Preview...
Today was a preview of what the summer will be like. I spent the day in the lab arguing with my data while Griff and Darrell went on adventures. And what adventures they had. Griff started out by dressing himself, insisting on mismatched shoes. This is a new thing with him and he is very excited by the options that mismatched socks and shoes present.
Then they headed out for a hike where they forded streams, foraged for peanut butter sandwiches, and searched for water striders and salamanders. This was followed by a cycling session where he rode down to our neighbor's house for a visit. There they worked on the garden and ate BBQ, not a bad trade. And then Darrell met up with some other neighbors who run a small farm who have said they would take him on and school him in horticultural practices in prep for him teaching a horticulture class next year. Not a bad day for those two.
I, on the other hand, spent the day trying to decipher adviser comments, re-analyzing the same dataset for the 9th time, realized it still doesn't make sense, banged my head against the computer, and cried to my very kind and understanding friend about how this part really just kinda sucks (thanks, Nina). After that, I went home, took the laundry off the line, met up with the boys, and went for a run with them. A little distance, a little exercise, and things don't seem quite so bad. Hopefully the parts that will repeat for the summer will be the fun adventures with pops and good, solid progress on the dissertation without the tears. But as I have learned watching Griff, tears of frustration sometimes bring the greatest leaps in skills and knowledge with them. I'm hoping that is the case here!
Then they headed out for a hike where they forded streams, foraged for peanut butter sandwiches, and searched for water striders and salamanders. This was followed by a cycling session where he rode down to our neighbor's house for a visit. There they worked on the garden and ate BBQ, not a bad trade. And then Darrell met up with some other neighbors who run a small farm who have said they would take him on and school him in horticultural practices in prep for him teaching a horticulture class next year. Not a bad day for those two.
I, on the other hand, spent the day trying to decipher adviser comments, re-analyzing the same dataset for the 9th time, realized it still doesn't make sense, banged my head against the computer, and cried to my very kind and understanding friend about how this part really just kinda sucks (thanks, Nina). After that, I went home, took the laundry off the line, met up with the boys, and went for a run with them. A little distance, a little exercise, and things don't seem quite so bad. Hopefully the parts that will repeat for the summer will be the fun adventures with pops and good, solid progress on the dissertation without the tears. But as I have learned watching Griff, tears of frustration sometimes bring the greatest leaps in skills and knowledge with them. I'm hoping that is the case here!
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hang in there mamacita! By the way, we must see you before you disappear to Carmel. xoxo
We won't disappear to Carmel until after the dissertation is finished, maybe Dec or maybe not until next summer or fall. D will be commuting for at least half the year, so we will be around. I miss you!