Saturday, January 29, 2011

strep throat, don't come back again

This week was so difficult with both Bryan and I having strep at the same time. Taking care of kids when both parents are sick is extremely difficult. It got so bad that on Tuesday, we both had fevers and terrible aches and soar throats and we just couldn't gather the strength or energy to take the boys to school. They stayed home which meant a little more work for us but they are surprisingly self sufficient. They pretty much got their own breakfast (with dad pouring milk) and lunch out of their lunch boxes and brought us Gatorade. We love our boys and they have been extremely helpful this week.

We are also so very appreciative of our babysitter, Tabitha. She has been amazing through all of this and has surprisingly not gotten strep. She cleaned up Clay's puke 3 weeks ago (symptom of strep) and took care of Jaden after he was no longer thought to be contagious. Little did we know that both boys had strep then. Now we are all 4 on antibiotics and Tabitha came to save the evening when she cooked our boys dinner and put them to bed when Bryan and I couldn't get out of bed.

Even as miserable as this week was, it was still not as bad as 4 1/2 years ago when Bryan and I last had strep at the same time. We had a 3 month old Clay and a 22 month old Jaden and were very poorly equipped to take care of either of them while we were sick. We had no one that was willing to come help us and we barely thought we would make it through that.

Strep as an adult is 10 times worse than as a kid. I am hoping I never get strep again but in the least, I hope that I don't get it at the same time as Bryan.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

friends that are family



We had a great time with our friends from Chicago. They came to visit their old home and friends in Minneapolis. They stayed with us for 5 nights and they couldn't have been easier guests to have with us. We love Jon and Christina and their boys, Gabe and Will. Our boys love being together as you can see in this picture. They loved having a mattress in our living room. It turned into a great play area and wrestle arena.

Christina made my birthday even more special with a yummy carrot cake and dinner at Amore Victoria. We had a great time relaxing, talking, shopping and eating together. We have gotten to see their family twice since they moved away last summer and I can't wait until our next time together.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

dueling interviews

I have two interviews lined up.

Today, on my birthday, I am interviewing at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul for a volunteer position. I am super-excited about this because of the future possibilities. There may be some space-related work for me in the summer-fall time frame. I am pretty sure I will not get turned down to volunteer because they already told me that they have a position for me. I am not sure what all they will be asking but I am treating it like a warm-up job interview.

The second interview is for a position at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Washington DC area. The phone interview is Monday, 1pm CST. I am not planning on getting the job but it is another opportunity for me to talk with people that I hope to work with someday. I was previously not chosen for this job because there were multiple PhD applicants with experience. A PhD is not required but they chose to offer the job to the 2 people with the most experience. Those two turned it down and now they are re-interviewing people. I do have some experience that relates to this position but I am assuming others with more experience will be interviewed. There are so many NASA contractors that are looking for jobs so the competition is great. I will be one of ten people interviewed so clearly there are many qualified applicants.

I will keep you updated on the job happenings. I am excited by these possibilities but still working hard to enjoy the life that I have instead of wishing and hoping and praying for a job elsewhere. It is easier to go on with life thinking I will be volunteering at the Science Museum and that I will get turned down for the Goddard position.

Today, on my birthday, I plan to take it easy as much as possible. Yesterday I finished a two week organizational project in our basement. It now is much more functional and we have a lot more open space for the boys to play. Today there will be exercise, interview preparation, lunch with a friend, interview to volunteer, maybe some time at the Science Museum, dinner with my family at the Cheesecake Factory and then relaxing with friends over a second dessert (cuz you can do that on your birthday) while they stay with us for the next 5 days.

This is a good birthday where I feel at peace with life (today) and ready to grab hold of whatever comes my way.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

resolutions

This year I have come up with a longer list than usual of New Year's Resolutions, probably because I think I have more time on my hands and I have already started implementing these.

1. Read 12 books this year.
2. Exercise 3+ times each week.
3. Lose 5 pounds over the year.
4. Read through the Old Testament of the Bible this year.

breathtaking picture

One of my favorite pictures and my new background on my computer...breathtaking.