Vacation? What vacation?

I've been in California a week and already my vacation seems like a brief and dreamy memory. Dr. Lipo informed me that I couldn't collect any more raw data for my thesis before I produce certain parts of my thesis proposal (he didn't like my original proposal so I have to write a whole new one) at an appropriate standard.

So, I'm trying...but man, I'm frustrated. I wanted to get all those 2,100 photographs taken BEFORE the semester started - I'm taking two GIS classes so I'm going to spend a lot of time learning a whole lot of new stuff, plus I'm taking one of Dr. Lipo's classes, and his classes are a lot of work.

Today, for example, I decided to leave the proposal proper alone for a bit and start on my protocol, but none of the papers I have (for my literature review) have a protocol along the lines of what I think he wants (they have paragraph-style research statements, which I'm sure are not what he wants) so I emailed my coworker and asked for his protocol from one of his old projects so I can use it as a template. He's out with his family today - his father and stepmother are visiting him, and his sister lives in LA - so I emailed him so he can get back to me in his own time...which means I have to wait. Patience is a virtue, right?

So I started reading Systematics in Prehistory again (Dr. Lipo recommended I start with that, so I put aside Style and Function to get on with it) and fell asleep. I woke up with a dreadful headache so I haven't been able to read properly all this afternoon. I'm wearing my new glasses but it hasn't helped much. I'm wondering if it's the dry heat combining with my fan to dry my eyes out. I keep turning my fan off to give my eyes a chance to relax, then I start sweating again. In case you're wondering, I've been rocking shorts and tank tops all week. It seems ridiculous to think of how bloody cold I was in South Africa just a couple weeks ago - that I couldn't sleep in Drakensberg because it was too cold and I couldn't get the fire going.

I think tomorrow I might try and read while sitting in the pool. I've been reluctant to do this so far, because that pool is SO cold and it's a long book and I don't want to get sunburned, but my summer is ticking away and I'm starting to freak out. I MUST defend my thesis before the fall semester starts. I'm only taking three classes (thank goodness) but I'm president of the AGSA and that's going to be a ton of work and responsibility.

Now dinner is cooking - I'm roasting a piece of chicken so I don't have to stand over a hot stove in this weather - and I'm watching Newsline, who are enlivening the airwaves with a report on the nuclear crisis in that damaged plant in Japan. I STILL can't spell it, despite having seen news reports on it constantly since March. I'm a little ashamed of that, but no one ever put money on me as a spelling bee champion.

It's only 82 degrees outside but it's over 90 degrees in my apartment because I can't see the temperature marker in my thermostat (which goes up to 90F). Time to put the fan back on...whew!

She's baaack

And tooootally exhausted. Will actually update later, with stories about family, friends, airplanes, refrigerator magnets and penguins.

Very tired of flying. Very glad I get a few days on solid land before flying back to California and getting back into harness.

I'll also post pictures, but later. I have nearly 1,000 of them to upload and edit so that might take awhile, especially when I intend to dedicate part of my time to learning to play the vuvuzela I bought :)