Busy Days

Hey, all! I'm sorry I haven't taken much time to write lately. Things have been pretty busy... not with any one thing in particular, but just as life generally goes! A few updates to share with everyone, however.

My uncle Larry is dealing with some pretty serious medical issues at the moment, and I would appreciate prayers and positive thoughts for him from anyone and everyone. I know things will be OK, but these little jolting reminders of how precious life can be are always tough to take. Good vibes can do wonders.

Gearry, Bailey and I are all doing well. Gearry was sick for a couple days this week, and he NEVER gets sick, so that was an issue. But, after an entire carton of OJ and half a bottle of Nyquil and Dayquil, he's feeling much better. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would not get it, and so far, so good. I was really sick several times in the fall and early winter, within a two month span, but somehow over the last couple months I've been able to avoid the various flu-like buggies being traded around out there. Hopefully this post doesn't jinx that...

This morning, Gearry took some time out from his busy schedule to read to all of the 3rd graders at Burris Elementary in Mitchell, where his mom teaches. He wore his chef uniform and read some Dr. Seuss, so I'm sure the kids loved it. Reading to little kids is always so much fun... you can make funny voices and act pretty silly and it just makes them love it even more!

This weekend was supposed to the first IU regatta of the season, but the super cold temps as of late and the ice still on the lake forced it to be cancelled. I'm bummed, since I was going to be helping conduct the races, either judging, aligning or timing, or a little of all of the above. The next home regatta is March 22nd, so I'll just have to postpone my excitement for a few weeks. I wasn't going to be able to volunteer at the animal shelter this weekend because of the regatta, so at least I'll get to go visit with my doggy friends on Saturday morning.

I had a meeting yesterday with my favorite professor ever -- who kind of mentored me through my last couple years at IU and who gave me some great opportunities to assist with his research-- to talk about graduate school. Yes, kids, I'm heavily considering going back for my master's degree next year. I just found out I have an appointment with the program coordinator at IU for the program I am interested in next Wednesday, and I'm super excited. I don't want to talk about it too much right now, because I still haven't fully made up my mind and there are a lot of factors to take in and consider. But, I wanted everybody to know that if I seem particularly occupied or busy, it's because most of my energy is being directed towards that project at the moment. More to come about this in the future!

Alright, time to get back to writing (for work, not for pleasure) and finish off this so-far-relatively-productive day. Love you all!