top ten things I'm looking forward to this year

1) Spring!! Sunshine, warmth, no more cabin fever, fewer illnesses. Yay, Spring! Only two more months, two and a half at the most.

2) SAAs Friends, good restaurants, a real city. Oh, yeah, and some archaeology papers. I can't wait!

3) Sabbatical I have pre-tenure sabbatical in the Fall. I love teaching, but my heavy teaching load and family obligations make research a chore. I'm looking forward to returning to my first love, archaeology, and actually getting some research done.

4) Summer More to the point, getting out of Tiny Town for the summer. Assuming the funding comes through, I'll be doing research for a couple of months, and visiting family for a few weeks here and there. I hope to be gone all summer, with the kids.

5) Home improvement While the kids and I are away for the summer, Dr. Mr. Palimpsest will be working on our house, without having to worry about the confluence of small children and construction work. We've had a lot of long, drawn-out home projects (6 months without a bathroom, anyone?!), so I'm looking forward to leaving, then coming home to find everything better.

6) Five Bunny turns five this summer. I've heard from many friends that the improvement in attitude, cooperation, and independence is startling.

7) Hobbies I haven't had a chance to do much creative this semester. Only 13 weeks to go, and I'll have a little extra me-time.

8) Future plans This summer, Dr. Mr. Palimpsest and I will be laying the foundation for some future changes, both professional and personal. I don't know if we're going down that particular path, yet, but it's nice to plan a happier future. No doubt I'll talk more about this, if we start moving seriously in that direction, but it will be a year or more before we know.

9) Talking, running, and other developments Every time I think Pumpkin is as cute as he can be, he learns some new skill and just gets cuter.

10) Saturday! For only the second time since Pumpkin was born, we're hiring a babysitter and going out to dinner, just the two of us!