salut de Montréal

Did I mention that I was going to be going to Montreal? Maybe not. Anyhow, I’ve just arrived for a conference. Yes, another conference. (Didn’t I just get home?)

I tried to type up a post earlier today on my iPad, but failed to finish it in time to send it before heading out of my 3G plan territory. So it will have to wait. Or more likely, will just not happen, as I can just summarize here: My passport isn’t feeling neglected. Off to Montreal for a conference. Driving up with the 3 professors I work with. Like a 7-hour lab meeting on wheels. Happily, this is a good thing, seeing as I enjoy our lab meetings. Except it was on my iPad, so at one point, I may have said it was a good thong. The end.

So, tomorrow is the conference. I do hope to get to see a bit of Montreal, but I fear I won’t have much time for much beyond the conference. It runs all day tomorrow, all day Saturday, and then it lets up mid-day Sunday, at which point we plan to get back on the road. I do hope I can squeeze at least a couple hours to see a sight or two, and may lobby for delaying our departure on Sunday an hour or so.

Off to bed with me now.

p.s. I have still been trying to get my photos and thoughts together to post some recaps from my Hong Kong trip. I’m getting closer. Though currently further away.

k, fine

Today was Phoebe’s first day of kindergarten. (Yes, this is quite late for school to start. Our school district’s start dates got bumped forward a week due to the massive power outages in the town and schools.) Last Thursday, the schedule first day of kindergarten, was a beautiful, pleasantly warm, sunny day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

Today, on the other hand, was rainy. And I don’t mean drizzly. When we stepped outside to go wait for the school bus at around 8:30 this morning, it was raining buckets and as dark as dusk.

Phoebe, however, was very excited for her big day.

Phoebe is ready to go. Mr. Potato Head looks on.

My camera didn't want to focus in the dim light and pouring rain.

Phoebe and John reach the top of our driveway to wait at the edge of the stream running down our road.

The bus approaching. The only shot of the bus I managed due to being unable to get my camera to focus fast enough in the dim light while holding an umbrella.

–
I have way too much to write about again, but need to get to bed. Things have continued to be crazy, but largely in a good way. My mother just left today after a really wonderful visit. (They always go way too fast.) I’m hoping to catch my breath for a bit tomorrow, at least after I get Theo off to daycare and Phoebe onto the bus and before I drive in to Boston for a lab meeting and a grad program meeting. I have not yet managed to upload my Hong Kong photos, as our regular internet connection is still down after the storm. (John got us a “mifi,” since he can’t do his work without an internet connection, but the service is very spotty, and we are still dealing with data limits.)

Disconnected

Life has been more than ordinarily crazy the past few days, so I haven’t managed to get online too much. Specifically, Irene came by (luckily for us, downgraded from a hurricane to a “tropical storm” by the time she got here) and threw us for a loop. (My mother has also come for a visit, but, at least so far, her visit has been far less destructive.) While we have gotten off easy compared to many, as far as the storm that is, our town is not yet back to normal. We are among the lucky 50% in our town to have had our electricity restored. (We had over two days without power and, since our town has no public water and we all have wells, running water.) Our phone and internet may be out for a while, but this seems pretty trivial compared to the damage and flooding that so many are dealing with. (And even compared to the many thousands of people still without electricity in the region.) We are safe, sheltered, and have ready access to food and clean water, not to mention plenty of other conveniences and even luxuries. We have been very, very lucky.

If I have a chance in the next few days, I’ll try to get my laptop out to some place with an internet connection, so I can say more, and even share some photos (both of my neighborhood and of Hong Kong). In the meantime, though, I am rapidly chewing through my 3G data plan for my iPad, so I probably won’t manage to post much, respond much, or visit other blogs. (I also am really slow and clumsy at typing on my iPad, and fear what autocorrect may bring. I very nearly just emailed someone I met at the conference that I looked forward to reading his recently published paprika.)