The Week of Good Things

The past week has been awesome. I wasn't feeling so good on Friday or over the weekend and we did our taxes and it turns out we owe money (grrr, why the hell do I have to get a 1099-MISC instead of a W-2???). But it seems like all of the good things that can happen to a grad student have happened for me all in the span of a week!

Good Thing #1:
Monty gave me the print edition of the journal that published my review paper so now I have that to add to my bookshelf :-)

Good Thing #2:
I reached 137 pounds on Wednesday (loss of 6 pounds since January 14) , which is the lightest I've been since essentially right after we got married (I weighed around 133-135 when we actually got married) even though it is still almost 20 pounds more than I weighed when I graduated from NCSU. I am hoping to weigh 135 before/at the end of this week so I will make my goal to reach my vacation weight. That shouldn't be hard because it is great running weather and I specifically told Keegan "NO CANDY" for Valentine's Day.

Good Thing #3:
Eating healthier. The past few days I've been making smoothies at home and bringing them for lunch. I haven't been eating after dinner and I've been running every day for the past 2 weeks (even Super Bowl Sunday!) I also like to bring cut up veggies to eat at school too, so I'm glad to be getting in that routine. Otherwise I haven't changed my eating habits much since meeting with the nutritionist over the summer except that now I'm eating less and burning 600+ calories on the treadmill/track every day.

Good Thing #4:
In November Monty submitted a grant on my research with my data that I helped to tweak and edit and we found out last week that it was funded! On the first try! Hello $275K over the next two years (presumably funding the rest of my research)!!

Good Thing #5:
I mentioned on here that I submitted an abstract to the 3rd International Conference on Self-healing Materials in January and today I was asked to be a speaker! WOOO, ENGLAND!

Good Thing #6:
I went to the dentist and I have perfect teeth with very little plaque or tartar. Money saver!

Good Thing #7:
It is absolutely gorgeous outside. And it's Valentine's Day so I can be confident that there will be roses at home when I get there :-*

Good Thing #8:
I have been listening to a new (to me) cd in my car the past week and I'm totally in love with it. It's called Brothers by The Black Keys and there's not a single song on it that I skip.

Now this week is crunch time but it's a lot easier to work knowing that I have a Masters thesis to write so I can walk in May and a trip to England to look forward to!