Starting this at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon during the kids nap time.
This morning I got up around 7:30 am and got out to mow the lawn by 8:30. Keira has been bugging me to mow for awhile. I didn’t mow last weekend because it was so hot in the afternoon, so its been 3 weeks since the last mow. I said how about I go out and mow in the morning. While mowing I listened to the book “pathways to possibility”, the sequel to “The art of possibility”. The author talked about how as adults we unconsciously live out patterns that are the result of coping mechanisms we developed as very small children, and gave examples of how to rewrite our story so that we can move beyond acting out our inner children. This brief summary doesn’t do it justice, it’s a good book. I think both of these books definitely give me more insight into my consciousness, emotions, and relationships.
Yesterday at work was a slog, but I managed to get in my NSF report for my grant. I also spoke with Dushyanth about this STTR grant for the gel we got rejected on Thursday. This was the fifth grant I got rejected for that project. I think the problem is not the project, but the fact that I’m not in the cartilage repair field, I’m unknown and without papers in that field. I’ve learned over the years that it is very difficult to get funding for work in your field, and nearly impossible to get funding for work in a field unrelated to your own. It is too bad as it stifles creativity, but also a completely understandable result of a review system run by humans who want to fund friends and known colleagues.
Went out with the group to lunch at Sushi Love to celebrate Myung Jun’s publication and award. I was thinking I should do a toast to Myung Jun but I ended up not doing so. I thought maybe others would feel bad if they didn’t’ get similar treatment in the future. Anyway, I think I should have toasted him. I enjoyed chatting with the undergraduates at lunch, learning more about their family backgrounds. I wish I could connect more with the group members but I’m not sure how to do so.
Dinner was pumpkin, cabbage, steamed egg, and tofu with ground pork. Yum! After dinner we hung out in the pool.
After mowing today we went to Duke garden. It was super hot, but fun. I rolled down a grass hill to shown the kids and then my legs got all itchy We had a picknick by the old tobacco barn.
