Big Changes!

Hello all. Sorry I didn't update as soon as my promise alluded to. : )

Well, as many you may know, there are some big changes going on in the Jonathan & Britney Heald household. This past week I presented and finished the work for my Masters of Arts in Immunology. To make a long story short, I wasn't able to pass the oral exam portion of my Qualifying Exam, so I was not able to continue in the PhD program. It was comforting to know that everyone, students and faculty, were surprised that I didn't pass, but it was still a very upsetting experience. Fortunately, I was able to get a M.A. from the department, and now I'm moving onto a real job. Better pay, 9-to-5 work day, and 22+ days of paid vacation! Needless to say, I'm quite excited about the future, and my follow graduate students are very jealous. I am starting my new job this coming Tuesday. I will be working at Frontier Science, a not-for-profit data management company that works with national breast cancer and HIV/AIDS clinical trials. The job will be a lot of computer work, so while it is not bench science (actually doing experiments), it is still something that sounds enjoyable; I can imagine pursuing a career in this field, and eventually managing clinical trials in some fashion. I'm excited to start this new job, and Frontier Science has expressed their excitement about me working for them. I went in this past Thursday to talk with the heads of three projects, because apparently they all want me to work for them. I think that is a pretty good way to start a new job.

Britney and Logan are also experiencing some big changes. Britney started a new job at Gift-ology, a new store in the Eastern Hills mall (where C&B used to be) that sells products like Pandora jewelry and Vera Bradley bags. The store has a younger clientele,  and Britney gets to work with more enjoyable people, so she seems to be having much more fun than she did at Christopher & Banks. Because Britney and I are both working now, Logan has started day care at Kid's Klub, a place right down the street from us. While Britney is sad that she doesn't get to spend all day with Logan, we are both happy that he will be able to interact with other kids (once he is able to, that is). Logan is becoming much more interactive and responsive. He is smiling and talking a lot more, responds to our voices (and maybe his own name), and obviously enjoys being talked to. Twice this past week I took him to Wegmans to go grocery shopping, and he payed very close attention as I narrated and explained why I was buying various things. He particularly liked the meat section: when I started explaining different cuts of meat to him and why I would use the different cuts, he got very talkative and smily. Obviously he liked it.

That's all for now. We will do our best to update the blog more often.

-Jon

Logan was watching daddy peel carrots and potatoes for dinner.

Sometimes Logan wears himself out while playing

Taking a nap this morning, and kept warm by a quilt from great-grandmother Heald!

Playing in his Baby Einstein jumper, and loving it.