March Madness

When I left California and moved to St. Louis, MO, it was December 2010. Getting through that month seemed to be a very long challenge, and then Christmas and the New Year came and went. It's now March, solidly in the spring semester at SLU (this is midterm week for the undergraduates and next week is their Spring Break), and I passed the calendar mark of 3 months on the job. But I seem to have only settled into a whirlwind pace of constant work overload - that's the madness of acclimating to a new job while defining that job for the entire campus, I suppose. Luckily, I think I can still say that I am managing to keep my head above water...

Bathroom mural #1...

Bathroom mural #2...

Starter salad of spinach, blue cheese, and fruity vinaigrette...

...at Cheese-ology: a mac and cheese restaurant! Yes, please! (I had the vegan mac.)

Ceiling inside the Landmark Tivoli theater - a new local favorite.

I made a commitment when I started my job to try to support a variety of student organizations/populations and campus events in at least my first semester at SLU. So I have also been filling some evenings and weekends with progress to meet that commitment.

SLU's production of a Shakespeare classic: well done, and more beautifully styled in mid-century Italy (very preppy and cute).

I butch it up for the last home men's basketball game of the season...

With an amazing near-center court seat (SLU vs. Xavier) - it helps to have worked through some critical incidents with the Assistant Director of Athletics!

The "SLUnatics" - student cheering section!

Halftime show included Frisbee (TM) dogs. Aw, cute and fun, just like me!

So life is still fun, weather is still fine, work is still fulfilling, people are still nice.

I travel to Philadelphia for six days for a conference, then I'm back for a week, and then another conference in Baltimore. Presentations, workshops, social obligations galore. But if all I have to complain about is full days and full nights, then life is not so bad, after all.

Not so bad to bounce around campus meetings in buildings this pretty.

SLU's seal.

Pretty skylights on a bright early spring day.

I'm still fascinated by photos of stairs: maybe it's the Escher fan in me.

Gave a guest lecture for a class being held in the engineering building - with a memorial statue of this Apollo astronaut.

Give all the busy times, an evening's simple supper of pumpkin gnocchi in arrabbiata sauce is sometimes all I need!

Another rainy evening of errands after yoga class.

Will report back after the first conference...