Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year! Well, almost. New Year's eve is truly one of my favorite "holidays". I get very introspective, reflecting on the year that has passed, and looking forward to whatever may happen in the year to come. I often explain it to people, who are incredulous that Dec 31st is enough to make a person positively giddy, that there are 365 days of blank slate stretched out in front of us. An entire year! Unsullied and ripe with possibility. Absolutely anything can happen! I think that is just a marvelous thought.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to spend New Year's eve with a couple of my closest girl friends. We had a nice intimate dinner with yummy food, good wine, and plenty of laughs. They were unprepared when I handed them each a piece of paper with a pen and told them to write down 5 cool things that happened in the year that was ending, and 5 things they were looking forward to in the next year. They saved those papers and referred to them at the end of that year-I believe it was 2003-and a tradition was born. I challenge anyone to take part in such an exercise. It is much more useful than thinking up resolutions. Because really, how many years in a row are you going to resolve to lose 10 lbs? I'm just saying.

Anyway, here are the highs of 2007 and the potential highs of 2008:
1) This past year we took a fabulous 2-week vacation to Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels. This was the most delicious trip I have ever taken.
2) I ran the Chicago half-marathon and I did pretty well for a newbie. I also had a particularly delicious time in Chicago.
3) I received a 4-yr Mentored Research Scientist Development Award that will support my salary and provide me with more training over the next few years. The significance of this award will become much clearer in later posts that will be aimed at explaining how academic research in this country works. Or doesn't work. We'll call it "Federal Funding 101". For now, suffice it to say, this was a major coup!
4) I traveled to Quebec City and San Diego for conferences. I had a great time in both cities despite being surrounded by science and scientists.
5) I had incredible fun with my husband. We went to some fabulous restaurants for dinner, we had impromptu boozey brunches, we saw River Dance, Xanadu, Wicked, and The Nutcracker. We had a party that people still talk about, we ran some races together, and we mapped out a plan for improving our home.

All in all, a terrific year. I anticipate that 2008 also will be filled with accomplishments and fun.
1) I am open to the idea of Pizza Pie.
2) I am gunning for a promotion to Assistant Professor and I am determined to set that ball in motion sooner rather than later.
3) I think I will publish at least 6 articles in scientific journals this year. I am sure everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the admonition, "publish or perish". It is a way of life. Or death, I suppose.
4) I intend to get my grubby little hands on more grant money, come hell or high water!
5) I am looking forward to a week in San Juan, Puerto Rico with my husband, again, despite the fact that I will be attending a conference. Oh, and the few days we are spending in FL this week. I almost forgot! I will not be thinking about science, but more about which shiny top accentuates my upper body enough to make me feel like the beautiful people in South Beach.

So there you have it. A laundry list of things for which I am thankful and proud, and a list of things that best come to fruition in the next year. Or else what, you may ask? Or else I need to carry them over to the next year like I keep doing those 10 lbs!