A New Year

As I write this, Boston is weathering it's first blizzard of 2014, with 15" of snow expected. Luckily we have pea soup, wine, and ice cream to fight Old Man Winter.  We just got back from spending a little over a week at home in Seattle, and it was a really great trip.  Since one couple we normally see wasn't in Seattle, and the other one left a couple days after we arrived, it was a very family-heavy trip, with us spending lots of time with both sets of parents.  Unfortunately Soliz couldn't make it up from NC so we missed her, but hopefully we'll be able to see her graduate if we both have time in May.  Christmas was as always an enjoyable day, with Whitney's cousin giving birth to a new daughter on Christmas Day, so everyone's plans were a little thrown off but the family is blessed to have a new member.

One of the days home we went with my parents to Poulsbo and Gig Harbor.  It turned out to be some of the best weather we had all week, with it being sunny and in the 50s, and we all got to enjoy the Norwegian funkiness of Poulsbo and the great scenic inlet of Gig Harbor, where we had lunch.  Another day while the Lentzs were over, we got to drive a Tesla, which I know was Steven's highlight of the week.  It is an amazing car, but the acceleration from the electric motor is a bit unsettling with how fast it is, and both Whitney and I were a little nauseous the rest of the day, but I got to drive it, and it was amazing!

Backing up a month, we spent Thanksgiving at the Dziadul's in Connecticut and had dinner at the Weber's in Ledyard, as per our usual tradition.  Both Calle and Sam were pregnant, and so we'll have two new kids to see next year, and we're excited!

Whitney has been working hard at OCB as a nurse, but has now picked up a second hourly job at Mass Eye and Ear for the remaining days off a week she has, so her days of leisure at home have become much more limited.  She is happy though to be working more, and since the buildings are in the same neighborhood her commute is pretty much the same.

As for me, the theme this Christmas was "when are you coming back?".  I had my 3rd committee meeting the week of Thanksgiving, and am now working hard through January to ensure that I have the best chance to go back to 3rd year medical school this June instead of next.  Since we had to come back early for Whit to work on Monday, I've been at work all week too, running experiments.  Hopefully I'll have some good news at the end of this month, and we can finally get back on a firm timeline for being done!  Next thing is to somehow match to the Pacific Northwest.  We'll keep you updated!