New Under the Sun

Don't worry, I'm still around....
But it's been an exciting week and a half!

The day after my last post, Nathanael and I spend our ordinary Saturday in the garden weeding, harvesting, exploring, and getting stung by ants. I got stung four times each by four ants on my right wrist and bitten a couple of other places. Even though I was able to keep working for the rest of the day, by Sunday morning the blisters and swelling of my most of my right arm were putting a permanent wince on my face. I have never had any respiratory allergic reactions, and I wasn't feeling lightheaded, but when a red line I noticed on Saturday continued to creep up my arm on Sunday, I decided we should go to the doctor just in case it was blood poisoning. The doctor ended up giving me a steroid shot and prescribing nine things.
    To quote Nathanael,"I just want to know whether it's life threatening..."

I was not interested in feeling as though the ants never bit me, just preventing a more severe reaction. Needless to say, I talked to the pharmacy people and only ended up taking two of those things. Please friends, medicine can be very helpful, and often lifesaving, but lets not be crazy. Don't be over medicated or over medicate your children; your body can do most things on its own. Be especially cautious when it comes to antibiotics (which will kill your beneficial bacteria, one of your body's best lines of defenses, and also increase the rate at which superbacteria are created). And don't ask for them for when they aren't necessary, like for a cold or flu.
...I did (grugingly) end up taking the antibiotics they gave me so that I wouldn't get blood posioning, but I drank lots of kefir and tried to avoid sugar so my digestive bacterial friends would have all of the help they could get.

Nathanael completed his spring courses and their finals (with flying colors, as always). And due to the tendonitis-like state of my hand while it recovered, I did a lot less typing, and internet-ing in general...which was quite nice actually.

And what were my hands doing? Filling out the paperwork to accept a job! After looking for a position in my field for the last year and a half, I am excited about this one and think it will be a great new adventure. I will be an Environmental Scientist, occasionally doing field work, mostly managing data, and learning new things at all times. I will not have nearly as much time for visiting, cooking, and sewing, but it will be great to get some experience, a schedule, and you know...a quicker way to pay back those student loans...(yipee!!!)

There are yet a few weeks before the job begins, so I have been cleaning the house, tying up lose craft projects (not many of the millions, but it's a nice idea), and stocking up on homemade snacks.

No one could make a lemon squash look more dapper.

Yesterday I registered the car, registered to vote, got a new drivers licence, went grocery shopping, and picked up some necessary clothing items. I also got the pre-job entry medical exam, which took nearly two hours and included a full physical, urine tests, blood tests, vision tests, breath tests, a hearing test and a chest xray. I kind of enjoyed it all, but that hearing test makes you feel a little crazy..."Wait, did I hear that beep or imagine it?"

Do any of you have tips for me on meal planning and time management as I head into a whole new schedule?