So Much to Tell!

So, as is usual, it has been a while since I have updated. Well, there's lots to tell, so I'll get started!

1- My last week of work was pretty anticlimactic. I just packed up my 8 years worth of stuff and that was about it. Nichole organized a nice Genomics farewell party for me with cake and ice cream, so that was a nice way to say goodbye to everyone at once. On my last day there, I thought I might feel sad, but I didn't at all. So that was a good affirmation for me that I had made the right decision by choosing to leave Wake Forest for a new beginning. I will certainly miss some of the Wake Forest people, but those are the people I will remain in contact with despite distance.

This same week, Duane had a series of interview at 2 biotech companies in the Research Triangle area, so that was encouraging. He really liked both companies and felt he would be happy at either, so we were hopeful that he would get a job offer from at least one of the companies.

2- The following week we headed down to the beach for a nice family vacation before I started the new job. We went to Kiawah Island, SC, again, so I guess you could say this has become our preferred vacation spot. We hit the beach every day and took Sarah into Charleston to the SC Aquarium one morning. We had perfect weather the entire week, so that was fantastic. Sarah absolutely LOVED the beach. She played in the sand a lot and was completely fearless when it came to the ocean. She would run straight out into the ocean and would not stop until someone caught up with her and basically rescued her from drowning! She got knocked down a lot by waves, but that didn't seem to bother her. I think we have a water baby on our hands!

Our arrival home from vacation was not so pleasant. We came home late Saturday evening to a broken A/C and a broken deep freezer. Long story short, we had to endure the intense heat Saturday night, all day Sunday, and Sunday night. The repairman managed to work us in first thing Monday morning, so we had A/C by the time we all got home Monday evening. The freezer is another story. We lost a LOT of food, and the repairman will not be coming until NEXT Thursday. Our entire garage and house has smelled like rotten meat almost all week, and no matter how much we clean and disinfect the freezer, the smell comes back!!! So we have had a lot to deal with this week!

3- Immediately before we left for vacation, Duane got a job offer at one of the biotech companies in RTP. Then, while we were actually on vacation, he got an offer from the other company! Here we were just hoping for one job offer, and he ended up with two offers and a tough decision to make! After much thought, he decided to accept the job with the first company, Athenix, which is an agricultural biotech company. While he will be doing many of the same types of lab experiments he is skilled at, this will be a new experience for Duane as he has no agricultural experience. The company works on insect and pesticide resistant crops and has recently branched out into research and development of biofuels. So we are both excited about the possibilities and opportunities Duane will have with this company. He is all set to start on July 21st!

4- So all of this brings us to this week, which was my first week of work at Cato. Monday was orientation, which was just a typical day of HR stuff, benefits explanations and paperwork...BLAH! I spent the rest of the week in meetings and classes, and reading as much as I could in between. It was really neat (and enlightening) to sit in on some of the sponsor meetings and get a feel for how the whole clinical trial and FDA approval process actually works. Of course it is hard to know anything after just one week of work at a new job, but I think I am really going to enjoy working in this aspect of science.

I also got Sarah registered at a new preschool in Cary, NC. Her first day will be July 21, which is Duane's first day at his new job as well. Guess we will be doing the Lehtinen Family Commute to RTP for a while!

5- So it seems that the only thing left before things fall into place is for us to sell our house. We have 2 sets of interested buyers, so we are hopeful that we will soon get an offer from someone and will be able to relocate to the RTP area so that we are not doing the 200 mile round trip daily commute for much longer. I've only done it for one week, and I already dread it! It makes for a long day when you leave the house at 6:30 AM and don't get home until 6:30 or 7:00 that evening! I just keep reminding myself that it is temporary...the house will eventually sell!

Those are our updates in a nutshell. We have a new camera, and so we are still working on downloading our beach pictures onto the computer. Once we have that done, we'll post pictures. This weekend we are busy with regular household duties, Jacob's 2nd birthday party, and a visit from my friend Jennie! I'm just thankful to have a few days off from so much driving!

Hope you are all well! I'll try to update again soon, but can't promise anything since our lives are a bit topsy-turvy right now!