Last week in office

This week will kind of be my last week in office, and I will not be around for awhile after. Next week I have an annual consortium meeting of the DFG FOR3000 Chemodiversity Research Unit that I have been involved in over the past two years. For the first time since a very long time, I will sleep in a hotel. Alone. I’m not even sure how I will handle so much sleep opportunity, but I’m sure it will be amazing! After this, I will spend my second month of parental leave. I’m really looking forward to this. We plan to drive off to the south, probably direction Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Greece. Who knows how far we’ll get. I guess it depends on how good the local food is, how much vegetation is in flower, and how beautiful nature and the seas are. Our campervan and my two year-old will guide the way.

But first things first. As usual, before taking a longer leave, it means you’ll have to wrap up a bunch of things, to make sure that there’s no mess when you get back. That means I’ll have an experiment to finish, teaching administration to complete, feedback for a finishing PhD to provide, and some instructions to write for several people in my team that will be responsible for specific (and important) tasks during my absence.

When I come back, things will hopefully still run smoothly. It worked the last time.

It’s all for a good cause, but the to-do lists and deadlines to make over these past three weeks have taken their toll on me. I’m totally exhausted and overwhelmed. I really really really need this break, and I’ll use it to its fullest!