I've done my hour's research work for the day (summarizing and tabulating the soil organism data from last year's samples). I'm going to try to work this up for at least a poster at the Prairie Conference this summer.

I'm taking this weekend off (except for babysitting my grad student's germination experiment - I would have to come up here to let her in [the university is not very amenable to giving keys to students], so I told her I might as well just do the little bit of care that it needs on the weekend. [Besides, when she came in today, it sounded like she had laryngitis. Maybe having a weekend off without having to leave the house much will help her recover]). I'm just kind of worn out and I think I haven't had enough "quality time" with the piano, or my quilt in the frame, or my various knitting projects, or the books I'm reading, this week, and it makes me cranky and sad.

I think I'm going to try sharply limiting my time online on the weekends; I can waste a lot of time surfing when I could be playing the piano or quilting.

I'm also going to do a little bit of retail therapy. No, not of the frivolous kind, really. I need more paper towels and some other stuff that's cheaper/brands I prefer at the Target, so I'm going to go to Sherman. Go to the Target, get the stuff I need there (including more of the nice Boots the Chemist rosewater "toner" - it seems like I'm breaking out again this winter (stress?) and that seems to help reduce it). And go to the bookstore, see if the new KnitScene is in. And go grocery shopping at a nicer grocery store (Kroger's) than what I have in town.

I might also hit the craft stores. I don't NEED anything (Though I think I'm out of navy blue floss) but I do like to look at what they have.

And I might take myself out for lunch, too. I think I just kind of need a day to myself, when I can be quiet and let my brain smooth itself out. (I am also coming off of period of lots of meetings, some in the evening, and that always stresses me more).

And tonight, I am going to go home, practice piano, take a shower, fix a decent dinner for a change (perhaps some of my recent distress is I've kind of having to be grabbing meals on the run), and then find something hopefully uplifting to watch (or, if not, put a CD in the stereo) and either quilt or knit until bedtime.