I'm sorry for the ridiculous long span between posts, but life had just gotten hectic there for a while. Hopefully, it's calming down a little. A lot has been going on, so I promise to update you on EVERYTHING!
Back in mid-January, I started back teaching again at TriCounty. It's just one class on Wed. nights from 4-7pm, but between preparing for, grading, and actually teaching the class, I might have taken a little more than I needed right now, so am regretting it a bit. With being a full time wife, mom, having a full time job, and Lauren being sick for much of the winter, it's taken a toll. For some reason, this semester, my students have been much more "needy" and feel the need to tell me a lot of aspects of their lives that I would rather not know. On one hand, I'm glad my students feel like they can talk to me, yet on the other, I would have NEVER told my instructors the personal things these students tell me "willy-nilly." I've only got 5 more weeks left, so can hopefully, tough it out. I don't know that I'll do it again in the Fall, with Alli starting kindergarten.
In other job news, I've recently changed positions at the university. I am no longer in a lab! It's a weird feeling, considering I've worked in a lab doing research over 12 years now. I am now the IBC Administrator for Clemson. What's an IBC Administrator, you ask? As the IBC Administrator, any professor at Clemson that uses bio-hazardous materials, toxic chemicals, or recombinant dna technology have to submit protocols and justification for doing the kind of research they are doing. These all go through me. "IBC" stands for "Institutional Biosafety Committee." I saw this position came open back in December, and decided to apply. I was called for an interview, and was then offered the job. I was surprised to be offered the job and "hemmed and hawed" around about taking it. After many sleepless nights and many prayers, I decided God wouldn't have opened this door, if he didn't want me to take this chance, so I accepted the position. It's turned out to be quite a blessing. I really enjoy the people I work with. My boss is great, and another perk is that I can work from home if needed.
Lauren is almost 8 months old. She's now sitting up by herself, babbling, and "kind of" eating solids...she only likes the sweet ones! She's not so much into the savory. At her last doctor's appointment, she was 18.5 lbs and 27 inches long...both in the 75th percentile! She's come a long way from being in the 3rd percentile! The enzymes are working! Unfortunately, she's been sick for over 6 weeks. She had some sort of respiratory infection, and just couldn't shake it. So, after multiple doctor's appointments, steroids, antibiotics, and adding an inhaler to our current routine, I'm happy to report, she's FINALLY healthy once again! I'm not convinced that it was her CF causing all of the problems. Multiple babies in the baby room at daycare have been sick, and have taken almost as long to get over it. That's a little reassuring for us. Hopefully, with the Spring coming, she'll stay healthy for a while!
We are in the thick of fundraising for Great Strides, the CF Foundation's largest fundraiser. Jennifer Summer, one of the moms in Alli's/Lauren's school sells Thirty-One products, and was kind enough to donate her commission from an online Thirty-One party. We made $200 from that! Then we were overwhelmed by the response we received at a Chick fil A spirit night. Chick Fil a donated 20% of the sales that mentioned the CF Foundation, and we made another $205 from that! Our team goal is $5000, and we're up to over $3000 now! We have until May 18th. We'd LOVE for you to donate! Just click on our link to the left!
Alli is now 5!! She asked for an iPad for her birthday. We ended up getting her a Kindle Fire HD. She will hardly put it down! She knows how to work it better than Chris and me! I can't believe she's 5 and will be starting kindergarten in the Fall. I go to register her Friday. We've been trying to decide which school to put her at...near our house or near me in Clemson. For now, she'll be near our house. It'll be tough being away from the friends she's known for 5 years now, but I'm sure she'll make new friends quickly, and we'll still see some of her "Clemson" friends around.
Last weekend, we had her parties. Her "friend" party was at the Tip Top Cake Shop. The kids had lunch then, got to ice their own jumbo cupcakes with a multitude of icings and sprinkles! I think they all had fun, and it was a lot less messy than I thought it would be. We had her "family" party at our house that afternoon, and cooked out.
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