Super fast!

Again, so much has happened, but I am forced to stick to major things.

For ease of understanding, I'm going to change names a bit.

First, we had a very healthy baby daughter in August.  She's a very happy baby, and she is taking after me and is working on pulling herself up in furniture already!  She babbles a lot and recently had a giggle session with her older brother.

Our son sings all the time, just like his mother did at his age.  He sings Christmas carols constantly.  At terrible twos, he doesn't disappoint but he also loves helping with everything and is considered an exceptional communicator both at daycare and at the doctor's office. He recently got tubes in his ears after multiple ear infections in a row and has recovered spectacularly from that.

Work has been well for me and I have been slowly gaining responsibilities. I recently did my first work related travel and training.  It made me feel much more professional than ever.  It has also clarified what skill sets make me stand out amongst my co-workers.

My wife has been doing well at work.  Her peers and support staff have all worked well and she continues to enjoy the type of work she does.

Oh, last but not least, we traded one of our cars for a Mazda CX-7. So far, it's a near perfect car between my commute to work and taking the kids to daycare.

Woah! Has it been almost a year already?

Hey Everyone!

I'm sorry I have been so delinquent in my posts.  Much has happened since I last posted.

First, the big stuff.

My lovely bride has completed her four years in the military and is now officially out...but still needs to check in occasionally for the next several years in case the world explodes.  She got a job in Kansas City, Missouri, so naturally we moved there.  She is also expecting our second child, a baby girl, who is due at the end of this month!  She has the luxury of telecommuting for these final weeks, so that has gone a long way in terms of comfort for her.

Our little dude has turned into a very curious, sweet, and full of song toddler.  We have him in a local Catholic daycare which has worked out well for him.  He has several best friends there, but he never seems to forget his cousins although the nearest ones are hundreds of miles away.  We are fortunate to have a pool where we rent.  While he doesn't swim, he does enjoy playing in the water...especially at the beach.

I finished my second bachelor's in Chemistry at Missouri S&T Summa Cum Laude with a handful of other classmates.  It was a short stint at that University, but all very impressionable students.  I absolutely love the staff in the Chemistry department and how the University primes their students for employment after college.  I highly recommend S&T to anyone who is in engineering or science.  I would say STEM, but I honestly can't speak for the mathematics students :)

I followed the fam to Kansas City still looking for work.  It was good for the transition with the little one.  About 4 months after graduation, interviews started really picking up.  It's still not clear to me if that is because the bulk of college graduations occur at that time or I started advertising myself better.  In May, I was fortunate to get hired on a temp-to-hire status at DeLaval in Kansas City.  I got hired as a permanent employee the last week of July, just last week!

I enjoy my new job thus far.  It's an unusual group of people in that it's almost 80% women.  Almost 80% of the employees are married with children, half of whom have children under 3.  It's a laid back atmosphere, in contrast to other labs I've work with, and is a highly varied workload.  I like the management and leadership and the midwest blurred with central states work ethic.  This all makes for a very collaborative, inclusive, easygoing, friendly, encouraging, positive, and learning environment. Everyone is very understanding of incorporating family with work and that goes a long way.  I truly couldn't ask for a better place to work.

In other news, I've tried experimenting with two tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets and have had mixed results.  I used more expensive potting mix given the restricted volume I had to work with.  It paid off up until now.  The cherry tomatoes have yielded very consistently and have been great for the little boy to learn that some food can be picked and eaten right off of plants.  The larger tomatoes were slow to bear, roughly a third rotted on the vine, but we did get about 9 or so very sizeable and tasty ones.  We have another wave of large tomatoes growing, but something happened last week and both plants have started yellowing.  They were not overwatered, so I've tried adding extra tomato-specific fertilizer.  The cherry tomatoes seem to be hanging on, but I don't know if the large tomatoes can turn the tide.  The only conclusion I can come up with is that the roots ran out of space and nutrients.  I initially scoffed at the idea of tea composting, but I think it might be worth a try if I'm forced to grow in a restricted pot size again.  They just grew so HUGE so fast...4 feet in 3 months!

After nearly a year, I've finally started running again.  The humidity in Kansas City is punishing compared to Minnesota, Germany, and even nearby Rolla.  I heard on the radio that the current theory is that the humidity in Kansas City is beyond places like Miami, Florida and most other places in the entire United States because of the high amount of corn fields.  Corn supposedly releases more soil moisture into the air, creating unusually high amounts of humidity.  Whatever the cause, going from 8 miles at a 7.5min/mi pace comfortably to 4 miles at a 8.5min/mi pace and covered in sweat and feeling exhausted every time will take some getting used to.  Maybe this is why the Kansas City soccer team is one of the best in the country.

