The Good News And The Bad News

March 10th, 2014 - filed under: Furthermore » Feedback

The Good News

Hello All! I’m here to announce the winners of last week’s Taste Of Nature giveaway, yay! I used a random number generator to pick the three winners, who were:


Screen Shot 2014-03-10 at 11.23.47 AMScreen Shot 2014-03-10 at 11.24.22 AMScreen Shot 2014-03-10 at 11.24.53 AM


Shannon who loves Almonds Almonds Almonds!, Emily who loves mac nuts (and this blog! – which I agree is pretty nutty), and Kendra who loves pecans. Congratulations guys! I’ll be emailing you to put you in touch with Taste Of Nature later this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

~~~

The Bad News

We skipped Expo West. Sad trombone. Saddest trombone.

Yup. It sucks, but we did it. Late last week, Jeremy and I made the very difficult, very depressing, very responsible-grown-up decision to stay home from Expo and spend that extra time working. My first quarter of grad school is wrapping up this week, with major assignments due and a final next Monday. I had thought I could do it all, but apparently I cannot. So as much as I wanted to go to Expo (and OMG, I wanted to go to Expo!), instead I was all adult-y and stayed home, hunched over my desk for 3 days straight, researching and writing, while Jeremy labored away in the bedroom next door, building Waits this incredible fire truck bunk bed thing that’s going to be amazing, but that’s been taking much more time and energy than he had originally anticipated (and of course, he had anticipated quite a bit of time and energy . . . )

So yeah, we both had major projects to do and and we both spent our “freebie” Expo days hard at work. And it was worth it. At 10 pm on Saturday, I hit “save” on the final draft of the first 25-page paper of my graduate career. And on Sunday night, Jeremy finished the construction of that dang bunk bed.

Every time I checked social media this weekend, my feeds were flooded with pics from Expo. All my friends and colleagues, having a blast and hanging out and checking out all the new foods, and oh the deliciousness of it all! Yes, I was envious. No use trying to pretend I wasn’t.

However, as I was driving to drop Waits off at preschool this morning, I realized that I felt relaxed, and ready to tackle another crazy week. I felt on TOP of things – a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. And I thought about how I would feel if I hadn’t put in all those extra hours. Ohmigod, I would be a stress mess! And so behind, most likely irreparably behind, and my sanity would be suffering because of it.

So all that’s to say, I’m sorry that I missed Expo and I won’t be able to bring you all the recaps and all the awesome new products and all the greenwashing (though I do still plan to write that article, oh yes I do). I hate when I say I’m going to do something and then I’m not able to do it. But for me and Jeremy, this time, it was definitely what we needed.

I hope you understand. And I hope you had a great weekend!

♥

  • Jen K

    Totally understand!! Glad you got to get caught up with assignments. Congrats to the winners :)

  • http://practicalecologist.blogspot.com/ Rachel

    Yeah girl. Grad school! Glad your Monday morning felt less hectic as a result of your decision. Also, that is my random numbers generator of choice. Science nerds forever.

  • Brie

    Don’t worry about having to choose school over the expo. As a uni student, I totally understand; I barely survived mid terms week.

  • lysette

    Grad school for the win! Firemen need a good nights rest for fighting fires. It was for the greater good you skipped the Expo ;)

  • Kendra

    No need to feel bad about not going to the Expo, your Masters right now takes precedence and we understand that! We’ll just look forward to other cool things we know you’ll post about. And just the thought of having to do a 25 page paper makes me nauseous! One of the many reasons I have procrastinated on starting another degree….oh and the hassle of studying and taking the GRE! Can’t wait for my granola bars!

  • veronika

    omg, totally, what the other posters said! time is of the essence, and the limited resources go where they must. i think we all get where you’re coming from :)
    tomorrow at 3 pm i defend my ph.d. and let me tell you, i haven’t really apologized for bailing on anyone for the past week! :)

  • http://practicalecologist.blogspot.com/ Rachel

    Good luck on your defense! I’m only in year two and the thought of defending (or even really writing) my dissertation is unreal. Hope you kill it!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Thanks Jen! It was a sad decision, but it definitely feels soooo good to be caught up. ♥

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Science nerds unite!! =D

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Thanks for the commiseration Brie! It’s been a rocky transition getting back into the swing of school for me. I feel like I’ve barely survived the whole quarter, haha.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Haha, exactly!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Thanks Kendra! And that’s exciting you’re thinking of going back! The GRE was gnarly but totally doable, and depending on your area it might not even matter that much (mine didn’t). Anyway, you should do it! Grad school so far has challenged me and tested me and pushed me and I’m growing like crazy because of it. It’s great.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    OMG Veronika! That’s so exciting! Kick butt and then, have a HUGE party! You go girl, that is SO AWESOME! ♥ ♥ ♥

  • mamashell

    i think all can be redeemed by a pic of the new firetruck bed!

  • veronika

    wow, thank you guys :) i’m just pacing around the lab as i watch the clock now…

  • yogadala

    somehow, I feel calm just reading your post…all is well and balanced and yes, a picture of the firetruck bed please :)

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