Year's End

This is inspired by Kim's post today.

2007. Wow, what a year. That's the only way to sum it up. There have been some highlights and rough patches - most of which I captured in this blog.

This past spring was a very heavy travel period. I visited San Francisco, Washington D.C., Palo Alto, and Rome. It was difficult to hold down a class load as well. During this time, I learned my grandmother was dying of colon cancer and only had a few months to live. In June, I went to Amsterdam.

July was a bittersweet time for me, and the few entries in my blog reflects that. Mark and I moved in together. I'd tried with a couple prior to Mark, but things didn't seem to work out. The place is great and reflects us. Best of all, it's home.

However, my depression was creeping back. My work was against a big deadline. My grandmother was slipping fast. I put my family in front of my work for the first week to spend time with her. It was painful to watch the most independent woman I know become fully dependent. She died the evening of July 4th after the fireworks display. Afterwards, I was back to work with full force, despite my mind not wanting to be there. I came up short with my work, and had my first curled-in-a-ball, wanting to die disappointment. I'd bitten off more than I could chew, despite the selfless help from my labmates. A flurry of 14 hour coding days passed by. Sleeping from exhaustion. When I finally hit the 80% mark, I was flying out to give a talk in Vancouver. I flew back early to finish and deliver for testing.

Testing began in August. There were still a few kinks to be worked out, but it was rolling. I took off to DefCon in Vegas for some much needed rest and relaxation. I met Mark's friends (shout out to Derek, Tim, and Carson).

Just a few days after Vegas, the lab had an excursion to Washington D.C. for some urban search and rescue testing of robot user interfaces. We were really late getting down there as our GPS unit was insistent about routing through New York City. The end of August was a blur. School started but Mark and I missed the first week of classes while writing papers about the summer's user testing.

We threw ourselves into the semester which involved classes and writing grants. I formed a Women in Computer Science group for the CS department at UMass Lowell.

In October, my user testing concluded. I also decided to get a personal trainer to combat my stress and depression. Later in the month, we flew to San Jose where I gave a talk about the user testing I'd done over the summer.

In November, Mark and I flew to Florida for his sister's birthday. We spent 3 days on an island, completely unplugged; I tried yoga on the beach. When we got back, I withdrew from one of my classes due to the course load; I'll take it again in the spring.

Thanksgiving happened. We spent the afternoon with Holly and her family and the evening with my family (Dad's side). Black Friday we had a house warming party. After that, on came the end of the semester crush - final projects wrought with fury and many 14 hour days.

In December, I found out that I'm going back to Amsterdam for a conference in March. (I'm working on the final version now actually.) Final project presentation and demos happened last Thursday. Friday was cleanup. And decompression on Saturday and Sunday, which was also productive since I'm cleaning up 7 years worth of paper work and Mark bought tickets to Amsterdam.

I put Mark on a plane Monday afternoon, paid the IRS from a 2004 audit, and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family. I found out that my cousin Bev is 4 months pregnant (Congratulations!), and my friend Cameron just had a baby girl Saskin on the 21st.

So, like I said, it's been a busy year. I'm really happy that in just a few days, I'll be flying down to Florida to spend the new year with Mark and his family. I'm due again for some decompression.

What have I noticed this year? My career is doing well. This year I've had several publications and given several talks to my peers. However, I often take on too much. I need to say "no" more often. For the upcoming year, I need to focus more on class work, just finish my master's, and pass the qualifying exams.

I'm a grown woman. When I moved out to attend Brown in 2004, I never fully moved out. I'd come home on the weekends and during breaks to be with my family. Now that Mark and I have moved in together, my place at my parents is gone. My brother now has my old room, and none of my belongings are there (save, my dog Leia). Home is now with Mark, and I miss him terribly when we're apart. I'm in love.

I'm getting in shape. I hired a personal trainer to help combat my stress, depression, and IBS. As a result, my cardio is much stronger. My body is stronger. My appetite is increased. I still lack the motivation to get to the gym myself however.

This is a recent enlightenment, I'm poor. As a research assistant, I will have earned ~$12K this year. I spent 5 years working for Sun and not much to show for it. I have large debt from school. This year, I'll need to keep track of my finances much more tightly, like Quicken tightly. It was a very sobering thought that of the $12K I made this year, $6K went straight to rent.

Lastly, I've also been thinking a lot about my friends and reconnecting with some through Facebook. Paul Normandin, I thought I saw you driving on 3N one day when I was headed up to Crotched Mountain on day this summer. Jay Penney, I came across Rachel's Christmas picture from a few years back. My flute students (Ariana, Marissa, Joe, Spandina) from when I used to teach in 2001. Nicole Bourdelais and Dawne Goes, I can't believe how big your kids are getting. Neel Batra, wow, I can't believe you're married! Stan Dankoski (aka Stango), I hope you had a great holiday with Amy. Thuy Lam in Argentina; girl, I miss you. CRA-W cohort girls, miss y'all, especially Tabitha Peck. Dan Grollman, I'm sorry I only see you at conferences these days.

Resolutions:

1. Financial management. I need to actively manage my finances. I hate paperwork but it needs to be done.
   
2. Better work-life balance. Less extra curricular and focus on the core material. I need serious decompression every 2 or 3 months.
   
3. Gym motivation. I need to find motivation to get to the gym on my own.

Thanks to all who read this blog and happy new year.