It’s the end of the summer… in academia, at least.  The new fall semester begins today, and with it, return the undergraduate students and the flurry of faculty back from their summer schedules.

Summer is supposed to be the time that we focus on our research and make great strides toward publishing our data.  [I’m rolling my eyes just writing this…]

Let’s just say that this summer hasn’t been up to par.

The research has been in a slump, and with our technician leaving at the end of June, I’ve been swamped with trying to stay on top of the preps that need to happen.

Plus, it’s summer!  And I’m much more interested in taking Lily swimming than being stuck in a lab.  (I know, I definitely don’t have what it takes to be in academia.)

But I’d appreciate some prayers that this Fall proves much more productive.  Because I’m going to be a 5th year!  Yep, you heard that right. I’m officially old when it comes to graduate students.  So I really need to churn out some data because mama needs another paper before she can even consider graduating.

UPDATE: Perhaps the summer has been more productive than I thought.  My paper has FINALLY been accepted.  We’ve only been working on it since before Lily was born…