SfN 2007

It is good to be home. I was in San Diego for the past week for a work meeting. I had a great time seeing everyone again, but it is really, really nice to be home. I love Portland and the life we've built here. Most of my friends are looking for jobs now, which will require them to move yet again. It's a frustrating but inevitable part of science if you want to stay competitive.

That said, I got to see a whole bunch of old friends from undergrad and grad schools who are now scattered around the country. The meeting is really great for that. Dave and Kristen have a great new place and a kegerator that became a close personal friend throughout the meeting. Caroline flew in from Hawaii (I love the geological layer cake shirt that Kyle got her). Julie is as crazy as ever. Taryn loves Oregon like me. Sara and Drew are still hard at work in the lab where Sara is trying to finish up. And Chuck is the closest of all of us to getting a faculty position. I've always enjoyed his take on things and his sense of humor so it was great rooming with him again. After a full day of science presentations and insanity, Chuck is one of the few people with whom I enjoy talking about science at the end of the day.

So I'm home now and happy to be back. Ken installed one of the garage windows which looks fantastic. I am confused as to what day it is. I'm shifing gears so I can get things going again but it's like driving a stickshift after being in an automatic for a while. And the leaves have changed.

Yesterday was my first day back. I needed to regroup, so I cleaned out the freezers, did the laundry, made a pot of gumbo for dinner and canned 14 pints of tomato sauce for winter. I also went to the store for some milk and bought a duck. I am going to make duck proscuitto this weekend.