Life in the Miser Family Household continues to be rich and full.
The past three weeks have taken me to Denver and back for the big math meetings. This is the first round of meetings since my book came out, and apparently it's doing pretty well. Everywhere I went, people came up to me and said, "I have your book!". (And I got to respond, "How cool! I have it, too!") And I autographed a few copies, and my editor/publisher bubbled at me about how happy she is, and just generally I felt like a minor celebrity, in a good way. It was sweet.
The other neat thing is that I know the authors of a bunch of books that have just come out, and not in the "there's a famous author, and I met her at a dinner once" kind of a way. No, there are some people I've known forever; I've seen them apply for jobs or come up for tenure or start out on a freelancing gig . . . and now they're starting to come out with books that other people are noticing, and I think, "I knew Bob Bosch/Francis Su/Evelyn Lamb/Dave Richeson back when!". And so the meeting was fun for me because I got to be happy for a bunch of friends and colleagues I've long enjoyed just hanging out with.
When I got back home from the meetings, real life started again. We'd hoped to be done hiring Computer Scientists, but they're an exotic species that is difficult to encounter in the wild, and so we're still on safari, so to speak. Paperwork, campus tours, lectures, dinners . . . these continue. My classes have started up, and I have two undergrad research teams working with me, and I'm still the secretary of the faculty, and all of these things combined mean I don't particularly have to fear being bored or aimless this semester. So that's good!
Okay, but that's enough about me. Maybe even more exciting is the news that K-daughter and D-son have put in an offer on a house, and it was accepted! They're likely to be moving in in about a month. Whoop!
And those two are not the only ones to have a moving experience in their near futures: yesterday, my husband and N-son and I went to a property manager's place, and N-son and I signed a bunch of papers together. He now has an apartment!
It's a block and a half from our home, so he'll have help around the corner if and when he needs it. In fact, he'll have the help even if he doesn't need it, because my name is on that lease, too, and so his dad and I will check on him a lot to make sure he's settling in okay. The transition to living on his own is a big deal, and we're all excited!
N-son spent the evening after the signing calling everybody to tell them, and today we moved most of his stuff into the new place. We met his new downstairs neighbor, a motherly woman who told him that the walls are thin and he is not supposed to stomp too much, or he'll hear it from her. I got to give her the welcome news that the person moving into the space above her head is a drummer, but a considerate drummer, who only drums during the day. After she recovered a bit from this news, she offered him a bunch of advice on living in the neighborhood; I'm glad she'll be his downstairs neighbor, keeping an eye (or an ear) on him. He won't have any way to cook there for a few days (gas isn't set up yet, and he doesn't yet have a microwave), and his mattress is still on the floor instead of on his bed frame, but he's spending tonight in the apartment all on his own. So exciting!
And finally, I just want to say yay-hooray for the co-PI on my recent NSF grant proposal. Not only is he a whiz at writing compelling prose about assessment protocols and data management plans, but he also alerted me, in time for me to take advantage of the news, that the first Saturday in February is Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! Yes! We celebrated with gusto. Or with waffles. Y'know.
And that's the sweet news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures. May you and yours be similarly prosperous.
The past three weeks have taken me to Denver and back for the big math meetings. This is the first round of meetings since my book came out, and apparently it's doing pretty well. Everywhere I went, people came up to me and said, "I have your book!". (And I got to respond, "How cool! I have it, too!") And I autographed a few copies, and my editor/publisher bubbled at me about how happy she is, and just generally I felt like a minor celebrity, in a good way. It was sweet.
The other neat thing is that I know the authors of a bunch of books that have just come out, and not in the "there's a famous author, and I met her at a dinner once" kind of a way. No, there are some people I've known forever; I've seen them apply for jobs or come up for tenure or start out on a freelancing gig . . . and now they're starting to come out with books that other people are noticing, and I think, "I knew Bob Bosch/Francis Su/Evelyn Lamb/Dave Richeson back when!". And so the meeting was fun for me because I got to be happy for a bunch of friends and colleagues I've long enjoyed just hanging out with.
When I got back home from the meetings, real life started again. We'd hoped to be done hiring Computer Scientists, but they're an exotic species that is difficult to encounter in the wild, and so we're still on safari, so to speak. Paperwork, campus tours, lectures, dinners . . . these continue. My classes have started up, and I have two undergrad research teams working with me, and I'm still the secretary of the faculty, and all of these things combined mean I don't particularly have to fear being bored or aimless this semester. So that's good!
Okay, but that's enough about me. Maybe even more exciting is the news that K-daughter and D-son have put in an offer on a house, and it was accepted! They're likely to be moving in in about a month. Whoop!
And those two are not the only ones to have a moving experience in their near futures: yesterday, my husband and N-son and I went to a property manager's place, and N-son and I signed a bunch of papers together. He now has an apartment! It's a block and a half from our home, so he'll have help around the corner if and when he needs it. In fact, he'll have the help even if he doesn't need it, because my name is on that lease, too, and so his dad and I will check on him a lot to make sure he's settling in okay. The transition to living on his own is a big deal, and we're all excited!
N-son spent the evening after the signing calling everybody to tell them, and today we moved most of his stuff into the new place. We met his new downstairs neighbor, a motherly woman who told him that the walls are thin and he is not supposed to stomp too much, or he'll hear it from her. I got to give her the welcome news that the person moving into the space above her head is a drummer, but a considerate drummer, who only drums during the day. After she recovered a bit from this news, she offered him a bunch of advice on living in the neighborhood; I'm glad she'll be his downstairs neighbor, keeping an eye (or an ear) on him. He won't have any way to cook there for a few days (gas isn't set up yet, and he doesn't yet have a microwave), and his mattress is still on the floor instead of on his bed frame, but he's spending tonight in the apartment all on his own. So exciting!
And finally, I just want to say yay-hooray for the co-PI on my recent NSF grant proposal. Not only is he a whiz at writing compelling prose about assessment protocols and data management plans, but he also alerted me, in time for me to take advantage of the news, that the first Saturday in February is Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! Yes! We celebrated with gusto. Or with waffles. Y'know.
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| Waffles with ice cream for breakfast. In observance of the Official Holiday. |
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