Ok, non parents probably won't enjoy this post : )

Callen pooped in the potty for the first time this evening. She normally likes to hide in a corner when she's poopying, but tonite she told us during dinner she had to go poopy. The first time was a false alarm but about 5 minutes later she said it again and off we went. Yes, indeed, she did have to go this time! I was so proud : ). I'm sure one day she'll look back at these postings and not be too happy about them, but for now I'm a proud mommy! Three days dry in her big girl underwear at school and pooping in the potty tonite! I would have taken a picture but decided she might really not like that when she's older. . .

Health - NOT

The last couple of weeks have been rough around our house. Callen first came down with a fever and a really bad head and chest cold; then about the time she was getting well, Bo and I came down with horrible colds/flu/?. Bo seems to have recovered a few days ago, but Friday mine took a nose dive. I called the doctor and he prescribed an antibiotic as the head cold wouldn't go away after 8 days.

My head didn't improve and by Sunday night I was in agony. After not sleeping much, the whole right side of my face felt like pins sticking into my sinus areas around my eyebrow and cheekbone come Monday morning. I called and emailed my doctor yesterday and he called in a stronger sinus med and a steroid. I started them last night and this morning and finally about 11:00 today I started to feel some relief.

I am supposed to leave for a conference in the AM; I'm really hoping the pain stays subsided and flying isn't a nightmare tomorrow! This is the worst sinus infection I've had in years.

Please Come to Boston ...

It has been 9 years since Bo and I moved from Boston. We lived in Arlington (a suburb just outside Boston) for 1.5 years while I did my post doc. I've always liked this Dave Loggins song; thought I'd put a YouTube link to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PX5t9VJweQ.

I go to Boston this week for a conference. While I'm looking forward to going to the conference, seeing old friends, and being back in Boston, I'm finding that it is stirring up a lot of memories in me. You see, it was 10 years ago in late July when my mother was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Bo and I were just getting ready to move to Baltimore; in fact, he was already there having started a new job a few weeks before we were to officially move there.

I still remember the call that evening from one of my aunts; I knew something must have been wrong because she never called me. We always heard about what was going on with each other through my mother, and we visited when I was home in NC. She called and said my mother was in the hospital and they thought she had cancer. I remember feeling like a vice was gripping my heart when she said those words.

My mother and I were very close; before we moved to Boston we talked on the phone about every day and I'd often see she and my father several times a week. My mother took care of my father who had been bedridden from a series of strokes.

I flew home the next day and went straight to the hospital. I remember thinking that this couldn't be happening. My father, who was in such poor health, should be the one in the hospital. Not my mother, the woman who had spent her life caring for other people... The next months went by in a blur with us trying to help take care of my parents from afar, coordinating efforts by others, and trying to spend as much time with my parents as is possible when 2 people have just started new jobs. How I wish I'd taken some sort of leave that year, but with a new job in academia I was oblivious as to that even being an option.

After so bravely battling cancer, my dear mother passed away less than 8 months later. While I know that at the time taking the post doc was a good thing for me to do, and it was a good experience for Bo and I to live in Boston during that time, I can't help thinking that I spent the last 2 years of my mother's life living 13 hours away and only getting to see her a few times per year. It still makes me sad to this day thinking about it.

I encourage you all to enjoy the moments you have with your loved ones; you never know when you won't have those opportunities . . .

First Time . . .

Callen didn't want to wear her pull-up to school today. She wanted to wear her big girl underwear. So, we went with the flow . . . packed extra undies and shorts and off she went. She did great! She didn't have an accident until almost 5:00 today! We were all very excited! Of course, she walks in the door tonite and then has an accident. Oh well, we're making progress! Let's hope it continues!

Cold, cold, go away!

Callen was sick last week with a fever and bad cold; she still has a little cough and runny nose at times. But, Bo and I have it full blast now! Head and chest colds for both of us. We're both miserable with head and chest congestion, but trying to work as we have lots that needs to get done this week at work.

Any home remedies? The over the counter stuff isn't doing much for us right now. Colds please go away!!!!

New Toy

My cell phone fell on the ground for the final time earlier this week. It would turn on but most of the buttons wouldn't work, I couldn't call anyone, and I couldn't retrieve any numbers. Today I purchased a new cell phone -- my first one in 5 years or so. My poor old phone wouldn't even take pictures!

If I ever had your number - whether it was your home or your cell, please email it to me as I lost the old numbers when my old phone died.

Take a look at my new toy! It takes pictures and video, has GPS, texting, email, and a lot more things than I'll probably use. I'm enjoying it so far!

