Celebrating Some Success

Things are actually coming together, or at least it seems like it. This could just be just the calm before the storm however - in 2 weeks we are back in session and I'm back in the classroom. The calendar is already filling up. Planning meetings, committee meetings, meetings with graduate students...oh and somewhere in there some class prep!

But I have managed to write and submit (just yesterday - still basking in the glow!) a journal article and it is pretty darn good if I do say so. This winds up a project with a colleague that has been a load of fun and has opened up enticing new areas for me in what I have come to call 'family geographies' (Now available from Oxford University Press via Amazon!) :D  Time to update the CV with another publication 'under review'. Next step - the draft chapter on feminist geography for a book on cultural geography that I'm contributing to a colleague's book. This has been a long, delayed and painful project. I don't think I would do this again. It just has been like having wisdom teeth pulled without the happy knock out drugs. It's true - sometimes what sounds like an interesting opportunity should be left as just that - and not another project to take on. Still have to finish a book I said I'd review for my discipline's flagship journal by October some time, and there is another article due in Feb - an invited one with a colleague in religion. Very cool project looking at how we in N. America relate to bears and specifically the story of the memorializing of a 'zoo celebrity bear' at our local zoo here. Debbie was famous for being the oldest polar bear in captivity and was something of a local celebrity. 400+ people came to a memorial service for her in the dead of a Manitoba winter and marked her passing, outside! So its not like I don't still have lots and lots to do - but for a change I actually feel like it will all be accomplished - Keep Calm and Carry On!

I think part of this good feeling is that things are swimming along on the personal front. As of today I have officially lost 10lbs. Well - I didn't 'lose' it - I have returned my fat to the universe, thanks very much but I don't want it/need it anymore. Thirty more to go. My goal is to lose this before our Feb 2011 holiday in Florida. By Christmas would be brilliant but I want to be realistic. I know I will hit a plateau or two along the way and I have to not lose my resolve. Found a brand of veggie chips and one of guacamole flavoured taco chips that allow me to indulge a craving for 130-150 cal and so not be wracked with futility. Mostly I have to watch the emotional eating and KEEP MOVING. Which reminds me I still need to get on the exercise bike today...

The other good news is the Son has solved his housing situation and does not need to move back home! He and some friends found a house to rent, and he is actively looking for a better job than slinging subs at 2am. Ok so he needs $$ for the rent for the first month but heck, getting used to being Parent Bank of Canada. At least we are in a position to assist. I owe the gods and goddesses on this one.

So - time to get cracking on some things - tomorrow I start work on organizing my first year course for the new term and getting the course outline done. Today I'm devoting 3-4 hours to the book chapter, and then its a trip to Michaels for scrapbooking pages I think. But first - to the bike!