Whirlwind

via WeHeartIt

Wow, so the last week or so has just flown by like a crazy tornado or something... the other day I was complaining about how tired I've been feeling, like I haven't been sleeping at all (even though I was sleeping my normal 7-8 hours a night), and Teddy pointed out that I have only been back from Texas for just over a week (well, at that point it had been exactly a week)!

So I got to thinking about it, and this is what I've been doing over the past 2 weeks:

1. Went to Texas (flying + time change!)

2. Came home from Texas (more flying, time change again!)

3. Got to work on my poster presentation the very morning I got back from Texas, and worked for THREE DAYS straight on it

4. Had a traumatic experience trying to print my poster on the large-format plotter at school, which involved a power outage, no tech support on duty, and ultimately the inability to print for free, which caused much stress

5. Made a last-minute dash to Baltimore the night before I was even planning on leaving

6. Had Dr. Cornell save the day by printing the poster in Baltimore, but for an exorbitant price (that had better be reimbursed by the school since it was their fault the stupid power was out!)

7. Spent all day Monday (3/15) at the GSA convention, wowing people with my research poster (go me!)

8. Had lunch with my potential grad advisor from Texas A&M, which went VERY well, by the way! It looks like he really liked me and "would love to have me" as a grad assistant next year!!

9. Made connections with some important people from the National Park Service and the USGS; got some business cards, and some requests for me to send PDFs of my research to important people who are interested in "following the evolution of my research"....woo hoo!!

10. Got back to school on Tuesday, very exhausted but happy, only to be reminded that before I can go to grad school and do exciting things like publish my work in a scientific journal, I have to finish my undergrad degree, which involves doing things like taking exams...which I did the day after I got back from GSA

11. Had all sorts of scheduling meetings with advisors/internship coordinators at school to figure out what the heck I'm supposed to do since I will be a) graduating a semester early (in August), b) doing my internship somewhere far away...just not sure exactly where yet, and c) going to a different school in the Fall.... my advisor threw his hands up in the air and said "Good luck!". Yay, me.

12. Decided to set today (Friday) aside to make all sorts of important phone calls to various schools and agencies regarding my enrollment at a different school in the Fall, financial aid, summer classes, and internships....and realized that everyone I need to talk to in Texas is currently on Spring break...until the 22nd. Wonderful.

13. Went to bed at10:00 last night and didn't wake up until almost 11:00 this morning. I feel much better now.

And..... yeah, I think that about covers it. It has been a crazy, albeit exciting and successful week and a half! I got an email from my potential advisor last night that said he's going to check into "one of his funds" (that's what it's like to go to a big, fancy school!) to see if he could give me a paid internship for the summer. Freaking sweet. Even if he can't pay me, I think I'm willing to do pretty much whatever he wants for an internship. I really, really want to go to A&M for my Master's, and it sounds like he has already decided to do whatever he can to help prepare me to get in, so yayyyyyyy!!!

Oh, and yesterday Teddy went to Austin with some of the other grad students (and Katie, Justin's gf who lives in Austin; Hi, Katie!) to go to the bars and check out some concerts (SXSW....jealous!!). I feel funny because this is the first time Teddy has ever gone away with friends...at least since we've been together. We do everything together! I know he'll be good, but I warned him not to let anyone corner him in an alley because I'm pretty sure they'll think he's a leprechaun and want to steal his gold (its St. Patty's weekend in Austin, and Teddy kind of has the leprechaun-vibe thing going for him, especially with the beard); and also not to get arrested because I'm NOT going to bail him out. I'm too broke, anyway. So I kind of feel like a mother whose child has gone away for a slumber party for the first time....its weird! Haha.