Random pieces of what's up?

Once again it has been a while. Good days and bad days have come and gone along with thoughts and ideas for blog entries. I don't know how you guys who blog every day do it. I find it next to impossible to keep up with 9 hour work days + commute time + cramming in a bit of exercise a few nights a week + keep the bare minimum of contact with friends and family + not let the household fall completely to pieces (Fiance is already taking more than his fair share during the week) + have quality time with Fiance and yet find the time and the energy to blog. I soooo wish I could blog from work (since I'm at the office all day anyway), but for one I really don't have the time when I'm there and second, I'm afraid it could eventually cause me trouble if anybody found out. So back to square one. I miss blogging when I don't find time for it and I still think about ways to write about what happens in my life, so don't despair I'm not about to quit, just organizing my thoughts.

So what have I been up to:

I'm back at work in full force after the South America adventure and Easter break. It is surprisingly good to be back. I am really in two minds about this job. Sometimes I feel endlessly frustrated about the character of the institution, the lack of freedom in deciding where and when and how to work and the outdoorseyness and small town-feel of this city. Other times I am hopeful and excited about the research projects that are growing around me, the initiative and success coming from the group and the way I've been given responsibility and freedom to develop more than just research skills. Right now I'm in the positive mode. Things are happening, projects are getting done, the group is happy, people do not seem to hate me although I'm their manager.

I've figured out how to follow European job advertisements in my field via e-alerts. As my European readers will know the job market on this side of the pond is completely fragmented and I hardly ever hear about open positions outside my immediate geographical area. With the very few universities here and limited number of candidates It's almost known in the community who is next in line to get a position. I don't think I am at the end of the line, but I'm not first either and with me doing the postdoc at a respected research institute people tend to think I am not even considering switching to a university. With the help of a few dear friends I have finally figured out where European jobs are announced (at least some of them) and having a lists of vacant positions pouring into my inbox on a weekly basis is extremely liberating even when I am not planning to act on it right now.

I have finally made myself go back to the gym and I don't hate it yet. Or I never really hated it. I like it when I'm there, I just don't like having to leave the house again after I get home at night because I'm lazy and tired and feel like doing nothing. But since we are going together now it's been fun and it's nice to feel better and get some exercise.

We redecorated the home office and it looks really nice and professional. I rarely work at my desk at home. Usually I bring all my stuff to the living room table where the view is gorgeous or just sit in the sofa or somewhere else where I'm comfortable, but with the new furniture the room seems much brighter and more appealing. I think I'm going to spend more time there now. And I have room for all my stationary, pens and other work stuff and don't have to keep it in a cardboard box anymore.

We are going to start a blog in one of my research projects at work. This is really weird and surely deserves a blog entry of it's own. My colleagues are the least tech savvy people you would know and they are obviously not the kind of people who reads blogs at home. I am trying to steer them away from the worst beginner's mistakes without admitting to having a blog of my own. Maybe I will eventually just come out and tell them. At the moment I am the magic blogging wizard who out of the blue knows one thing or another about the blogosphere. So far I have been given the task of writing the information letter to the other subgroups who will be participating in the blog because, as they say, "I have so many ideas". We'll see.