Reasons for Silence

The dead silence from Arizona is not because we are stupefied by the heat. No, we have been reveling in the glorious cool mornings and warm days. No it is not even "cold" here. It is still a high of 80s during the days. I think I'll take that. I've heard the lows in Maryland are in the 20s. Already. Fun....

The real reason for a non-existent blog is because I have been putting in really long weeks at work. Several six days stretches to have a day off, then returning to the hospital for another five. My friends have started to complain. "Where have you been?" "I never see you anymore!" "Are you working again?" I even had a nurse on the floor, Brian, ask me "How much do you work?!?" the other day, so I know it isn't just my friends that think that. YES. I have been working. I am still working part-time clinical dietetics at the hospital. On top of that we have been doing some community education in the schools, as well as ramping up our partnership with a pilot program for Headstart in our area to combat childhood obesity. I have also been developing my private practice with the two cardiologists that pursued me for their practice. One of them is doing some very interesting stem cell research techniques using the patient's own leg muscle tissue and cultivating it to help regrow necrotized (dead) heart tissue after heart attacks. I have been seeing patients there one day a week. There went my day off.

But the end is in sight.

Travis received a great job offer from Sunrise Assisted Living, the company that my dad works for, which is looking favorable. Even though the offer is less than other jobs, the opportunity is greater. They are offering 100% tuition reimbursement. The commute is 25 minutes instead of a hour and a half each way. Travis is still in grad school two nights a week and, with a full-time job, we both feel the quality of life issue is much more important. My job plus my private practice will offer enough supplemental income.

The other update is that we are moving. Again.
This time, our kind family is letting us live with them for six months.

We want a house. This way, with both incomes we can save enough to buy a house. For real this time. The third time has to be a charm :) So for a while, we will be at home in a home. In the basement of the Shanks. From a house, to an apartment, to a room. My packing skills are reaching expert level. That is my extracurricular activity right now.

My other extracurricular activity is shopping at JCrew. Travis' in-between job is fun for both of us. On Sunday we finished 97% of our Christmas shopping. Yahoo!