Oy vey

Ack! So much to do!!! Just booked my ticket to Kenya - it's a 20 hour flight. Yes, 20 HOURS. Am having trouble finding a place to stay in Berlin as once AGAIN, I will be there during the f****** marathonstrecke (Berlin marathon). Trying to track down obscure German paleontology articles from the 1930s and 1940s at the Smithsonian libraries. Trying to translate (mmm, that's ambitious - more like trying to understand) the ones that I do have (feels like a treasure hunt where all the clues (words) are floating around until finally they come together in a way that I can understand). Figuring out which research files I need to take to Berlin without having an entire suitcase full of paper that I will then have to drag around Europe. Writing Chapter 4 (yes, Chapter 4!!) of my dissertation. And my health insurance expires tomorrow, naturally. And I have a grant report due for a grant that I was awarded but have yet to receive the money for.

Oh, I'm SO looking forward to being in France and doing ridiculous things like lying in a meadow during the middle of the day, eating pastries for breakfast and drinking wine at noon, hiking in the forest until I find a quiet, sunny spot to read and eat some more pastries, picking blackberries and maybe raspberries and plums, and, most importantly, being disconnected from the internet and most other technology! Because who needs an iPhone when you're in a tiny village surrounded by vineyards?