so today…
I only went to my am class (DNA expressions – which is kicking my ass, as they assume you already know everything about protein synthesis … eek… it’s been nearly 3 years since my last lecture on protein synthesis) and I then came home and cleaned/re-arranged my entire apartment.
I also am spending loads of what one could call quality time with the cats, but primarily consists of me preventing Boots from killing Possum (Boots has not been handling the last two days well and is blaming all of her pain on Possum) and stopping both kitties from licking their stitches. I also keep trying to feed the kitties, as they lost like 1/2 of a pound in bodily organs (not much I’ll grant, but if you only weigh 6lbs, 1/2 a pound is a considerable amount).
Yesterday was interesting. While waiting for my cats to be spayed, I went to class (Molecular Evolution – review of the degeneracy of the genetic code, boring!). After class, I still had at least two hours before I could get my cats and so to prevent boredom, I went to one of the department sponsered lectures. I was bad last quarter and didn’t go to any…but this quarter I’ve resolved to attempt going to them all (especially since my advisor is on the commitee that determines who they are bringing in to speak). However, I did have ulterior motives. This was a lecture on crayfish, and while that in and of itself doesn’t excite me, it was being given by Dr. Paul Moore from Bowling Green State University, my alma mater and the gentlemen who is actually the reason I finally decided to go to BGSU and major in Biology. Had him one semester, for intro biology so we didn’t really have much interaction, but through all four years, he remembered my name and always had time to say hi to me in the hallway. So, I went to his lecture and we “hung out” over lunch with the other graduate students from my department.
We had a nice long talk, and to my surprise, not once but twice did he invite me to return to BGSU and obtain my PhD there, under him and my other favorite professor from BG, Dr. John Graham. (I’d be doing cDNA analysis of crayfish, possibly even microarrays, if we could afford them). This is a very exciting offer – both profs are good scientists with big grants, and I already know the university area very well.
This is exciting – and this work would be very interesting (impact of sensory chemical on protein/gene expression….okay, I’m a dork but it would kick ass!). But I’ve so many things to decide in the next two years and this only complicates them!
Do I want to go directly for my PhD? Do I want to move out of the Ohio/Indiana/Michigan area, where essentially all of my family, including my dearest little sib Kimberly and my new baby niece Darcy. Away from all my friends…away from everything I’ve gotten to know? But do I want to stay here? Do I want to go to Seattle and get a degree or a job? Or what? Could I really go back to Bowling Green and get a PhD there (approx. 4 years)…?
Gah!
Less than two years to decide. The clock is very definitely ticking.