Last side note, I'm back on the hunt for my Scottish ancestors.  I recently caught a break in finding another family tree who was researching the same people.  They claimed information that I still can't seem to verify using their own references.  I'll have to contact them again, but this could be the smoking gun I've been seeking for almost 10 years now.  God bless the internet, or at least some of it.

Below are some pictures of some of our adventures in Kansas City so far...

Here is the little guy exploring the Kansas City fountains at The Plaza in the rain.  He likes playing in the rain and the water.  Looks like we have a water baby on our hands.

Here, the concept of the kite was exciting, but he staunchly believes that you fly a kite with its tail, not the string.  This led to interesting results.

This was from earlier today.  The big kid in the yellow mask is our boy.  He's actually one of the younger kids!

This was at our outing at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant.  You order your meal by phone in your booth, and everyone's meals are brought by model trains along the ceiling.  He almost didn't eat at all, he was so excited to see the trains and hear the little "toot-toot" preluding each train's arrival. 

Here are ultrasound images of our up-and-coming baby.  They tell us it's a girl.  We certainly hope so at this point, considering we now have a lot of baby girl things and we also have a name picked out.

He loves being outside.  This particular day, a lot of small flowers were blooming throughout the common yard area.  He tried to pick as many as he could.

This particular day, he was feeling very stylish.

My bride and I like this picture a lot.  He's recently taken to wearing a backpack most places he goes.  This day, he looked like a true school student.  Funny how he still has years to go before he actually will be going to school.

You'll never guess what I saw on the road the other day...

I hope the resolution is ok.  Please let me know if it isn't.  I can try a higher resolution if need be.

Been a while...

Hello All!  It's been a super long time.  I have much to tell, but I'll settle for the immediate moment.

I had two exams today and, despite my crazy amounts of studying for the past two weeks, they really were not that bad.  In Biochemistry, I'm learning about DNA sequencing and PCR.  In Kinetics, I'm learning about the statistical side of reaction rates.  In Quantitative Instrumentation, I'm learning (yet again) about HPLC.  In Intermediate Organic Chemistry, I'm about to learn how to predict NMR spectra.  Finally, in my Undergraduate Research I'm learning how to get LabView, MathLab, and Tektronix software all to talk to each other in an attempt to fully automate microwave spectroscopy instrumentation.  It's definitely keeping me busy.

I was contacted by Cargill for a second-round interview yesterday.  They wanted me to reschedule a test, schedule two flights the night before my two exams, and respond to their offer in less than 24 hours with my response.  I felt it was a little too much to ask in such short notice and told them as much.  Surprisingly, they are claiming to contact me when another position more fitting to my resume arises.  I'm taking as it is, but I was rather flattered they chose not to simply pass me up.

J has filed her paperwork for ending her term with the Army, so she is now looking for work with the hope of finding something before she is completely done in June.  She found something interesting in Kansas City, but feels in limbo about it after a recent followup.  We are both relieved that she is at least finally authorized to send out her resume to places now.

The little man took his first four steps earlier this week, and took three more today!  We're expecting in a few weeks that he'll be both walking and running.  After several weeks of not feeling well, he has now had two weeks of good spirits and health.  He actually fell asleep tonight on his own without any coaxing on our part.

Apparently Jupiter and Mars are going to be very close together around 5am this Sunday.  I might get to Missouri S&T campus at the recently repaired astronomy telescope to see them, but that might be a bit early for me on a Sunday :)  Perhaps Monday and Tuesday, they will still be quite close for a special look.

These past several weeks have been insect mania here.  Walking sticks, huge spiders, and this past Wednesday a swarm of lacewings.  It must be the last hurrah before winter.  The trees are starting to change color here, and it is a reminder of how fast my last semester will come to a close and the next stage of our lives begins.


I sadly have no theme for this post, but I'll give you a few of pictures I took this past summer in St. Louis.  I'll hopefully post again before the end of the semester.

Saturn

Hi everyone! Somewhat random post today, and again sadly no pictures, but did any of you get to see Saturn in the sky last night? My first time ever seeing it in a telescope, and I was even able to see to rings! Way cool.

Stuff just got real...

