I Should Be Asleep . . .

but I'm not. I tried going to sleep and really thought I would, but as is often the case when my mind is 'running' I couldn't sleep. So, I got up and tried to do a few things semi constructive at least.

I've been wanting to post for the past few days but work has been so busy that I've barely had time to spend a few minutes with Bo and Callen before it is time to put Callen to bed. It always seems like the fall semester is frenetic feeling. I don't know why I hoped this one would be any different.

I had a grant project ending this week, 2 reports due for 2 other grant projects, an R&R (revise and resubmit for the non-academics reading this) on a manuscript that had to be done by 9/30 which required way more work than I had anticipated I'd have to do, a review of a proposal due for NSF, my normal teaching and service obligations, an abundance of research project related meetings, and making plans to go to my 25 year high school reunion.

Yes, you read that correctly - it has been 25 years since I graduated from high school. Oh, how old I feel just typing those numbers! I remember when Bo and I had just been married a very short while he was scheduled to go to his 25 year HS reunion. I remember thinking - wow, can he really have been out of high school that long? In case you haven't deduced it already, he is slightly more than a decade older than me. Yes, I was just a child when we married : ).

So, this weekend I'll see old friends and classmates that I haven't seen in at least 5 years since our 20 year reunion. I wonder how many people I'll not recognize and how many won't recognize me. I received my new passport in the mail today; my picture was not what I had hoped. Time has not been as gentle to me as I would have hoped. I actually liked my prior passport photo. I wonder how time will have affected my former classmates. . .

Maybe next week I can post some pix from the reunion. Hmmm, maybe more realistic would be to say maybe I can actually get the 200 plus pix off the digital camera that have been on there for way too long. Then, maybe I could post some updated pix of Callen and of the reunion. Wish me luck!

Here's to old friends, aging, and time . . .

Reunions

I received an email from some grad school buddies who are organizing a grad school reunion for a few of us who were in grad school together at NC State (http://sa.ncsu.edu/S&A/index.html). What a great idea!

It seems these days that I usually only run into old grad school friends at conferences. However, some conferences are so large that you can often both be at the conference and never see each other unfortunately. Even if you do run into each other, however, it isn't often that you get to see spouse/partners and kids. My friends have invited partners and kids -- very cool! I haven't seen some of my friends' kids in years.

Here's to hoping we all get to attend the reunion and enjoy some good, relaxing times with old friends this summer!

Reunions

This weekend was my 20 year college reunion. I can't believe it has been 20 years since I graduated from my undergrad college, Wake Forest! I didn't make it to the reunion this time -- too much going on with work, too far, and a myriad of other reasons.

I did make it to the 15 year reunion, which was fun. Most of my fellow graduates had kids and were very successful in their jobs. At that time I was in my first academic tenure track job and still trying to figure out my niche in academia. Five years later I definitely feel more settled in my career and I too have a child. I wonder how many of my fellow graduates have young kids at this point in their lives. I know many of the people that I went to high school with have kids that are almost grown by this point.

Reunions are a nice time to reflect on where you are and where you still hope to go with your life. I miss having not gone to Wake this weekend for my reunion -- to see old friends who I rarely keep in touch with anymore, to see how the campus has changed, and to take time to reflect on where I've been and where I hope to go in the next 20 years.

Here's to reunions and to having time to reflect on our lives!