Auto Pilot

I am on "auto pilot" this week. Nothing much is going on. I am ready for my short vacation to visit Stephen and Hannia in a week. Until then I am just biding my time. And after that? After we get back from Lafayette....? I don't know. I told Stephen tonight that I am not really thinking beyond that. Both of the kids are poised on the brink of some big changes. Erica will be finishing up her PhD over the next few months, and where she will end up doing her post doc is anyone's guess. She has an invitation to interview at the NIH in DC in a month or so (no exact date is set yet, but she is excited). Will she be in DC? She is talking about a post doc in Durham, and also Montana.....who knows.

Also up in the air? Stephen and Hannia. Purdue really cut funding due to financial hardships. He is planning to leave after this semester is over. The funding for research is just not there. Its too late to apply for fall semester to any place else.....so the plan is that he is going to start applying for jobs over the summer. And then another school in a year. No idea whatsoever of where the kids are going to end up. It could be one place while he works over the next year, and then another when he finds the right PhD program a year after that.....? No idea what is going to happen, but the one thing that both of them seem absolutely certain of....they WILL be someplace else before another winter sets in. Apparently Indiana weather is NOT appealing to them. Too cold. Way too much snow.....So.....?

Anyway, it will be a summer of decisions for the kids. My instinct is to brood and worry, but there is nothing I can do. I can't help out or figure out the best places for them. All I can do is wait for news and hope it all turns out well. It will. I am sure of that. It will be exactly what it is supposed to be for everybody. But if you could all send out some happy thoughts that wonderful opportunities open up for everybody, that would be much appreciated.