It is raining here in Lauderdale while my relatives in ND dig out from a blizzard. Amazing what a few degrees latitude make in the weather:) I am still staying put today, because this ND girl knows that rain in December quickly turns to ice, and that a broken ankle is NOT a pleasant thing to have in winter.
The trip to San Francisco was great. The ASH meeting is so large that it is hard to make it to everything. I saw several exciting talks and posters. My own poster was well received. There is two researchers in SCD that are currently setting the standards. Our work here in Minnesota is NOT what this group has deemed "important", so my work was treated with curiosity, but not much else. I think my adviser was disappointed. I am just focused on getting my paper out and working out what I need to get done next for my thesis. I have plenty of time to establish my reputation.
Matt and I celebrated my birthday (or birthmas as Matt has dubbed it) by going out for an extremely nice dinner last night. We went to Forepaugh's Restaurant in St. Paul. The restaurant is in a huge Victorian mansion and it was all decorated for Christmas. It was beautiful. The food was excellent as well. Matt and I don't treat ourselves very often, so it was nice to do that.
Well, the frantic pace of December is not slowing down. I have to get a paper draft completed by the end of the week, and I also have to get some experimental outlines done. It is so much easier doing experiments than writing and planing them! On top of all of the work stuff, I have Christmas cards, candy making, and gift wrapping! No wonder my father called December "the busies time of the year". I guess we call all rest in January.....
Book to recommend: Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman. I have read all of Chuck's non-fiction books. He has a strange sense of humor. I read this entire book on the plane ride to San Francisco. Owl, the town in the book, it geographically located near Medina, and consequentially my hometown is mentioned a few times. Klosterman does a great job capturing small town ND life. I do wish he hadn't gone with the easy ending (or alluded to it at the beginning to the book). Overall, this is a good read, but will probably not be the next classic.
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