12 Years on the 12th

Bo and I were married 12 years ago Sunday. It is hard to believe it has been that long in some ways, but in others it feels like it should be much longer. For instance, we've lived in 4 different locales since we were married. When first married we lived in Fuquay-Varina, NC, then Boston, Baltimore, and now Birmingham. I wonder what the next 'B' city will be . . .

We've also lost many family members in the past 12 years. Bo's father died, along with two of Bo's old friends. Then both my parents died in 2000. We've both lost aunts and uncles during this time period too. It seems we've lost a lot of family and friends during such a short time period!

Luckily, we've also had a great joy during this time -- the birth of our daughter. She continues to bring us more joy than we ever imagined possible.

I hope the next 12 years will bring us many more joys and fewer sad times. . .

Lesson Learned

Don't check your luggage if you think you might want to try to get on an earlier flight! According to the Delta people you can't switch! I have a 3 hour layover in Atlanta and there was another connection flight that had available seats. However, the Delta reps said the only possible way for me to even have a chance to get on the earlier flight was to go back out to the luggage check area (so go outside of security!) and beg them to get it off, then go back through security, etc. She said the chances that they would do it would be very slim at best and given how long it takes to get through security she basically said there was no way I'd make the earlier flight.

What happened to airlines calling their luggage people and asking them to pull a bag?? I've had this happen numerous times in the past. I even told her I didn't care if my luggage went on the later plane. Nope - you have to travel with your luggage she said. I should have said -- well, what happens when the airline loses my bag and it doesn't travel with me? But, of course I didn't think about that at the time.

Shelia (stuck in Atlanta for another hour or so at least - ugh!)

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 . . .

What Do You Think?

said the almost 3 year old to her mommy last night. I said, "I think I love you very much!" It was funny last night as she asked me this several times during the evening. She never said 'What do you think about X?' It was just always 'What do you think?'

On the way to school this morning we were listening to the radio. An old song by the Commodores came on and she said, 'Good Song!' It was a good song.

Home Again, Home Again

We had a busy trip visiting relatives! Lots of time driving between places, but we had a good time while we were visiting with family. Callen enjoyed having little cousins to play with and older relatives to shower her with attention! And, her Aunt Suz to provide lots of new goodies for her to play with.

Unfortunately Friday night I noticed that she had a high fever when she was in bed. This persisted through Saturday. She felt miserable Saturday for a good portion of the day. All she wanted to do was lay on the couch and hang on me. I felt bad for her. It was a chance for us to all rest a little though. It was rather busy going from one place to another, visiting, etc. so a little down time was good for all of us. We went out to dinner Saturday night and Callen's Aunt Suz really helped to keep her entertained! Thanks Aunt Suz!!

Luckily her fever subsided Saturday night and by Sunday AM she was back to her normal self, which was good considering we made an almost 12 hour drive home on Sunday!

We're home for a while now. And, so much to do! Why does it always seem like when you go away the work at work and at home multiplies while you're gone? Maybe one day soon I will be able to find time to actually download all those great photos we took while we were away!

Visiting Relatives

This is a busy travel week for us. We're at my brother's house for a few days, then on to Bo's step-mother's family reunion. Lots of miles to drive yet!

This afternoon we were visiting with some family. One of Callen's little cousins is a little over 2. He and Callen had so much fun running (my brother lives in a rural area with a huge yard and lots of room to run!). There were also cows in a pasture next door. They had a blast going up to the fence and talking to the cows. They also saw a large frog. They were so cute hopping after it.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll actually take some pictures and be able to post them at some point this week! Here's to lots more fun times for everyone.

Ambient Awareness and Intimacy

My friend Zeynep was quoted in a NY Times Magazine article, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin, on the use of Facebook. The article is a good read and the author discusses how people are increasingly using Facebook and other technologies to monitor the behaviors of others (both strong and weak ties).

I was at a department party tonite and a colleague's husband was there. On his FB status update today he noted that he'd gone to a bootcamp workout class this morning and he was really out of shape. I asked him about it at the party and I could tell that he was surprised that I knew about it. I then mentioned that I saw his status update on FB. He laughed; he's new to FB. I'm guessing his ambient awareness level will increase over time.

How do you use FB or other technologies to stay in contact with others? Do you like having ambient awareness and/or intimacy?