Two posts in a day!

So I was going to write this post some other day, but we are in the midst of a bit of an icy mess and the roads suck so I am stuck in the house on a saturday night, finding ways to kill time that don't involve drinking all the beer in the fridge and eating all the chocolate I got for Christmas.
Must. Keep. Hands. Busy.

Anway, I am someone who relishes New Years. I hate New Years Eve but I love that 1/1 is sort of a reset button. Yeah, I know one can "reset" any day of the year, but I like 1/1.

So 2009...

It is going to be a crazy one.

I have approximately three months to get two journal articles out (which will make up the results section of my dissertation). This would be easier if I actually had results. But of course, the data never looks like it should. Ironically this is one of my goals for the year:
I also have approximately three months to get my ass in gear for the National Half-Marathon in DC in March. I'm all registered, so it's official! Travelling always effs up my training, but I have no trips planned until the race, so maybe I can properly train for this thing.

So three months is my deadline because as I have mentioned before, I will be at sea for the entire month of April. On a 50 m long boat. So no running and no spring races, sadly.

Then I come back and have to go out to a big lake in northwest Iowa for two months for field work:
At the same time I actually have to get the dissertation put together in time to defend by the end of July. And then everyone will have to call me Dr. Danielle in Iowa.

I am also contemplating the Chisago Lakes Half-Ironman at the end of July. I'd really love to get a half-IM in before I leave Iowa and my training partners. But yeah, half-IM and defense in the same week? I'm not sure about that...

Then I'm free! At some point in August, I have to move my ass to Seattle. I am actually a bit excited for the road trip. I am going to go a little bit out of my way and drive through ND to Montana, just so I can cross ND off the list. Because really, when else am I ever going to get to ND? And then I have to cross the entire freakin' state of Montana. I have never been to Montana either, so I am looking forward to it. I plan on taking my time meandering through the state. I intend to move with just my station wagon with two bikes and two pairs of skis on the roof so hopefully I can take some time to enjoy the scenery:
Anyone want to road trip?

I also am finally going to take advantage of having a real job and real vacation time (instead of this weird mix of flexibility and obligation that is grad school) and go visit my sister in New Zealand and use my frequent flyer miles to go visit a friend in Colombia. I'm pretty sure it is not like Romancing the Stone anymore. That and I'll have a native tour guide.

So what does this mean for relaying? Well, I most definitely can't do anything before August. So that pretty much leaves two options - The Wild West Relay and the Ragnar DC Relay. If anyone wants to do either, let me know!