Terrible TV

Most nights I sit at the table in the dining room and work on teaching stuff or my manuscript and Mike watches horrible TV.  He complains about how horrible it is but he keeps watching.  Right now it is a tie with the old sci-fi show Jericho and the new show Revolution.  And what pisses me off about these show is that they are super distracting-either with horrible acting or predictable storylines-and often times I find me self actually paying attention to them and not working.  I've resorting to my headphones most nights.  And he gives me a hard time for watching Modern Family (which is a great show!)....

Running in place

The month of March has been crazy.  It was my second month of teaching my Genetics lecture and lab and it totally consumed me!  I am so sore and stiff from all of this stress it is driving me crazy.  Luckily it is spring break this week at the university that I am teaching at which means I can be full time at my postdoc.  I am now realizing how "easy" I had it before!  I feel bad that I am not making as much progress on finishing up my projects at my real job and this adds to my stress.  Hopefully this week I will get another draft of my manuscript to my boss and do a few experiments to tie up some lose ends.  I guess in one way I'm happy that spring has not arrived in NC yet.  Fewer distractions....

We haven't made any plans with regards to our move yet.  I need to contact a real estate agent and Mike needs to find a job.  One doesn't depend on the other but it would be nice to find a home somewhere in between.

More baking

I had to share this recipe.  A guy from my lab gave it to me and it was so simple and very good.  I've never made bread before because we don't have a bread machine and I wasn't into the kneading and rising over and over again.  But this was so easy.

http://www.simplysogood.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html#.URk5i0iTmeU.gmail

You mix your ingredients together and then leave them in the bowl on the counter overnight.  In the morning you heat up your oven and pot that you cook it in for 30 mins.  Meanwhile you dump your dough out onto a floured board and shape it into a circle.  Cover it will saran wrap while your pot heats up.  Then put the dough in the hot pot in the over, cover, bake for 30 mins, uncover, bake for 15 mins more and you are done.

I put greek olives in my bread because I love love love olive bread!  This is the dough right after I mixed it and it is about to spend the night on the counter.

This is my finished product.  Like I said earlier, this was so easy and so good!  Next time I'm going to try cheddar bread.

Baking is the best reward for procrastination

I know I should not reward myself for not doing work but when I stopped to make this chocolate raspberry coffee cake I couldn't help but be rewarded 50 mins later! It is pretty tasty!  I used frozen raspberries since it is February but I definitely think it would be better with fresh.  I'll try again this summer.  Here is the link to the recipe. http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/02/06/raspberry-chocolate-coffee-cake/

Last spring in North Carolina

Now that we know we will be moving this summer, it has set in that we will be experiencing our "lasts"here in NC.  I'm more sentimental than Mike so it is hitting me harder.  For example, the daffodils in our front yard have bloomed already.  That is the last time that will happen by February 9th for the rest of our lives!  In fact, we will likely have snow and below freezing temps this time next year.

We will also be experiencing our last Duke vs UNC games in home territory.  I'm optimistic that I will be able to find some UNC fans up in the midwest too (Adi? Michael?) (I don't think they are big basketball fans though...).  As these last experiences come and go I try and stay focused that we also be having our "firsts" in our new home and that is an exciting feeling!

It is official!

I have accepted a position as a tenure-track assistant professor at a small liberal arts college!  My years of hard work have finally paid off :)  Mike and I are very excited to be starting this next phase of our lives together and we will be moving to the Midwest.   Don't worry, it is in an urban area near lots of stuff so he should be able to survive there.  The decision to move there does show me how much he loves me and is willing to give up his dream of moving back to CA.  Maybe someday we will get to CA but not in the foreseeable future.

We will be sad to leave NC this summer and I guess this means I need to change the title of the blog.  Perhaps new titles could be "Life post-NC", "Surviving the tenure-track", or "Why did I think this was a good idea?"  I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Lots of Jens

Mike's undergrad is also named Jen so occasionally I'll get emails from him about "what we are doing today" or a protocol for X or primer pairs for the next project they are working on.  His email auto fills my address in as soon as he types Jen.  I do like knowing that his email recognizes me as "the most important Jen".