Win some. Lose others.

I submitted an abstract on that data I've battled. I'm not sure it's brilliant, but my guess is that I'll get in. And I'm going to continue to work on that line of research regardless. So I feel moderately pleased that I got something written. So, yay, I guess.

I did, however, miss a meeting in order to analyze and write. So, boo, I suppose.

Mom and Dad continue to do well. We're happily co-existing in my little house. Dad dismantled a chair I didn't want anymore, ripping off the arms and back while I watched, moderately impressed. We took it to the dump today. Then my parents went shopping while I stayed home to write (and perhaps nap). We watched Meet the Robinsons - much different than I expected, but very cute in sections. Now I'm sitting through Wild Hogs and enjoying the laughter of my parents.

I read a paper yesterday written by a member of my research group from grad school. It was good - contained a huge amount of information that was well organized. But I had trouble understanding a couple of sections and after reading it twice I decided how I'd fix it to become more clear. She wrote back and claimed she thought the flow was much improved after my suggestions. That made me feel all smart.

Carrie returned a paper I'd sent to her with a couple of notes on the intro and methods. Then she got to the end and said she HATED the organization and couldn't even read it. Now Carrie recently announced she was pregnant - which is truly wonderful and I'm thrilled for her - so a bit of moodiness is to be expected. So I called her a meanie and worked this afternoon on restructuring a few sections. And she was right - it's better and more clear now than it was.

I'll miss my parents when they go - I hate when they leave me. But it's good to have little things fixed. Dad put a screw in the bottom of the dog door so it doesn't stick open. Sprout his becoming much friendlier in the constant attention from my parents. They were the ones who engineered his escape from the confines of the guest bedroom a little over a year ago. He doesn't run away quite as quickly. He'll sometimes leap up between them on the couch and allow them to stroke his stripey coat.

So it's continuing to go well. Give or take.

Edited (9:14PM)
I knew I was forgetting things. That's what having parents around and talking and asking if I heard the funny lines of the movies does.

Remember the project I was doing with Carrie? I admitted defeat and she said she'd assign it to someone else. She shares Friend's first name, but she is arrogant and loud and on the three occasions I met her, I was quite underwhelmed. So we'll call her Anti-Friend. Anti-Friend got the data not quite a month ago and hasn't touched it. Now it was nice to have it not be my problem for a little while, but due to Anti-Friend's attitude and work ethic, it appears I'm going to get it back with the idea that it's wrong and some random change will fix it. The problem is that I have minuscule confidence that she knows the problem so I'll have to spend time with massive amounts of data trying to figure this out. And since I couldn't do it the first time, I'm starting over. Which sucks.

I also mentioned that I had a new email buddy. I'm rather fond of men who write me email and quickly grow to look forward to hearing from them. The stupid thing is that those types of relationships - save Charlie - are fleeting for me. So I read and write with the expectation that a man in question will become bored or busy or otherwise distant and contact will cease. It seems mildly ridiculous to get upset about such a thing - everyone has lives and loved ones and tasks that take time. Writing email to get to know a stranger is - and should be - something that gives when time gets scarce.

Yet every time I do this - regardless of where the interaction lies between friendly and flirtatious - I'm somehow hurt and disappointed when the contact ends. I like the attention and different points of view. I don't read many blogs written by men - though I'm not sure why that is - so those emails offer a rather novel avenue of conversation for me. But I'm trying to balance that in my mind with the inevitable and lingering feeling that I'm not interesting anymore.

As for this post being interesting - even with the addition - well, this may be one of those I lose.