October numbers

Out of town guests: 4

Suitcases not yet completely unpacked from last week’s trip: 1

Emails awaiting attention in various inboxes (work, personal, blog): 550+

Assignments backlogged for self & team following last week’s conference: 25 (~800 pages of editing)

Outside temperature last night: 33F/1C

Beds still awaiting cold-weather covers: 2

Wordless Wednesday

Home (Miss B's room), October 2010

Conference food

Sorry for going AWOL there for a bit with no explanation; I’m just back from spending a week in Keystone, Colorado for my day job—our organization’s annual meeting. (Last year’s was in Singapore: it’s the only time I get to see most of my colleagues—we work together via the internet the rest of the time and gather once a year in some far-flung location to have presentations, posters, workshops, and as much socializing as we can cram in.)

Wordless Wednesday

Change of seasons, Missouri, October 2010

Both ends

This morning it occurred to me, as I crawled out of bed at 7:00am after another late-night work session, that there is a direct link between how much sleep I get and how cheerful I feel when I wake up.

Yes, I am sure that this cause-and-effect relationship is already blindingly obvious to the vast majority of you. However, those of us who are chronically sleep-deprived sometimes take a little longer to make these connections. And it is slowly, slowly dawning on me that I cannot continue to burn the candle at both ends without feeling the effects, now that I’m officially middle-aged. (Eh? Speak up!)

Apple festival

One of the nicest things about the weather finally cooling off around here is being able to enjoy getting outside and doing stuff. Everyone has spent the last 3-4 months taking full advantage of their central air conditioning, giving the impression that there had been a temporary mass evacuation from our new hometown. Every time I ventured out of doors to do anything other than scurry to my car, I got funny looks from people driving past with all the windows rolled up. But now everyone’s out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather and the numerous festivals that take place at this time of year to make the most of the respite between the brutal extremes of Midwestern summer and winter.