It's another year, and while I could say that one resolution is to blog more often, it's not. Since writing has never been an aspiration but rather an outlet for frustration, I've never been one to write when things are going well. It seems too much like bragging. However, since it is a new year, and it has started out with some big changes, I figured it was worth an entry.
At the end of December, I left my first post-doc; at the beginning of January, I started a new post-doc. So far, three days in, I'm enjoying the new job fairly well. While the camaraderie isn't really there yet, I've met a lot of nice people so far all more than willing to help. The project is interesting, and I definitely have a bunch to learn. I'm currently working on reading a bunch of papers to get up to speed in the field. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this experience and I'm very optimistic about this job.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, July 27, 2009
Decisions and Changes
This past weekend, I made up my mind about somethings that are potentially big and life altering. Jeremy and I discussed it, and we both liked the ideas. The timeline's not set in stone, but we didn't find any glaring holes or issues with feasibility. I'm not going to elaborate any more on it because we're not sure any of it will work out the way we plan. A lot of it is contingent on something I'm working on now and which path we take. Needless to say, I'm actually more excited than scared because of how dramatically life will change. I'm going to embrace change instead of fretting about it and trust in God about the direction we're choosing.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Amazing
My husband amazes me. I have been with him through some very hard times where there was nothing I could do but sit on the sidelines and offer words of encouragement. I've also been there with him when things aren't just going great, they are going splendidly. Through it all, I'm wowed by his poise and his determination.
He decided several days ago that he was seriously considering graduate school. He told me his decision on Monday morning. In my mind, he'd decided this, and we were going to start looking into options and processes. In actuality, he'd found the programs and had started on the applications. As I sit here on Friday, he's filled out all the applications, looked into getting official transcripts and started thinking about the GRE. His goals for this weekend is to finish the essays, get the recommendations needed for each program, and take at least one practice GRE.
Normally, this frenetic pace of activity would be my mo. He's usually more laid back with a slower pace for life. Instead, he's taken it upon himself to do all this and remain motivated. He explained his reasoning to me last night, and I am totally behind him in his pursuits. I just never thought that he would want to go back to school after what it took to get him through school in the first place.
He decided several days ago that he was seriously considering graduate school. He told me his decision on Monday morning. In my mind, he'd decided this, and we were going to start looking into options and processes. In actuality, he'd found the programs and had started on the applications. As I sit here on Friday, he's filled out all the applications, looked into getting official transcripts and started thinking about the GRE. His goals for this weekend is to finish the essays, get the recommendations needed for each program, and take at least one practice GRE.
Normally, this frenetic pace of activity would be my mo. He's usually more laid back with a slower pace for life. Instead, he's taken it upon himself to do all this and remain motivated. He explained his reasoning to me last night, and I am totally behind him in his pursuits. I just never thought that he would want to go back to school after what it took to get him through school in the first place.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Traveling
It's been awhile since Jeremy and I have been on vacation, and I'd forgotten how nice it is to get away. We promised ourselves that once we were married, we'd travel and vacation more. That hasn't really been the case. Sure, we go out of town, but it hasn't really been vacations as much as going out of town.
While there are plenty of places I'd like to see in the US, I think I'm going to plan a mega trip to Europe. I can't decide if I want to take many 1 week trips or maybe devote say 3 weeks to the venture and see everything at once. Then there's the issue of going to cities that I've been to already but want to share with Jeremy. I'd like to go to Paris with Jeremy, but France is low on the list for him. Also, while I'd like to see historical sites, museums aren't high on my list.
So far, the destinations I'd like to go to include the UK (mainly London), France (Paris/Nice), Germany, Italy, and maybe some Eastern European countries. If this is all in one trip, it'll be a very exhausting, on the go trip, but I don't think we'd regret it. I know that if I'm staying in a city for a week, I tend to not go out and sightsee with the same urgency. I don't think I want to do a guided tour thing but rather hope on the train and see the sights. I wonder if I could get a bunch of people to travel with us or if it would be better to do this on our own.
