The semester is finally over at McGill. I just got done teaching my first class and grading all of their papers and final exams. Overall, I have gotten positive feedback from the students, though some have already let me know that they don't approve of my grading. It's nice to have the first class out of the way. It's also nice that we have very long summer breaks here (4 full months from May to August) with no teaching, providing me a chance to focus on research.
I have two graduate students now (Kevin from Baltimore and Hassan from Toronto/Somalia). They both work really hard and are making progress. I also have three undergraduates that will be volunteering for the summer, and several of next year's graduate students have also expressed interest in my lab. I have received one of my grants (from NSERC, the Canadian equivalent of the National Science Foundation), and I am still waiting on word from two others. I will submit another proposal this month and probably one more in September. I am trying to ratchet up research activities so I can acquire enough data to apply for a big grant in 2018. All in all, things are settling in here, and I feel the work suits my personality well (one would hope so after all the years I've spent pursuing it).
We're really looking forward to summer here. It is already light enough to shoot ducks from 5:15 AM to 8 PM. I can only imagine what it will be like when we hit the solstice in a couple of months. We will be going to Quebec City in a couple of weeks and we may make a day trip to the tulip festival in Ottawa. I will also be going to Toronto at the end of the month for a conference. We'll be sure to post pictures when we have them.
In the mean time, here are a few photos of the girls that I thought you'd all like.
Here's several pictures of Bea acting like a baby. She even makes me change her clothes on Lucy's changing table.
