Weekend projects and New Jobs

I can't believe its taken me this long to update this blog! My how the times flies. I hear it gets worse as we get older. sigh. Life has really picked up speed in the last few weeks and I guess that's sort of indicative of this time of year. The start of the school year signals the end of summer for more than just students it seems.

I started a new job about a week and half ago at University of Texas Health Science Center. I actually work two floors below Byron (well...when he's in that office...which is never). Its great because on a rare special occassion...I get to grab lunch or a cup of coffee with him.

I'm working the neurophysiology group with a new faculty member there. I'm actually the first hire - which has its ups and downs. For one, I get to set up cool equipment and sort of help design everything. But then again- its frustrating sometimes to have to put EVERYTHING together and trouble shoot all day.

I work with these big fancy microscopes as seen below:




I have no idea what I'm doing and have broken about 1/3 of the important parts so far. But- my boss says that's normal. Its VERY frustrating trying to learn all the controls- but- I'm getting better at it already. We are studying the synaptic communication between cells in the brain. Ask me one day in person as to how we get these special cells. Its a whole new aspect of my job that I can assure you...is not very plesant.

But... so far...I'm enjoying my job. I have a great boss who doesn't get too upset when I break expensive equipment, and the work is interesting and challenging. I'm learning a whole new set of valuable skills. I do however miss Wake and the familiarity around there. Its hard coming to a new place and feeling lost the majority of the time. Not to mention the complicated administration there. There are so many forms to get a lock changed its ridiculous. Job creation I guess. But..I made cookies for the man who seems to know who and where everything is and he likes me now. He's been there 30 years and knows his way around the system. Maybe I'll make some for the parking people. I've gotten tickets for the most ridiculous offenses!

And now for weekend projects:


I made a new friend here; her name is Ally and she is awesome. She has this natural knack for interior design and came over to help me rearrange my house. She suggested putting a larger piece of furniture in the corner to help offset the other stuff in our living room. So...I started hunting and found this nice, heavy duty rod iron frame at a local flea market/furniture store. I got a great deal on it but mainly because it was missing the shelves. Bear with the pictures...I must have drank too much caffeine when taking these pics.

Before:


You see...I've figured out a way to get Byron to buy into the idea of buying more furniture is to find a way that he can 'fix it'. In other words...if he can use his new tools on whatever it is...I will have a MUCH better chance of getting the furniture I want.

So- we went to Lowes, used the last of our gift cards and bought some wood, stains, and sealers. Byron cut the boards to the perfect length using his new saws etc. We stained them over the weekend and....

After:






PLUS... I've freed up some extra cabinet space in the kitchen so everything isn't so crammed in there! I now have this totally original, beautiful shelf! Thanks Byron!

This weekend is a family retreat with the church we've been attending. A bunch of young marriends are going so we are looking forward to making new friends! Byron has to study - but I hope he can sneak away for a few hours on Saturday to participate in the fun. The outline reminds of a small taste of church camp- which is always a good thing.

Ranch work Day

So last week was my first experience in Cattle Ranchin'! Granddad B and Grandma were gracious enough to endure my ignorance on the subject and invite me up to see for myself. I spent the night up at the ranch with all the Momma's and baby calves right outside the door. We spent ate supper and visited on the porch over a nice bowl of Blue Bell Icecream. Front Porch sittin' is one of my favorite pastimes. It reminds me of summers at home. I told Byron we simply MUST have a front porch on our first house. We'll see how that works out.




So Wed. morning I arose at 5 on the dot, very excited and ready to start the day. Its amazing how easily I wake up when I'm excited about something! Louis came up to the house about an hour later to get everyone moving and over to the barn. By this time the cows are moving around and starting to 'bawl' to each other. They know what's coming and they are NOT happy about it. They Mooo constantly. And- after its all over- it doesn't stop for a few days. So..I'm glad we only stayed one night.

The end goal of all this is to seperate the calves from their Momma's (I know...its a very sad sad thing), so they can be sold to another rancher that has lots of grass available for feeding. The Branches are 'stockers' only. Their farm is for bearing calves, and lots of them.

So- we worked two herds of cattle (about 60 mother cows in each). About 3/4's of them have baby calves. So- Louis starts by seperating the Momma's from the babies and sends the mothers through a 'shute'. This is where we (correction...they) gather their tag info, check for fertility, etc. My job was adding the Ivermectin (de-worming medicine) to their backs! I was too scared to get out there and actually herd anything. those Momma's weigh more than a 1,000 lbs and are NOT happy when they are being seperated from their babies.

After the mother cows are seperated, accounted for, and de-wormed, they are let go back into the pastures. BUT...they don't go anywhere. Their babies are still calling to them. So..they hang out by the fence and bawl.

Last, they seperate the babies into the 'replacement' heffers, and ones going to market. Each year- they keep a few good looking babies calves that will replace older cows that are no longer producing. The rest are put into a seperate field to be sold the following morning.

We did two herds which lasted about 6 hours total. Grandma took everyone to a delicious authentic mexican lunch and we returned back to the ranch to take an afternoon nap:) All in all- it was an awesome experience. I've never been around anything like it and I'm always up for a new adventure!

Here are some pics of the workers:








And...lastly...I accepted a job offer last week working at University of Texas Health Science Center in their phsiology department. I'm excited to start working and establishing a rountine. I'm also waiting to hear back about my acceptance into the Master's program for teaching Math and Science at UTSA. I'll keep you posted with how everything turns out!

God Bless!