While there are plenty of places I'd like to see in the US, I think I'm going to plan a mega trip to Europe. I can't decide if I want to take many 1 week trips or maybe devote say 3 weeks to the venture and see everything at once. Then there's the issue of going to cities that I've been to already but want to share with Jeremy. I'd like to go to Paris with Jeremy, but France is low on the list for him. Also, while I'd like to see historical sites, museums aren't high on my list.
So far, the destinations I'd like to go to include the UK (mainly London), France (Paris/Nice), Germany, Italy, and maybe some Eastern European countries. If this is all in one trip, it'll be a very exhausting, on the go trip, but I don't think we'd regret it. I know that if I'm staying in a city for a week, I tend to not go out and sightsee with the same urgency. I don't think I want to do a guided tour thing but rather hope on the train and see the sights. I wonder if I could get a bunch of people to travel with us or if it would be better to do this on our own.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Good Friday
I had the opportunity to have lunch with Jeremy today. He had the day off and we got to spend 30 minutes enjoying each other's company in the middle of the day. While we spend a lot of time together, it was a nice out of routine event.
Life's been good. Experiments have been working well, so it's been extra busy at work (which I really like). It does get very tiring though.
Life's been good. Experiments have been working well, so it's been extra busy at work (which I really like). It does get very tiring though.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Peace
After the last few days of limbo, I have found a semblance of peace over this basketball situation. I don't mind that the coach left for another school. I am happy for the good times we had the last several seasons. Had he simply just left though I would have remembered him for the great times and as a good coach. However, it seems like he strung the boosters and the school along in order to contact his recruits before he officially took the new job and barred from contacting them and used these same players as leverage to convince us to let him pick his replacement. Now instead of being thought of as the savior of the program, he's shown himself to be someone who cares very little of how he's thought of in the city. It remains to be seen as to where we go from here. I have certain coaches I'd like to see hired, and there are coaches that I would loathe to see fill the position. We'll also see how the players situation plays out. I don't want to see this program fade into mediocrity, but it is time for the administration to step up in a big way if they want the continued support of the avid fans. For now, I'm going to keep up with the news, but what's done is done.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
College Basketball
This post is going to be more of a rant about the state of Tigers basketball and Tigers sports in general, so feel free to skip it if it doesn't interest you.
The shitstorm that has been stirred up in the last few days has been epic. It started with the coach publicly stating that there is no way he's leaving the university for a more prominent program. Then, over the weekend, rumors started that he had in fact flown to said school to discuss terms with the officials there. Our AD came out and said the rumors were untrue and he never gave the other school permission to speak to our coach. On Monday, our AD states on record that he's given permission for the other school to speak to our coach.
I understand that this is the way of college athletics. If you are a good coach, you will be courted by every school under the sun. I also fully understand that $6 million is a lot of money and even though you are already a millionaire, it's a huge raise. That being said, there is a classy way to go about contract negotiations. The basketball program has once again reached the level of national recognition, and the coach had a lot to do with it. Do I think he's going to stay forever? Well, no, I'm not that naive. Had I found out yesterday that he was leaving, I would've wished him the best of luck, even though I was sick to my stomach over it.
However, in the wake of the negotiations with the other school, it came out that he was likely going to take not only the incoming recruits, but he was also working on getting releases for current players so they could all follow him to the new school. If you want to leave our program for a new one because it is better for you and your family, that's fine. It is however very classless to gut our program in the process. I understand that with any coaching change that some players decide to leave and go elsewhere. That's fine. If they don't want to play here, again, I wish them well. However, if you are using the current players as a threat to get your way, then that's lower than low. I don't care if it's done elsewhere. The behavior is wrong, and it shouldn't be something that's condoned, and if our AD even considers releasing the players to leave with the coach, he needs to get his head examined. We may as well just dismantle the entire program right now.
