Elizabeth & Brendan

Click here and go to page 127 to read the abstract.

So it is Brendan’s turn to travel for work. He will be heading to the UK in the end of August through the beginning of September. And it could be longer since he is flying Icelandair via Reykjavik.

Eli and I will have to fend for ourselves.

I am working on a scientific meeting for preeclampsia and was emailing with one of the doctors that delivered the Gosselin sextuplets. I was hoping he would be able to attend the meeting so I could ask him if Kate and Jon were dingbats even back then. Teresa said I should have casually mentioned “Dancing with the stars” and then drop Kate’s name. But alas it is not meant to be.

At work I have had my first abstract accepted and poster presentation for the 13th Biennial European Conference of the Society for Medical Decision Making.

I am excited because I currently have 2 more abstracts submitted to national conferences (European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) and another in the works for (Society of Critical Care Medicine).

Also I am currently a listed author on two manuscripts (one is a potential first author which most of you may not understand except Sarah and Alett) that are being written and then we will have to submit for acceptance to a few medical journals.

So it has been exciting having my work published in the medical community.

Finding a house is like riding a roller coaster – a lot of highs and lows.  So we decide to put in our first offer on a house in Somerville (about half a mile from where we live, I don’t like change).  We put in the offer and then take off for the Rhode Island baby shower for Baby Chase (this is one well feted baby).  But before we leave, we drive by the open house to see if there is anyone looking at the house.  We were close to sending in some spies but we held back.  So we go to Rhode Island, ooh and ahh over the baby girl clothes, and all the while Brendan is fielding calls from our agent.  Sellers had questions on our offer and such.

The next day (Monday) we learn that there are other offers on the house.  And if this goes to a bidding war, we are going to bow out gracefully because we can’t win.  By Wednesday we learn the house has gone to another buyer (a third one swooped in at the last minute).  Needless to say we are bummed.  But we move on and a week later visit a place in Cambridge that while small has the feel that it is larger.  We really like it and decide not to wait and see.  We call our agent to set up a showing so we can talk to her about it.  That is a Sunday.  On Monday we get an email from Alissa (our agent) who said they sellers accepted an offer but because they listed the open house in the paper, went ahead with it.  I guess they should tell you when you get to the open house that there is an accepted offer on the house but no, they didn’t.  So we are once again feeling like unless we won’t a complete gut renovation or to spend a ton, we are never going to find a house.

But then, Tuesday comes.  Brendan comes home and says that the original house was no longer listed as “Offer accepted” but “Active”.  We immediately call Alissa who calls the sellers’ agent.  And sure enough, it is back on the market.  The original buyers walked after the inspection (later intel would inform us that they had the inspection and then said “we don’t want it” and didn’t want to negotiate about anything.  Everyone believes they found another house they liked better).  So once again, we draft an offer and begin to negotiate.  After three days of back and forth (during this time I have reversed look up the address, know who the owners and where he works.  The internet is a scary place.), we drop off the “Earnest deposit” and then the chaos begins.

(Also during this time, my company was in the processing of being bought so I am hesitant to even look at places.  However, before we signed the offer letter I was notified that not only was the company bought but I was being brought into the new company.  Phew!)

The sellers accepted our offer on a Sunday and I was leaving for Europe (Germany and Switzerland for work of course) on Monday.  This meant that Brendan was left to handle the inspection and negotiations for the P&S (purchase and sale) without me.  Oh and in order to qualify for the tax credit, this all has to be done by Friday.  And I have to figure out a way to sign the P&S.  Stress!  Brendan spends 3 hours at the inspection and I wait up in Europe for him (I was 6 hours ahead).  Inspection brings up a couple of things so we are now going back and forth to get these items included in the P&S.  We win on some, we lose on others.  A P&S is drafted and accepted by all and I am picked up at Logan and taken home.  Alissa arrives shortly later and I sign my name and initial in A LOT of places.  My jet lag is horrible at this point and I feel like I am cross-eyed.  We hand over a large sum of money and we wait for closing.

Now we just have to tell our landlady (the nicest woman in the world!)

For those interested, some info on the house.

