In a couple days, we will enter the zone known as my birthday month. Not a day, or a weekend, or a week, but a month. A glorious, dog-days of summer, white wine-filled, gift wrapped month. And since July has 31 days I am not cheated out of one self-involved moment!
Although the days of piñatas and pool parties are behind me, I would not miss an opportunity to engage in birthday-centric revelry. In true Leo style, a boozey luncheon at an upscale restaurant has become the ritualistic celebration. There is something incredibly rewarding about looking around a table of a dozen close friends eating, drinking, laughing, and just engaging in festivity, and knowing that they have come simply because you asked them to. It makes a girl feel downright special. For the prideful Leo, it is enough to make her swoon.
And thus, it begins: the month of merriment, and the month of moi!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Summer Vacation
Things I would like to do on my summer vacation:
1. First off, I would like to have a summer vacation. Seven days in Puerto Rico, 5 of which will be consumed by a conference, does not a summer vacation make. Regardless of what I do to try to make it as vacation-y as possible (i.e., braving a brazilian bikini wax, sporting a new bathing suit, dragging the husband along, leaving the laptop at home, taking an oath to learn nothing, etc.), let's be real. Science has NO place on vacation.
2. I would like to take work down a notch. It seems as though I have managed to work myself into a state of amenorrhea over the past two years since I accepted my current position. Coincidence? I think not. The past few months have been nose-to-the-grindstone in an effort to clear my plate of many tasks in order to coast through the summer. What, praytell, is my idea of coasting? Well, although I will be trying to get a new study protocol up and running while writing up all of the results of the study I just finished, I will be taking care to work from home as much as possible. In fact, I just purchased a shiny new laptop that has a screen I will be able to see outdoors with no problem. I am picturing myself on my back deck (i.e., in my private office) with the umbrella shading me and my iced coffee. There I will bang out a manuscript of such brilliance I will forget just how burned out I have become. I also will indulge in some reading. In vivo NMR Spectroscopy: Principles and Techniques. A lovely summer, indeed!
3. Drink. I can practically taste the Sauvignon Blanc now. Nothing says summer to me like that cool, crisp green apple-melon flavor bursting forth in my mouth as the condensation drips down the glass. Except of course, the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio I have come to love. And Conundrum. That wine is like butter.
4. Since I am turning 35 next month, I have issued a physical challenge to myself. You may be asking, what does one have to do with the other? I am going to live forever. Oh, you didn't know that? Well, I am. And the pathway to eternal life is not through reincarnation or the belief in heaven or any of that hooey. It's in physical strength. That is how the chest-press/chin-up challenge came to be. I really, really, really want to be able to do a set of 10 chin-ups and a set of 8 presses with the quarter plates (95 lbs) by my birthday. It's not as arbitrary as it sounds, but I am not going to bore you with the details. There are no real consequences for not reaching this goal; it's not like the grim reaper will visit me in my sleep to laugh in my face. No, the only consequences will be my own feelings of inadequacy, failure, and self-loathing. So, game on in the weight room.
5. Other things I would like to do include reading books for actual pleasure at a more rapid pace than 3 pages per night before falling asleep at 8:30 pm; spending time with my friends just hanging out, grilling, and chilling; taking my long runs to a distance of 15 miles; going on a little roadtrip somewhere for a weekend or so. Maybe somewhere romantic. Nothing too ambitious or extravagant.
I will be sure to revisit this post 3 months from now to see how well I enjoyed my summer vacation.
1. First off, I would like to have a summer vacation. Seven days in Puerto Rico, 5 of which will be consumed by a conference, does not a summer vacation make. Regardless of what I do to try to make it as vacation-y as possible (i.e., braving a brazilian bikini wax, sporting a new bathing suit, dragging the husband along, leaving the laptop at home, taking an oath to learn nothing, etc.), let's be real. Science has NO place on vacation.
2. I would like to take work down a notch. It seems as though I have managed to work myself into a state of amenorrhea over the past two years since I accepted my current position. Coincidence? I think not. The past few months have been nose-to-the-grindstone in an effort to clear my plate of many tasks in order to coast through the summer. What, praytell, is my idea of coasting? Well, although I will be trying to get a new study protocol up and running while writing up all of the results of the study I just finished, I will be taking care to work from home as much as possible. In fact, I just purchased a shiny new laptop that has a screen I will be able to see outdoors with no problem. I am picturing myself on my back deck (i.e., in my private office) with the umbrella shading me and my iced coffee. There I will bang out a manuscript of such brilliance I will forget just how burned out I have become. I also will indulge in some reading. In vivo NMR Spectroscopy: Principles and Techniques. A lovely summer, indeed!
3. Drink. I can practically taste the Sauvignon Blanc now. Nothing says summer to me like that cool, crisp green apple-melon flavor bursting forth in my mouth as the condensation drips down the glass. Except of course, the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio I have come to love. And Conundrum. That wine is like butter.
4. Since I am turning 35 next month, I have issued a physical challenge to myself. You may be asking, what does one have to do with the other? I am going to live forever. Oh, you didn't know that? Well, I am. And the pathway to eternal life is not through reincarnation or the belief in heaven or any of that hooey. It's in physical strength. That is how the chest-press/chin-up challenge came to be. I really, really, really want to be able to do a set of 10 chin-ups and a set of 8 presses with the quarter plates (95 lbs) by my birthday. It's not as arbitrary as it sounds, but I am not going to bore you with the details. There are no real consequences for not reaching this goal; it's not like the grim reaper will visit me in my sleep to laugh in my face. No, the only consequences will be my own feelings of inadequacy, failure, and self-loathing. So, game on in the weight room.
5. Other things I would like to do include reading books for actual pleasure at a more rapid pace than 3 pages per night before falling asleep at 8:30 pm; spending time with my friends just hanging out, grilling, and chilling; taking my long runs to a distance of 15 miles; going on a little roadtrip somewhere for a weekend or so. Maybe somewhere romantic. Nothing too ambitious or extravagant.
I will be sure to revisit this post 3 months from now to see how well I enjoyed my summer vacation.
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