Elizabeth & Brendan

…five different routes to the office.

This past week was an experiment in commuting.  The first day I had no problem getting there but I had to go through Harvard and I wanted to avoid that.  Harvard can get backed or it can be fine.  You never know. So I spent the next few days trying to figure out how to get to the office via the back roads of Harvard.  On Thursday I thought I had it all figured out but made one wrong turn and 10 minutes were wasted.  But alas, on Friday, I figured it all out.  I just hope I remember what I did on Tuesday.

I also learned that you can’t turn left into Harvard from Mem Drive which made the first drive home difficult. Blerg.

Day 2 at the job and so far so good.  I am in a lot of trainings and have been exhausted at the end of the day.  I am so looking forward to this weekend so I can continue with the gardening.  I have seen some growths that do not look like weeds.  And I am pretty excited!!!

I think the gnmes will get a home this weekend as well.

So after 2 years and 9 months, 2 acquisitions and over 75,ooo flight miles, I am leaving my job.  Of course I have another one lined up.  In fact, I am not taking any time off between gigs – just continuing to work as usual.  While I will miss my team and boss, I won’t miss the travel, 18 hour days while jet lagged, commute to Lexington, lack of lunch spots.  I am glad that everyone knows at work and it is final.  There were a lot of days of talking about my future at UBC and how I should just stay on a few months to see what happens.  And how they have big plans for me that they couldn’t articulate yet. 

I am joining Communispace where a former boss/colleague has worked since we all left Cogent.  I am very excited about the move and can’t wait to start.

http://litmus.com/meet-the-team

Probably no one will remember but I was emailing with one of the doctors that delievered Kate Gosselin’s sextuplets. Today I spoke with the Orthapedist surgeon who operated on Joe Biden’s mom. I am so cool.

And the travels will begin in January – this time to Munich, Germany. Munich is most favorite of all European cities but alas, I probably won’t leave the hotel. I may try to get out to dinner on the last night if I am not too tired. I was hoping to have B join me for a long weekend but the flights are pretty expensive and we have other trips that we are planning. But at least this way I don’t have to give up my business class seat on the way home to slum with him in economy. Because that would be horrible.

Oh Earl, please don’t ruin my plans.  Brendan is expected to fly home tomorrow and land around 6:30.  Earl is expected to arrive late afternoon, with the center passing over Massachusetts between 10:00 pm and 3:00 am.   With its current course, Boston will have winds of 35 miles per hour.  If it moves a bit out to sea, we may not see any real winds. 

What does this mean for Brendan?  I don’t really know at this point.  Since he is flying through Iceland, he is more north and wouldn’t fly into the hurricane but I doubt you can land with those winds.

Here is the view from Brendan’s hotel.

I swear, it is either feast of famine witho our lives.

After a few weeks of just tending to the house, we have blasted off into the stratosphere. 

• This past weekend we flew to NYC Thursday night and then had a whirlwind two days in NYC.  Friday we started in Park Slope, eating bagels with Emily and goddaughter Lily (who was all smiles and giggles when we there and we thank her for the great disposition) then went to the Upper East side to hang with Billy for a bit, then down to Grand Central for some happy hour delights, followed by a trip to Citi Field (Mets won) and the night ended hanging with Jason and Selena at Muldoon’s.   Saturday we got up, went to nephew AJ’s christening and left around 3:00 for Boston. 
• Brendan then caught a flight to the UK that night (I went home).  So now I am hanging with the pupster alone this week and Brendan returns Friday night. 
• Then dinner with UK friends and the Meklers. 
• Saturday we go to the first BC game of the season, then head back to Logan and take another flight to NYC – for Lily’s baptism on Sunday.  Then we head home Monday. 
• That Thursday, Brendan leaves for Las Vegas and I leave on Friday.  We will be going to his friend’s wedding there.  Then we come back on Monday morning (love the red eye!). 
• We have a two week travel break and then I am back to Switzerland for a week. 
• And there are two more potential work trips for me before Christmas (Frankfurt and another Swiss trip).

I need a nap just thinking about all this.

I just got another abstract accepted!  This time at the the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.  I am especially happy about this one as it is from research that I did personally in London, right before the wedding. 

I am trying to convince the client that I need to present the poster with her because that means a free trip to Barcelona.