The wording from the ad:

“Attractive SF with huge landscaped yard. Near Davis Sq Bike Path, new Albion Park, and future Green Line T. First floor open living with hardwood floors, fireplace, & lots of light. 3+ bedrooms, incl. large master on second floor, 2 full baths, and bonus finished space in basement. 2 car, side-by-side parking. Ample storage inside and out. Recent updates include custom closets, sprinkler system, kitchen counters, circuit breakers, & cedar fence. Celebrate spring in your new home. Walk score=85″

Well the closing is not until the end of June so we will not be celebrate spring in our new home, but we will be celebrating every other season for the next million years.

And a picture of our new, humble abode:

And here is the yard (a big motivator of our interest):

I may be heading to Frankfurt, Germany in the near future. And by Frankfurt, I mean the airport. I am working on a conference for physicians at the Frankfort Sheraton which is adjacent to the airport. I would fly in, work and fly out and all I will see is the airport. Oh and this is over Brendan’s birthday. Last year I had to be in Switzerland for his birthday and this year I will be in Frankfurt. And before the “poor Brendan” comments start, he gets good gifts and is well fed. He will be fine.

I am headed back to Switzerland January 23rd and this time in style. Yup, business class. I am arriving a day earlier to make it more economical but that is okay. I am so excited to get a choice of movies!

Email received at work.  I love the detail.

Dear Tenants:

We’ve got reports of several coyote sightings at the Spring Street Office Park over the past couple of weeks. According to the Lexington Animal Control Officer, Stephanie Doucette, coyote sightings are frequent in Lexington and, under normal circumstances, nothing needs to be done about it. We have also contacted Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife about this issue and confirmed that a coyote may not be removed simply because of its presence in an area, there must be damage or a threat to human safety by a specific animal. The official at the Mass Division of Fisheries & Wildlife has referred us to a website that contains a lot of useful information about coyotes and, in particular, about encounters with coyotes in urban and suburban areas.

Please click on this link http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/living/living_with_coyotes.htm for details.

Based on the information from this website, coyotes are typically afraid of people and their presence alone is not a cause for concern. It is actually against the law to capture a coyote and to release it somewhere else in order to remove the animal from a particular area. However, if a particular animal presents an immediate threat to human life and limb, the authorities will lethally remove such animal. Once again, please refer to the website for information on what might be considered as abnormal and dangerous behavior in a coyote.

Please remember that if an immediate threat exists to human life and limb, public safety officials including police departments and the Massachusetts Environmental Police, have the authority to respond and dispatch the animal, as stipulated in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR) 2.14 that pertain to handling problem animals. This includes animals exhibiting clear signs of rabies. If possible, MassWildlife should first be contacted to authorize the lethal taking of a coyote.

Not only is it a new year but it is a new era for Brendan. He begins his new job at Litmus in Cambridge.   We here in Medford are very excited.

While he started to look for a new job earlier this new year, he scrapped it for awhile (along with house hunting) since some other things (namely me) took priority.  However, in October he got the fateful call to come in for an interview. Interestingly, he got the call while we were tending to Eli who had JUST jumped out of a window. He had an interview and a week later, B had an offer. Not only can he dress casual everyday, he no longer has to drive to work – both of which are ideal for him.  And he will have a solid state hard drive – apparently that is really cool in the geek world.

The company is headquartered in Leeds, UK so we spoke to our resident UK employment expert Sarah about how to handle the negotiation process.  Lucky for us she was bored out of her mind in a hotel room with a newborn and jumped at the chance to play career helper.  The cool thing is that Brendan will be going to Leeds at least once a year and I hope to tag along much like he did in Switzerland.  But we will see.

However, I will miss our commuting together.  Driving to and from work afforded us the chance to talk about our day, things that needed to get done, random news stories, and other mundane things.  Though now I will be able to leave work when I want and not have to wait for B and get home sooner to my husband and pup.  So maybe it will all work out.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am back. It was a whirlwind trip full of a lot of meetings and decadent dinners. The highlight of my trip was the return flight. We had a two-hour delay at the Zurich Airport heading into London. It appears that a snowstorm and low temperatures were gripping Europe. The delay did not affect our connection in London; however, it did affect others. And thankfully so.

My friend Cory had put in for upgrades for us and what was once a full flight now had a bunch of free seats. So we got to go to Business class and it was amazing for a 6-hour flight. I loved it. One thing I learned about Business class is you get a ton of food and most of it is actually tasty (unlike the suckers in economy). Also I could watch my choice of movies which was also good because economy was getting “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and I haven’t read the book yet.

So I ate, slept, watched “Adam” and “Julie and Julia” and “Elf”. I don’t know how I am going to go back to economy but I know I will have to.