Things have been busy here, as usual. Last week I attended the annual meeting of the "American Institute of Chemical Engineers" (AIChE). It's one of the highlights of my social year (how sad is that?) and I love catching up with old friends from grad school. This year was the 100th meeting and was held in Philadelphia, the sight of the very first meeting. Being back in Philadelphia was interesting because 3 years ago I had to choose between my current job at Iowa State and a job in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a great city; on the drive from the airport to the hotel, I kept thinking "this could have been home". But I'm satisfied with my decision to move to Iowa.
The semester is almost over. This week we are on "fall break", so I'm looking forward to getting some non-class-related work finished. Then there are two more weeks of classes and then finals. It will be a very hectic time. I'm looking forward to my trip to Kentucky on Wednesday to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.
We had significant snow fall yesterday, but it should all melt today. The dogs and

I [I'm pet sitting for my neighbor for the week] had fun walking in it. I imagine that pretty soon it won't seem fun anymore.
I previously posted about my quest to find better winter wear for Sheba. The coat that I ordered from Petco did not fit. It fit her barrel chest, but was way too big everywhere else, despite my attempts to alter it. So now she will continue to wear her old blue jacket (which is embarassing, because it matches MY blue coat) and I got her this adorable fleece to wear at home. It really is the most laughable thing imaginable. She looks so insanely ridiculous, but seems much happier. It's hard not to snicker every time I look at her. I'm not yet brave enough to walk her wearing this thing.In addition to the yucky cold, I've found it hard to adapt to the extremely short days here. It's very disheartening to drive home from work in the dark. I'd heard good things about "litebook", a light therapy device that you use briefly in the morning. I've used one for the past 4 days and it seems to be helping with my mood and energy. Maybe this is just a placebo effect, but the light exposure time fits well with my morning "web-surf and check email while drinking coffee" routine.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Travel safely and enjoy time with friends and family.