Life in the C-Hill hasn't been chilly lately with 90-100 degree days and 40-60% humidity. This has made running rather difficult even at 7am in the morning, so my mileage has suffered somewhat. On the other hand, I've started up with yoga (Vinyasa) twice a week again, which is a nice indoor activity that helps counter the pounding.

It has been quiet in the house without Marc around, so I try to work outside the home as much as possible (I've rarely been productive work-wise at home like Marc anyway). I've also taken the opportunity to try to catch up with some friends these few weeks, either via the phone or in person. A number of friends are leaving the Triangle, which inevitably makes me wonder about the craziness that will enfold for Marc & I in the next year.

Summer is also generally a good time for me to get re-engaged in some community volunteer work, which I usually do not have the energy for during the school year. I spent this past Saturday morning working on a new Habitat house for a lady whose home burned down earlier this year. Strangely, it's so happened that I've done vinyl-siding for five of the six Habitat houses I've ever worked on. So, at least I knew what I was doing and the Habitat site manager let me lead a team of first-time volunteers to work on one side of the house.

Marc should now be in Cairo, Egypt after 5-6 days in Gothenburg, Sweden for an Environmental Economics conference. It sounded like a very thoughtfully planned conference with lots of eco-friendly choices made about the way the conference should be run (e.g., they gave out USB pens instead of stacks of conference papers/abstracts; limited the amount of meat served and mostly had vegetarian offerings; challenged attendees coming from Europe to take the train rather than fly, etc.) It's heartening to learn that they were actually practicing what they preach.

~ Shuwen