Well here I am

So, as you may or may not know, I originally started blogging on a the three month research trip to collect the data for my dissertation. That was three years ago. Wow, three years in blog land goes by fast. The original intent was to keep everyone up to date on my goings on out here. Some people thought I was funny, some liked knowing what I was up to and well, I blogged just slightly more frequently then I called home, so my mom was pretty happy too. Of the 20 or so friends I emailed about the blog, about 5 actually read it. During that time I found a renaissance in my crafting, mostly crochet at the time, so the blog was a little about that too. When I came home I stopped blogging almost completely, but kept up with it sporadically.

After a lot of thought about my online life and googlability, I moved the blog here, which had no connection to my real name, and tried to give it a theme. I was knitting a lot, and reading a lot of knitting blogs so I thought I'd give it a go to be a *mostly* crafty blog, with some tidbits about my day job of science. But mostly, the blog remains the same, random thoughts and tidbits about my life. My readership remains about the same as well, although I've picked up a few readers since then from friends made since the original departure. So here we are 3 years later, and I'm one week into the three month follow up study of that original project. Which means I am ~2300 miles from home back in the littlish town and the very different life that provided the inspiration for that original blog. (I don't really know where I'm going with this, but hang on for the ride, it might be fun).

It's weird to be back. Kind of like going to your hometown after you graduate college. Everything's the same, but just a little different. Was that minimart always there? Was that house always purple? When did that development start? I think that it's those little things that remind us that it's not just the physical place that's the same but different, but ourselves too. Three years ago I had been married for <6 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">resurrection of the fiber crafts. It was also an extremely productive time for me professionally. All that alone time was great for writing my first paper, and most of my second. I have fond memories of that time, but to be honest, I have no desire to relive them. I want to move on with my life. Al ot can change in three years.

This time it's different, we have new grad students working on the project, and we are all living in an apartment together. If the over 60 set made me feel young, these guys make me feel old. nearly 30 is a far cry from just past 22. The math doesn't show it, but trust me, there is a lifetime in those 8 years. These kids were in 2nd grade when Kurt Cobain died. They weren't old enough to vote in the Bush/Gore election, and they were sitting in a high school classroom on 9/11, not even remotely the same stage of life as I was starting my very first research project at that particular moment. They are great fun though, I think I'm still hanging ok, but it is an effort to not take on a mom-like role.

This is a sad realization, but man, I'm just not that young anymore. I miss the early bird specials and the golf outings. These guys are wearing me out!



ETA: After I posted this I remembered a trip recently which inspired this rant, seems like I'll never feel like I fit :)