It's been a while, and a lot has happened in the last few weeks, so let's go ahead and jump right on into it!
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Jen has been busy with work. When she was given her layoff papers last fall, we were worried about her not getting a job right away. But, as luck would have it, she had her final day with the Diabetes group on November 30th (a Monday) and by the following Monday, she was back to work at Stanford in another department. Now, as of September 1st, she is an official salaried employee back at Stanford! It's a total win-win with her. She isn't 100% time, but she brings in about as much as she did in her previous position, so she can still go to school and get some volunteer work in!She's really enjoyed the job, and has even been able to take Fox into work with her. Here are a few pics of her cubicle, and her "guard dog" protecting her from the others in the office.
Is someone coming??
No, I guess not.
Wow, this is hard work!!
Although we were complaining about the "cool" summer we were having, we were then hit with a pretty good heat wave. Newark actually hit the high 90s and bordered 100 degrees, which is pretty rare in the summer in general! To beat the heat, we had to figure something out for us and the dogs. We all got plenty to drink, but we had to be more creative fr the dogs, since they don't sweat. We ended up putting all of our fans in the living room and dressing the dogs in large soaking towels. The smell wasn't the most pleasant (Who likes the smell of wet dogs??) but at least everyone was comfortable.
Mason opted to sit right in the middle of the fans... in Jen's beanbag chair!!
And Fox just sat there while we made her take funny pictures.
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After dinner, we also went to Neptune Aquatics, where we continued to add more fish to our tank. Jeff finally cleaned out the 29-gallon tank, and we've been slowly adding fish to it. Right now, we've got 2 bleeding heart tetras, 2 striped danios, 3 German blue rams, 5 neon tetras, 5 Rasboras, and 2 water frogs (well, one we can find... we always can only find one!!) As soon as everything's settled, you can all expect to see more pics of our critters!
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Although we were complaining about the "cool" summer we were having, we were then hit with a pretty good heat wave. Newark actually hit the high 90s and bordered 100 degrees, which is pretty rare in the summer in general! To beat the heat, we had to figure something out for us and the dogs. We all got plenty to drink, but we had to be more creative fr the dogs, since they don't sweat. We ended up putting all of our fans in the living room and dressing the dogs in large soaking towels. The smell wasn't the most pleasant (Who likes the smell of wet dogs??) but at least everyone was comfortable.
Chris was not a huge fan, but kept it on...
Mason opted to sit right in the middle of the fans... in Jen's beanbag chair!!
And Fox just sat there while we made her take funny pictures.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have also gotten really into getting fresh veggies at the Farmer's Market. It's not as large as most, but still lots of fun. Whenever she can, Jen and her sister go to the little street market right in the middle of Fremont and they pick out all sorts of fresh produce. Although they have to go Saturday mornings, they've enjoyed seeing the different vendors and we've been eating pretty well because of it!
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Now some of the bad news. Last Wednesday, Jen was driving in Fremont when she got rear-ended by a driver from behind. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. There were three cars involved in the accident; Jen was in the front, and hit by the van in the picture. After that, a third car hit the van, and Jen was hit twice. Everyone was overall okay, although the passenger in the van did go to the hospital because she was having some chest pain, but we found out she was okay, just really upset by the accident.
As for Jen, she's got a lot of soreness. Although her knees and stomach were aching, right now most of her pain is in her neck from the whiplash (although she didn't go forward and hit anything in front, she hit her head on her headrest twice). She's also got some pain in her left shoulder and her right hip, roughly where the belt was. Although she'll be on the mend for a while, we're grateful that she's otherwise fine!!
As for Jen, she's got a lot of soreness. Although her knees and stomach were aching, right now most of her pain is in her neck from the whiplash (although she didn't go forward and hit anything in front, she hit her head on her headrest twice). She's also got some pain in her left shoulder and her right hip, roughly where the belt was. Although she'll be on the mend for a while, we're grateful that she's otherwise fine!!
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This past Sunday was Jeff's birthday. He turned 25 (again) and so we had to celebrate. Our plans had been changed greatly by the car accident, because originally we had planned on BBQing at home and Jen making all the dinner, but that was changed. We went to church, but Jen only stayed for about 30 minutes before going home to rest, and after Jeff came home, we decided to just go out and eat. Jeff decided to go to La Piñata in Newark for dinner, and Jeff got to enjoy chicken enchilladas with mole. Jeff's been craving mole sauce (a chocolate-based sauce) for a while now, so it was good that his cravings were curbed a little!
After dinner, we also went to Neptune Aquatics, where we continued to add more fish to our tank. Jeff finally cleaned out the 29-gallon tank, and we've been slowly adding fish to it. Right now, we've got 2 bleeding heart tetras, 2 striped danios, 3 German blue rams, 5 neon tetras, 5 Rasboras, and 2 water frogs (well, one we can find... we always can only find one!!) As soon as everything's settled, you can all expect to see more pics of our critters!
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Aside from the adventures we've had, life is continuing as usual. Both of us are back in school. Jeff is taking 3 classes this term. Originally he had planned on four, with one being a volunteer practicum, but since a site wasn't set up, he had to drop it. Jen is finishing her last semester through Utah State's program, and is taking the last 5 classes, plus an extra one-credit independent study course, but more on that next time.
We hope you are all well and cannot wait to hear how everyone else is doing!
We hope you are all well and cannot wait to hear how everyone else is doing!
