The Nerve and a List

So yeah, remember how I said that we called our old doctor's office back around March 20th. They just called and left a message to see what we wanted. Can you believe that?! The nerve of them. Why did they even bother? After a few days what's the point of even returning our call. To top it all off, they were calling to see what we actually wanted since the nurse that took down the message just wrote that we called. Not that we were calling to see if they would prescribe any meds for R as they said during our appoitment, not that we were calling because she hadn't had a normal period since December, not that we were calling because AF was, at that point, 4 days late again. This is the office that took nearly two weeks to get us the results of a stat blood test. GRRRR!!!! I growl at them. I hope the staff at the new doctor's office is a bit more competent.

Here's a list (I live for lists) of the things I'm counting down:

• 47 days since AF arrived to visit R.
• 1 week and 3 days until the RE appointment.
• 25 days until my graduate school applications are due.
• 27 days until my last undergraduate class ever.
  
• 1 month and 1 week until I graduate.
• 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day until we get to go back to California.
• 3 months and 5 days until our 9 year anniversary.

Man, it's a good thing I don't have a ticker addiction or they would start to consume my blog.

Holding Pattern

In TTC world: We haven't heard from the old doctor and we don't yet have an appointment with the new doctor.
In school world: I am really too late to apply to any graduate schools for the fall semester. Most of the programs I'm interested in don't accept students for the spring semester so it looks like graduate school in Fall 2008 for me. The question now is what do I do until then? Should I get my teaching certification (1 semester of classes and 1 semester of student teaching)? I took the first semester of classes 2 years ago and stopped. The only reason I stopped is because I wanted to graduate earlier. Now that it looks like I'll have another year to wait what should I do? Where should I live? R is applying for jobs. She's looking all over. She's looking where we live now, where we used to live in the south, and in California. If she gets a job in California then we're hoping they'll help with relocation costs.
Everything feels so up in the air right now. My happy world of plans and lists isn't working. I don't like not knowing where I'll be living in a few months. This is scary. To add TTC on top of this is crazy, but I guess we're crazy. We want a baby before we are 30. We have another 18 months to make that happen.

We're back!

We had a wonderful time in California! We didn't want to come back, especially when we found out that it was going to snow today. R's dad hinted more than a few times that he'd like us to live closer. We loved the area so much that I'm going to start looking into graduate schools out there. I know it's too late to start in the fall but we'll need the extra time to save money to move anyway. That is if I even get in to any of the schools that I'm interested in. There are a lot more schools with Environmental Chemistry PhD programs on the west coast. I knew that before but thought that it was too far to move. Now that I've actually seen the area, it doesn't matter how far it is. We loved it!

More later, I have to go shovel...damn snow!

Snow Day!

I got my snow day. I have yet to get any work done. I got up this morning & checked my school's website. There was a 2 hour delay. I took a shower and started getting ready to go outside and dig the car out. R called downstairs and asked what I was doing. She said that I didn't have classes today. Apparently when I was in the shower they changed from a 2 hour delay to a snow day!
R convinced me that I wanted to go back to bed and then we made breakfast together. I took a nap and have been lazy all day. Now it's time to start my work. We've had a few scares that we might be losing power so hopefully I can get my lab reports typed up before that happens.

