Updates!

Here's the scoop:

1. I really want to blog about the trip, all our adventures here and there, and such. But I feel like they would be such stronger blog posts with pictures to go along. And I left my camera connecting cable in Chapel Hill. So.. soon! There will be awesome pictures! Promise.

2. But things are great. I really like the lab I am working at now. They cater to my random OCD tendencies that I get when I am in scientist mode. New everything, everyone rocks the lab coat, spotless benches, pre-made solutions.. I am going to get spoiled here. Even the amoebas are tidy. I love it!! It might help that they have more funding for science than... pretty much anyone.

3. Still, I think I need to go back to Chapel Hill. I am still a student of science. I need to take more classes, teach more undergrads, and get true grad student experience. Plus.. man, I love UNC. And all my awesome science homies.

4. But the NIH for a post doc?? Sign me up!

5. Except, wow... does it get hot here. My walk to work is like a 15 minute sauna experience. And they love their air conditioning inside. A bit rough on me.

6. I am such an obligate snuggler. I wonder if I will get a good night's sleep anytime soon..

7. I have a great roomie from the University of Florida vet school. She is quite the chatty one though. And she is 21.. which makes me feel like an old fogey.

8. But she can't shake it like I can on the dance floor, as was proved last Friday night. Thank goodness for my Mexican upbringing :)

9. #5 + #6 + #8 (and several other late nights) = Jean has a cold. Lame. What is with my shoddy immune system recently?

10. I love "To Do" lists, all the great food at Trader Joe's, making new friends, keeping in touch with old friends, practicing my "Sisters" routine for the upcoming wedding event (it is definitely not just a wedding, but a wedding event), all the free Smithsonian museums and zoos, being darn good at science and getting noticed for it, and learning new things.

11. I have been listening to a lot of Paul Simon, the awesome new Scissors for Lefty album, and old Ben Harper songs when I miss the Bubs.

12. The Simons (Cape Cod friends) gave us Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder. Everyone should read this. Although it makes you want to quit your day job and start curing TB. Also awesome, and from the Simons, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. So adorable!

That's about it. Just wanted to keep you all posted on my daily happenings. I can't wait to blog about our trip (with pictures!), it was fantastic.

Happy Fathers's Day!

I have been struggling to summarize the enormous role my dad has played in my life into a few sentences. And then tonight.. I thought of it. His most important lesson to me has been to have your passions define your life, instead of your life defining your passions. Let me explain.

He loves sailing. But growing up in Chicago after the Depression isn't exactly yachting season. So, he built one out of orange crates and had a great time sailing around the great lakes. Years later, he would be sailing up and down the coast of California in a West Sail. His passion for sailing defined that he would always have a sailboat, and share his enthusiasm with family and friends, thus making it a part of his life.

Another example. He always was interested in medicine, but took the opportunities that came to him and had a very successful career in the film and TV industry. But he never lost his passion for medicine. So when an opportunity arose to leave everything behind at the peak of his career for a chance to go to medical school in Tiajuana, he took it. His passion took his, and his very understanding wife's, life in a totally new direction, but one that lead to wonderful adventures.

So I want to take the opportunity to thank him for imparting this wisdom on me. He has always nurtured my passions, giving me a microscope and slides of sheep intestine when I was a kid, buying me the horse who he knew was my sailboat, even encouraging me to give a ten minute talk on quantum mechanics to my seventh grade English class (though that was a fiasco, it is one of my favorite memories). He taught me to exploit my circumstances, take every opportunity at full value, and always keep an eye out for the next open door. Thank you so much Dad.

Trip Update!

Just wanted to get in a quick update, as the last post is not so cheerful. We are having a great trip, it has been an adventure of up's and down's, but mostly up's including a most lovely weekend spent with two of the most dear people you could imagine. It was just wonderful to see them and have them meet Trent. I have to thank my parents for providing such amazing people in our lives... I am so lucky to know their friends.

The down's? The usual. As people who travel with me know.. I tend to get to know the local infrastructure pretty well. Maybe I think it is more realistic. We know the Cape like the back of our hand now, but everyone/thing is doing great now and we had a wonderful lobster dinner last night thanks to Trent's parents. I have lots of pictures to post, but we are getting an early start to go have breakfast in Providence, Rhode Island (checking out Brown University) before meeting up with Trent's highschool friend who is at graduate school in New Haven, Connecticut (Yale) for the day. After that... we'll see!! We drove straight through New Jersey, Delaware, New York (a memorable gas station trip in the Bronx at 4am) so there is lots to see before moving me into the dorms in Bethesda. Off we go!

Grumpy

In the past few weeks I have had swimmer's ear, prickly heat rash, and a stomach ache that left me curled up in a little ball, which as you know, is commonly called colic. So in the past couple weeks.. I have turned into an infant, according to the "When your baby has an earache/heatrash/colic..." on WebMD.com

Awesome. Because I am moving to DC for the summer, which is crazy adult. I just want my mommy.

Just in Time!!

I was pleasantly surprised by these two gorgeous gardenias that bloomed last night. I have had gardenia plants for years and these are my first flowers (sad, but I think they prefer the balmy South to a window in a San Francisco apartment, so I don't take it too personally). I am thrilled they arrived before we leave today!

I just bit into a ripe peach and juices went flying everywhere. So delicious. And last night I ate half a watermelon for dinner. I just wish I could take pictures of these awesome lightning bugs! It is official.. summer has arrived!