Back to Blogging!

We've had a bit of a hiatus from blogging for the past several months.  Its been a pretty crazy year.  Heather passed her RD exam, got a job, left it, and got a much better job.  I studied my butt off and passed my Ph.D. qualifying exam and got into the lab I wanted to work in.  So here is a brief update on us.

Heather is working at Springmoor Lifecare Retirement Community three days a week.  She works with the diets of patients who are there for full-time care and does occasional activities about food and eating with the other residents. She likes it pretty well despite the commute.  Lately she has been trying to get back into exercising.  So far she is doing pretty well even on the days she works.  She also put together a small garden on our back patio (peppers, tomatoes, squash, blueberries, and raspberries) and spearheaded getting our 72-hour kits together.  Yeah, she's pretty awesome.

Heather after a run with her beloved plants in the background.

After six years of studying Physics and two degrees in it I am learning Chemistry.  No joke.  We want to do a few chemical measurements on some materials for solar devices and rather than be dependent on the Chemistry department for them my professor has asked me to set them all up in our lab.  This of course means learning about the experiments, buying the equipment, and learning how to mix the chemicals we need.  Its pretty exciting since I haven't had a Chemistry class since high school but it has been a fun learning experience.

In other news it has been raining a ton here and there was some flooding in Chapel Hill but we are quite dry in our house so no worries.

Well, things have been interesting since the last post.  We have moved again.  This time, no roaches, no bed bugs, no cigarette smoke from neighbors, no music vibrating our floors.  :)  Happy days at home.

I got a job.  Though it is a full-time job and has helped us pay the bills, its charm has worn off and I just don't feel like I'm a good fit.  We'll see what happens. It has definitely been a learning experience.  I now know a whole lot more about what happens when people are discharged home on tube feeds.  It's been busy working a ton. On my fourth day working one of the other RDs got fired.  Craziness ensued trying to learn and figure things out with the help of the sales RD.  The two of us trying to do three peoples jobs. I did have a week of training in Tampa, FL, but that didn't help as much as I think it should have at times and at others I am glad I had it. We eventually got another RD, but it's just not what I thought it would be.  At least the constant working of 50 hrs a week is over.

Robert is still doing school after successfully completing his first semester at UNC.  Hooray!  Robert even has a professor okaying Robert to work with him on projects in areas that interest Robert more.  He has been working hard.  And to make things more difficult for him the last week and a half I've been sick.  I got the flu and my tonsils have some sort of infection that is not quite going away.  He's been cooking and helping me when he can, which he has done a lot.

Today I am grateful for the blessings of good doctors/nurse practitioners, time at home, nice people at the pharmacy who gave us a discount on my antibiotics when I forgot my prescription card, warm food, and the fact that our flat tire last weekend got us new tires before the sleet and ice hit.  I'll let Robert add his own to this as he feels a need to correct any of my statements. :)