Will the whining...

ever stop? Callen has been sick since Tuesday. The last couple of days it has just been a chest cold and coughing. Today has been horrible in terms of whining... Maybe it just seems worse b/c both Bo and I now have her cold.

Any suggestions for how to curb the whining?

Working from home gets harder . . .part 2

when your toddler has a fever and a cold and you're staying home with her. Poor Callen came home from yesterday with a fever and cold. Poor thing - she wouldn't eat anything last night except a box of raisins (don't ask me why this appealed to her). She's so strong willed now that she doesn't want us to take her temp. We finally got to take it once last night and it was around 101. I think it may have spiked during the night as her whole body felt really hot last night. We had her sleep with us as her breathing was labored.
Callen and I slept in this morning while Bo went to work. Her fever feels a little better today and she's been a little more energetic today, so I'm hoping the worst is past us.
Wish me luck in getting more work done today!

Working from home gets harder

when the university email server crashes! UGH... I'm trying to send some edits on a poster to a student and the server must be down at school. Please come back up soon server!!!

Yet another opportunity for us to ponder how important Internet connections are in our lives...

Update on XOs in B'ham

Turns out they may not be going to middle school students after all. This isn't definite yet, but seems likely. Hopefully we'll be surveying lots of elementary students if the middle school students don't receive the laptops! Stay tuned...

14,000 More XOs Coming to B'ham City Schools

As some of you know, I received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the impacts of the XO laptops in B'ham City Schools. The School Board decided to begin with one elementary school this spring and then decide if they wanted to accept the other laptops. I found some additional funding to allow us to collect data at the pilot school. My team rushed to get pretest data from students at this pilot school before the laptops were distributed and we'll go back in the fall to do our posttest surveying. We planned to present our research findings to the School Board, hoping that it would help them make a decision on whether to accept the other laptops. It appears they've already made their decision -- without seeing any data from us at least.

The School Board voted yesterday to accept the remaining 14,000 XOs; they'll distribute them beginning in September. This is good news as my NSF grant is to study middle school students; so this fall we'll be really busy collecting pretest survey data on 2500 middle school students and then following up with them in the spring. We'll also be doing interviews with a small number of students and surveying teachers.

Here's to a busy fall semester collecting lots of data!

Juggling Becomes More Important

the longer I'm in academia. I have this whiteboard in my office where I keep a list of my various research projects and the 'next steps/status' of each of them. Yesterday I spent some time with my whiteboard - updating, reflecting upon the projects, etc. I have 10+ projects listed on my board. 10+ projects! I knew I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed lately, but didn't necessarily attribute it to the 10+ projects that I have ongoing.

I told one of my research assistants the other week that I feel distanced from most of the data I'm involved with of late. With 10+ projects there is no way I can be the one who is actually analyzing the data. I miss this part of the research process as my intuition and prior experience often guide me in looking at the data, thinking about the best way to proceed, etc. Don't get me wrong, I have GREAT RAs - but I still miss getting my hands 'dirty' in the data and getting a better sense of what it all means at that level.

I think one of the things I realized yesterday is that I can't take on any new projects right now (especially as it looks like I will be getting another grant early next year which will take up a lot of my time), or at least not any that require much involvement on my part. Hopefully by not taking on more things, I can get many of the 8+ manuscripts that I'm a primary or secondary author on that are in various stages of progress out the door.

So, here's to knowing our limits and learning to say 'no' although we may want to say 'yes'...

New Rule: Don't Help People Move Something That They Bought From You!

We posted a secretary on craig's list a few weeks ago and had a few people interested that day. A couple came to see it, gave us cash, and asked us if we could keep it for a couple of weeks until they could get someone to help them move it. We arranged for them to pick it up today. They came -- without someone to help them. Bo said he would help. While the guy and Bo were trying to move it, part of the top half of the secretary came loose. They couldn't get it back on easily. They decided they didn't want it. They paid us for it 2 weeks ago. Bo and I discussed it and gave them back their money. I'm glad we took 'the high road', but it really annoys me that they even asked after they were supposed to bring someone back to help them move it. Our new rule: you buy it, you move it. Don't ask us to help.

Downside to Blogging about Your Kids?

I saw a recent posting about the potential downside to blogging about your kids on The Juggle blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2008/07/01/the-downsides-to-blogging-about-your-kid/). As some of you know, I started blogging when some other new moms I knew started blogging about their kids, families, etc. I've never really considered the downside to this. What do you think? Are there downsides to this activity? Will you be more cautious in what you post?