Happy New Year

Terry Pratchett on being Knighted http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7804693.stm

It's been a while, and I'm writing on yet another snowy day.  Highlights from the last few weeks:

Christmas in Maine: We stayed at the LimeRock Inn in Rockland, and not only is it a fabulous Bed and Breakfast, but it's also a short walk from Main Street, which is adorable, and as many of you know, home to my favorite coffee shop in the world, Rock City Coffee (aka The Second Read).  I went there pretty much every day and saw people who are near and dear to me every time.  Because of the fact that Dan and I had somewhere to relax on our own accord in between visits with family, we were able to sincerely enjoy them even though we remained characteristically busy.  It was a godsend.  I also got to spend some one-on-one time with my uncle, and we haven't done that for about 11 years!  It was truly wonderful.  I feel so fortunate to have such amazing, caring, supportive family.  

Got a promotion at work: yep -- I have to change my profile, because I am no longer executive secretary.  I am now Associate Science Grant Administrator, which not only sounds like a real title, but it feels like a job with responsibilitiy, too!  The thing about secretaries is that their work is routinely underrated.  I don't feel underrated anymore when I tell people what I do.  It's somewhat validating, but more importantly, the work that I'm taking on is new and interesting!  I'm doing grant letters, working more with the database (I love databases...as I push my reading glasses up in excitement), and working more with grantees.  It's more rewarding already.

Started my first week of classes in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Northeastern University:  Boy, has THIS been a roller coaster already!  I spent the first couple of days totally panicking because I couldn't possibly figure out where the workload would fit in.  I had a freak-out when the syllabus for a course I'm registered for was posted the day before classes started, in a round-about way, I was informed that this foundational course is designed to go hand-in-hand with another course that I was not registered for AND that started that night.  Yikes!  Well, 50 minutes before that course started, I got registered and showed up for it.  However, freak-out number two happened when I was informed that the two classes were sharing a final project that was a culmintation of 25 hours of field-work: classroom observation time.  Yes, time that I can't be at work.  Right.  So I had to go to work the next day and inform my employers that I have to fit this in before the end of March.  They took it as well as can be expected, and it's going to be a challenge.  But it should be do-able.

I'm going to Costa Rica on February 8!  Kathy called me up a whole week ago and informed me that a group she and Matt are in are planning a trip to Costa Rica.  Well, I'd been hoping to go somewhere warm, but couldn't figure out exactly where, and I hadn't done anything about it since I'm so busy with other things (like a new position at work at two grad level classes).  She basically said that the planning is mostly done, and all I needed to do was figure out when I wanted to join them and purchase tickets.  Sounded good to me!  So I'll be on vacation from Feb 8-15.  Yippie!  

Well, I'm off to do a lot of homework.  If you need me, I have an iPhone now, so I should still be tenable.  By the way, for those of you who text all the time, I have now joined the ranks of texting, so I'll return your messages from now on.