The negotiations are still ongoing. The big boosters have gotten together to negotiate the deal. While I applaud their efforts, this brings me to another issue I have. Last spring and fall, there was a huge fan initiative to get the university to build a football stadium on campus. Many donors were willing to give to see this happen. We were all told that there was no way $10 million could be raised over the course of a few years to fund this. Last night, 3 big donors got together and raised that amount to try to keep the coach. Now, I understand that our football program is not anywhere close to where it needs to be, but I'm sorry, football will more likely get us into a BCS league before basketball.
That all being said, Jeremy and I have come to a hard decision. We want to support Tigers athletics, but in these tough economic times, we really have to examine closely where our money goes. While I love the players and I do believe they go out and try their hardest, I have never been a huge basketball fan. These latest events surrounding the program have left a bad taste in my mouth and while I want the university to succeed and athletics to do well, we have to decide how best to use our money. I would like to keep our season tickets to basketball, and with a coaching change, that may not be too hard. However, we're thinking about minimizing our scholarship fund donations. Because he's just graduated, the university will match, so there's no reason to donate as much. Instead, the money we would've been donating to the general scholarship fund, we'll turn around and donate directly to the football program. I would like nothing more than to mail in a check each month designating the money specifically to football with a note saying that I am no longer supporting any other programs until the administration gets its but in gear.
The shitstorm that has been stirred up in the last few days has been epic. It started with the coach publicly stating that there is no way he's leaving the university for a more prominent program. Then, over the weekend, rumors started that he had in fact flown to said school to discuss terms with the officials there. Our AD came out and said the rumors were untrue and he never gave the other school permission to speak to our coach. On Monday, our AD states on record that he's given permission for the other school to speak to our coach.
I understand that this is the way of college athletics. If you are a good coach, you will be courted by every school under the sun. I also fully understand that $6 million is a lot of money and even though you are already a millionaire, it's a huge raise. That being said, there is a classy way to go about contract negotiations. The basketball program has once again reached the level of national recognition, and the coach had a lot to do with it. Do I think he's going to stay forever? Well, no, I'm not that naive. Had I found out yesterday that he was leaving, I would've wished him the best of luck, even though I was sick to my stomach over it.
However, in the wake of the negotiations with the other school, it came out that he was likely going to take not only the incoming recruits, but he was also working on getting releases for current players so they could all follow him to the new school. If you want to leave our program for a new one because it is better for you and your family, that's fine. It is however very classless to gut our program in the process. I understand that with any coaching change that some players decide to leave and go elsewhere. That's fine. If they don't want to play here, again, I wish them well. However, if you are using the current players as a threat to get your way, then that's lower than low. I don't care if it's done elsewhere. The behavior is wrong, and it shouldn't be something that's condoned, and if our AD even considers releasing the players to leave with the coach, he needs to get his head examined. We may as well just dismantle the entire program right now.
The negotiations are still ongoing. The big boosters have gotten together to negotiate the deal. While I applaud their efforts, this brings me to another issue I have. Last spring and fall, there was a huge fan initiative to get the university to build a football stadium on campus. Many donors were willing to give to see this happen. We were all told that there was no way $10 million could be raised over the course of a few years to fund this. Last night, 3 big donors got together and raised that amount to try to keep the coach. Now, I understand that our football program is not anywhere close to where it needs to be, but I'm sorry, football will more likely get us into a BCS league before basketball.
That all being said, Jeremy and I have come to a hard decision. We want to support Tigers athletics, but in these tough economic times, we really have to examine closely where our money goes. While I love the players and I do believe they go out and try their hardest, I have never been a huge basketball fan. These latest events surrounding the program have left a bad taste in my mouth and while I want the university to succeed and athletics to do well, we have to decide how best to use our money. I would like to keep our season tickets to basketball, and with a coaching change, that may not be too hard. However, we're thinking about minimizing our scholarship fund donations. Because he's just graduated, the university will match, so there's no reason to donate as much. Instead, the money we would've been donating to the general scholarship fund, we'll turn around and donate directly to the football program. I would like nothing more than to mail in a check each month designating the money specifically to football with a note saying that I am no longer supporting any other programs until the administration gets its but in gear.
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