Being in academia

If you have ever heard the expression "Publish or Perish", trust me, it is true. Being in academia is all about stressing over grant applications or stressing over publishing or stressing over research or stressing over teaching or stressing about how much coffee you have left in your desk drawer and whether it is enough to get through the day. Actually, the last one is my personal addition ;) I have children on top of being an academic so coffee is very important ;) Please don't get me wrong....  I still love my job but I can totally understand why most senior academics have a lot of grey/white hair ;)

Wishing you all a happy day!

Back to the routine

Well, it was back to work again yesterday. Honestly, I could have used another week to "shift gears" and get organized but it is kind of nice to be back in a routine. Let's see how long it lasts before I am writing to say how excited I will be for Spring Break ;)

Last night, Andreas took the tree down and, while it is nice to get a big section of our living room back, I have to admit that I was a bit sad to see it go.....

Happy Friday to you all (now that I remember what day of the week it is again!) xox

In my head

I remember when this picture was taken... it was SO warm out. Good beer on the terrace kind of day. Today, when it is -20C,  I will close my eyes, go to my "happy place", and pretend that I am there..... You are welcome to join me ;)

Wishing you all a good night xox

Rule?

If I got these chocolates as a Christmas present, that means that there are no calories, right? ;)

The boys started school today and I had a meeting with Aladdin. Please note that I did not eat ALL the chocolates in the box by myself. That could be considered over the top ;) I did have SOME help over the holidays ;)

xox to you all!

Last bit of vacation

Warning: this will be a photo spam post ;)

Yesterday, we all went to Mont Tremblant to celebrate the last bit of the holiday vacation. The boys are starting school again in the morning so it was bitter-sweet. We had a good time, hanging out in the snow (**disclosure: while I am not a big fan of snow, I don't mind it SO much when the temperature is hovering around 0C. I just cannot stand snow AND cold. That is just wrong!).

Tomorrow is back to the rushing around-lunch making-school clothes washing-picking up crabby kids at the end of the day-homework supervising. I have to admit that I am a tiny bit looking forward to getting back into the routine (I kind of like knowing what day of the week it is) and somewhat healthy eating (What? Wine and chocolate are not a real food group?), although, this has been a much needed break from it all!

See you back in the day to day ;) xox!

A bit of family cosy, without the clock

I have to say that I have really been enjoying the pace of the holidays. There is no need to rush to go anywhere... no need to hurry bed time... no need to hurry dinner time.... ahhhh! We just get to hang out with each other, minus the eye on the time.
School is starting again on Monday and it will be hard to go back to time watching. As much as, during fight times, I reminded the boys of their eminent return to school, I will probably miss the holidays more than them.

Have a great day xox

Welcome to 2016

We celebrated the start of the new year with a bit of neighbourhood sledding. The "mountain" had so many little boys on it that it looks like it was an ant hill ;) The weather, even though it was snowing, was quite warm and pleasant. Did I just say that??!!??? Anyway, we had a fun time that ended with hot chocolate in a Lego mug. Later in the afternoon, our lovely neighbours came over for tapas, sparkling wine and home made chocolate cake (my neighbour... she is more talented than I am ;) ). It was a great welcome to 2016!

Hope your day was a good one xox