What I Did on My Summer "Vacation"

It's been a busy one. Here's a (small, incomplete) peek inside the life of a tenure-track mama prof.

(1) Traveled on work trips to Seattle, San Diego, Boulder, Laguna Beach, Washington DC (twice), and Chicago -- and most of that was just in the month of June.

(2) Spent two weeks at Northwestern University, 10+ hours per day, learning the technical in's and out's of cluster randomized trials at a veritable "geek camp." Had a blast. Imported generous family members to babysit during the day and parented my 7-month-old daughter every evening, awaking 3-5 times every night to nurse.

(3) Wrote and submitted three paper proposals to the American Educational Research Association.

(4) Completed final edits on two articles forthcoming this fall.

(5) Watched as my 3-year-old son wore a suit and went down the aisle as ring-bearer in his nanny's wedding. Cried my eyes out.

(6) Wrote a proposal for nearly $700,000 in foundation support. Decision still pending (it's a nail-biter!).

(7) Reviewed 9 journal articles and 6 grant proposals.

(8) Celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary by coordinating and cooking a family dinner for 12.

(9) Prepared a brand-new 2-semester course on mixed-methods research.

(10) Smiled with joy as my daughter learned to love solid food, crawl, cruise, and begin to call me "mama."

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