Bits and pieces

My new job will be studying the genetics of T.ou.rett.es syndrome. I know very little about it as I've been working in can.cer research since my PhD so it will be a steep learning curve but I'm really excited about the opportunity to really stretch my brain. My last 2 jobs haven't really done that and were frankly a bit boring at times. Also it'll get me up to date on some of the latest genetics research techniques which can only be a good thing.

Unfortunately baby_T's daycare is not washable-nappy friendly so we're having to use disposables, I keep looking at biodgradable ones but they are sooo expensive here - about 3 times the price of ordinary ones. Crazy - I discovered a UK website yesterday that would send me 4 packs and including the (huge) shipping cost it would cost about what 3 packs costs here. I'm seriously considering ordering loads since the shipping cost only increases over 30kg. The other option is seeing whether the daycare would be up for using all-in-ones since that's not too different in terms of hassle from disposables.

Baby_T seems to be doing fine at daycare - he cries and reaches for me when he sees me leave but I spied on him through the hedge 5 minutes later and he was playing quite happily. Not completely sure how we'll manage the drop-off and pick-up once I'm at work as ideally I'd like him to have the shortest day possible. Hopefully me and S can stagger our work days (very normal here) I'll need to look into this once I start.

Back to Academia

I went for what I thought was a second interview today and it was actually a meeting to offer me the job. It's at a research institute so it involves a slight drop in salary but i think it will be interesting enough to make up for that. Also in my heart I believe that academic research is a better fit for me than industry so we'll see.

However, it's a complete change of field for me and using techniques that I know about but have little experience using so I'm a little scared as it'll be hard work. But I'm looking forward to using my brain again and hope I can live up to their expectations. It's a 2 year contract but should be extended for another 3 as long as I manage to publish. I start at the beginning of June so wish me luck.

In baby_T news he started nursery last week and I spent every morning there with him. Of course by Friday he had caught a cold which he kindly passed on to me and S. Today S dropped him off because I had to get to my interview and he did fine, even took his nap there no problem before I picked him up at 1.30. I guess this is going to work out ok.

Birthday, interview and nursery

I can't believe he's already a year old, we kept it fairly quiet for his birthday. Filled the room with balloons for him to play with and then had a few friends over in the evening. I don't think he really knew what was going on but I guess it'll be different next year.

I haven't heard anything since the 2 interviews - one a week ago and one nearly 2 weeks ago. This doesn't fill me with confidence since I think if they wanted me they'd have got in touch a bit sooner. Oh well at least I got this far, I just have to keep applying for jobs I guess. Also as of Friday I am officially unemployed - my 3 months pay is up and I signed on with the unemployment office.

Baby T had his first day at nursery this morning and it went ok. They take it really easy here with starting nursery, he was only there a couple of hours and I stayed the whole time. I'll probably leave him for a bit by the end of the week but he won't take a nap there until sometime next week. The only thing that was slightly odd was what the kids were offered for lunch - porridge. I guess it's ok but I'm kind of used to that being a breakfast food. Also they don't use bottles or sippy cups here, just normal cups so I guess I need to get baby T used to drinking out of a standard cup or he'll be really thirsty by the time I collect him.