Glorious summer

I've been meaning to work on this post for a little while now, especially considering how much free time I actually have currently without classes being in session. But... naps plus Netflix, so...

Also, its probably worth pointing out that while I marvel at the amount of free time I have, the sad reality is that I have weekends plus roughly 1.5 more weekdays of time. Compared to the semester, however, that's HUGE.

So what am I doing with my time? I work the assistantship 15-20 hours a week still. I have the primary practicum/main research project - we recently submitted a big grant proposal, had two revise-and-resubmit manuscripts to work on, and I've been working on my own first author manuscript. Then there's the first generation stuff that's starting to ramp up as a new academic year approaches, the research collaborative I and some colleagues are trying to get started, a potential tapping in of some aging researchers at the university (maybe another project...?), and a systematic lit review that I can't seem to make any headway on but oddly remain relatively enthusiastic about. Plus I'm trying to get some academic reading in (only gotten as far as one book, and two chapters in two different books...), decided it was vital to my LIFE to rearrange my home office, and have generally been on an almost constant search for friends to join me for outings and happy hours. This next month or so I'll be doing quite a bit of travel, including a week-long workshop that fills me with nerdy excitement. Plus camping.

Basically, I'm living the dream. I'm getting to work on things that I'm excited about, get plenty of R&R time in my opinion (though I admittedly need more pool and beach time), and am actually starting to look forward to a new academic year. Plus, I know several people that are either about to start their own doctoral programs or are otherwise doing major life-changing things that add to the general excitement about life and progress.

I would do well to remember all these sunshiny rainbow-filled days come like October or November when I'm just trying to survey. For now, however - party time, excellent!

Also - summer haircuts rule.