Crossroads

I don't know what to do with the rest of my life. I graduate in May with my BS in Chemistry. The chemistry degree sort of fell in my lap. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as an undergrad either. I was originally a math major because (don't hate me) I was really good at math. Math didn't excite me at all. I took a chemistry class because I had to take a science class with a lab and really enjoyed it so I changed my major. If I were to stick with chemistry I would eventually like to be a professor. I worry that I won't be able to find a job in my field, or that I would have to move my family around too much. According to my adviser, the job market for professors is pretty tight right not. A lot of schools are hiring adjuncts or part timers in lieu of full time tenure track positions.
I have also thought about going to medical school but wonder if I'm getting too much of a late start. Could I go to medical school and (G-d willing) have a new baby at home? If I went to medical school I would want to be an OB/GYN. I've also thought about going to nursing school, specifically a program to be a certified nurse midwife. I'd have to do an alternate entry program since I will have a BS in chemistry, not nursing.
Basically, all I do know right now is that I probably won't be going to grad school in the fall. I have waited (procrastinated, avoided making a decision, etc.) too long and most of the application deadlines have passed. There is one PhD chem program, one BSN/MSN midwifery program, and one MS chem program that I'm applying to. They all have rolling admissions and admit people until the programs are full, or they run out of TA/GA positions. Maybe we'll let the admissions boards decide what I will do with the rest of my life. They are in three different states. R is willing to move where ever I get into grad school. I love her.
I wish I could just job shadow for a few weeks to see what I want to do. They did that for us in high school & I didn't go because I couldn't pick a field. I have always been indecisive. Mostly because I worry too much. I worry that I won't be able to support my family. I worry that taking 5 years off between high school and college will haunt me for the rest of my life. I worry that I'll go through years of education and end up hating my career. Damn, I really do worry too much...

Photo Friday: My Favorite Place

My favorite place is Holden Beach, NC. My family went there when we I was young. R and I started renting a house for one week each summer a few years ago. We wanted to save money for baby makin' and didn't go last year. I never imagined I would have missed it as much as I did. It was my week of sanity. I took classes over the summer and winter breaks every year until 2006. For three years there were only three weeks a year where I didn't have school: the week of Christmas, Spring Break, and one week in August after the last of three summer sessions and the start of the fall semester. That was my beach week. We always rented a house where you just had to walk off the front porch onto the beach. Holden is a turtle sanctuary so it is incredibly peaceful. There's no boardwalk or annoying amusement parks. There are no street lights or lights of any kind allowed on the beach. There's not even a traffic light on the island. There are a few realty offices, restaurants, a convenience store, and a pier. You have to drive over the bridge to get to a grocery store, mini golf, an ice cream parlor, and, in case of rain (always a possibility when you go in the height of hurricane season), a movie rental store. I've always thought of Holden as a great family beach. Maybe by summer 2008 we'll have a family to take with us.

R took this photo of me. She was standing at the water and looking up towards the house. I love to sit under my umbrella (a girl has to take care of her skin) and read. I could sit out there forever. I usually read at least a book a day when we are staying there. Impromptu naps on the beach are also fun!





This is a photo I took of R. I was under my umbrella and looking down at her.

Well it happened

I lost my job. Well, I didn't exactly lose it. I know precisely where it is. They've taken it away from me to give it to a girl right out of high school with no experience. My last day is February 20th. They wanted me to leave at the end of this month but I asked them to let me stay until we got our 2006 bonus payout on Feb 16th. At least they're letting me have that. They won't fight unemployment if I don't get another job right away. They also told me that I am eligible for rehire if I want to go back after graduation. (because that's just want I always wanted to do with my chemistry degree).

R doesn't want to TTC again until I get another job. I want to keep trying. We'll see which way it goes.

I did get some good news today though. I will be graduating with departmental honors.

Where should we move?

It's time for me to start applying to graduate schools and I have no clue where I want to go. There are many programs at many schools that interest me but I can't even decide on state! I would prefer the Eastern time zone, but that's as specific as I've gotten. My family is in NC and VA with a few stragglers in TX and R's family is in PA (except her dad lives in CA) so we'd like to stay relatively (under 500 miles away) close to one side of the family or the other. We're open to any and all suggestions. We want a place where 2nd parent adoption is legal & we can (eventually) raise our family. The cost of living can't be atrocious because we'll need to be able to afford a house with a back yard for the furry kids. Public transportation would be nice. I've lived in an area where I had rocks thrown at me and people spat on me just for going out in public with a date* and I don't want to raise my children in a place like that. The place should be GLBTQ friendly; R and I are tired of being the token lesbian couple. Anyone want to tell us why your city should be our next home?

*Talk about a terrible first date. In high school I took a girl to the local fair. We weren't guilty of excessive PDA but were obviously together. A group formed around us and they were throwing rocks and spitting. We went to the cops to complain and we were escorted from the fairgrounds because we were "disturbing the peace." It was almost 15 years ago and things have gotten a bit better in that area. Even still, my hometown is out of the question.