The Banks Family: Yale University

The big news is that I got a job! I started the beginning of the month as a Research Assistant at Yale University. I looked it up on Glassdoor.com and someone said for the pro, "smart people, brilliant ideas, fast pace, and cutting edge science" and for the con, "low pay." I think that sums it up well! I'm in the School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and my lab works in collaboration with Gilead Sciences (they fund us) to look at up/down regulation of shRNA in response to an anti-cancer drug they're interested in, as well as ones we're interested in. The job is perfectly matched for my skill set, as it relies heavily on cell culture experience, but also lentivirus production and titer (check!), experience with small molecule drugs (check!), and experience with robotics and high-throughput screens (check!) I'm excited to be back in the work force after a 4 month "break" and thankful to get a job at such a prestigious institution. Besides the job, I'm enjoying eating a variety of food for lunch, as the hospital adjacent to us has a good assortment of healthy options, and there are about 20 food trucks lined up outside my building with most of them being Asian food. Yum! The only thing I'm not enjoying is the commute. There isn't a lot of traffic, but it's just a long tedious drive into New Haven.

Just before I started my job, we has some awesome visitors. My mom, sister Neely, and nephew Asher visited us for a week at the end of April. It was so good to see my family. Don't take this for granted, it's so wonderful to have a house and to be able to host guests. We had a bit of coordination with a 1 and 2 year old's naps, but we managed to have a few adventures. First they helped me host a birthday party for Claudia, with her classmates as guests. We did a garden theme party and thankfully the weather was pretty good, so we planted potted flowers, played in the yard, and hit a flower pinata full of candy. The next day, we took a day trip to Mystic to visit the Aquarium, walk around town, and take a photo of Mystic Pizza. The kids were all too tired to actually eat there, so instead we got take out from Rossini's in Cheshire. Probably not as amazing, but still good authentic East Coast pizza. Other than that, I showed them around my new town and we just enjoyed each other's company. I'm looking forward to my visit to Seattle the last week of July.

The biggest event for the girls this month has been starting daycare. Teagan is at Bright Horizons adjacent to Glen's work. She loves it! It's a small center, so we were initially disappointed that there didn't seem to be any kids her age, so she's in a room with a bunch of toddlers when she is almost ready for preschool. But, she has already started potty training and making quick progress, and they have a very low child to teacher ratio, as well as a great facility, so it's working out well. Claudia goes to an after-school program run by the YMCA at her school and she loves it as well. She's sometimes disappointed that she's almost the last kid there when I pick her up (refer to long commute), but she always seems to have fun. This summer, both kids with go to the Bright Horizons, and I'm excited to have them in the same location to help with the commute. Other than that, the girls continue to have fun playing with friends in the neighborhood and playing in our big wonderful yard. Every weekend we're out pulling weeds and mowing the lawn, but no complaints here, we love it. The only downside of all this outdoor space is that Teagan got bit by a deer tick. It was gross and kind of scary. I found it behind her ear when I was doing her hair one morning, so I know it had at least been there overnight. Glen tried to pluck it out with tweezers, but couldn't get it all, so I took her to urgent care. They taught me a better removal method and the doctor said she was at low risk for disease transmission because we caught it in less than 24 hours. It was still kind of a scary thing. She never got a rash or any other symptoms of disease, so she should be okay.

Glen has been as busy as ever at work. We didn't think he would have to travel very much, but already this year he's been to Boston, New Jersey, Washington DC, and now his latest trip, New Orleans. Although his job is demanding, he really enjoys it. He's now on "summer hours" for work which means 9 hr days M-Th and then half days on Friday. He already works more than a standard shift, so it doesn't mean a lot to him, but he's hopeful that at least on an occasional Friday he can get off early and maybe play a round of golf.

Visit with my family.