i had to come to seattle for 2 days for work and i decided to be irresponsible and stretch it to 7 to spend some time with some dear friends who live here... but then when i went to the airport last night some weather pattern in chicago combined with overbooked flights home to nola have landed me here for another few days. 9 days! I scrunched the guilt deep down into a place where it will be out of sight until i get an ulcer. I'm kind of working, but it's hard when i'm in this new city and it's spring.

Great to have the extra time with my friends - they laughed off my protests that i'd already said a beautiful goodbye (two hugs each! and i was so sincere!) and came right back to pick me up. We spent the afternoon wandering around near the tourist-y market area, ate sushi and drank sake in a park, walked around the sculpture garden. Another vacation i didn't earn.

i can hear the chickens have escaped, and my friend is herding them back to their cage. Later i'll go make a salad from the greenhouse. It's good, even inspiring, to see the amazing lives that my friends are putting together. I am so ready to move on to the rest of my life right now, even though I don't know what it looks like. Too bad I have about 400 pages to write first. #needtofinishthisphd #probablyshouldstoptakingvacations

11:14 a.m. - 2012-05-07