it's done!

I watched the Legend of Korra with the kids, and "my cabbages!" has been replaced with "Do the thing!". We finished that, but the title of the post refers to what Jesus said on the cross (happy Easter!) and that today I did the thing! It's done!

My research seminar was yesterday, along with a research 'roundtable', and today I had a teaching roundtable and lunch with grad students and postdocs, and meetings with faculty. I lost my voice after the seminar yesterday, so talking all day today was pretty gnarly. But everyone is so excited! I predict I will be joining the faculty of PSM some time this summer, as a tenure-track plant biologist!!!!!

thanks for the celebration moves John!

Meanwhile...

these cats might be on their way to figuring it out! Or it might be a verrrrrry cold day.

Sam and Ben are blender men.

Edie and I have been coloring this book together. I like her style!

trains and frogs

 I took myself on a little trip at the end of February! I rode the train to Chicago and hung out in the executive lounge for a few hours (omelettes were not on the menu), and gave a presentation NBD, and then rode another train to Champaign where Eva picked me up.

Loading up in East Lansing

Found my spot in business class woo woo! Yes I taped my mask to my face. No it did not stick well.

Heading out of town

The cushy work setup - wifi, outlet, footrest, two seats to myself...

Heading into the station in Chicago

Classic public works architecture

Reminds me of DC a little!

What a lamppost!

Waiting to board the next train

Finally! Walking down the platform

Double decker!

Hi guy!

The train had some problems, then we backed out of the station, then it had more problems. The conductor hung out at our end of the train while it all got sorted. Nice observation deck!

The windows tell you just what to do

This fat lady lives in Eva's lab, instead of in the frog room. 

And it turns out these are all the pictures I took - we were chillaxing too hard for a photoshoot! Next time - and maybe next time a deserving child can accompany me...

and here we are again!

We just slid right into April there huh? I know there's a lot to share: a trip to Champaign, a birthday, exciting professional developments, Ben's expanding vocabulary, a weekend in Traverse City - but let's start here, shall we?

Squigz, we discovered, make excellent darts. Points are assigned based on circle of the target and squig shape. Your turn lasts until 5 stick. I am very good at this game.

Then someone tried out the sliding doors as a target. (Not me, I wasn't home.)

Very gentle! Nothing broken! Game on!