Progress

So I didn't meet those goals I had for December, but I'm still chipping away at them. Let's revisit them, shall we?

1. Submit a commentary piece based on the meeting we hosted.  Waiting for the last coauthor!

2. Turn around the manuscript that was rejected over the summer.  Stalled.  It's next up.

3. Draft manuscript for special issue paper.  I sent a very decent draft to the primary coauthors today!  Cross your fingers that they will turn it around in time for the deadline.

4. Work with PI to revise big manuscript.  Done!  Submitted to GlamourMag the day before break!  So far it hasn't been rejected.  Even if it gets denied without review, it's a HUGE relief to have this thing basically done.  PI has been in a great mood this week all because this giant log-jam is gone.

5. Establish protocol for sample processing.  We tried out some things, and hopefully will have it finalized tomorrow.

6. Finalize protocol for lab experiment.  I got my shit organized.  Next thing is to make it happen in the lab.

Wiiiiiiiiiii!

Instead of buying each other Christmas presents, Ecogeoman and I decided to get a Wii.  We'd been wanting one for quite a while -- I wanted it to play games and EGM wanted it to watch instant Netflix movies.  I love it!

We've already watched a bunch of movies.  That's great because we've been paying for Netflix for ages without actually exchanging many movies.  The selection of instant movies is disappointing, but I'm confident that they will be adding lots more soon since they seem to be really pushing the streaming format.

Playing games is fantastic too!  We got Just Dance 2 for Christmas from my mom and it is fun fun fun!  There's a really diverse selection of good songs and the choreography is mostly pretty easy to follow, plus it's a great workout.  We got a Zumba game as well, but I haven't tried that for more than a few minutes yet (Just Dance is too much fun).  EGM and I have also had fun playing the basic sports games too. 

I'm so glad we got the Wii instead of stressing about shopping for surprise gifts.  I really hope we continue to use it as much as we have been this last week.

Welcome 2011

I love New Year's resolutions (NYRs), but I'm having trouble coming up with good ones this year.  I've had really good success with NYRs in years past, notably the year I paid off a bit of stubborn credit card debt thanks to the motivation from a NYR.  Last year I made a few that I really liked, but I abandoned them almost immediately. This year, rather than setting super-specific rules for my behavior, I need an over-arching theme. 

This year needs to be about getting my shit together.

On paper, 2010 was a really good year for me.  After defending late in 2009, I finished my thesis revisions and deposited in January.  I went on a fantastic cruise vacation with my BFF.  I started my postdoc.  I'm making way more money with better health insurance.  We moved to a great new apartment, which improved my quality of life dramatically (I should write a post about that improvement).  We got engaged.  I had a success with a big responsibility at work.

But I felt kind of off all year.  No, not off.  Just not quite on top of it.  We didn't visit my family frequently enough, which has made me feel kind of out of touch with them and my BFF.  Although some things at work have gone very well, I still haven't collected any new data.  We have a venue for our wedding, but no other plans.  I haven't gotten any more of my thesis papers published since I defended, although I submitted one that got rejected.  Nothing went badly at all, but I feel like I could be doing better.

My work-related goals are twofold.  First, I will publish the rest of my thesis, damn it.  My thesis should generate four papers: One is published; Two is going in a special issue related to a conference and is due January 31; Three has been rejected once and is almost ready to resubmit; and Four might go to another special issue and in that case would probably be due in March.  If Ecogeoman and I want to have any hope of finding decent jobs together, this just absolutely must happen soon.  Second, I need to be a bit more aggressive with my lab work.  I've got some cool things started, but now it's time to make data happen. 

I have a longer list of personal goals. The highest priority is to not let wedding plans fall though the cracks.  I don't want to feel like decisions and preparation for this wedding are a big ball of guilty blah because I waited too long.  I'll probably have to make more trips to my hometown to make arrangements, but that will will also address the issue of not seeing my fam enough.  I'd also like to entertain more.  Our social life, frankly, is pretty good.  However, I think we're kind of passive socializers, so having friends over more often should help me feel more in control of our plans.  And it should go a long way toward another goal: keeping the house in order.  We're messy.  I have to just accept that.  But just a tiny bit of effort could go a long way. 

All of this is about being assertive and proactive.  Time to take responsibility for how I want my life to be and make it happen.  Happy New Year!

Richard is not funny

I've gotten about two dozen calls in the past two days from online universities recruiting someone named Richard.  I do not know anyone named Richard.  But now I hate Richard. 

It seems that Richard requested information from a shit-ton of for-profit colleges.  He entered the wrong phone number -- my cell number -- for all of them.  These institutions are wicked aggressive in their recruiting, and do not let up.  I tell each one of them to remove the entry from their databases, and although the frequency of calls has slowed, I'm still getting them.

Makes me wonder if Richard is someone I know who hates me and gave these college my number as a mean joke!

Wedding dresses

It's poll time, Readers!  But I'm looking for input on my dress, not the bridesmaids'.  Several of you commented that I should ask them what they would like to wear.  I have.  In fact, I suggested that they choose their own dresses--just find something black and knee-length that flatters and feels comfortable--but they said they wanted me to pick out matching dresses for them to order.  Their main concern was looking age-appropriate since they are a bit older and most bridesmaid dresses are designed for women in their 20's.  We all went out shopping together over the summer and found a couple of dresses that everyone seemed to like, so I'll pick the least expensive of those.  By the way, I'll note that I wore dresses they each chose for their own weddings.  :)

Anyway, I've been looking at wedding dresses online, but they're starting to all blend together.  I guess that's not a big surprise, because as you'll see, I have a pretty narrow search image.  I never would have predicted that I'd go for a lace dress, but that's what I want.

