How did you end up in Muskegon, Michigan?

I grew up (mostly) in Fairfax, VA (right outside Washington DC).  After high school I moved to Missoula, Montana to go to undergrad at University of Montana (Math, Chemistry, and Biology).  That’s where I met my husband Joel and we got married before picking up and leaving for Laramie, Wyoming.  In Laramie, we both finished graduate degrees (MBA and Math for me, Finance for Joel).  Then we uprooted again and moved to Muskegon, Michigan.

Do you sleep?

Yes.  Do you?  Seriously, I probably average 6-8 hours of sleep a night (I am a light sleeper and suffer from horrible insomnia when I am working on something interesting).

What do you do in your spare time (do you have any)?

I read voraciously. Sometimes I play the viola (when I have time). I am always trying to “get back in shape” although I am starting to wonder if I was ever in shape. I love to travel, and lately this means about ten trips out of state each year.  My husband and I are the personal slaves of one dog and two cats.  I keep a personal blog called Busynessgirl.

What kind of job will you look for now that you’ve finished your PhD?

No idea.  If you have an idea, please let me know! Seriously though, I think I would like to look for a position as the president of a small(ish) Community College in the Western United States (preferably Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, or Colorado).

Where can I see pictures from your world travels?

Here are the pictures from my month in India and the pictures from my month in Eastern Europe.

Is it true that you don’t have broadband Internet?

Yes and no.  I used to have satellite Internet from WildBlue.  On good days it runs near 0.75 Mbps download and 100Kbps upload.  I live in the woods and cannot get cable or DSL.  Every time I get an ad advertising a “great package with high-speed Internet access” I have to seriously repress the urge to write an angry response asking why they send me tantalizing advertisements when they won’t bring me service (actually, I may have done that once or twice).  There is a fiberoptic cable that runs down my street but we aren’t allowed to tap into it.  Currently I’m using the mobile hotspot from my HTC Evo as my household Internet.  It’s pretty fast (compared to satellite) and it has unlimited data … woo hoo!  On the day we get real Internet for rural areas, I will throw a big party.

Do you have any children?

No, unless you count my husband.  Seriously? I have two dogs, two cats, and live with my husband and a friend. Isn’t that enough to manage?

Where did busynessgirl come from?

In the year 2000  I was working on my MBA and my husband got me a birthday cake that said “Happy Birthday Busyness Girl” as a joke (because I’ve always been this busy). I guess it stuck.

How long did it take you to learn about all this technology?

I began a serious effort to learn how to teach math online in January 2007.  I started blogging about it in August 2007.  Although I’ve always been technologically inclined, I was not obsessed until then.