Coming up for air

I haven't gone into hiding or run away to the circus -- just been working almost non-stop since late June. In fact there were several weeks of working every day, punctuated by July 4 and this past weekend, when I took a lovely mini-vacation to Little Rock. Not only did I spend time with my friends and their genius offspring, but I also had two nights of uninterrupted sleep on a surprisingly comfortable air mattress.

Two whole nights of good sleep. These days, one night is almost a miracle, and two nights is unheard of. Other highlights: making gazpacho from garden-fresh veggies and sitting on the porch. Turns out tender young cucumbers straight from the garden are much milder and less cucumbery. Makes me want to never go back to the big grocery store ones. The best highlights, of course: holding the sweet new baby and seeing how smart she is, and playing with the 2.5-year-old who now calls me Aunt Shorttina.

The Project is going quite well, except there's just so much of it. I expect to be working weekends through August, which is not a happy thought. My student workers have been awesome, and if anything I have problems giving them enough work to keep them occupied. We've hit some snags that depend on the vendors for resolution, which means we spend a lot of time waiting around. Very frustrating.

Well, this isn't terribly interesting, but at least it's an update. Things are relatively fine over here, and getting better.