To help you make an informed vote, I'll say that we are having the wedding next fall at a forest preserve.  The ceremony will be outside on a stone patio (under a tent) and the dinner will be in an old lodge building with a big wrap-around porch, tons of wood paneling, and fireplaces.  I'm wanting a romantic, low-key, vintage feel.  I'll also tell you that I'm very petite but with curvy hips. Surprisingly, since I'm bigger on bottom than on top, the trumpet silhouette was pretty flattering when I tried on dresses last summer.  I also discovered that I look better in white white than off white.  I do not intend to wear a veil.  I'm also not too keen on trains--I think they overwhelm my short frame and look too formal--but there seem to be few dresses without them.  I can always bustle. Also, I want to add a sash. 

So, which dress do you prefer?


Dress 1:

 Dress 2:

 Dress 3:

 Dress 4:

 

Dress 5:

 

See the side bar to vote! I'm going to close the SurveyMonkey poll because it's way too lame that you all can't see the results.  I'll add the votes already cast to the blogger poll.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

A into G

Well, I didn't manage to get my ass into gear with respect to my work yesterday, but I have big plans for personal stuff this weekend.  EGM is away at a meeting and I don't have any social plans this weekend.  So, I'm going to take care of a bunch of stuff that really must get done.  In the style of JaneB, here's a list.

• I'm taking my car in this afternoon (oil change, and something is up with the heat and thus, defrost - yikes).  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to get new tires.  These two appointments should ensure that I actually leave the house rather than sitting around all day "in my afternoon pajamas" as EGM likes to say.
• Christmas shopping.  As usual, I don't have to buy for all that many people, but I need to get it done nevertheless.  
• EGM and I decided to get a Wii instead of buying each other gifts, so that's that.  
• I have a great idea for a funny t-shirt for PI, but that means I have to get something for the tech too.  He's a 22-year-old guy who I don't know very well because he acts rather reserved.  Ideas? 
• Unlike most years, my parents didn't ask for a big gift for which my sibs and I can go in together.  But they shouldn't be too difficult.
• My sibs and I draw names (by couple), so I have to buy for B2 and his wife.  I'm think camping gear or maybe some kind of cool yard game.   Ideas?  They have a pop-up camper, two little kids, and B2 uses a CPAP machine so we're talking stuff for car camping. I should spend $45-75. 

•  Wedding-related shopping.  
• I want my bridesmaids, who range in age from 31 to 48, to wear black (or maybe brown) cocktail dresses and to have wraps in fall colors.  We found a couple of dress options we liked at a wedding dress place so they'll order the dresses from there, but I'm going to get the wraps from a normal store.   I'm sure I'll have better luck finding something I like now rather than in the spring, and the wraps will determine the colors for other decorations and such so I can't put it off too long.  
• Wedding dress.  I think I'm going to buy it online.  I've found a few I like and they are much cheaper than in stores.  Perhaps I'll do some more searching and then put a few options to a vote here?
• Housework!  They still haven't finished all the work to put our apartment back together after the flood.  We haven't been very motivated to clean because we figured workers could be coming in any time and kicking up more dust.  But, I've reached my limit and some cleaning has to happen.
• Groceries.  Although I don't have plans for the weekend, my social agenda for next week is jam packed -  four holiday parties plus book club.  That's a lot of snacks I have to be prepared to bring.

On an unrelated note, this post is too funny.

December slump

Last week I posted my ambitious list of goals for the month.  Since I claimed that post was meant to provide accountability, I will now give an update on my progress.

1. Submit a commentary piece based on the meeting we hosted.  It's written, but I'm waiting for feedback from two coauthors.  I expect them to make few comments, so with any luck this will go out early next week.

2. Turn around the manuscript that was rejected over the summer.  Working on it.  I did all the easy changes, but I'm having trouble getting my A into G to tackle the harder ones (e.g. rearranging the discussion).

3. Draft manuscript for special issue paper.  Started today.  I put the text from my thesis chapter into a new document, formatted it to meet the journal requirements, and generally refamiliarized myself with the work.  I also made a first pass over the new data.

4. Work with PI to revise big manuscript.  Done!  He's waiting on feedback from a couple of people but intends to submit (to a GlamorMag) on Monday.  Unfortunately, I think we'll start pretty much straight away on reformatting/revising for a more attainable journal.  Good practice, of course, but I'm so sick of this paper right now!

5. Establish protocol for sample processing.  Part 1 is done.  Part 2 is drafted, and PI and I have discussed it but a few kinks remain.  I think one more (focused) discussion and one practice session ought to take care of it.

6. Finalize protocol for lab experiment.  All I've done so far is gather up all the stuff I had spread in multiple labs and move it to a new lab space I'll be using for this project.  I hereby downgrade my goal for this item to get shit organized and make a plan for developing protocol in January.

I could have done more in the past week, but my predictable December slump is in full swing.  When I feel all blah like this, I'm happy to get anything done at all even if I'm not functioning in high gear. Like, I'll suddenly realize I've been sitting at my desk for an hour just spacing out/making sure the Internet doesn't disappear/looking at colleagues' publishing records/whatever. Thus, although I intended to finished and submit the first manuscript before I started on the second, the edits on the first seemed too hard and I figured I should get something done even if the order of tasks didn't make the best sense.  I know that if I just chip away at things and leave work each day a little further ahead than when I arrived, it will all get done.