Not dead yet....

I can't believe it has really been January since I posted, but...well things have been very, very busy. It is unlikely that I will continue to post as regularly as I would like, but I will try. I have been saving up quite a few articles to talk about, but for today just an update.

So what's happened this term...
1) Taught a new lab course for the first time and no one blew anything up!
To be honest, I was scared to death about this course. I was worried that students wouldn't sign up. Then I was worried that too many students signed up. Then, that the reagents wouldn't arrive in time. Then all the cells died...yeah for real... and I had to scramble to find new ones. Then I got stuck in Scotland because of the volcanic ash plume for 2 weeks and my TA had to teach the class! which brings us to...

2) Stuck in Scotland trapped by Volcanic Ash Plume
When this first happened I don't think anyone believed me, but I can assure you 6 days of pub-crawling, scotch drinking later, that it was horrible to have an unplanned vacation in Scotland. I got to see highlights of surrounding regions (Loch Ness!), learn how to distill Whisky through ample tours, and all about the world of Harry Potter (JKR lives in Edinburgh). I was rudely dragged onto a stand-by flight by husband's early AM call and returned to reality.

3) Paper accepted by high impact journal!
Finally. After working on this puppy for over a year and lovingly crafting each sentence I am happy to report that it was finally, finally accepted. And...after my last count we now have 14 papers out of our lab (including reviews and peer-reviewed proceedings), which is more than enough to go up for early tenure. So yippee.

4) Lots of grants rejected
Just to show that everything is not roses here in Dr. Mom world, I did have several grants rejected, and none in fact funded in the last term. Ah well....

So as you can see I have been busy and happy and had an impromptu vacation which I am now catching up from.