Bad blogger

Bad, bad, bad, bad blogger.

I have been MIA and I am so sorry. I wont test your patience with posting about what I have been doing. I will simply summarize that things have been very good. Life has been fun, even wedding planning has been really fun! I know there will be plenty of stress still to come, but I am feeling great right now. I am just so excited to be marrying Anders. We literally look at each other everyday (generally multiple times a day) and talk about how happy/lucky/thankful/in love we are. There is really nothing better then that.

On top of it all - spring is finally here. I bought a pot of daffodils at Trader Joe's yesterday. I picked my pot specifically because all of the flowers were still tight little buds. I was confident that it would just keep growing this weekend and maybe I would see blooms at the beginning of next week. This morning my jaw dropped. One bloom was cracked half open when I came into my office. Its all the way open now and two of the others are getting close to being open too. I really think the plant has grown 2 inches since last night and another inch this morning. How amazing is that? Just thinking about all of that growth and new life brings a huge smile to my face. I simply adore the spring.

Daffodils always remind me of my family - particularly my mother. For years of my childhood she recruited us to plant what felt like hundreds of daffodil buds in our propriety. It was always sort of torturous as a teenager. However the spring was always filled with all of those hundreds of daffodils blooming up the driveway or in vases around the house. Daffodils are now my favorite sign of spring and always reminds me of home. I had intended to plant bulbs first thing when we moved into the new house. However things got very busy and I never had the chance. Though lucky for me - someone else did! There are shoots springing up all over our backyard. I am so excited to see what blooms. I'm sure there are daffodils in the mix, but also something much shorter. Perhaps a crocus? We will see! It has certainly been fun to see the seasons change during our first year together in the new house. The winter was intense and the spring is shaping up beautifully!

Tonight we are having a handful of close friends over for the first cookout of the season. I haven't been able to focus all day just thinking about grilling out and lighting the fire pit tonight! Sitting around a fire with a cool drink and good friends seems like a perfect start to the weekend.

I will leave you with a quick picture of me, Huxley and our house in the winter. I believe this was early into blizzard #1 in DC. I can tell because the snow isn't up to our waist already! Lucky for me the temperature outside right now is a beautiful 72 degrees!

Next Years PostDoc

This is from the email I sent to my coworkers from Uniform Notification Day:

"So, my morning took some expected turns. Last night, I decided that I would only want to accept at Stanford or USF, and that if Kaiser or SJS offered me a position that I would turn them down and keep waiting for the other places I have applied. This was a very difficult decision for me, because I truly value being settled and secure, but I didn't want to regret taking the only offer I received, especially if a better fit came along. I also didn't want to be the only intern without any news to share when we get back to the office.

This morning 9am came and went and I didn't get a call. By about 9:05 I realized this probably meant I was not any of my sites first pick, which was a bit of a blow to the ego, but I think our conversations from before helped me recognized what close ties first through fifth might be. Around 9:10am Nancy Glenn from USF called to see if I had accepted a position and to let me know that I was their first alternate and that they were currently on hold. That was reassuring, but it's strange hoping that someone will turn down a position so you can get it.

I decided to text Mary to verify that the teaching track had been filled, that way if USF called me back, I could accept without hesitation. Mary called back and told me that the position had been filled and we chatted briefly, but I was becoming more and more accepting of the idea that I would not have a position by the end of the day. Which felt okay to me, but certainly disappointing. Around 9:35 Nancy called me back and told me that the position had been filled. She sounded genuinely apologetic and regretful, so that made me feel better. I called my parents and some friends to give them the update. I decided to go out on a run to clear my head before I came into the office.

And then, I got a call from a 650 number and I assumed it was Kaiser, so I prepared myself to turn them down, but in fact, it was Mary, calling to tell me that even though the teaching track had been filled, that they LGBT track was still open and they were far enough down on the list that she didn't feel like the remaining candidates were good fits for CAPS. So, she offered me the LGBT track. To make this email wrap up, I accepted. I am thrilled with the opportunity, a little taken aback, but really happy about how things worked out. I guess that quote from my email is true after all.

Again, I'm so proud of all of us,

Drew"

Woo hoo!