Mary Bellamy

Crap. I've only got a week left until I have to go to the Supercomputing Conference. Suddenly my To-Do List is looming in front of me.

Of course, the conference itself wouldn't be so bad, except for the trip to visit my family afterward. That means extra packing and extra luggage. Not to mention the extra nights until I'm back in my own home and sleeping in my own bed.

In an ideal world, I'd be able to bring MNB along with me. He'd get all nerdy at the conference, then be forced to meet the family. However, in the real world, there is really only one airline that flies out of Fairbanks. And since it doesn't fly to New Orleans, I can't use my companion fare for him. He'll just have to keep the home fires burning. (Hopefully not literally, as I don't actually have a woodstove.)

With the conference nigh, the crazy preparations at work are almost done. This means I can settle into the next big task: Hosting an international conference in 2011. Lots of work to be done, including some of my favorite things - designing publications. I've already knocked out two of the three reminder postcards and sent them off for printing and mailing. There will also be a mailed brochure and a rather hefty conference program. I'm getting giddy just thinking about heavy weight paper and aqueous coating.