Hello? Is this thing on?

It's been a while since I wrote anything here. But I think I might revive this blog at least for the duration of The Great Entroublement. I have things to say! And the people I am with day in and day out might not be interested in everything I want to talk about. But before I put too much time and energy into this I just wanted to find out if anyone is still following this blog in any sort of way. So, can you hear me now?

The problem with summer birthdays.

We have always encouraged our identical twins to be individuals and to pursue their own interests and friends.  It has worked out quite well – until now.  I promised the girls they could have a slumber party for their 8^th birthday and told them they could each invite two people.  The problem?  Both of A’s friends said “yes” but neither of K’s friends can come because they will be out of town (such is the nature of an early summer birthday party).  Now I’m not sure what to do.  Should I:

a)      Postpone both parties and try again after school starts in a couple of weeks?

b)      Have A’s party as scheduled and have K’s party at another time?

c)      Cancel both parties and take just the two of them out for an extra special event?

d)      Go with some other option?

Perks of working at home

My career is currently in "transition" and I have mostly been working at home the last couple of weeks.  Not going into the lab/office everyday has a few downsides.  But there are definitely perks.  Some of those perks include: 

1. I get to play what ever music I want as loud as I want to play it.
2. I don't usually feel guilty for taking an internet surfing break (but breaks tend to be longer)
3. I get to control the temperature.  The air-conditioner is never running on days when it's less than 50 degrees outside.
4. If I find that I didn't dress appropriately for the day, I can just wander into my bedroom to change.
5. I'm not usually cleaning the bathroom when I need to use it (downside is that I don't have a janitorial service cleaning my bathroom).
6. Only my dirty dishes are in the sink. 
7. I can eat or throw out anything that's in the fridge.
8. Irish coffee (or any alcoholic beverage) is perfectly acceptable.    

Can this itch be scratched?

I have an itch I can’t scratch. I can’t describe it, or locate its source. But it’s there and it’s making me uncomfortable. There are lots of possibilities. Could it be a need to go for a run? Or hang out with friends? Eat some really, really good food? Read a great book? I suspect it’s a need to create something. Making Christmas ornaments, sewing pajama pants (even though I don’t really sew), and baking tons of cookies all sound really appealing to me right now. Or maybe I just need to write something. Not the research papers that I need to get out, but to write. But what? Poems? Short stories? Christmas letters? Blog posts? What will satisfy this itch? Or is it like those itches you get on the bottom of your foot? The ones that can’t really be scratched? And should I even try to scratch this itch? I already have an unending to do list filled with required chores. You know the ones laundry, dishes, insect colony maintenance, research paper writing. How do I prioritize creating just for the heck of it among the other tasks demanding my attention?

Thursday Haiku Day

Back into the lab
To search for frozen insects
New secrets to learn.


Upon his soapbox
Annoying office neighbor
Preaches to someone.


If motivation
Was put into a bottle,
I would buy a case.

Pirates in the Closet

Our family has a secret. One of my daughters is a pirate. Well, not really. But she will be wearing a pirate eye patch for 2 hours every night for the next 3 months. The pirate patch is to treat her mild amblyopia, also called lazy eye. The muscles of one eye are not as strong as they need to be to hold the eye in the correct position. At this point it is very mild, but if left untreated it could lead to loss of sight in her bad eye. Fortunately, the treatment is fairly easy. We just have to put a patch over her strong eye so the weak eye has to work harder. Kind of like weight lifting for her eyeball.

At least I think the treatment is easy. BG is not so sure about the whole thing. She started complaining that she was having problems seeing at school. She was sort of mentally prepared to start wearing glasses. Our visit to a local pediatric ophthalmologist was a bit of a surprise. BG doesn't need glasses. In fact, her vision is almost perfect except for the amblyopia.

So what is the secret? BG is currently embarrassed by her patch. And she doesn't want anyone to know about it. She even told her friend "I can't tell you our family secret." So for now only the 4 of us know. And her teacher (I thought I had to let her in on it). And the school nurse (BG failed an eye test and the nurse gave us a sheet to have filled out and signed by her doctor). And, now 2 of her friends at school. She is slowly warming to the idea and getting used to wearing the patch. She has really been very cooperative and brave about the whole thing. I'm very proud of her.

But don't tell anyone. It's a family secret.

Resolutions for the new year.

Yes, I realized that this is actually the 4th day of the new year. Every year I try to embrace the idea that resolutions are for the whole year, not just January. Waiting until the 4th to make/post about my resolution is simply keeping that philosophy. So, without further ado, I give you my resolutions for 2012.

Take charge of my career: I've been kind of drifting the last several years, which is kind of bad for the particular field I am currently in. Partly this is because I'm not sure this career field is really for me. This year I am going to take some deliberate steps to figure this out and make adjustments where needed. Part of this goal is to try my hand at Science writing/journalism which includes science blogging. I hope to start a second blog in the near future for my sciency posts. I also want to do more public science education. Help with Science Day at my girls school. Do a few more insect shows.

Take care of my body: I already posted about my love/hate relationship with running. One goal is to get going with that again. I'm registered for the Cap City Quarter Marathon in May (note to self - you only have 121 days to train). This year I want to keep running past that. Do two or three 5k's. Maybe something more ambitious in the fall?

In addition to running I also need to do some basic things like replace my glasses, go to the dentist, and other things that I manage to schedule for my kids, but not for myself. Maybe try out a new hair style and otherwise improve the way I feel in my own body.

Spend my time more deliberately: I spend to much time monkey clicking on facebook and related sites. Spending time on these places is fine, but I want to do it with more purpose. Interact with more people. Stop monkey-clicking. Turn off the computer when I'm not actually doing something. Maybe multi-task a bit and fold laundry while I'm watching Glee. I want to spend my time better. I'm pretty sure I'll have more time to accomplish things if I just cut out the time sucks.


And there you have it. My resolutions for 2012. I'm planning to post specific goals, etc. as I go along, so stay tuned. I might just end up with a functioning blog.