard that someone else was also going to Xi'an on the same flight, and that it was an older guy, so I was trying to figure out who it was, but didn't see anyone familiar at the gate ( Read more... )

I was going to post something yesterday or Tuesday about being another year older, but I got distracted by packing ( Read more... )

A few weeks ago my cousin and her husband and their 18-month-old came to visit! It was a great excuse to take some time to relax and goof off, and it was wonderful to see them. Although the weather could have been nicer -- it was about the only really cold, snowy weekend all spring ( Read more... )

Gosh, it's gone so long again. Things have been busy ( Read more... )