Wednesday, October 28, 2009

To the Capitol

The first of two extended weekend trips for me starts tomorrow. I'll be fleeing the state ahead of another long series of rainstorms, and I feel a little guilty about that; everyone in my town -- and my state -- is sick of rain. At least the rain will catch up to me in Washington, D.C. by the time I leave on Sunday.

First stop is the National Collegiate Honors Council annual meeting, and it's going to be a long, busy slog. I have two presentations in which I'm participating on Friday, one as lead presenter, and a couple of others that I'm committed to attend. We're meeting up with a dozen or so alumni who live in the area that night. Saturday is a bit more relaxed, and then Sunday we're leading a half-day workshop on technology in honors education before finally heading home.

Between this and my trip to Montreal next weekend, it's like my life is on hold until around Thanksgiving. I always look forward to getting away, but this trip is almost all work and no play. There's a large contingent of faculty and students from our institution attending, and it will be tough to find time to one's self for doing some work or reading or museum-going. I glanced into my little girl's eyes during dinner tonight, and felt a pang about missing Halloween with my kids. They'll be tramping around the neighborhood pretending to be robots and videogame characters, and I'll be halfway across the country.

And of course, all the burdens will be falling on Noel while I'm gone -- he'll be taking the kids to get their flu shots tomorrow, feeding them, bathing them, clothing them, and making sure that their Wii time does not parent mandated limits. It's going to be a long two weeks until I'm back for good ... when it will be time to make plans for holiday travel.

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