Getting ready

Well, it's been pretty crazy since I last posted. I'm leaving tomorrow morning for the conference, and I only finished my posters around 3 am this morning. I took the files in to the local Fedex-Kinko to print them at around 3:30 am, and they should be ready by 4 pm this afternoon.

Other than that I have not prepared for the conference. I still need to put some software on my computer that I will need for a statistical workshop I'll be attending. I have to buy some supplies for the trip.

I did realize yesterday morning that I don't have any clothes to wear. I normally dress quite ehmmm... casually. And somehow what I did have that would be appropriate didn't fit. I guess I didn't get on the scale recently, and I have 10 extra pounds on me compared to the last time I wore dressy clothes. So I went out and spent (for our budget) an insane amount of money on a pair on pinstripe paints, a silk blouse and two dresses. $250 total. One of the dresses was especially expensive at $88. I don't think I've ever owned anything that expensive to wear other than my wedding dress. But I do think it's gorgeous. Very simple, but elegant. I should post a picture soon. I dropped all the clothes off at the dry cleaner this morning, it should be done by noon.

And that about sums up my preparation. I should still make a list of people that I need to look at up that the meeting. Stuff some recent pictures of my kids in my wallet, I always feel like such a bad parent if I have to admit I don't have any pictures of the kids on me.

There are a few things that I look forward to. One is that this might be the first time in a month that I can get some decent sleep. It looks like most activities are over by 10:30 pm, and start up again around 8 am. For someone who's been sleeping 2-4 hours a night that sounds fantastic. I might even get some shut-eye on the 3 1/2 hour flight, although I doubt that. Twelve people from my department are on the same flight, there will be quite some yakking away.

I also look forward to meeting up with colleagues I don't see very often, because they do their research on the research centers around the state and not on the main campus like I do. In fact, I'm sharing my room with one such friend.

And then there is one other exciting event scheduled, which I will report on later. It's a surprise. You'll have to come back to find out what it is. Ha!