Conferencing in Florida

Well, after all those pictures of Costa Rica I figured I should put up some photos of my Florida adventure. I had a great time at the conference - there were some really interesting talks and some good posters, plus lots of other nerds to chat to. The house we stayed at was great (here is a photo of the pool area):




The housemates were awesome too. It was me, a colleague from Guelph who is now living in Texas, and some other members and former member of my former supervisor's lab who I hadn't met. Here is an action shot of some of the housemates:



This is a banyan tree - the most complicated-looking tree I had ever seen. The branches grow down to become roots!



We went on a "Sunset Cruise" and, as promised, saw a sunset:



Also lots of houses - 19 million, 20 million, 24-million dollar houses - that are HOLIDAY HOMES. People only live in these for a few weeks or months during the year. Craziness!

Also we saw lots of dolphins. Apparently they like to play in boat wakes. Hard to get a good photo, though!



It was very windy...





The conference part of the trip was really great, but I had added a few days on the end to go see some stuff in Florida. I wanted to check out Key West or Miami - both very easy to get to from Fort Myers. However, my body had other plans as I got deathly ill as soon as I dropped everyone else off at the airport. Grrr. So I've been hunkering down at the hostel (luckily it's a low-key, friendly one where the owner has provided me with cough syrup and tea) instead. Very sad not to get out more, but really nothing I can do. Now the worst seems to be over (in time to leave tomorrow) although I am still coughing up disgusting stuff - THAT will be fun on the plane! But hey, at least for the moment I can chill in the hammock and watch the lizards run around...

December and May

I wish I could have come home for chocolates! My downstairs neighbours are disapproving because I have not put up any lights or other Christmassy things, but it doesn't seem like Christmas yet and probably won't until I leave... and anyway, I would then just have the depressing task of taking them down again when I returned in January! However, am looking forward to decorating in Rocky (if any remains to be done) and the the winter wonderland that is Alberta (Steph says she walked seven blocks and pushed out three stuck cars!) In preparation for such things, I have bought some new boots that are plaid AND knee-length AND laceup... and totally waterproof and lined! They weren't cheap, but if there is one thing I learned from my aunts, it is that if you don't have a car you must spend on shoes instead of tires.

I have to submit a "Grad Student Progress Report" every semester, in which I try to justify my existence. This semester, I totted it all up and was amazed to learn that I collected data from 93 participants (8 of them substance-dependent and in treatment, which are a million times more difficult), ran and analyzed a pilot study and three experiments, started another study with the other PhD student and the post-doc from our lab, and wrote a review article and a conference abstract (as well as two scholarship applications). No wonder I've been tired all the time. It definitely felt busy, but I didn't realize quite how much till I looked back. However, I further realized that my ultimate goal was not necessarily to add to the annals of research, but to get an abstract in for that conference in Florida next year! All that work to get the studies done before December was mainly for that reason. But they are done, the abstract is submitted, and whether or not my abstract is accepted, I am going to the conference. The most exciting part is that some of the girls from my lab last year are going, and since there are a lot of us, we can rent a house together rather than stay in the expensive hotel. And THIS is the house they have in mind! I think I can live with this... roll on May.