Not on Death's door

The plan was to have Rebecca and Paela come with me. We were going to drive down to L.A. Wednesday for the rest of the week. While I went to the CAA conference, the two girls would drive around L.A. looking for fun things to see and do. Tuesday afternoon, Paela got sick. Wednesday, after more than 17 hours since the last time she threw up, we tried to take her with us. Almost to Gilroy, she threw up again in the car; we turned back and I left for L.A. alone.

By the time I got back, Paela had noticeably lost weight and Rebecca had spent much of the week almost as sick as Paela. There were many moments I was ready to get in the car and drive back home, but instead I stayed and tried to make the most of the academic networking. [I did my best to convince him by the time he got back I'd be getting better.... -bec] Unfortunately, because the last few weeks have been so hectic, I felt very poorly prepared, which didn't help the disorientation which came from having our trip reconfigured at the last minute. I managed and they managed, even if I missed many important events because I wasn't sleeping well at night.

So I spent much of the trip in a sleep-deprived daze. But I still managed to stay very busy from morning until evening going to some half-way decent sessions, getting my application materials into some hands, having interviews, networkings, etc. I felt like I had more time last year to sit in on some exciting talks and meet new people. This year, nothing really stood out aside from the desperation of so many people trying to find a job. It was good to meet up with friends, new and old.

But in the meantime, Rebecca and Paela just stayed sick. Neither were on death's door, but both were mostly miserable [actually, I was impressed that Paela slept so much, which allowed me to rest some too, and that Friday and Saturday she did relatively well playing on her own for the most part. Of course, the place was a disaster and at some point she took off her own shirt. Which I didn't bother to put back on her. I only interfered with her schemings when she climbed on the end table and tried to jump off by herself. Also, she must have learned something about picking things up somewhere along the line, because despite my knowing that she dumped all her crayons out early on, half of them were in the box at the end of the day. -bec]. I don't look forward to next year's conference being in Chicago, but hopefully next year's conference will go a little smoother and I will be better prepared. Now it is time to clearly focus on getting application materials to positions I am interested in and finish thesis project stuff.