The way things go

Measured by the holy grail of research - a paper published in Nature - my scientific career was a complete failure. A long, drawn out failure: it took years and years for my Nature-worthy-had things-worked-out project to come to the unpublishable conclusion that in fact, things were not going to work out.

It was an ironic pleasure then when, shortly after starting at my job at the biotech company in Germany, I was published in Nature. Sure, it was an ad and not a spectacular breakthrough that would Change The World. It was still extremely satisfying to go from idea to execution to being published in Nature within just a few weeks.

When I worked at WWF, the holy grail was to get an opinion piece into The Economist or the Financial Times. Again I failed.

Now I'm back in marketing... and yes, you guess it... my words are appearing in The Economist and the Financial Times. Even cooler, I came up with the concept for a flashy interactive ad for The Economist iPad app, got the right people to make it for me, and now it's out there! My words, my idea, in The Economist!

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The other night when I was lying in bed, I suddenly had a vision of Lukan running towards me across the school playground after school had finished, his pochette* flapping around his neck. And equally suddenly, I realised that by working out of the home, I will probably never see this in real-life, ever again.

The pain in my chest at this realisation was not insignificant. And not really counterbalanced by getting ads published in newspapers.

* A laminated paper envelope that the infants kids use to take messages from the teacher home.

Also, just to say I am not miserable working, I just find the full-time-ness of it hard.

The last couple of months

Right, so, where was I? Oh yes, winter!

It's been a snowy one.

The kids are getting useful. 

Which has been pretty, but a little slippy. And a little less fun for the broken-legged one.

Although actually, he has enjoyed being pulled around on various sleds. It snowed and snowed and snowed, and then stopped just in time for the school holidays in mid February.

 Skiing! Fabulous skiing on fabulous snow in fabulous sun!

 

Toboganning! 

 Tubing!

Snow scooting! 

A walking Lukan!

Snow tunnel!

Icicles!

Chalets! Cheese! Friends!

A lovely week, until... right near the end, on a veeerrrry misty day with zero visibility, C skied off the piste and over a drop, and so we ended up...

...with two sore legs. Leading to a new version of an inexplicably popular song:



We were down to 1 pair of crutches shortly afterwards when...

...the cast came off! He may look a little worried in the photo, but actually he was quite happy. It feels like there's balloons tied to my legs when I walk, because my leg is so light!

And then C took back his crutches last weekend, so hopefully that's the end of sore legs this year.

And also winter... because even though it's still a little chilly, and even though there's been a few more snow flurries this last week, and another this morning...

I think it's safe to say that Spring, while not sprung, is springing.