Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Oestara (Spring Equinox)! From here the daylight time gets longer and the weather warmer (at least in theory). We had a busy weekend. We had a house blessing for a friend on Sat. Had a morning celebration of Oestara at a local park on Sunday, followed by an egg hunt and brunch at a friend's farm. It was a sunny day with only a little chill to it. Then we celebrated full moon last night. A lot for one weekend.

Today the sun decided to take a break, leaving the day, cold, windy and rainy. Luckily, I have been able to spend it inside. Unluckily, I have tons of work to do. This is supposedly spring break, but for me it is a time to try and catch up on work. I have a pile of deadlines to meet by April 1. I have another summer research grant deadline, I am sending in a paper proposal to the American Anthropology Assoc. conference, another to the Lavender Languages conference and I am organizing a panel at it, I have a scholarship essay (and letter of recommendation to collect), a writing deadline for an article I am writing and homework to do. I also scheduled quite a bit of time in the editing room at Public Access TV to finish the video series I have been working on.

Let's see, the bad news this week is that I did not get accepted for the teaching position in Women's Studies. Hopefully, I will get on in Anthropology for next year. If I don't, I have no idea where I will get the money for tuition, let alone living expenses. On the good side, I was asked to write an article on gay men and body image for the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. I am currently finishing up one on lesbians for the Encyclopedia of Lesbianism. That means my Masters research is paying off and people are noticing my work. The more I publish now, the better chances I have of getting a job when I graduate.

Rowan is doing extremely well. He is "cruising" everywhere. He can walk holding on to things and can stand on his own briefly. He is trying really hard to walk without holding on to things. His crawling has become very fast, though he still crawls on his belly. He can also pull himself up and is beginning to climb (Goddess help us!). We think he has his first word -- "kitty-kat" -- only with him it sounds like "kikiki!" This is sputtered as he reaches and sometimes dives after one of the cats. He is healthy, but teething and still happy most of the time. For those who are gluttons for more, we have hours and hours of video tape of him dating back to Sept. His first birthday is around the corner (May 20) and we are planning a party for him on May 18.

Troy and I both are trying to come up with funding for summer programs. He has a geology field methods field trip which is required and will cost around $500. I have both summer research and a summer institute I would like to go to. The tuition on the institute is $3000. I don't know where I could come up with the money, but it would help my career a lot. I would be studying in Amsterdam with six of the top anthropologists in my field. My department might be able to fund my plane ticket but not the tuition. Sigh. It is so frustrating to have money be the major stumbling blocks in my education.

Tina is studying for the Graduate Record Exam which she will take this month. She also wants to take a couple correspondence courses in anthropology / archeology to prepare for graduate school. The problem, again, money. She is not eligible for financial aid because she already has a BA and has not yet been accepted to a graduate program. Of course, to be accepted, she will probably need these courses since her BA was in English.

Lon is doing very well. This semester should result in a higher grade point average and his BA in Psychology. He is scheduled to graduate on May 17. He will soon need to look for a job. Meanwhile, he finished training with Crisis Support and is now a regular volunteer. He enjoys the work and it will help him get into graduate school. He and Troy will have to take the GRE in the fall if they are to apply to Masters programs.

Well, that's it for this week. We are very broke and worried about money, but very happy otherwise. We love you.

Dawn (& family)