(Originally written on Tuesday night, now posting.)

Oh yeah. Birthday check-in on those projects...

  • Operation: Education! has been in cross-training mode for the past few weeks - I've been doing a lot of thinking about Red Hat's education strategy and how my next 1-3 (probably 2) years there will roll nicely into grad school, but I also really need to start sending professors (including the one I hope will be my future advisor) my application drafts. However, I'm waiting to figure out stuff at Red Hat so I can start rolling that into those application drafts... after this weekend, I need to start working on them both in parallel again.
  • Operation: Finances! has reached its endgame. I'll be talking with my parents about the last two accounts when I go for my cousin's wedding in California exactly one week from now. I sent them a relatively comprehensive overview of how I manage my accounts and keep tabs on things, how I plan on managing my 529 and my IRA, and... well, that seemed to do it. I also never want to read the tax code again. Ugh.
  • Operation: Healthcare! has not quite started yet. I... still need to get a doctor in the Boston area. I will... do this when I get back to Boston. Intermittently doing the running thing, generally trying to bounce around instead of hyperfocusing on my computer... I haven't found my rhythm for exercise yet, but I'm running around enough to suit me, particularly with the dancing. Still working on actually eating meals at sane times (or remembering to). This is easy when I am with other people; I forget about the food thing when I am by myself. This does not necessarily bode well for my move to Raleigh, since I'll be living by myself instead of with my aunt and her family. Perhaps I shall set alarms on my phone to remind me of meals.

Andrew and I woke up at 3:30am on Tuesday so we could leave for the airport at 4am to catch my 6:55am flight. And then he drove to work. Andrew is crazy. I am so lucky to have such good friends.

I slogged through my work email backlog (almost done now!) on the plane and chaired meetings on IRC during my layovers. It worked quite well, actually. Had a phone call with my mom while walking through the airport and ended up sitting on the bench outside the car rental place, attempting to stay conscious enough to say things like "yes, mom" and "okay, mom" and "I understand, mom" and reassure her that I will watch for credit card fraud and always hide the GPS when I park the car and that I will wear something suitably feminine (NOT A DRESS) for my cousin's wedding and that I will not be the one to pick my clothes for that (Andrew, my mother thinks that you have better fashion sense than I do - don't worry, my aunt's supposed to actually approve my outfit).

Onwards through backlog.