Week 59: Separation anxiety

Fall has gotten started in a hurry out here on the edge of the prairie.  Last weekend, it was in the 70's during the day and gloriously sunny.  This past weekend was in the 30's and there was some form of vaguely solid precipitation.  I think our family officially passed some sort of test of "localness" when, on Saturday morning, we assessed the weather (aforementioned temperature and climactic conditions) and said "Hey, I bet the downtown farmer's market won't be crowded this week!"  And sure enough, we went, and it wasn't, and we got all kinds of good stuff.  Sadly there are only a few short weeks of outdoor farmer's markets left.

I also did our first round of raking, which Lemon found utterly hilarious.  I found it less hilarious since I could tell that there were still more leaves on the trees than on the ground.

We also had a wonderful, if far too short, visit with our friend Sheryl, who flew in to spend about 12 hours in Madison on her way to a meeting in Minnesota. It was so great to see her, and made me miss everyone "back home" all over again.  I've grown pretty used to living here now, but we still don't really have many friends (and certainly not any close ones).  Luckily we are going to be back east twice in the next few months so hopefully we'll get to catch up with everyone.

On Thursday, I'll be leaving Lemon for the first time and flying down to Atlanta for three days, to attend the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference.  I'm very excited to go on a trip, and to immerse myself in all the latest news and ideas about fighting this disease (supported in part by all of you who have donated to the CF Foundation!).  Even for a seasoned professional, it's a daunting amount of science--here's the abstract book:

Although I'm excited about the trip I'm nervous about being separated from Lemon, especially since of course he came down with a cough last night.  We're amping up on chest PT and hoping he can kick it (or at least not get worse) before I have to leave. I look forward to sharing everything that I learn once I get back--I may even tweet during the conference, since that seems to be the thing to do these days.  So, follow along if you're into that sort of thing!  #NACFC