unbroken streak

for something like the 477th trip in a row, today i reconfirmed that i should never be allowed in a nursery unchaperoned.

for over a month now, i have assiduously avoided forlorn flowerbeds of dying pansies, skeletal remains of last year's geraniums in hanging pots, and the overgrown scraggle that passes for my bushes. because i intend to move this summer, it would be silly and financially daft to invest time and money on their care.

the garden, on the other hand, was already planted and finally has been flourishing. therefore, it seemed only sensible to pick up two pepper plants and one tomato plant to round out everything i have been growing from seed. (not all my tomato sprouts have flourished as one would like.)

although i am not a mathematician by trade, even i can count to three. does this look like three plants to you?




sigh.

three hours and one bee sting later, instead of casting a sorrowful pall on everything in their vicinity, the flowerbeds and pots now complement the day lily bonanza:



and the 'back 40':



in the end, i'll take silly over decay any day.

ps. anyone need any lettuce?

ketchup

things have been busy and weird and hard and good and busy some more. i have been working ridiculous amounts of hours and haven't much time to write.

i reread a wonderful article called On the determinants of academic success as a clinician-scientist a couple months ago. it motivated me to revisit all my projects and To Do lists and seriously consider which exist for the right reasons (makes me happy, invigorates me, good for me). that, of course, led me to create new lists of "Things to close out as quickly as possible", "Things to continue" and "Things to start once headway has been made on list A." that generated a fierce and focused attack on List A, so i can get to doing what i want to do that also can be what is good for my career. since then i have been happily trucking along, making excellent progress on List A though profoundly exhausting myself in the process.

late April was the Knoxville Habitat for Humanity Multi-house blitz. i had taken the week off from work to, well, work. it was wicked taxing but incredibly fun and rewarding. i learned to lay out a floorplan (set up to frame in walls) and led installation of fiber cement siding, ductwork framing, and windows/doors. there are some great pix here (including a few of me) though the sheer number of photos may overwhelm...

after the Multi-House Blitz, i went to a BBQ at a friend's house. i learned two new games: Polish Horseshoes and Stump. we had a LOT of fun:



in other news, Trav and i have split up. although there are sad moments and have been a lot of unrelated challenges, i am already much happier than i had been in quite some time. i feel like i have emerged from a dark cave after a long storm to a bright and glorious day.

too little time to catch up and then off to Florida for a weeklong family vacation. huge challenges wrt the car that made for quite the adventure and the weather mostly groused, but we still managed to have an awesome time! we discovered a found art installation on the base that was quite fascinating and clever. we did our part - adding several found objects to the structure. [can you guess which they were?] i also had a cameo as waterfowl rescuer extraordinaire.



got back on Memorial Day and worked feverishly to wrap things up for ACVIM which was in Montreal this year. made my deadlines - albeit barely - and enjoyed catching up with dear friends. Montreal is fabulous and i cannot wait to go back for fun... well, i suppose that is all i have from here.