Hey loyal blog readers!  I have been hideously behind on blog posts.  I managed to get a handful of minutes today so I can at least let you know that I'm alive.

I TON has been happening these past few weeks.  I will try to be brief, as I need to be :)

First, I got accepted at Missouri University of Science and Technology to complete my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.  I'm a special case there as I am a transfer student, already have a degree, and nearly have all the required coursework and also have in-field experience.  Long story short, they setup a program for me to get my degree in only two semesters.  This is good in that it will work relatively well with J's work schedule.

This is bad in that my schedule is now insanely busy.  My first semester, this semester, is very lab-heavy with four labs, two of them time-intensive.  It's one hour driving one way to get to campus each day.  I have to drop the little guy off at day care, and then pick him up at the end of each day.  I have 8am class five days a week.  I also average about 4 hours of sleep a day now.  My spare time is almost completely dedicated to travel, homework, and child care.  Depending on the day, J and I may only see each other for one or two hours. Walking the dog has even taken a hit, as I just don't have the time walk her twice a day as I ritualistically do.

As bad as it sounds, I do like the environment.  S&T is very experiential heavy, the students are very welcoming and collegial in their work ethic, and it feels more at home because everyone is a science geek.  This actually makes me a more valuable student because of the very diverse background and experiences I have.  I'm constantly learning all the time and having little difficulty connecting both equally to students and staff.  I truly look forward to next semester, which is not supposed to be as difficult as this semester.

The current game plan is to find an internship over the summer and full time employment in January.  Time will tell if this works out.

J's schedule has also ramped up a LOT.  She's currently doing required training and conferences that require travel.  She has the largest number of soldiers of all TC's (trial counsels) and is going to be picking up even more soldiers because of recent personnel change ups.  This also translates to less time at home.

The stress of not having spare time at home to dedicate to regular maintenance of items like groceries and home maintenance can be daunting at times, but we make it work.  I keep reminding myself that this is only for one and a half more semesters.  I can't believe that it's almost halfway through the first semester already.  I feel like I actually haven't produced that much in relation to how much I've learned.

The little man has really increased in his alertness and interactivity the past several weeks.  He's starting to reach for things, he babbles a lot, he's acquired an eagle screech and a weight-lifter's groan, and he loves to jump in his bouncy chair.  The poor guy got a virus-caused runny nose two weekends ago, and he's only just now recovered from it.  He didn't like it, but we did learn how to treat it should it happen again.

In other news, J's dad R built and installed a very nice coat rack and cat box/bench for us here.  I'll post a picture so that you can see for yourselves, but it looks really cool and is very nice for what we need.

Sorry.  No pictures today.  I gotta hit the hay.  I haven't forgotten to make posts.  I actually have dictations on my phone for posts I meant to make but was on foot at the time.  Hopefully, in a week or so when I have spring break, I can get you all up to better speed.  Thanks again for the patience.  I know I've been pushing the limits lately.  Love you all!  I'll post again before the end of the month.

Little man and a Loom

So, things have been moving along.  The little man is beginning to raise his head a little more each time during "tummy time."  He's still easy to please and only really gets cranky between 5pm and 8pm...not surprisingly, this is bed time for him.

So I got admitted to Missouri University of Science and Technology last week.  This is my backup plan to med school, assuming I don't get an acceptance.  The backup plan is to finish my Chemistry degree within a year and start looking for a related job during that last semester before graduation.  There are still a lot of details to iron out, but the search for scholarships has already begun.  Oy!

In other news, I now jog once a week.  It's spaced that far apart because of how my schedule works out with the little guy.  I'm in not as great a shape as I would prefer, but considering how little exercise I've gotten the past half year, I'm not complaining about my baseline.  Once the babe gets a little older, I'll start jogging with him in the stroller.  I have the option of doing this indoors already, but I'm a little timid about it.

With Christmas around the corner, I was able to finish J's present.  It's a loom she saw on Pinterest.  I was able to get half of the lumber for free.  The other half with the hardware cost me just under $20.  That also includes hardware for another project that got tabled for later.  It's my first loom, but I was able to work on it during the little guy's naps.  Honestly, it was nice to work on it consistently for several days, only an hour or so each day.  I got to see it get slowly put together, and there's just something about seeing a physical project materialize from your own two hands.  Next time, I'll take pictures and put together a little DIY instruction...should I have the time and the motivation.  Boy, a drill press would have been nice for this, but I won't even think of getting one until I do another project like this.

This is likely my last post of the year.  I hope all of you have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!