Happy Thanksgiving

Time spent away with family was just what I needed. I stayed up 'till 2am talking with my little sister last night and it was so nice to reconnect with her. And it seems like we've been playing board games non-stop. We have two board games that I'm sure very few are familiar with: The Farming Game and Acquire. The Farming Game is probably almost as old as I am. We got it in a feed store when we lived on a dairy back when I was a small child. It was actually designed by a farmer to represent what it is really like to live life as a farmer. I know it sounds silly, but we really love that game; it's so quirky and cute. The other game, Acquire, is a made up of square pieces on a grid. The idea is that the pieces represent hotel chains and the purpose of the game is to form and merge hotel chains and hold majority stock in your hotels. It's very strategic, but still requires a little luck, depending on the pieces you draw. Every time we play, the game is different, and it's very addictive.

However, I do plan to return home tomorrow afternoon so that I can get back to work. I have an incredible amount of work to do in such a short amount of time. My little sister said one thing that made me laugh, though. She's been observing the grad students in the research lab where she works, and she decided that she doesn't really want to go to grad school because the grad students put in such long hours, then take extra work home at night, and seem so stressed out all the time. Plus, she said that she doesn't like school as much as I. Oh, I laugh! Yes, even though I complain about how swamped I am and how stressful this all is, I love it and couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. I really do love school.

But, alas, the scholarly community will really lose out if my little sister decides not to join the ranks.