Back in Austin

I'm back from my greatly needed, hugely enjoyed birding vacation with Robert and my parents to the upper Texas coast and Rio Grande Valley (details to follow). Not only was it inherently fun, it served the important purpose of distracting me from thinking about the semester that starts Jan 20 and the rejections/acceptances that will be coming from grad schools and the conference to which I submitted my paper.

I got an email from my new boss that I will be spending most of my time this semester working on their "obesity" paper but also helping her out with grading, etc., for her course (which appears from the schedule to be a Promotion Strategy class). I'm supposed to meet with her this week to get my paperwork and schedule straightened out.

Robert took my car in and got a bunch of things fixed. I should now have functional brakes and shocks, among other things.

Almost immediately upon returning to Austin from South Texas, my allergies kicked into high gear. I only realized in retrospect how much better I had been feeling while away from home, despite the fact that I'd been spending a lot of time outdoors. (Of course, I had also been away from rabbit fur and hay, so perhaps that offset things a bit.) Robert briefly wondered if he had somehow contracted a cold before recognizing that he had simply reverted to his typical level of stuffiness and sinus pressure.

Although I have not applied to programs in the most non-allergenic parts of the country, basically anyplace I go will be better than Austin, Allergy Capital of the US per an article in my allergy medicine newsletter several years ago. Right? Oh crap. Greensboro, NC is the #2 Spring Allergy Capital, while Austin is #54. But Austin does continue to hold its own as the #1 Fall Allergy Capital, with Greensboro, NC as #37. OK, I'm hosed.

Leopold was pleased to be back from the rabbit-sitter, although of course he was treated well at her place. When Robert showed up to get him, he was sitting comfortably on a big stuffed chair with two cats. But the first morning he was home and let out of his cage, he ate a few bites of breakfast, ran around the room, binkied (the rabbit mid-air twisting dance of joy), ran some more, then flopped out in his favorite spot under the futon and fell asleep. In a few days, his course of antibiotics will be over and he'll be a very happy bunny indeed. I have already gotten some good pet therapy from him, so he's been back to work right away as my chief morale officer. Fortunately, during the trip, he had arranged for several eastern cotton-tail rabbits to make their appearance at strategic points, ensuring that my bunny withdrawal did not reach a critical level. That's good management.