Happy Turkey Lurkey Day

...that's for Farrah. To the rest of you, Happy Thanksgiving!

Prethanksgiving torture

I spent most of the morning today enduring a tingling/numb ear, jaw, and right side of my face. Apparently last time I visited the dentist there was an old filling (my very first) that had partially fallen out and a small cavity had developed in the groove beside where the filling was previously. At first I didn't mind the tingling, but when my ear started to get numb and I had drooling and tongue chewing issues the fun wore off fast.
I just wonder if I have an addiction to pre Thanksgiving torture. Personally I think Thanksgiving is kind of a nasty holiday. If we really were just focusing on giving thanks instead of filling our faces and making our bodies feel nasty maybe I would like it more. So far it just seems like everyone eats, makes messes, and sit in front of the TV. Maybe because of this I have a history of having medical procedures the day before Thanksgiving. First wisdom teeth, then tonsils, now a filling (which was less brutal than the first two by far). I see a trend. Maybe next year I will schedule my tummy tuck just before Thanksgiving :) Oh yeah, no money for that!
By the way mom, whatever happened to one of your sons going into plastic surgery - did they all flake out on you or are you holding out for Benn?

NC

Last week I went to Charlotte, NC for a conference. Here are a few highlights:
First off I stayed in downtown Charlotte and took my first taxi ride (at least that I can remember) to get there. Luckily the taxi driver wasn't a creep! Here is a photo from my hotel room window.

A few other photos downtown - including a couple of cool statues they have around downtown. I really like the one with the baby.

The whole point of going (and submitting almost $900 for reimbursement) was so I could present this lovely poster. It is all about the literature review I have been writing so much about - which I think passed as my comp 1 (I say think only because I am waiting to see if I did enough minor editing for my advisor to pass me).

Other cool conference highlights. I actually got to meet a lot of people - some of whom might actually want to give me a job in a year from now. I also got to participate in a paraeducator special interest group and now I am part of a couple projects related to that - with people I have been reading about for a year. Sort of like meeting a movie star for a new researcher like me. Go ahead and call me a nerd!

I had kind of a weird flight plan to get to Charlotte. I travelled through Detroit. The craziest part of that was walking through a psychedelic tunnel - similar to the one in the original Willy Wonka movie (the part where they are on the boat and Wonka is super creepy).

I really think it is a hazard for those prone to seizures, but it made travel slightly more interesting. I was really excited that I didn't have any travel troubles (last time we had more than our fair share). This time 3 of my 4 flights actually arrived early - WOW!

I have to revisit the cost of this conference. I am not complaining - especially since I didn't have to pay for this out of my pocket, but for those of you who think that professors are rich you might want to perk up. First off you have to understand that professors are obligated to complete lines on their vita (also called a CV similar to a resume) if they want to keep a job. You do this in a number of ways (publishing, presenting at conferences, service, etc.). The irony about this is it is extremely expensive to do many of these activities. Consider the year it took me to write my paper and it isn't even published and has a good likelihood of getting rejected or need another revision. I don't think all things I will get published will take this long, but time is money and that is an expensive line on my vita. Then each conference, $900 is on the low end. It all adds up over the years to a lot of money to keep a job, get promotion and tenure. Good thing I love learning and working or this would be a drag!

just my luck

Wednesday I washed my car. It was beyond due and just grossed me out. So guess what happened Thursday...yep it rained. Just my luck! At least my car doesn't have dirt smear on it. I wasn't expecting it and forgot my umbrella - which made walking around the university a bit wet - can't say my hair needed that. Today it is sunny, and I am feeling nice since I have a week off of school to play catch up before the semester ends. Happy holidays.

Mystery not quite solved

So I am in North Carolina at a conference and I noticed this mascot around the city.

Kind of looks like the creature on C's Halloween cheerleading costume, but I don' think that was a panther - maybe a jaguar instead. Man, I thought I had the mystery solved - kind of weird because the colors are the same, just at different cat.

Kind of strange to have a quiet night to myself. Not sure if I like it or not.

Milestone

I finished the second draft of my comp 1. I turn it in on Monday. Now it is just a waiting game to make sure I passed. I think I will know in 2 weeks. Feels so good to have that in. Now on to all the other work I have waiting. Next week I am off to NC for a conference! That should be a nice change of pace.

tricks

My picture taking skills are going downhill lately (or the kids are becoming less cooperative), but this is what I got for Halloween. H refused to take his coat off, or wear his bandana and eye patch, so it is hard to tell he is a pirate. C is obviously a cheerleader - for an unknown team (we think it is the Jacksonville jaguars - brothers you should be able to identify with all of your sports center knowledge). We had a good time although it could have been warmer. C & H went with a friend - the chicken. C ended up with about twice as much candy as H, mostly because she was shoveling it in her bag. We had 6 trick or treaters, so with their candy and our left over we ended up with almost 4 gallon sized ziplocs full of candy. I think I will be taking some to mutual before we get cavities, sick (well might be too late for this one), or fat. H celebrated his candy consumption by throwing up Sat night! Good times. Hope you had a fun one.