Sunny days

In contrast to Cuba last week, Montreal has been nothing but sunny all this week. It's managed to give the city a very spring like feeling, although it's still below zero and snow patches remain throughout the city. They're melting fast however, to the point where grass is peaking out in our local little park - and by and large it's still somewhat green!


The sun is fantastic and a friend assures me that winters in Montreal are usually as sunny. Since my office faces the southern side of Montreal, I get to experience the pleasure of sun all day long. It's really great since sunshine make me feel really happy. No fears of S.A.D. in this town during the winter!


All that positivity translated into a good work week. I have been writing non-stop, on a paper that has proven to be pretty problematic in the past and carried a lot of negative baggage. It's the paper I presented during my job-talks about a year ago and faced quite a bit of critique. I haven't had the stomach to deal with it since then. But luckily my co-author and I agreed to submit the previous version to a prestigious conference. It got in and so the pressure's on now to "fix" it before May when I will need to present it again -- :S .


The fixing required me to read a lot of new literature on sense-making which has been really interesting. More and more I'm moving into that elusive space between strategy and organizational behavior. Maybe I've been inspired by several key people at Michigan that did the same, especially my mentor. Strategic issues are so much more interesting when you put them into psychological and sociological contexts. No doubt, my years as a post-doc there will have a lasting influence on my academic life.


Can't wait to keep writing next week. Once I'm in the flow, I find I really enjoy it. Although sometimes it can take me a little while to get started. A lot of other work is piling up while I do this, but it will just have to wait a little longer. When the writing and theorizing is over, I'm going to need to crank my data and there's a lot to do!


I'm trying to make the best of the weekends. Hubby is home from NYC and the weather is awesome. We took the dog up the mountain for a walk, and then I went spring skiing with a friend. Awesome day. The snow is "heavy", so my thighs were aching more than usual. But I've never been afraid of a good work out :).


Thinking about booking some trips over the next few months, especially during the summer when things "die down" at the university. Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed that all will work out.