Getting there...

I'm proud to say that I finally finished the first draft of my manuscript for publication and gave it to Larry (to "rip" apart). It feels really good to say that it's done. For so long now I've been saying that I want/need to write this paper, and now it's actually done! The great part about this, too, is that I don't feel like there are any new experiments left to do before submitting the paper. We're waiting on some results from our collaborators, and I'm almost done sequencing a gene; and then we're all set! Yeah, yeah, it sounds like a lot to sequence a gene. You'd be surprised though, it really only takes me a few hours to prepare the sample before handing it over to the sequencing facility. They do the rest of the job and give me the results in a couple days... Ahhh, I love technology! So, by early next week we should have everything we need to put all the figures together and make sure the writing is in order. I'll be interested to see what Larry has to say about my writing. I know that the part dealing with our collaborators is weak, so I'll have to redo a lot of that, but overall I hope he thinks the jist of the paper is correct.

So... Now I'm sitting in lab, not really doing anything today. I'm waiting for a DNA amplification reaction to finish so I can send it off for sequencing, and then I don't know what else I want to do today. I guess the next step is to dive back into the developmental project I'm working on. Larry contacted another PI on campus to see if we could consult with him about some defects we see in the nasal septum of our mice. Looking over what has already been accomplished for this paper, I think that there are only a couple of minor experiments required before starting to write that paper as well. So exciting!!

On another, less science nerdy, note, I'm kinda crushing on someone right now. I've known him for quite some time now, though I only learned his name about a year ago. We've been going for chai and hot chocolate every once in a while for the past year or so, and he's asked me to have dinner at his place a few times but so far it had never been a good time for me. Either I was dating someone, not in the right mindframe to date anyone, or just plain busy every time he asked me. Recently, though, he asked me to play racquetball with him at his apartment's clubhouse. Turns out that we didn't actually play racquetball because we were more interested in swimming since it was a million degrees outside. So we went swimming. I had a really nice time, and he invited me back to grill out at his apartment. Again, very nice. As I got ready to leave, he walked me to my car and shyly "hmm'ed and hawed" before giving me a goodnight kiss. Turns out, it was the sweetest kiss I think I've ever had!! Now I'm crushing hard and wishing I could see him again soon. We're supposed to have chai again today if he's not busy, so cross your fingers for me!!