*Giggle*

Just gotta keep it together 1 more day. One more. My permission to write meeting is tomorrow. I've gotten more sleep this week thank frog, but I still feel utterly worn out from this month's utter insanity. I can honestly say I have never been this busy before in my life.

But, only one more night of slavery work...then crossing of all available appendages that it will go well and I get clearance to stop MSc work and I can officially start slogging away at my thesis and relax a bit. By relax I mean not working every damn waking moment....

I plan to bribe the committee with nutella cookies - I have no shame. :)

We were going to go away this weekend, but I'm kind of glad we aren't even though I was looking forward to it. While J works I can put up Christmas lights and make cookies to send with my Dad out to Ontario to my sister for her 4 foster kids to snarf. We snuck away for a day last weekend to a star wars party...at which I won best costume (bwaha! 2 tickets to the Astral Harvest music festival!) and had a little relaxing if only because of the car ride there and back :)

Soon...a bit of holiday break.

Soon.

Just to show off, here's me and a hot Clone Trooper at the Star Wars party...Just to prove that yes...I know how to make a proper costume :) I went over to tell her she had the shiniest pants I'd ever seen. She told me they used to belong to her gay roommate who had given them to her because his boyfriend thought they were *too* gay for him to wear...and she loves them. Best story behind a pair of pants I've heard in a while... :)

The final Countdown

Only one more week left in this insanity drive...then I can relax a bit...sleep...and drown the house in christmas lights.

Courage.

And to get that ridiculous Europe song out of your head which I know that title put there (sorry), here's a far better one...

so close

Last night I got a LOT done. I feel like this report will come together nicely. I managed to sneak in a nap after work which went a long way in boosting my morale. I've really been burning the candle at both ends lately and it can be discouraging. Thankfully only 1 evening left... I slept in this morning and skipped my workout and feel much better for it. It got me a positively luxurious total of 4 and a half hours of sleep...which I know doesn't sound like much, but sure felt good after a long exhausting day. Getting up for boot camp might have been too much I think. I don't need to go crazy right now - I could feeling exhaustion poking it's tendrils into my zen. Not cool.

Last night J was fiddling with my new iPhone and pulled up this video to cheer me up:

I've seen it a few times and it still makes me giggle until I snort...he heee :)

The view from up here

"We are like dwarves sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature, add to ours."

~John of Salisbury

Metalogicon (1159)

I have made it this far. I have become king.

I was up until 5 finishing my draft but I'm pretty happy with it.

Yeah...just a wee bit tired :P

I have the weekend to work on final data bits and proof it monday and tuesday. My supervisors will have comments too Im sure, but I'm so glad so have so much of that headache out of the way.

Now...naptime and an evening off! :)

Today's disappointment is brought to you by the number 4 and the letter S

I went to pick up my new work phone (and laptop bwaha) for my new job which is going alright so far, and learned that they ordered me the wrong one...so I had to hand back the awesome iPhone 4S they ware setting up for me and head back without one to wait for a regular old iPhone 4 to come in. Yes, yes I know it's free and shouldn't complain because it's way better than anything I have right now...but I was secretly hoping my boss would just say "oh OK go for it" and let me keep it.

So close :)

Data mining

Well I spent most of the weekend doing analysis on my data that shows me not much at all (*sigh*) which while good for discussion feels like one ginormous waste of my time...but in the end I have worked out a way to make it say something for real, oh yes indeedy, so tonight is try and do all of it at once so I can still have a summary to my supervisor by friday. My *other* supervisor, has finally made contact which is why I now know what to do with my data. Wish she'd been around sooner. She could have saved me a lot of headache.
*sigh*
There just isn't enough time in the day.

On the other hand - day 1 of my new job went swimmingly. I have a new laptop to play with...and much to do. It's nice to be busy at work.

Now that I'm home...not so much.
I have made butter chicken and after nomming it, I will set my mind on data crunching...and I *will* finish it tonight, come hell or high water.

Here she goes.
Curry and coffee to the rescue!!

overstaying your welcome

So...hello there writer's block old buddy old pal.
I was beginning to think you'd gone and left! I mean it's only 9 days to compile a draft for my supervisor - sure I don't mind if you still hang around while I work. Sure - you can hang on the couch. Just don't leave crumbs...and stop humming...and stay out of the liquor cabinet...

