How did it get to be so long since my last post?  It seems like yesterday that I was writing it.

School’s gone a little crazy. I’ve got 2 conferences back to back in the next 3 weeks and I am madly trying to get ready for them.  About 3 weeks ago someone pointed out a potentially major problem with my research – along the lines of “did you do this? If you didn’t, I think your data is crap”. Yup, 4 weeks out from 2 major conferences and I had to go back and do some very preliminary stuff.

It did work out, it makes my work more complete, but it was a very stressful time and it’s not quite over yet as I now have to make all my data into a succinct story to put on a 1m by 1.5 m poster. It needs to be pretty too!  Not just words. The pretty part isn’t a problem, being a microscopist I’ve got lots of pictures, it’s choosing which ones are most representative and compelling. I’ve got space  for 6 or 7 images and one of them will be a composite of 6 pictures to show a trend.

Lifewise, I’m trying to get ready for 3 weeks away from home. May 16 to 19 I’m going to the cottage for Canada Day weekend. I love this cottage. It’s my father’s sister in law’s family cottage, so I have no formal hold on it, but it’s beautiful.  On an island off the Bruce Penninsula, a 3 hour drive from here, but the other way from Muskoka so the drive is OK. No running water, no electricity, it uses a propane powered fridge! We go and eat and read and play cards for the weekend with lots of family and come home so refreshed. Did you click on the propane fridge link? I like the way the authour describes that process of propane burning to cool a fridge.

Then on the 20th I take a train to Montreal for a 3 day conference of microscopists.  I will be presenting my work for 20 minutes. I’m not as worried about this conference because my Microscope supervisor isn’t concerned – It’s more just the time away and the fact that on the 27th I get on a plane to Amsterdam for a HUGE conference with all the big names in my field and a symposium that could be subtitled “B’s Thesis in a nutshell”.

That conference runs till June 1, D comes to Amsterdam on the 31st and then we head off for a train trip around Belgium and Germany to end up at a friend’s wedding on the Rhine on the 6th of June. Then home on the 8th.

I don’t even want to starting THINKING about the packing for the Europe trip – I need sightseeing and conference and WEDDING clothes. eep!

Knitting wise, I’m making good progress on the Aleita Shell. I’ve done the split for the centre front. The 100% cotton yarn is butchering my hands. The socks are up to starting the gusset, but since they are toe up, that’s not all that far!  I’ll have 5 hours on the train to and from Montreal so I see a lot getting done there.

Yesterday I got a really cute haircut. No pictures then and I’ve not slept on it so it’s got that “post hairdresser bedhead” look. You know – the gunk the hairdresser puts in makes it extra standuppy in the morning? If I can get a picture after showering today I’ll add it to this post.

Since this post has no pictures I’ll add this one. This is me at ~2 years old at my mother’s family’s cottage with our dog Morag. It’s scanned from a slide that my mom recently found. I’m slowly scanning the box of slides that my grandpa had of us with the goal of getting them printed. This picture is not really in focus, but I really like it!