Resolution Roundup #10 - October

So once again I've been neglecting my blog following (thanks to all four of you and you anonymous ones as well). This month has been pretty hectic. The month started out with a visit from my nephew. Thanks for coming A - the other day X said he missed him. Then I spend a week in Hawaii at two conferences (oh the stress of working), followed by the excitement of Halloween and through about four or five birthdays and a few colds into the mix and it allows for very little computer time. Here are some pics from Hawaii and also from Halloween.


A View from the room at Turtle Bay Resort, where IGES was held (very cool conference). I presented a poster on fine mapping of the Hepatic Lipase gene, which is involved in HDL-cholesterol metabolism. I also gave a poster at ASHG on a potential gene involved in Heart Rate located on chromosome 9p21 (which is a very interesting genomic region that appears to be heavily involved in heart disease).

Cordy went dressed as an orange witch - J made the tutu and all cool witches were Chucks.

X went as the ninja assassin - he still hasn't put the sword down - even though he did almost poke my eye out with it while playing a rousing game of pirates on the bed.

S went as a fluffy dog for the second year running, we've gotten a lot of mileage out of this costume that was given to us by J's bro and sis-in-law.

Anyway here are is the resolution roundup for the last month.

• Volunteer - This remains a pipe dream and will probably get carried over into next year.
  

• Pay down debt - Similar to last month - we are still trying to get back on track. We are also trying to sell the house in KS - so anyone moving to Lawrence - let us know.
  

• Be a more patient father - I'm still working on this but I need to get back into a more structured groove. The fam is out of sync due to a number of things - adjusting to a single car and Spencer's school schedule makes it somewhat difficult to maintain some flexibility in the schedule but we are working one it.
  

• Read two books a month - Once again I read three books this month and once again all by Steve Berry (see below). Now only one more novel and I will be done. This month it was pretty much a tie between the Third Secret and the Romanov prophecies as far my favorite goes. However they are all good. Next month I will probably return to more of a pulp noir phase or at least until I get my hands on the upcoming Steve Berry book or Dan Brown's new novel.
  
  


• Publish, Publish, Publish - Here is the status of this right now. I'm working on three revisions and one is out for review. Then I have two more I'm drafting right now. However, I plan to tone this down a little bit and get some quality manuscripts out in the next year as well as right more grants (which I should be doing right now).
  
• Be a more substantive blogger - One day I will return to blogging when life is less chaotic and I invent a time-stand-still machine.
  
• Take a vacation - Hawaii was a success and I will go back with the family, when the kids are older so they can remember it. Next years looks to a busy travel year with trips to KS, NM, DC, and MA in the works so very busy and productive time.
  
• Find a hobby - Is navel staring a hobby, do I have time - maybe I should just read comics. The garden is back up with some new food (broccoli) as the weather has morphed into extremely pleasant - no wonder I like Texas
  
• Spend one on one time with my kids every week - We've got the bedtime routine down and I enjoy reading to them - now if I could stay awake past 8:30 I would be doing good as well and maybe I could have a conversation with J. The boys are addicted to PBS kids online games - it is amazing how well they can navigate that site. Now when the sugar high breaks down hopefully they will be a little less crazy.

Until next time ...