Here's what I've been up to:
1 - Work. Soon our lab will be getting ready to dispose of a large number of samples from patients who didn't want them kept after the study was over. It will be time-consuming because the samples are kept in various freezers and refrigerators that can't be opened for more than a couple minutes at a time. So right now we're trying to quickly wrap up the project we're working on before starting on the samples. But until we get the list of patients to get rid of, we can't really start anything new. The timing couldn't be worse for me because I was hoping to have July 31st as my last day, but that turns out to be the deadline to get rid of the samples and we'll probably be working on it right up until the end. So I'll probably have to go in for an extra couple of weeks in August to wrap up my things. But it won't be the end because I'll probably start coming in for a couple hours a week once school starts.
2 - School. I just registered for classes for the fall! I am so excited to start :) I'm taking Intro to Food Science, Food Chemistry and Functional Foods, Nutrition Education and Counseling, Food: Safety, Risks and Technology, Food Service Operations Management, and Food Service Operations Management Lab. It will be interesting to see how it goes after not being in school for a couple years, but I think it'll be ok since I am taking these classes because I want to know this stuff. I'm also glad I get to take a mix of hard science and social science courses. The two I'm looking forward to the most are Food Chemistry and Functional Foods and Nutrition Education and Counseling. One gives me the theoretical basis of nutrition and the other gives me the practical application.
3 - Volunteering. I'm volunteering at two places right now. One is through an Elder's program in my neighborhood. I was set up with a woman who lives near me. She is 86 and can no longer drive, so I help her with groceries and other errands from time to time. She's the kind of person that doesn't like asking for help, but has no other option since driving is out of the question. In most other aspects she is self-sufficient. The other place where I'm volunteering is a nursing home in Saint Paul. I work in the late-stage Alzheimer's unit, helping out with lunch on saturdays. It's interesting because I've never really been around people with Alzheimer's but it's also challenging because of the communication.
4 - Upcoming trips. I'm going to Las Vegas around July 4th for the World Series of Poker. Brian is playing in it, so I'm going there to watch him. There's also a chance I might end up spending some time lounging by the pool... hehe. I'm looking forward to the back-to-back family cabin trips in August. I'm going to DuNord with Brian's family the first week and Bay Lake with my family the second week.