*deep breath*

You know what?
I have to say something -I really think its time you go visit someone else for a while. I need some space. I'm sure Margaret Atwood hasn't spoken with you in ages - why don't you look her up and pop by? That old bird has got to have some good wine stashed in her cabinet.
Really - I won't be offended. I can tidy up myself.
Go on.

No really.
Go.

Holiday sneers

I saw christmas stuff yesterday while in the mall getting a gift for my niece's 3rd birthday and the new (squee) Beastie Boys CD for myself.

eh.

I so wish I could skip the whole thing (well OK -keep the lights and cocoa and fires and shortbread and peppermints and turkey). I' d love to tell everyone to not get me anything and I won't get them anything and we'll all just hang out together (...and set up a few lights and have a fire and eat come turkey with cocoa and shortbread and peppermints.) I love christmas lights and the smell of the tree, and the *idea* of christmas, but I"m so busy and so tired right now that the thought of all the commercialism and greed just makes me sigh. I just want a few days free to snuggle with my love and cook some tasty food and watch the snow fall.

It was the first snowfall of the year yesterday which has brought this all on. Fall has been long and orange and wonderful and I had hopes that it might just extend indefinitely on my behalf.
No such luck I'm afraid.
I'm good, but I'm not that good :)

Must be off - it's election day in the province so I have to fit that in on the way home and try and sit down to a bit more math for my thesis proposal.
And perhaps a mug of cocoa...

Busy Daze

I am feeling slightly more calm now.

Yes there were coconut lime cupcakes on my birthday and a lovely bottle of Pino Grigio.

And life seems to be sorting itself out as needed...

It would appear my co-supervisor who took leave for "a while" to Toronto is likely not returning, so my other supervisor and I have decided to change from a paper based thesis to a regular old thesis for my own sanity. Why? Well, the co-supervisor who is far away is the one with most of the expertise I'd need to work with a lot to write the papers *with* and if she isn't here, writing my thesis as papers would be time consuming really stressful and make things more complicated than they need to be. It would drag out things and stress me out and make things worse in this newly developed situation. I must make the best of things, regardless of what she's decided to do...life goes on...and so *much* of it goes on!

In other news, I have discovered that my soon to be old job will not be reposted...the old "me" will be absorbed into the college and put to use somewhere else. When I think about it, altho I feel bad that my old dept. is being screwed over somewhat, I have been underutilized lately, and with most of the researchers moving to the new research groups in the new labs (one of which I'll be managing - bwaha!) my old job would likely have been reworked into something else - and something I might not have liked if I were to have stayed. Sobering thought... I think I did them a favour by actively seeking out and developing myself within the college, and taking my experience to where it's needed and better used, instead of sitting back and waiting for them to possibly change (or delete) my job into something I wouldn't like. I think I won the lottery here.

As it is I'm really looking forward to my new job. I've been updating all the lab inventories, tidying up, and trying to finish up anything critical promised to people so that on Nov. 15 I can shake the dust from my shoes and wander on down the hall to start fresh. I was setting it up for a replacement, but even so, it will be left off well with no real regrets. The bonus of my new job is I still get to have lunch and coffee with many of the old group I currently take breaks with. I always got along with them -that will be a comfortable familiarity in the new job.

Amongst all this newness, I feel focused again with my project. With some solid hard work (and a little sleep)I can focus on the immediate future: new job and finishing my detailed thesis proposal in the hope of getting permission to write. I must group my summarized data to show that I am done my research. I think I am. I still have a few questions as to how I may present some of it, as it is new research and a lot of the standard analysis methods can't be used... but it's coming. The proposal is due in 3 weeks to the committee along with a little song and dance.

Everyone I work with, and my Jay, all have a horrid cold so I am trying to be a germophobe and resist the sickness and get as much work done as I can. Starting off a new job while doing all this is not the time to get sick.
We shall see. Fingers crossed. Getting my flu shot tomorrow. Maybe a hazmat suit...

As for now I should just gather up my stuff and get some sleep. The 3 hours I got last night is not enough...I hear my pillow calling.
'Night!

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