Steamed Puddings

I haven’t written Gwen’s update for her monumental 12-month birthday. Her 13-month birthday is in a week! I know some of you (all of you? this is a limited readership!) have been waiting patiently and trying not to bug me about it. Thanks.

I am frequently asked how my work is going.  You may recall that I am no longer working in biochemistry; instead I am in a sensory science group, which means that we do smell and taste testing for food products, and a bit of consumer research.  I am involved in the administration of a large study which runs every day for a month at a time.  It’s great work, and I’m only surviving because the project has been underway for more than a year and is exceedingly well organized.    My workmates are an excellent bunch.

I’ve been back at work on a semi-regular basis since October, but now I am back to “normal” 8am-5pm workdays.  My days are busy and I’m enjoying the job.  Gwen loves daycare, so much so that she doesn’t really notice when we leave in the mornings despite our attempts to wave goodbye.

I am handling the full-time switch easily, of course, but during our holiday break I did notice that I didn’t seem to have much free time during the work week.  This was magnified by the colossal production that is the Gwen birthday-christmas season, something I hadn’t thought about in great detail.  I’d better get my head around it earlier this year because it will be a constant presence for the rest of my life!  Celebrating Gwen’s birthday immediately before Christmas does keep our family on its toes.

More to follow soon, with pictures, but if you’re curious you can always check out my Flickr photostream.