Week of September 18, 2011:
Bike: Saturday (errands around the neighborhood)
Yoga: Friday (DIY pajama yoga—the very, very best! And the easiest!)
Week of September 25, 2011:
Bike: Sunday and Tuesday
Run: Wednesday (21 minutes, out and back)
Yoga: Monday
I’ve been feeling a bit aimless since returning from Michigan. The problem, I think, is that my whole summer was oriented around this trip: all my work deadlines, all the weekend hours I spent in the lab, all my recent planning and plotting revolved around this trip. Then I flew to Michigan, had a wonderful week, caught a cold, and returned to Texas. I’m not sure how to reset my planning button. What are my new goals? What do I want to accomplish in the next month? I just keep thinking back to all the sweet, funny, delicious moments of my vacation. I miss my family, and I’ve been surprisingly homesick for the Midwest.
But! There are some exciting things afoot for October. At the very end of the month, Matt and I are going to San Antonio for a few days, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we are excited about this trip. Even right now, good things are happening: my research is going well, I’m feeling refreshed after some time off, and I’m even—dare I say it?—eager to dive back into my busy life when I think about all the things I want to do: cooking and science and wine-drinking and running and just being here, now, enjoying my life.
So I’ve been hanging back a bit perhaps, but I’m ready to get back into my groove. The photos above are a few highlights from today: a beautiful and not-too-hot morning, new black flats (which I love!), and reading material. That book, When Science Goes Wrong, makes my work look like small potatoes: even our most dangerous mistakes don’t result in nuclear meltdowns or patients dying on us. (Well, okay, sometimes our “patients” do die on us, but our patients are flies. It’s a little different from having a human patient, I’d say.) But the book does remind me that science, as it’s being done by real humans, is a very human endeavor. It’s full of uncertainty and doubt, and it’s important to remember that in science, we do the best we can with the information we have, and after that, we roll the dice.
I’m ready to roll the dice.
It's funny how one event can be a compass for everything, for so long, and it's natural to feel aimless when that event passes. This is why people get depressed and start planning their next vacation on the way home from their first one! ;) It sounds like San Antonio will be a great way to ease back into life, while still having something to look forward to on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteAnd while you're in San Antonio, try and eat at Green. It's a vegetarian restaurant tucked in a little alley and it's pretty awesome. http://www.greensanantonio.com/
Hee hee, I am TOTALLY one of those people who starts planning their next vacation while on vacation! I bought my plane ticket for December two days after I returned to Texas.
ReplyDeleteYes, Green! True story: I e-mailed Matt, who is not a vegetarian at all, to see if he'd indulge me by having a meal with me at Green, and he said yes. I've actually never gone to a vegetarian restaurant with him, so I appreciate his willingness to check it out with me. I'm excited--it looks like a cool place!