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Monday, September 15, 2014

All Work and No Play Makes Me Cray-Cray*

Alright, I've been busy. A lot of people are just as busy or even busier than me. So I'm not here to complain. I just thought maybe it would help relieve some of my overwhelming stress if I wrote down both what I've accomplished/dealt with in the last month or so and what I plan to accomplish soon. Organizing all these floating thoughts in my head may not only help me see that I actually can do some stuff, but may also help organize my life and keep me moving forward. Because you guys, I am at a standstill (actually a sit-still, as I sit here facing productivity paralysis) at the moment, and I'm seriously going cray-cray*.

What I've accomplished since July:
  • Two lab meeting presentations
  • Finished the last of like 300+ preliminary experiments for one small part of my research
  • Stared at a computer all day, every day for over 3 weeks analyzing stuff
  • Stood nervously in front of a bunch of faculty members and students and talked about what I do in lab all day
  • Sat in the "hot seat" after my presentation and received constructive criticism and advice for how to do better next time
  • Dealt with annoying and expensive car repairs that left me in the red
  • Gained a daughter... well, started the process to obtain legal guardianship over our good family friend, Jamie
  • Helped Jamie buy her first car
  • Provided Jamie with guidance for starting her first college semester... you know, don't party too hard, study a lot
  • Switched Miles over to a new daycare closer to work
  • Taught my first class ever! - I am now a TA for two 3-hour Anatomy and Physiology labs
  • Figured out what to do when you lose the key to the room you teach in (it's an ordeal, ugh)
  • Took Miles in for surgery to put tubes in his ears (It's amazing how much happier he is now; he must have been in so much pain!)
  • Developed some fancy protocols to run some fancy experiments
  • Drove Matt to and from work for a while after he got his license suspended (long story and not really his fault)
  • Started writing an abstract for a conference in October

What I aspire to accomplish soon:
Next few days/weeks:
  • Proctor my students' first lecture exam
  • Put together and proctor my students' first lab practical
  • Get my new key so I can stop bugging the other TAs!
  • Resolve some other annoying issues and expenses that are the result of letting 5% of things fall through the cracks (super-woman does not exist, okay?!)
  • Pick the members of my comprehensive exam committee who will determine whether or not I fail at science
  • Get over my fear of talking with my P.I.s (my bosses) about putting my comprehensive exam on hold until spring
  • Actually talk with my P.I.s about putting my comprehensive exam on hold until spring
  • Stare at my abstract long enough until it finishes itself so that I can submit it
  • Put together a poster to present at the conference in October
  • Test out, compare, and troubleshoot my new experimental protocols
  • Generate some new data! 
  • Put together a Halloween costume for Miles
Next few months:
  • Complete some more experiments to reach statistical significance
  • Spend hours on Photoshop putting together figures with the completed data for a publication
  • Freak out... and then take my comprehensive exam (hopefully next spring... can you say terrified?!)
  • Learn how the odds are ever in your favor in a stats class next spring
  • Find time to exercise (Wait, isn't chasing a kid around enough?)
  • Write and submit abstract for the conference in April... in Valparaiso, Chile!
  • Prepare poster for conference in yes, I can't believe it, Chile!! 

*I really hate the term cray-cray as well as all those new slang terms that people say because they're too lazy to pronounce the full word (like totes and adorbs). But a) I am kinda crazy right now, b) let's face it, I can be lazy, and c) most importantly, cray-cray rhymes nicely with play, as in the title of this post.