I've been so busy the past few months I'm surprised I'm still standing. I spent all of June in Lubbock doing research, then when I came back I found out I had three emergencies.
First, the good news was that my dissertation manuscript was approved for publication by Texas A&M University press. After about a year of waiting, then suddenly they want me to get revisions done by the end of September. Of course that didn't happen.
The next "emergency" was a problem with a $400,000 grant we wrote. University of Houston-Downtown joined in a national community college project to track problems with college students and find ways of helping them do better (SACCD is part of this program). Anyway, the grant money had been held up until we answered some questions, and we had to get these in by the end of August.
Third, I turned in a chapter for a book some people were putting together on 20th century Texas history. I did a chapter on the development of public schools. This was back in October. I heard nothing. In March, the editors told me everything was hunky-dory. Suddenly, in July, I get an emergency email stating that a reviewer didn't like my chapter as it was. Could I get revisions back in 2 weeks. I did it in a few days, then they sent it to another reviewer, and again problems. I told them I didn't want to hold up publication because while I could make revisions, they were quickly getting to the end of the deadline. Finally we found a reader who liked my chapter.
Then last month, one of our dogs got a bloody nose in the middle of the night one Friday. We ended up having to take her to an emergency pet clinic (which cost us an arm and a leg). Of course, the vet suggested that it was probably cancer in the nose, and we'd have to put the dog down. Then, she called later to say that the dog had diabetes. That is probably what caused the nosebleed, as there has been no more talk about cancer. So we decided we needed to check her blood, so we bought a kit. We soon realized that we don't know how to prick her finger....since she doesn't have one. So we decided playing around and checked ourselves. My sugar level was nearly 300mgs. EEEKKK. I want to the doctor, and found out I have diabetes.
I wasn't really surprised since I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia in high school and the doctor told me then that it would probably turn into diabetes at some point. Well, it did. So I'm taking medication now to control my sugar level. It's lower, although not where it needs to be.
So my dog saved my life.
