The woman has been working herself to a nubbins, is adored by her students and her colleagues, and just loves what she does. Oh, yeah — she’s also brilliant. As a result, my sister not only got tenure, she got got early tenure. Which, from what I understand, is fairly unheard of.

So when I got the Evite for her tenure celebration party, I knew I couldn’t miss it. (Megabus, baby!)

Fantastic party. Her husband, Brad, did a great job organizing, decorating, etc.

Normally, I would airbrush my shiny forehead away, but I decided against that this time. I wanted to keep the memories authentic. (Also, my Photoshop is malfunctioning.)

Heather also knows some fancy people. The girl next to me, Hazel, is in IMAX movies about cave exploration.

I talked with the Chair of the NKU Chemistry department (Heather’s boss), who told me that my sister was “a gift.” It should be noted that I didn’t know she was the chair when I was talking to her – she simply introduced herself as someone who “works with Heather.”

It was cool to spend an evening with a bunch of people who respect my sister so much. Way to go Heather!

The next day we went rock climbing. Maybe hungover.

I was told I was pretty good for a first-timer — even though I fell many times! (That blur would be me.)

Finally, I might have read “Confessions of a Shopaholic” on my trip down and back. And I might have enjoyed it a bit too much. Mainly for the cheeky, modern British voice Sophie Kinsella uses. The Hollywood-ized movie version looks like a steaming pile, however.